Informatik

Yanno, it's funny how sometimes I'll stumble across a song, really like it, and never really look into the artist.  Today's example is the song Autonomous by Informatik, which I've had for at least the last seven years.  I remember having it at the apartment Dale and I shared because I'd take walks and it was a great walking song.  The funny thing is that I do NOT recall when I first heard it or how I stumbled across it, but I do know that I purchased it from iTunes in 2006.

So, I ran across it in my collection yesterday and thought, ooh!  So I had another listen and thought, "Gee, what else has Informatik done, anyway?"  Turns out, quite a lot.  I've got some iTunes credit so I ended up buying three albums and a used CD from Amazon.

It's interesting music, considered electronic... To me, the vocals go back and forth between obviously manipulated into sounding creepy or evil and a sort of bass - you know the Mmm Mmm guy on Crash Test Dummies?  A bit higher than that, I think.  It's strangely emotional.  I've poked at the lyrics, too, and many of them are actually pretty good - it's not all cookie-cutter anger or bad-love.  In fact, many are quite insightful, even if not beautifully poetic.  Simple, straightforward, poignant.  The music itself is, well, electronic.  Much is repetitive as all electronic music should be on the surface.  But like good electronic music, it has little samples and bridges here and there that keep it interesting.

I would call this a cross between the band Pulp and three genres:  Techno, rock, and heavy metal.  It's a very refreshing combination.

Some other thoughts for today:

Why does electronic music make my brain feel all weird and focused?

I may have lots of "mommy" issues (just look back in my posts, you'll surely find something to illustrate this) but recently I came to realize that I'm one heck of a lucky person to have a mother like I had.  I also recognize that she is who she is.  I feel that a recent funeral a few weeks ago may have had a much stronger affect on me and expedited these realizations.  I know they were already arriving on their own but it's like this huge blanket was lifted off me that day.  It also feels like my emotions have been rekindled, and I can feel again... not that I wasn't feeling before, but it used to be that I had overflowing emotions that required artistic and written outlets, and since becoming so content, I just feel tired all the time.  I feel awake for the first time in a while, writing a bit, thinking, mulling things over, drawing, playing music, enjoying music.  I feel the love I have for Mum, I feel the love I have for Dale far more than usual, I feel the joy and love in his family, and I feel empathy for people again.  In some ways, it's almost painful, but it's a good kind of pain.  It almost feels like a switch was flipped or a dam was broken, but without all the fearful tears of my past.

Anywho, off to neaten my den... that's the other thing, I am in an organization sort of mood... but I think that's only because of my listening to Informatik.  It's that kind of music that brings me into this mode.  It's a good thing... I desperately need exercise and have not been good about doing it without inspiration.  Now I have that.  Hopefully it sticks around...

~nv

St George's Bay

The title doesn't really mean much.  It's just a lyric that Martin Page mentions in "Put On Your Red Dress."  I'm listening to this right now and looking at Gizmodo, right into his eyes, and realizing once again how very lucky I am.  Not only do I have a super-special group of critters, but I've got Dale in my life, awesome colleagues, awesome family, and awesome friends.  I'm also not oblivious to the fact that I've had some friends in the past who were instrumental in my success today, whether they're still around me now or not.

I've also found that the majority of music is sorely lacking in many things… lyrics seldom have much meaning, most importantly.  I can't help but like things like Ace of Base's Golden Ratio with is wonderful energy and raspy vocals, but in truth, the lyrics are shy of decent.  It becomes very evident to me just how bad some stuff is when I listen to the wonderful likes Richard Marx, Arlo Guthrie, Weird Al, and earlier Chicago.  Yeah, I know, I put Weird Al in there… how can I compare him to the likes of Arlo Guthrie, who tells a wonderful story?  Well, I look for artists, not just story tellers.  Weird Al is definitely a good parodist, nobody can deny that, methinks.  Anywho, this caliber of music is just really hard to find.  It's helpful in some ways because it helps me get to know the artists I really like or love, and ignore the rest.  Lets me memorize songs and sing along.  On the other hand, there are a few good ones that come out of hiding from time to time.  Yay!  And nothing can beat the revved up techno remixes of my favourites.  Not as good as the originals, I know, but egads, when you're looking for a good dance move, you've gotta go with something.

Off to drink my Irish Breakfast tea now.  :)

Happy Harmonies,

~nv

Financial Aid

I was surprised to find that Harvard is less than $60,000 per semester.  Not exactly cheap, but far less than I'd expected.  However, I was further surprised to find that Harvard's financial aid office believes that even poor students deserve a chance at a Harvard education and have increasingly offered ways to finance their education there once admitted.  Then I read the disclaimer.  While they believe in helping a family get their kid into Harvard, they do not believe in helping a student into Harvard.  If they did, it would not matter what the parents' financial status was like.  It would be based on the adult student's financial status, instead.  The reason this disturbs me is because it's a generally accepted premise that parents must put their kids through college.  So, not all students have equal financial opportunities after all.  At least, not in the beginnings of their adult lives.  I count myself extremely lucky that I was denied financial aid in my early twenties because of the meager wages my mother made the year before I supported her on my even more meager wage while deciding to go back to school.  Why?  Because like in my first two weeks of high school where I was denied a week of shop class because I was too poor to buy myself a pair of boots, I was given the opportunity to stretch beyond the supposed limits of society once again.  Instead of going for a college education and putting myself into debt like I was told is the proper way to get a good job, I went out and got a good job.  Then I went back for a few credits here and there, letting work pay for the credits when I passed with flying colours, keeping myself out of debt.  I've gone along with much of society, but overall, have largely ignored some of the choices I could have made in order to "fit in."  I've done things mainly because /I/ wanted to, not because of what someone else expected of me.  I am very lucky.  What I'm trying to say is that if anyone out there is reading this and is stuck in some place where you think you need to comply with the world's confining wishes of what you should do with your life, know that there are other things you could be doing instead.  You don't need a college degree to get a job.  Sure, it might help, but it's not needed.  What is needed in anything you do is determination and the will to do it, working around obstacles as needed and taking as much time as it takes to do what you want to do.  Don't let anyone tell you you must become something you don't want to be.  Unless, of course, you want to be what others want you to be.  That's fine, too.  Me, I'm not having kids.  Just not my thing.  I may eventually get that degree.  But it won't be because I worry about my job status or what others think of me.  It'll be because I want to obtain something for me.  I hope I can some day pass this onto my nephew, or onto my friends' kids, not as a deterrent of any sort, but as a reminder that their strengths will see them through, not their unquestioning compliance with what is normal.  Note to parents:  You do NOT have an obligation to help finance your children's college education.  Once your kid is eighteen, that kid is legally an adult.  Now it's your choice to put them through college, or not.  Give them the world on a platter, or teach them how to fight for themselves.  Do the best you can for your own kid, because only you know your kid and your circumstances.  Thanks for listening!  :)  ::stepsoffsoapbox::

----- From Harvard's financial aid site (not by any means unusual for a college to say, by the way):

Can I apply for Harvard's financial aid independently of my parents?

No, in 99% of the cases. We feel strongly that your parents have an obligation to help finance your college education. Our aid is available only to students whose families would not otherwise be able to send them to Harvard.

What if my parents refuse to pay for my college education?

There may well be a serious problem. To be fair to all our students, we can base our financial aid decisions only on ability and not willingness to pay, and a decision to attend Harvard must be made by you and your parents.

Thanksgiving

We had family over for thanksgiving yesterday. It's a weird holiday for me because when I was growing up, I was told I was part Cherokee (American Indian, Indian, or Native American depending on the political correctness era you're in). In school, I learned that the first thanksgiving in America included the Indians of the area, and the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had a bountiful harvest because of the Indians that helped them learn about planting and harvesting in their new climate. So, when they harvested their good bounty, they got together with the Indians as a way of thanking them as well as being thankful for surviving their first year. At some point I realized it was probably not just about thanking the Indians, but also about sharing in both directions… The Indians brought some food, they brought some food, and together they had more between them. The perceived harmony between them at that time later led me to be fairly bitter when the settlers later took over the Indians' land. Back then, I wasn't as forgiving of my other ancestors as I am now. Now I see things in a different light - both sides had good, both sides had bad, both sides were human after all. Who knows what the heck happened way back then… it's not like history books don't change, so if you weren't there, you are depending on the writer's interpretation of the events, not necessarily fact. It doesn't matter much now, what's done is done. But it still irks me at times. LOL.

I don't know how much of all that is accepted today… the way Thanksgiving is explained nowdays seems to be that it was pre-dated in America by the Canadian version, and American settlers began celebrating as thanksgiving for a good landing, leaving out the whole story of the Indians and Pilgrims altogether. What did I say about history books changing? Meh?

At any rate, I now see it as an excuse to get together with Dale's family and cook together and host a place for the getting together and eating together. I like it. When my mother first learned of my newly absorbed larger family (on Dale's side), she said, "Good, now you have the family you always wanted." I remember feeling baffled by this. I didn't remember ever telling her I wanted a brother or sister, or a larger family than the two of us, but somehow she figured I did. Maybe parental guilt, or something I said that I don't remember but which she still saw. What I remember wanting was a father. That dream was shattered when I learned what mine had done in his later years. No biggie, though… I've had a few good father figures in my life to pull life lessons from, and so I've learned that it was a good thing I hadn't known my father because maybe I wouldn't have turned out to be me. But I digress again. The fact is, I DO like having an extended family that I can be so close to. I sometimes wish we could all live closer to each other, but it's all good.

