Technorati Profile

Yeah! I have completed the move

from asillyman.blog-city.com to here.  Just a few posts to clean up tomorrow and I should be all set when the old blog disappears tomorrow.  In the next few weeks I will be looking at making some changes and adding some links to this one.

"Babe"

About the only genre of fiction I consistently read is murder mysteries, and mainly those by women authors that don't involve cats. They are my bedtime reading and I usually drag a book around to read if I have to wait somewhere. I just finished "Lean Mean Thirteen" by Janet Evanovich and I can't wait for her next one!  This series (Stephanie Plum) makes me seriously laugh out loud!!!

After this book I doubt I will look at stuffed animals (taxidermy) without smiling and wondering ever again.  I highly recommend this series, but its best start with "One for the Money" and read them in order otherwise you won't understand "Babe" in quite the same way. I get them from my local library.

I have been fairly busy these past weeks, haven't even had time to start watching the set of Due South episodes I got over a week ago from Netflix.  Haven't even caught up on my email!  So much to do!  I will do it, I will, I will...

Nerd quiz! and some CON

From this time forward, you'll hold the title:
Uber Cool Nerd God

Carry it proudly!

---

Quick Fun Facts:

198115 unique people have taken this test.

Based on these unique user's answers...

44.8% of test takers are gals,
53.1% are guys,
...the rest (2.1%) are confused.

17.1% of test takers get aroused by "iPhone," while
40.6% get utterly ill.

34.6% of all test takers would choose the Internet over sex, and
28.3% of married test takers prefer the Internet over sex.

Only 3.6% of test takers own a Jar Jar Binks t-shirt, though
56.0% of them don't own a lightsaber (priorities == messed up).

Borrowed from Sir Brian!

I am always surprised at how much sci fi stuff I do know, despite not thinking I am interested in it. When I saw the Star Trek Experience in Vegas I was amazed at how many of the costumes I recognized.
At CONvergence, I have twice won sci fi video bingo at the Dystopia party. Of course, I don't compete for myself, I compete for an absentee and perhaps that helps. I send the winnings to said absentee. The first time I won a dystopia glow in the dark beer mug, this past July I won a whole mess of things including T-shirts, Chinese propaganda posters, postcards... I kept one t-shirt and a few duplicate posters. I also entered a Canadian trivia contest and won a Canadian comic book, an "I love Canada" temporary tattoo and a yo yo with a maple leaf on it, I sent those to the same absentee, along with other freebies and winnings (including a bamboo steamer!). I did carefully remove any candy that might melt during shipment ;-)
At soon as I find my camera again, I will try to get some pictures from CON up. Its lots of fun!
Of course, I only go because I can watch belly dancing until the wee hours, lol. One of the best things this year was getting a massage ($5 to humane society) WHILE watching belly dancing! The cow asylum party was pretty darn good too! It was still going strong when I left about 3:30am.

So I am finally getting the hang of having weekends

and I made PLANS!

So what happens? We get weather.

To explain:
Until recently for the past 12 yrs I worked at least one day, if not two each weekend. I learned never to plan anything for weekend days. It taken some time to get used to the idea of having totally free weekends, at least for now.

It should be interesting on the highways near me because they made extra lanes for the former 35W traffic out of the shoulders, so there will be no place to push the snow.

I am going to try to do some of my plans tomorrow, calling first to make sure its still happening and keeping an ear/eye to the weather. I hope the ice part of the storm misses us. Since we are in a warning they could shut down the highways so I will try to taken city streets.

I have all wheel drive, ABS, good tires, food, extra clothes and my cell phone.

tombclock.

Your Personal Day of Death is... 

Thursday, September 19, 2058

http://www.tombclock.com/


I ran a friend through it and even though they are younger and not as overweight, their clock was 2022. It scared the hell out of me!

I did an actuary quiz for life insurance a awhile back and the results were similar even though it was a 6 page quiz.
If I got thinner and exercised more, I would gain 6 yrs years.  At age 98, I am not sure I would want an addition 6 yrs. 

I am no longer a prime number

Did you know that in 1789 by United States President George Washington named November 26 as Thanksgiving Day?

I was born on Thanksgiving on November 26! 

The other day a certain sm and I were discussing how often my birthday falls on Thanksgiving, I thought every 9 yrs. or maybe swing between 5 and 9 but I was wrong!

November 26 falls on Thursday in 1998, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037, 2043
so 2049, next?  nope.  I am too sleepy to follow it through.   If anyone knows a nifty algorithm, please post it.

Meanwhile I am having a birthday ginger biscuit and then off to bed!

The lovers, the dreamers and me...

Happy Thanksgiving!




RAINBOW CONNECTION
Kermit the Frog
(Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher)

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbow's are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What do we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Have you been half asleep
And have you heard voices
I've heard them calling my name
Are these the sweet sounds that called
The young sailors
I think they're one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
There's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

and I was shooting for

a 6th grade reading level



oh well, I will have to do better.

stolen from Laurie who stole it from Lorna, LOL!

Way cool

Cowboys herding cats

One of my favorite Wodehouse quotes

People who enjoyed a merely superficial acquaintance with my nephew Archibald (said Mr. Mulliner) were accustomed to set him down as just an ordinary pinheaded young man. It was only when they came to know him better that they discovered their mistake. Then they realized that his pinheadedness, so far from being ordinary, was exceptional. Even at the Drones Club, where the average of intellect is not high, it was often said of Archibald that, had his brain been constructed of silk, he would have been hard put to it to find sufficient material to make a canary a pair of cami-knickers.- P. G. Wodehouse, "The Reverent Wooing of Archibald"


Makes me laugh every time I think of a canary wearing cami-knickers (tap pants)

Ha! I totally guessed on the Q word.

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I may not be able to spell, but I know the words on this quiz, lol!

Masquerade Ball

I just got home from the Masquerade Ball.
It was great fun. I wore my Miss Marple costume from Halloween with a mask on a stick. It seemed to go over well even though everyone else seemed to be sci fi something.
I actually made several masks but when they were done I found I couldn't handle wearing them on my face. I also tried painting on my mask with makeup and glitter, but washed that off as well. It seems anything that touches my skin recently causes a rash or something. The mask on a stick seemed like the only reasonable solution.

