Spent the morning at work in "Confidentiality Training." Oh joy. Basically we were told almost everything work related is confidential. So if you ever wonder why I don't discuss specific details of my job, now you know. My employer is very paranoid about confidentiality and intellectual property. What I have mentioned is most of the fun stuff and inconsequential stuff.
I laughed because they did mention that we need to be careful of what we say on message boards and in chatrooms, lol. Yes, the internet age has arrived in the workplace. Being in the biology field this changeover has probably been the slowest. But we have finally arrived at a time when all employees have their own personal computer in the workplace. And many of us with the smaller deskspaces have flat-screen monitors now. Pretty cool. I just hope that wasn't something confidential. ;)
Turns out the dark, slash fanfic I received via email was in fact quite well written and demonstrated understanding of the characters. Definitely a relief. And with a help of a few friends, it's been deemed suitable for posting on the board. :)
Also a few other fics have been posted. A harmless Jake story, and two funny tongue-in-cheek pieces. Things are looking up. I just need to keep an eye on my strange pair who clearly have some deep personal issues.
As for my own fic....I just need to find some spare time. Perhaps the 3-day weekend may provide just that.
And lastly we got Amy moved. She now lives on the other side of my apartment complex. She's absolutely thrilled to have her own place since her roommate had become very inconsiderate and absorbed in herself, making life miserable within the walls of their apartment. It's sad when a long time friend does a personality change over a short time. [The whole story of Amy's roommate would take pages and pages to fully explain, lol.]
Well, I spent a good bit morning before work and my lunch hour dealing with the Witchblade storyboard. There was one decent story posted where I did write a long post discussing a couple issues that I had with what she's got so far. Thankfully she appreciated the comments and has already posted an improved version. I do feel good about that one.
But then I have a few people that have more or less good ideas, but not the best writing. I can live with those because everyone needs to start somewhere. However....then there are the creepy ones. Those I could do without. Geez...and I thought some LFN fans were scary! LOL. I have identified creepy person number 2....Elizabeth.
She posted a story challenge idea where she basically outlined a whole story. [an icky one...very weird stuff]. I handled this by saying that I didn't want many challenge ideas posted at once and suggested we may need a separate board to seek partners for story collaboration and to seek beta readers. Of course I am not interested in starting a full blown message board because I'd like to have a life. But something simple, perhaps with little moderation, I might be able to handle. Or if I'm lucky, someone may volunteer.
Back to Elizabeth....
Here's her deleted post:
New story/challenge/idea -- Elizazbeth, 08:56:03 08/28/01 Tue (spider-wo044.proxy.aol.com/205.188.200.39)
I have this idea for an Ian story/challenge. Here it is: What if Ian had a little sister that was slightly autistic or at least terminally shy, whom he wasn't quite sure it was wise to leave alone for long periods of time while he was working for Irons. She is aroung 5ft., her eyes are blue instead of Ian's sea-green, her hair is a lighter shade than his. She is incredibly vulnerable, very quiet, hardly ever speaks.It is curious that he doesn't trust her around sharp objects. Wonder why? Oh, also, she does have her brother's silence. Ian isn't about to leave her alone for very long nor is he about to trust anyone Iron's recommends, even if Iron's finds out about her. Iron's could use her against Ian if he knew. However, he did try this one place outside of New York, but that didn't work out at all. They ended up drugging her so much that she overdosed. He was alarmed at the state she was in when he went to pick her up. He noticed right away that she had trouble focusing, talking or even staying awake. Making a quick decision, he rushed her to a private clinic. On the way, he tried to keep her awake and at one point pulled over to make her purge as much of the drugs as she could. She is admitted for the night. Fortunately, it is his day off the next day. So, he takes her to the park with him for the childern's story time. (Hope no one minds, I borrowed that from the Lily story. This story will ignore the season finale when we see Ian's evil twin.This shows a softer, more secret side to Ian. Ian seems to lead a triple life; one where he is Iron's bodyguard/assassin, one as Sara's protector, and one where he is Elizabeth's caring brother.) He introduces her to the children simply as Elizabeth. They accept her and they settle down for the story. Anyone want to help or even do this with me? Interested? Please, let me know. Thanks!!!!
Who wants to take bets on whether she's looking for someone to write her Mary-Sue story for her? LOL. And if that does represent her, I'm right to find her a bit creepy. [Okay, more than just a bit] Also, the fact that she is borrowing anything from Devi's story doesn't help her case...hehehehe.
I have yet another story that is not posted that I have in my email to check if it is suitable. A supposedly dark story that is slash and includes rape, etc. I'm debating whether I should be afraid or not. LOL...but maybe she'll surprise me. One can only hope.
Wanted: Good Witchblade fic authors. LOL...thankfully Enjoue has written a few wonderful pieces and several good LFN authors are lurking around. I hope they will share some of their stories in the coming months or this is gonna be a long stretch until the next season.
Okay....enough online stuff....onto RL.
Since Amy is preparing to move tomorrow, I went to Strength Training/Toning class alone. Today we did LOTS of lunges. I'm sore already and will be even more sore then next two days. Those walking lunges are killer.
Otherwise made lots of phone inquiries about products we need to bring in-house for work. And various other odds and ends. I can't wait until we get our equipment in and installed/certified. Then, I can get back to work on tweaking this ELISA that I've been working on.
