xmas shopping

Yesterday was spent with Mrs. Cloun who helped me accomplice the largest part of my gift shopping.
Monster stayed home and recovered from the party the night before.

successful party

The winter its-almost-solstice gathering (our first party here) went really well despite things still coming together at the last minute. Lisa and Brandt were the first up and Lisa helped me decorate the tree, while Brandt came bearing wine and a lit plastic santa in the hood of his jacket. Many people showed up wearing beautiful clothes of suede and velvet. There was no lack of wine or sweets (I didn't have time to bake anything other than some lavender sugar cookes but several people brought goodies). Luke and Bridget brought baby Autumn (who is tiny and has a very full head of brown hair).

There is a ghost in the house

He is pale and chalky with a grumpy expresson on his face.

We are painting the living room this week.

Thanksgiving

We spent Wednesday night at my brother and sister-in-law's house, where she cooked her second turkey ever and did a splendid job. The bird was roast stuffed with carrots, onion, and celery and basted with a dry white wine. My brother made the sage dressing. My neice helped with the rolls. My nephew stayed in the living room, absorbed in his new Kong video game.

Thanksgiving day, we took my mother to Horseradish Grill for their prefixe Thanksgiving Dinner. Very good meal. Excellent wine that, although I enjoyed it very much, I would have never ordered if I'd seen the price per glass. The Silver Oak 2001 cabernet sauvignon is very rich, dry, full bodied, leggy, and woody. It's a lovely wine from Alexander Valley.

Today, with any luck, we'll start work on painting the living room (finally!).

What I found out yesterday

I saw an amazing tree that had shaped itself like the steps it grew over behind the DWR store in Buckhead.

I discovered that sound of the train passing overhead at the WhiteHall bridge at Lee and Ralph David Abernathy sounds just like a gigantic didgeridoo.

Monster and I discovered at the B-Complex show that we have neighbors who we can actually spend time with and not be driven mad. I ran into some old friends at the art event who, it turns out, live on the same street we do!

fretting over Thanksgiving

I sent out a group email to my family with only one response from an uncle about Thanksgiving Day.
Monster will probably be going to Alabama to be with his family for the holiday. My brother's family spends the holidays with his in-laws. That leaves me without a clue on what to do with my mother. I'd love to spend the day puttering around the house and trying new recipes for the possible Winter Solstice gathering here but I don't want her to be alone on any of the holidays. I think the best possible solution is a very nice dinner out but I do need to leave an opening for Monster, just in case he's around, to join us. Most of the favorite places are booked solid already except for those with a first-come seating, which a wait that she can't or won't do on her bad knees. I asked to be on the will-call list at HorseRadish Grill, in case there are any cancellations.

I had too much to dream last night

I don't know what got into me but last night was heavy and sleep laden. Many bizarre images invading my mind even as I was knodding off. The dreams just kept getting more vivid and odd and the sandman was holding me in a tight embrace.

Changing Weather

Yesterday was a record-setting high temperature of 80 degrees. Today the forecast is for 64 degrees.

You Are Apple Cider

Smooth and comforting. But downright nasty when cold.

What Part of Fall Are You?

home cooking tonight

Cooking a meal of vegan brats, sauerkraut, and potatoes with Monster tonight. Yum.

Yesterday, Sandy and I hung with Pam at the new house. I folded unidentifiable (to me) baby items and organized some of the stuff in the new nursery in the house that she and Seth have declared is their Final Move. Met their son Jex Raven who was five months old Saturday. He's a big happy baby who is very vocal.

Later Monster and I met Chaz at Little Azio for some eats before Chaz headed home to see his wife who was due back in a few minutes and Monster and I went to EyeDrum for the last night of the Switch show. I am so happy I got to see that. The show was dedicate to light and it was also a performance night with no less than five theremins being played simultaneously during the night.

After work last night, I went to JoyCam's house to deliver the remote for the Sony Television and pick up Monster's new hot glue gun that he'd lost during the giant puppet making. Sat for a few minutes in the kitchen chatting with Joy, who was making pizza dough for pesto snacks, and nibbled on fontina cheese. The Sony TV is in a new home at Joel's house because his TV died so it's in a good home now. Joy will get the remote to Joel, who has been at their house a lot lately.

After the JoyCam house, I took a CD of Halloween photos to C, who had a beautiful altar de muertos set up on her back deck. A friend who is in Mexico now had sent her many wonderful sugar skulls, skull cookies, and pan de los muertos that she'd used to set up her altar with along with photos of departed friends and marigolds. Just lovely. I had thought setting up a similar alter for my father and Monster's father, who both passed on this year along with both of my grandmothers, but never did it. Now I really wish I had. It's kinda a kill-joy for me when Monster is not so much in to festival and holidays like I am. I need to move and think much more independently at home in order to ensure my happiness in the future. To his credit, Monster was great for the Halloween Parade and an excellent puppet builder.

FunLisa and Brant have been hanging around with each other since this year's parade. Monster and I might join them tonight for billiards and darts. Seems like the best way to spend this Friday night, since he's let me know that we will not begin clearing out the living room to paint tonight. Not yet but soon.

What was that noise last night?