There were some great costumes. The lighting was a bit too low for my cell camera, but I might be getting some pictures from someone else, if his turned out. I hope he got a picture of the guy who came as the goblin king from Labyrinth, he was amazing and won 2nd place (I think) in the costume contest. One guy had a Yoda back pack,that I really liked. There was con type food, punch and a cash bar. I picked up a bag o' blood for someone.

I watched a bit of a movie with Jack Nickleson, James Spader, and Michelle Pfeiffer in it, about a guy who turns into an animal and kills women in central park. There was a bathroom scene that should have been scary but only made me laugh after viewing this video on male bathroom etiquette that Jack sent.

Do not

blithely toss a fringed silk velvet burn out scarf into your washing machine even if its HE with a gentle cycle unless you like untangling a 1 1/2 yards of wet 8 inch fringe into the wee hours. The scarf part came out great, the fringe is a nightmare.

It makes me appreciate the times my mother detangled my hair after I left it braided for several weeks at summer camp. I washed it every day after swimming but didn't bother to unbraid it, seemed like a great idea at the time.

I've had better ideas...

uncertain

A friend just called to tell me about a great garage sale. Amazing clothes, sewing/embroidery notions, books, etc... Normally I would run over and check it out, however when she gave me the location I realize it is Bernadette's house, and its her estate sale.

I am not sure I can go over there. She had great things so I know I would like it.  I don't have any of her work and I would like to have something of hers to remember her by.  I haven't been by the house or seen her family since she died.

I suppose I should head over, I can just drive by if its too much.  I called another friend of ours and maybe we can go together...  I hate this!  but most of all I hate that she is dead.

Who ya gonna call?

It is Gumby with a grumpy face?
an over done gingerbread man?
no its T Buster
(name and link has been shortened to protect the innocent)

(with apologies to Ray Parker Jr.)
If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)

I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
If you're seein' things runnin' thru your head
Who can you call (Tbusters)
An' invisible man sleepin' in your bed
Oh who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If you're all alone pick up the phone
An call (Tbusters)

Your tax dollars at work here, folks...

I am eating a chocolate chip cookie

This is something most people take for granted in their lives, the ability to eat whatever treat they want.  This cookie is a Mac the Chip http://www.alternativebaking.com/productinfo.cfm?pid=9&CFID=3877&CFTOKEN=71987114
with no wheat, oil, dairy, peanuts or eggs.  Actually tastes pretty good.

What tasted even better was a cherry almond rice crispie treat that I had last week.

Gas Prices ;-)

I forgot to post that I bought gas yesterday at $2.89/gal.  Today its $2.75/gal, typical

Another propaganda poster

For those who don't know I studied propaganda academically and was briefly enrolled in a phd program but as some would say "life had other plans."
My main area of interest is British World War I propaganda, and Chinese Communist Propaganda. The British because it was what everyone steals from and the Chinese health stuff because it was so effective.
One of my favorite places to hang out in terms of propaganda is the Imperial War Museum in London which is located in what once was the central part Bethlem Royal Hospital (1815-1930) for lunatics and is where the term Bedlam comes from.
While grabbing the link for the museum I notice they are currently having an exhibit I would LOVE to see called Weapons of Mass Communication.
Incidentally the King George poster on the above page link is the original that Germany and the US ripped off for their own propaganda campaigns.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

I can't get the red lines to appear on the graft but basically, I scored like this:
Obsessive/complusive bookworm over 2/3
Literate Good Citizen a bit under 2/3
Book Snob 1/2
Fad Reader barely there maybe 1/20
Non-reader- I wasn't at all
Grabbed from Geoff's blog

In light of the expected influenza pandemic, MSRA, TB and how often I see people not washing their hands, I thought I'd post a few public health propaganda posters.

presenting Mayda!

If y'all, as my grandma would say, want to check out what I have been working on, here is it:

www.myspace.com/maydamiller

Look quick because its gonna change soon ;-)  with new background picture and colors

Bernadette R.I.P.

Bright Eyes

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes. -Simon and Garfunkel


Bernadette died from what I understand were complications from chemotherapy.   She lost the gamble that chemotherapy can prolong one's life, in her case it may have shortened it. She lived 4 months from her diagnosis. 

Another friend and I were going to stop by her house a few days before she died. We called first, I realize from the sound of her husband's voice that it was very bad. She was still in the hospital which was not so unusual, he said there was no point visiting her there although we could.  It was the first time I heard total despair in his voice.  I hoped he was wrong, it seemed inconceivable.

Even though its been several weeks now, its so hard to take in that I will never see her again, hear her voice, feel her irrepressible energy or see the sparkle in her eyes.  She always seemed so unstoppable, a force of nature. She always encourage and inspired me to go after dreams, and reminded me to approach life as if anything was possible when I would forget.
I don't think it was possible to know her and not think of her with a smile. 

I started to write this post a few days ago, but I started crying when I was trying describe the person she, couldn't stop for quite a while.  I am far from the only one who feels this way, she was one of the most loved people, I have ever met. Last week, I was volunteering at the food coop and another friend of hers came in, it was all we could do not to just break down.

September was a very bad month, I try to look at the various things and think in 10yrs time they won't matter, but this will.

I'm crying again...

I think my luck is changing! The price of gas went down two days after I filled up instead of one.

One of my lovely doctors gives me Cox 2 NSAID samples because its not on my insurance company's formulary. Every month or two, I go to their office to pick them up. The office is in a medical building near a large teaching hospital, in a semi-iffy neighborhood. I park on the neighborhood streets because I am cheap, not to mention still unemployed. Usually the samples are in a brown bag and I can walk around without everyone seeing that I have hundreds of dollars of pills in my hands. Occasionally they are in a large clear ziplock baggy. This time they were like this:



Someone obviously had a sense of humor that morning. On the plus side I had lots of room in the elevator and no one came near me walking back to my car.


NL: Al Stewart Cousins
NR: The not so big life by Sarah Susanka
Feeling: sad, friend died
Mood: still dark with perhaps the illusion of a pinprick of possible light at the end of the tunnel, though its probably a train.

Lol, lobster tickets!

"Just like a river running through." Guess what I am listening to?

This is my first post by cell phone. I tried posting pictures directly from my phone but it doesn't seem to work.

Next year in Jerusalem

"Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most sacred of the Jewish holidays, the "Sabbath of Sabbaths."

By Yom Kippur the 40 days of repentance, that begin with the first of Elul, have passed. On Rosh Hashanah G-d has judged most of mankind and has recorded his judgement in the Book of Life. But he has given a 10 day reprieve.