I'm tired....so off to bed I go.
Quote of the day: "Work is a fine thing if it doesn't take too much of your spare time."
-Anon
I'm home for lunch! Yes, now that work is 5 minutes from home, I have the option to eat lunch home. *g*
I'm not sure I'll rewrite yesterday's entry, but I will mention that I did take my lazy butt to the gym for spinning class and did do some Ab exercises. And my stomach is showing some improvement thanks to those exercises. I know I've lost a few pounds...trying to lose about 10 lbs. Unfortunately, the first place that's shrinking is my chest, which is where I wouldn't mind it staying, especially since I bought a bunch of new bras. LOL.
Also, started reading Ev's [the blogger guy] blog. One entry today proves once again there are some very strange and very rude people on internet. Poor Ev.
I just wrote a long entry that I went to copy in case it didn't publish through blogger, and typed c instead. I'm too tired to rewrite it. :P
Sending out a welcome to Enjoue` who has joined the blogging world. I suspect Gritkitty may have influenced her, LOL.
Still watching Witchblade but I've finished taping what I needed. Meanwhile I'm tinkering with that Witchblade vignette I started awhile back. I know, I'm supposed to be finishing my LFN fic. But my muse had other ideas. And now I think I'm just going to post it as one part, not a 4-parter like I first envisioned. I just don't see Ian quite the same way after that finale, lol. And I have other better fic ideas more worthy of the time and effort.
The Witchblade Marathon is running today. I need to tape the movie and the first 4 or 5 episodes to complete the season. If interested it's running on TNT from 10 AM to 10 PM. I know, I gave short notice...I kept forgetting to mention it.
I received an email back from the girl who I contacted that wrote one of the stories on the Witchblade storyboard. I wonder why I bothered, lol. It wasn't a nasty email. But it made me scratch my head and go 'huh?'
She proceeded to tell me she might write less dialogue eventually but her favorite books are dialogue heavy, so she preferred dialogue heavy stuff. [What kind of books have extensive dialogue and practically nothing else? I'm stumped on this one.]
The next part I have to quote. My question is....with Dom, is she referring to Dominatrix/Dominator? Like I said why did I bother? I really did not need to know this sort of shit when I only was offering some writing suggestions. I generally don't start my first correspondance with someone discussing my sexual history. Definitely TMI.
Here's the excerpt:
I do understand your thoughts on Irons and you feeling he is not a screaming man. Here is my take on it. The way AC plays Irons reminds me of a ex-Dom I once had...minus the actual physical abuse.(ie hitting and actually hurting.) I drew on the screaming as this Dom was one of the most quiet and laid back yet Powerful Doms I have ever had the pleasure of serving.....BUT...on time, I did something totally stupid and in my case, I could have been hurt badly. He lost it completely. For three hours straight he screamed.....later I realized it was not out of anything but fear that he could have lost me...So I twisted my take on my ex-Dom for that scene with Irons........
If there is something else this chick could be referring to by Dom, let me know. If it is not a sexual connotation, I might feel slightly better. [But she is still weird] I'm not sure what her having this Dom has to do with the price of tea in China, LOL...or more specifically why she is applying her RL stuff to a fanfiction story, making her characters out of character.
Some people on the internet are just really weird. I mean really weird.
Found a great snark about Wal-Mart. I'm LMAO! The first part is about the person's job search, but scroll down and you'll find the rant about Wal-Mart and Home Depot that I found to be so true. It's freaking hysterical.
Being a boardmom to a storyboard can be tricky or am I just making it that way? It's easy when the stories are well written or at the very least readable. But I've got one girl on my Witchblade storyboard who writes practically all dialogue. She's got Kenneth Irons screaming, Ian Nottingham pleading for mercy, etc. Ummm...is she watching the same show I am? I tried to write a nicely worded email explaining these issues that I have with her story. The only other alternative is to ignore her story, which if I weren't the boardmom I would probably do just that. She's gotten quite a few comments early on, but they have dropped off. I hate telling someone "Great story" when it simply isn't even close. Granted I haven't read all that she wrote. [I lost my patience after the second chapter] The story just struck me as juvenile and....uh...weird. Hopefully, the girl doesn't pitch a fit and instead takes my comments in the spirit they were meant.
The second girl has a reasonably decent story idea, but her formatting makes it difficult to read. [She needs more spacing] And her word missusage is problematic. [ex. braking instead of breaking] I know Enjoue' emailed the girl, so I need to check with her if it's worth me sending an email as well. I think this girl just needs a beta reader and that will be enough to solve her story issues.
What amazes me is the number of adults that have such problems writing the English language and it is their native tongue! And nowadays, kids aren't even taught how to parse sentences. Yes, scary but true. My boss' son Matthew encountered sentence parsing for the first time as a Freshman in college. That just blew me away. I'd like to know what these kids are actually taught in school.
It's not like I went to private school. I went through the public school system from K-12. Granted I was in Honors and AP classes in High School. But I wasn't in the Gifted and Talented program in the earlier years. And that was mostly because I had trouble finishing all my seatwork each day...I got distracted too easily. LOL. I know my grammar isn't always perfect and typos do happen, but I'd like to think I have a decent grasp of it.