Last night I woke up to a loud roaring noise that sounded like a jet 20 feet from the room. I have no idea what it was. The sound was slow in passing. The clock said 3:30 a.m.

Halloween

was fun.


I actually had real live trick or treaters. Most even in costume. It was great.

I took the leftover candy to work to remove the temptation from home. Otherwise I know I'd be having twizzlers and jolly ranchers for breakfast.

Next year, I must get to know the neighbors and make the house better lit and more attractive.

The Parade was great, Now what?

FYI. -

The L5P Halloween parade was much fun, as always. Pumpkin Head puppet was a huge hit, thanks to my engineer who designed a simple mechanism for opening and closing the mouth so I could chomp at people.

We called it an early night this year. Seems like everyone was home by 11PM or earlier this year. Monster and I left early to have tamales at the Cantina. I decided I needed something in my stomach immediately after being served a surprisingly potent margaritta at EAYC. Tastey but strong.

Now what are we going to do this weekend? It seems like all the good private parties were last weekend.

Making Puppets, Hating my car

Most of this week will be spent building and finishing the giant Halloween Puppet for the Little Five Points parade. It is slow going and we started late so I'm sure we will be finishing and assembling our demon on Saturday morning before the parade in that afternoon.

My car made an awful racket when I started it yesterday morning. Upon inspection, all of the vital fluids - oil, power steering, etc. - were empty. Went to the corner shop and got oil and other fluids and got out late to work.

What Halloween Costume?

You should be Catwoman You love to dress your sexiest, and tempt all of the hotties at your Halloween party. You are a bit of an exhibitionist and you put a lot of effort into all of your Halloween costumes. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Homey

Yesterday was spent at the East Atlanta Strut, hanging out with Sandy, Chaz, Audrey and Nick. Long hot fun day walking around taking in the art and local flavors of the neighborhood.

Today was spent making up for some lost time and trying to put the house a little more in order. It drives me nuts that most of the time when I see friends and family, and they ask me how the house is coming along, I can't tell them any progress has been made indoors and that we are still essentially living out of boxes to a large part. Today we purchased more shelves at IKEA that we have now decided aren't what we need at all and will return to IKEA on Monday or Tuesday. We did, however, get some of the junk out of the living room and I finally put down the rug and moved my old cedar chest to a more long-term position. Got a start on painting the fireplace too but all of the walls still need sanding and painting and the bathroom remodel still seems a long way off.

Halloween fun begins again!

JoyCam hand delivered our invitation to this year's Halloween Parade Kick-Off party.

It came on a night when I was stuck at work late and worn from dealing with my psycho co-worker all day.

It is the coolest invitation yet - as Monster said, "thanks for the head."



From the outside:

The Prize Inside is rolled up in the center:

Sink repaired

Monster saved the sink - he bought a drain snake this afternoon and, while I was at work, he managed to unclog the kitchen pipes and have the sink cleaned by the time I got home.

In celebration of a working kitchen again, we had beans and rice for dinner with fresh little slices of green onion and tomatos with just a tiny drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

pretty good weekend

Went to the DragonCon parade on Saturday morning.

Went to Drive-Invasion Saturday afternoon through the rest of the evening.

Spent Sunday recovering from heat and dehydration of Drive-Invasion.

Monday, did a lot more yard work and tidying up around the house, followed by inviting a few friends over to hang out on the patio and have burgers and snacks and drinks.

Monster managed to clog both the garbage disposal and the kitchen sink with shredded cabbage while making coleslaw.

He has since been trying different methods to unclog the pipes today.

Know a good plumber?

I am an ISTJ

Your Type is
ISTJ
Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging
Strength of the preferences %
22 12 25 56

The lines at the gas stations in town on my way home from work were enormous, stretching out into the street and tying up traffic. I guess some people get to listen to the news at work. After I got home, someone told there was a news bit about possible gas rationing that's sent everyone into a panic.

What I saw this morning

Chipmunk in a tree

I don't know what kind of tree it is - looks like mini apples - but the chipmunks love it.

making plans for next spring

Monster took Daniel's blower and cleared off the remains of the back patio of the house.
Got a Citronella candle and sat out on the bench that monster built during the magic hour watching the lights fade and the fireflies come out.

Feels like Autumn...

... But only because my belly is getting stuffed so much on a regular basis that you'd think it was the holiday season.

Today I went to visit Mother to see the house she's bought and we went out to eat afterwards. Not as bad as burrito night, but still laying around trying to digest a large meal. If I'd known she wanted to go out, I wouldn't have eaten lunch on the way to Smyrna to visit her. And, of course, she sent me home with two large plastic containers of homecooking too.

Now I'm back home blogging and checking email before tonight's daily thunderstorm knocks out the electricity here again. Does that on a daily basis now. Not that that's a real problem - it usually only lasts for a few hours - but it seriously limits my evening activities with no light, phone, or computer to play with.

Smells like solvents to me

But it's just Monster in the living room cleaning up a new old Danish table with teak oil.
That and talking back to the TV news. We went to Willy's for dinner and now I am horribly bloated from eating the whole burrito. urrrrrggghhh.....

