something i found that i had written 7 july 2005

where are the friends of my childhood?
my bunkmates, my soulmates, my heart.
where are the voices i heard in the woods -
vowing never to part.

where are the songs of my childhood?
tunes burned into my mind.
where are the voices i heard in the woods -
making promises for all time.

where are the games of my childhood?
the laughter that rose in the night.
where are the voices i heard in the woods -
the challenge to do what was right.

where are the friends of my childhood?
i sit here so lonely today.
where are the voices i heard in the woods -
and why did they all go away?

stop the madness!

have you heard about that woman in california who had 8 babies? her fertility dr planted 8 embryos in her uterus. that dr is out of control. this woman already had 6 kids under the age of 7, and she lives w/ her parents in a 1500 sq ft house. that woman is out of control. how do people get away with this stuff? why are there no safeguards against... that's right... this woman spending our money. she is not self-supporting. i mean, angelina jolie can have all the bebes she wants b/c she can afford them, but this woman... living w/ her parents in a 1500 sq ft house? for reals? c'mon, people. each of the 8 babies is in intensive care, at the tune of $1000 per day per bebe. $8000 per day. for 10 wks. do the math.

books 2009

currently:
scarpetta
[patricia cornwell]

books 2008 - final list

i feel like i am leaving something off after shadowmancer. very aggravating.

completed:
shadowmancer
[g.p. taylor]
the appeal
[john grisham]
pendragon #1: the merchant of death
[dj machale]
home another way
[christa parrish]
what is mine
[anne holt]
the girl who stopped swimming
[joshilyn jackson]
king of lies
[john hart]
queste
[angie sage]
physik
[angie sage]
flyte
[angie sage]
magyk
[angie sage]
inkheart
[cornelia funke]
bones to ashes
[kathy reichs]
touchstone
[laurie r. king]
irish tiger
[andrew greeley]
the bishop at the lake
[andrew greeley]
break no bones
[kathy reichs]
cross bones
[kathy reichs]
fatal voyage
[kathy reichs]
monday mourning
[kathy reichs]
bare bones
[kathy reichs]
grave secrets
[kathy reichs]
cause celeb
[helen fielding]
death du jour
[kathy reichs]
déjà dead
[kathy reichs]
playing for pizza
[john grisham]
the big over easy
[jasper fford]
the life all around me by ellen foster
[kaye gibbons]
the name of the wind
[patrick rothfuss]
eat, pray, love
[elizabeth gilbert]

sky

orange streetlight-sated clouds
create close confines.
warm dye belies cold heart,
stealth snow collector.
sly one you are --
alluring glow, mere shallow reflection -
sunshine on your face, ice in your soul.

the seller did not understand the meaning of "fully lined".

she also did not understand the meaning of "dry clean before sending". whatevs. we have dry cleaners here - like, one on every corner. guess i should try it on first. attempting discern how much money we have in the bank before making any more ebay purchases. plus, there was that whole "simplify" thing i had going on. kind of goes against purchasing more clothing, eh?

was at starbux today, and they've got red velvet cupcakes and some sort of double-choc cup cakes and... vanilla bean cupcakes. oooo! those v-bean babies looked delish.

[begin political content]obama says "even families who don’t pay income taxes get relief". fyi - that's a redistribution of wealth, not a stimulus. be honest - call it what it is.[end political content]

tonight, jr came over to do his taxes online. it went very well, and his taxes are somewhat complicated. of course, we still have not received all the forms we need to do our taxes. b/c our form suppliers are wack. wackity-whack-wac.

there are these commercials on teevee for cash4gold where you send in your old, broken jewelry and receive back cash. who would send off their jewelry in hopes of receiving cash in return? have they never heard of pawn shops? wack.

i would regale you with tales of college bball, but the teams i follow are wack. no need to go into that. speaking of sports, the super bowl is this weekend. we're likely going to watch it on jr's big screen teevee after we return from watching mini-me sing her lovely singing with her lovely singing group. the super bowl would be more exiting if the titans were in it. or, peyton. or, eli. but, hey, maybe the commercials will be good.

open your cheese encrusted eyes!

i wish it were friday... where has the year gone? yeah, we've been over this before, but still... i get so, so, so tired of people saying "what happened to the time" when they have wished it freakin' away.

have you seen a school lunch line lately? there are no healthy choices for kids. we wonder why kids are fat. sheesh. pizza + macaroni + corn dogs + chicken fingers + chicken sticks + french fries + hamburgers. the hamburger might have some redeeming qualities, and there's nothing inherently wrong with chicken. hell, there's nothing inherently wrong with food - period. it's just that we eat too much of the wrong stuff. our bodies are hungry for nutrients, and we give them empty calories, so they are hungry again. there is this book called eat this not that - and it's really cool. it compares real-world food choices, like macaroni & cheese versus spaghettios - choose the spaghettios. who knew? and, choose swiss over cheddar. good, b/c i like swiss better! this one lady on the show was like - i cannot afford swiss, so i get cheddar. hrm. that one got me. i never thought about swiss being expensive. brought a whole new perspective to life.

