In my defense, I was away for a week, and it's been very busy since. I will post my full thoughts on Disney and some pics soon hopefully, but today I am blogging about work.
We just found out this afternoon that our two call center managers, Dan and Jeremy, will no longer be with the company. No explanation has been given to the remaining staff or management. A lot of my co-workers are very upset about this, as they were close to Dan and Jeremy. I am unhappy, as they were good guys to work for. Dan especially was always great about being very flexible with my schedule when needed. I am more concerned as to what this means for the future of my job, and how it will affect working here. I know Dan and Jeremy were largely responsible for the fairly open and laid back atmosphere I have enjoyed while working here.
Well, all I can do for now is cross my fingers and hope for the best, since there's no additional information forthcoming.
Merry Part and Blessed Be
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The Hipster
Today I went to Erie with Jeff and my Mini-Me and finished up our Christmas shopping. We got to have lunch at Max and Erma's (and eat fresh chocolate chip cookies!) with Allison, Grey and Jessika. It was cool to get to meet Jessika, I was sorry we didn't get to meet NoJim. Maybe next time kiddo. We went to Borders, and the mall, and Best Buy. At Best Buy, I was mesmerized by the clarity of a high definition TV and the amazing sound of a surround sound system. I want.
Anyway, I'm eating DiGornio pizza and waiting to get into WoW. Waiting to get into WoW is worse than Waiting for Godot. Take the Sundance quiz, it's fun.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Twist her like a pretzel
Last night I did the first two workouts on one of my new Yoga DVDs and watched part of the third. I feel like I followed along all right, although it was a little overwhelming at first. I don't know the names of the different yoga positions, and the instructor was moving very quickly between them at first. But the nice part of a DVD is I can just stop the disc and go back. I think if I was taking a class I might get embarassed if I couldn't keep up. I felt great when I was done working out, my muscles were very warm and loose. I feel a little stiff this morning, but it's bearable. I can't wait to try out the other DVD, Yoga for the Core. It works on the abs and butt, and those are two areas I feel need a little work.
I have blogged 4 days in a row!
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I have blogged 4 days in a row!
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Busy Work
I love getting paid $11 an hour to do something a monkey could do. Right now I am going through a stack of papers and putting customer's Driver's License numbers and birthdates on their accounts. Since I am not a monkey, I am doing this while listening to The Recipe and blogging.
"Captain Crunch is telling me/to take that shit less seriously/I'll serenade the moonshine/and love you through my bones" - The Recipe, Song: Bonemeal, CD: Night of the Porch People
I've got busy work to do at home tonight too, I want to do some laundry and finish the dishes. We're planning to use the deep fryer to make supper, so I want to try my new Yoga DVD before Jeff gets home to try to off-set my greasy dinner.
On my way to work this morning, I reflected on how nice it is to be awake in the morning and get to see the sunrise on my way to work. I have a better sense of time passing, the seasons changing, the Wheel turning. Every morning on my drive, that minute or two when everything is pink and golden happens a little later, and I get to see a different hillside, or group of trees, bathed in that light. And in the spring, that time will get earlier and earlier, revealing new buds on the trees and blooming flowers along the roadside. It's nice to appreciate time once in awhile instead of cursing how there never seems to be enough of it.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
"Captain Crunch is telling me/to take that shit less seriously/I'll serenade the moonshine/and love you through my bones" - The Recipe, Song: Bonemeal, CD: Night of the Porch People
I've got busy work to do at home tonight too, I want to do some laundry and finish the dishes. We're planning to use the deep fryer to make supper, so I want to try my new Yoga DVD before Jeff gets home to try to off-set my greasy dinner.
On my way to work this morning, I reflected on how nice it is to be awake in the morning and get to see the sunrise on my way to work. I have a better sense of time passing, the seasons changing, the Wheel turning. Every morning on my drive, that minute or two when everything is pink and golden happens a little later, and I get to see a different hillside, or group of trees, bathed in that light. And in the spring, that time will get earlier and earlier, revealing new buds on the trees and blooming flowers along the roadside. It's nice to appreciate time once in awhile instead of cursing how there never seems to be enough of it.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Coyote Sighting
This morning on my way to work I saw a coyote to my right, on the north side of Rte 86. Since I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a coyote in the wild (2 including this morning), it was pretty special. I'm not someone who goes around looking for omens or signs all the time, but I do try to take notice when I see something out of the ordinary. When I get home, I'll pull out Animal Speak and see what Coyote means. I know his general associations are humor, tricks, teaching wisdom with mischief.
Speaking of divination and magickal things, one of my Tarot decks has gone missing. It's my round Motherpeace deck that Janis gave me. Jeff thinks I gave it away to someone, but I don't remember doing that. If you are reading this, and I gave it to you, I don't intend to take it back, but I'd like to know if you have it, just so I can stop looking for it.
Anyway, I'm at work as always, so I need to keep this short. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Speaking of divination and magickal things, one of my Tarot decks has gone missing. It's my round Motherpeace deck that Janis gave me. Jeff thinks I gave it away to someone, but I don't remember doing that. If you are reading this, and I gave it to you, I don't intend to take it back, but I'd like to know if you have it, just so I can stop looking for it.
