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Monday, February 27th, 2012
6:52 p.m. - All our daffodils agree: it's spring.
The honeybees buzzing
the half-open blossoms
of pink cherry trees
at the top of our street
concur.
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Saturday, February 18th, 2012
3:03 p.m. - For those wondering...
... I'm still alive. Haven't been up to writing much, or all that good at using language many days. Have managed to socialize a little bit with folks who live in the neighborhood, though. Been spending time playing with the computer, hoping to do something worthwhile at some point. Haven't managed to read as much as I would like, thanks to that language problem. Health is worse in several ways and I'm terrified. Of course I keep scheduling appointments with various doctors, but I have yet to figure out who is most likely to be able to help. Anyway, I finally realized yesterday that the music of Nine Inch Nails is the best therapy I have for this kind of terror, so I listened to Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral a few times before giving in to necessity and going to bed early.
So. Not doing very well, really. Here's hoping things get better before I lose these last few shreds of sanity.
On the sillier side, ( here are a couple of silly things one posts on LJ when one has nothing else to say )
Current Mood: so. very. tired.
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Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
11:30 p.m. - Still Alive
Just noting here that I am, in fact, alive, though I'm still not much in the mood for saying anything. Part of the reason I wanted to post tonight is that today I managed to hit the back of my head hard on the bottom of the bathroom sink (yes, I'm talented) and, though I didn't lose consciousness as far as I can tell, I've been half-wondering ever since whether I had done any serious damage to my poor, pitiful brain. Today was the kind of day when I had most of your standard concussion symptoms before hitting my head, so it really hasn't been much fun.
Anyway, it's been over twelve hours since the accident and I'm still conscious and my pupils look okay, so I plan to ignore the headache, the ringing in my ears, etc. and go get some sleep soonish. This is my note to say that as of tonight I'm still alive, and I sincerely hope that I don't wake up dead. :-)
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
7:33 p.m. - Topical quote of the night
From Patrick Nielsen Hayden:
The Motion Picture Association of America, chief sponsor and financier of SOPA and PIPA, addresses Wikipedia, Reddit, and other major sites going dark tomorrow, accusing them of “abuse of power.” “It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.” In related news, the mutilated body of Irony was found washed up against a pier in the East River. She was pronounced dead at the scene."
Current Music: Symphony of Science, "The Greatest Show on Earth"
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Saturday, January 14th, 2012
7:05 p.m. - Poem of the Moment
"Kindness"--Naomi Shihab Nye
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.
Colombia
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Friday, January 6th, 2012
8:58 p.m. - QotM
Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity.
--attributed to Václav Havel
"Think of the Hebrew word for question, she'elah," he [Elie Wiesel] continued. "There is 'el (God) in she'elah. God is in the question. But to give the answer? Keep asking the question."
Is this not also the lesson of the book of Job? Job's friends are trying to answer for God against Job's accusations, but they are ultimately scolded because they did not "speak rightly" to or about God. Job, after all, is the only one who has insisted on maintaining his questions against all answers.
--from Timothy Beal's book The Rise and Fall of the Bible
Spinning around in a spiraling circle
Upwards and upwards, not reaching the top
Higher and higher, the path keeps ascending
But somewhere the circle stops.
--from Sheila Chandra's song "Question the Answer"
Current Mood: thirsty
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Monday, January 2nd, 2012
9:28 p.m. - HNY!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Even more than usual, I'm alternating wildly between wanting to do things in the world of people and wanting to stay in bed reading all day. I have this strange feeling that I should be studying for a midterm (or possibly the final exam) and I'm not at all sure which class I'm taking. No, I haven't had any of the stereotypical back-to-school dreams lately--this is how I feel when I'm awake.
2012 has begun fairly well, though. Am hoping to write more later. It will have to wait till at least tomorrow, though, as I need sleep. Perhaps in dreams I'll find out what it is I'm supposed to be studying...
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
8:32 p.m. - R.I.P.
This past weekend, I was saddened to learn of the death of noted Bohemian, absurdist playwright, and Frank Zappa fan Václav Havel. In recent years Havel even tried to branch out into a new role as film director, though his film, Leaving, was not generally well-received. Still, his work in that great 1989 drama known as the Velvet Revolution receives rave reviews to this day and people will be composing tributes to the man for ages to come.
~~~~~
"His simple but extraordinary idea was that the most effective way to defeat a totalitarian regime was for citizens to reject its lies and “live in truth.” That meant, first of all, telling the truth in answer to official propaganda, but also behaving as if fundamental human rights — which most dictatorships claim to respect — could be taken for granted."
~~~~~
There are several piles of books here in my room waiting to be read, but the one closest to my computer is the one with Václav Havel's book To the Castle and Back second in the pile, just underneath Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect. The fact that there's another book in the pile entitled A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe probably gives you more insight into my psychology than you really need.
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Sunday, November 20th, 2011
11:21 p.m. - Just so people know...
Earlier this month, there were some days when it was impossible for me to see any LiveJournal pages because they all simply refused to load and there was nothing I could do about it. And because Dreamwidth and LiveJournal reading are linked together in my brain for whatever reasons, I didn't sign in to DW on those days either. And then I was out of the habit of signing into these places at all and I spent my computer time either reading too many random pages and strangers' blogs elsewhere on the internet or listening to assorted podcasts while my poor, aged dial-up modem was slowly downloading more podcasts. Anyway, I don't think I've read LJ or DW entries since sometime around November 9 or 10, so
I hope you're all doing well out there! Will try to start catching up tomorrow--assuming LJ allows me to.
