five thousand shades of blue

---

The end of this eternally long week is finally in sight, and for the first time in about a month or so I can go to bed tonight and not have to wake to an alarm. Sleep, precious sleep, and nothing whatsoever planned in advance for this weekend. Oh sure, I have a lot to do, but there's no where I have to be or nothing I have to do.

I will likely go to the free, yes free showing of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that's being shown as a part of the Oregon Bach Festival on Sunday night. The man who composed the score, Tan Dun, is also going to be doing the score as a concerto as well as the American premiere of "The Water Passion After St. Matthew". Tickets for those start at $28 each... so San will not be attending... but will happily see the free movie and the free lecture by Tan Dun on Thursday night next (which happens to be Independence Day).

By the way, in case anyone has wondered WTF has been going on, Julie's Digital Urbanite site should be back up online soon, but note the new url ending in ".net". Some soulless cybersquatter snatched up her original domain name.

On an unrelated note, this is freaking FUNNY.

One more on the subject of the Pledge:

CNN.com talks to the man who brought the suit to court. A very enlightening read.

...it is the greatest nation and what has made it great is our Constitution. The framers were quite wise in recognizing what religion can do and how it can cause hatred and how it can cause death. You don't have to go far in this world, outside of our nation, to see where that has happened. It is prevalent over the entire globe and the reason we don't have it here is because we have an establishment clause ... If Mike there from Alabama wouldn't mind saying "we are one nation under Buddha" every day, or "one nation under David Koresh" or "one nation" under some religious icon that he doesn't believe in ... if he doesn't understand the difference then we have a problem.

Regarding the Pledge ruling:

"Our founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. This is the worst kind of political correctness run amok," said Sen. Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri.

That's funny, because I would have thought that our (Humanist) Founding Fathers would be spinning at the very thought of a national pledge featuring the word "God".

*sigh*

I was wondering when someone would get around to this.

The phrase in question should never have been added in the first place. The opinion of the dissenting judge borders on the ludicrous. I don't give a rat's ass if someone sings "America the Beautiful" or "God Bless America" because they are just songs, fer cryin' out loud. The Pledge of Allegiance is the pledge Americans make to their country and it should not even hint at an 'official' deity.

When the Register-Guard printed their "One Country Indivisible" placard, I can't tell you how many people printed up their own signs with "under God" added in. And a friend's mother once berated Warner Brothers for "removing 'under God', those heathens!" from an old Porky Pig cartoon. The friend hastened to point out that the cartoon was made prior to Eisenhower adding the phrase to the Pledge.

I hope this ruling stands or the phrase is removed.

Of course, the Republicans are already up at arms. See what happens when you let liberals on the bench? Their mostly lily-white Christian butts would be singing a different tune if their religion was in the minority. Could you imagine them getting this riled about the phrase "under Allah" coming under scrutiny? Yeah, that's what I thought too.

And the Senate is calling the decision "stupid". See above.

Ok, back to freaky-ass dreams and South Park characterizations. :)

This dream has backstory. My life-engulfing hobby, the SCA, is composed of 'kingdoms'. Our group is a part of The Kingdom of An Tir, and our current King had had surgery on Monday night to correct problems as a result of a car accident in May (he came through the surgery just fine by the way). It took me the whole day, really, to chew on the dream, and I'm still not sure what it meant, only that we had talked about the surgery and has also joked about a local quick-freezing company doing a little cryogenics on the side.

Without further ado:

I was in my house, but it wasn't really my house, in the way that people and places in dreams can paradoxically be and not be something at the same time. Somehow, I had become responsible for taking care of the King's head. A living, breathing, talking reigning yet bodiless head. Perplexed at how it could still be alive yet excited to be entrusted to this important cephalic duty, I decided to show someone the head, and pulled out the bucket I had decided to keep it in. Bucket of hot water. Hm. Bad move on my part, I thought. Surely storing the King's head in a bucket of hot water would be a bad idea. I lifted it up and noticed... oooooh. It did not look good. Sunken, half-lidded eyes, drooping mouth... suddenly as the water drained off the eyes opened and he began to talk. Imagine my relief! Though I felt kind of bad about having to hold the head by the hair.

I can vividly remember the fact that the head had the crown on the entire time. And near the end of the dream I remember feeling like I had woken from the headless body dream and was talking with the King when I noticed a stitched-up scar encircling his neck... and being very freaked out.