On Yom Kippur the Book of Life is closed and sealed. Those that have repented for their sins are granted a good and Happy New Year.

Since Yom Kippur is the day to ask forgiveness for promises broken to G-d, the day before is reserved for asking forgiveness for broken promises between people, as G-d cannot forgive broken promises between people.

Yom Kippur is a day of "NOT" doing. The is no blowing of the Shofar and Jews may not eat or drink, as fasting is the rule. It is believed that to fast on Yom Kippur is to emulate the angels in heaven, who do not eat, drink, or wash.

The Five Prohibitions of Yom Kippur

1. Eating and drinking
2. Anointing with perfumes or lotions
3. Marital relations
4. Washing
5. Wearing leather shoes

While Yom Kippur is devoted to fasting, the day before is devoted to eating. According to the The Talmud the person "who eats on the ninth of Tishri (and fasts on the tenth) , it is as if he had fasted both the ninth and tenth." Prayer is also down played so that Jews can concentrate on eating and preparing for the fast.

On the eve of Yom Kippur the community joins at the synagogue. Men put on prayer shawls (not usually worn in the evenings). Then as the night falls the cantor begins the "Kol Nidre", it is repeated 3 times, each time in a louder voice. The Kol Nidre emphasizes the importance in keeping vows, as violating an oath is one of the worst sins.

An important part of the Yom Kippur service is the "Vidui" (Viduy) or confession. The confessions serve to help reflect on ones misdeeds and to confess them verbally is part of the formal repentance in asking G-d's forgiveness. Because community and unity are an important part of Jewish Life, the confessions are said in the plural (We are guilty).

As Yom Kippur ends, at the last hour a service called "Ne'ila" (Neilah) offers a final opportunity for repentance. It is the only service of the year during which the doors to the Ark (where the Torah scrolls are stored) remain open from the beginning to end of the service, signifying that the gates of Heaven are open at this time.

The service closes with the verse, said 7 times, "The L-rd is our G-d." The Shofar is sounded once and the congregation proclaim - "Next year in Jerusalem."

Yom Kippur is over."

http://www.holidays.net/highholydays/yom.htm

This is for you Pickle!

How Randomly Cute Is Your Personality?

Underwear Cute Your personality proves to be so randomly cute that you'd wear underwear on your head just because you can. Let's just hope there clean...

How do you compare? Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic

Logic Quiz

You Are Pretty Logical

You're a bit of a wizard when it comes to logic While you don't have perfect logic, you logic is pretty darn good Keep at it - you've got a lot of natural talent in this area!

How Logical Are You?

I took this from Geoff's blog. The shoe question did me in. I kept thinking why would you have socks that didn't match your shoes esp if you dressed in the dark? Also why not just turn on a light? I am a little shoe obsessed at the moment but I will save that for another post.

Wodehouse humour for the day

Even at the Drones Club,
where the average of intellect is not high,
it was often said of Archibald that,
had his brain been constructed of silk,
he would have been hard put to it
to find sufficient material to make
a canary a pair of cami-knickers.
~ P.G. Wodehouse,
"The Reverent Wooing of Archibald"

10702 steps

The second most I have walked since the challenge ended.  I was at the state fair and walked home.  It was in the high 80's today and dripping, my eyes stung from the sweat rolling into them, I thought of Beaumont, I looked for lizards, but there were only the lounge variety.
I picked up a second sapling, got some fresh cotton candy on the cone, tasted nitro ice cream, had a pickle on a stick * looked at the 4h textiles exhibit. I ended up with quite a few canvas bags.  It was the last night and they wanted to get rid of them.

I heard Starship, the 3rd incarnation.  It went Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Starship. The lead singer was the "I fooled around and fell in love" guy.
http://www.mickeythomas.com/
They were quite good.  At one point they did a tribute medley to the previous incarnations which was okay, but miracles they didn't sing the sexual parts, hmmm
I sent a song.  I watched the last set fire works.

My feet hurt and I need a shower.

* everything at the state fair tries to be on a stick.

"banana guards" I can't stop laughing!!!

Every morning I go through all my feeds. I read my friends blogs daily and then read what looks interesting to me for the day. .

I read fashion incubator about once a week unless I am in a pattern making/sewing frame of mind.  They had a pop quiz a couple days ago, which I noticed today because it made  the tailoring trade newsletters:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/pop_quiz_467.html

I know what they are, but I have never used one like that, but I would like to.

I am sure I could run up a few banana covers for anyone who needs one ;)

Just had my first tomato from my balcony

It was very good! I ate it with some fresh sweet basil also from my balcony.

I have 5 tomato plants on my balcony and a few tomatoes are on them, but only 1 was anywhere near ripe.  The cucumbers are just starting to flower.  I hope everything gets ripe before the first frost.  The leeks are very thin, look just a bit thicker than the chives ;-(

I have thyme and basils-sweet, thai, cinnamon, and lemon. I had 3 thymes but only the creeping one is left.

We have had some bad weather here but at least most of my plants survived the storms.

Small political quiz

I am a leftist Libertarian, LOL

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

The political group that
agrees with you most is...

.

LIBERTARIAN

LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and

economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one

that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose

government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate

diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 90%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60%.
(Please note: Scores falling on the Centrist border are counted as Centrist.)

Netflix!

I am so thrilled to have been given Netflix.
I finally finished watching my second disk. 
It was Due South Season 2, disk 2 and it was great! 

Finally, its happened, I became invisible!

When I was younger especially in college, I tried very hard to be a wallflower and not be noticed, but it rarely worked.

The only time I can remember was when I was about 27. I had gotten a haircut I like to referred to as the "twinkie do", and went to the Minneapolis Strictly Business Computer Show. I had some money to spend, about 20K and no one even noticed I was in their booths. So i started playing with their computers. No one noticed! They did eventually notice their screen savers had somehow changed to say "I'd rather be a Mac."
In fact, I was still in one booth when it was discovered but still no one noticed me, I was amazed! A few days later, I flew off to Germany to attended the Hanover Cebit where I had no problem being notice wearing the same outfit, "twinkie do" and all. I actually got all the information I needed, plus seriously wined and dined! I got rid of the "twinkie do" when I got back home but my hair stylist and I still reminisce about it sometimes.