In other news: I am very sleepy and I hope this entry has not been complete gibberish.
Current Mood: thirsty
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Monday, November 7th, 2011
9:13 p.m. - Bits and Links
Links first:
Quantum Theology: Our Spooky Interconnectedness, because you just knew that the phrase "quantum theology" was going to get my attention.
Harold Camping is not sorry.
The Rize of Zombie Walks: Is the human race finally embracing its true identity?
~~~~~
Am tired. Walked a little bit yesterday--something less than a mile--and a littler little bit today--just a walk around the block. My body thinks I should stay in bed most of the day, which is mostly okay with my mind since I've been in the mood for lying down and reading books anyway. Still, I do hope I have energy to do something useful tomorrow; and I have plans to do something useful on Wednesday, so I need to get some energy soon.
I did get to a grocery store yesterday, though, which gave me the opportunity to buy an alternate breakfast cereal for those days when I'm tired of what I've already got. So what did I buy? Crunchy granola with non-GMO hemp seeds! Mmmm... tastes like hippies.
As a housemate pointed out, I have enough hair to make a hippie--but I refuse to grow dreadlocks. I wouldn't mind having more tie-dyed clothing, though.
I have done nothing useful today. Today would not have been a good day to make phone calls, because today was not a good day for conversations with people who are not already accustomed to the way I babble on days like today.
Tonight's supper ingredients: ground lamb, red onion, garlic, sweet potato, Stayman apple, Russian kale, collard greens, olive oil, salt, cinnamon, and coriander. Whatever's making me tired, it's not a lack of nutritious food.
Book I've been reading: Blind Alley by Iris Johansen. I'd never read anything by her before, but so far this book is exactly the kind of mind candy I needed.
Oh, for those wondering: I finally finished a book from the 400s class of the Dewey Decimal System. I still haven't visited any museums yet this year, though. Maybe I should give up on that particular New Year's resolution for 2011.
Current Music: landlord on the roof (not a fiddler!)
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Saturday, November 5th, 2011
7:15 p.m. - Semi-regular whinge
I can't find my ancient custom-made orthotics. I suspect that I threw them out and I rather wish I hadn't. This in spite of the fact that if I did throw them out as I suspect that I did, I had good reason--the coverings were worn out enough that when I tried to use them last, the orthotics tore up my socks and were rather bad for the feet they were meant to be good for. If I'd been able to find a way to remove the covering material, the orthotics might have been useful underneath some cushioning inserts, but I never did find a way to do that. If it turns out that I didn't throw them out and I eventually find wherever they've been hidden, I will probably try to use them and then throw them out in disgust.
In spite of all their utter uselessness, I do wish I had those old orthotics. Why is that, you ask? Because they were made to fit my feet, that's why. Every nonprescription orthotic insert out there is made to support arches my feet don't have and it hurts and I'm tired of it and I am whining inside my own head right now and it's annoying.
This coming week, I'm going to try once again to find out if how I can visit a podiatrist, even though I belong in the category of person over 21 without diabetes or circulatory problems. There's gotta be a way.
Current Mood: sore
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Friday, November 4th, 2011
7:57 p.m. - C.S. Lewis on Theocracy
There seems to be some reason to quote this every other week and a quick search for it in my own journal didn't turn it up, so it's about time for me to post this passage here.
I am a democrat because I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both to the rulers and to the subjects. Hence Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations. And since Theocracy is the worst, the nearer any government approaches to Theocracy the worse it will be. A metaphysic, held by the rulers with the force of a religion, is a bad sign. It forbids them, like the inquisitor, to admit any grain of truth or good in their opponents, it abrogates the ordinary rules of morality, and it gives a seemingly high, super-personal sanction to all the very ordinary human passions by which, like other men, the rulers will frequently be actuated. In a word, it forbids wholesome doubt. A political programme can never in reality be more than probably right. We never know all the facts about the present and we can only guess the future. To attach to a party programme--whose highest real claim is to reasonable prudence--the sort of assent which we should reserve for demonstrable theorems, is a kind of intoxication.
--C.S. Lewis, from the essay "A Reply to Professor Haldane," as printed in On Stories And Other Essays on Literature
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7:44 p.m. - NOM
I just finished eating a supper consisting almost entirely of food grown by people I know. Ground lamb, garlic, hot pepper, collard greens, sweet potato--all from the local farmers' market--plus olive oil, salt, and herbs from the supermarket. I can't afford to eat organic, locally-grown, grass-fed lamb every day, but it's a wonderful thing to eat today. :-)
Hmm... there are plenty of recipes online combining lamb with winter squash. Something to think about this weekend!
~~~~~
This pointlessly carnivorous post has been brought to you by the number 4 and a hummingwolf who hasn't done anything particularly interesting today.
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Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
11:27 p.m. - Another Thursday
Wednesday, I did very little. Did I do some cleaning? I think I might have, but mostly I read and looked at things online far too late into the night.
Thursday--today--I walked in short bursts that totalled about two or more miles. My first short burst ended with me going to a drug store as I realized that my new shoes needed new insoles or they'd leave me crying in the street. Given my past history with shoes, I was prepared for that possibility, so that wasn't a real problem. Meeting someone in the store who I know from the Thursday farmers' market was amusing--at least, we were both amused later when we were actually at the farmers' market and a farmer asked us if we'd met before.
Today was a beautiful day for being outdoors, with high temperatures somewhere in the low 60s, mostly blue skies, some fall color left in the trees, and the scent of woodsmoke and decaying leaves in the air.
