Random Stew

There's a website I participate on, and someone there built a tool that will put randomize a new comment based on what you've said before. I've decided to create a post with it. (And no, I never said anything about hating anyone, much less chinese folks!)
***********

Cried. Couldn't finish it. Can someone point me to an ophthalmologist anyway... I was just overwhelming. Ramps are almost in season! Make ramp ice cream! Well, if y'all had fun! Oooooh. Warblers make me cringe. Hm. Looks like I'll try some of our overweight patients, and she, too, was aghast. Yes, she knows he's an excellent driver. She knows that there's no problem with. A is my dream. I just made me gag. Eating something actually seemed to help, in that they don't meet all of that keyboard, damn it.

I am so sad I missed this. Though I did it. It soothed me, that I saw my own 11/12. I felt like nothing will work. I tried to change the "signal type" from the get-go, would be so nostalgia-inducing?? I'm totally going to concentrate on The first fish I had one I've wanted to bring them Clinique skin products.

Thank you thank you! I am bothered by the tight clasp the clapper had. Thanks for reminding me how much I like to use, and they need to also." "It's not safe to leave the doors unlocked." "The door needs to be allergy related. When I actively try NOT to "stomp", the only way I can find that's structurally sound and not located in a fortune cookie factory! I actually hate old Chinese people!

(that wasn't meant to be locked when we're not here or sleeping" "I'll be locking the door, and you need (locked room) and not as much information from her side when the only restaurant that I didn't find anything specifically about petroleum jelly, but this tidbit of info about olive oil and vinegar (also a stretch) sugar and spice steak and potatoes brats and beer fruit and nuts pancakes and syrup nuts and bolts

The spermicides, such as the right hand side of my head), (keyword:s Ceceo or seseo). If other things do, and so on, until maybe there's more concern about the puzzle piece type of scavenger hunt, but since I'd like to look at some of the night to cry to him about it, and you might especially like this off the ground and create a strategic plan for how you look at it). Hound the landlord. Explain that the constant NPR in the world than her looks.

I just dabbed a bit creeped out.

I second birding. You can flip if you have to. Don't know what to plant something like that, and THEN at least 20 years, for at least this one or two people dominate.


A local birding listserv I'm on recently pointed this Sibley Guides article, that talks about using a condom on and using the remote to press source doesn't seem to have this kind of humming and hawing to myself about the possible tools they have been about a year, but had always been called that, so it really touched me. I was so freaked out.

So seriously, the saltines with some folks on the back. Actually, pat yourself on the keyboard) It is huge, to be there any tradition/law about children chewing/eating paan? (Sorry for such ignorance on my wrists and rubbed them together.

(this is the best one, i think:)

I wanna experience an earthquake! Not too bad of one, half dozen of the gym-teacher style. Wiith pork chop pockets! And a cold sweat and puking. I called the property management company and explained that it looks like it scraped the phlegm off. Currently I have to act on it.

Solve this mystery!

Later on on the same day I had a visit from the Freakin' Big and Important agency guy, I had a mishap.

What do you think happened? I'd love to hear your conjecture!

I wouldn't hire him...

You just never ever know what you're going to find around here. Today has been a GEM! I was outside watching Bubba rolling around, thinking I was videotaping him, when a guy came up my driveway.

(Now, I'm going to avoid certain words, so use your imagination to fill in the blanks.)

It was an older gentleman, dressed in a suit and tie, holding a badge open. You know, the kind that you hold horizontally and it shows your picture? And your title? And the agency that employs you?

Yeah. In this case the organization sending him around was from the USA, not the state. A BIG and IMPORTANT agency. The kind that gets called when certain lines get crossed. Like the line between Virginia and North Carolina, for example. Yah. That one.

Anyhoo, he told me he was looking for info on a woman who'd lived nearby--nothing nefarious had gone on, though. It was a pre-employment thing. So he was checking her out.

I had the computer open, taping. Or well, I thought I did. But I didn't. Which I did eventually realize. And fix. As you can see. Unfortunately, I messed up turning the tape on two different times, so I missed the best parts. Like the ID, which I had him take out to look at closely several times. And his explanation of what he did--in a nutshell, he's not the guy with a curly thing attached to his ear and wearing these:



No, he had a more mundane title, though that doesn't make the encounter any less bizarre.



Here you have it, with bonus Bubba goodness. Bubba, who brings out the love in everyone.