I had heard that when women become a certain age they become invisible, and today I realized it was true, I have become invisible.
Usually there are people and rabbits around my apartment building, and the neighborhood also has a lot of rabbits. When I come home at night there is a usually a rabbit looking at my headlights and chumping on something. Sometimes the rabbit says and sometimes it takes off when I close the car door. I never really thought of why that was until today.

As I was walking to the post office, a rabbit come out in front of me to eat some grass, I kept walking and the rabbit kept eating, I was within 6 inches of the rabbit and it didn't even notice me. Thinking about it I realized the rabbits take off when I am with other people (most of whom are younger than I) and they stay when I am alone.

Suddenly it dawned on me, I have become invisible to RABBITS! How this can be possible is beyond me, but I guess its a good thing as I am allergic to them...
I am wondering if rabbits are color blind because if you had this combination of colors next to you, wouldn't you notice?

Just a bit of weather...

When I got home Friday night at about 2 am I was wondering where is that weather that we were supposed to get.  My friend said that's tomorrow.  A few of my neighbors where up and outside, the weather seemed just fine,
When I was doing an email a bit later I thought I heard some thunder so I unplugged my computer before getting ready for bed.

I was just reading a bit, having sent off my final emails and text messages for the day and getting all comfy when the storm started.  It was very loud, lots of close lightening, deafening thunder, sound of rain and tree branches scrapping the building.  Then the lights flickered a few times, so I got up and started unplugging the tv and assorted video stuff, the microwave, put the lanyard reading light around my neck and checked the flash light by my bed. The lights went out, then on for a few more minutes then off for good.  

I tried to look outside but the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see beyond the end of my balcony.  It was so hot.  The electricity and the more importantly the AC didn't come back on until 11am. At which point my phone rang and my gardening partner asked to come over to iron a shirt as she still was without power.
the first pic St Anthony Park is MY neighborhood!!!
http://wcco.com/slideshows/local_slideshow_223104336

###

Well, it looks like I will have to postpone the rest of my weather and picture post as we are about to get hammered again.  Need to move glass stuff off balcony for hail. We are in a thunderstorm warning already.  Time to freeze the apartment in case of power outage, unplug stuff,

She smiled!

I was going to post about the lovely bit of weather we have had recently, but when we stop by the zoo and conservatory during our view of the damage, we went into the tropical encounters part. We watched the turtles, and the fish. There is also a sloth there always in the same spot in this tree, curled up and sleeping. However today when we were in front of the tree, she woke up! Stretched in a very sloth like manner, smiled at us, relaxed and went back to sleep kind of sprawled out on her back. I have never seen a sloth do that. My brother took the photo.

What Harry Potter Character are You? Hermione Granger You are a smart and intelligent person. You use your smarts to help out friends. You can be emotional at times but you always seem to be in the mood to help someone out. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Grabbed from Kami Sanctuary

What kind of Poetry are you?

I am, of course, none other than blank verse. I don't know where I'm going, yes, quite right; And when I get there (if I ever do) I might not recognise it. So? Your point? Why should I have a destination set? I'm relatively happy as I am, And wouldn't want to be forever aimed Towards some future path or special goal. It's not to do with laziness, as such. It's just that one the whole I'd rather not Be bothered - so I drift contentedly; An underrated way of life, I find. What Poetry Form Are You?

Stardust-another, very different, red hot fairy tale.

I was going to start this post with a great quote but I can't remember it right, its about how romantic it is to bring a hurt kidnapped women home as a gift.

I am very sleepy, stayed up too late and had to get up early, plus I spent the day in meetings and attempting to learn Dreamweaver. I was afraid I would fell asleep during the movie, but it wouldn't let me!

Stardust is amazing, almost as good as Princess Bride. The cast is great and no one can touch De Niro's performance in this, no one! The peanut gallery is hilarious. Costumes were fun too. I almost forgot the special effects were fantastic, I didn't see any mistakes, and no ILM!!!

It opens on Friday, I have no idea why on earth they did a screening today, but I am happy they did.

Dilemma

Recently I purchased a new publication from someone I know professionally and usually see about once a year.  I was reading this a couple weeks ago and something about some of it felt very familiar.  Today it dawned on my where it might have come from and I looked it up. 

The pages I was wondering about are pretty identical to a magazine article published in December 2004.  The article is not long available on line without paying serious money but I have a copy of it.  Some of it is copied word for word and what is even worse that part of the article is describing another person's methodology which was properly credited in the magazine article.  There are a couple people who worked on this publication so maybe the credit got removed during editing or something.

So I am not sure what to do, but I need to do something.  Any ideas?

Humble, lovable shoe shine boy?

Am I the only one who likes Underdog?  I keep seeing this ad for the new Underdog movie and whenever I mention it, I get blank stares and/or silence.  Surely someone other than me (and my brothers) like Underdog?

The Great Walk Challenge

Congratulations Jack on winning the walk challenge !!!

Thanks Laurie for walking with us and being our fabulous scorekeeper! The final scores are below.

Based on my rough calculations Jack averaged over 6 miles/day, Laurie over 2 miles/day and I a bit under 5.4 miles/day. All in all a good showing for each of us considering the physical stuff like Laurie was not a walker, Jack did it in spurts, and I broke a toe during it. Then there was the stuff happening in our lives during the challenge like my place of work making a mad dash not to go under and then going under, Laurie's becoming a grand fabulous mother and Jack's, ummm..., life.

Before we started, I was walking about 5 miles most days, now that the challenge is over I hope to start walking for about an hour every morning, and then maybe a short walk in the evening around dinnertime. I am working on having the proper equipment so I can walk everyday. I have the hot sunny days worked out, poncho for the rainy ones, wind pants and yak trax for the snowy/icy ones but I still need new hiking boots (mine bit the dust last year) and winter clothing. I have some power dry, lots of fleece, wool for trousers and ultrex to play with. I lost a few mittens last year so I need to make some of those. I am most excited about the polar dry and wondering if it could also be used for dance work out stuff too.