It just has me questioning the school curricula in the United States for the average Joe Schmoe, when students from foreign countries can write better English than the average American.
So when I cringe at seeing poor grammar and spelling, am I just being a writing snob or am I justified at feeling sad at the state of education in this country? I know it's only fan fiction written for pleasure, but shouldn't the expectation be there that the person has a grasp of their native tongue?
Started cleaning...but decided to poke around a bit on the internet. Found an interesting blog sorta thing called Opensewer.com : The Enema of the Information Age. Mostly a guide to articles of current events in regards to art, science, technology, ethics, religion, etc. The layout is pretty cool, too, so check it out.
TGIF! The weekend has finally arrived. Now I need to clean the mess that is my apartment. The tricky part is we are supposed to have gorgeous weather for the weekend and rainy weather during the week. So I've got to fit the cleaning in amidst my outdoors time, LOL.
Also, in that time I need to finish the fic that refuses to end. ;) Actually it will end--it must. I'm tired of it and I have a couple other fic ideas floating around for some time. I'm just trying to end it 'right'--whatever the hell that means. ;)
Nothing more to mention since 'move' stuff is pretty boring...and I'm still tired. [Can't you tell?]
Is it Friday yet?
Just a quick note....Think you know your grammar? Try this test.
I'm soooo tired.
The move is really happening. Hard to believe, but it is finally here. Today was the first day I reported to our new location. The boxes from my lab have moved. But my computer is being moved tonight (I hope).
I stayed until 9 pm Monday as the movers finished packing what was left inb our lab. And last night I was at the old building until 9 pm and the new building until 12 am. I watched as most of the lab was emptied. Then, Candice and I stopped at the new location to ensure that our frezers were in fact plugged in and to explore our new location. I'm familiar with the building because a prior employer used this space. (I had worked at a different location, but entered that building for seminars and HR purposes, etc.) It was fun to find what changes that had been made as well as find reminders of the past. (People's phone numbers as emergency contacts were still attached to some of the lab doors.)
In the meantime, the folks in my office area (ie coworkers that I shared lab space with before) are having a fun time, joking around. We are a real laid back bunch most of the time. :)
Anthony went and purchased coffee and bagels from Einstein's Bagels. Since we are a food oriented bunch, we clustered around it, scarfing it down while hanging out chatting. There's not much else that can be done, LOL.
Meanwhile, I'm slacking on correspondances and other online stuff since I've been busy with the move and very tired. *Yawn*
Also, I need to watch the last ep of Witchblade. I taped it, but haven't bothered to put the tape in to watch. Not sure I'll get to it tonight.
I'll end it here since I'm only rambling...LOL.
Sunday morning at my parents--eggs, bacon, and biscuits. The usual fare. Dad's speciality.
My Dad only cooks breakfast. But he does it quite well. Brian has picked up Dad's specialty as well, but he longs to get the sunny-side eggs just right like him. The difference is my parents have a gas stove, while my apartment has electric. I think that makes the difference.
On Friday, I went with several of my coworkers to Bill's sailboat and sailed on the Chesapeake. Bill's 8-year-old daughter Alexa came along as well. (BTW the boat is named for Alexa, LOL.) The day started gray, with a slight bit of drizzle. But the temperature was perfect and later the sun did make its appearance. The first part of the trip was exciting as the wind tilted the boat thrusting us forward at a good clip. Several of us who chose to sit at the front got soaking wet as the boat skipped through some wakes, splashing the water on deck. All I can say is soaking wet jean shorts are not the most comfortable attire. Thankfully I did bring extra clothes. :)
However, as we turned to go back, the excitement waned. No more waves, much less speed. And the boat rocked to and fro. Luckily I was spared any sea sickness. But several folks did feel a bit green for a time at this point, especially after venturing below deck.
Eventually, Bill put down anchor and some folks jumped in for a swim. I chose to stay aboard and watch as Anthony and Scot competed by doing flips and back-flips off the boat. I talked a bit with Melinda, who is a new employee that just started this past Monday. Between the boat trip, an Igen tea, and no real work except packing, I think Melinda is getting a good feel for the work ethic here. ;)
With everyone quite hungry, we sailed on to a crab shack where we had a fabulous dinner. Anthony and Scot had the All-You-Can-Eat Maryland Crabs, while the rest of us had a variety of seafood and non-seafood platters. I chose the honey dipped fried chicken, with corn on the cob and fries which was awesome. (I had crab cakes at Matthew's goodbye lunch...that was my seafood quota for the week, LOL.)
There was a wedding rehearsal dinner being held at the crab shack. It was quite the piece of entertainment. They were hogging up the space outside, having no regard for the waitstaff or other patrons. (The waitstaff were definitely NOT pleased. They had customers to seat and serve and these folks were taking up needed space and making it difficult for the food platters to be brought to the respective tables.) Then the bride started giving all these melodramatic speeches. *Hork* I dubbed it the "Three-dollar affair" because the whole thing seemed faker than a three-dollar bill. But it really did make for great entertainment as we waited for Anthony and Scot to finish their crabs.