Anyway, after running various errand-type things, I did end up at the farmers' market, where I made myself useful to a few vendors, then stocked up on plenty of fresh foods. I bought two kinds of apple--Stayman (because I love them) and Arkansas black (because I'd never had them before). With a couple of winter squashes, two different varieties of green leafy veggies, and some ground lamb, I've added enough nutritious food to my section of the fridge not to feel guilty about the fact that I also bought a chocolate chip cookie and seriously considered some ice cream.
After the market, I spent a few pleasant hours hanging out with folks and having good conversation of the partly serious/largely silly variety. Because I went to bed too late the last two nights and because it is now after eleven p.m. my time, I am rapidly losing the ability to form sentences. Good night, all!
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Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
11:53 p.m. - In Science News...
Saber-toothed squirrel
and
Zombie worms?
Frankly, I think someone at Science Daily has been having a little too much fun writing the headlines.
Current Mood: hungry
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
11:33 p.m. - Hummingwolf Today
Link of the day for NaNoWriMo participants: A Litany for November, via ![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) supergee.
Link for my own purposes: Onion pie with lavender, bacon, and blue cheese recipe.
Now seeing: The computer monitor in front of me, with the Dreamwidth update page in IE as the active window and the usual Notepad and Solitaire windows half-seen in the background. Behind the monitor, the non-computer window's blinds are closed and reminding me that I need to do more dusting around here. Also, there's a smudge on the left lens of my glasses.
Now hearing: Typical evening background noises--computer fan running, housemate chatting on his phone downstairs, distant and easily ignored traffic noises. I'd put on music, but then I'd be too distracted to type anything.
Now feeling: The usual pain and fatigue, plus the annoyance of a stuffy nose. Less headache pain than I've had in recent weeks, though, so that's progress. I'm feeling a bit lightheaded and twitchy, but mostly okay.
Now tasting: Mint from the toothpaste & floss I just used.
Now smelling: Combination of mint and ginger with an undertone of garlic from various people's suppers. (Whatever people cook, I can probably smell in here.)
Now wearing: Lightweight light grey sweatshirt-type thing with pearly grey embroidered geometric (possibly meant to be a highly stylized floral) design, light blue jeans stained with flecks of ancient mud, white socks, dark grey men's slippers (because the women's slippers all seemed too likely to fall apart), a pair of glasses that I keep saying I need to replace soon, an ill-fitting old bra, purple cotton panties, and a a Band-Aid around my left index finger.
Miles walked today: About two.
Food purchased today: Peanut butter (the natural kind with just peanuts & salt), bananas, carrots, some kind of healthful cereal with lots of protein & flax seeds, an ostentatiously organic chicken & bean burrito, and a Snickers bar.
Non-food purchased today: A pair of white & black athletic shoes (Nike, from the men's section of the store because the women's section didn't have my size), a pair of light blue heavy socks (women's this time), and six washcloths prettily embroidered with Halloween designs like pumpkins and skulls. I wasn't planning to go to the discount store today, but I'm glad I followed the impulse to search for shoes since today's shopping trip was surprisingly painless. I do hope the shoes fit as well as they seemed to when I was in the store.
Last remembered dream: On Halloween morning, I had a dream where a man sent me and at least one other person on missions to an alternate reality to find out what had gone wrong over there. Our job wasn't to do anything in particular; we were there to diagnose, not treat, the problem. One of the things I did over there was watch films, like an old Bogart & Bacall film that never existed in our world. Humphrey Bogart's character was rather vicious to Lauren Bacall's character, which my boss/handler/watcher later told me had been one of the first clues he'd had that something had gone wrong in that world.
"Bogart wouldn't have played a character like that in our world!"
"Oh, but he did," I corrected him. "He just never played a character who could be that nasty to Lauren Bacall."
Though I did go to several other alternate realities in that dream--against my superior's orders because I distrusted him--I don't remember much about them, except that in the last one the native language of just about everyone in the USA was something that sounded like French, which was rather inconvenient for me.
Last film watched: Chosen because of the Halloween dream: Dark Passage, which may be the least-beloved of the four Bogart-Bacall movies made in this reality, yet seems seasonally appropriate thanks to the focus on faces and what they reveal or conceal. Also, I choose to interpret the implausible events and coincidences as being driven by dream logic rather than scriptwriter's convenience.
Other DVDs seen recently: The Prestige, The Dark Crystal, and a Jeff Corwin episode about Australian bats.
Current Mood: okay
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011
10:53 p.m. - Not with a bang
Harold Camping still expects October 21 to be End of the World... probably. But don't worry. 'In the Sunday program, Evans tells those gathered at the Family Radio meeting in Oakland, Calif., that he has been in regular contact with Camping, and emphasizes that the 90-year-old Bible teacher, who has been recovering from a June stroke in his Alameda home, "believes that unbelievers will simply become tired, fall asleep and never awake."'
I have no wish to make fun of Harold Camping or anyone who may still be following his teachings. No, I'm posting this for everyone who wakes up on October 22, just in case you needed some reason to celebrate that day. As for me, I've enjoyed a pleasant evening with friends and drunk a non-alcoholic toast to the end of the world. I'm ready for a good night's sleep now. How about you?
Current Mood: content
Current Music: Symphony of Science, "Our Place in the Cosmos"
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
9:45 p.m. - Going Backwards, Slowly
Today (Tuesday): Am not sure how much sense I'm capable of making right now. Am sure that this post has too many parentheses, sentence fragments, and run-ons. I should try to go to sleep soon.
