five thousand shades of blue

---

Well, I wrote some stuff here yesterday, which was sucked into the abyss of nothingness when posting it resulted in an error. Just as well. I basically just said that I have nothing to say lately. My life is occupied with boring mundanities lately, things I don't much like doing in the first place, let alone write about.

I did get to play Mongol this weekend. I got more of the champagne gold satin, brocade trimmed del finished (Thanks to Andra's help); now I can button it almost all the way down. I also found a perfect little pair of leather slip-on boots to wear with my garb, at Goodwill for a measly $4. I love thrift shops. I always love slipping off modern life to be something a little different and foriegn. I wish I had more time to develop my knowledge and background of Mongolian/Chinese ways of the 11-12th century.

Since last we spoke, I also found out that in Chinese astrology one has to take the element into consideration, not just the animal. Turns out I am a Metal Dog.

Watched The Abyss special edition on DVD. Aside from having to squeeze my eyes closed at those possible-drowning moments (I just have this THING about watching people on TV or in a movie under water when I know they might drown -- I just can't breathe. If they're wearing scuba gear, I'm fine), it's really an excellent movie -- though with nearly 30 minutes of added footage, it's nearly three hours long. I have never seen the theatrical release but I can't imagine this movie without the expanded scenes. The whole WWIII aspect of the movie isn't even in the theatrical release. Wow. What is it with James Cameron and high seas love stories and multitudinous drownings, anyway? It's actually got me wanting to watch Titanic again. That damned Celine Dion song has been stuck in my head for days. What's a girl to do...

Right. Go see Kodo, a Japanese taiko drumming troupe. One cannot help but be impressed at a 4-foot-diameter, 800 pound taiko drum. They're just amazing. And our own local Eugene taiko troupe (who opened with a performance in the lobby) was pretty good, too. I'm looking forward to the Asian Festival in a few weeks.

Busy, stressy days. I hate it when life gets like this.

I need a vacation where the sun's shining, no one knows me, and I have no responsibilities.

Other World Computing is issuing me an RMA for my screwed up ZIF processor. They rock!

Martha, you're lucky I'm not in a punchy mood. (you s-k you)

Dammit, I'm tired.

I think I have the right to be. Wake up at 5:30am, do the cafe thing from 7am til about 12:30pm (and in between customers, attempting to work on client websites and other work I have to do), go home and do various and sundry things like bills and deposits (which takes a lot more time than you might think) for both home and the cafe, then doing more client work. Come back here to help clean up, and then, some nights this past week we've been staying here til about 8pm. I basically have to go home and go to bed.

Whine whine whine.

I refuse to choose Tired as my iMood. It's so not creative. :)

Yesterday was much like Saturday. I'm tired and feel like I've taken a 6 hour advanced yoga class, from the stretching and contorting I had to do to reach the weird spaces that I touched up with paint. I unfortunately had a terrible time falling asleep last night, whether from an overactive stress-meter or from rich chocolate cake with chocolate-espresso mousse for frosting. Then when I did fall asleep, it was turbulent and marred with strange dreams. I kept waking up thinking I had overslept. I remember dreaming about trying to get home from a strange place after ending up on this old woman's house. It felt in the dream like I'd been dropped off there by mistake after ... I don't know, an alien abduction? ... and suddenly, there we were, in the middle of this strange house, trying to figure out where we were, and trying to avoid the occupant of the house, because I didn't want her to think we were there to rob the place. We did run into her, and I had to stare into her eyes and say, "Look closely -- you'll see I'm not stoned or anything. Please, just tell me: where are we?" She did believe us and told us we were somewhere in Colorado. Then we magically acquired a huge white car with Idaho plates to drive back home, and strangely, I-5 had developed a new bend in it to accomodate our much-needed route home.

What I really need is a night on the couch doing NOTHING and about 10 hours sleep. I will probably skip going to the spa today, though CRAP... I just remembered, I forgot to pay my bill on Friday... damndamndamn

What am I doing up? you wonder. I wonder myself. It's been a long day filled with painting walls and trim, stretching on ladders beyond the boundaries of my fear (and having a too close for comfort wobble moment on the top of the ladder). After a long tiring day, and realizing I may have a sinus infection, BLECH, I'm being a touch indulgent and checking my mail/blogging on my iBook, dialled in upstairs in my room. I've just spent some time gabbing with Martha (who, being in the Eastern time zone, just left to go to sleep) and watching my alabaster lamp glow with warm candlelight.

I was going to say that I had no luck getting the processor to work, but that would be a lie, considering I've spent absolutely no time at all on that computer today. Don't forsee doing anything about it tomorrow, either. As cool as it looks, I'll be happy to get this painting stuff over and done with.

I should really get off to sleep.

Hard time logging into Blogger today...

So yesterday is just another day in the saga that has become my desktop computer (PowerMac 9500). I had been experiencing rather erratic problems. I thought they were attributable to my daughterboard upgrade card (daughtercard?), but, as it turns out, it was that the PRAM battery was on its last leg. I hiked it over to The Computer Store (highly creative name, no?) and picked up a new battery ($15, good thing it only dies once every 4 years or so!).