Anyway, I'm at work as always, so I need to keep this short. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Weekend Update
Jeff and I had a nice weekend off together. Saturday we went to the Lighthouse for lunch and did some shopping at Big Lots and Wal-Mart. We went to the new Bradford Subs and Pizzeria near Beefeaters for dinner. The pizza was pretty good. The bathroom had one of those waterfall pictures that makes bird noises, and I've always thought those were annoying. They had one at the Chinese Buffet in Olean that we used to go to, before they started having problems with roaches.
Yesterday I misplaced the remote control for the TV in the living room, so we watched a lot of DVDs. We watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Star Wars Episode III: The Return of the Sith, and Blade III. We also had Adam, Harriet and Artie over for barbecue chicken, and to play Three Dragon Ante. It was a fun time, even though in the first game of Three Dragon Ante, Adam beat me on the last hand and one the game by 2 gold.
At work, Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Yesterday I misplaced the remote control for the TV in the living room, so we watched a lot of DVDs. We watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Star Wars Episode III: The Return of the Sith, and Blade III. We also had Adam, Harriet and Artie over for barbecue chicken, and to play Three Dragon Ante. It was a fun time, even though in the first game of Three Dragon Ante, Adam beat me on the last hand and one the game by 2 gold.
At work, Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday. I drove to West Hickory and spent the day with my family. I ate turkey, mashed potatoes, pie, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, baked corn and stuffing. Everything was wonderful. I am thankful for my husband, our home, our friends and our family. I am also thankful I was not in any of the marching bands in NYC yesterday. They got very wet.
I'd also like to wish a happy birthday to my sister Lacy. Her Birthday was November 21st.
I'm at work so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I'd also like to wish a happy birthday to my sister Lacy. Her Birthday was November 21st.
I'm at work so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bird Watching
Posting from work again. We've got two little chickadees in the building. That's not a metaphor. There are little birds flying from rafter to rafter and singing. I think it's nice. My team lead is worried about getting pooped on. Muggles.
Last night, we went to see Big Love, starring Hilary Gonzales, Adam Hirt, and a bunch of people I don't know. The show was wonderful. In the show there was dancing, singing, stunts, and bloody murder. One of the stunts went a little awry. The premise of the show is that 50 brides, who are all sisters, flee from their home in Greece on their wedding day. Their 50 grooms follow them to Italy. The grooms are airlifted in and repel down to the terrace of the home where the brides are seeking refuge. One of the groom's repelling line didn't come down as far as it should have and he ended up dropping about 7 feet to the stage. He wasn't hurt and the show went on, but it made the scene even tenser than it should have been. The music in the show was wonderful, Dr. Ewert said he would burn me a copy of the soundtrack.
I liked the script Dr. Ewert chose, it was a little out here, as all of Dr. Ewert's choices are, but it had a good message about whether we accept the world as it is and live in it as best we can, or whether we reject the messed up world that is presented to us and try to change it. And how far are we ultimately willing to go to change it? And at the end of the show, love is declared to be the highest law. There were two scenes in the play where I felt like power was raised in the theater. The first is a scene where they are preparing for the wedding, bringing in the cake and presents, and one of the house guests, an Italian lothario named Leo and his friend, are encouraging the brides to embrace life and take a chance at finding love. They dance and circle around the stage, and the music is very up tempo. The energy was very raucous and joyous, and at the same time, made you feel like drinking wine in the late afternoon, with the warm sun toasting your body. It felt like energy to invoke Pan or Bacchus. During a scene just before the end of the play, the energy is darker, and distinctly female. It made you want to rise up and take vengeance. This energy felt like it would invoke, Kali, the Morrigan, Maat or the Cailleach.
I'm at work and I've already spent more time on this than I meant to. I plan to see the show again on Sunday. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Last night, we went to see Big Love, starring Hilary Gonzales, Adam Hirt, and a bunch of people I don't know. The show was wonderful. In the show there was dancing, singing, stunts, and bloody murder. One of the stunts went a little awry. The premise of the show is that 50 brides, who are all sisters, flee from their home in Greece on their wedding day. Their 50 grooms follow them to Italy. The grooms are airlifted in and repel down to the terrace of the home where the brides are seeking refuge. One of the groom's repelling line didn't come down as far as it should have and he ended up dropping about 7 feet to the stage. He wasn't hurt and the show went on, but it made the scene even tenser than it should have been. The music in the show was wonderful, Dr. Ewert said he would burn me a copy of the soundtrack.
I liked the script Dr. Ewert chose, it was a little out here, as all of Dr. Ewert's choices are, but it had a good message about whether we accept the world as it is and live in it as best we can, or whether we reject the messed up world that is presented to us and try to change it. And how far are we ultimately willing to go to change it? And at the end of the show, love is declared to be the highest law. There were two scenes in the play where I felt like power was raised in the theater. The first is a scene where they are preparing for the wedding, bringing in the cake and presents, and one of the house guests, an Italian lothario named Leo and his friend, are encouraging the brides to embrace life and take a chance at finding love. They dance and circle around the stage, and the music is very up tempo. The energy was very raucous and joyous, and at the same time, made you feel like drinking wine in the late afternoon, with the warm sun toasting your body. It felt like energy to invoke Pan or Bacchus. During a scene just before the end of the play, the energy is darker, and distinctly female. It made you want to rise up and take vengeance. This energy felt like it would invoke, Kali, the Morrigan, Maat or the Cailleach.