LOVE HIM! (Where I got the intonation I used to say that in this video is beyond me.)

Landscaping and illness blow-by-blow

Oy.

Still sick. This has been a doozy of an illness. First, last Thursday I all-but collapsed in a Catholic church in a far-flung bedroom community of our state capital. I lay in their infirmary for a couple of hours, letting someone else deliver the presentation I'd so carefully spent days preparing in Spanish. Then the aforementioned fever, coughing, sniffly, sneezy, body aches, etc. set in over the weekend.

On Monday I went in to work because I had some stuff to do that I could *not* put off. Then I went home after lunch. Tuesday I stayed home rather than drive to a meeting two hours away. This meeting was mandatory if I wanted to be able to apply for a big grant. Nobody else in my organization could go with such short notice. The funders allowed for no flexibility at all. No grant, I guess.

Wednesday I worked, since the fever was gone, though I had no voice. There were another couple things I couldn't cancel. I worked some Thursday, too, because we had a big (BIG) fundraiser I was obligated to attend--this despite the clogged ear which I suspect has blossomed into an ear-infection. Friday I recuperated some, and borrowed an LCD projector from a colleague at another organization. Yesterday I volunteered at the farm tour for a few hours, but I'm making no attempt today to go visit any other farms I could go see with my free entry pass. Sad. I am wearing the t-shirt, though. Such nice organic cotton.

Instead of going to farms, I'm working again today. From home, but still. It's not too bad. I'm just practicing hooking my computer up to and using an LCD projector. I've had to mooch a cable converter (thank god for neighborhood listservs and a tight community). The one I got wasn't the correct one, but I have a lead on another. Once I have the projector figured out, I also have to go pick up some gift cards and finish up a project. Concurrently I'm catching up on housework. The dishes and laundry sure piled up quickly.

I have a big project I've had to put off because of this illness. See, I'm kind of sick of my front yard being so boring and grassy. I want flowers, dangnabbit! I happened along a big ole' pile of shredded hardwood for free, which is sitting on my front lawn.

See?

Actually, it's not quite like this anymore. I've laid down cardboard on much of the front left (from your point of view--out of visibility of the picture for the most part), and heaped the mulch over the cardboard. There's a strip along the sidewalk, and the azaleas and camellia have been weeded and covered with mulch as well. I expanded the mulching in front of the porch quite a bit, making a sort of arc. This will brew over the winter, and then come spring, the grass will all be dead and ready for perennial planting.

Now I have to figure out a plan to keep the newly-landscaped area full of blooms throughout all seasons.

This is confounding me slightly. Here are some of the possibilities:

Spring:
Bulbs?

Summer:
Creeping thyme carpet
Daisies, black-eyed susans, echinacea

Fall:
Mums
Asters

Winter
Um...?

All year:
Rosemary
Sage (?)

Any suggestions?

For Cristin with looooove

My girl Cristin rocks. She just came by with tortilla soup from a local restaurant, Dunkin' Donuts and DVDs.

Hell yes.

On persistence

This guy was a casualty of a front yard landscaping project I'm in the middle of. He wasn't an intentional plant, though he's quite handsome. I thought about trying to save him, but there are just so many weeds I wanted to get rid of, and so he was a sacrifice for the greater good.

His foliage is just about dead, as you can see, but he keeps blooming every morning.

(I need a new camera. This one sucks)

Fever all through the night

You know you're dealing with a real fever when delirium sets in. This wikipedia entry, accessed by hitting the "random" button, made me laugh my ass off. On the inside, though. No out-loud laughing occurred. My body is too busy sweating for me to actually say something using my vocal cords.

Except maybe a ROAR.

The entry is SO empty. Why does it exist?

What do you think--should I add this photo to the wikipedia entry? I'm partial to a caption like "This is a Lion. Lions roar."


Oh my god, there's a mnemonic device for the causes of delirium, and the acronym is

I W A T C H D E AT H.

Quick: Here's a photo of Bubba-Love.



Lion photo by very very Former Roommate The Good One. (aka Randall)
Bubba picture by me.

At least I've not had the pulsating-human-organ-on-the-side-of-the-road dream. That's more like 103-104 territory.

Ugh. I'm so cold. And yet, it's >78ºF inside. And oh, wait, now I'm HOT.

In other news:

* Sneezing.
* Gacking up lotsa nasty mucosa.
* Have decided that neti pots only work if your sinuses aren't swollen shut.
* A supply of disposable facial tissues at all times is now mandatory.
* Am beautiful. (see blelow)
* I found generic sleep medicine to be cheaper per unit than the same medicine marketed as an antihistamine.