What I didn't realize is that the PRAM battery is mounted on the motherboard. And that the 9500's motherboard is next to impossible to access. I mean, they recommend you take it to an authorized dealer just to have memory installed, it's that hard to get at.

I wasn't about to let that stop me.

To make a long story short, after much poking, prodding, coneptualizing three-dimensionally about what needed to move where in order for the board to come off, unplugging things from the board itself, I got it off. This is good, because if I decide to buy more RAM, I will be able to put it in myself.

Then I had to try to actually get at the battery. It's covered with a little plastic 'protective cover' that, according to a repair book I have, will take more effort than one might imagine to get off. Problem was, it was hard to tell where the cover ended and where the base started. I had visions of ripping the entire thing off the board, base and all... breaking my poor, beleaguered Mac. I did finally figure out the right trick to get it off, swapped the battery out, and put it all back together...

...Except that it looks like I really might be having some problems with the daughtercard. The manufacturer assures me of its compatibility, so I may have to exchange it with the seller. It's crashing mid-way through the startup chimes. That problem disappears when I put the original processor back in. Hm.

Until then, I'm slogging along at breakneck 132 mHz at home.... Feh! :P

I very much remember dreaming again. Could it be that it's due to getting enough sleep?

My hair is coming out of its braided twist, sending little flyaway tendrils around my face. I feel like a Muppet with boa-feather hair. :)

Eh. Thanks for nothin'. I'm not a millionaire. ;)

Third night in a row of dreams that I remember vividly. What does it mean to have a spate like that, after hardly remembering your dreams at all?

Tonight's my chance to win big again with Powerball or Megabucks. Start up those vibes!

Overwhelmingly tired and achy. See previous entry why.

Damn Dark Angel for being so bloody addictive. I coulda had another hour of sleep.

And I forgot to bring some sinus pills. I can't wait to get to the spa (short for my health club) and take a dip in the hot tub followed by the steam room.

Well, I failed to buy the ticket. Shoot me.

Spent most of the weekend doing lots of things I had to do. We're preparing to move the café, as I mentioned, and it's going to be, and has been, a lot of work. Spent Saturday sitting around in the new space, not actually doing much of anything, feeling kind of crampy and bloated and all around yucky. I would have rather been home doing laundry or client web work (of which I've fallen behind on just a bit). Sunday, running around all of creation buying stuff to re-do the space (paint and painting supplies). Monday.... painting. It will be good to finally be in this new space, if I don't go utterly mental thanks to the process.

Got word of the weekend's happenings at Twelfth Night, which is the winter coronation of the King and Queen (Kingdom of An Tir, SCA), and generally a pretty big deal. This year it happened up in Victoria, BC (last year's, our branch hosted, so I can't complain too much, even if I did get as sick as a dog for the whole weekend). I would have loved to have gone, but it just wasn't feasible, between travel times and funds. So many cool things happened, and friends and acquaintances were given awards for their artistry and mastery, and it leaves me feeling so inadequate. I want to have time to do more of the things I want to do, not have to do, and with all this café move stuff, I have no idea when that time's going to free up. Not that I had a whole lot of free time before we started this process. Anyway, I know that I could be good at something, if I could only find that niche, and have the time to develop it. I have a ger I want to make, some Mongolian boots I have the pattern for to make even though I don't know ANYTHING about making shoes...

Sigh. Well, if I didn't have to sleep, I could do everything I need to do and want to do...

If my truck was a child, it would be spoiled rotten. Had to put new back tires on it. They kept going flat, and were frankly going bald. Not what I wanted to spend my money on this weekend, but, necessary for safety and peace of mind.

Feh! Let's all chant and pray that San wins the big jackpot tomorrow. For my part, I will promise to try to buy a ticket.

It feels good to get enough sleep in a night. It gives me so much more energy. And I'm gonna need it, because we got the new space for the café! So it's going to be a hectic few weeks of hauling stuff about 50 feet from here to there, arranging for the phone lines et al to be moved, to actually GET the large (and I do mean LARGE) oak counter in there (I so hope it's possible, it's a NICE counter!). We spent last evening knocking ourselves over trying to tear industrial grey carpeting up (to lay down vinyl flooring, which the Health Department strongly favours under food prep areas). It's gonna be a lot of work, but oh, think of the street exposure!

I'd personally love to kick the crap out of the morons hitting the Undernet... Hm, no big-name on-line business is being affected, so nothing about this on the nightly news. ::rolleyes::

May karma pay these b*stards threefold...

I've had a full night's sleep. I've had a good, full breakfast.

Watch out world...! Mwahahahahahahaha...

Wahhhh.

When my youngest brother, the brother whom I remember being born as I ate lunch in the grade school lunchroom (induced birth that I knew the time of the appointment for), the brother I remember taking to the mall when I was in the earliest stages of having a driver's licence, the brother who used to come down into my room when I was like, 12-13 years old and goof around and dance to Duran Duran as it was playing on my old record player.... well, when my youngest brother turns 21, pardon me if I tend to feel a little bit old. My how the years fly by...