I'm at work and I've already spent more time on this than I meant to. I plan to see the show again on Sunday. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Tiny Green Puppy
I dreamt I was in a house with lots of black cats. All of them were trying to rub up against me and jump in my lap. I was trying to avoid them. I didn't want my allergies to act up, and I was a little afraid of them. The cats became more and more aggressive, jumping off of furniture into my arms. Jeff was sitting in the room watching TV and he kept telling me to calm down. I ran out of the living room of the house into the kitchen. The kitchen was kind of small, the walls were of shiny wood, polished oak. There was a little green puppy on the floor, eating out of one of the cat bowls. I picked him up and he fit into my hand. He had long ears, and he was light green and his hair was very short. He crawled into my sleeve and laid down. When I pulled him out of my sleeve, I found out he'd left me a little puppy present in there. But I wasn't angry, because he was adorable.
When I woke up, I thought the puppy was a fairy puppy.
I also did a Faery Oracle reading before bed last night. It was the only card deck I could find. I think the faeries are hiding my other decks. I drew O That Gnome, Faeries of the Future, and the Topsie Turvets.
The reading indicates that something is stirring, and there's an opportunity ahead. I just need to be able to plan wisely and take it. I have to take action to take it, it isn't something that will fall into my lap. The Topsie Turvets also indicate that I need to be prepared to look at things from someone else's point of view.
Okay, at work so this ends here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
When I woke up, I thought the puppy was a fairy puppy.
I also did a Faery Oracle reading before bed last night. It was the only card deck I could find. I think the faeries are hiding my other decks. I drew O That Gnome, Faeries of the Future, and the Topsie Turvets.
The reading indicates that something is stirring, and there's an opportunity ahead. I just need to be able to plan wisely and take it. I have to take action to take it, it isn't something that will fall into my lap. The Topsie Turvets also indicate that I need to be prepared to look at things from someone else's point of view.
Okay, at work so this ends here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Switched to the Beta
So I switched to the beta. We'll see how this goes. I was putting it off mainly because I had to create a google account, but it wasn't too bad. Things are going well at work. I'm currently working on processing mail. We were talking about spelling tests in elementary school. I miss those, they made me feel really smart. At home, I've started doing my Yoga and Pilates DVD again. I definitely feel full of energy and at the same time very calm and centered when I'm done with it.
I had a funny dream this morning, I was on a pirate ship trying to kill a captive and he kept moving at the last second so I couldn't stab him. Then the scene changed and I was on a golf course with Jeff (I think still wearing pirate clothes) We were running to catch up with everyone at the next hole, and I yelled to Jeff to hurry and he Blinked ahead of me, as Slogdarr, his mage from World of Warcraft. When we got to the hole, there was mageroyal, a herb that you collect in WoW all around the green. And Artie's character, Arten, the gnome warlock, was there, in his little green and gold Cromatic Order tabard. It was definitely strange.
Anyway, at work so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I had a funny dream this morning, I was on a pirate ship trying to kill a captive and he kept moving at the last second so I couldn't stab him. Then the scene changed and I was on a golf course with Jeff (I think still wearing pirate clothes) We were running to catch up with everyone at the next hole, and I yelled to Jeff to hurry and he Blinked ahead of me, as Slogdarr, his mage from World of Warcraft. When we got to the hole, there was mageroyal, a herb that you collect in WoW all around the green. And Artie's character, Arten, the gnome warlock, was there, in his little green and gold Cromatic Order tabard. It was definitely strange.
Anyway, at work so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Something I learned today
If you eat M&Ms, and drink orange soda, your burps taste like a Terry's Chocolate Orange.
:-)
Things are going all right here. I promise to post a picture of the new swords soon. This weekend Jeff and I will be in Hickory on Sunday for a memorial service. My great-aunt Evie passed away this week. She was my Grandma Dot's sister. She lived next door to my parent's, in my Great Grandma Irene and Great Grandpa Basil's house for about the last 15 years. She was also very sick over the past few years, and I think she was mostly holding on for my Grandma Dot. I am glad that she has been reunited with her parents, her sister, and her husband, Chuck. I have some really nice memories of having fun visiting her. When I was in elementary school, they had a mutt named Spike, who I wrote a poem about. The poem was published by the IU6 in a compilation of works of the Gifted students that year, which always tickled her.
That's all for now, my son is here and that always makes me cheery :-)
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
:-)
Things are going all right here. I promise to post a picture of the new swords soon. This weekend Jeff and I will be in Hickory on Sunday for a memorial service. My great-aunt Evie passed away this week. She was my Grandma Dot's sister. She lived next door to my parent's, in my Great Grandma Irene and Great Grandpa Basil's house for about the last 15 years. She was also very sick over the past few years, and I think she was mostly holding on for my Grandma Dot. I am glad that she has been reunited with her parents, her sister, and her husband, Chuck. I have some really nice memories of having fun visiting her. When I was in elementary school, they had a mutt named Spike, who I wrote a poem about. The poem was published by the IU6 in a compilation of works of the Gifted students that year, which always tickled her.