(Tip for readers: The most interesting day so far was Sunday.)
I bought Asian pears at a farmers' market! Also went to an organic foods market for supplements, then came out of that market with supplements, tea, cheese, and chocolate. Additionally, I walked somewhere around three miles without feeling like I was going to die in the middle of the sidewalk, which is a vast improvement over recent days. Here's hoping I won't regret that walk tomorrow!
I also began catching up on reading LiveJournal, but I've still got a way to go yet.
Monday: Went to the library (returned: one book and one DVD; checked out: one other book and one other DVD). Although I survived the trip, I felt pretty miserable when I got home. Still, I didn't need to go to bed as early as I have been recently, so that's an improvement. Am hoping not to suffer too much from a housemate's cold. (Yes, I have orange juice.)
Sunday: Not as fatigued as I had been recently, but I still went to bed earlier than usual.
I had an unexpected visitor on Sunday! I was going to open a window when I saw that there was something in the space between the screen and the storm window. My first impression was that a wide brown leaf had somehow gotten lodged in there, but I quickly realized I was looking at something else entirely. Its body was about the length of my thumb, and it had mouselike ears, and it was hanging upside down holding onto the screen with its hind feet, and I was wondering where its front legs were, and...
...and when my brain finally processed what I was looking at, I decided that it was an adorable little bat. My conviction that it was adorable may have been based on nothing but the facts that it was tiny, it was fuzzy, and it was on the outside of the windowscreen, but the conviction was firmly held all the same. Oh, and the cute little ears didn't hurt any. Then there was the fact that, with its wings folded up, it looked almost as if some mad scientist had taken the hind legs from some giant grasshopper or other jumping insect and attached them to this little guy's front end. The itty-bitty bat may have been sleeping in our window for the day, but obviously its home address was at the intersection of Freaky and Cute.
I'm afraid I was a poor excuse for a naturalist, though. Blame it on the fact that I was so very tired, but I never even thought about getting a ruler out to measure sleepy bat's exact length until it was too late. (Since I did measure him against the size of my thumb, I'm going with an estimate of three inches or less--a tiny bat indeed.) I didn't think to take cell phone pics until the sun was too far down, so the photos I did take only show a silhouette next to a blazing ball of fire (but knowing the size of the space the bat was in, the pictures do support my estimate of the bat's size). And with the bat choosing to sleep in a place partly obscured by cobwebs, I wasn't even sure of the details of its coloration (though my main impression was definitely brown). Sadly, I can't even tell you whether or not its calcar was keeled (at least partly because I didn't know the meaning of the word "calcar").
Anyway, my little visitor slept peacefully through the day, starting to move a little bit after sunset. I tried watching him for a while with my lights turned off, me bending down at an uncomfortable angle to see him better. By the light of streetlamps and neighbors' buildings, he made his way from the left side of the window to the right, turning his mouselike body as he slowly moved each claw from one hole in the screen to another. He didn't seem too eager to move out into the windy night, however; and after two hours of checking up on him, I finally went to sit down at the computer instead. When I looked at the window again about three hours after sunset, he was gone. I hope the little guy is flying free and happy, wherever he is.
Current Mood: sleepy
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Thursday, October 13th, 2011
1:33 p.m. - Not Dead Yet
Had some very lovely days, but am now rather extremely tired. I'm trying to take good care of myself in case I'm fighting and infection of some sort, since this is for me the time of year when lack of energy tends to be followed by a cold or some other bit of unpleasantness. Will write more if and when I can find a few spoons.
Be well, all.
Current Mood: blah
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011
1:44 p.m. - Recent Republican jobs proposals
Recent Republican jobs proposals, a short but enlightening list from Slacktivist.
I'd like to hear from my friends about the utility of these proposals, particularly any of my friends who might be dwarves in Florida.
Current Mood: amused
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Thursday, September 29th, 2011
11:19 p.m. - Good days, bad days
Yesterday, at various times throughout the day, I attempted to write an entry. It wasn't quite as coherent as I might have liked, reading something like this:
Party! Celebrating Lyssa's birthday and a new house and love in general. I was tired, shaky, less shaky after eating a goodly portion of protein in form of grilled ground animal flesh. Not exactly the life of the party, not even close, but enjoying the life around me at the party. Thankful for the friend trying to help relax the rocks and guitar strings in my body where muscles and tendons are supposed to be.
Sunday grocery shopping at an organic market, looking for bread and pluots and cheese. Seeing a familiar man, and later a woman and two young girls, all people I've seen at a local farmers' market. In spite of the fact that everyone always seems to recognize me, I'm not sure any of those people recognized me.
typing mistyping the fingers missing keys, typing words that don't belong, inventing new words. Most amusing substitution was of course "cock" in place of "rock."
Reading contemporary poetry that makes less sense than MegaHAL.
migraine exhaustion
seriously not thinking well.
Breathe Easy blend--eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint--mostly because it helps with the migraine, at least helps me think more clearly, at least gives the illusion of clearer thinking.
The above would have been even less coherent if I'd left in all the typos. Let's just say that, though Saturday was a marvelous day, and Sunday evening was good enough for me to go grocery shopping, this week has mostly been a migraine week. (It'd be nice if somebody would come up with either a migraine preventive or a treatment that didn't make me sick and miserable in its own right.) Monday I left the house, but not the yard. Tuesday I never made it outside at all. Wednesday afternoon was finally good enough for me to go to a library & then go shopping for exciting things like dish detergent and toilet paper, but I felt quite ill by the time I got home.