it's supposed to snow tomorrow. we ended up running at the gym today, which was a cop-out. the weather wasn't that bad. should have run outside. tomorrow, it will be cold & snowy. i hope it snows, not rains. i shall run outside. i shall!

did i tell you i bought something else on ebay? what a money pit that place is. but, in this case, it was $10, including shipping, for a navy blue fully lined knee legth sheath dress. i have been looking for that very item. i hope that it fits well.

chicken of the egg

if you are an especially practiced magician, would you also be somewhat more sensitive to the paranormal? would you sense things, because you were so heightenedly aware of the very clockwork of life - that clockwork which you turned to your own advantage to create illusion?

or, does it happen the other way around... if you are especially heightened in your sense of the clockwork of the world, are you prone to illusion, simply b/c you see things other people do not, see things in ways other people do not, see opportunties & objects & situations & relationships - all differently.

probably you see things differently than most folks, and as a result, you interact with the world differently, in a way that appears to others to be illusional. when you realize you can create illusions, control the clockwork, in ways others cannot, then what? would you be tempted to weild power, or tempted to entertain?

sunday? already??

so, got that surprise 4-day weekend from being sick thurs & fri. not the kind of 4-day wkend anyone wants. blech. thought i might go in to work early tomorrow to make up the time, but i think my old man's cooking up some scheme to go visit his brother mr farmer b/c tomorrow is mr farmer's birthday and happens also to be mrs farmer's birthday, and it's real special & all that, but who drives to the boondocks on account of matching birthdays? yes, i am being a brat - and, not the hot-diggity-dog kind, either.

speaking of hot-diggity-dogs, let's not have any right now.

today i took the mean clean attitude to the kitchen cabinet. it could have been something in the cabinet that made me sick, you know. so, i cleaned out all the outdated stuff including some canned goods that were 3 years past date - how does that happen?? - and some that were 1 month past date. just cleaned 'em all out, and my old man said it's a shame to throw away food, but i would rather throw it out than get sick off it. from now on, i will only buy what we will eat, and not buy stuff that looks good, but that no one will eat. what a plan!

was it the sushi?

earlier this week, i awoke in the middle of the night violently ill. i do not ever remember being sick like that, ever ever ever. i will spare you the details. about maybe 4 or so hours after it started, it was done, and i slept like... 1-1/2 days. woke up last night for a few hours but did not feel like doing anything except watching teevee. i did successfully eat something. yay for that. woke up this morning with a wee bit more energy and just wanted to say that this totally sucks. work was going so well, and now i am behind again. checked my email, and found that my boss was answering emails for me, but did not say that i was out sick, so now i look like an incompetent who cannot answer their own emails. running was going so well -- so amazingly well -- and now i will probably have to start over at square one. i had planned to run this weekend w/ my speedy who i have not actually seen in many many weeks, but i got sick and had to back out and now i do not know when i will see her again. yes, i am angry, and i will never eat sushi again.

had that dept lunch thing today. ate too much sushi. blech.

so there was an inauguration yesterday, in case you missed it. and now, the same people that for years have given fmr pres bush down-the-road now proclaim that pres obama is the greatest thing since sliced hopping john. let us wait and see, shall we? perhaps the former was not so bad, and the latter will not be so perfect. We all have good and bad inside of us. It's what side we choose to follow that defines who we really are. - sirius black, hp5.

i really like graham crackers. there are basically 2 kinds - plain & cimmanon. i like plain. i always get plain. suddenly, there was no plain. weeks went by. no plain. ::sigh:: so, i gave in & got the cimmanon. o!m!g! cimmanon is delishus. best evah. nom nom nom. so, i go to the store to get some more cimmanon, and i guess you know the punch line here -- no cimmanon - only plain.

today, officelady was late arriving at the office, b/c her daughter threw her back out and needed to go to the chiropractor. officelady showed up w/ daughter in tow, so i said to the daughter - i heard you threw your back out. she said -- well, not really my back. more like my anal area. i believe i simply stared at her. i mean, wha??? of course, being officelady's daughter, she launched into an exhaustive & incomprehensible story of her sacrum and anal hob. it is unclear to me even now what is an anal hob. is that right or wrong? ::sigh:: i love my job.

wotcher?

greetings from the beanery, which is open tonight. really need to remember to bring my own coffee cup to these places. really. anyhootle, as i was searching for cash that i could have sewaneed i put in my pocket, the discount & club cards from maxximo jo's fell out. right on the counter. here at the beanery. gulp. felt a wee bit of the coffee slut... visiting other shops & all. almost stammered out an excuse, but realized with relief the beanery guy didn't see the cards. i guiltily jammed 'em back in my pocket.

it's cold here. coldcold. 25º or less. of course, i was out waiting on the van in the snow & wind this afternoon b/c the other day, they were there "on time" -- and by "on time" i mean 5 mins early -- and they called me that day to see where i was as i was scurrying down the street, and i didn't want to be "late" again -- and by "late" i mean arriving at the agreed-upon time -- so i was there early. and, yes, had to wait. b/c that is how the van rolls.