After dinner we sailed back to the slip, looking out at the splendid sunset reflecting on the rippling water. It was the perfect end of a perfect day. :)
Now for the injury report. It seems I was the target of any possible accident there could be. Before we even left the slip, Grace was reaching into a compartment to check the number of lifejackets. She let go of the hatch and it crashed onto my leg as I sat next to it. First injury: three large scrape marks on the side of my knee. Probably bruised as well. Then, later I stubbed my toe, possibly cracking the corner of the nail. As we pulled into the slip again, Anthony lifted the front hatch as I sat behind it. He didn't realize that it wouldn't stay upright, and released his grasp on it. It crashed down on that same toe, bending it back (up toward me), and that hurt like Hell! Luckily, it was not broken, only jammed. (No swelling, and the soreness dissipated quickly.) Somewhere along the way I got a couple more small bruises, so I was pretty beat up and tired by the end of this long journey.
I am considering rewriting the last few chapters of my LFN fic to change the location of the M/N's house. Having seen Annapolis and the Chesapeake on Friday, I have now decided that Annapolis would be the perfect locale, since it is a town heavily steeped in the theme of sailing. I'm convinced that Michael needs his sailboat. ;)
Just a quick note, since I'm soooo tired. I did write Melissa and said that I stumbled across her blog. I'm not comfortable lying. And otherwise I would not have gone out of my way to seek her out. We'll see if she contacts me back. I'm heading to Jersey this weekend for a birthday party.
The unsettling aspect to me is that she seems sorta stuck back in time, still thinking about high school stuff and I'm not. I'm so beyond HS in so many ways. When I was thinking nostalgically, I was thinking more like college and beyond. But maybe karma answered my nostalgic questions in an odd way. I just need to figure out what this whole thing is trying to tell/teach me. :S
First of all, I really hate blooger at this moment. I spent over an hour composing this LONG entry. And it ate it. Gone. Hitting the back button on browser doesn't bring it back. I'm livid. Stupid server error. Unbelievable....All it can say is [big body] Was it too long? Grrrr.....I guess I better make the long story shorter. My luck wasn't so good in this instance.
I had a thought the other night. What if I read a blog of a random person and it turned out I knew who it was by reading it. What the hell is the likelihood of that happening?
Well...it happened.
People that know me very well may know that I have the tendency to have premonitions. Moments of intuition. A sixth sense. Ironically I've never seen the Sixth Sense. Maybe I need to rent it. No, I don't see dead people. At least I hope not, LOL.
In addition to that, my intuitions or premonitions seem to be connected with luck or perhaps even karma. I dunno how to explain it.
My original posting had examples of past experiences, but in the interest of shortening the entry, I'll omit that.
I went blog surfing tonight. Clicked on a random link on another person's blog. Found a nice looking blog. Strange name. [Name omitted]
I started reading the blog. I got the odd feeling that I knew this person from somewhere. It's not that I recognized aything from the entry I read at first. It was simply a gut feeling. I checked the email addy. The girl's name was Melissa, but I did not recognize the addy.
So I kept reading, moving back into her archives. The more I read, the more I began to associate aspects of her past life with a girl I knew in high school named Melissa. She discussed a previous boyfriend from high school with whom she attended her reunion with this past November. She mentioned that she is 29. Talked of Philadelphia and New Jersey. It all became too weird. Every detail fit. Every single one. Frantically I began to search for confirmation of my suspicion. There had to be something there that could definitively show me whether this was just a quirky coincidence or if it was really Melissa [name omitted], whom I attended high school with.
And then I found it! A link to her high school. My high school!
This blog belongs to a girl who was in my Honors and AP classes. Who I ate lunch with every day in Junior year. Shit, we even discussed the Anne of Green Gables series at lunch...I remember that now! [Bizarre considering I was just thinking of that series just the other day and mentioned it here!] We both adored that series and chatted about Anne and Gilbert Blythe, etc. We even worked on a play together freshman year. And the freshman newspaper. Actually, we both were heavily involved in school clubs. Basically we spent most hours of the school day for 4 years in each others presence in both classes and school activities, now that I think about it.
But we later grew apart. I got a sense that she felt was better than everyone. An air of condesension. Ironically this attitude was coming from a girl who thought it was cool to carry a backpack covered with Blake 7 and Doctor Who quote buttons. And with Elmo attached! [Sesame Street] It was the Elmo doll that I really thought was too weird. It was Senior year. College was approaching.
Melissa had always been very much into writing. Especially Scifi and Fantasy. She aspired to be a published author. I tinkered with the idea, too, but wasn't so serious about it. [and still I'm not really serious about it.] I'm more the gritty drama/mystery/intrigue type. Oh and romance of course. I didn't really write much back then, but I was an avid reader like Melissa.
Now granted, high school is a weird time full of misconceptions and fragile, transient friendships. She really wasn't a bad person. Just circles of friends change. Feelings get hurt, sometimes over something real, many times over something perceived.
Now, in reading a bit of her blog, I ask the question. Should I contact her? What do I want out of making such contact? Confirmation that past ills were just stupid high school stuff? I dunno.
Do I write her and say that I found her addy by stumbling upon and reading her blog? Or do I go the classmates.com route? Or do I just leave it alone? I've not talked to this girl since high school. I didn't attend the class reunion because I didn't know about it until after the fact. [I heard a rumbling about it from my mom ahead of time, but I received no invite...no intel...nothing. It's not like my parents address has changed since HS, lol.]