Falling asleep as I write this but here I sit still at my computer. Went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. GREAT movie. It has so many of my favorite people involved in it: Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Deep Roy, Johnny Depp. It seemed to be a very accurate interpretation of the Raold Dahl book but I really should purchase a new copy of it for myself and read it.

Add that to the list: Charlie and the Chocolate Factor, Stiff, Secret Life of Lobsters, The Princess Bride, Troll, The Cockroach Papers

Whenever I have a chance to buy and read them.

the slow season

Sometimes it's so quiet here now that it seems like a funeral. Actually, funerals are much more lively.

Saturday at last

The house is still flea infested despite two Orkin treatements and constant cleaning, but it's getting better. I believe by the time we're finished painting and unpacking the problem will be gone.

Today's goal is just to make an appointment for a haircut. Next will be to finally get new prescription sunglasses. Most days I am blinded by the sun when I have to drive.

We have no dumpster or recycle bin because someone decided to fill both to the top with topsoil that they moved from the front yard. There is no wheelbarrel here at the house and the gardener couldn't wait to start moving and planting things. Meanwhile, the grass still needs to be cut.

Finally we are moved in with a working phone.

The phone is hooked up now. The utility company had simply made the error of enabling the dormant phone line that's downstairs in what was once a separate apartment. We now have normal, basic phone service upstairs where we're living.
Still have all my stuff in boxes and am living in less than cheap hotel standards this week. I am looking forward to civilized domesticity again soon.

Busy moving into the new house. Don't have phone service yet. blogging online at a coffee house at the moment to check emails and update bits.

working on moving

Spending most of the weekend packing, plastering and painting but did take a break to go to the one-night-only event for underground artist Skip Williamson at the Inner Sanctum. I think it was a very successful event for Inner Sanctum. I was surprised how cheaply art and prints were being sold by a person who is very well-known in underground comics. Very approachable man - I was taking a photo of him next to a large painting and asked if I could touch him to position him liked I wanted and he just smiled and said "please".

Why does my coworker seem to be a psycho?

Even with Boss1 back last week he has resumed the annoying behavior of hanging over me at work, leaning on the desk beside me or on the back of my chair and breathing on my neck or in my ears, inches away from me. No one seems to think this is objectionable at work. Friends say I have a good case for harassment in the workplace. I need to talk to someone who works in HR to see what qualifies or what lines he has to cross over in order for me to seek legal action if I need to.

The odd thing that does not compute is that I can see no advantage for someone to drive me out of where I work. No one else there can do exactly what I do and previous employees were incompetent or had personality conflicts with Boss1 and Boss2. So why give me a hard time? This should be a work relationship where we should be working together go keep the flow of jobs as quick and flawless as possible.

On the up end, one beloved former employer looking for someone to take over my former position and has wanted to know if I was available on weekends. I would love to work for them on the weekend, but I can't afford to work for them full time. If I didn't actually "need" a job. *sigh*

There is a sales job at a graphics company near the new house, but I am not a salesperson or rep and suspect they are a company that can't hold onto people. Would love to work close to home. Mostly, I love drawing a regular check with the taxes withheld already and medical benefits - that's the most important thing for me at this time.

So far it's been a lousy week at work.

I am trying to maintain a good attitide but petty annoyances coupled with possibly psychotic behaviour from my esteemed coworker have made me less than happy at the office.

Friday

8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Spent the morning looking for a job jacket that was never written for an addition to a multi-part job when someone could have just written it up and printed it out in five minutes for the press room.

9:30 p.m. Boss1 comes in and tell me I worked 1.2 hours overtime last week and wants to know just what I was doing. I am surprised I could have actually been busy enough for the extra time. I told him I can't remember what I was working on and he could delete that time from my paycheck.

10:00 a.m. CSR gives me a rush job with no information in the jacket or ticket. I have to go to his office and get him to fish for the client's fax on his desk.

10:50 a.m. I could not send email to a client because my machine couldn't find the server. Checked the preferences and quit and restarted the mail app. Nothing worked until I rebooted the machines.

12:45 p.m. Had a moral-adjustment lunch with Boss2 at the reopened-under-new-ownership Asian buffet (including sushi b bar). Came back and annoying co-worker stayed out of my up close personal space the rest of the day.

Monday

8:00 a.m. My preferences have been changed in QuarkXPress when I open it and every palette window is open. Closed windows and changed preferences back.

I could smell cologne from across the building as I walk in. Just annoying. Better than smoke and sweat.

On the up side, the CSR tells me hot hot job I was supposed to get out in the morning is now not going to happen after all so I have one less thing to worry about today. There is a new hot job for a different client with files coming from two sources but none of the files will be in until Tuesday.

Tuesday

8:15 a.m. I came in to find the older computer that I turned off with everything else last night already on. Nothing else is running.

The new hot job only has files from one source in today and only half of that is approved to print. Spend most of the morning with nothing much to do so I went to lunch early in the hope that more work would come in later.

Got back from work and the job that had been killed is alive again and the other vendor has left a message for me wondering where it is. CSR does not remember telling me twice that Boss2 told him the job was dead. I made a series of phone calls to Boss 1 & 2 and the client and vendor, get the files uploaded by the outside party providing the layouts, and send them onto the other vendor through their FTP site - another reason I love the internet. All is well and proofs & prints are lined up to happen.