Today, Thursday, was finally another good day. Hooray! Actually, even today had too much migraine pain in it; but thanks to tea and painkillers (drugs can be good for something), most of the worst of it was over by the time I left for the farmers' market. After getting myself to the market, I made myself useful to several people (again: Hooray!), very sensibly got plenty of rest, then managed to become somewhat useful again. And after the market, I spent some time with people who were being very silly, which is an excellent way to end the day. Now I'm feeling rather tired and noticing the migraine pushing its way back into my consciousness (which is rapidly turning to semi-consciousness or pseudoconsciousness or something else that must involve fascinating brainwave patterns), but at least I have had one more good day.
Current Mood: chipper
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9:17 a.m. - Resolution progress
In case some strange person who isn't me remembers and actually cares, here's an update on how well I'm keeping my New Year's Resolutions. For 2011, there were three of these:
"Resolution #1: In 2011, I intend to read at least one book in each of the ten main classes of the Dewey Decimal Classification system."
I had pretty much kept this goal by the end of June--except for reading anything in the 400s. The part of me that was a linguistics major in college seems to be rebelling at the thought of reading anything language-related (it's too much like woooooork!), which is silly since I was a ling major because I enjoyed learning about language to begin with. But there we are: I still haven't read anything in the 400s class, and right now I'm very much in fiction mode and not sure when I'll get back to nonfic. We'll see.
"Resolution #2: Take advantage of the fact that I live near The Land of the Free Museums and go to museums at least four times in 2011."
It's nearly October and I haven't been to any museums yet this year. Silly me. Assuming Metro rates don't go up again and I don't have more energy-sapping health issues than usual, I should be able to wander round four museums in the next three months, right?
"Resolution #3: Play with computer graphics more than I did in 2010."
This was an easy resolution to keep, though I haven't produced anything worth showing to anyone else yet.
~~~~~
I'm thinking that if I make any resolutions for 2012, one should have something to do with reading fiction; maybe reading four SF novels by different authors, four mystery novels, and four works of "literary" fiction--something like that. Twelve novels in a year isn't exactly difficult--I've read more than that this year even though my focus was on nonfiction.
In the meantime, I'm hoping to post more to LJ/Dw today. It's clearly time for more caffeine.
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: calling birds, chirping insects
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Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
8:52 p.m. - thud
After yesterday's bounciness, today found me tired and achy. I apparently sounded miserable enough at the farmers' market that one of the vendors thought I should go home immediately and get some rest--but I was able to get to the market, so that's a victory in itself. Didn't do much useful there, though I don't think I got in the way too much either. Spent more time than usual sitting down, either people-watching or watching a model train go round its track.
Today's essential purchases were purple muscadines, butternut squash, and Italian flat beans. I also bought lunch at the market: a tamale, a cup of peach mango ice cream, and a juicy Asian pear--a combination suggesting I was in need of some serious comfort food this afternoon.
After several weeks of rainy markets, today's dry afternoon came as a relief. More rain is expected in the next few days, though, which is not a good thing for our local farmers. One vegetable farmer won't be back at the market till at least November--they've lost too many crops. The flower grower won't be back till next year for the same reason. And one other farmer who was at the market has so little to harvest that she's skipping some of her markets this week.
Loss unrelated to weather: the woman who started selling maple syrup & other maple products at the market this year died two weeks ago. I didn't know that vendor very well, but she always seemed very kind. The fact that her daughter's about the age I was when my mother died made the news something like a punch to the gut.
Plans for tomorrow: Do a load or two of laundry, then get plenty of rest. Oh, sleep sounds like a lovely idea.
Current Mood: tired
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Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
9:06 p.m. - Three Good Things
So. What are we really made of?
First: Russian Caravan tea. It's black tea with smoky flavor! What's not to love? Okay, I know from past experience that I do get sick of it eventually, but for now it's what I want to drink constantly even though I've cut myself off for the night because it's time to stop ingesting the caffeine so I can get at least a little bit of sleep.
Second: I had enough energy to do some cleaning. And I did do some cleaning! Not enough cleaning, really, yet more than enough to give me a good feeling of accomplishment for the day. (I suspect I only had this much energy because I skipped taking a "non-drowsy" antihistamine last night. A working anti-allergy medication that actually doesn't make me feel like half of my energy's been sucked away would be welcome.)
Third: Song of the day is "The Quantum World" (on YouTube) because the music makes me bouncy and the world needs more songs with vocals by folks like Morgan Freeman and Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman. Oh yes, it does.
Current Mood: tiny packets of energy
Current Music: Symphony of Science, "The Quantum World!"
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
11:40 p.m. - Another tired Tuesday
Did I write about Sunday? I don't remember anything about Sunday. I assume that this week did begin with a Sunday, as weeks generally do, but I'm drawing a blank on what I might have done. Oh, now I remember: I rested most of the day, then did some evening grocery shopping.
Monday: Another day of mostly rest. I had hoped to do some cleaning, but my body said otherwise, although I did eventually find energy enough to donate a book to the library (Geneen Roth's Women Food and God, which wasn't my kind of thing and which the library should be able to sell for twice as much as I paid for it) and go to a store to buy the eggs I hadn't bought on Sunday. In the evening, while trying to move a vase to a place where it wouldn't rattle so much every time a housemate came running up the stairs, I bumped a small bottle of essential oils onto the floor. So I ended the day by scrubbing the floor where the oils (a refreshing blend of rosemary, eucalyptus, and peppermint) had splashed and throwing out bits of broken bottle. Went to sleep fairly exhausted.
