Poem: The Current

THE CURRENT
2010072571 - c2010 wlc

Currently
Richard Marx plays on my mac
Lisa's scarfing medicine
You're upstairs reading
My everything

Yesterday
So full of emotion, I
Suppressed the overwhelming feelings
Went out to see a friend
Lest I send me reeling

Today
I waded into water
The current took me into it
I felt so weightless yet so strong
Just a candle barely lit

Tomorrow
I'll head to work again
In my heart is where you'll be
I'll talk to people 'bout a desk
But it's your face I always see

Currently
Not a weight upon my shoulders
I ebb and flow, a pond with wind
Fed by springs, both warm and cold
Outward calm, alive within

 

Music class memory

When I was in 7th grade music class, I had to write a paper on a performer or band of my choice and then give a presentation on it.  I was TERRIFIED of standing up in front of the class.  Well, the presentations carried on for days because we had a lot of students, etc etc.  One of the guys had made a video tape of his presentation and made it look like a news commentary.  He did the rolling stones.  He was great!  I asked my music teacher if I could do an audio tape like that, because I didn't have TV equipment but I knew how to do audio stuff.  She said, sure, so long as I have the written paper to back it up.  So, the night before class, I wrote my paper (procrastinator that I am) and the next morning I got up at 5 to record it before school.

Everything went great.  Throughout the whole thing I dubbed the Chicago 17 album behind my voice as background music (since it was on Chicago).  I finally ended with, "Now, listen to this!" and You're The Inspiration faded in.  I let it finish while I walked away, singing along as I got ready for school.

I obviously didn't have time to listen to it but I was confident that it was fine.  The music teacher looked impressed at my research and quality... but then You're The Inspiration came on.  Suddenly the whole class froze as this horrible sound emanated from the speakers of the class tape deck.  I hid under my hands, colour draining from my face, as I realized what had happened.  The boom box I used to record with had a VERY sensitive microphone built into it, and the damned thing had picked up my voice as I had sung along.

Now, I know I say I can't sing now even though some people say I sound fine, while more musically-inclined folks can still tell that it's best I keep my day job because I could not sing my way out of a pop tart.  But let me explain something.  When I was that age, it was ten million times worse than it is now.  I was politely asked to leave chorus in sixth grade, the cat would run away, mom was always pleading with me to stop singing because I sounded like a sick cow.  I could never tell while I was doing it, but when I heard my singing on that tape, I thought OH MY GOD THAT IS HORRIBLE AND THE WHOLE CLASS IS LISTENING TO IT /RIGHT NOW/ AND OMG MY MUSIC TEACHER CAN HEAR THAT!!!

The look on the teacher's face was shock mixed with some cross of fear and pain.  After what seemed like forever, she slowly looked at me.  I took this as an immediate opportunity and said, "Uh, can I shut that off now?"  She replied, "Yes, please."  I got an A but the incident was never mentioned by anyone.  I think they all preferred to simply forget it.

I didn't record myself singing again until ten years or so ago.

Rule Number One: Cook Lentils Separately

So I decided to make some basmati, and as I was dumping it into the water it hit me:  Lentils would be /awesome/ in rice.  Especially since I was also dumping curry, cumin, and coriander into the stuff.  Since lentils take about 20 minutes to cook, just like basmati, I figure why not dump everything in the pot and cook the whole kit and kaboodle for 20 minutes?  So I did.

The lentils don't steam.  I neglected to realize that they require actual water to cook, not steam, like my beloved rice.

So I had to dump in another two cups of water and let it boil dry, pretty much.  And it did, too, because I forgot about it too long.  But thankfully the crunchy sides were easily rehydrated by mixing it back in.  Now the lentils are mostly done but it's the stickiest basmati I have ever eaten.

It's wonderfully seasoned, however, and with a splash of fake soy sauce, it's a beat.  I want to try some real soy sauce soon.  I didn't know there were different kinds and that the kind I've been getting isn't even really that real.  So, Tamari it is, next time...

~w

rat a tat tat part two

Well, the towels on my table came in handy after all.  While I was trying to entice Lisa out of her hiding place with a bit of tuna sandwich, I tipped over my cup of water and surprisingly, it tipped onto the towels.  I shoved a half-dozen dry ones underneath to keep the wet away from my table.  That worked out well.