The Walk Challenge

Total Steps to Date

Jack...768,422

Susan..683,181

Laurie.260,768

Week 1 (5/13/07 - 5/19/07)

Jack....67,568

Susan...69,357

Laurie..38,634

Week 2 (5/20/07 - 5/26/07)

Jack...150,501

Susan...77,752

Laurie..41,081

Week 3 (5/27/07 - 6/2/07)

Jack....74,037

Susan...54,750

Laurie..37,247

Week 4 (6/3/07 - 6/9/07)

Jack....48,759

Susan...79,352

Laurie..33,308

Week 5 (6/10/07 - 6/16/07)

Jack....50,869

Susan...86,242

Laurie..31,791

Week 6 (6/17/07 - 6/23/07)

Jack....61,615

Susan...54,828

Laurie..16,644

Week 7 (6/24/07 - 6/30/07)

Jack...129,251

Susan...67,949

Laurie..19,618

Week 8 (7/1/07 - 7/7/07)

Jack....82,199

Susan...72,986

Laurie..19,065

Week 9 (7/8/07 - 7/14/07)

Jack...103,623

Susan...93,653

Laurie..23,380

So I am beginning to recover

from CONvergence.  I was going to put some of my pics up and I can't find my camera!!!  I hope it turns up soon. 

For those of you who can't wait for me to find the camera, C. pointed me to this blog, http://rubyd.livejournal.com/306444.html that has some nice tame pictures, even one with me in it! 
Based on what I am wearing I believe it was taken at about 2am on Sunday morning, after a mere 19 hrs at con with about 5 hrs sleep between Friday and Saturday. 

I am still keeping relatively late hours but I plan to be wide eyed and bushy tailed at 8am tomorrow, and at 6am by Monday morning.

Hopefully I will find the camera soon and can post my pics.  Perhaps it is hanging out with the library book I lost called "getting unstuck."  On the plus side, I do know where my favorite necklace is, Jack ;-)

I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night

oh wait...I did. At least some, and I didn't want to stop, but but was 4am and was invited to a tea at 11am.
So its 5am now and I am home in one piece.

I won a Canadian trivia contest and Sci Fi video bingo!!!!! Neither of which I am an expert on by any stretch of imagination, but I won!!!

Since Friday I have been at CON, more later and even perhaps pictures. I really ought to go to sleep soon.

So I have my Sunday's free again

so I join my brother in his frequent Sunday activity which is rebate shopping. 
I am not very good at this, I pretty much have to fill out of the forms and everything right after we shop or I forget.  Usually its just sport unless there is something you really want, then its deadly serious.

I really wanted a new hard drive for backup since I am getting my life organized. Jack showed me what he was doing in Quicken when I was down there visiting and it seemed like a good idea esp as I am unemployed now. I am also going to organize a bunch of stuff and want to use my current back up drive for that.

So we get to the store at 9:40 and there are 4 guys sitting in 4 cars, 1 guy standing in front of the store.  We get out and wait with him.  I try various things to see if I can get my pedometer going while we wait, the only things that works is pacing and I could have lost my space in line if I did that. More guys show up, store employees slide themselves into the store and carefully close and lock all sets of doors afterwards.

My brother and I discuss strategy.  He will go for the drives and I will go for the free after rebate things. This was Office Depot and they have been changing a bunch of stuff. he tells me where he thinks they are.  We are not sure about the drives so he will find and ask the manager. 

In times past sometimes he would go early, load up a couple carts and then call me and friends to come help check out.  These things are usually 1 per address.  I am a bit out of practice, I have forgotten my office max coupon so they can match it and we are not working like the well oiled machine we were in the past when we got ourselves every freebie (including a car tv) plus the rebate items.

I can't find the free after rebates things, so I find him at the drives, there are 3 of them, we grab the two best looking ones.  They are listed at $199, marked down to $89, we have $40 rebate. Its a 250g seagate external UBS2 drive, a bit slower than firewire but not bad for $60. We found the freebies too. There were also a hardware and an auto parts store with stuff.

I just finished filling out the rebate forms. We got each a drive, 3m glue stick, two side repositionable roller 3m tape, 3 pk of energel pens, box of 4x6 inkjet photo paper, 2 gallons of antifreeze, 2 gal of prem bug wash window washing fluid, a microfiber towel, elmers polyurethane glue, 2 pks ge softwhite 4pk light bulbs, a utility lighter, an assortment of 3 plastic funnels, 16oz murphy oil soap, tech stain remover, and black tire wet protectant.

Cost for the above after rebates- $68.53 including tax and stamps to mail in the rebates.  Not bad, not bad at all.. 

Oh except for a kid who was some nerd's daughter, I was the only female doing rebate shopping this morning, another place to pick up guys for your list Laurie!  One could just find the best thing on sale & rebate and hold it ransom until a cute nerd wants it. Today everyone was going for the drives and some inkjet printer that was too infer by our standards so we left it.

Anyway if anyone wants to play this game, just email me and I will try and forward any decent deals I hear about and you too can do it.

Evening

The movie screening invites were flying in the last couple weeks of my job, I only had time for a few.  The movie "Evening" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765447/ was one of them. I saw it in one of those lovely new stadium seating theaters, and although they did the spiel about no recording devices, they weren't cell phone nazis like at some screenings. 

Its about dying and death, but its a very warm hearted film about dying and death. There are parts that are a bit sad, my companion was teary eyed. My companion said something about thinking it was going to be a "chick flick"  but it really wasn't.  Having never seen Beaches I am not quite sure what a chick flick is, but anyway.
It was a great film, fantastic actors, not so sure about the costumes but it was a Hungarian director shooting a US based filmed.  Hugh Darcy was fantastic!!!  Mamie Gummer did a great job! 

There was a very interesting Q &A with the director, Lajos Koltai afterwards. His message he said was "Don't forget to ask the questions before its too late." He told us his history, he had been a cinematographer for 35 yrs and it certainly shows in the film.  He did a great job of using flash backs to float between time in the story.  At one point in the story there is this moth that a character follows, and he explained the trails of finding the right moth and then animating it. When talking about various characters perceptions he said he understood it well as he has an older sister who has completely different memory for the same things as he does.

I asked the director the time line in making the film and he said from Feb.-June 2007. 2 months prep work, 40 days filming, 3 months editing, fixing and music. It is an amazingly good film especially considering the time line. It sounded like it was a love fest on the set. At times they would listen to music like Chopin, think feelings and then read the scene.  The director did lots of nice things, hugs, eat with everyone, tell them how happy he was they were in his movie (and he really seemed to be thrilled that everyone was), he also gave individual notes instead of public ones. It sounded like he really tried to make working on the film a pleasant experience.  I have gone to quite a few Q&A's with directors and 2 of them really stand out- Lajos Koltai, and Wim Wenders as being great directors and cool people in general.