This is all stuff I've been reflecting on this morning as I sit here at my desk in front of a nice macbook with a purring kitten next to me, drinking tea "la ren cha" style and eating leftovers - this time, pumpkin pie made by my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. Life really cannot be better than this. I realize this rather often these days, and knowing how some of my friends and family suffer through life, and seeing stories on the news of some awful tragedies that happen, well… I know I have it really good. I guess it's human nature to be self-centered and selfish in many ways, but it's so humbling to recognise the streak of luck I've encountered for the past several years.

I look at the kitten and tell him all the time how hard it is to explain to him how much love I have for him, and how sometimes it just makes you think you should be shaking all over but it's only inside. I tell him how lucky I am to have him. He just sits there and purrs his agreement. Then I tell him how I get that for Dale, too, but in a different way. He still purrs in agreement. Finally I realise that he is hoping that the pie I'd been eating, and left a small morsel of, might be slid across the desk in his direction. So I smile and slide it across the desk. He licks the plate clean, purring happily, then hops down and takes off for the warmer livingroom furniture.

The kitten just came back. I have nothing tangible left to give him, but he is hugging me with his paws like he simply wants to be here. Perhaps I'm warmer than the couch. I'll take it.

~w

Pride... literally

Our cats are interesting to observe.

Kitty:  18 year old female cat who loves food.  She's a bit overweight at 11 pounds and isn't afraid of anything or anyone.  Takes care of Sinclair and Gizmo and puts them in their place as needed.

Sinclair:  6-year old, large, 17-pound cat that looks like a Maine Coon.  He can peer over the edge of our counter without much of a stretch.  He resembles a furry version of a baby mountain lion.  He's terrified of anything new and won't hurt my small critters like rats (when we have them).  Gentleman, and hardly ever meows.

Gizmo:  About eight months old now.  All black, highly intelligent, plays fetch, loves food and attention, not afraid of anything except Kitty.  Terrorizes Sinclair.

Now meet Rosco.  Rosco is over ten years old I think, and is staying with us for the week.  He is my brother-in-law's cat.  He usually faces a puppy and a pre-schooler.  He isn't afraid of anything and regularly bites people because he can.  He's very handsome but has liberty of the house - he can jump up on anything he wants.  He holds his own.  Usually.

So here's the rundown on how these interactions have gone.

Rosco meets Gizmo.  Gizmo hisses and runs away.  Rosco lends chase.  Kitty sees this and chases Rosco.  Rosco sees this and runs away.  Kitty lends chase.  Sinclair nowhere in sight.  At the time, I assumed that Sinclair wanted no part of another tomcat.  That was the other night.

Tonight, Rosco meets Gizmo.  Gizmo hisses but holds his ground.  Rosco gets closer.  I expect a cat fight and begin to move into position.  Sinclair stalks up behind Rosco and surprises him.  Rosco hisses at Sinclair.  Sinclair really holds his ground.  Rosco runs upstairs.  Sinclair follows.  I bring him back downstairs.  Gizmo runs upstairs and Rosco forces him to start back down the stairs.  Sinclair goes upstairs.  He traps Rosco.  Rosco backs off, hissing and growling along with Sinclair.  Sinclair then places himself at the top of the stairway and hisses at Gizmo whenever Gizmo tries to get close to the top of the stairs.  Rosco stands around the corner as if he'd like to go back downstairs, but wants no part of Sinclair.

What I've deduced from their activities is that Sinclair has not been terrorized by Gizmo at all, but has been allowing a kitten to be himself.  Whenever he hissed, he was just trying to tell the kitten to cut it out, but he put himself in the position to be played with.  Meanwhile, Kitty won't let Gizmo mess with her, but she will care for him and chase away a perceived threat.  Sinclair will then in turn stand up for his pride (as in cats) and make sure Gizmo is protected by both keeping him downstairs and cornering the foreign threat upstairs.

Talking about pride, you have now idea how much I respect Sinclair right now.

~w

maple sausage

Dale's comments about his breakfast as he heads upstairs:

Maple sausage was edible...
(really?)

...nothing special...
(duh, it's sausage, it's gross)

...not enough maple...
(nothing has enough maple for Dale)

...but it'll make a turd.
(hahahahaha)

~w

Children

I went to a birthday party for a 12-year-old yesterday. May I just say that children are remarkably insightful, and aware of discrepancies in their world early on.

Also...

Children are pure excitement. The high-pitched screams from a group of girls opening gifts brought me to my knees inside… both from ear pain, and a melting heart.

~w

realization

Credit Dale for this one.

The word "wrong" is not always used per definition given it in Merriam-Webster.  I know the version where "wrong" means "incorrect or not true."  I did not realize that the word is often used in two other scenarios:  When someone disagrees with your opinion, and when someone is trying to explain to you that you're stating something in an uncommon manner.

Looking back on things, he's absolutely right, and it explains so much.  Knowing this is bringing a barrage of emotions I can't even fathom right now.  Relief in some ways, for all the times I was told I was wrong when I knew I couldn't be due to the wrongness being something I perceived inside, like what I was feeling or what I preferred and why.  But also, utter astonishment on just how poor my grasp of working English continues to be. I studied the dictionary, I learned how to read and write, and I thought I could learn to communicate visually while pretending to be communicating with sound.  I think I have finally just realised that the spoken word and the written word are two different languages.  I will never be good at the former because I don't have the right equipment to learn it.  There's nothing wrong with me after all, and I'm not technically wrong about my opinions.  I simply don't grasp spoken English very well and probably never will, and therefore, need to be extra careful to clarify intent when I feel miffed.

To make myself feel more accepted, though, or perhaps less so depending on what I found, I did take another gander over to google to look for CAPD symptoms again.  In this case, I felt more reassured that I'm not crazy (well, the jury's still out on that one!) but rather, it's something that is known and therefore technically socially acceptable, even if difficult to live with.

http://www.aitinstitute.org/what_is_capd.htm

Difficulty understanding language.

Difficulty expressing oneself.

I have always felt the latter could only be done via creative outlets - i.e., writing, painting, music (although no one wants to hear me sing, lol).  The first, I always skimmed over because I thought it meant /all/ language - i.e., spoken and written language are one in the same.  If it means either both OR just spoken, however…

Anywho, I suppose I could feel sorry for myself some more but in reality I'm one heck of a smart person to have been able to fool so many people (and myself) into thinking I understood them all these years.  Smart, and very, very deluded.  Oh well, so be it.

I'm so fucked.  I wonder what it's going to be like when I'm old and hard of hearing in addition to plagued with CAPD?  I'm going to be one heck of an annoying (and frustrated) old woman, that's for sure!

~w

Kidney stones vs water intake

I was once told to drink a gallon of water each day for several days to flush out a kidney stone.  I remember thinking, hahaha, that's funny.  I can't even drink the recommended eight glasses per day, let alone twice that.  I managed the recommended eight per day for a few days and suffered for it.  Achy sides, nausea, and the feeling that my brain was turning to mush.  That, and I had to pee every twenty minutes, even if seemingly very little came out.  Which was crazy, because I gained five pounds in a couple days' time.  That's probably because I was dehydrated, right?  But I didn't like having the stone, so I did it.  Until I was sure it was gone.

I don't like being hydrated.  Achy sides, peeing water every 20 minutes (and seemingly not nearly enough of it considering how much I'd been putting in), not being able to think, and especially nausea are not things I want to live with on a permanent basis.  I couldn't believe people live with this all the time, though, so I began to question the doctor's insistence that drinking that much water is GOOD for people.  Looking for information on the topic of "too much water" actually yielded some surprising results.  You can die from drinking too much water.

Let me state that again.  YOU CAN DIE FROM DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER.

What?  Really?  Yep.  Especially if you drink too much too fast.

I don't recall if I'd found a list of the symptoms at the time, but I recently found them at livestrong.com.  Read for yourself.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/448446-can-drinking-too-much-water-hurt-your-kidneys/

Nausea, disorientation, fatigue, vomiting, frequent need to urinate, headache.  And it doesn't necessarily take what we might consider a lot of water to cause it.  It can occur if your body thinks it needs to retain water and you drink water anyway.  The body apparently decides how much is too much.  It doesn't have to be a lot.

The last part really got to me.  What if my body is tuned to where it always thinks that it needs to retain water?  This would explain why I don't sweat much (noticeably), why I overheat so easily sometimes.  And it could certainly explain why drinking a lot of water completely overwhelms me and gives me symptoms similar to water toxicity.

I've since tried, on occasion, to slowly increase my liquid intake.  It doesn't cause the achy sides, but I still feel like my head gets weirded out at times.  It seems to be a pretty fine balance if my body isn't specifically asking me for something through thirst.  Yes, I've heard that thirst is a symptom of dehydration.  As I said, I don't like being hydrated.  Also of note:  Despite not drinking "enough," I seldom feel thirsty in the summertime.  In fact, I feel more thirsty in the wintertime than I do any other time of the year… and I drink more.  I figure it's because the dry air sucks moisture out of my skin and my body realizes he needs to add it back in.  The only exception to this that I can think of was when we went to Arizona and it was very dry there.  It was hot, but I didn't feel hot at first.  It hit me fast.  Suddenly I began seeing things and feeling dizzy.  Dale led me to shade and told me to sit down and drink water.  I did, and eventually came back to life.  I didn't feel weird from drinking that time, despite not having known I was thirsty until the liquid began to seep into me.  But after that, I was thirsty there, and kept drinking.  I didn't pee more than usual, either.  The only thing I can think of is that my body had never experienced a super hot day in the sun without humidity before.  Hot days around here usually come with humidity, and I wilt in that combination so I avoid it like the plague.  Let me tell you something, though.  As much as I normally detest being out in the sun, Arizona sunshine is gorgeous.