The only friend I had kept from HS dropped out of contact over almost 2 years ago. Not sure what happened there--she had a lot going on in her life at the time.
I just dunno....I guess I'm going to consider it a bit. I'd link her site, but then she might track the link here and then the choice would not be in my hands. LOL.
It's just way too freaking weird. It's official, I'm a freak!. ;)
Quote of the day: "Now, if you could just come up with lottery numbers for me, then those premonitions would be really worth something!" --Tiffany Bast, a friend from college [that I really need to call]
Today was a day of throwing stuff out and packing the rest. Granted the movers are not coming until Monday, but I'm not about to trust my lab stuff to a bunch of movers who don't give a shit. I'd prefer to pack it myself so that I can pack 'like things' together. So I got most of the stuff packed...I'm so proud of myself. Now granted Jeff and I don't have much stuff at our lab bench since I only started there in March and he started in last August. LOL.
Tomorrow is Matthew's last day. He sent everyone a very sweet email talking of all the stuff he learned and how he'll miss us all. He left us his school and aol email addies to keep in touch. A big sophomre this year. As much as this was a big growing summer for Matthew, I believe this school year will allow him to grow and mature so much more.
Last note...went to the toning class. It kicked my butt a bit since I hadn't excercised at all last week due to the heat. Between the packing and that class I'm exhausted. Now I just need to stay awake for Witchblade. *g*
It's been an interesting day.
This afternoon, there was a bat trapped in our building...yes a bat! A large sized bat, at that. We don't know how he got in, but mid-afternoon he was spotted flying frantically to and fro down the hallway. A crowd of people began to gather, only frightening the bat more. Amy ran into her lab to call facilities. Jeff, my boss, at six foot tall only ducked at the last second as the bat went straight for his head. (Well...it's not like the bat was trying to hit him...Jeff was just in his way, lol.) I ran to open the door that leads toward the lobby, ducking as the bat flew overhead. The poor thing was so frazzled and confused. Finally he found his way out that door.
Then I ran for the side door, swiping my card as I dove for it with the bat overhead again. But the bat was having trouble figuring out the door was open. He flew back towards Mary Ellen who tried to direct it back towards me. Then reaching the door, he kept flapping above it, before finally descending enough to get out the open door. The bat made it to freedom. :)
Of course I forgot to reswipe my card, so I needed to follow someone else out the building at the end of the day, lol.
I got an email response back from the Humane Society. It seems they are aware of this site and have had it removed from several ISPs. But it keeps coming back on a new ISP. And the current ISP has no real User Agreement through which they can be removed. It seems the perpetrator is originally an MIT student who did this as a joke and claims to have a first Amendment right to post such a website. But it is not being looked at as a joke by the FBI who is monitoring this individual and others to determine if such abuse is happening. So far they have found none, but via a law signed by Clinton they hope to prosecute this individual and others for simply suggesting abusive practices through this website.
The Humane Society asked that the website owner not be contacted, nor the link passed on, since this individual thrives on negative emails [in fact there is a mailing list where he shares such letters] and the number of hits to the site. I'm glad I had viewed it the same way--that's why I have not posted the link. Sadly I have encountered a number of disturbing individuals on the net and have found it best to avoid them at all costs. Any negative feedback seems to fuel them.
But what I have done is attempt to contact Yahoo to have this site removed from it's search engine. Considering I typed in an innocous search query and found this site as the 8th listed is a problem. What if a young child came across this? It's not like filter programs would prevent them from entering since there is no sexual content nor any foul language.
I'll have to see if yahoo responds. I know it may be a long shot. :(
Went to spinning class tonight. I'm beat. But it's good--maybe I'll sleep soundly tonight. :)
I've now seen something sick and inhumane on the internet tonight. A Bonsai Kitten page. The 'art' of forming small kittens to odd shapes by placing them in a jar and leaving them in the jar for over a month. Incredibly revolting. I won't even justify it by giving a link. But I did email the humane society to see if anything could be done to prosecute the individuals since a phone number is listed on the website. A number in NYC. The site claims it's an ancient Oriental practice. I think it's just sick and cruel. We'll see if the Humane Society responds to my email.
Switching topics...my blog addiction. Yes I'm browsing blogs again. Found another sharp and interesting blog.
Actually, I've found several incredible looking blogs who's content was...umm...practically unintelligent. These 13 year olds can design wonders, but many haven't quite mastered the art of writing English. ;) [No offense intended towards those 13 year olds who do write intelligently...I know there's got to be some of those too.]
If this is too snarky, please attribute it to my lack of sleep. I really must hit the sack. Hopefully the pill I took will take effect soon. [It's prescription....I've had insomnia quite a bit last year.]
Nitey Nite.
I'm feeling as bad as the weather looks....foggy and gray. A lack of sleep explains much, of course. But I did manage to finish the chapter I was working on. Now I just need to get the motivation and a clear brain to write the final one. I'm just not feeling it at the moment. *sigh*
I did try to nap, but no luck there. I think I'll opt for a sleeping pill to knock me out for a full night's rest. Not sure if it's too much computer time or some hidden anxiety in there. Probably the former mixed in with the latter. You'd think I'd sleep well with all this rain...hehehehehe. And I was doing so good with the insomnia crap for almost a year. Actually, I've been having neck pain again, so that may be part of it. Plus I haven't excercised all week. All factors I'm sure. Thankfully with the move at work, I should be getting an ergonomic chair, which I suspect will help with my neck. My current desk set-up and chair is much less than ergonomic.