Tuesday: Another day of not cleaning a darn thing. Feeling as tired and grey as the overcast sky. Spent part of the day napping, waiting for the tree that was making noise all afternoon to just fall already. Spent another part of the day finishing a library book (T.C. McCarthy's Germline, military SF--emphasis on the military with a side order of drug addiction). In the evening, I went out to do more food shopping because I was already out of yogurt, chocolate, and Russian Caravan tea. (While I was out, blue patches began to appear in the sky, and soon the sky was a pattern of blue and pale gold.) I should be able to last until Thursday without going out to buy more food, which is good since tomorrow looks like another rainy day.
Oh, and somewhere between nine and ten p.m., a big chunk of tree finally fell onto the back porch. There may be more planning to come down, but that bit that fell was the bit I was concerned about.
Wednesday: Here's hoping I'll find some energy to do more cleaning or de-cluttering of this room. It might help if I try to go to sleep soon, I suppose. Please wish me luck!
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: DJDeedle, "Cosmic Voyage (Single edit)"
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Saturday, September 17th, 2011
3:10 p.m. - Updatey thing
Wednesday: As expected after a day as tiring as Tuesday, Wednesday was the sort of day when I am forced to rest all day. Plenty of books kept me company, so that was okay. I did feel frustrated, dealing with an urge to declutter my room because I can finally see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and I want this place livable again--but I simply didn't have the energy to do much, so I stopped fighting the need to nap.
Thursday: Braved the scary closet and took out some things to be cleaned. That evening, I was very glad to have cleaned warm clothes and one of my afghans (without having anything shrink that shouldn't be shrunken) before the cooler weather came through.
September has been noticeably cooler than August right from the beginning, which has been a welcome thing after the hellishly hot summer we had. Still, Thursday began as a fairly warm & humid day. At 3:00 p.m. the temperature was roughly 77° F (25° C) and, as I said, humid. By five, it was around 65/18 and seriously breezy. Two hours after that, something like 55/13, with the temperature continuing to go down. At the farmers' market, the weather was not exactly ideal for outdoor sales, what with scattered rain showers coming through and one good wind gust making one of the tents do a somersault in the parking lot. Still, it was enough better than last week that most vendors stayed till closing time rather than packing up early. I was happy making myself useful at various times during the day. At sunset, glowing bands of red and orange stretched east to touch and mingle with the colors of the biggest unbroken rainbow I've ever seen. The rainbow didn't leave the sky until the sun's rays could no longer reach that far into the sky. I'm afraid the "Ooh, pretty" effect swallowed up all my usefulness for a while, but I was so happy for that sunset rainbow.
Friday: Spent most of day reading assorted books (last book finished: Sarah Sentilles, Breaking Up with God: A Love Story). Did more laundry. Got out of the house and walked a few blocks in the evening because I could hear the candy bars calling me.
Saturday: This is an excellent day to sit inside drinking lots of tea. Russian Caravan, anyone?
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
9:50 p.m. - Tiring Tuesday
Since I happened to be in the general neighborhood anyway, I checked on the Borders store in Silver Spring to see if it was still open. As it happened, today was the store's last day! While I was browsing there, prices on books went from $1 per book to 2 for a dollar. Well, CDs and DVDs were also 50 cents each, but the CD collection consisted of Anúna and the DVD selection consisted of Anúna. Though I have nothing against Anúna, I still wasn't interested. So I bought Ron Reagan's My Father at 100 because I'm a child of the '80s, I bought Diane Ackerman's One Hundred Names for Love because Ackerman can write, I bought a few other things because I vaguely remembered hearing good things about them, and I bought a couple more books because, hey, two books for a dollar! My purchases totalled four dollars, a savings of $158.88 if you believe the sticker prices.
I wonder what it says about me that I was almost tempted to spend fifty cents on a Sarah Palin book, but never had the slightest temptation to buy anything by Glenn Beck.
A man in business casual was speaking on his cell phone about the closing of this Borders. I could hear him sniffling as he spoke, and I wasn't quite sure if the sniffling was caused by sadness, allergies, or the cold that's going around. A woman nearby was also obviously saddened by the loss of the store. The employees, on the other hand, mostly seemed tired, though the man announcing the store closing sale seemed oddly hyper.
After I had all the books I could carry, I went to the local Whole Foods Paycheque and bought a meal at their hot bar. While the food wasn't cheap, it was both tasty and filling--as well as noticeably less expensive than a sandwich at certain coffee shops! I considered going to a farmers' market instead of going directly home until I realized that I was (1) too close to collapsing, (2) not able to carry any more than I was already carrying, and (3) really, seriously, too close to collapsing. So I came home, rested, drank lots of tea, rested, did some light cleaning, and ate a moderately light supper. Now it's about time to go do some more resting.
Oh, news from today's medical appointment: I'm still alive and seem likely to remain so for a while. Follow-up visit in one month to make sure I'm still not dead.
Current Mood: thirsty
Current Music: night creatures
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Monday, September 12th, 2011
8:28 p.m. - Words, Words, Words
Today haikujaguar's daily post had the following as word of the day:
erubescent, adj. 1. Becoming red or reddish; blushing.
From the same root that gave us "ruby," as you might expect... comes this awkward word, which fascinates me because I can't imagine how I would use it. Now I need to figure out a way!
I ended up posting this comment that folks on my flist might enjoy as well:
I know that "albescent" means "becoming white," so now I'm wondering where to find a list of words relating to other colors! Now, how do I find such a list?
Hmm... Googling "erubescent" and "albescent" mostly tells me that those two words rhyme with each other, which isn't terribly helpful. But it does lead me to "cerulescent", so that's promising.