so, in this coldcold, my hands get cold, and there is really nothing my old man likes more than for me to put my cold hands inside his shirt on his bare back. i can tell he really likes it b/c he usually yells out one of his pet names for me -- and by "pet name" i mean "crazy bitch" -- and so he yells out a pet name & then reaches around to grab my hand, and so he grabs it really hard b/c that's how much he loves me. so, that's why i put my cold hands on his back. speaking of my old man, on sunday we were sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, reading the paper, and i had finished my section of the paper, so i asked if he could please hand me another piece of the paper, so he tore off a little corner of the page he was reading & handed it to me. he is witty, eh?

even in this coldcold, i went for a run today. we were supposed to have some sort of dept lunch event for a new employee, but that was changed to tomorrow, so i am glad i had my running clothes, but i didn't have tights, only shorts, and it was cold. i would have been fine if i had been moving at what has become my normal speed again, but my running buddy is all out of shape & likes to walk. even in the cold. b/c he is dressed in many layers. so, the running was overall a disappointment b/c it was so slow, but also b/c i went 3.3 miles, and i really could have finished up .7 more miles and made it the even 4 i went out there for, and i am really disappointed that i did not. lesson learned - next time, do what you meant to do.

i am guessing we will have the lunch thing tomorrow, and of course, i am not thrilled. i get so tired of getting to know people i've got no interest in knowing. how would i know, before i know 'em? oh, you know that you know when you meet someone if you want to get to know 'em. c'mon. stop being disingenuous.

sean connery always sounds like he is doing an impersonation of himself.

greetings from maxximo jo's. would have been greetings from the beanery, but they didn't answer the phone, so i am not sure if they are open today. my old man dropped me off here on his way to the gym. so, while he is working out, i am drinking an evil concoction called french toast latte, which has caramel & maple & cream and probably a zillion calories, and i am also eating a blueberry muffin with another zillion, but firstly i ran 5.5 miles today, and also the blueberry muffin appears to have actual, whole blueberries in it, and anything with whole fruit in it is, like, a serving of fruit & therefore, good for you. so there.

so, this girl here at the coffeehouse just said - my pulse is so low, they never can find it. my blood pressure, too. okay... really? i mean, who are you trying to kid, here, kid. then, in a separate convo, this other girl just goes, we watched "flavor of love" on sunday? like, religiously? haha!! religiously! on sunday!! haha!!

note to self: bring ear phones to coffee house. and, my own coffee cup. really need to start remembering my own cup. feeling rather like a slug contributing to trash in this way.

i would like to tear out all the walls in my house - leaving the studs of course - and replace them with brick. wonder if the foundation would support the weight of all those bricks. i could build in windows & shelves & stuff. how cool would that be? i can stack up bricks, so i could even do it myself, except that of course, they would probably need to be mortared together, or they'd all topple over. red brick and glass brick all mixed up.

there is a new indoor shooting range in town, right by the bbq place. i would like to go down there & learn how to shoot a gun. just seems like a useful & sort of cool thing to know how to do. you never know when you will be called upon to defend your family against, like, invading huns or something.

have you heard about the pb recall? it's actually not pb, but pp - ha! pp! - peanut paste that is being recalled. salmonella scare. what i would like to know is why they are putting fish in peanut paste, anyway? i mean, that's just gross.

18 jan 2009

when i was out running yesterday, i thought of an app i would like to have on my iphone. unfortunately, by the time i got home, i had forgotten what the app would be. and, of course, i do not own an iphone.

a couple nights ago, i dreamed i ran a local 5k on some sort of trail around a lake. there were about 100 people in the race. i came in 4th overall and first woman, with a time of 26:80. you will notice there that 26:80 is not a real time. right. did i mention it was a dream?

yesterday, i got some new running shoes. not only new in the sense that they have never been worn, but new in the sense that they are a model that is new to me. they are also new balance. get it? new? ha. anyways, nb are the only totally made in america running shoes, but that's not why i get them. i get them b/c i like them. these seem especially promising. i've been wearing something called a "high stability" trainer, and it's probably more shoe than i need. i don't believe my stride is that far pronated, and this could have been causing i-t band issues. these new shoes felt light & fabulous, but lots of shoes feel good the first time you use them. remains to be seen how long they will last.

just heard this quote on the inaugural concert performance - in reference to national parks - "Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." - Theodore Roosevelt stunning, eh? this concert is really good. but, then, the entire inauguration is costing taxpayers millions & millions of bucks, so it ought to be good.

what the hell is wrong with you people?! --- a smallish rant type post

from a letter to the editor, local paper, describing how things are in california: "Jobs in the public sector, such as teaching, medicine and public service, now require employees to speak Spanish, a foreign language. I might add that Spanish is not the only prevalent secondary foreign language in California. All official state documents must be printed in 16 different languages at the taxpayers’ expense! People who have jobs in public service, including welfare, health care and other social services are all required by law to speak fluent Spanish."