Anywho, the point of this post is that I don't know how to get my body to want more water.  However, most of the time it seems to do pretty well on its own.  I'm very healthy, and I've learned to flush out my kidneys whenever I get the slightest inkling that a stone might be forming.  So, I reason that perhaps I should leave well enough alone.

I do need to slacken off on the plain tea sometimes, though.  It contains stone-forming oxalates.  LOL.

~w

Gizmo vs Bombay

When we were first adopting Gizmo, all I could think was "OMG, Bombay, Burmese, something along those lines."  I did some research and was almost kind of hoping I was wrong because I read about how they're so vocal and attention-seeking.  Last night our friend, Michael, came over for dinner and sees the little bugger.  He goes, "Bombay?"  I'm like, "That's what I thought!"

So, I took a good long look at him this morning and began writing these things I've noted about him.

- We call him Puma Cat because he lays in positions that resemble the Puma logos on clothing.  (However, he really doesn't look anything like a Puma, which is heavy and brown.  He really looks more like a tiny panther.)

- We also call him "Fuzz Nut" because he's a fuzzy crazy thing that would bounce off the walls of a padded room.

- He plays fetch.  Yep, with an aluminum foil ball.

- We chase each other around the house.

- He is highly intelligent.

- He has to be everywhere I am, all the time.

- He has a funny purr.  Most of the time it sounds like Kitty's, but sometimes this weird vocalization appears in it, like a soft vibrating trill.  Dale and I always look at each other in alarm, then like, "Good, you heard that, too, right?"  It's kind of freaky.

- He grunts.  A lot.  And snores.  Most of his grunts are when he doesn't want to be picked up, like when he's in the middle of thinking "Let's go pick on Sincla-- WHAT THE, NO MOMMA PUT ME DOWN!!"  (look look look crouching :: snatch :: grunt grunt whine)

- He doesn't spook easily.  As a kitten I got him a couple of times by letting him start inspecting a mat before sliding it towards him suddenly.  After that, it's been the occasional grab-the-rump-when-he-least-expects-it sort of thing.  That only gets me about an inch or two, though.  :: sigh ::

- He will follow me into the bathroom if I let him.  I used to think it was cute until he began jumping up on my lap in there… yeah, about that.  Now he sneaks in and I have to push his lithe, muscular little body out the door, squirming as it goes.  Then he'll sit out there and wait for me to come out.

- He also follows me into the shower.  He doesn't like water, though, so then he'll sit on the edge of the tub looking at me with big round eyes.  He'll look at the water in the tub, then up at me, and cry nervously like, "Momma!  It's wet in there!  Get out!"  Then when I reassure him, he'll get this look on his face like wtf is wrong with her and he'll jump down, crying and scratching at the shower curtain until I get out.

- Sometimes I find him sucking on the bath mat.

- He's gotta be in the sink when the water's on.  He mostly just sniffs and licks the water coming out of the faucet, but occasionally steps in it or cuffs at it, too.  It's usually cute although can be a big pain in the butt when I'm trying to brush my teeth.  I usually brush my teeth in the shower, though.

- He hides his toys in the tub and until Dale caulked it just right, kept pulling the drain strainer out.  Sometimes it would be lost in some weird places.  Most of the time it would be in the tub, on the bathroom floor, or in my den.  I often heard him playing with it in the kitchen but somehow it always ended up back in one of the three aforementioned places.  See the comment about hiding his toys in the tub.

- He LOVES to cuddle.

- He has some very obvious expressions, as if he's a mini human.  Like the time he jumped in the toilet bowl while Dale was cleaning and I gave him a bath.  He was very glad for the towel I wrapped him in and seemed to know I'd done right by him by bathing him just in case of chemicals.  However, he didn't like getting wet.  The look on his face when he shook his wet paw at me and splatted me was definitely not one of "Whups, too bad."  It was, "Ha!"  /: |

Oh, and incidentally, "Gizmo" was and still is the right name for him, as hard as it was to go with it at first.  He really is my little gremlin.  His expressions have remained (which reminded me of Gizmo from The Gremlins in the first place) and now with the addition of the trilling in the purr, it really fits.

Now that I know the little guy so well, I figured I'd read up on Bombays again and see if the personality traits match up.  I've bolded those items I feel do.  I'm not really sure on his eyes, though… they go back and forth from a weird gold-brown colour to the coppery colour mentioned, and there's a ring of green around his pupils.  But, the personality traits all seem spot-on.  Then again, a lot of these are in many cats.  LOL.

From Wikipedia:

The American cat breed, named Bombay, was bred in 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, when Nikki Horner of Shawnee Cattery deliberately bred an American Shorthair with a Burmese for the purpose of creating a domesticated cat that resembled a "miniature black panther".[3] This earned the Bombay the nickname "parlor panther". American Bombays have copper or golden eyes, and a jet-black coat. Occasionally, a Bombay kitten may be born sable colored or have a few spots of white on chest, ears, or, tail, because of its relation to the Burmese.
Personality characteristics - As cited above, Bombay cats love to eat. It is a part of nature. To reduce the risk of diabetes, it is important to feed them at certain times of the day. This will prevent the gaining of unnecessary weight. Do not fall for the scratching of the food bag or the desperate cries for food. These tactics are used to try to pry out some food from you. It is a very unhealthy habit that can never be broken.
Bombays tend to be attached to their families and crave attention, and for this reason this breed is highly suitable for children.[4]
Bombay cats are not independent. They seek attention from their owners and people around them often and dislike being left alone for extended periods of time.[5]
Although they like to be around people generally, Bombay Cats also tend to have a certain person whom they pay special attention to in their lives.[5]
Overall, the Bombay breed is intelligent, playful, and attention seeking.[5] They tend to get along well with other cats, as they have an established pecking order in the household. They have a very distinctive purr and love to snuggle. On cold days they can be found next to any source of heat they can find.[citation needed]

Burmese description from wiki:

The accepted eye colour for the breed is gold or yellow. The coat is known for being glossy, with a satin-like finish. As with most short-hairs, it requires no additional grooming. The shape of the British breed is more moderate but must not be Oriental,[2] while the American breed is sturdier in build. Longer lived than most pedigree cats, they often reach 16 to 18 years of age.[3] Burmese are a small to medium size breed and tend to be about 4–6 kg in weight.[4]
Burmese are vocal like the Siamese but have softer, sweeter meows. They are very affectionate and enjoy company, being a people-oriented breed who form strong bonds with their owners and gravitate toward human activity. Burmese need a reasonable amount of human attention, are not as independent as other breeds and are not suited to being left alone for extended periods of time. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) breed information on the Burmese implies that all survival instinct of flight or fight seems to have been bred out of them.[5] However, other sources[6] note that, while rarely aggressive with humans, Burmese cats can defend themselves quite well against other cats, even those larger than themselves.
Burmese maintain kitten-like interests and energy throughout their adulthood. They have a number of dog-like characteristics, often learning to play fetch and tag.[5] Burmese are good with children and dogs. They are suitable as an indoor breed of cat, will usually stay more affectionate if kept indoors and are comfortable travelling in cars.

Don't see THIS every day!

Apparently they're going in and out right now.  That's gotta hurt...

MWAHHHHH hahahahahahahaaaaaa ZSH!

My goal tonight:

- Sort through pictures.
- Via commandline on my mac.
-- Via Z-shell.
--- While not killing anything.

So far so good!

Oh yeah and I've got techno music to boot. Can't go wrong with that. Hey, gotta stay in practice of the all-powerful commandline. Otherwise, I'll never remember any of it.

~w
ps I opened mail via commandline. No, not hard, but not all mac weenies can say they know how to do that…

Fried corn meal mush egg thingie?

Not sure what this is really but here's the recipe as I remember it from a half hour or so ago.

Boiled water

1/2 cup corn meal

mixed up (probably have been better if I'd done this with cold water and then boiled it, like instructions usually say)

once most water is absorbed/evaporated and it's a thick mush:

Melt chunk of butter in fry pan on medium heat

Add ground cumin or whole cumin for that matter, to taste

Press corn mush into butter, keeping together like a solid

Let it fry for a while (5 minutes?)

Corn mush should be a bit solidish by now but still needs cooking.  Form a hole in the center of the "pancake" just big enough for an egg yolk.

Dump in an egg.

Spread the white over the top of the mushy cake in all directions (from the center outward works well).

Let it cook on a quarter heat for about ten minutes, or until the bottom is turning brown and crispy and the top white is mostly white.  Yolk will hopefully still be a bit liquidy on top, assuming you like runny yolks at all (I do).

Turn off heat.

Carefully flip "pancake."

Let it sit as it cools, then immediately turn frying pan upside down over plate to let the cake de pan flop out.