Got the strangest thing in the mail yesterday. A catalog for The Noble Collection (as far as I can tell, a gaudy, overpriced collection of modern-made "medieval" objects [the only cool thing in there is the Scythian bracelet]) with the date "Summer 1999" on it. Now, this stems from two possibilities: that The Noble Collection's graphic designer is currently on crack and has REALLY lost track of time; or that the catalog has been floating around our post office (which we have idly termed "The Vortex") for nearly 2 years. You know, at this rate, either is just as likely.

Stayed up a little too late watching Dark Angel, but, as always, well worth it.

Oh my gosh. I have seen the future, and it is real time, real life, AI-that-can-learn-about-you gaming...

The sun came peeking out yesterday and it was unseasonably warm for a bit. I managed to break away from the madness long enough to plant the barberry bush. Right now, it looks like a baby bonsai barberry bush. Hopefully by the summer or the summer after that, it will be big and protective of our side window. Was utterly surprised to find a holly plant back there too. I don't remember it being there!

Well, I certainly didn't need that today -- going to pour a cup of coffee only to discover the hard way that there's a huge gaping hole in the side of the cup. OW.

Boy, was that full moon gorgeous last night. Even if it does seem to turn people into morons. And the sky was a gorgeous pink color this morning.

Much work to do today.

I hate the Monday directly before a full moon. Makes it amply clear why it's called 'lunacy'. FEH!!! People are idiots anyway, and then add a full moon to that... DOUBLE FEH!!!!

Ooof. Undernet felled (hopefully temporarily) by DoS attacks. There's a special place in Hell for those people, too.

It feels like it's been a long time since I wrote anything remotely meaningful here. Yeay to all the good folks who donated to the Blogger server fund and carried the load for a poor sap like me, who doesn't have the cash to spare these days. :P

Looks like I've been in a fistfight. I've got band-aids on my thumb and knuckle. :)

Spent the weekend making a birthday gift for a friend whose birthday was before Christmas. Oops. I hope she'll think the delay was worth it. Feels like the weekends are over before they've really begun. I hate feeling like I have no control over the direction my days go. They're just over in a flash, more of the same tomorrow. I have to laugh when I hear teens saying they can't wait to be adults so they can do whatever they want. Kids, it's a myth. You never get to do "whatever you want". Unless you manage to strike it rich in some way or another. Take it from me. Lottery odds are just not that good.

Still having dreamy thoughts of last night's dinner. That wonderful Moroccan dish that we had for Christmas, Marian had enough leftover components that she made it again for dinner last night. Twice in a two week period. So much for losing weight.

The weather turned decidedly January-like again over the weekend, which is a good thing in lots of ways, but of course this now means that I have to plant my new barberry bush in the cold. Prickly sucker, which is the point. Planting it in front of a first floor window to deter those who would think of coming in.

...feeling a general sense of annoyance for wanna-be designers who take whatever they want from other sites. There's a special place in Hell for plagiarists.

Yes! I can publish again!

But now that my Blogger woes are over, so begins my Undernet (IRC) woes. I can't seem to get through to any of the Undernet servers. Wonder if it's just me?

Weather was 60 degrees and sunny yesterday. Yes, in Oregon. And it's freezing in Florida.

Welcome to the Bizarro World.

Watched "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" last night. Cute movie. Such a girly flick. I adore Janeane Garofalo.

Once again, the monthly SCA Scribal Night has snuck up on me. Gotta clean up....

Whoa. Way to go, Sir Patrick.

2001 isn't supposed to be this year. 2001 is supposed to be The Future. Welcome to The Future, I think.

When I stop to think what I did over this past weekend, the only thing I really remember clearly is the New Year's Eve party. And doing some work on Saturday. Does this mean I wasted my time? Or does it just mean that what I did was so unimportant and trivial that I have forgotten all about it already?

New Year's Party was fun. Played another couple of Cheapass Games -- "Give me the Brain" and "The Great Brain Robbery". Sensing a theme here? They were a lot of fun, even if I did horribly bad on the latter of the two games. I'm just not that good a brain-stealing zombie. :)

And I remember watching "Chicken Run" and some Wallace and Gromit on Cartoon Network. And I tuned in and out of "Yellow Submarine", which was definitely conceived while on the best LSD trip ever.

Cafe-wise, we didn't do as well as we did last New Year's during First Night. Maybe because it wasn't "Y2K Madness" this year... or because it wasn't bloody cold. Oh well. At least I didn't have to work it. That sucked sooo bad last New Year's.

There was a whole lot of slugging around on New Year's Day. I remember that pretty vividly too. :)

Last night was uneventful... scraping together dinner out of whatever was left in the pantry after having 5 people in the house all weekend (the three regulars plus two guests), then going grocery shopping. I still have to make a run to Sunrise Asian Market for some rice and other Asian food goodies, but we are much better stocked now :)

Happy New Year!

Long, tiring weekend. More soon.

is this just not enough…?

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