i'd like to reiterate a few points. i realize this country was built by immigrants [founded on the blood & bones of the natives], so "we" are all essentially immigrants. i realize that not making accommodations for languages other than english in our govt & public sectors is isolationist at best and xenophobic at worst. i realize we live in a global society, with global business.

i do not advocate that we require everyone to learn english. i advocate that we establish english as the first language for govt operations, and that the burden of all translation be borne by the one requiring the translation. i do not advocate that public [i.e., your & my] money be used to provide translation services.

who needs translation services? private citizens? since learning english is a requirement for earning usa citizenship, it is not likely citizens that need this accommodation. tourists? tourists come prepared to be confronted with a language foreign to them. businesses? it's highly likely that businesses require translation services, but they can & should supply these services for themselves. immigrants? again, highly likely that immigrants would require translation services, and i have nothing against providing translation services for immigrants or businesses -- i am just saying they should pay for this themselves.

let's revisit the letter to the editor -- "People who have jobs in public service, including welfare, health care and other social services are all required by law to speak fluent Spanish." required to speak fluent spanish. so, usa citizens who work for the govt of california, essentially supporting their paychecks through their own tax dollars, could lose their jobs b/c they do not speak fluently a foreign language? i realize i may not be explaining this well, but... if learning english is a requirement to become a citizen, who the hell are they serving by speaking spanish?

baby, it's cold in here.

the center for science in the public interest [cspi] has filed a lawsuit against the coca-cola company [ccc]. cspi states that ccc misled consumers & manipulated them into purchasing vitaminwater under the guise of providing for their health while in reality, ccc was pushing a hfcs-laden beverage on an unsuspecting public. one consumer said -- I was attracted by the prospect of getting extra vitamins. But I had no idea that I was actually getting almost a Coke's worth of sugar and calories. There's no way I would have spent money on that, had I known. apparently, this consumer is illiterate, since all the nutrition information is printed on the freakin' bottle & all people have to do is freakin' read it. jeezumpete, people! have we lost all possible semblance of reality? can we not even take responsibility for determining what we put in our bodies?

speaking of taking responsibility - here in my local town, there is an "english only" proposal before the city council. the proposal states something to the effect that all govt business with some exception for health & emergencies should be conducted in english only. there's a big bruhaha brewing over the proposal b/c the civil rights groups say it's discriminatory, and i agree - to a certain extent. english only does discriminate. the proposal should be english first, and it should allow anyone who has business with the government to conduct their business through a certified independent interpreter paid for by the person needing the interpreting. if you don't understand what the govt is doing or saying, the burden's on you to figure it out. so, i do not agree that all business should be conducted only in english. that's too extreme. but, i do agree that the govt should have the right to decide in what language the govt is going to do business, and that the govt should accommodate, but not have to provide, interpreters. b/c - remember kids... who is the govt? that's right, you & i. so, we should be able to decide in what language we wish to conduct our business, but we should not be so presumptuous & rude as to turn away folks who wish to do business w/ us and have brought an interpreter. presumptuous, rude, and self-destructive - turning away business is just shooting ourselves in the collective foot.

speaking of foots - mine are currently encased in wool socks and fuzzy slippers, and they are still cold. so, today it was like 14º here, and in case you weren't really for-sure, that is cold. wait, let me correct that - 14º is damn cold. yes, it is. went for a run at noontime. wore socks over my gloves and shorts over my tights, and i didn't really care how funky i looked. can you please tell me who broke the temperature?!

that's not a temperature...

tonight's temp here is predicted to be 2º. two. dos. one-two - buckle my shoe. mini-me & i used to say of extremely low temps, "that's not a temperature - that's a shoe size!", but 2 is not even a shoe size. you don't wear a size 2 unless you were recently a fetus. 2. sha! what is that? not even a handful of degrees. i could count those degrees on the fingers of one hand.

so, obama has chosen a guy to head up the treasury who has failed to pay his personal taxes. and, he has chosen a guy to head up the f-b-i who has no experience with intelligence, but is a good manager. hrm? turns out politicians all pay off favors by appointing people to offices. let's just keep an open mind, eh? remember how bush appointed a "good manager" with "no experience" to head up f-e-m-a, and then everyone totally gave him down the road over it when katrina hit. we shall see what happens, eh?

have you heard about stripper idol? there's this gentlemen's club in somewhere in tx, that is holding a stipper idol contest and using a logo similar to american idol. the american idol people are suing them over the use of the logo, and one would have to say - why?? this podunk titty bar in this backwater town in tx is getting national publicity -- which they could never come close to affording on their own -- paid for by american idol, who purportedly want to shut them down. it is irony, no?

today i sort of forgot to eat lunch. not exactly, just sort of. i mean, i went for a run, and when i got back, i had the rest of my graham crackers & then i ate my pretzels & i was going to eat something else, but i started doing this page layout work in indesign, and it is really fun. i mean, as far as work goes, page layout sort of rocks. if that makes me a geek, so be it! oh, and don't worry about the food thing. i made up for it later. heh.