When I went to see this movie I wasn't sure I was up to it, lots of people around me have cancer, the company bit the dust, I am was so tired and soon to be unemployed, but I really enjoyed it. It made me smile and took me away from all that for a while.

Belly dancing on YouTube

The founder and head of my belly dance school has a short piece on youtube
I can't watch it but you can:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTk6-9qOKxE

Death at a Funeral part 2

So last Tuesday night I ended up seeing yet another screening of "Death at a Funeral" so another friend could go with me. It was a zoo.

The first time I showed up at the appointed time, gave my name, got checked off the list, bought some snowcaps walked into the theater and sat down. Last night was totally different.

I get to the theater at the appointed time, 6:30, go to give my name and am told that the list hasn't arrived. Am asked for my email confirmation which I didn't bring because it said you do not need to bring it, and besides the first time was no problem. soon there is a line of people waiting for the list, there is also a line of people with their emails, studio passes, etc..

At almost 7 a guy shows up with the list. Its 4 pages long, and the names are in random order. "To make it easier" someone copies the list so two people now have a 4 page multi column list. I had suggested that they each take two pages, but...
I am like 8th in line and I find my name, get my tickets and then go stand in the other line.

At one point the theater gets so frustrated that they stop checking the list and give everyone tickets The movie is supposed to start at 7 but there isn't a theater available so there is a long line snaking its self outside the theater and around the building. It is about 90 with a bright somewhat setting sun. I am in the inside line. At about 7:30 we get into the theater and they start the film. My friend got me a Fiji water, flat bottled water from Fiji, she got it because it was the only water but why would someone want water from Fiji??? esp at $4.00 a bottle? It tasted fine, but still...

I didn't mention the opening credits in my previous review, but they are pretty cool. The film was just as good the second time round, and the very end just as unbelievable.
I didn't mention that the facial expressions in the movie are amazing before but I should have. I make a lot of faces myself, but some of the ones in the movie were just pricelessly expressive.
I was laughing hard through much of it even I knew what was coming. I still recommend it!

An announcement was made that it will not be opening until August now, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer to see it.

I am winning, I am winning, I am winning...

Hidden down at the bottom of Laurie's blog pageis our walking challenge. I challenged Jack to keep up with me, and for a while he out walked me,but I am afraid that my original contention that I can out walk him maybe true after all, at least it is at the moment.

Laurie graciously agreed to be score keeper and also join us in walking. Her numbers are quite respectable for one who has not been walking as much as Jack and I have over time.

"The Walk Challenge

Total Steps to Date

Jack...386,838

Susan..393,765

Laurie.182,061

Week 1 (5/13/07 - 5/19/07)

Jack....67,568

Susan...69,357

Laurie..38,634

Week 2 (5/20/07 - 5/26/07)

Jack...150,501

Susan...77,752

Laurie..41,081

Week 3 (5/27/07 - 6/2/07)

Jack....74,037

Susan...54,750

Laurie..37,247

Week 4 (6/3/07 - 6/9/07)

Jack....48,759

Susan...79,352

Laurie..33,308

Week 5 (6/10/07 - 6/16/07)

Jack....45,973

Susan...86,242

Laurie..31,791"

Everything tastes better with Hollandaise sauce

I had a friend who used to say "Every thing's better with beer" well...

A few days ago I had an artichoke and instead of making a lemon butter sauce I made some Hollandaise sauce.
It tasted great but I still had almost a cup of sauce left. The next morning I made an omelet with the left over egg whites and put some sauce on it. Then at dinner over Mahi Mahi. It wasn't bad over chicken, salmon, steamed baby bok choy, and a little bit on not very sweet strawberries made them sweeter.
I am starting to consider all sorts of uses for it... Can you imagine how much slippery the food scene in 9 1/2 weeks would be if they had used Hollandaise sauce as well?

Death at a Funeral

Last night I saw the new movie, Death at a Funeral http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795368/.
While watching it I did not look at my watch, check my phone, send txt msgs, get up for water, candy, bathroom, disturb other movie goers or rearrange my possessions. I might have squirmed but I am not good at sitting still even when I am at full attention and I was at full attention watching this action packed film.

Death at a Funeral is a British farce is directed by Frank Oz. It starts out simply as everyone gathering for a funeral and then dissolves in to madness. There are lots of possible victims.  It has drugs, violence, sex, nudity, dysfunctional relationships, bad language, love, secrets, a bit of really gross humor, beautiful setting, strange characters, and a relatively happy ending-at least for the living.  I don't want to say much more for fear of giving the plot away except that I recommend people go see it.

The US release date is June 29, 2007.

Places

Bold the places you've been and italicize the places you long to see. At the end, add one place you've been and one place you'd like to go. Grabbed from lesliepear.

(This list is a bit heavy on amusement parks. )

1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year ¹
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C. (Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the war memorials): About 25 million
3. Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million
7. Fisherman's Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million 10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million
11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million
14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million
17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million 20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000
21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million
22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million
23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million
24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million
25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1 million
26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million
27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million
28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million
29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million
30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million¹
31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million
32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million
33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million
34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million
35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million
36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million¹
37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million
39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million¹
41. Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million¹
43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million
44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million
45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million
46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million
47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million
48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million
50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million
51. Angel Falls, Venezuela
52. Pyramid Kukulcan in Chichen Itza, Yucatan Mexico
53. Temple of the Descending God in Tulum, Quintana Roo Mexico
54. Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
55. Star Trek: The Experience, Las Vegas, NV
56. Space Needle Seattle, WA²
57. Machu Pichu, Peru
58. Amber Palace in Jaipur, India
59. The Smithsonian in Washington DC³
60. The Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany⁴
61. Stonehenge, England
62. Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Poland
63. Cape Cod, MA
64. Vienna, Austria
65. Experience Music Project Seattle, WA²
66. New England Aquarium Boston MA
67. The Bronx Zoo¹
68. The Old City in Quebec, Canada
69. Key West, Florida
70. Antarctica
71 Edinburgh Festival and Fringe
72 Kathmandu, Nepal

Its windy here...

its blowing the pinwheels off my balcony, rearranging the furniture & planters and I am singing "the highwayman' as sung by Phil Ochs. Of course our voices are a bit different, I'm an alto and he was Phil Ochs!