The other thing my coworker did today was to resume invading my personal space by just hanging out in my office for a weird pause and start talking about how many leftovers from his father's day dinner he was still eating on. Then another pause. This was neither work related nor something I can relate to, other than food. I suggested some leftovers can be easily frozen, like baked beans and meats, while others would have to be eaten because they don't freeze well. Then another odd pause. I don't know what was going through his mind. I felt kinda sorry for him and creeped out too.

Just trying to do my job

Why is that the new CSR at work is seeing me as the enemy?
He has issues. He started this job badmouthing his last employer. I never speak ill of former employers when I'm at work. Wouldn't that be like speaking ill of the opposite sex when you're out on a first date?

If it's not that, it's the physical intimation and the snooping. At first I thought it was unintentional but today I realize it is deliberate when he insists on hanging over me when I'm at my desk or standing just inches away from me. He insists on standing so close to me that I can feel his breath on me.

I told Chaz and Sandy about how he was snooping in my car on a day that I went to lunch with my boss- I've locked my doors ever since that incident - and asked for the passwords for the computers. Sandy says that just snooping inside my car without my permission is reason for prosecution. I'm not sure of this since, as far as I know, he took nothing. She also came up with the simply brilliant and obvious response that I should have had waiting when he asked for computer passwords. I should have answered the question with another question "why do you need to know?". That didn't occur to me. Momma never said I was smart. Then she said I should carry a large pokey stick with me for when he got too close physically. hehe.

My tactic/stategy: I shall outlast him. He's already not doing his job as well as he was the first week he started, which I think is part of his problem with me - I ask too many questions.

If anyone reads this blog, wish me luck and great tenacity.

... or that he'll leave or get over whatever is eating at him soon and that they'll hire a nice lady to take his place who loves their job.

My thoughts too

I found this post in RozK's live journal and agree.
I might add that, with thousands of children without families in this country who have to grow up in our horrible foster care system, why do so many people still refuse to adopt what they can't grow themselves?

Saturday, June 4th, 2005
9:34 am
More idiocy

One could, in a sense and purely to make the argument below, to respect the consistency of anti-abortion Christians who want to adopt spare embryos, bring them to term and bring them up as more Christian children rather than letting them be harvested for research etc. They have an ethical position which identifies the human potential of embryos with full essential human status - I don't agree, and I radically disagree with the other positions they derive from that, but their preparedness to inconvenience themselves in the name of belief shows them putting their money where their mouths are. Or does it?

I do find myself noting that most of the advocates of this are husbands, whose wives presumably get a say in the matter but are, presumably, content to let their husbands make decisions in this as in everything else. (In this as in so much else, they are aspiring to a model which has little to do even with the Old Testament, let alone with anything that went on in the early church, except sometimes in Paul's head. There are too many confident stroppy women in the Old Testament for any of this to be described as 'Biblical' - but I digress.)

What does strike me as remarkable, though, and in this sentence remarkable is Roz weaselspeak for fucking incredibly stupid, mean and illogical is that according to the Guardian story the agency fixing this for them is determined not to let lesbians adopt embryos. Now, if they are really concerned about the survival of these embryos - and they talk about doing business with the in vitro people as a necessary evil - why on earth would they care about the sexuality, or indeed the religion, of adopting parents? Or do they believe that to be brought up by lesbians is to guarantee the child a seat in Hell?

What this actually exposes is that they don't really believe in the absolute sacredness of embryos' lives, because if they did, they would not care who adopts them. Which means that as usual they are lying about their motives and engaged in cheap point-scoring. I pity those children, who are going to be brought up to be obsessively grateful and hopefully will resent the hell out of it.

I had a lovely time with Kim and Harris at Piedmont Park tonight, where the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra gave a free concert followed by an excellent fireworks show. I sincerely want to thank whoever is responsible for such a nice evening in the city.

More dreaming last night that included a castle, reasonably friendly wild animals (a bobcat, ravens), cute domestic animals (cats, Italian greyhound), and an exotic creature shaped like a snake, with skin like an amphibian and transparent colors like a neon tropical fish. As with most of my dreams of animals, I was trying to take care of something or protect it - in this instance, the colorful snake-creature.

The dead still visit me in my dreams.


I dreamt there were dinosaurs of a few various kinds loose in the city and people were advised to stay indoors until the government said things were under control. Travel was not advised and then only in cars and not on foot. I went to a house my family never owned with Sandy and my mother to pick up a few supplies for the next few weeks - clothing, etc. When we got to the house, my father was there in a back room sitting on the couch, having breakfast. No one had known where he was and everyone was glad to see each other.


Scene two: Driving around, we end up in a restaurant that used to be a chapel, where patrons sit on church pews and a very good jazz band is playing. Adorable children dressed in Halloween costumes were waiting for a party to start afterwards. I was sitting with my parents, drinking coffee and holding a cigar, mostly for looks, and gesturing the cigar to the music being played. As we left my parents were, for reasons unknown to me, insisting that I speak to the musicians to tell them how much I enjoyed their performance. I was trying not to spill my coffee as I was shimmying out between the pews when the crowd was leaving all at once.