cucumbers are lucky - they do not wear clothes.

my freshly culled wardrobe includes fewer choices, which is fine b/c i like to take things & switch them around. this with that. that with this. who knew this could go with that?

do you ever put an outfit together & feel like you are totally [xyz]? like, you are totally professional or hot or athletic or devout or preppy or attractive or youthful or spiritual or whatever? like, this outfit is spot on. then, later in the day, you catch a glimpse of yourself, and you think, what is that wanker wearing?? and, you realize it's you, and your outfit is not all you thought it was. so sad. i mean, the opposite can happen - you can accidentally put together the totally perfect outfit - and, that is stellar, brilliant, no problem. it's when you think you are all professional, and really you look like molly maid, or you think you are looking totally sporty, and instead, you look frowzy. frow-zy. nothing worse than frowzy.

people don't make up internet personas... do they??

an alleged kid calling himself bramsey89 posts this on a running msg bd [that is, a worldwide public forum designated for the discussion of running].

Hey all.
Well here's my story.
Im ugly, friendless since 6th grade (Not an exaggeration) dropped out of college because of suicidal ideation, working at a grocery store for the rest of my life, virgin, never kissed, never will. Never drank, never been to a party, almost completely mute, never leave my house unless to run or go to grocery store for work, been to 6 therapists and 2 hospitals, been on 4 medications, nothing worked.
Any tips?

his profile lists him as 19yo, 5'11", weighing in at a whopping 138lbs with a stated goal weight of 125lbs. for realz, yo? who in their right mind wants to weigh 125 at 5'11"?? oh, right. i forgot who we are dealing with here. so, he posts this little tidbit on 1/7/09 in the evening - thereby spawning 8 pages of threaded replies. at first, there are offers to run w/ him & suggestions on everything from diet to dating. slowly, the chatter deriorates as ol' bramsey89 remains in absentia for nearly a week. he reappears on 1/13/09 to state that he is surprised by the outpouring of advice and that he is not going to off myself unless I have absolutely no hope left. he is promptly pelted w/ further questions about his well-being, which of course deteriorate once again into chatter about sex, parachute pants, & foreigners - in no particular order.

enter stage leftfield - bramsey89, this time bemoaning the deterioration & taking it personally - Why do I get the feeling this whole thread is turning into an opportunity to mock me?. others attempt to reassure bramsey89 that he is not the target of mocking - that they are all simply mocking each other - when it is clear that bramsey89 is pretty much the target of it all.

no further replies from bramsey89. yet.

doncha hate it when --

-- you have a folder open in explorer, and you type a couple letters to quickly move down the folder to access a subfolder in the directory - like "fi" for "fiction" in my documents - and the cursor is already below the pt where that folder is, so instead of the folder, you have landed on a pdf or something worse like a photoshop file, and by then, you have already hit enter, so it opens & takes forever to launch.

-- you go to copy some files, and mark them all, and then instead of copying, you click one too many times, and open them all, and have to close them all before you can copy them.

-- you go to delete a file, and hit enter too quickly before the "are you sure" question comes up, and then the enter is taken as a "launch the file" instruction, and the file tries to launch while it is deleting, resulting in an error message.

-- you go to a webpage, and click on the page to activate the window so that you can scroll down, but the webpage is secretly loading a popup which intercepts your click sending you somewhere else.

it's a nunya.

so, when i go to the restroom, i take my nintendo ds, b/c it can get boring in there. oh, don't get all uppity w/ me - you know you are all about taking a book in there or the newspaper or somesuch. so, i take my ds. different people do different things.

anyway, where was i? oh, right. here i am at work, taking my ds & heading into the restroom. i am done. i am washing my hands. [and you know what? some people do not wash their hands, and you can see them if you peek thru the stall door or sometimes you can see what kind of shoes they have on, and then later, you can be all like i don't shake hands with people who do not wash their hands after using the restroom - when you see them in a meeting or somesuch.]

what? okay, so i am washing my hands there, with the ds sitting on the counter, and officelady is in there, and she is all like - is that a nine-ten-doh game?, and she goes to reach for it. i pick it up and go - no. now, b/c she is a nosey parker, she goes - well, then what is it? because it shore does look like one of them nine-ten-doh games like my nefyoo gots for christmas. and, i tell her - it is a nunya. and she is like - a NUNYA? what's a NUNYA? i ain't never heard of a NUNYA. what's it for? and i am thinking that it is a certain fact she has never encountered anything she considered to be nunya, so i tell her - it is humiliating to talk about.

i thought i handled that pretty well, don't you? the funny thing is, i made it all up. except the part about taking the ds in the restroom. that part is true.

what's that smell?

we did not exactly go get something to eat last night. at least, not when i told you we were. we went first to get my old man a new iphone. it was supposed to be a quick stop, but by the time he settled on the 8g, and we went back to the kiosk to get it, a crowd had materialized. not sure why, but fairly certain the kiosk attendees were juggling flaming iphones. we missed the show & were only there for the resulting ginormous line of folks.