I think I'll have some cheese with my whine. ;)
Here I am, wide awake after only 2-3 hours of sleep. *sigh* Perhaps I'll work on this chapter for a tiny bit and then try again. Needless to say, the cat is confused as to why I'm awake. She was sacked out in the box top that lays near my computer.
Outside
The storm clouds gathering,
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn
Reach up and kiss the sky.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
--an excerpt from The Carnival is Over from Dead Can Dance's Into the Labyrinth
The skies opened up and just poured this afternoon, as thunder crackled in the air. My lights keep flickering. What an ugly afternoon. Thankfully I got my ass out of the house at a reasonable time and finished my errands. Well, except for getting a haircut and picking up my photos (which were supposed to be done by 5:30 pm). But it just got too ugly to do that. Tomorrow.
But I did manage to get those two bags of clothes out of my room and into the hands of the Salvation Army. And I cleaned the cat box and vacuumed. Woohoo, lol.
Now if only I can keep my attention focussed on this last couple chapters of story. Don't I want to be finished with it???? LOL.
I'm delightfully eating a Heath Crunch Blizzard from Dairy Queen. *yum* Got coupons in the mail and it's only just down the street. *g*
Brian and I ran some errands this AM. We decided to stop off at the Lancaster Dutch Market. (right by DQ)
I'm always intrigued by the Amish folks that run this market. Wearing traditional garb and hairstyles, they seem like they are trapped in a different time. In some ways I envy them. Technology is not all it's cracked up to be. While we always seem to be rushing here and there, stressed by our environment, they seem more at peace. Content with the simpler aspects of life.
I often wonder what they think when seeing so many other people that dress differently than they. What they think of all the different ethnic groups that visit their market. What they think of people toting cell phones, PDAs, and pagers. I'd love to get just a glimpse of what they desire most. Do the young folks yearn to be like their non-Amish counterparts? Or do they cherish their unique culture?
TGIF!
Reading Athena's Blog has me remembering back. To the summer either before or after 7th grade. Somewhere about then. Mom would take us to the Library every 2 weeks and we'd pick out books to read. That summer I read both Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables. I read it before PBS ever ran the series with Megan Follows.(I think that's her name, but it's doesn't look right.)
Obviously these books have very different styles, written in different time periods. But I loved each one, and read them multiple times. Then, when PBS aired versions of both Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables, I eagerly watched each. The Jane Eyre I watched had Timothy Dalton as Edward Rochester. I've since seen a few other versions.
So Athena's post has me thinking about reading the series again. (It's still on my book shelf, lol.)
Okay...can definitely tell it's Friday. The above paragraphs probably are confusing to anyone else reading them, but my brain is mush at the moment and I don't care to separate the references to the 2 books. Adding a third book to the mix....Earlier in the week I had remembered reading one called "The Girl With Silver Eyes." I checked Amazon.com and found the book is still in publication and most readers gave it the highest rating. It's a story about a girl with silver colored eyes and telekinetic powers who finds difficulty fitting in. Circumstances lead her to search for others that also have the same silver eyes and she makes some startling discoveries about herself. I'm tempted to purchase the book since it is not in my collection since I remember it over 15 years later. LOL. Granted they are children's books (except Jane Eyre), but I'd like to read them again and hold onto them in case one day I have a daughter that I can pass them onto.
I'm eternally grateful to my third grade teacher, Mrs. Asher, for encouraging me to read. It's no doubt that she and my mom instilled in me a voracious appetite for reading. Mrs. Asher required all of her class to read 15 minutes each night as part of our homework. It didn't matter what we read, as long as we read. As a gift, she gave me a copy of Gulliver's Travels. I can't remember what she had written inside. But now I need to find where that book is....it's either here buried in a box OR it's at my parents house. Hmmmm.....
Honestly, it reminds me that I need to make more time in my daily life to read. I don't read nearly as much as I did back then. :) I'm still trying to finish Vengeance in Death. Reading only at the pool on the weekends is not enough. LOL.
Today I gave my presentation at lab meeting. [It's for the whole company...about 25-30 people were there] The beginning was shaky because my typical stage fright set in. Stumbled over words, had trouble speaking correctly. It's like the connection between my brain and my mouth becomes fuzzy.
But struggling onward, by the third or fourth overhead transparency, I managed to pull it together. Understand that I was pulling this talk together at the last minute, printing the last transparency within minutes of the meeting starting. It's not like I got to practice it. Though from past experience I know that does not necessarily lessen my stage fright any. Sometimes practicing it makes it worse because then I place more pressure on myself to get it 'right.'
I made it through the presentation. I handled questions that were posed well. It's done. And everyone felt bad that I was so nervous at the start and praised me that it was a good presentation. I did spend a good bit of time making diagrams on Powerpoint. And making other tables and graphs of data. I detailed all the steps of my assay--which helped Scott, my end-user understand the exact assay format in detail. So it at least helped him. LOL.
And thankfully I was followed by 'Mr. 8 pt font' whom everyone dreads. His pathetic presentation made mine look far superior. This guy is a PhD (I'm not) and it's just scary.