Chairman of the Bored

There is nothing to do today at the office. There is no new email coming in yet. Perhaps there will be a huge onslaught of activity after lunch (one can hope). I hate inactivity.

I had too much to dream last night.

I kept dreaming about New England towns that I did not grow up in and houses my grandmother never lived in. Also dreamed my niece and teenage cousin were in this house plotting some family holiday. And there were hanging around on their own invitation two ex-boyfriends of mine.

I wonder how many of the guys I used to date are now fat and hairless. Even those I see from time to time who might have all their hair and little or no gray yet usually have enormous midsections. That's not true of everyone but generally all the skinny rocker boys have ended up like that in what should be their prime. Mick and Keith would not approve.

Why do most of the women I know still look very good and most of the men have become fat couch potatos?

Of course, in my dream the guys all had their slender physiques and hair even though my subconscious had aged them a bit.

Demetri Martin

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3282017

Demetri Martin
Stand-Up Comic

Well, I like him.

I have a ton of extra prints from the Ripe Atlanta event now and no single address to mail them to.
For some reason, the lab chose to send me two sets of prints on everything (I ordered one set) while only charging me for one set of prints (so I'm not complaining). I sent an email off to Paul and to the general ripeatlanta web addresses asking where to send my prints to share them. Hopefully, I'll get an answer soon. I have far too many things stacked up at home that I need to clear out now before moving, especially of the thin flat variety.

I keep thinking I'll blog more when I'm doing things to speak of but I actually do have things to catch the people I know up on (sorry for intense grammatical errors in this post). Last Saturday, Monster and I met Aud and Nik and Sandy at the Marietta Greek Festival - and we took my mother along with us for the trip. The day was fun - we wore shady hats and lots of sun screen and the day was breezy and comfortable. The only mistake was letting mom drive. She actually made me a bit nervous with her handling of the car but she wanted to drive the cadillac. I suspect she's not getting out or being kept busy enough.

Tuesday was the wine tasting at Babette's Cafe, which I to with Sandy, Kim and Harris. This month's featured vineyard was Fess Parker in Santa Barbara. Every lable and cap shows a coon-skin cap, Fess Parker's trademark from his roles as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boon.

Sometime this weekend I want to see both Hitchhiker's Guide and StarWars at the cinema. I am most intent on seeing HitchHiker's and Monster wants to see StarWars so we'll probably go together to the later. I will enjoy HitchHiker's Guide on my own this week with the mondo box of Hot Tamales.

Also this weekend is XPT at the Center for Puppetry Arts. I am delighted that I have friends involved in this year's Xperimental Puppetry Theatre, which a Center for Puppetry Arts employee I know has assured me is the best XPT yet.

Jack Skellington


Which Tim Burton film character are you?
brought to you by
Quizilla

It's past midnight and I'm still awake. Why am I not asleep yet? I've been doing this on and off insomnia thing all week. One night I can't sleep at all and the next I'm in bed before 9PM. My body is swinging back an forth. The thing is, I really need the insomnia tomorrow. Tonight, I need my rest. On a positive note, I got most of my laundry done and I watched and enjoyed Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

This is the worst week to have a cold but I'm feeling much better today.
I can't possibly stay home this weekend when there is going to be so much to do.
I will do my very best not to infect the masses.

MacBeth - thru Sunday May 8 - Shakespear at Piedmont Park
The Green Market starts up again this Saturday.

Friday May 6th, Railroad Earth will present an evening of Indonesian music featuring The Emory Javanese Gamelan ensemble. Music starts at 8 PM.
$10 donation so that a portion of the proceeds go to the Red Cross Tsunami relief
(students donate what you can).
Railroad Earth is at 1467 Oxford Road in Emory Village.
For more information call 404.373.4309

Saturday, May 7th from sunset to sunrise, rain or shine.
RIPE Atlanta is a forum for new creative endeavors to radically alter Atlanta's
nighttime urban environment. Remove the boundaries between performer and spectator, make RIPE your stage. Costumes and creativity are strongly encouraged. Leave your inhibitions at home.
City View Sculpture Park in the Historic Candler Smith Warehouse District
650 Murphy Avenue, Atlanta, GA.

Sunday, May 8 - Mother's Day
Don't forget your mom.

And next week...

Xperimental Puppetry Theater (XPT)
May 19 - 22, 2005
Artists of all disciplines push the boundaries of puppetry in this workshop/performance
forum, taking on such subjects as Kafka and Beatnik Monsters.

You are a stone key, and you unlock old and magical
secrets. What you have to offer is powerful and
difficult for many to understand, but
invaluable to the few who can truly grasp it.
Give the things you have carefully and
wisely, because not everyone will use them for
good.


What sort of key are you and what do you unlock?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks for sharing

The bad news is that I've got the cold that is going around my office. My sinuses, throat and lungs tell me it's not just allergies.

The good news is that Jeff, who was out sick yesterday with it, is already feeling better today so it must be a very fast-moving thing.

I can't wait for it to leave my body.