today after my brilliant running activity, i showered. yes, thank you, thank you. i have these couple of little hotel shampoos, so i thought it would be fun to use one today. opened it, lathered my luxurious tresses, and *sniff* *sniff* interesting scent. smells like a clean rest area rest room. now, i am not sure how much time you've spent in freeway rest areas, but i have spent enough time in them to know what they smell like when they are clean, and this shampoo was, like, spot on. so, i looked at the label and noticed it said "rosemary infusion". fascinating. the only possible explanation for the similar smells is that the crews at rest areas are cleaning the facilities with rosemary, and likely - parsley, sage, & thyme, also.

titans lost to the ravens - i am now officially a giants fan.

the titans dropped the ball. literally. and, several times. ::sigh::

finally finished shadowmancer. did i already tell you that? started the book my old man gave me for xmash - scarpetta, by patricia cornwell. i have never read a cornwell book, but apparently she's written for 20 yrs abt this character kay scarpetta who is a forensic pathologist. so, i will read this one & then i will go back & read like 20 years of scarpetta by cornwell. ha! a whole new author to read. this is what i have been looking for. well, that is... if the book is good, i will read others. so far, it's good, but i am only on pg 8.

hey, my old man's going to get something to eat. gotta go!

tonight's breath sensation = cancun salad = one of those salads in the edible fried tortilla bowl = yipeekiyay!

so, i spent about a day & a half working on flowing a word document into indesign. this would take most people probably about a week or so, and someone with as little experience as i have, well who really knows. i will just say that having figured this out, i was feeling somewhat more of a genius than usual. i sent the document around the dept for feedback, and my boss, who was well aware of the amount of work involved, and the speed with which i accomplished it, said - you could add some running heads. uh... what?? how about a simple thanks for your hard work or even it's a good start -- but, you could add some running heads?? criminy.

i am so over "criminy". need a new word. thesaurus does not recognize criminy or cripes. darn suggests blast as a synomym, but that's not quite the same thing as criminy. criminy's like... disgusted, frustrated. blast is more like angry. perhaps zoinks will do or begorra or jiminy. i shall try them in convos.

from the world of odometers, i bring thee 214412 and 36963, both of which have since changed, but live in my garage. 214412 is attached to a jeep w/ a tailgate that opens upwards. being up there in the 214412 range, ol' jeepster has its flaws. one of these is that the upwards opening hatch doesn't like to stay open. it's tired. it wants to sit down. this is especially true in the cold weather. so, if you are alone with the vehicle and have been at the grocery and are loading groceries into the cargo hold, your choices are: [1] bring the cart really close in, and hold the hatch up by standing under it and letting it rest on your head, reaching back to bring the groceries into the vehicle, or -b- opening the hatch, putting a bag in, letting it close while reaching for another bag, opening it again, rinse, repeat. the major problem with the first method is that you cannot really reach the groceries while holding the hatch up with your head. the main problem with the second method is that it is quite difficult to get in & out before the door closes. and, it is most likely to close, you know, on your back. i generally opt for #1, but sometimes settle for #2.

heh heh. #1. #2. heh.

hummus + coffee = sparkling fresh breath

finally finished the shadowmancer. criminy, that was quite a taxing read. and, so here i am ready to start the next book, and have i? no. why? b/c i do most of my reading on the vanpool, and it has been too dark on the vanpool to read. days are getting longer, though, so soon i will. probably could have read on the vanpool today, but i was not on the vanpool today b/c elvis, priscilla, & beavis were here, so i had to go meet them at the coffeeshop after work. yes, had to. it is such a chore. [hee hee!]

so, the ebay orders came thru, and i am now the proud owner of a xylophone, and i tried it out, and it sounds fabulous. really! i am quite psyched about it, but just played it a wee bit tonight b/c it would likely annoy my old man. i put it all back in the box. also got a copy of we were tired of living in a house - the original illustrations by doris burn. very psyched about that, too, and if you don't understand, then you can just get in line with all the other folk who do not understand. the last ebay purchase is a camera for mini-me. i haven't opened the box and am a little conflicted about what to do w/ it. i would like to know if it works, but i am not a photographer, so what do i know? need mini-me to check it out, but don't want to send it to her b/c of the expense. ::sigh::

one of my running buddies from work recently had a melanoma in situ removed. this means he had a melanoma, but it had not spread - it was in situ - in place. it was on the top of his head, and when he had it removed, they did a skin graft. he wore a hat to work for several days. before they did it, he sent out this email about it to a few close coworkers to explain what would happen and that he would be wearing a hat, etc. the healed place is like a small dent, about the diameter, but not depth, of a golf ball. like, a golf ball could sit in it. so, anyway, long story short, he had this thing done and has not run much since early december & is back into running again. so, he is running slowly. and, i am trying not to be a total butt about telling him to suck it up & run faster.

i typed that whole boring melanoma running story, so i am not erasing it. if you read it, well, good on ya!