The post script to this is that everyone who knows him, whom I told about this dream, has unanimously said: "You have got to tell him about this."

Because this is fun and most other things lately are not:

Me as a South Park character:


(I had to custom tint the hair because I am not pure blonde. And the grimace, appropriate for right now.)


Me as a Lego® figure:


(I could not easily change the hair color on this one. Smirk most days.)

Benton County is some beautiful country but is the heart of grass seed farming. My allergies were therefore even worse than usual, and I was on antihistamines all day long. But it was worth it to be outside, in the sun, feeling the breeze on my face.

I keep trying to remain the calm in the center of the storm. It's not easy.

Oh yes. I've submitted a resumé for a job I want very much that I am so so sooooo qualified to do, and any mojo you all can spare would be appreciated. Thank you.

My cats, they're indoor only cats. And last night proved to me why this is a wise, wise thing to do.

Last night at about 1:30am my friend was awakened by a bloodcurdling ululation. Seems their rather prodigiously gifted hunter of a cat had managed to catch a juvenile rabbit, dragged it (kicking and screaming) in through the cat door, then killed and began snacking on it on the living room floor before the unfortunate rabbit was taken outside on a shovel. UGH. Aside from the obvious ... I don't even keep my telephone ringer on at night for the panic it causes me. I can't imagine I'd live through a screaming rabbit episode.

This doesn't happen when your cats only eat Friskies and/or Chef's Blend.

Weirdness has bred.

(And all we're a lot better for it.)

Just in time for Summer Solstice, Emily. Great timing!

we've got your name, la la la

From a forward from Jerry:

>So Price Waterhouse (PWC) changes their name to "Monday" and builds a
>website to introduce youself [sic], www.IntroducingMonday.com . Then they forget
>to register the UK version, and this happens www.introducingmonday.co.uk :)

(My big question is... Monday?!? Quite possibly the most hated-by-the-working-world day of the week? Do we get to start chanting Boomtown Rats at them now?)

So you thought the word "blog" came into being within the past few years, a corruption of "weblog", didn't you? Hah.

From Unexplained Sniglets of the Universe (by Rich Hall and Friends, ©1986 Macmillan Publishing Company):

BLOG
(blahg)
n. Overly generous deposits of fish food floating at the top of an aquarium.

Make of that what you will...

Behold. Swooby new comment system.

Via Rae, my results from MaggieFic's Handy Dandy Mary Sue Generator:

Mary Sue Name: Angelique de Smytheford
Eye Colour: Smoky Azure
Hair colour: Silver
Signature Scent: Spicy Magnolia
Distinguishing Mark: Flawless Skin
Newly Revealed Relationship to a Major Character: Methos's Shady Ex-lover

(Don't know what I mean by Mary Sue?)

I may will be switching have switched commenting systems! One that allows me to delete comments if need be. Muahahahahahha.

We hoofed it (not literally) up to Portland on Saturday morning to spend the day there before seeing Cirque du Soleil Saturday evening. My car really really hates driving long distances, and by the time we got to Portland it kept stalling at every other red light or stop sign. We caravaned with another carload of friends, or should I say, we tried to, but we lost them at the gas station even before leaving town! Turns out they had been behind us and over a row at the pump, so I didn't see them. I guess her car is so nondescript and ordinary that I just didn't even notice it!

We finally rolled into Portland and met up with our wayward companions, pausing briefly to drop some stuff off at the house we were crashing at. We each had our own plans for the day, so we (An and myself) met up with a friend from a mailing list for... well, it was supposed to be coffee, but we decided to have lunch at McMenamin's across the street instead. It was a good thing we did because I just about inhaled my hamburger, I was so hungry by the time it arrived. We had a great time, albeit it too shortish. I still feel terrible about the parking ticket our friend got (pay-in-advance parking ran out :( )! (I will never ever ever ever complain about parking in downtown Eugene again. Ever.)

After that we backtracked to a Goodwill we'd seen and found some really cool stuff -- a Chinese chop (which mysteriously says "W.C.") and matching ink pot; a laquer bud vase with goldfish on it, and An got one of those silly pin-impression things that were so big in the 80s-early 90s.