100ºF is a ripoff fever. Not high enough for sympathy, yet not low enough to feel well.



(I'm also rather melodramatic--but I think that's because I'm kind of wanting someone to take care of me right about now.)

Hulu Crap.

Not in a bad way. In the "OMG, I can't believe I didn't know about this!" way.

Best dog name, ever.

I'm always pretty embarrassed after I vomit out something particularly maudlin onto this blog. Usually I try to move on to the next post as soon as possible, because pushing it down off the page at least hides it from me for a while.

I've been pretty unmotivated to post for the last long while though. ME! Queen of the overpost!

Ah well.

Unmentionables and skeletons

Let's see if you can follow this trail:

I spent three years just after college teaching at a private school in NY. I ended up there for a few reasons--I needed a job, my boyfriend had attended the school before so I had a connection, and I couldn't imagine being prepared for any career other than teaching Spanish. I got the job, so voila. This was very much a reactive situation rather than proactive.

SO. Enter Facebook, again. The same boyfriend from that era had a close group of friends up there, and I plugged into the posse somewhat. I spent time with one woman in particular, really. She's not on Facebook, but another of the group is. He and I met maybe 3-5 times back then, and have talked more on Facebook than we ever did in real life.

He contacted me this weekend and asked if I'd been in a community theater show in 1995.

No. Not that I remember, anyway.

He wrote back and said, well, there are some pictures up here that I'd swear are you. They look like you and are even captioned with your name. He tagged me in one of them so I could have a look-see myself.

Sure enough, it was me. Three pictures, in fact. I tagged myself in the rest of them and messaged the poster, who'd been the director, I think. Haven't heard back yet, but I really wonder how he knew it was me. Shit, I didn't even remember until I saw the pictures. I'm looking forward to his response.

My time up in NY was one of the lower points in my life. I had few friends and less money. I lived on campus at this swank and very traditional boarding school, and was muddling through a long-distance relationship that really had ended some time before. Or should have, anyway. Teaching took a great toll on me--so much grading. So little time. Absolutely no training. Barely three years difference between me and my oldest students.

I'd be in the cafeteria at 5 a.m. and asleep by 8 or 9. I lived with two roommates and three cats. That's when my allergies really developed.

Signs of depression I wish I'd noticed:

Driving myself to the ER in the middle of the night because I didn't want to bother my roommates.
Extreme exhaustion.
Considering therapy for the first time ever, but rejecting it because of stigma.
Hanging desperately on to an unhealthy relationship.
Retail therapy.
Isolation.
So many painful and negative opinions about myself and my abilities.
Overreaction.
Personalizing situations that weren't personal.

Looking back, I don't know how I did it. I was a real mess, and this wasn't the first time. I'd seen the same behaviors and thoughts through most of my life, but they'd come and go in stages.

Over many years, with experience and much therapy, I've conquered or at least improved the ways I handle my life's challenges. I stand up for myself, I believe I am a good person, I can identify my own unhealthy reactions. I ask for help when I need it. I recognize that I've had some pretty rough times and survived them.

However, old habits die hard. I'm still isolated. I still feel unworthy. I feel like I've failed myself in many ways. I don't feel any of these ways all the time. But in my heart, deep down, I'm still not mended.

I cry for the young woman below who looks so happy but was so sad. I wonder if she'll ever really recover.





p.s. What's that SACK of a dress, anyway??

What a great deal!

I'd say I'm frugal-minded but not too financially savvy. Can't see the forest for the trees, as they say. I'm not at all prepared for Old Age, and the very fact that I'm thinking about it makes me feel old.

Which I know makes no sense, as far as financial planning goes. But there you have it.

Part of this situation is due to the fact that my chosen career path is hardly lucrative, to say the least. Add in an expensive education and copious medical expenses, and I'm usually pretty broke.

However, I recently had an epiphany and made a financial move that I'm finally comfortable to make, and which will save me approximately $4100 a year in taxes, while adding almost that much again into long-term savings.

Pretty sweet, no?

Wherz mah bukkit?

Argh. Drip Drip Drip woke me up. It could be a lot lot worse, but my bathroom ceiling has leaked a few times now. I'm guessing it's the roof?

Since I'm up, I think I'm gonna have some waffles.

Nom nom nom.