Okay, I've found:
rubescent adjective (a.) Growing or becoming red; tending to redness.
rufescent adjective (a.) Reddish; tinged with red.
albescent adjective (a.) Becoming white or whitish; moderately white.
canescent adjective (a.) Growing white, or assuming a color approaching to white.
incanescent adjective (a.) Becoming hoary or gray; canescent.
virescent adjective (a.) Beginning to be green; slightly green; greenish.
viridescent adjective (a.) Slightly green; greenish.
cerulescent adjective (a.) Tending to cerulean; light bluish.
flavescent adjective (a.) Turning yellow; yellowish.
lutescent adjective (a.) Of a yellowish color.
violescent adjective (a.) Tending to a violet color; violascent.
Other cool words:
fremescent adjective (a.) Becoming murmurous, roaring.
ignescent adjective (a.) Emitting sparks of fire when struck with steel; scintillating; as, ignescent stones.
juvenescent adjective (a.) Growing or becoming young.
latescent adjective (a.) Slightly withdrawn from view or knowledge; as, a latescent meaning.
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8:06 p.m. - Wet Wednesday--And Beyond!
So, sometime last week I mentioned that I'd been posting every day of September so far and I wanted to keep that habit going. Well, the best-laid schemes of mice-addled men gang aft agley and all that. The problem on Wednesday was that I don't like to leave the computer plugged in when there are thunderstorms about, and Wednesday was pretty much one long thunderstorm. Oh, I did get online for a little while there, but it was really just long enough to check on a couple of things before the ominous rumblings outside told me that it'd be better to go offline again. I ended up doing a tiny bit of cleaning--not much, since what I most wanted to do required enough Throwing Things Away that I wanted easy access to the large outdoors trash can, and the constant rain on saturated ground kept me from having easy access to anything outside. Mostly I spent the day in bed, reading or napping.
Thursday seemed much better at first. When I made my regular visit to the farmers' market, the skies were overcast with a chance of rain. After I'd bought some essentials (tomatoes, eggplants, muscadines), I ducked into a nearby building to use the restroom--and when I was done, I saw that the chance of rain had become certainty of downpour. The rain slackened off for a while, but people checking the weather radar on their assorted smartphones learned that we had more violent weather coming our way, so many of the vendors packed up and left early. We all had sympathy for the man from a Maryland vineyard who comes to the market only a few times a year to sell their wines, as Thursday was very much not the type of day when people hang around trying the samples. I did make myself useful to a couple of vendors while they were there, but I think I just got in the way of another I was trying to help. At least a few people got some of my money, little though it was! The evening was spent lying around reading here at home, which was actually good since I hadn't been reading books much lately.
Friday, the weather was much improved. Better still, I had the energy to clean! Recycling or outright throwing away many potentially useful things, I proved once and for all that I'm not actually a hoarder, I'm just tired. At this point I'd say I have one area of genuine clutter left in my room, and then most of what I need to do in here falls into the categories of (A) sorting and filing, and (B) dusting and scrubbing. There will still be things left to throw away, recycle, or donate, but most of those items are mixed in with things I'll want to keep. Here's hoping I can get to that last area of Clutter during this week, because I'd really like to have my room be livable rather than stuffed with stuff I should've thrown out back in 2003.
Saturday: Mad Science Coffee! But first, I went to Target to buy facial tissues, a flashlight, and disposable gloves. After that, I idly wondered what sort of crime the Target cashier might think I was preparing to commit. Anyway, I considered going to the bank to get some cash, but I figured that the money I had with me would be enough to buy a sandwich at the coffee shop where Mad Scientists were meeting. Ha! Ha! Sticker shock made me cry. Well, it was sticker shock combined with a desperate need for protein and fluids. A friend's generosity kept me from collapsing into a heap and I felt much better after a ham & cheese sandwich with grapefruit juice. Mad Science was fun as always, with lighthearted conversation about what to do in case of nuclear attack.
Sunday: Stayed home, reading some more. (Last book finished: Chimera by Will Shetterly. If you're not entirely against reading Shetterly, the book is enjoyable fluff.)
Monday: Though I'd hoped to do some more cleaning today, I didn't have the right kind of energy for it. Did buy some groceries and check out some library books, walking a couple of miles while I was at it. The day was not wasted.
Current Mood: tired
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Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
11:02 p.m. - Where is the fabled Better Mousetrap?
( Trapping )
I did a little bit of cleaning today. Not much, just enough to stir up some dust. It's a three-dwarf evening: Sneezy, Sleepy, and Grumpy. I was going to see a Doc today, but when the time came I wasn't feeling up to it. Here's hoping I can make it to the rescheduled appointment when that time comes. In the meantime, I hope the migraine & related ooginess will recede enough by tomorrow for me to do some serious decluttering.
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Monday, September 5th, 2011
11:07 p.m. - Labor Day
Not much to say, but I've posted every day of September so far and I'd like to keep up the habit. So, today began with me connecting a phone to my landline so I could call the cell phone in order to find out where the latter was hiding in my room. Later, I checked out a new-to-me organic food store and was amused to learn that they do accept EBT cards (the modern electronic version of food stamps) but won't take American Express.
Came home to find a housemate who was finishing up the cleaning of her room and preparing to start cleaning the kitchen. I helped by cleaning the microwave and the toaster, as well as by wiping down a few other things so she could attack them more easily. I didn't do nearly as much work as my housemate did, but scrubbing that filthy microwave was still a tough job and left me worn out for a bit. I eventually perked up enough to scrub a bit of the floor in my room, though I feel like I should have done much more in here. Maybe tomorrow I'll have the energy to do something significant. I've made progress, but this place is still too cluttered.