Anyhow....my day is done. One more day to get thru til the weekend! Woohoo! :)
Well...yet another scorcher. 95 degrees with a heat index of 103. Uggh. Looks like the gym is a no go until maybe the weekend.
Scanning another blog today I was struck by the fact that this woman wrote about a subject that I was thinking of this AM. Thoughts of Nostalgia. Thoughts of what if...how would my life be different if X, Y, and Z. Just bizarre that the first random blog I opened had an entry not terribly dissimilar to things I was considering this morning as I was getting ready for work. There's not much in life I regret, but the what if will surface now and then.
[Warning: Discussing my pathetic personal life--Read at your own risk. Whining may ensue. Long thought processes. I promise these type of posts will be few and far between. :) ]
Being single most of my nearly *gasp* 29 years, there's always that issue. Am I alone because I just haven't found my soulmate yet ? Or because I've kept myself at an arm's length so to speak? Being independent is great most of the time. But sometimes it would be nice to have "that someone" instead of going to bed alone. Instead of having to think about financing a house on one salary in an area that is growing more expensive each day. Instead of talking to yourself because there just isn't anyone around to listen at that moment.
I had no epiphanies. No sudden realizations. No more answers than I had before. You'd think I'd stop asking these questions of myself by now. LOL.
But the thing is, each day I'm left wondering. Did I do the right thing? Some guy goes out of his way to say hello. Does that mean he's interested? Do I go out of my way to strike up a conversation? Or will I seem 'needy'? And if I don't, then am I icy? WTF knows. I know I don't. Of course then there is the whole issue of dating guys from work--sometimes it works, sometimes it gets ugly. Am I open to that possibility?
I've only known a few guys in my lifetime that I've felt attracted to on both a physical and intellectual level. That I wouldn't minded seeing myself with, but circumstances were not in my favor. Unfortunately, they seem to be rare and far between. Do I try to find more ways to be more accessible? [How?] Do I try to be bolder? [Actually I have tried that and it hasn't exactly worked either] Do I date guys knowing I'm not interested, in the hopes of meeting his friends and perhaps meeting one I am interested in? [Well, that's what my mom would insist I do, because in a way that worked for her.]
My mom and dad, married for over 30 years happily [rare in this day and age], met because Mom was dating this guy that was an aquaintance of Dad. Dad decided to ask the guy if he was really interested in her. He said "No, not really." So my Dad's attitude was "Good, then I'll date her." Three years later, they were married.
Neither one feels the need to be 'up the other's ass', but at the same time they do enjoy quality time together, especially now that me and my brothers are adults.
They are friends and lovers. Content. So how the hell do you go about finding that sort of relationship?
Especially in the DC area where everyone is stressed out, distant, and absorbed in themselves. Everyone tends to have that slight distrust. It's even hard to form friendships with anyone outside of work. Very unlike the short time I lived in Houston where several neighbors were sociable, inviting me over to hang out, etc. From talking to many folks, it's definirely a function of the high-stress area. Move up towards Frederick, and people become more open to contact. I just wonder if after 5 years (this week, I just realized), have I been conditioned to be less open to talking to strangers, or even acknowledging their presence, by living here? Or less open to even just casual acquaintances? Basically, is there something I'm doing wrong?
Again, I have no real answers. So for now, I sit in my apartment with my cat Tabitha sleeping on the other chair. Oops...correction. She just stretched. LOL. I sit here typing just the tip of the iceberg. I'm not a good typist, so I think that's enough of my blathering. hehehehe...
Quote of the day: You are wholly complete and your success in life will be in direct proportion to your ability to accept this truth about you. --Dr. Robert Anthony.
(I have no clue who he is either, lol.)
It's Tuesday and it's HOT! Decided to forego the gym the last 2 nights. And tomorrow night the girls from work and I are taking my boss Jeff's son Matthew out clothes shopping. Our goal is to hook him up with some college threads. We're trying to convert him from awkward teen to a slightly more confident young man. Matthew is turning 20 in just a couple weeks. And he's going back to Penn State as a Sophmore at the satellite campus. This should be quite a riot--three twenty-something women approaching thirty shopping with a 19 year old male, lol. It's like he's got 3 cool "mom's" advising him on what's cool and what's not. Hehehehehe.....
Looks like my Witchblade storyboard is picking up in terms of traffic and stories. I got it linked to a few Witchblade websites and Gracie/Enjoue' has requested that an Eric Etebari site add the link, too. Gracie has 3 stories posted already...her muse is really on a roll. :)
Added another site to the Voyeur List. Life in Two Languages. It happens to be a site of the day on Blogger. Love it's layout and of course found the content interesting.
Actually when I started adding these links, I never considered that the folks I linked to would know. It seemed like such an anonymous thing--to read while remaining unseen. But I guess now I'm no longer a true voyeur, lol. I forgot that people with their own webpages can monitor their hit statistics and learn where they are being linked. Two of the authors emailed me this week thanking me for visiting their sites/linking their sites. Both were very nice emails that I need to find a few spare moments to reply to. :) Hi Sandee and Leah, if you're reading! Not sure my blog is anywhere as interesting. But feel free to visit or link. :)
Gotta go finish watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Saw the first hour last night and now I need to watch the second hour before Witchblade comes on at 9pm. I'll debrief about the film soon.