That's all for now, my son is here and that always makes me cheery :-)
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Pride
I've picked up Evolutionary Witchcraft and started working again. I'm in the Fire chapter, which works with the Iron Pentacle. The Iron Pentacle explores the balance and flow between sex, pride, self, power and passion. Working on Pride, it asks an interesting question. What are you proud of? I'm supposed to think about this and answer it for myself, and I'm supposed to ask others what they are proud of. It's harder to think about than you think. So often we're told not to toot our own horns. Or that being proud means being arrogant. And it doesn't, not at all. To be proud means that you feel uplifted when you accomplish something. And that is a good feeling to spread around.
I am proud of my marriage. I am proud of my faith. I am proud of my ability to find an apartment in the right location, for the right price. I am proud when I exercise. I am proud when I create ritual. I am proud of how I do my job. I am proud of how fast I can read. I am proud of everything I've learned since graduating college.
What are you proud of? You can leave a comment if you like, or you can post in your own blog, as I know my readers are mostly friends whose blogs I read. You can keep it to yourself if you want, but the purpose of this is to share those good feelings. What are you proud of? Shout it out!
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I am proud of my marriage. I am proud of my faith. I am proud of my ability to find an apartment in the right location, for the right price. I am proud when I exercise. I am proud when I create ritual. I am proud of how I do my job. I am proud of how fast I can read. I am proud of everything I've learned since graduating college.
What are you proud of? You can leave a comment if you like, or you can post in your own blog, as I know my readers are mostly friends whose blogs I read. You can keep it to yourself if you want, but the purpose of this is to share those good feelings. What are you proud of? Shout it out!
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Election Day!
Go out and vote today! We've got two very important races going on in Pennsylvania. We have the opportunity to oust Rick Santorum (Rep) from the Senate, and we can elect a new governor today. I'll be hitting the polls after work. I plan to stop at home and pick up Jeff so he can vote too. This is the first gubernatorial election I've been able to vote in, I think. I can't remember when Rendell was elected. I think I may not have been registered to vote in McKean County at the time, and since it wasn't an election year for Dad, I didn't have an absentee ballot from Forest. Anyway, I'm at work so this will be short, but I wanted to remind everyone about voting today. Especially, please, get rid of Rick Santorum. Republican President + Republican Congress = Bad.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Okay, 2 weeks since my last post
Happy Samhain to all! It's been a busy two weeks. On Sunday the 22nd, I went down home and saw my family. I saw my Mom and Dad and Keely, and I also went up to the farm to see Bummy, Pappap, Allison and Grey. I got to watch them split wood. It looked like hard work. I did help Bummy load the wood onto the pick up, so I wasn't a complete slacker. Then I went with Al and Grey out to Megin's house where I got to meet her beautiful baby girl and catch up. I haven't seen Megin since I was in college, and that's been a long time. We had a very nice visit, and were amused by the antics of her cats. I wonder if the kitten has told Megin its name yet. I also learned that baby + kitten = too cute for words.
I worked the next week. Then Friday the 27th was Jeff and I's second wedding anniversary. We had a nice day, and we had lunch together at Beefeaters before leaving for Lebanon. We stayed wtih Lacy and Jay. Friday night we had a great dinner. I got to have Lacy's stuffed shells, which were out of this world. She also made Jeff a yummy steak, since he's not big on Italian food. We need to keep an eye out for Lea and Perrin's steak sauce now. We have their worcestershire around here, but we didn't see the steak sauce when we went to Wal-Mart. On Saturday, we went to the PA Renaissance Faire at the Mt. Hope Winery and bought a new sword and a case of Concord. We didn't stay for the pirate auction because it was cold, and we already had what we came for. This time we bought the actual licensed replica rather than the knock-off. Then when we got home, I went on Ebay and bought the other Lord of the Rings sword I wanted, the Riders of Rohan sword. The new sword should be coming tomorrow according to UPS. I'm very excited to see it. On Monday and Tuesday night, we watched the extended releases of Two Towers (Monday) and Return of the King (last night) After seeing Eowyn kill the Witchking with my sword, I am eager to get my hands on it.
Once we have both swords, I will post a picture of them.
On Halloween, we lit our pumpkins and handed out candy. I do plan to spend some time with my tarot cards today to get a feel on the year. Having just dealt with Grandma Dot's death with the memorial service on the 15th of this month, I just didn't feel up to doing a full Samhain ritual. But I will ask for the help of the Ancestors and Mighty Ones when I do my reading later. I recently finished reading Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner. The concept of the Mighty Ones (Witches that have reached the point where they no longer reincarnate but stay in the Summerlands and act as guardians and guides) seems more concrete to me after reading it. I definitely think Gardner, and also Victor Anderson, who started Feri Witchcraft, could be among those powers. But I also think that Gardner had such a love of life he might have wanted to give it one more go, just to see how what he started is developing.