Unfortunately Phil Ochs died before I could hear him live, but from what I can tell he was a great guy and he wrote some amazing lyrics, although Highwayman was a poem by Alfred Noyes. My favorite album of his is "I ain't Marching anymore" which is basically a collection of his protest songs.
'The first song of his I heard was called "outside of a small circle of friends" about a woman in New York who was stabbed to death while her neighbors watched, I remember reading about it, her first name was Kitty. The refrain goes "it really wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends..."

Anyway, a friend of mine used play that song in the Boston subways and I would go down to listen to him. He had a voice similar to Phil's, so much so that occasionally friends of Phil's would approach us crying to say how much my friend sounded like him. This was in the summer of 1978 only a few years after his death.

I used to wonder why about his suicide when he was so loved, but now having watch a wonderful person and my kindred spirit disappear into the abyss of severe depression, I understand a bit more. It is so frustrating for those on the outside trying to help, but it can only be sheer hell on the inside trying everything and nothing working.

"The wind was a torrent of darkness
Among the gusty trees
The moon was a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon cloudy seas
And the road was a ribbon of moonlight
Over the purple moor
And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding
Yes, the highwayman came riding
Up to the old inn door
Over the cobbles he clattered
And clashed in the darkened yard
And he tapped with his whip at the window
But all was locked and barred
So he whistled a tune to the window
And who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black eyed daughter
Bess the landlord's daughter
Plaiting a dark red love knot
Into her long black hair
One kiss, my bonny sweetheart
For I'm after a prize tonight
But I shall be back with the yellow gold
Before the morning light
Yet if they press me sharply
Harry me through the day
Oh, then look for me by moonlight
Watch for me by moonlight
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
Though Hell should bar the way
He did not come at the dawning
No, he did not come at the noon
And out of the tawny sunset
before the rise of the moon
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon
Looping the purple moor
Oh a redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching
King George's men came marching
Up to the old inn door
And they bound the landlord's daughter
with many a sniggering jest
And they bound the musket beside her
With the barrel beneath her breast
Now keep good watch and they kissed her
She heard the dead man say
"Oh look for me by moonlight
Watch for me by moonlight
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
Though Hell should bar the way"
Look for me by moonlight
Hoof beats ringing clear
Watch for me by moonlight
Were they deaf that they did not hear
For he rode on the gypsy highway
She breathed one final breath
Then her finger moved in the moonlight
Her musket shattered the moonlight
And it shattered her breast in the moonlight
And warned him with her death
Oh he turned; he spurred on to the west
He did not know who stood
Out with her black hair a flowing down
Drenched with her own red blood
Oh not 'til the dawn had he heard it
And his face grew gray to hear
How Bess the landlord's daughter
The landlord's black eyed daughter
Had watched for her love in the moonlight
And died in the darkness there
Back he spurred like a madman
Shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him
And his rapier brandished high
Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon
Wine red his velvet coat
When they shot him down on the highway
Down like a dog on the highway
And he lay in his blood on the highway
With a bunch of lace at his throat
And still on a winter's night they say
When the wind is in the trees
When the moon is a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon cloudy seas
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight
Over the purple moor
Oh the highwayman comes riding, riding, riding
Yes the highwayman comes riding
Up to the old inn door."

wiped! version 1

up 9:20
10-2:55- work
3-6 cashier at food coop
6:10 on way to museum party
6:30-9 Museum
something until...?
Masaic house near musuem
Dinner at middle eastern restaurant with Belly dancer. The dancer is my Saturday morning instructor
Saturday morning instructor
shopping at a Persian market
11 ish- home

Dance class at 9:30am-11 tomorrow
I hope I can move

Partied

I went last night, had a great time, made it to class okay and am going back tonight with a few more people.

The Italian treats one could buy all contained wheat AND cheese! every single one! I will have to speak to someone about that.

The Iron floral design contest was just flower arranging, amazing arrangements but for some reason I was thinking flowers made of iron, can you tell I don't watch much tv??? So I was a bit disappointed.
The friend I went with has been taking hoop dancing and her instructor was there outside doing a kids activity thing, guying playing with a diablo along with a poi swinger. I used to do diablos, but my elbows have been kind of shot since a freak accident in Vegas a few years ago, even though I have had plenty of pt with them, I still have some problems.
Anyway, I tried hoop dancing, the hoops are weighted and fairly heavy. and you kind of slowly belly dance inside them. It was okay, and I will probably start going to the free open hoop thing.
The poi swinging is SO cool!!! I am going to take that up.

Party

Our local museum has this event called "Art in Bloom" where they place flower arrangements around the museum, hold flower centric events and have docents dressed as figures flower oriented paintings. Years ago, the museum had some wild parties, there is a new director again so maybe the parties are back.

Tonight's is called Flower's After Hours. "Enjoy a taste of 'bella Italia' at this lively complimentary Carnevale, complete with a scavenger hunt and an art-trivia contest (with fabulous prizes!). Watch the 2nd-annual Celebrity Iron Florist Floral Design Contest. Meet our floral artists and discover what inspires them. Head to the MIA for a different kind of happy hour—and experience the Art in Bloom arrangements at their peak!"

Unfortunately I have dance class at 7:30 and have already missed 2 this session so far. The Iron Florist event is from 6-7, so I will go and try to catch that event with a fellow dancer, maybe go a bit early and enter the art trivia event as well. There is another party on Friday night so I might hit that one if I don't see everything tonight.

"Looking at the world, Through the sunset in your eyes

Trying to make the train
Through clear Moroccan skies
Ducks and pigs and chickens call
Animal carpet wall to wall
American ladies five foot tall in blue."

Its 11:30pm and I am singing and dancing...  Someone shared their musical library with me and I am hearing songs I haven't heard in ages.

"four dead in Ohio" does anyone even remember?  just got distracted looking for the AP photo of a protester being carried off by 4 policeman during the gym protest of 1977.  I knew him, rather well in fact. 

I should probably head to bed but there is so much to sing and dance to.  I stayed up too late talking with a friend last night. 

After I got off the phone I was violently ill for a couple more hours, I know better than to eat white chocolate really I do, but dark chocolate never makes me ill...
Fell asleep at 4, work up at 5:30 to discover that I had forgotten to do the Cpap thing, stumbled into the bathroom to fill the humidifier tank on it, only to drop and spilled about a half gallon of distilled water. That woke me up!

old blog/ new blog

I will be posting on both blogs for a few days until everything gets set up. I hope it doesn't drive anyone too nuts.

I just finished watching a PBS American Experience on Jonestown.