See...it's a good thing I added the Delerium link this am. Checking the site (which is run by fans) I learned that Rhys is returning to Delerium! Here's the blurb from 8.2.2001:
Finally, the news we've ALL been waiting for - Rhys Fulber has begun working with Delerium once again! Rhys just returned from Vancouver, where he and Bill wrote three new Delerium songs. What are they like? Rhys says "CLASSIC Delerium... Unmistakably. All the best elements of Karma and Semantic Spaces blended with newer vibes as well. I feel our strongest yet as Delerium."
No word on how many songs are planned, or vocalists. This seems like it's in an early stage, but if what Rhys says is even half-true, we're in for some amazing new Delerium down the road, with the dynamic digital duo rendering aural ecstacy for our eager ears.
I'm wondering if they will tap Kristy Thirsk (formerly of Rose Chronicles) again for vocals since she was used on both those albums. And of course I would not be opposed to labelmate Sarah McLachlan contributing as well, if they can get her. Well that just made my day! :)
I was hoping for a bright sunny Sunday so I could go to the pool a few hours. So far it's far from that, with fog filling the valleys around here. For some odd reason Germantown has a propensity for being foggy if the conditions are right. You could go a few miles in either direction on I-270 and the air will be clear. But travelling through Germantown you'll see fog. Maybe it's all the small lakes around here...who knows.
Listening to my Delerium Silence single CD with all the remixes. 3 years later and Silence (written and sung by Sarah McLachlan) is still one of my favorite songs. It's got that sort of staying power I guess. The album Karma that its from is a masterpiece. Unfortunately the follow up album (minus Rhys Fulber) isn't quite so good. It's OK, but not something that spends much time in my CD player.
Okay...back to writing fic. I want to get this story done this weekend. It's already practically a novel at 135 pages. That's more than I ever intended to write when I started this thing. LOL.
I stopped in at Blockbuster video tonight. Picked up Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The strange young fellow at the register says as he's ringing it up, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon--Subtitled. You know that means it's spoken in Chinese with English subtitles at the bottom of the screen?" I'm like "Well, yeah." Duh! But the sad part is you know there has to been at least one customer who complained after renting the tape that he didn't know the movie would be in Chinese. *shaking my head*
Okay...trying to focus on my writing today since it's a bit gray and hazy outside. Also, I need to do some cleaning. My bedroom is a wreck and my kitchen stove needs some attention. Unfortunately men's Y chromosomes must lack the genetic material to enable them to see that the stove is dirty and needs to be cleaned. My brother will fill the dishwasher and empty it, but never wipes the stove, lol.
I think I hit an all-time low. I actually picked up a game-controller at Comp USA and started playing Mario Games 3 (?) It's a cute game and I was haing fun trying to beat the very lucky computer players to stars on the board. So much fun that I wouldn't let a kid who was waiting, have a turn at it. God, I'm sooo bad, hehehehe. Did purchase what I went there to get--a new version of Norton's antivirus along with the internet security stuff all in one package. With the $20 rebate, it's cheaper than buying it online. :)
Pheww....I ran 2 miles on the treadmill tonight. A full 30 minutes. Okay, I ran the first 5 laps (1.25 miles), then did a combo of run and walk for the next 3 laps. I'm beat. But I need to post something here.
Yesterday, I received an invitation for my nephew Alexander's 1st Birthday. Previously my mom had told me that the party would be on the 19th, since my cousin's 40th birthday party is gonna be on the 18th. So I made plans to drive up to Jersey (3 hours) that weekend to attend both parties. But the invitation says the party for Alex will be on the the 25th. (His birthday is the 20th)
So then I call my mom to ask why the change. I find out she had *no idea* that Shaylia had sent invitations for the 25th. In fact she had already scheduled to take off the 18th and 19th (she works retail) in anticipation of needing those two days off. (The two had discussed it originally and mom thought they agreed that the 19th would work fine.) Shaylia and Joe live with my parents. Shaylia doesn't even bother to tell my mom that she's planning to have the party on the 25th and not the 19th. Isn't she a peach?
It is going to be difficult for my mom to ask for 2 Saturdays off in a row. And I'm so ticked that I'm sticking to my original plan because I am not driving all that way 2 weekends in a row. And it would be 3 weekends in a row if I decide to go somewhere for Labor Day. Grrrrr....
My SIL needs to get her head out of her ass and stop trying to circumnavigate my mom. I mean, geez it is *her* house they are living in rent free. I'm going to enjoy the fact that Shaylia will have to run that whole birthday party without my mom's assistance since she will be scheduled to work. We'll see how this plays out.
Oh...the other thing that ticked me off about the invitations: Shay includes confetti inside the card...the kind you have to purchase. AND the back of the envelope had stickers that matched the confetti. Yes, once again she is pissing away money they do not have. Gotta love that. But then what do you expect from a girl who is 24 with the mentality of a 16 year old, if that! She needs to grow the fuck up and live in the real world.
One last side-note. Looks like I lost the kitty pic on the side. Blog*spot moved to a new server and somehow the cat jpeg got lost. Bummer. I'm gonna have to find something else if it doesn't get fixed.