I think that's enough of a catch up for now. Sorry to go so long between posts. I start back to work tomorrow, so at least I can do short updates from there.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I worked the next week. Then Friday the 27th was Jeff and I's second wedding anniversary. We had a nice day, and we had lunch together at Beefeaters before leaving for Lebanon. We stayed wtih Lacy and Jay. Friday night we had a great dinner. I got to have Lacy's stuffed shells, which were out of this world. She also made Jeff a yummy steak, since he's not big on Italian food. We need to keep an eye out for Lea and Perrin's steak sauce now. We have their worcestershire around here, but we didn't see the steak sauce when we went to Wal-Mart. On Saturday, we went to the PA Renaissance Faire at the Mt. Hope Winery and bought a new sword and a case of Concord. We didn't stay for the pirate auction because it was cold, and we already had what we came for. This time we bought the actual licensed replica rather than the knock-off. Then when we got home, I went on Ebay and bought the other Lord of the Rings sword I wanted, the Riders of Rohan sword. The new sword should be coming tomorrow according to UPS. I'm very excited to see it. On Monday and Tuesday night, we watched the extended releases of Two Towers (Monday) and Return of the King (last night) After seeing Eowyn kill the Witchking with my sword, I am eager to get my hands on it.
Once we have both swords, I will post a picture of them.
On Halloween, we lit our pumpkins and handed out candy. I do plan to spend some time with my tarot cards today to get a feel on the year. Having just dealt with Grandma Dot's death with the memorial service on the 15th of this month, I just didn't feel up to doing a full Samhain ritual. But I will ask for the help of the Ancestors and Mighty Ones when I do my reading later. I recently finished reading Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner. The concept of the Mighty Ones (Witches that have reached the point where they no longer reincarnate but stay in the Summerlands and act as guardians and guides) seems more concrete to me after reading it. I definitely think Gardner, and also Victor Anderson, who started Feri Witchcraft, could be among those powers. But I also think that Gardner had such a love of life he might have wanted to give it one more go, just to see how what he started is developing.
I think that's enough of a catch up for now. Sorry to go so long between posts. I start back to work tomorrow, so at least I can do short updates from there.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
On a lighter note
My computer, brought to you by Mutant Enemy. Yes, my computer was taken over several weeks ago by Joss Whedon. It now plays the Firefly opening theme song when it boots up, and when it shuts down it plays the "Rrr, arg" sound. I would prefer it to play the Angel theme when it boots up, as I love those violins. Perhaps I will search for it after blogging.
I'm a little tired today after staying up to watch Nip/Tuck last night. It was good episode, although I though how Christian played Kimber was harsh even for him. I was thinking about TV today. I've gotten used to the idea that there's nothing good on. But there's quite a few shows now I really like watching, even though Nip/Tuck is the only one I actually carve out a chunk of time for. There's Battlestar Galactica, American Chopper, Iron Chef America, really, most of the stuff on the Food Network, That 70s Show in syndication, all 3 Law and Order shows, etc. Sometimes I think I'd really like DVR or TiVo so I could save all my favorite episodes, or record things to watch when I'm free. I don't know if I would though. I'm just generally pleased with the though that TV is improving again.
Anyway, time for some WoW I think. Hopefully we'll be early to bed tonight. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
I'm a little tired today after staying up to watch Nip/Tuck last night. It was good episode, although I though how Christian played Kimber was harsh even for him. I was thinking about TV today. I've gotten used to the idea that there's nothing good on. But there's quite a few shows now I really like watching, even though Nip/Tuck is the only one I actually carve out a chunk of time for. There's Battlestar Galactica, American Chopper, Iron Chef America, really, most of the stuff on the Food Network, That 70s Show in syndication, all 3 Law and Order shows, etc. Sometimes I think I'd really like DVR or TiVo so I could save all my favorite episodes, or record things to watch when I'm free. I don't know if I would though. I'm just generally pleased with the though that TV is improving again.
Anyway, time for some WoW I think. Hopefully we'll be early to bed tonight. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Dorothy Huffman
This past weekend was the memorial service for my Grandma Dot. It was at the West Hickory United Methodist Church, which was packed to standing room only. My dad gave a beautiful eulogy, sharing memories of my grandmother's love of music and of her family. Dad and my Aunt Beck sang two hymns that were my grandmother's favorites, How Great Thou Art and Just a Closer Walk with Thee.
It was so strange. She died on September 27th, and I was upset when mom called to tell me. But truthfully, I was also somewhat relieved, because I had seen her in the nursing home the previous Saturday, and she clearly wasn't doing well. She was suffering from terminal brain cancer. She wasn't going to be coming home again. I thought I had already accepted her death. But then at the memorial service when my Aunt Beck and Dad were singing, I could hear Grandma Dot's voice singing with them like it always did at family gatherings. She had such a big voice, and she always sang full out, without any fear of someone judging. I think that is what I will always remember most about her. And I just cried so much and so hard during those songs. It was like I had skipped a stage in the grieving process and had to go back. Some part of me recognized that I'd never hear her sing again, and it took that for me to realize she was really gone. I wanted to share this song with everyone. Even though I am no longer Christian, I found a great deal of comfort in it, along with finding my grief.