I found it just as disturbing almost 30 yrs later. I had always known it was murder suicide at least for the small children, but I never realized that there were so few voluntary suicides among the 900 dead. 250 of them who were children under age 18 were definitely murdered.

Survivors talk about the area being surrounded by armed guards who will kill them if they don't kill themselves. There are recordings of Jim Jones' voice during the mass murder/suicide that are just chilling, offering them this way to die or by a gun.
There were also references to Jim Jones'political power and influence. The transcript of the program will be on the site soon.

I am having an argument with someone regarding whether or not G-d warned the people who died. They are saying God would have warned them that Jones wasn't a man of God, and they should have known and not gone to Guyana if they were listening.
I am having serious problems with this. First I think it is hubris to claim to know the wisdom of G-d and secondly, it blames the victims.

Sadly, the whole Ryan visit that instigated Jonestown was over custody of a little boy whose parents wanted him back.

Jonestown

I just finished watching a PBS American Experience on Jonestown.

I found it just as disturbing almost 30 yrs later. I had always known it was murder/suicide at least for the small children, but I never realized that there were so few voluntary suicides among the 900 dead. 250 of them, who were children under age 18, were definitely murdered.

Survivors talk about the area being surrounded by armed guards who will kill them if they don't kill themselves. There are recordings of Jim Jones' voice during the mass murder/suicide that are just chilling, offering them this way to die or by a gun.
There were also references to Jim Jones'political power and influence. The transcript of the program will be on the site soon.

I am having an argument with someone regarding whether or not G-d warned the people who died. They are saying God would have warned them that Jones wasn't a man of God, and they should have known and not gone to Guyana if they were listening.
I am having serious problems with this. First I think it is hubris to claim to know the wisdom of G-d and secondly, it blames the victims.

Sadly, the whole Ryan visit that instigated Jonestown was over custody of a little boy whose parents wanted him back. He died with the other 249 children.

Back from Texas

where its 27 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing. Wind chill about 12 and I didn't have a coat, mittens or a hat with me. Luckily my ride home had a warm car and a coat I could use.

It took me a LONG time to get back, first Houston to Atlanta was running late due to weather, then I had a long lovely layover in Atlanta with an extra hour thrown in due to weather. Then we went a slightly longer route to avoid weather, but still ended up with some exciting turbulence of the roller coaster variety.

Do you know that there was literally no lunch type food I could get at the Atlanta that didn't have major milk or wheat in it? Good thing I still had some cashews and some cadbury mini eggs that a very swell man gave me before I left.

Things I liked about my trip


Jack
Laurie
the hell hole
the washing machine which I got to witness dumping water on the floor
the weather
the warmth
the moisture
the rain
everything so green
the plants
the weird way houses sit off the ground on stones or bricks or something
the sock
Baby complete with an early am disappearing act (luckily no dog catchers were involved.)
sightseeing with Laurie
stuff with Jack
Due South
cds
Pickle
the very funny mystery I got to read over the two days I was at UH
the food-Luby's, Spindletop, Tokyo, Chaba (thanks Laurie!), Chez Jacque's, Pickle's UH dorm
the peace
relaxing
chocolate
lots of cadbury mini eggs
walking with John
turtles, lizards, strange aquatic birds, big ass aligator
seeing all the stuff I have heard about over the years
feeling comfortable and safe

off kilter

today I went to work, then the conservatory where I finished writing my thank you notes from my Texas trip, and sent pictures of plants via cell phone.  I may have to include translations with my notes as my hand writing is pretty bad. 
A few months ago it was non-existent, but after lots of PT I can get through more than a few sentences now. I started one of them on one of the planes back here and it isn't pretty. I was always taught one should hand write them, like one does condolence cards but what is more important the form or the message? 

The trip back was long and delayed.  Storms from Houston to Atlanta, big stop over the Midwest, ait tran gave me a flying bear which I thought that might be a nice thank gift. 
I started a post the other day about things I liked about my trip, but it was just a long list with links, so I thought maybe I will list a few each day. 

I have belly dance class in about 20 mins and its going to be bad.  I missed the first class last week, and although I practiced some while I was away, I didn't do enough.  Also I ate about 30 mins ago, bad idea, undulations on full stomach is at best painful.  Oh well off I go...

missing Texas

This morning it was in the teens. I put on my wind pants, parka, neck gator, hat with boa, mittens and trudged outside to my car. I brushed the snow off the head lights then found the driver's door was frozen shut, so I got in the passenger's side.  I parked it in the sun and I hope it defrosts by the time I leave work.

I can just feel my skin drying out already...

Back in St. Paul

where its 27 degrees fahrenheit and snowing. Windchill about 12 and I didn't have a coat, mittens or a hat with me. Luckily my ride home had a warm car and a coat I could use.

It took me a LONG time to get back, first Houston to Atlanta was running late due to weather, then I had a long lovely layover in Atlanta with an extra hour thrown in due to weather. Then we went a slightly longer route to avoid weather, but still ended up with some exciting turberlance of the roller coaster variety.

Do you know that there was literally no lunch type food I could get at the Atlanta that didn't have major milk or wheat in it? Good thing I still had some cashews and some cadbury mini eggs that a very swell man gave me before I left.

Things I liked about my trip


Jack
Laurie
the hell hole
the washing machine which I got to witness dumping water on the floor
the weather
the warmth
the moisture
the rain
everything so green
the plants
the weird way houses sit off the ground on stones or bricks or something
the sock
Baby complete with an early am disappearing act (luckily no dog catchers were involved.)
sightseeing with Laurie
stuff with Jack
Due South
cds
Pickle
the very funny mystery I got to read over the two days I was at UH
the food-Luby's, Spindletop, Tokyo, Chaba (thanks Laurie!), Chez Jacque's, Pickle's UH dorm
the peace
relaxing
chocolate
lots of cadbury mini eggs
walking with John
turtles, lizards, strange aquatic birds, big ass aligator
seeing all the stuff I have heard about over the years
feeling comfortable and safe

New Blog!

My current blog is A silly man at blogcity and over the new few months I will be making a general migratory movement here.
I am in Texas in the moment, not on dial-up! so I am using this opportunity to actually begin.
I have had some interesting adventurers here in Texas, some of which you can read about on Laurie's blog here.
Blogger seems much easier to use so far and I hope to be blogging a lot more often. I plan on posting more pictures too, unfortunately I was too interested in moving away to get any of the "big ass" alligator, but I did get some others.