Add a bit of salt.  It's a little bland.  Otherwise, interesting take on the familiar "toad in the hole" concept.  I suppose to expedite this and use fewer cooking items, one could prepare corn mush ahead of time, keep it in the fridge, and then simply fry it with the egg... that way you can make a few days' worth of mush and save some extra time in the morning.

I like finding new ways to cook food... lol

~me

pellet stove

As an adult, I've come to appreciate doing chores to some extent.  I think it's partly because I know I'm doing chores for my own benefit, and partly because worklife is so brain-intensive at times that I welcome the mundane repetition and creative approaches I sometimes take to do things.  Every chore can be done a bit differently each time.  For instance, we can either let the cat litter go for days on end and then clean out the boxes all at once.  Or, we can scoop them out each day and come trash day, the work is already done.  I bet the cats like the latter better, but either way works.  We can do dishes via the dishwasher, or one by one as we use them, or plop them into the sink and do a bunch at once.  One of my favourite things to do is to allow the dishwasher to fill a bit, then wash my tea stuff in a bin as is common.  Then, not wanting to waste the washing water, I load up the bin with dishes from the washer.  Eventually the washer is emptied.  If I didn't have the dishwasher, I'd probably hate doing dishes.  Go figure.

This morning I walked past the pellet stove on my way to the laundry room and smelled woodsmoke.  Yay!!  Woodsmoke!!  I love the smell of woodsmoke!!  It reminded me that it probably needed some maintenance, though.  So when I was done with the laundry I go back to the stove to perform routine maintenance.

Soon I'd grabbed a metal spoon to dig the very-stuck-on, dried, black charred stuff off the bottom of the pellet pot.  Otherwise, the lever wouldn't pull out and the pot wouldn't drop its remains into the ash tray down below.  Dale had told me you have to work it back and forth a bit.  Ha.  I know he has more patience than me, but egads, I wasn't willing to wait that long to empty the darned thing.  As it was, it took me several minutes to dig the crud off with the spoon.  It was really stuck on!  But I got it and now the thing opens nicely again.  I suppose they can't use teflon where flame is...

Anywho, while I was doing this, I needed light.  Pulling on the knob with one hand and digging with a spoon with the other at the same time left little in the way for light-holding.  My teeth didn't like holding the little flashlight.  So I got the Gorilla light out and let it cling to the stove.  Pellet stoves, after all, are made of cast iron.  And, cast iron is magnetic.  And, the Gorilla light has three pendable legs that all end in magnetic ends.  Ha!  So there's my Gorilla hanging from the side of the stove like it's made to do that (it is) and I'm digging away, scratch scratch, dig, scratch.  Stove:  1.  Me:  2.  I win!

Then I dragged out the vacuum and Kitty didn't get scared.  Him.  She was two feet from the thing and never budged.  I swear she's losing her hearing.

Also on today's list are any miscreant dishes, tea, main vacuuming, breakfast, a bit of organizing, and then some outings with Dale.  I feel like cooking, too, but I don't know what yet.  Perhaps once I'm fed that will change.

Hm.  I should probably wash windows, too, since it's starting to get cold out.  That might have to wait for an unseasonably warm day... hey, I'm a mac person!  lol

-- me

System: 121994 Me: 101

Or something like that. Nonetheless, the damned thing is fixed. Again. Today has thus been a great day. I like leaving work knowing things are finally working properly again.

I had an awesome tea this morning as I stared out the window before work, caught up on some stuff while waiting on help for the issue at work, and ended the day by fixing the major issue. Now I'm home snarfing some soup and being enveloped by the kitten, although since the food dispenser went off, the kitten seems to have disappeared. Imagine that.

Now to wait for Dale to get home and carve pumpkins. Whee!!

~w

Poem: Midnight Prayer

MIDNIGHT PRAYER
2012090751 - c2012 WLC

Can you hear me when I write poetry
In my head like late last night
Do you feel your hands on mine
Or the bursts of distant light
Can you sense me breathe your name
Towards the stars within our midst
A silent prayer after midnight
That, forever, we'll have this

Hiss

Dale just read my blog and said (and it better have been jokingly, haha), "Or you could just slap your k-cup in the keurig and…"

I went, "Hiss."

It did not warrant a "byte me."  It was beyond "byte me."

~w

tea and kitten

I was explaining the process of gong fu to a guy at work.

Well, first you get out the gaiwan, pitcher, and cups.  You put the tea in the gaiwan, pour hot water in, steep about 20 seconds, then dump the "tea" into a waste bowl, the sink, wherever.  Then you pour in more water to make your first actual brew.

He goes, "Wait, wait, wait.  You DUMP your first brew?"

"No, you dump the rinse.  Anywho, then you brew 20 more seconds and pour into the pitcher, using the lid to hold back any leaves so they don't get into the pitcher.  Then you pour from the pitcher into the cup or cups."

He makes several exclamations about how involved it sounded and why don't you just use tea bags or some other method, etc.  I go, "Of course it's involved.  That's the point.  It's a way to not only get really, really good tea, but also a way to focus your mind on something.  It's almost a form of meditation… it's relaxing, calming, soothing.  It requires the commitment of time and a little bit of work to truly appreciate.  Not only that but I don't even have the smelling cups… there are sets that include those, as well… you pour the tea in one of those, then cover with the sipping cup and flip over.  When ready to consume, you gently lift the smelling cup and put it to your nose.  The steam from the hot tea stays in there because it covered the tea while it was upside down over it.  Then you drink the tea from the sipping cup.  It apparently completes the experience.  I have yet to do that, though… I generally sniff the tea as I'm about to drink it right from the cup, and often as I'm pouring it from vessel to vessel."

Like with many things I tell this particular person, he got this look of "Wow" on his face and shook his head in that mild disbelief he's so good at.

So, this morning, while tripping over the kitten Gizmo, I performed the following steps as I often do:

- Boil water.

- Pour water into carafe for long-lasting heat.

- Arrange teaware on tray.

- Dump yesterday's waste water/tea leaves from the waste bowl.

- Rinse everything carefully with hot water from carafe.

- Place tea leaves into gaiwan.

- Pour hot water over leaves.

- Wait 20 seconds or so.

- Dump rinse into waste bowl.

- Pour more hot water into gaiwan.

- Wait 20 seconds.

- Dump first brew into pitcher.

- Pour more hot water into gaiwan.

- Pour tea from pitcher to tiny cup.

- Drink tea from cup and repeat pitcher-to-cup-to-drink process repeatedly.

- Dump tea from gaiwan into pitcher.  (Second brew.  Sometimes this mixes with First Brew if I haven't finished the tea before the Second Brew finishes steeping.  With some teas, I simply leave them steeping a while but with most I can't do that because they will either not taste right or they'll be very bitter.)

The last few steps continue until I'm done, the tea is no longer brewing strong enough, or the water runs out, whichever comes first.  Then everything, in theory, gets washed and put away.  I say in theory because usually, like this morning, I rinse everything from yesterday for today's morning brews.

Another aspect of this is that if I do this before work, I sometimes bring the entire tray out to the front porch and sit there drinking it while I wait for Dale's car to pull out and go to work.  Then I finish up and come back in.  But mostly I just stare out the window at the pretty scenery out there.

In the meantime, the kitten Gizmo climbs all over me, tries to get on my desk, chases his aluminum foil ball all over the bathroom, pulls my DVDs or CDs (or both) out of the rack, stares at the wheeking guinea pig, and attacks our other two cats.  But I'm mellow as a golden pancake.

Serenity.  :)

~w

W00t!!

Playing with Windows 95 in a VM on my macbook. This is freakin' AWESOME!!!!! I'd forgotten how old-skool I can be!

Mountain Lion has this really cool spaces feature that existed before, but this one seems slicker somehow. Maybe it's just my imagination. Instead of making it an opt-in thing it just sort of exists, and all of my vm's, if I make them all full-screen, end up in one of their own spaces or something. It's awesome to be able to swipe left or right and see a new os. I also discovered that if you open vm's in this order, then you can swipe through in this order: w7, wxp, w98, w95

So now I swipe right from mac os x, and get Windows 95. Then I swipe right again and get Windows 98. Another right swipe and I get XP. Another, and I get 7.

OH!! That reminds me… at some point I need to see if W8 is available for download and testing. I'd love to get my hands on that and see what it's about… LOL

~w

Morning Thoughts: Foot and Computers

The other day, Dale and I went on a 7-mile hike (two-way).  Towards the end I was very concerned that the plantar fasciitis would come back to haunt my foot, but … it did not.  Painful during the end of the hike, yes.  The next day, however, despite the soreness in leg muscles, my feet - both of them - were fine and completely pain-free.