Lisa's pee puddles aren't so bad.  LOL

~w

Rat a tat tat

I've had a desk full of peed-on newspaper pretty much every day for the past couple of months.  This is because I got tired of mopping up pee-puddles on my bare desk every two seconds that I sat there.  I refused to confine Lisa to her cage of course, because, well, it's not fun for either of us to have her sitting in a pile of litter and food all day long, staring at me through the glass, glaring when I eat and she can't steal any.

So, last night I began to search for some new ideas.  Rat diapers?  Yeah, like those would even stay on!!  Sounded like more of an annoyance to the both of us.  Then I stumbled across this site.

http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#fuzzletworld

It's obvious how much the rats mean to this person, so I took an immediate liking to the tips on the site.  It was thus with great interest that my eyes alighted upon the idea of covering a table with a beach towel.  A TOWEL!!  Why hadn't I thought of that?!

Well, I may have at one time, now that I have tried it this morning.  Turns out that Lisa sees the towel as something for her cage, not something to run around on and absorb pee with.  And, she also thinks it is a rather fun game to ignore my scowling and "no's" with more aggressive digging and pulling at the towel.  I blocked off the windowsill edge with her small travel cage, which I got a disapproving look for, followed by a rather skillful half-attempt at moving the cage out of the way to continue her naughtiness.

Next, I threw some old, smaller towels that I use specifically for her anyway.  These were placed on top of the large purple one so if she did manage to dig one up, so what.  I watched as she very quickly dragged them into her small cage and proceeded to position them around herself, glancing up at me occasionally to see if I'd take them away.  I didn't.  Then she sat there, blinking one eye at me.  I looked away just long enough to peripherally see her dart into her tank and hide under the box.  The other small towels remain untouched.

I think she's getting even with me for not remembering to save her a bit of my pumpkin muffin this morning.  Summer drains me of appetite, and consequently, she gets to steal less.  I think she's feeling a bit persnickety about the situation.

At any rate, she isn't leaving drops of pee all over my desk right now, which was my goal.  Making her happy again appears to require some kitchen activities.  I don't like being disowned and I like her moping even less.

I did take this opportunity to steal back the towels from her small cage, however, and proceed to clean it properly.  Now I just have to clean Pippin's cage and I can go swimming!

~w

iPhone 4 rant

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/100716iab73asc/event/index.html

Steve looks and sounds REALLY disgusted/upset for the majority of this presentation.  I've never seen him speak like this in the few years I've been watching these things.  I would be upset, too, if I were him.  He's been passionate about his work for a very long time and doesn't seem to accept the idea of settling, so I know he pushes hard to get excellent-quality products out the door, if not from some perspectives, at least from his and the users who love Apple.  The data he presents, who knows, but coming directly from the company, with the level of certainty in his voice, seems to be far more convincing to me than rumours of problems do in the media, especially since Dale doesn't have problems even in a difficult-reception state.  Apple is sending a free case to every user who has bought or will buy a phone September 30th in an attempt to fix the signal strength problem.  Oh, and they're refunding the cost of the bumper case if it was already purchased.

I could be wrong, too, but earlier in the month I heard that the groove where the problem was was due to separate antennae being bridged together by the hand.  When I saw the design of it, though, it almost looked like it was one single antennae with grooves cut into them.  How is this bridging separate antennae?  I'm lost on that one.

Full refund within 30 days, no restocking fees, or anything, if people aren't happy.  Free case.  Are people still complaining?  If so, they need to be slapped for being idiots.  The worst I think Apple is guilty of right now is wearing rose-coloured glasses for the world.  The world is an increasingly hostile and dumb place, sped up and spit out, by an amazing number of idiots who refuse to think for themselves and want to be catered to hand and foot and if they aren't, they'll sue someone for it.  It's bullshit.  Media will do what they will.  It's a country of free speech.  The thing that bothers me is that as soon as the media latches onto something, a large portion of the masses creates an outcry and they all go running around like naughty children crying wolf.  There is so little responsibility for one's own actions!

Egads, I realize nothing is perfect, but again, if you don't want it, don't buy it.  If you buy it and don't like it, return the damned thing!  I cannot believe people are SUING over a cotton-pickin' PHONE!!