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
I also wanted to thank everyone who called or emailed to let me know they were thinking of me. I really appreciated it. Merry Part and Blessed Be, everyone.
It was so strange. She died on September 27th, and I was upset when mom called to tell me. But truthfully, I was also somewhat relieved, because I had seen her in the nursing home the previous Saturday, and she clearly wasn't doing well. She was suffering from terminal brain cancer. She wasn't going to be coming home again. I thought I had already accepted her death. But then at the memorial service when my Aunt Beck and Dad were singing, I could hear Grandma Dot's voice singing with them like it always did at family gatherings. She had such a big voice, and she always sang full out, without any fear of someone judging. I think that is what I will always remember most about her. And I just cried so much and so hard during those songs. It was like I had skipped a stage in the grieving process and had to go back. Some part of me recognized that I'd never hear her sing again, and it took that for me to realize she was really gone. I wanted to share this song with everyone. Even though I am no longer Christian, I found a great deal of comfort in it, along with finding my grief.
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
I also wanted to thank everyone who called or emailed to let me know they were thinking of me. I really appreciated it. Merry Part and Blessed Be, everyone.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Too much TNT - Dreaming of Drama
This is another dream blog entry, although I'm fairly sure this dream wasn't prophetic of significant. I dreamed I was working with the cast of Without a Trace. It was my first day of work, and I was getting ready to go out into the field with one of the other detectives. I was struggling with a big pile of books and papers. I had a hard time getting through the building and out to my car, and it was raining. I was wearing a suit, with a pencil skirt and high heeled shoes.
Later in the dream, which was skipping around a lot, I was leaving the office but I didn't see anyone I knew. The office was very quiet. There were groups of 3 or 4 people all in blue shirts getting onto elevators and going into offices. I was scared of these people, so I made my way as quickly as a I could to an open office. A group of them noticed me, but I got to the office and locked the door before they could catch me. All over the building these people were attacking people in their offices. I opened the door to the room I was holed up in and Jack McCoy from Law and Order came running in with a swollen right eye. It looked like someone hit a desk with his face. While Jack and I were talking about what was going on, a woman pounded on the door asking for help. We let her in, because she was wearing a purple jacket, not a blue shirt. Then she turned on me to start to attack me, pulling at my hair and clawing, but I pulled a gun and made her back down. She sat in the corner crying about how her jacket looked blue when she got it out of her closet that morning. All these blue shirted people were part of a group that had planned an attack on this office. Whether it was the FBI office they have on Without A Trace, or 1 Police Plaza from Law and Order was never made clear to me.
It was an interesting dream. It might make a good short story if I take out the TV references and fill in the holes.
At work, so I have to end here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Later in the dream, which was skipping around a lot, I was leaving the office but I didn't see anyone I knew. The office was very quiet. There were groups of 3 or 4 people all in blue shirts getting onto elevators and going into offices. I was scared of these people, so I made my way as quickly as a I could to an open office. A group of them noticed me, but I got to the office and locked the door before they could catch me. All over the building these people were attacking people in their offices. I opened the door to the room I was holed up in and Jack McCoy from Law and Order came running in with a swollen right eye. It looked like someone hit a desk with his face. While Jack and I were talking about what was going on, a woman pounded on the door asking for help. We let her in, because she was wearing a purple jacket, not a blue shirt. Then she turned on me to start to attack me, pulling at my hair and clawing, but I pulled a gun and made her back down. She sat in the corner crying about how her jacket looked blue when she got it out of her closet that morning. All these blue shirted people were part of a group that had planned an attack on this office. Whether it was the FBI office they have on Without A Trace, or 1 Police Plaza from Law and Order was never made clear to me.
It was an interesting dream. It might make a good short story if I take out the TV references and fill in the holes.
At work, so I have to end here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Review: Danse Macabre
Allison's comment reminded me that I never posted my thoughts here on Danse Macabre. I shouldn't have even linked it, because I don't think anyone should spend $25.95 on this book in hardcover. If we hadn't had a gift certificate, I don't think I would have done it.
Warning: if you actually intend to read this book, there are spoilers ahead.
The beginning of the book shows a lot of promise. It's why I bought it, really, I read the first two chapters sitting in Borders. Anita and Ronnie and discussing their man troubles, and Anita confides in her that her period is two weeks late. The dialogue is reminiscent of early Anita Blake novels. Ronnie is worried because she's moving in with her long-time boyfriend, Louis. They discuss the possible repercussions of adding a baby to Anita's violent life, and who the possible father could be. Despite being sexually active with half the supernaturals in St. Louis, the two most likely candidates are Nathaniel, one of the wereleopards that lives with her, and her ex-fiancee, Richard, the leader of the local werewolf pack. Ronnie and Anita begin fighting again after Ronnie makes some nasty comments about Nathaniel being a father. It comes out that Ronnie is jealous of all of Anita's men, and she's been saying very mean things to Nathaniel behind Anita's back. In all this arguing, Ronnie reveals to Micah and Nathaniel that Anita might be having a baby.