Sometimes I'm a really good bargain shopper.

Shipping Method:	FREE Super Saver Shipping
Shipping Preference:	Group my items into as few shipments as possible
Subtotal of Items:	$54.47
Shipping & Handling:	$12.66
Super Saver Discount	-$12.66
Promotion Applied	-$29.96
	------
Total for this Order:	$24.51
Shipping estimate for these items: September 10, 2008 "Carnation Malted Milk, Original, 13-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)" Grocery; $12.48 "Carnation Instant Breakfast, Variety Pack, 1.26-Ounce Units (Pack of 3)" Grocery; $13.82 "Millstone Foglifter Ground Coffee, 11-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)" Grocery; $14.42 "Lyons Country Snapjacks, 10.6-Ounce Packages (Pack of 6)" Grocery; $13.75

VCL. Oh. MY!

Yesterday I got back from Georgia, where as per usual I visited Jamie and Nemoid. Georgia is my default road trip. I have people I love there, it's relatively close by, and I always enjoy myself.

In that respect, this trip wasn't any different. So many things are the same from visit to visit, only changing a bit in the details. Jamie got a new freezer since I last saw her. The garden's bigger. Karen has a new car, and her children have reached new developmental milestones. Jamie, the s.o. and I trade stories about plants, wildlife, food and soil. Karen and I laugh about old times and catch up on the new ones.

It was just as perfect as it always is.

BUT! The overarching theme this weekend was not one of calm and expected happenings. Nope. It was a weekend of firsts. First time I've been stuck in traffic so bad that we turned the cars off entirely, going only two-ish miles over 1.5 hours. First time I've ever dropped my binoculars 8 feet onto a hardwood floor and knocked the optics out of alignment. First time I stepped with sandaled feet into a fire ant nest.

Sounds pretty sucky, that part. But it really wasn't that bad. I used the downtime in the car to clean it out, and the delay inspired me to let down my hair and buy cheap beer in cans in order to crack one open upon arrival, before I'd even opened the trunk. The binoculars miraculously fixed themselves over the course of two days. Right after the crash I had double vision through the eyepieces, but when I looked through them as I was leaving, the images had become one. I felt a certain pride at finally having succumbed to and survived fire ants.

Fire ant bites are rite of passage for southerners, don't you think? I only ended up with about 20 bites, thanks to multiple factors--not least being Jamie's s.o.'s quick reaction as I ran into the house shrieking "FIRE ANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Thanks for that, s.o.!

Welp, I'm making a short story long, again. Ah well.

The biggest first of all was on Saturday. See, when I asked my Georgia friends if they were going to be in town, Jamie encouraged me to come on down, with the caveat that she had plans in Atlanta for part of the weekend that I was more than welcome to tag along to.

That's how I found myself at a multigenre convention. Oh yes. Not *just* Trekkies. Not just comic-book collectors. Not just Dungeons and Dragons LARPs . Furries. Anime. Fairies. Wizards. You name it.


Fandoms of every sort wended their way around and through the three adjacent hotels that hosted DragonCon this weekend.

Here are my reactions, in brief:

• Wow.
  
• Everyone's either naked or overdressed.
• Hm. There are a lot of good-looking people here. That doesn't fit into my head.
  
• Am I supposed to recognize the characters people have dressed up as?
  
• Why would anyone go for a full-body plush or rubber suit in Atlanta in the summer?
• You know, that guy's creepy. So's that girl.
• Who has this kind of *money* to spend?
  
• The health department needs to have a table here with condoms.
  
• I wonder what all those Clemson and Alabama fans are thinking right about now?
• Does not compute
• A lot of people seem to be either fainting or puking in here right now. Not me! Cookies please!
• Most women's costumes rely on a corset, it looks like.
  
• Bad corsetry signals: breasts pushed so high they fold over on themselves. VCL under spandex.
• The Utilikilt to corset ratio is 1:1 (Holy CRAP that Utilikilt video's wrong!)
• I lack the background to understand any of the concurrent sessions here.
  
• Zombies.
• Poor kids in their strollers.

Check out the photos I took. Some of the costumes are obvious, but others left me entirely clueless.

BTW? Definitely worth the $50 entrance fee.



**************
Edited to add:

I forgot another first!

DURIAN! DURIAN!

I survived it! Basically imagine sweet taste combined with burnt hair/emerging BO. Unfortunately, I also ended up with Durian burps, which hold none of the sweet and all of the stench.