We then headed to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, where we'd arranged beforehand to meet our fellow Cirque'ers. We pulled into a metered parking space just as it was vacated, only to find that over an hour remained on the meter! We hung out waiting for our friends at the beatufiully decorated, carved granite entrance gate. Turns out they'd gone inside already. We only had about an hour to enjoy it before it closed, and luckily we got to see the whole thing. It's only about as big as a city block but, as a friend put it, the further in you go, the bigger it gets. I wish I lived closer -- I'd volunteer all the time! It's beautiful and serene and my only complaint is that I wish the tall buildings in downtown Portland could vanish because it's the only thing really that shatters the illusion. (Well, that and the bathrooms.) I also wished it had been just us in there, though it wasn't as packed I'd heard it might be.

After enjoying the beauty and serenity, we had dinner at the nearby House of Louie (Chinese, YUM). Then we realized we would never have time to go back to our friends' apartment to change and still make it in time for the show at 8, so we grabbed our evening wear and changed in the ladies' room at Powell's bookstore! They must have thought we were insane. (The men in our group were all set to go, of course. :) )

The show itself was amazing. Those performers ... not human. Can't be. I had seen the show on DVD and love the soundtrack (happy to report that the main singers appear to be the same vocalists as from the DVD/soundtrack... that man's voice is AMAZING...) -- but seeing in person is a whole different ball game. WOW.

Hit a bit of a traffic snarl on the way home, and found out today it was because someone had driven their truck onto I-5, gotten out, and committed suicide by jumping into the path of a truck (big-rig I assume). Yoiks.

So it's Monday, and it's raining. At least the pollen will get washed out of the air. Grass season. Grass seed capital of the world. You do the math. :)

Two days of 90+ heat, followed by a chilly, overcast day. Of the two I'd much rather have the latter but it's still quite a shock to the system.

Having a rather upsetting and stressful day. It would be nice to know with certainty that there was a special level of torturous hell awaiting those with the power to make life better for others and decide to go with the bottom line, instead.

In an effort to get a decent, restful night sleep, I retired to bed at about 8:30pm after taking a melatonin pill. I read The Golden One for about fifteen minutes before realizing that not only was I reading the same paragraph over and over again, I wasn't comprehending it. I switched off the light and settled in for a good nine-plus hours sleep.

Of course, whenever I take melatonin, I end up with weird-ass dreams.

I was watching TV (again with the TV! What is with this?) -- or was I in the audience? Hard to say -- and was thrilled to realize I was watching the long-anticipated Duran Duran reunion! Only there was some unfamiliar guy playing one of the guitars -- tall, frizzy hair, stocky face, reminded me of Gene Simmons of Kiss without the makeup. Suddenly the scene went all documentary-like (like Blue Silver or, if you're not a former Durannie, This is Spinal Tap) and I realized Roger and Andy Taylor were sitting next to each other, outside at a picnic table, and were competing on camera for making the silliest face. Someone else was doing cartwheels outside in the grass. I still wondered who the other guitarist was and I continued watching with interest. I couldn't believe how good they all looked, and how cool it was to see them together, and how great Simon's hair looked (I do remember thinking this in the dream). It was 1984 all over again. Dreams. Go figure.

Then I was suddenly in a new-age/pagan magick store. The store was dim, candlelit, and thick with incense smoke. I was browsing the aisles and somehow I knew they -- all the guys from DD -- were there too, although I didn't actually see them. I could catch glimpses out of the corner of my eye but there'd be no one there when I'd turn to look. Andra was also there, her hair lit up red-gold by the flickering flame of nearby candles. She was trying to lay out a set of tarot cards to do a reading, and she continued to spread the cards out on a table like a game of memory. I couldn't really tell what was on the cards but I did notice that they had strange symbols on them. I hovered for a few minutes but the cards still made no sense to me, so I left her to finish the reading and I went and stood over by a table top fountain and a glowing lamp. I felt that if I stayed there I might get into the next Duran Duran video.

...the hell???

What really weirded me out? I went to check the official Duran Duran website this morning to verify the URL... and the picture at the top of the page is of all five original members together for a recent picture. I had heard about an upcoming reunion but had not actually seen a photo 'til then. It made me start a bit, considering last night's dream.

Mebbe I should lay off the melatonin. Or keep on it until I get the Powerball numbers delivered to me.

Not only is it over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it is smack in the middle of grass pollen season. Throw in a little cottonwood fluff for good measure.