THAT is a huge thing.  Since getting the Reeboks, I've had no foot pain at all, and I've got my stride back.  My knees and hips have stopped hurting, too.  Well, my knees still have twinges, but they always had twinges which I'm sure is because I'm "not walking correctly."  Whatever.  All I know is that I am slowly becoming less afraid of being active again, and in the past few months I've already lost a few pounds.  Being very inactive for four years took its toll but I believe I'll bounce back quickly now, because I've always had good metabolism.  I just need to enjoy the activity.  So I took up dancing upstairs (and there was the long hike, but believe it or not, dancing doesn't hurt my foot as much).  So in light of all this, ROCK!!  Cool beans.  Awesome.  Yay!!!!!  :)

Computer stuff now.  I recently upgraded my computer to the latest OS X.  The first few times that I upgraded a Mac, it wasn't horrible or anything, but it did take some doing to make sure all my settings and things came back without all the extra crap.  I.e., doing the restoration piece manually rather than allowing the mac migration assistant to do it for me.  This ensures a totally clean slate.  I found this time around that my organizational self has made things far, far easier than ever before.  In my mac, I have an SSD and an HDD.  I did that earlier in the year to allow for both speed (OS on the SSD, and files I use frequently that could use speed) and for increased onboard storage (HDD) instead of the optical drive, which I like having but seldom use.  (I haven't really missed it, and now have an external optical because of myself which is far more useful since it can work with any computer now.)

ANYwho, things that made this time around go so much easier:

- Most of my documents were stored on the HDD.

- I already had a backup scheme in place, so making three full backups was a breeze (even if each takes a while).

- Scripts that I use for photo processing are stored in a folder on the HDD, so they were very easy to restore to the Finder toolbar… I just dragged and dropped.

- I have all of my software AND registration information in one place, organized into folders and support files named for easy recognition.

- I looked up all of my programs ahead of time so there were no compatibility surprises.

- For programs I knew would not work, I made plans accordingly with how to deal with the lessened functionality.  (For instance, I upgraded Fusion from 3 to 4.)

- I planned to do the wipe and reinstall during a non-stressful time when I didn't need my computer (okay, I've always done that, it's only logical).

- Important settings that I've found over time have been marked with red.  I.e., each folder leading to the setting, and the settings file itself, gets marked so I can trace it down through the folder hierarchy.  Go, mac OS X for having that feature!

- I remembered to deactivate my computer in iTunes so I could reactivate it properly and ensure access to all of my music/videos/apps/etc.

- I made sure to shut down the virtual machines in case upgrading to 4 would cause issues with running ones.

- I knew where my keychains were, just in case I had something in there I might need later.

At that point, I wiped out the OS and reinstalled it, which went very cleanly and quickly I must say.  Then I gave myself the same login name and started pulling copies of important things to the SSD for testing.  iPhoto libraries, that sort of thing, since I knew they'd get upgraded.  The VMs came up fine.  iPhoto libraries were very responsive - more so than before, which means the latest version of iPhoto which I'd been avoiding must have been better and more stable than I'd hoped.  (I hate upgrading photo software… you just never can trust anyone with your photos no matter who the company is behind the product!)

The most difficult part in all of this was and continues to be iTunes.  It seems to be working far better than last time, but I had to have done something to allow it to play .wav files and now it doesn't.  I was, however, successful in pointing it to the existing directory on the HDD and then modifying the actual pointer files back to the originals so all of my metadata, play counts, etc remained.  I'm still testing that one.  Maybe it was Flip4Mac that I installed for this purpose.  I dunno.  I can play stuff in VLC but that's not what I was doing before.  At any rate, that's a whole other story and I expected to have issues with iTunes no matter how careful I was.  It's the most complicated of everything I have had to restore and this was actually pretty smooth compared to my less knowledgeable attempts in the past.

Then I reattached my old keychains.  I probably did not have to do that, but I didn't want to be surprised.  Some day I'll go in and clean those up…

Things I really like about my "new" system:

- Seems more responsive (although Mail froze up solid on me this morning and I had to force quit it, but… that was the first issue I've seen in over a week)

- The gestures are SLICK!!  I got Windows 7 going in one space (yes, it's more responsive even though Spaces is running all the time now) and a simple gesture gets me from Windows to Mac OS X.  A friend was down last night, saw me do this, and almost drooled in his lap.

- Speaking of gestures… In Safari, you go back and forth with gestures.  Gone are the days of the back button.

- I love, love, LOVE the syncrhonization of reminders with my iPod.  I haven't really gotten into the notifications yet but I've come to appreciate the little popup windows telling me briefly what a new email is about.  That could be considered a distraction, I suppose, but I like it.  There's probably a setting or two for that, too.

Things I don't like:

- Takes an extra sixteen or so seconds to boot.  I got the SSD in part so it would boot in under 20 seconds and I had it down to about 10.  Dammit.  Now it's up to 26!  GARGH!  But it's a small thing since I usually put Talon to sleep anyway, rather than shutting him down…

There's a nice long-winded updated in the life of me.

~nv

Morning tasks

So... what did YOU do before work this morning?

Oh, I showered and got dressed, fed the guinea pig, played with the kitten, balanced an account, scrubbed battery corrosion off an old handheld microscope and checked continuity on a tiny lightbulb...

WHEEE!!! The joys of morning life!

Concert: Dave Matthews Band

Went to see Dave Matthews Band in Saratoga last night.  The concert was crowded.  Sold out.  We ended up sitting next to the pee fence to avoid the majority of people.  It's right by the woods which is right by a river of sorts and we only saw one mosquito (although I suspect I was bitten at least once or twice).  At least four guys asked us if we were OK with them peeing through the fence.  I didn't mind that they were doing it but I sure was jealous (I really had to go, too, but didn't until we left the concert... and when I saw the bathrooms I had wished I had just held it until I exploded, those bathrooms were gross).  Still, the seating arrangement we chose for ourselves was far better than getting trampled and getting high on second-hand pot smoke.

Other than the crowd, gross bathrooms, bad musical location, and such, though, it was pretty good... I enjoyed the fact that the entire crowd knew at least half the songs and sang along in one large choir.  We also had a good view of a big screen, so we saw the band in essence.  We were in a particularly good spot to observe the singing phenomenon, though, and it was pretty cool to watch.  Can't get that on an album.  The energy was mixed up, too, with excitement and partying.  LOTS of young people there.  It's amazing to see a band like DMB with so many younger people.  They're much like Chicago (probably more so, maybe) in that regard.

Goes to show you that the great bands continue to attract admirers.  I bet there won't be any young people at a Britney Spears concert twenty years from now!

Of course, I still fell asleep about 10pm and woke up about 11ish.  We hit the bathrooms and listened to more of the concert as we left... I was too tired at that point to deal with any more crowd and was getting panicky.  We both had water under our feet in the bathrooms.  I told Dale that mine was actually flowing under my shoes and I didn't want to touch anything at all.  Sooo gross... but the relief was almost worth it... I didn't even wash my hands for fear of something worse being at the sinks.  I even showered when we got home, even though I'd slept for another hour on the ride back.

Anywho, at the bathroom point, the band had just barely had a short break.  I can't believe they performed for three solid hours and the break they did get was short.  Crazy!!  We could actually hear the /band/ a bit better from the outside, at least until a certain point, and we got out of the parking lot really quickly which was an added plus.

Chicago is playing at SPAC in August.  I've never seen them and am very tempted to see what a Chicago concert is like these days, but half the band has been replaced a few times over and it's hard to imagine actually paying to see a band that has only gone downhill from my perspective.  But, it'll be really close by, not that far out of our way, really, for a concert.  It seems wrong to not go somehow.  LOL  We'll see.

domain transfers COMPLETE!!

It's final. All my domains are now transferred to a new hosting company. Well, with the exception of one, which was too close to expiration. So, I purposely lost it and will see if it's still around when it's done being tied up in auction. Whatever. I wasn't about to renew it at the original registrar because I'm still mad at them. While transferring my last domain, I noticed that the contact information on that domain was still out of date. How many damned places does one need to change information? For the domain alone, there were FOUR. That's on top of all the other places I'd already modified my stats.

I also got emailed at two email addresses about the same domains from the same registrar. They obviously have no bloody clue how to apply profile information across the board - not even on the same domain! I'm glad I'm finally done with them.

One good point is that this time, I noticed that I can accept a domain tranfer... I hadn't seen that before. I went in and accepted right away. I think maybe it's private registration that causes the real messy scenarios of denying transfers, but I'm not sure... this time it went within minutes. Of course, it was my second try, and private registration was already ousted.

:: happy sigh ::

~w

WHEEEEEeeeeeeee!!!!!

Whee? WHEEEEEEeeeee!!!! WHEE! Wheeeee....

WHEEEEE!!!

That's really all I have to say today. I'm simply happy. It's a good state to be in.

~w

capd to a T

http://qw88nb88.wordpress.com/living-with-auditory-processing-disorder/

I could NOT have stated any of this any better myself, ever, ever, ever.  Even the strategies and the desires states are exactly what I do and wish others would do.  One of the last bits, about how all the abilities to compensate deteriorate during illness or being tired, is something I've been increasingly aware of.  It's like night and day at times... I have a great day at work, only to wake up the next day with a cold or without enough sleep, or with too much stress... and meetings or just generally having to deal with people is like telling me I need to go shove my foot into a furnace.  I cringe upon looking forward to it and feel my whole being sag inside.  Then I struggle to understand half of what's going on, and to make it worse, the one thing I wish people would do - give me an agenda well ahead of time - is not done, so I have to guess at what the subject is about.

So... Unfortunately, not everyone listens... funny, how someone who CAN listen, doesn't bother, and someone who has trouble understanding speech, tries to listen so damned hard, only to be scolded in some way.  And no, this has not recently happened, but it does happen regularly.  It's one of the fun things about being involved in projects.  Yay, whoo hoo...

:: sarcasm ::

:: end sarcasm ::

I hate society's norms.