Trying to get things in order to move into a new place with Monster. Would really appreciate a little positive input from those near and dear to me rather than hearing how renting in order to be in a larger place is financial suicide. Monster is trying to reclaim the life he'd put aside and I'm trying to go forward rather than simply existing in the same place.

Good Twin! YOU ARE 74

Halleluja.. You are an angel from heaven.. Or thats what the tag on your shirt says. You are generally a good person.. even if you don't want to be. You like all the cute things.. and try your best to save the bunnies from your evil twin's stew pot. You may be smart or stupid.. that is left for another test to decide.. but from here on out you are The Good Twin.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Personality

Link: The Evil or Good Twin Test written by lizard_almighty on Ok Cupid

More things horribly wrong in South Carolina

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Cocks relieved, women wary
Happily, the brutal "sport" of cockfighting may soon be a felony in South Carolina, but domestic violence will remain a misdemeanor. The anti-cockfighting bill passed the Judiciary Committee, but legislators tabled the "Protect Our Women in Every Relationship Act (POWER ACT)." Both cockfighting and domestic violence are currently misdemeanor crimes, punishable by 30 days in jail. If the bill passes, cockfighting will become a felony, punishable by five years in jail. Domestic violence crimes will remain a misdemeanor.

Rep. John Graham Altman is a full-throated supporter of the cockfighting ban and an opponent of the domestic violence legislation. He bristles when asked how he reconciles his bold stance on cock rights with his solicitude towards first-time domestic crime abusers:

"People who compare the two are not very smart and if you don't understand the difference, Ms. Gormley, between trying to ban the savage practice of watching chickens trying to kill each other and protecting people rights in CDV statutes, I'll never be able to explain to you in a 100 years ma'am."

Altman argues that there shouldn't be a second offense in a domestic violence case because no woman should go back to her abuser. So, it's unclear why he opposes a law that would have made first offenses felonies.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

I need one of these.

The idea of being able to power-up anywhere is so cool.

so many time I miss my dad

When I go through my stash of candies and come across a Papadeux peppermint, I know it came from a time I went out to eat with my parents. Watching "Sideways" tonight, I am reminded of a wretched trip up the west coast with my parents and missing the generosity of all the family trips provided by my father.

it was almost easter

With no pressmen available and most jobs being outsourced, the guys at work decided to take a "Good Friday" holiday. Despite being off work all day, I was useless on Friday - I had no energy at all and napped most of the day. I had every intention of going to a performance at the Inner Sanctum on Friday night but the bed felt way too good when when I laid down "just for a moment" and couldn't get back up. I was just hitting a doze when the phone rang and I answered it. Lo and behold, it was my brother calling to ask if I was up for a visit, to which I said "of course" and scrambled up and back into the jeans and bra I had half-consciously sloughed off between rollovers on the bed. As it turned out, my brother and sister-in-law had taken our mother out with them and my neice and nephew to celebrate sister-in-law's birthday. So my entire family showed up at more door impromptu and hung out in my living room for a little while before heading back to the suburbs. They'd been to Dante's Down the Hatch and The Cheesecake Factory. Two bottles of wine and some "lemon drops" later, everyone was all giggles on my couch.

Saturday, I slept more. Monster came over from Alabama in the afternoon and we ate a big seafood dinner at Aud and Nick's house that Nick had prepared.

Sunday, we had plans to go out to eat with Mom. By the time we got to the house to pick her up, Monster was feeling ill. He ended up spending several minutes in the bathroom before we gave up and went home. So much for the nice Easter dinner with my mother. I felt very sorry for him and the unfortunate emergence of what we now believe is a total seafood allergy. I felt fine but he was miserable. Mother was not at all bothered by not going out - she'd actually phoned to offer to cancel because of the stormy weather earlier - so we just agreed to some day in the future check out a good non-seafood restaurant together another day like, perhaps, The Horseradish Grill.

I am...


The Sonnet

Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLDf)


    Romantic, hopeful, and composed. You are the Sonnet. Get it? Composed?


    Sonnets want Love and have high ideals about it. They're conscientious people, caring & careful. You yourself have deep convictions, and you devote a lot of thought to romance and what it should be. This will frighten away most potential mates, but that's okay, because you're very choosy with your affections anyway. You'd absolutely refuse to date someone dumber than you, for instance.


Your exact opposite: Genghis Khunt


Random Brutal Sex Master


    Lovers who share your idealized perspective, or who are at least willing to totally throw themselves into a relationship, will be very, very happy with you. And you with them. You're already selfless and compassionate, and with the right partner, there's no doubt you can be sensual, even adventurously so.


    You probably have lots of female friends, and they have a special soft spot for you. Babies do, too, at the tippy-top of their baby skulls.


ALWAYS AVOID: The 5-Night Stand, The False Messiah, The Hornivore, The Last Man on Earth


CONSIDER: The Loverboy

Very Goth You scored 78!