From here, the book starts to go downhill, because of the same problems I've had with previous books. Rather than dealing with the immediate problem of a possible pregnancy, Anita, Micah and Nathaniel have to head to the Circus of the Damned, the Master of the City and one of Anita's other lover's headquarters, for a vampire meet and greet. Here we get introduced to 4 more characters that Anita will have sexual encounters with, none of whom are introduced enough for me to care about, and 3 of whch are barely mentioned through the rest of the book.
Now, for anyone reading this who doesn't know me, (does anyone read this who doesn't know me?) I like sex. I like reading about sex. I have no problems with reading about sex. But this isn't supposed to be a work of supernatural erotica. It's categorized as part of the horror genre.
From this point, the book degenerates into a lot of sex and a lot of people whining about their issues. The problem is now this series has too many characters, mostly males vying for one of the top spots in Anita's feeding schedule. With so many characters, I can't seem to care about any of them. The characters I used to really like are barely seen, or have been reduced to a stereotype of one kind or another. Richard is a typical chauvinistic male who acts like everything would be all baby booties and white picket fences if Anita is pregnant. Plus, he expresses a complete double standard for sex. It's okay if he messes around looking for a replacement for Anita, but he wants her to be able to give up all the others for him at the drop of a hat. Anita loves Jean-Claude, but all we ever see him do anymore is reveal unpleasant facts about her new powers and lie to avoid doing so. The more powerful she becomes, the less he gets to have of her. I like Nathaniel, as he was becoming more of a main character before the ardeur, but I don't like Micah that much. "Just keep being perfect," Richard says to him, several times throughout the book. Everybody loves him. He never fights with Anita. He's like a blow-up doll. I might like him more if there was a little more to him. Even Nathaniel is less submissive than him now, and Nathaniel started off in the series as a pain whore who didn't know how to say no. And we also have about half a dozen pathetic vampires and shapeshifters trying desperately to be the new man in Anita's rotating door of a vagina. In this book, a very big deal is made about the pleasure of the ardeur being addictive and some people are willing to do anything to feed Jean-Claude and Anita's hunger. This just seems like an excuse for Laurell K. Hamilton to write about more sex in more combinations with more preternaturally beautiful people. I want to read a novel, not her sexual fantasies.
Do you know how many books it's been since there was more than single chapter with Dolph and Zerbrowski? Remember them? They are the police officers Anita used to work with in every book. This book had absolutely no mention of them at all. When they are talking about the problems Anita would have raising a child, they mention how busy Anita is with her job as an animator and now as a federal marshal. (all vampire executioners were given federal marshal status a couple books ago) But we haven't seen Anita actually do work for at least 6 novels. I can't remember right now if she actually did police work in Narcissus and Chains or not, which was the start of this whole ardeur debacle.
Oh, and Anita's not pregnant. She's just got 4 different kinds of lycanthropy in her blood, and next full moon she may just become a lycanthrope for real this time! They think she may be a panwere like Narcissus. So maybe next book, we'll get furry on furry action too!
The only other interesting thing mentioned in this book was that The Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire, is waking up. All the vampires are really afraid of her. And because of how powerful Anita is, she keeps having dreams and visions of her. Maybe in a 3 or 4 books after mentioning it some more, Hamilton will actually know what her big bad is going to do and give us a decent novel. I'm not holding my breath.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Warning: if you actually intend to read this book, there are spoilers ahead.
The beginning of the book shows a lot of promise. It's why I bought it, really, I read the first two chapters sitting in Borders. Anita and Ronnie and discussing their man troubles, and Anita confides in her that her period is two weeks late. The dialogue is reminiscent of early Anita Blake novels. Ronnie is worried because she's moving in with her long-time boyfriend, Louis. They discuss the possible repercussions of adding a baby to Anita's violent life, and who the possible father could be. Despite being sexually active with half the supernaturals in St. Louis, the two most likely candidates are Nathaniel, one of the wereleopards that lives with her, and her ex-fiancee, Richard, the leader of the local werewolf pack. Ronnie and Anita begin fighting again after Ronnie makes some nasty comments about Nathaniel being a father. It comes out that Ronnie is jealous of all of Anita's men, and she's been saying very mean things to Nathaniel behind Anita's back. In all this arguing, Ronnie reveals to Micah and Nathaniel that Anita might be having a baby.
From here, the book starts to go downhill, because of the same problems I've had with previous books. Rather than dealing with the immediate problem of a possible pregnancy, Anita, Micah and Nathaniel have to head to the Circus of the Damned, the Master of the City and one of Anita's other lover's headquarters, for a vampire meet and greet. Here we get introduced to 4 more characters that Anita will have sexual encounters with, none of whom are introduced enough for me to care about, and 3 of whch are barely mentioned through the rest of the book.
Now, for anyone reading this who doesn't know me, (does anyone read this who doesn't know me?) I like sex. I like reading about sex. I have no problems with reading about sex. But this isn't supposed to be a work of supernatural erotica. It's categorized as part of the horror genre.