-nv

Guinea Pig Part III

Nikon and I have established a routine, I think.  I come downstairs each day about 6:30am and go, "Hellloooooo!" at which point I remove the cover to the cage.  He responds by popping out of his PVC and going, "Whee whee whee whee WHEE WHEE WHEE WHEE?!" to which I respond by saying, "Oh, my goodness!  Are we hungry?"  Then I saunter off to the fridge to get his greens.

This is where a guinea pig is making me eat healthier each day instead of just whenever I feel like it.  I have to try a piece of his greens because it's there.  Then, I have to bite off a large piece of strawberry because he won't eat the entire thing anyway.  I also bite off a piece of carrot to ensure it's OK.  (Yeah, that's it.)  Then he gets the rest and the wheeks turn off for a while.  I hand him a piece of green stuff and he snatches it from my fingers and drags it into his PVC pipe.  Munch, munch, munch, munch.  At this point I then dump the remaining veggies onto his veggie plate, change his water, and add more grain stuff to his dish.

I purposely put his cage near my desk so I can talk to him whenever I am home.  Last night he decided he was needier than usual and began wheeking at me whenever I left his cage.  He wouldn't let me pick him up.  He just wanted me to chase him around his cage.  I know he actually wanted me to chase him around his cage because as soon as I came over the loud wheeking would be replaced by contented little warbles and a devious eyeball.  He'd come out just long enough for my hand to get near, then he'd run back through the PVC pipe, come out the other end, and do a popcorn on his way into the oatmeal box, another one on his way out, slam into the Hefty box with the hay in it, and come bolting out back toward the PVC, making another popcorn and tossing his head.  This would repeat several times.  If I tried to walk away, the loud wheeking would return.

I knew going into this that guinea pigs are very social creatures, so I knew I had to be his social contact pretty frequently.  The loud wheeking after 20 minutes of being his captive audience, however, when I only wanted to be three feet away, was getting on my nerves just a smidgeon.  So, I decided he needed some bathroom time.  By that I mean I plopped him and his toys on the bathroom floor, along with him, and said, "Have at it."

Now that I think about it, that was mean.  I'd been gone all day and the poor little bugger was only claiming my evening after being alone all day.  But he made quite a mess in there so it was obvious he was all over the place, exploring.  I am hoping that it took his mind off his missing playmate for a while.  I was REALLY tired last night!  And, when he got back in his cage, he looked tired, too.

Oh, the other part of my days now:  When I get home at night, I now stop for a large handful of grass.  I usually go out each morning for a handful, too.  And as soon as I'm home, I also go to the fridge amidst the wheeks and get him his greens again, with whatever other treat I can come up with.

Shopping has changed, too.  I wandered around the market last time, anxiously wondering if the guy filling the produce area was going to replace all the missing mixed greens.  It was with a great sigh of relief when I wandered back through and found a couple boxes of the stuff in their places.  Phew!!  And I love strawberries, but now the box is actually dwindling instead of rotting.  Guinea pigs to add a special dimension to one's life.  And they have the cutest little butts.  :)

Now, if only I can figure out what the rumbling sound is... sometimes he makes it when I'm petting him (when he lets me pet him) and other times he makes it at sounds.  It would seem he doesn't like the sounds, so does that mean he really hates me petting him?  :: shrug ::  About the only things I have learned for sure are that the loud wheeks mean he wants something, the software ones are a form of contentment, the popcorns seem happy and energetic, and the silent shaking is terror.  I really don't like the shaking.  He doesn't do it much now but yesterday I took him outside for grass and on the way in, he began doing that again.  He's really not fond of being picked up.  It's unfortunate, because I thought constantly picking them up would solve that.  It's taking a long time and it hurts to keep pushing the issue.  At the same time, I'm afraid that pushing it is the only way to get him to accept it.  /Sigh.  Maybe if I get him used to my petting him in his cage, he'll trust my hands enough to stop fearing them when they slide under his body.

Aight, off to go find the little nerd.  I hear little noises right now.  Sounds like he's playing and talking to himself again.  :D

~w

New apartment!

No, not for us... for a friend.  We got to see his new place down the road from us today.  Nice and spacious.  Even though it's an older place, the carpeting and electrical were done up newish and reminded me a lot of my first apartment... or, technically, my second one.  That brought back a lot of memories.  The first thing he did was set up his internet connection.  All he had in the house were some sprayers of cleaning solution, sponges, his laptop, new router, modem, a bottle of water, and a radio.  The fridge wasn't even turned on yet.  He showed me Technet, which I remember someone telling me to subscribe to years ago in order to obtain MS products and such for testing.

He's about a decade younger than me so it was really easy to look back on how excited I was while I listened to him go on and on about stuff.  Very cool.  Then I looked at Dale and said, "Let's go home and have dinner," and we left, and talked about how cluttered our house is now and how we should really change some stuff up, etc.  I have since cleared off my desk again.  Does wonders to visit an empty house, still devoid of objects de living.  LOL.

But the funny thing is that I so nearly began feeling homesick for my old place, and then my mind quickly drifted to "our" first place, then to this one.  That made me stop longing for my past happiness and focus on the present happiness again.  Made me feel kinda old, too, looking back on something like that and so quietly and effortlessly accepting that I'm in a different place in my life now.

Speaking of different place, I'm ready for sleep and need to go say hi to Nikon before bed, too.  He's been quietly muttering to himself over there all night.  :)

~nv

wheeness

I just (re-)learned a valuable thing, in the weirdest of places (genealogy).

Anger is a weapon only to one's opponent.

At least, that blip from the whole "Tae Kwon Leep Boot To The Head" skit is what I remembered as a summary of my recent experience. Really, my experience was that I /wanted/ to be a jerk back to someone who I deemed was acting like a jerk about an innocent oversight, and instead, because of the situation, I took the high road, acknowledged the oversight (which was someone else's), and fixed the error, stating as much.

This is the second time in 24 hours that I've done something like this. While my first impulse was reactive anger, I have to admit that being a "bigger" person in the matters feels better than spouting off more anger would have felt. And, in the genealogical case, it brought an apology in response to mine.

It is VERY hard to hold back anger, especially on the internet, and especially when it seems so obviously justifiable. It's something I can only strive to accomplish more often.

~w

health

Health is a wonderful thing. I am lucky that despite a few weird things here and there, like an extra mini-stomach that died and the occasional bout of kidney stones, stitches, and the time I swallowed a pill as a kid, that I've been pretty healthy. The longest-lasting, most annoying problem I've ever had was plantar fasciitis, and for the most part, that's pretty much healed now after four years of misery.

Tonight I played table tennis for the second time in as many weeks, and it was awesome. I could once again feel the power in my legs, the weight of the muscle behind the slight layer of fat that had accumulated over the past few years. I could feel the adrenaline kicking in, feel my blood coursing through my veins and arteries, feel the endorphins as my brain swelled with oxygen and nutrients. My eyes got blurry for a while and I could barely see the ball, but I wasn't about to stop there. Every time I bent to pick up a flyaway, I could feel the heftiness of my thighs and calves working in unison. I especially loved to toss the ball under one leg before serving, proof of the increasing coordination and regained balance that I had thought I'd lost. I felt colour in my cheeks and a bit winded at times. It was indeed, awesome. And my foot didn't complain until Ron's speech, when we all stopped moving and I had to stand there, my back beginning to talk, my feet uncomfortable, the left foot beginning to seize up in mock agony. I eventually walked over to the benches and sat down with my mountain dew. Ron is very long-winded, even if he means well.

Further evidence of my foot's progress: A couple months ago, I went dancing with a friend for three hours and my foot barely noticed. Oh, it noticed once it was no longer moving, mind you, but the pain went away within two days. This was an incredible feat! I was ecstatic. Just prior to that, I had gone on a couple of trips that involved some walking. That was painful, but it didn't last long once I got off my feet.

Knowing that this foot thing isn't totally strong yet, though, I kept thinking that I should go swimming or something to at least get exercise while taking it "easy" otherwise. I went swimming a lot last winter and got pretty good at it. I finally ventured into deep water over my head and began to slowly drift away from the sides of the pool. I have yet to jump off a diving board or even off the edge, but I was really close to doing it a couple of times. Last summer, I swam at the pond many times and even ventured too far, but when I got spooked about it, I remembered not to panic. "I can do this," I thought to myself. "If I get tired, I simply fall over onto my side or my back and get back to shore. No biggie." And I did. But this winter, I haven't been once to the pool. I've kept myself busy with other things, I suppose, but mostly, I've made excuses. My hair's too long. I'm too busy. I don't feel like it. I don't have anyone to go with this time. Blah blah blah.

However, recently, Dale and I took up Yoga. I'd like to say we're good about doing it every single day, but in truth, we're not. We kept it up a solid week and then skipped a week and now it seems it's every few days. Better than nothing. What amazes me about that is how taxing it is, yet it seems so simple and easy. The nice thing about it is that we can do it at home, it's good for stretching, good for balance, good for flexibility, and believe it or not, good for some form of endurance. It's also relaxing even as it's energizing. Once it's over, I almost want to do another set. My back had been bothering me quite a bit, mostly when standing, and while standing is still a no-no after five minutes, the pain has greatly diminished since beginning yoga. Perhaps the best thing about yoga is that it doesn't hurt my foot whatsoever - provided I'm careful on certain poses, if I do them at all. It's a gooood thing.