There is a good reason the natives called this place The Valley of Sickness.

For someone who's been as tired as I've been, it seems doubly cruel to be having so much trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

Sometimes I wish my life was not so interesting, and I mean that in the "Chinese curse" sense.

This weekend was fun... but has strengthened my resolve to limit my camping participation in SCA events to day-trips until I can make/acquire my own yurt and a camp bed that is up off the ground. I'm too old to be sleeping on the hard, cold ground, and my joints hate me for days for it.

The park that we stayed at has had a history in the past of being nothing but rainy, and I really should've known better than to shrug off packing items like my waterproof rubber garden shoes. What Saturday's rainstorm lacked in staying power it made up for with sheer intensity. I swear, we must have had 4 inches of rain in thirty minutes. Water was washing off of the roof of the kitchen tent so fast we could blast the coffee dregs out of the bottom of our cups within seconds. With thunder, lightning and even a spot of hail, as well.

It was as fun as any event we've done, minus the politics, pressures, and busy schedules (a positive thing). But it did mean a heightened sense of awareness, camping in the middle of "mundanes" -- for in the SCA there is an unpoken trust based on the pillars of our society -- courtesy, chivalry, and honesty, and it rarely gets proven wrong. Luckily, our nearest neighbours seemed to be a class of middle schoolers and despite their shrieking (in that way that only 12 year old girls can do) they were just fine. We even did an impromptu demo on life in the middle ages for them, which they seemed to enjoy -- complete with armoured combat.

It was damn cold though, and I didn't sleep well either night. And I could not seem to stay asleep last night, either. When I did manage to sleep I dreamt of surrealistic Escher houses, with people flying or swimming from room to room, and I am trying to follow them... but I am frustrated because I am only watching it on TV as if it were a movie (actually, my dream sense knew somehow that they were scenes that had been added to a Robin Williams movie -- Toys, I think). I remember being angry that no one would come and watch with me.

I seem to dream a lot as if I am watching TV. Perhaps it is my subconscious telling me something -- stop observing, and do.

This Saturday, Cirque du Soleil's Dralion in Portland. I already love the show (especially the music) and I am looking forward to dressing up in my cobalt blue silk outfit and having a night out. Thank heavens for friends willing to spot the money for tickets.

Nothing I can say, a partial eclipse of the sun. (apologies to Bonnie Tyler)

"Wow, even journalists now believe everything they read."

*guffaw*

(link swiped from Narilka)

I can't win. I get a headache if it's rainy (pressure changes). I get a headache when it's nice out (high pollen counts). So guess what? I have a headache. And I'm tired, have a busy day in front of me, then a two and half hour drive for a weekend of sleeping on the ground. Weekend will undoubtedly be fun, if I survive preparations.

And I should NOT have had that cheesecake. I blame the hormones.

...although I did want to mention that I was moved to write to Dear Freaking Abby because of some lousy advice she gave (see second letter, just after the letter about the colon check up). My response to that (did you know you could email Dear Abby??):

It is completely unfair and unrealistic for single or childless (for whatever reason) people (or couples) to be EXPECTED to cater to OTHER people's kids. If you want to bring your kids to a single person's home (or even a childless couple's home), speak with them first and determine if it is all right to do so.

The parents who did not discipline their own children for trashing "Single"'s home were just plain WRONG. The father who brought along his small girl while they were attempting to work on a car (and failed to provide her with anything to do) was WRONG. "Single" was in the right to call them on it, and HE is the one who should be apologized to by these rude parents.

I wrote this visualizing going all Janis on 'em. Lo, I am but a weak imitation. :)

It seems when I'm busier, doing more, I have less to talk about. Or want to talk about. I'm sure I'll be inspired soon, or at the very least, chattier.

Sorry to leave y'all in the lurch. Wish I had better news, but it's not all bad. She didn't make it to the actual interview stage -- did well in the pre-interview interview (isn't that silly?) but my guess is that she fell just short of the minimum technical knowledge. However, her interviewer was kind enough to not leave her twisting in the wind until Friday and strongly suggested she study up on NT (I forget the exact topics) and try again. Since the layoffs^H^H^H^H^H^H^H outsourcing doesn't begin until the end of July, there is time yet. Wish it'd been better, happysnoopydancin'inthestreet news. Thanks for everyone's good wishes and support...

is this just not enough…?

i feel

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