You're a Goth. Whether you admit it freely or not there is no denying it. You love the stuff and can't get enough. You decorate your living space in a way that is part morbid part chaotic.I'm sure your music is mostly Goth/Industrial/Darkwave. Wherever you go you're probably dressed mostly in black.Not only do you know who Switchblade Symphony is, you own every CD and EP they ever put out. Your dream profession is definatly something that benifits goths-Tattoo artist, goth DJ, freelance Gothic artist, Gothy comic creator ect.ect.ect...

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender : You scored higher than 99% on gothies

Link: The GOTH Test written by myriad_entity on Ok Cupid

I am so lame...

On St. Patrick's Day, I didn't make it to Eddies Attic. I hadn't spoken actually with my friend about meeting there or having time to chat,etc. and it turned out to be an earlier than usual show, starting around 6:30 pm, although a very long set... and it was a $10 door. The cost wasn't that much but I didn't want to pay to go inside and just hang out by myself with the hope of having time to visit afterwards.

Instead, I went to Goth dinner at Apre Diem which was very nice. Sadly, I'd already wolfed down a kroger sushi tray when I thought I was going to Eddie's Attic, and I just hung out and drank tea - I gave the waitress a big tip as rent on my chair. Most of the conversation was on politics and self defense and housekeeping.

I am still disappointed tonight on missing the first of the classes I'd paid for at Emory tonight. At the end the day, I ended up wrestling with one of the printers until 7pm when my class was due to start. My own fault for doing things too hastily while trying to get out early so I ended up working late fixing things and losing face with my boss. I came home and used the foul mood I was in to throw a lot of things away, including way too many catalogs that had piled up and old magazines. More things may have to be tossed before my mood improves.

I am sorry

On St. Patrick's Day, I didn't make it to Eddies Attic. I hadn't spoken actually with my friend about meeting there or having time to chat,etc. and it turned out to be an earlier than usual show, starting around 6:30 pm, although a very long set... and it was a $10 door. The cost wasn't that much but I didn't want to pay to go inside and just hang out by myself with the hope of having time to visit afterwards.

Instead, I went to Goth dinner at Apre Diem which was very nice. Sadly, I'd already wolfed down a kroger sushi tray when I thought I was going to Eddie's Attic, and I just hung out and drank tea - I gave the waitress a big tip as rent on my chair. Most of the conversation was on politics and self defense and housekeeping.

I am still disappointed tonight on missing the first of the classes I'd paid for at Emory tonight. At the end the day, I ended up wrestling with one of the printers until 7pm when my class was due to start. My own fault for doing things too hastily while trying to get out early so I ended up working late fixing things and losing face with my boss. I came home and used the foul mood I was in to throw a lot of things away, including way too many catalogs that had piled up and old magazines. More things may have to be tossed before my mood improves.

I had a lovely time at Babette's Cafe tonight with Lee and Sandy.

Then I came home to my stinky condo. I'm angry with myself tonight for not calling the zoning board on my downstairs neighbor yet. The lack of sleep I've gotten at night because of his kitchen has taken a serious toll on my wellbeing. I'm tired more often than not. I don't enjoy being at home. This is starting to happen every night now. David came by and did what he could to seal off every nook in my bedroom and closet and it does seem to work if I close that room off now from the rest of my place while I sleep. I open all the windows and turn on the fan and pull the sheets over my head. I use earplugs to cut down on the noise coming from the open windows. I sleep in all my clothes (sans shoes and bra) because it's cold a night with the windows open and the fan on.

Can I crash at your place tonight?

Roman Lily

We decided to revive the Buford Highway restaurant crawl a couple of weeks ago, with yesterday intended to be the first night back on the pan American-Asian journey. We decided that, instead of going over mostly old routes, we would all agree to try new restaurants together neighborhood by neighborhood. I suggested the stretch of Highland Avenue from Ponce down into the Highland Bakery and on to the East side with L5P and beyond. The group decision was made to go to Roman Lily, a wonderful little place near the Highland Bakery building. A couple of us had eaten there but most of the group had never been to that restaurant. Eight of us converged on Roman Lily and were quickly seated in the back room in what seemed like our own private, impromptu party.

I had the polenta and scallops, which I'd had before quite some time ago. The scallops were perfectly cooked, tender and mild. They had changed the polenta since I'd had it last - instead of a soft, baked sheet of it cut into small triangles, its now two big wedges that are fried crisp on the outside, making it taste and feel too much like cornbread.

J&M ordered three bottles of the "Peace" red wine for the table and gave it thumbs up. Everyone loved both types of gravy that Roman Lily serves - the herb-laced house gravy with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, and the tequila gravy.

The group ordered samples of most of the appetisers and deserts.

The favorite appetiser was the crab dip, served with triangles of crisp pita, which was very creamy. The least favorite appetiser were the fried green tomatos, which some in the group described as being too firm - maybe not cooked long enough.

The Apple streudle pie was the overwhelming favorite among the deserts. The least favorite desert was the Coconut Almond cake, which was dried out.

The steak-eater DOES pick the pocket of the salad-man

The only real problem was, with the size and variety of people and wallets at the table, the bill - to be split evenly - was much more than I'd budgeted for going out. I gutted my wallet and put all that I had on the table.