remember when it was cool to say 'dead presidents' if you meant money? yeah, that was like... never.

during the big clean of '08, i found a little goldtone timex windup. where did that come from, i wondered to myself. i sort of remembered it - i think it was like $10, and i got it when my 'real' watch broke. i do not remember what my 'real' watch was, but you know what is a great thing about windup watches? the battery doesn't run down. i wound the little beaut up, and it was still tickin'. [as far as i know, it did not take a lickin'.] it's a handy little watch with a stretch band and analog face. i like analog watches most of the time, and digital clocks. i find it's a good combination of the abstract & the concrete. analogs are all 'just before' and 'a little after' and spacial and graphic. digitals are all precision and anal. digital timepieces are to blame for our go-go, hectic society. there's never a moment to spare. analog time is more forgiving - there's more leeway.

speaking of leeway, there's really nothing worse than scripted spontaneous banter. we're watching a bit of the peoples' choice awards, and that guy from will & grace along with that guy from ed now have a new show, and the reason the networks are willing to have these awards shows is so they can showcase the stars of their shows by allowing them to hand out awards, and so here's will & ed bantering in the most awkward way, looking at their cue cards while striving diligently to not look like they are looking.

speaking of spontaneous, how 'bout that taylor swift? yeah, i am a fan. she is the real deal. writes her own music & lyrics, plays the geetar, sings. she's a savvy young business woman and a giggly little girl all rolled into one. she is driven and focused, but not in a cold-hearted way. she's warm & emotional & spontaneous. she has a plan, but it's not a carved-in-stone plan - it's more a living plan. she's an inspiration, which sounds overstated, but is how i feel.

saturday, the titans play the ravens. friday, we're 'allowed' to wear our titans gear to work, and i really hate to break the news that folks have not been waiting to be allowed. i am sure the execs will be in a $150 authentic player style jerseys. wonder why we are losing money? could it be your freakin' wardrobe? sha. i will be wearing the k-mart special - $9 from the boys dept clearance, size youth large. i would have rather had a x-large, but the largest they had was a large. it's a fake jersey - made to sort of look like a jersey, but with the logo on the front & no numbers or anything. hey, it has worked just fine for me since i got it like 2 yrs ago. okay, and here is something i just thought of - i can wear my titans cap! yippe-ki-yay - caps at work! but, i might not b/c i would have to wear my contacts b/c i can't fit a cap over these glasses. gosh, what a dilemma.

speaking of work, i figured out how to style & flow the ms-word documents into indesign, with only a couple online lessons & without anyone to help me - b/c i am a genius & that is how i roll.

epiphany!

today is the 12th day of christmas - epiphany - the day the wise men reported showed up to see the bebe jeebus. the problem here, folks, is that the wise men did not show up 12 days after jeebus was borned but more like 12x2 months. like, 2 yrs, in case you cannot do simple mathematics.

mathematics. what a cool word, eh? i mean, english is english, history is history, social studies is what - soc stud? be serious. but - math is mathematics. math is like mathematics' nickname. in britain, they say maths, as in - 'ey, nigel - you done your maths lesson?

where was i? oh, right. epiphany. there's another cool word. it means a sudden comprehension of the true nature of something, an ah-hah! moment. and, in relation to jeebus, it means the moment the world had a sort of ah-hah! moment - as in, ah-hah! immanuel! specifically, the world in this case is represented by the wise men. here's a picture of the wise men coming to visit the wee tiny skinny little baby jeebus. i would have to say there appear to be more than 3 wise men, although the picture itself is a triptych, which is a coherent whole with three parts. maybe there's some msg being sent by the format, eh?



i have now stayed at work so long that my igoogle teahouse buddy is feeding the swans. or ducks. whatevs. bottom line? it's time to go!

page-a-day

today was the first day of work 2009, so i unpacked the new page-a-day calendar & packed up the old one - 342/365 xword puzzles that did not get done. you know, a xword puzzle every single freakin' day is a freakin' lot of freakin' xwords. relentless, i tell ya! marching by with their little black & white boxes and their across and down all mocking mocking mocking. relentless!

where was i? oh, right. i unpacked the new page-a-day calendar - a mensa brain teaser jobbie. in case you don't know, i am a bonafide mensa member, and am therefore qualified to own said mensa calendar. so, i unpacked it. day 1 - hrm... looked at the answer, and i was... er... wrong. really don't expect me to get right back into the swing of this shizzle, do you? day 2 - ah!... looked at answer. hrm. i would like to say that my answer was a logical & valid alternative answer. day 3 & day 4 - well, c'mon, these were just stupid, and anybody who knows anything about geniuses knows we do not waste our time on these sorts of stupid answerless riddles. day 5 - ha! this one i know! tore off the sheet to check my answer. right! i am right! yipee-ki-yay!!

d'oh! today is day 5. the sheet for day 5 is supposed to stay on the calendar! d'oh! d'oh! d'oh!

no worries. got some scotchie tapey and tapeyed it back on real quick like. nobody saw. i swear. nobody knows i am the genius who thought it was already tomorry.