Tonight I got home and after some photography, realized I was starving. I got out the salad greens and threw some shredded cheese and pepperoni sandwich things in there, and ate a lot of it. It's what I really wanted, not what I thought I should have. I wish I had more at the moment but it's getting late for food so I'll head upstairs to read instead.

Health is a good thing. Having my foot back, even in part, was good. Having it back 90% of the way is tremendously awesome. I had forgotten how much I like to simply be able to run about and feel my muscles contracting without having to worry about excruciating pain at every step and even after taking weight off things. It's A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

~w

sleeping phenomenon #10971

Last night, I was out like a light a bit earlier than expected.

8:30pm:  I was watching Caprica and making a playlist on my laptop.

8:45pm:  I heard Dale disappear into the kitchen while I felt my consciousness suddenly start slipping away.  Within seconds, I was very close to being paralyzed, but figured it was almost ten so it was OK.  I heard Dale's voice protesting and I managed to answer that it was almost ten.  His voice faded out on me as my eyes opened briefly enough for me to get a quick glance at the time on my laptop.  It was really quarter to nine.  I thought, "Shit, this is interesting, why am I so tired?"  The next thing I can remember is sensing that my laptop had started to shift on my lap, and my hand moved to pull it closer to me.  All audio stimulation at that point completely shut off on me.  I don't even remember dreaming this time, only wondering why so freakin' early.

1am:  Something told me I must wake up because Dale was putting a blanket on me and was trying to see if I would go up to bed or not.  I managed to rise - rather energetically, in fact, which is unusual - and got spooked by the fact my laptop was missing.  Dale explained that he'd removed it.  He also told me:

- I fell asleep at quarter to nine.

- ALMOST nothing at all would rouse me.  He had watched TV, stomped across the floor several times, talked to me, did some other stuff, and eventually removed my laptop.

- The ONLY thing I woke up for was when he took a picture of me sleeping.  Apparently I woke just enough to give him some look and fall back asleep, like I'd heard the sound his camera was making.  I asked if he'd used the flash and he said no, it was just the sound alone that woke me.

- He then asked why the heck I had so much energy at 1am.  Then he fell asleep within minutes.

- I laid back down thinking I'd never fall back asleep, and wondering at the weirdness that is sleep for me, and the next thing I knew, I was wide awake and staring at the daylight in the window, wondering where the daylight had come from at 1:15am.  It turns out it was 6:30.

Not only did I fall asleep an hour and fifteen minutes earlier than my first normal sleep point, but I also woke a half an hour late.  And this is after the spring ahead time change, too, which makes it even stranger.

I'm telling you, this whole sleeping thing is not my idea.  Similar things have been happening since I was a little girl.  For years, Mum thought I was doing it on purpose and would sometimes even yell at me or put me down for it.  Other than getting into bed whenever darkness begins to fall outside, I honestly don't know how to get around it.  It's like Narcolepsy on a schedule.  Yet, I have been able to overcome it (with consequences of course) in order to do a few lan parties from time to time... but it involves LOTS of caffeine and excitement and sheer willpower to accomplish my staying up until 4am, and then I wake up at 7 or 8am, fall asleep earlier than usual, wake up later than usual, and am quite cranky and weirder than usual for a week or so.

iPod Touch

I do not know how I've lived without the iPod Touch...

Why is it that every time I've obtained an Apple product, I've realized just how "necessary" it is, even when I was thinking practically and refused to get one for a long time?  What is it?  lol

~w

More happiness

One thing I forgot that I loved about camping... looking at the stars with Dale...

:D

~w

Happy happy joy joy!

My favourite things this past week...

CAMPING
- Camping in a little cabin with Dale, despite a hard bunk and homesickness.
- Woodstoves in little cabins.
- Outhouses over trees.
- Elly the Forest Cat.
- Hot dogs over a camp fire.
- Building fires successfully the first time each time (all four times)!!
- Reading with Dale at a picnic table

HOME
- Coming home to a clean house.
- Spending time with the cats.
- Watching the birds at the feeder.
- Looking out the window and across the street.
- Watching TV with Dale.
- Doing Yoga with Dale (new activity, we seem to like it so far).
- Drinking tea.
- Writing note to mail carrier.

TECH
- Playing on my computer(s) - photos, email, facebook, et al.
- Setting up my iPod and discovering all the cool things it does (it's so small, crikeys).
- Synching devices with services.
- Setting up smart playlists in iTunes to automatically synch music I've not listened to in a while while still keeping highly rated items as well.
- Evernote. 'Nuff said.
- Google. They recently emailed me to mention that my account was about to autorenew and I would be charged, so it was my last chance to change my mind. That's very good juju. I didn't want to change my mind, but I appreciate their mentioning it in case my CC changed, etc.
- The elegance of iOS 5.1. It's way cool. I still can't get over how slick it is in such a small form factor.
- Writing batch files.
- The extra large pockets in my cargo pants. Good for stowing stuff. :)

WORK
- Coming back to work and finding my desk as neat as I left it, and efficient.
- Diving into my work and actually accomplishing things.
- The quiet created by recently moving desks.
- The people I work with.
- The laptops I set up fresh, and get to use my batch files on, making the process more efficient.
- WAIK, which one of my colleagues set up, OMG, so much more efficient when setting up a laptop... still love it...
- Going out to lunch with my colleague/friend.
- Feeling helpful.
- Feeling logical.

We are SO privileged

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46037-2004Dec8.html

Hardtack, during long marches, infested with worms.  'Nuff said.  Parents should take note and use this more local cuisine to threaten their children with.  Methinks it would be far more effective than "you know, some starving kid in Africa would love to eat those vegetables."  Too cliché, no?  What about "you know, a civil war soldier would have loved some of those vegetables.  How'd you like to end up with scurvy?"

At the least, it would give a bit more of a history lesson and teach kids what sorts of malnourished threats exist.

~w

ill diet

I am finding this interesting. Yesterday, I was too tired to consider making much of anything for myself to eat. I eventually got up and heated some soup, which Dale had graciously left a can of in a clean pot alongside another pot with a different kind of canned soup in it. I chose my childhood favourite, Campbell's, which I watered down a bit to boot. I saved the noodle half for today's soup. I also snagged some leftover rice pudding with a dollop of whipped cream and dumped cinnamon all over it. Otherwise, all I really had all day was crunchy noodles and a glass of water which Dale refilled when he got home. I know I did not consume enough food or liquid yesterday, but se la vie.

Today, I had four slices of toast, the remainder of the soup, a glass of water, three cups of tea, and three helpings of flattened rice with spices dumped in. Oh, and more rice pudding, though I forgot about the cinnamon, which is now calling my name. I find these cravings interesting because I just began sweating a short while ago, which somehow felt really good even though I typically don't sweat much even in the summer, and realised that garlic and cayenne promote sweating. I still haven't figured out why I'm craving cinnamon but I've no doubt I'll be consuming it - for some intuitive reason - soon.

The human body is an amazing thing and I am wholly convinced that it knows what it needs at times, probably more often than I pay attention to, and I think I pay attention more than most people these days. I don't know if asafoetida, curry powder, turmeric, or cumin have any positive effects on cold/flu bugs, but whenever I get the craving for this rice glop stuff I've been making as of late, I very much want those spices in the mix with the cayenne and garlic. Perhaps it's just for added flavour? I'll need to look those guys up and see what they do for a person's body. I won't be surprised if my body is welcoming them on purpose right now.

Ginger - I almost added that this round but ate a piece instead while cooking. The hot flavour was nice considering I couldn't taste much yesterday. That could be another reason for the desire of spice. I recall a friend stating that when he's sick, he likes to consume hot, spicy foods so he can actually TASTE something. He also said it cuts through mucous (true). Anywho, ginger is another item that promotes circulation at least. I suspect I need it, as well.

~nv

History lesson

I've been home sick the past two days. What does one do when they're too tired to get up, but alert enough to not be sleeping during the day? TV. Ayup. Illness probably permits me to watch more TV than I'd ever otherwise care to, and whittle down our Netflix "instant" list. It also tends to keep me off the computer for the longest period of time other than when camping (sometimes).