Need sleep. Here's hoping I can get some. If I can convince myself that every little sound I hear in the night is only the wind or the rain, that might do the trick.
Current Mood: tired
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011
10:40 p.m. - Sunday excitement
Though my migraine's ongoing, I decided it wasn't bad enough to keep me from getting out of the house today. So, for the first time since Easter, I went to church! I am sure the sermon had a message I needed to hear, but I was too distracted to hear it. Heh. Actually, rather a lot of it seemed to be about standing still and letting God fight your enemies for you, which I'll take as instruction to stop stressing out about all the little things that have been bothering me recently. (Me stop stressing out? Easier said than done!)
After the service was over, there was the traditional gathering in the conference room with food served by friendly, efficient women while fruit punch was offered by overly enthusiastic children. Sadly, there were no caffeinated beverages available--and no, I really don't understand how any kind of post-church gathering without coffee or tea ever managed to meet with any kind of approval. But anyway, there was actual food there rather than just cookies, so I made a good lunch of meatballs and empanadas. I also had a bit of fun people-watching in an environment rather different from my usual. I'm not sure if it was because of the holiday weekend or because the fellowship time was one time when folks could count on getting food, but, aside from some families with children, the people hanging out in that room seemed to be, in large part, misfits (and I am, of course, including myself in that category). If there isn't a group named "Misfits for Christ," there really should be.
After lunch, I was still migrainey but still felt like doing something, so I decided to go downtown to Eastern Market and wander a bit. Though I decided soon after getting there that I was in serious need of caffeine, I eventually wandered around amongst the arts & crafts vendors and the Sunday flea market, focusing my attention on jewelry, greeting cards, and paintings. Since my visit was unplanned and I do try to avoid leading myself into too much temptation, I didn't have much cash on me--but Archelaus Cards, my favorite purveyor of fine cards, may have received a bit of my spare change.
After the market's five p.m. close, I made my way to a local bookstore. Didn't buy a thing, though I might have been tempted if it weren't for the headache making my eyes go unfocused. Did keep thinking about how impossible it would be to go through that shop in a wheelchair, though. In fact, I can't say that the store was all that friendly to people with hips. After browsing there a little while, I went to the local organic market, bought a chocolate cookie, and then made my way home. Here at home, I've done a small but not entirely insignificant amount of cleaning, been bitten five or six times by a single hungry mosquito, and wondered if there's anything I want to eat before going to bed. Decisions, decisions.
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Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
11:10 p.m. - September too
On Thursday, in spite of a continuing migraine, I went to my favorite farmers' market and made myself useful to a couple of the vendors. Oh, I also got fresh figs, fresh tomatoes, and peppermint essential oil, but for the most part it was the being useful that made me happiest. It was also an excellent day for observing human interactions. One person I see there regularly is particularly interesting: the person would probably claim to be socially awkward, yet they may be genuinely well-liked by more people than anyone else around. Watching them is an education in its own right, and I wonder how much of what they do comes naturally and how much was learned the hard way. Of course at the market there are also the people who think their social skills are fabulous but unintentionally make many folks they deal with rather uncomfortable (boundaries are important, people!). There are also people who each think they're being obviously friendly to each other but come from such different social environments that each thinks the other is being a wee bit hostile. And then there are the folks who are genuinely creepy, but those are rare at that market and haven't bothered me too much yet.
Today (Friday) the migraine was worse and I was super-tired as well, so I did rather few of the useful things I had hoped to do. I did throw away five or six items from my room, though, which is better than doing nothing at all. Here's hoping I'll have more energy tomorrow. With luck, I may even get out of the house!
Here, have some quiz results:
( Some Blogthing things )
Current Music: crickets! crickets! crickets!
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Thursday, September 1st, 2011
12:50 a.m. - Still here!
Still here--but first I went elsewhere! Spent a wonderfully restful weekend in the mountains with friends and friendly folks. The journey west had been a little odd when we spotted a line of Asplundh trucks (they're the tree trimmers who provide emergency tree removal after storms have done their damage), then a long line of ambulances, and then some more of the tree trucks, all traveling to the east. While it's good that governments and utilities and suchlike on the coast were proactive in getting ready for the storm, that line of ambulances was still a wee bit creepy.
Anyway, very good weekend for me. My friends even took me to a farmers' market on Sunday! And then there were visits to antique stores. While in one section of a store that had old records for sale, I fell back into my old record store habit of looking for albums or singles by some of my favorite musicians of my high school years. Guess what? They did have a copy of Nik Kershaw's Human Racing! The first album I ever bought! That still didn't thrill me as much as the little goniatite I ended up buying, which has a pattern of dark and light that makes it look somewhat like a taijitu in fossil form. If you're going to look at antiques, you may as well go for the truly old things! I've also got a bit of chalcopyrite with a lovely purple tarnish, which helped fill my quota of nifty nonessentials in my life.
You might think from the above that I'm adding to the clutter in my room, but not so! I've thrown away a great deal recently and I'll probably undoubtedly toss out some more before I'm through. I'm afraid I didn't do much cleaning today (by which I mean Wednesday, August 31) because my regularly scheduled migraine picked today to intensify. Here's hoping that I can get more done tomorrow (by which I suppose I mean later today, hopefully after several hours of sleep).
Right then, my brain is starting to shut down for the night. Good night and good day to all!
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