"we splitting the cheque the steak-eater picks the pocket of the salad-man"
- Blue Raja, Mystery Men

Let's do dinner

I'm spending most of my weekends visiting my mother and talking with my sister-in-law about keeping wolves away. Mom looks like she's lost a bit of weight. Probably the depression but she also says she doesn't see how I cook for one. Two great resources for me: bags of salad already washed and cut, just waiting for me to eat it, and cereal. Also, maybe now she'll understand why I eat out as much as I do.

Actually, I know I eat out too much. And this week I'm making it out more than usual to get together with friends after work. Maybe going for a new record. Saturday we went to Dave & Busters to celebrate Lisamin's birthday. Sunday I ate out wit mom at PapaDeaux. Yesterday we celebrated more birthdays at R. Thomas. Tonight I met David at Doc Chey's and caught up with him and his life at the moment - a little bit anyway. Tomorrow I'll be getting together with Jae after work during a brief opening in her schedule.

And during all this week, I have enchilada ingredients on my countertop waiting to be assembled before the sweet potatoes I bought just for that recipe go bad.

Oh yeah... it snowed this morning too. In Atlanta. In March. Just a light clumpy powdering that was actually very beautiful to see coming down and melted instantly.

End of a very long day at work - didn't get out of the office until nearly 8PM. Followed by hot sake at home and a very long conversation with an old friend. Thank you for being there for me during this very strange year.

Finally back home from a long sad week with my family in Smyrna. Still trying to re-aclimate myself to my life after just a few days taking care of my mother and my parents' house. My little place felt strangely warm and cozy after the time away. I still have a four-day-long headache hanging out deep inside, threatening to make my head feel like exploding but other than that I'm fine. This was my mother's first day alone in the house and to try to get some rest. She slept in this morning and was planning to go back to the cemetary by herself this afternoon and take photos of the flowers at my father's gravesite.

My father has passed away yesterday.

The call came in the morning while I was at work. Got home and threw a few things in a bag, changed out of my work duds, and wnet to my parent' house where people were already gathering. Went to the funeral home with my mother, brother, sister-in-law, and neice to make final preparations. Picked out the least cheesy guest book and cards, casket, flowers, etc. Ordered what will probably be far too few copies of the death certificate for legal and financial purposes.

Sometimes I miss the days of childhood and adolescence when you could have crushes on people that you never had to consider even having the possibility of going anywhere other than where it is at the moment. There was never any plans ahead or what if's - just that delicious, painful moment of longing for things you did not know or expect.

Got a phone call from mother on my way home from work today telling me to come for a visit this weekend. I'm there every weekend but missed last week's visit because of the ice. I told her I'd try to make it up Sunday. If he's awake for anything, I would think he'd want to be awake for the SuperBowl and I am so behind on everything I need Sunday to catch up. Maybe I can come with Monster and the two of us can allow her to take a break from taking care of my father and get out of the house for a while. She says his health is deteriorating rapidly this week. The pain medication he has is recommended for four to six hour intervals and she's giving it to him every three hours. I suppose he's building a tolerance for the meds now and they don't do the job he'd like them to.

melodrama does not become me.

Am allowed to accept bad news, even though I know I'm supposed to fall to pieces?
I'm tired of having to give dramatic displays of uncontrollable emotion just to prove I care.
Truth is, I do care a lot but I can only go up or down so far and I think I like myself just as I am.
Maybe if I was an artist or six years old I would gleefully pursue bi-polar disorder or rages followed by severe depression.

Cake or Death


Which Eddie Izzard Quote Are You?
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New Suit

Monster pushed me to go clothes shopping last weekend and I now have a new basic black suit and the lowest black pumps I could find. Unfortunately for my mother it is a two piece, jacket and trousers, with no skirt. If I can locate a long black skirt in the same style by the manufacturer I'll buy it. But the suit is a good one, in a simple streamlined style that won't go out of fashion too quickly. It's at the neighborhood alterations shop now being hemmed in the legs and sleeves. And I am promising myself that I'll lose 5 pounds of holiday weight.

I wish I lived in Paris. I'd be in much better shape physically if I did from walking much more and eating better.

All American fast food is evil and hard to avoid because it's so cheap... and fast.

You Are a Liberal for Life

You've got a bleeding heart - and you're proud of it. For you, liberal means being compassionate, pro-government, and anti-business. You believe in equality for every person, and you consider yourself universally empathetic. Helping others is not just political for you ... it's very personal too.

What political persuasion are you?

Happy 2005

New Years Eve was spent at the home of Joy and Cam in Grant Park eating, sitting by the fire, and taking part in a white elephant re-gifting exchange. Some people call these exchanges "dirty Santa". Everyone puts a re-wrapped package under the tree and draws numbers for their turn to pick one of the mystery packages out from under the tree. Those who have already picked a gift can swop/swipe the gift of the latest person to open a package. I came out of the exchange very well with a box of fine chocolates, which I was sure would be swiped before the gift exchange's end. I kept trying to make it seem less attractive to others saying things like "oh, these look really waxy" until the actual anonymous treat-giver felt compelled to tell me that I had a box of fine Belgium chocolates. I didn't know I was that convincing.

New Years Day was mostly spent in Smyrna again with my family eating the required meal of greens and blackeyed peas.