From this point, the book degenerates into a lot of sex and a lot of people whining about their issues. The problem is now this series has too many characters, mostly males vying for one of the top spots in Anita's feeding schedule. With so many characters, I can't seem to care about any of them. The characters I used to really like are barely seen, or have been reduced to a stereotype of one kind or another. Richard is a typical chauvinistic male who acts like everything would be all baby booties and white picket fences if Anita is pregnant. Plus, he expresses a complete double standard for sex. It's okay if he messes around looking for a replacement for Anita, but he wants her to be able to give up all the others for him at the drop of a hat. Anita loves Jean-Claude, but all we ever see him do anymore is reveal unpleasant facts about her new powers and lie to avoid doing so. The more powerful she becomes, the less he gets to have of her. I like Nathaniel, as he was becoming more of a main character before the ardeur, but I don't like Micah that much. "Just keep being perfect," Richard says to him, several times throughout the book. Everybody loves him. He never fights with Anita. He's like a blow-up doll. I might like him more if there was a little more to him. Even Nathaniel is less submissive than him now, and Nathaniel started off in the series as a pain whore who didn't know how to say no. And we also have about half a dozen pathetic vampires and shapeshifters trying desperately to be the new man in Anita's rotating door of a vagina. In this book, a very big deal is made about the pleasure of the ardeur being addictive and some people are willing to do anything to feed Jean-Claude and Anita's hunger. This just seems like an excuse for Laurell K. Hamilton to write about more sex in more combinations with more preternaturally beautiful people. I want to read a novel, not her sexual fantasies.
Do you know how many books it's been since there was more than single chapter with Dolph and Zerbrowski? Remember them? They are the police officers Anita used to work with in every book. This book had absolutely no mention of them at all. When they are talking about the problems Anita would have raising a child, they mention how busy Anita is with her job as an animator and now as a federal marshal. (all vampire executioners were given federal marshal status a couple books ago) But we haven't seen Anita actually do work for at least 6 novels. I can't remember right now if she actually did police work in Narcissus and Chains or not, which was the start of this whole ardeur debacle.
Oh, and Anita's not pregnant. She's just got 4 different kinds of lycanthropy in her blood, and next full moon she may just become a lycanthrope for real this time! They think she may be a panwere like Narcissus. So maybe next book, we'll get furry on furry action too!
The only other interesting thing mentioned in this book was that The Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire, is waking up. All the vampires are really afraid of her. And because of how powerful Anita is, she keeps having dreams and visions of her. Maybe in a 3 or 4 books after mentioning it some more, Hamilton will actually know what her big bad is going to do and give us a decent novel. I'm not holding my breath.
Merry Part and Blessed Be!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Alumni Weekend
Lacy and Jay came to visit for Alumni Weekend. The event itself was really disappointing. We didn't see any students we knew. We did get to visit with Dr. Ewert for a little while. But we had a good time visiting. We went to the Paper Factory in Olean and cooked steak, fried potatoes and salad for dinner. We discovered a leaky pipe under our kitchen sink, which then became a missing pipe while the guys were fiddling with it. It was completely rusted through and broke off in Jay's hand. But our landlord came over on Sunday afternoon and fixed it, so all is well. Lacy has been doing the LA Weight Loss program and she looks great. She looked great before, but now she has more confidence and I think she's doing great. It seems like it does take a lot of willpower. She had a LA Weight Loss beverage and fruit for breakfast while Jay, Jeff and I ate bacon and hash browns, but it does seem like they give you enough food options so you are getting what you need and you aren't hungry all the time.
The new neighbors are still ridiculously loud. I think the kid must wear cement baby shoes, because I can't imagine a 2 year old making this much noise just by running. Either that, or she throws herself off of furniture on to the floor. All day long we hear run run run run run run run run BANG! THUD THUD THUD. Last night, it had gotten quieter around 11 PM as per usual, and we were in bed. At midnight it started up again. Jeff went upstairs and said if it continued he'd be calling the landlord whenever it happened. The landlord got to hear some of the noise when he was over fixing the sink, but he didn't say anything to me. At first I thought we just got spoiled from having Troy as a neighbor, and then having the upstairs sit empty for 5 months. Now I just think these people don't care about anyone but themselves, not even their kid, who should have a bed time a lot earlier than 11 PM or midnight.
At work, so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be, dear readers!
The new neighbors are still ridiculously loud. I think the kid must wear cement baby shoes, because I can't imagine a 2 year old making this much noise just by running. Either that, or she throws herself off of furniture on to the floor. All day long we hear run run run run run run run run BANG! THUD THUD THUD. Last night, it had gotten quieter around 11 PM as per usual, and we were in bed. At midnight it started up again. Jeff went upstairs and said if it continued he'd be calling the landlord whenever it happened. The landlord got to hear some of the noise when he was over fixing the sink, but he didn't say anything to me. At first I thought we just got spoiled from having Troy as a neighbor, and then having the upstairs sit empty for 5 months. Now I just think these people don't care about anyone but themselves, not even their kid, who should have a bed time a lot earlier than 11 PM or midnight.
At work, so I'll end this here. Merry Part and Blessed Be, dear readers!
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