Anywho, one of the items I've watched today is Ancient Inventions with Terry Jones. In addition to being informative, it's entertaining to some extent... but back to informative. I've come to some realisations because of this. Here are some things I've learned so far:

- Greek fire was actually invented by an Assyrian named Callinicus in the 11th century.
- Rifling has been around for a lot longer than the last few centuries.
- Multi-level apartment buildings have been around since at least Roman times.
- Archimedes' screw dates back to about the 3rd century B.C.
- Concrete was from Roman times as well, and created a water-resistant type for pipes and foundations.
- Skin grafts have been happening in India since 2500 B.C. or earlier.
- Much of medical technology was invented because of war.
- The tank was conceptualised millennia ago - one such tank was on four wheels, with a wooden frame, covered in rawhide, and powered by slaves running beneath it.
- The taxi meter was invented by Romans - actually, the odometer! Each turn of one wheel would cause a slight rotation of a gear which would eventually rotate another gear. This last gear had holes in it with round pebbles that would fall into a small box after so many turns of the wheel. A passenger would pay according to the number of stones in the box.
- The Chinese created the printing press, and the Koreans came up with moveable, metal typesets.
- The idea of the "address" was known in Venice about 1000 years ago.
- Rome was serving take-out a long time ago.
- The hamburger was also around during Roman times... ground beef, wine, pine nuts, fried, in some sort of roll... yep, the hamburger...
- The steam engine was actually around in 50 B.C. - the Greeks knew of it!
- Housing has been around almost since Man has existed.
- Heron created a slot machine for dispensing water. He also created a fire engine with a water pump.
- New York got its first street light in 1761. But they came out long before that in Rome, probably some sort of oil lamp. China used natural gas through bamboo pipes and used it for lighting. They also filled bladders with this gas and created gas lamps out of them.
- The flush toilet has been around since 1886. It was invented by Thomas Crapper. Rome had communal lavatories but used sponges on sticks, which were kept in buckets of saltwater. The Chinese were using toilet paper in 6th Century A.D.
- Makeup, contraceptives, female condoms, and pregnancy tests have existed since ancient times. Ancient Egypt had a slave strike because they had run out of makeup. They needed to protect their skin from sun and had to have their sunblock!! They also had lip gloss, eye liner, foundation, and applicators, and even buried kits with the deceased. Razors date back to over 4000 years ago and so do wigs. There were even false beards - and even women wore them. The male condom existed in Rome - sheep bladders. Casanova, in fact, described his own version of this as being reusable. Crocodile dung and soured milk were an Egyptian's way to prevent pregnancy. Acids in crocodile dung are powerful spermicides, as moden science has come to find out. The current "pill" still uses progesterone from the wild yam, which was once used by Indians in New Mexico for contraception. In 700 B.C., doctors would soak cloth in a flower's sap and used these as pregnancy tests.
- Kissing on the mouth supposedly came about in ancient Rome. Prior to that, it was reserved between mother and child.
- 823 A.D. saw its first known salon in Spain. The same guy invented hot wax hair removal, toothbrushes, and deodorant.
- 4th Century B.C. had showers. (Yay!!)
- Rose oil was created via distillation in 876 A.D.
- "Gymnasium" comes from Ancient Greek meaning "exercise naked."
- The first known mechanical clock was created to regulate the sex life of the emperor of China in 8th Century A.D. The emperor's heir was based on the conception of each child. 121 women attended to him in a certain order, and eventually he slept with the Empress. Clocks did not appear in Western life until 14th century and was used to time celibacy.
- Clepsidra had a "water" clock to time her patrons. She was a prostitute. When a bowl with a hole drilled in the bottom fell to the bottom of a larger vessel of water, her patron's time was up.
- Sex has not always been "bad" - some cultures felt sex was a religious practice to be celebrated.
- Privacy came about with the invention of the corridor - late 17th century.
- Keys were invented over 4000 years ago. They were notched pegs with strings attached to them.
- Human sweat contains all sorts of chemicals that act as aphrodisacs, and the Greeks would rub themselves with olive oil, followed by scraping off dirt and sweat with a special stick, dropping the oil into a bowl. Wealthy women would pay to have this substance smeared on their faces.
- Steroids, estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone were obtained by the Chinese by evaporating urine. They used these hormonal treatments over 2000 years prior to Western uses. They were taken via pill form.
- The sling was probably invented by a woman to hold her baby. Prior to this, humans had body hair for their children to cling to.

What strikes me is that soooooo many of these inventions are still in use today with very little improvement. It seems that many inventions from hundreds to thousands of years ago were simply set aside because they didn't seem to have any real use at the time.

That's my history lesson for today. :D

~w

blah

So I was a bit down for a few days there, finally got over it today, only to come home to a very exhausted and droopy Dale. That would have been tolerable but then I made the mistake of making ribs, with bone-in, without considering that Dale has a sliced thumb right now and couldn't properly hold them to eat it. Even slicing off some of the meat for him just made him droop more.

I think I'm going to bury my head in my ass for a while. Reading sounds really nice, a bit of escape perhaps.

~nv

FOOOOOOD

Dinner: Haddock, maple-glazed carrots (Dale's cooking project tonight), and freshly baked bread (from bread maker) with freshly pressed thyme-butter (my project tonight).

Yum!!

~nv

Monty Python STILL rocks!!

I'd forgotten that the end of the movie has another French taunting!!!!!

"So, you think you could out-clever us French folk with your silly knees bent running about advancing behaviour?! I'll wave my private parts at your aunties, you cheezy lot of second hand electric donkey bottom biters!"

"I burst my pimples at you and call your door opening request a silly thing, you tiny brained wipers of other people's bottoms!!"

WHOO HOOOOOO I love the french tauntings... oh, man, my insides are exploding... and it's really cool when they get shat on... LOLOLOL

These people were geniuses.

Nice castle, too. I understand one get a tour at Castle Stalker certain times of the years. Whups, I mean, sorry... Castle Arrrrrrrrghhhh... HAHAHAHAHA Might have to do that when we go to Scotland!!!!!

~w

SOPA and PIPA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Yep, I'm learning about it due to Wikipedia's blackout.

Here are a few points I'd like to make, since we're going to drag down every site owner out there by letting this shit pass.

I think music companies should be able to sue each other NOW.  I've been noting lately how many songs sound a lot like others, they're just rearranged in some way, or only using a small piece of what's in another song.  But by that logic, as soon as someone hums one note, you've committed copyright infringement.  By even talking about it, you've committed a crime, because you might encourage someone to go out and listen for themselves, or buy the other party's music, thus not buying the original party's music.

Every time you utter a single word out of the english language, you are using someone else's ideas.  What is the difference between Intellectual Property and an Idea?  Not much.  The big difference is that IP is officially owned by someone and ideas are up for grabs.  Copyrights and other such official registrations are bullshit, really, for many things, because it really only belongs to the first person who /registers/ it, not the person who originated the concept.  So it's unfair to begin with and simply capitalizing on more shit.

Every time you paint, you're copying someone else's work.  Trust me, that zig zag you just drew?  Some little kid drew that in kindergarten, and I guarantee that an artist could sue a little kid if they really wanted to simply by copyrighting their freakin' work.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

America is turning into a sue-fest, where creativity is being recognized, swiped, capitalized on, and then the thief cries wolf when someone does it to them.  Now, I'm perfectly happy to pay someone who has toiled and troubled, if I like it.  I am also willing to pay MORE to someone who has perfected someone else's work because you know what?  If the person who created the thing in the first place could do it RIGHT the first time, I would have given THEM my dough.  I want to honour people who deserve it by supporting them, not these wannabe creepshows who want everything for doing nothing, or for doing very little.  Making a quick buck, though... it's the American Way.  Right?

Where do you draw the line between an original work and common knowledge?  Who should be allowed to make that determination?  Where do you draw the line between a government that has a few laws in place to prevent mayhem and one that controls everything we do or say?  But beyond all of that... This is the biggest question I want answered:  Why is the government being allowed or encouraged to even THINK of having a law stating that the non-responsible parties are going to be held responsible?  This brings me right back to my eighth-grade science class when there were like 40 kids and three in the very back whom I didn't know (nor care to know) were talking.  The entire class got punished because of three people and we were told that it was because none of us told them to shut their traps.  In other words, the teacher, instead of doing her job and yanking their sorry asses out of class and marching them to the Principal's office, held us responsible for their actions.  You know what I did after that?  I talked incessantly the rest of the year, to make up for the injustice.

I learned that business is not your friend.  It's a good thing to have it - it causes some healthy competition, jobs, income, and that nebulous thing we call "economics."  But your employer is not there to protect you.  It's there to purchase your services and it tells you what to do while you're under their thumb.  You have to sign non-disclosures, hand in your urine samples, and all sorts of other things so they can protect themselves, their rights, etc.  WE HAVE NO RIGHTS.  Seriously.  When we get right down to it, we are slowly signing what few we have left, away, but simply not paying attention, standing up, etc.

I don't give a damn about the Wall Street shit that's been going on.  That, to me, is pathetic.  Permitting more suing, however, has got to stop.  Holding the non-responsible people responsible is not going to work, it'll cause a revolution, it'll cause goodspeak, it'll cause 1984 to finally happen.

"You're crazy."  "I'm not crazy, now listen--"  "Insanity is characterized by stating one is not crazy."  "Okay... so what if I state I /am/ crazy?"  "Then you've taken the first step to recovery."

Did you know that some bright dumbasses have released 3 million mosquitoes into an area so they mate with the females and die off?  I know, I know, we're "protecting our fellow peoples by preventing disease from spreading to them through infected mosquitoes."  Yeah, okay, that's great.  For now.  Then their grandkids starve because you didn't think of the chain effect of killing off another critter's food supply.  Did you know that dragonflies eat mosquitoes?  It's their staple diet.  I have a better idea.  Let's compete with them over the mosquitoes instead.  Mosquitoes eat blood, right?  Thus if you eat a mosquito, you're getting protein and iron.  Let's be more efficient by eating the mosquitoes ourselves.

Morons.  Stay the hell out of our lives.  Unless, of course, you wish to fix the English language by yanking all websites, periodicals, and other publications that have blatant typos in them.  Start with this one.  Please.

~w

ps I'm pretty angry about this.  Can you tell?  I think there are reasons I tend to stay away from the news.  Thanks, Wikipedia, for making me too angry to even write coherently.  I believe in your cause, I do, but dammit, I really wish I didn't have to know about more of this stupidity.