if you call out my name, you know where ever i am, i'll come running to see you again.

did run 12 miles, and it was spectacular.

did win the camera & the xylophone on ebay. let me tell you, that place is baaaad news. you just sort of purchase things without noticing. never should have memorized my credit card number, but the thing there is that i did not mean to. it just happened. i needed it for something, and realized i knew it by heart. using it too much, i suppose. anyhootle, got a deal on the camera, and i wanted a xylophone, so now i will have one. feeling oddly guilty about the purchases. not really sure why. i guess b/c i purchased them sight unseen.

article in the paper this morning about folks getting ticked at other folks who unfriend them on fb or myspace. there are even prgs now to track if you get unfriended - qwitter for twitter for example. some of us try to keep our friends lists to a reasonable size from the outset, but some folks have gotten huge friend lists sort of without meaning to. the ebay effect, if you will. these folks realize their friend lists are filled with people they do not actually know - maybe acquaintances, maybe friends-of-friends, maybe people with whom they cannot establish a connection at all. so, these folks cull their friend lists down to folks that are actual friends - like, you know, in real life. the unfriended acquaintances are sometimes ticked or even downright insulted by this - as if they considered these folks actual friends. conclusion - friendship has been diluted by the push on sites like fb & linked in to have the largest possible list of friends, with complete disregard for whether or not folks actually know each other, and those who wish to take control of the meaning of friendship face possible vilification. the ones who diluted friendship are the ones who should be vilified. i believe this is an example of irony, but if not irony, then bassackwardness.

so, these social networking sites are fast jumping the shark and would be served well by paying attn to the shifting tide. look at starbux - it was a personal, neighborhood coffee shop that expanded too fast to maintain the model, saturated the market, dumbed down the product, homogenized & sterilized itself until the sameness is reminiscent of stepford wives. i mean, there is something to be said for the comfortable, known anonymity of the chain store, but the dilution of the product is not worth the comfort. or, rather... the dilution of the product and the comfort factor must be balanced, and there is a point of diminishing returns on either one.

have you seen mini-me's vid cam & reading book?

four day weekend has me a wee bit discombobulated, but i will take discombobulation in exchange for more days off.

supposed to go run about 12 miles in the morning. kind of throwing in these longish runs amid the shorter runs. not sure that method would constitute a valid plan, but since i just "do" and do not "plan" -- should be fine.

bid on a camera on ebay & got outbid. could have upped my bid, but decided to let the camera go. bid on a xylophone, and believe i am still the high bidder on that item.

need to balance the checkbook. maybe tomorrow, while watching football & wishing mini-me had not gone home & wondering if elvis will come thru town on his way home & trying to stay awake by eating graham crackers with coffee -- maybe tomorrow i will balance the checkbook.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

blackbird sing

trees don't bloom in the winter.
ponds don't freeze in the spring.
summer's when the days are hot & long.
autumn's when the blackbird sings.

blackbird sing
for my darling.
blackbird sing
for my love.
sing from the cave on the hillside.
sing from the skies above.

sun don't shine in the nighttime.
moon don't shine at noon.
dawn's for light in the eastern sky.
twilight is blackbird's tune.

blackbird sing
for my darling.
blackbird sing
for my love.
sing from the cave on the hillside.
sing from the skies above.

get the perk, without the work.

just heard a story on the local newscast about this family whose house burned yesterday. the dad was home alone, with the dog, and the living room caught fire while he was taking a shower. they didn't say what caused the fire. he got out of the shower, saw the fire, grabbed the dog, and skeedaddled. his wife & five kids were spending the night with friends. that's right - five kids. yikes! why is it the people with a plethora of progeny are all the time having hardships? perhaps we just don't heare about the other folk. perhaps it's not newsworthy if they don't have at least three kids.

this other family - pretty sure they had like 4 kids - was asleep in their beds last night, when bullets came zinging into the house. yikes! no one was hurt - the family greyhound was grazed, but not really hurt. the bullets buried in mattresses, walls, etc. the family wants the local police to investigate. the local police said it's not a drive-by b/c of the angle of the shots. no idea how they know that. looks like it was new year's eve revellers. no idea what shooting guns has to do with new year's eve, but it does. it is some sort of tradition, in certain cultures, especially in the southern usa for eejits.

tonight, had to run to the local food lion for cocoa. the guy in front of me at the checkout was purchasing cran-grape juice, pineapple juice, and bleach. yikes! i wanted to tell him that who ever he is planning to poison would taste the bleach in the juice, but then, i thought maybe i was saving the lives of, like, his family, by not clueing him in.

commercial on teevee just said - DQ is having a huge cheeseburger sale. i wonder if this is b/c they have all these old cheeseburgers they have to get out of stock before they take end-of-year inventory. speaking of inventory - there is all this news about cars sitting on lots, not selling. american car companies cannot get rid of their inventory. if they would sell them half price, i would buy one. if they were really desperate, they would sell them half price - ergo, they are not desperate.

yipee-ki-yay!