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The Antikythera Mechanism
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| A horse of course! |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|01:41 pm] |
Hi friends,
Thanks for all the excellent suggestions for bone sources yesterday, you guys are rad!
My newest wish and dream is to find a horse to ride. I'm not willing to pay someone money for nose-to-tail bullshit trail riding. I've spent a lot of time with horses and I want to actually RIDE (western only, natch). I'd be willing to work in exchange for riding privileges. I'm pretty good with the regular horse stuff, mucking, grooming, cleaning, picking hooves, feeding etc. I'm also down to learn whatever you'd like to teach me. I just really missing working with and riding horses. Help a homesick lady out?
Thanks dears!
-C |
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| Fail |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|02:50 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
Really tent? Really?
Was it really necessary for you to collapse midweek and have everything in the shop get soaked with mud and rainwater? You do realise that I now I have to dismantle everything and wash all the tablecloths and the stock..and that I now have 100 perfect good receipts completely ruined.. don't you?
Well played Murphy...well played.
I at least have the most kick-ass neighbors on the planet. They moved ALL of my tables and stock inside their booth (The Leather Rose).. and helped me get the tent back up and re-staked. They are the shiz-nit.
And something stung my fingers while we were getting everything upright again. And my chain and ring order isn't here because (duh!).. it's Veteran's day. I'm a dumbass...and forgot.
Happy Veteran's day all. For those who serve and protect us..whether I agree with the agenda or not. Kudos.
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| Erin Wagner, the Girl of Cycle 13 |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|12:32 pm] |
Maybe it was her self-described dorkitude. Maybe it was when she was running through Wal-Mart throwing elbows at the other people grabbing up photos with her freaking teeth. Maybe it was when everybody else turned on her and called her "spoiled" and she started getting all bitter and sarcastic. But somewhere along the line, I latched onto Erin, the youngest of this cycle's Top Model finalists.
"ME?! SQUEEEEE!"
She came in as a brunette, and then Tyra (ridiculously) bleached her hair as well as her EYEBROWS, and now she's this freaky Nordic-looking chick who is thankfully entertaining enough to make up for the freakish appearance that was thrust upon her. She is the one who told us that she "doesn't know anything about Tibet... except that it needs to be freed." That's some hilariously zen shit, Erin.
Being hated on by the rest of your co-stars and harboring a deep love of Pokemon gets you pretty far in my book. It's really self-awareness that gets you everywhere with me, though, and her visual summary of her overall Top Model performance certainly captured that.
Yeah, that's pretty much how it's been going, Erin.
Poor Erin. She has no chance of winning the season after barely scraping by for three weeks straight. But you know what? She'll get a career out of this crap regardless. The top 5 pretty much always does.
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing, though. Given that we're talking about a MODELING career, here. A modeling career based on fucking Top Model exposure.
Okay, so... probably a bad thing. |
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| Thoughts on community.. |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|11:24 pm] |
Many times, I kinda feel like an odd duck.
Since moving to Portland, I've always been challenged by the fact that I've never quite meshed well with the various communities I would normally be involved in. Worse, many of these communities up here are pretty small and tightly knit, and are often suspicious of outsiders.
That's kinda life in a medium-size city, I've noticed.
Many of you have observed the frequent trips to Seattle. Part of the reason why I keep going to Seattle is I find it VERY easy to get involved in some of the communities up there. Every time I've gone up there, I've managed to poke my head into a door and get invited in to sit for a while. It's exactly the same sort of experience I had in Los Angeles and Phoenix (and a couple of other big cities I've been to).
Portland doesn't have that. And it is really starting to be apparent to me.
I've hinted around about this to a lot of you, and I've posted some things to one of my filters regarding a recent trip to Seattle. In short, I stumbled across and old friend and we found out that not only was he looking for me we had more than a few common interests and one very special common friend. The end result is: there's yet another community I've been invited into. Hell, in this community's case, outright embraced with open, inviting arms.
I used to think I was capable of making friends and finding community wherever I went. Portland is requiring me to change that viewpoint.
I love Portland. However, "community" is important to me. I've made many friends in Portland, and I absolutely LOVE the city and everything about it. I have failed at finding a home here (in more ways than one), however. So, I may be packing my bags again and moving to Seattle: a city I'm not as fond of, but one who's citizens have directly encouraged me to sit by their fires and share their bread.
So I don't honestly know what to do. I value all my friendships here. I just wish I felt more at home.. more like part of an extended family, rather than another lonely soul waiting for the MAX in the rain. |
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| Nanowrimo Project Day 10: Last Ditch Effort |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|12:00 am] |
Due to some drama last night, I was too tired to really write today. I was just thinking about coming home and just going to bed early tonight, but I was trapped in the world of YouTube, a world I had abandoned for a good seven months since I got addicted to facebook. As midnight approached, I felt that I had to write something. So from 11:00 to 12:00m I wrote as much as I could. I tied up a loose end that I left hanging at the end of Chapter 6.
The best part of the first part of Chapter 7 is that Joey was in it. I got to find out a little bit more what the relationship between Henry and Joey was. At the end of Chapter 6, Henry finds a piece of paper with an address written in it. He is curious as to where it leads. In the beginning of Chapter 7, he goes to investigate, taking Joey with him. She's not too thrilled with the idea, but goes along to make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble. She manages to talk some sense into him using movie and TV tropes to get his head back in the game. I think I like her.
I wrote 1,003 words today. I didn't get a chance to write more... Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty much fail pockets for writing. I might go into work tomorrow and see how far I get.
Chapters Worked On: Chapter 7: Grosse Pointe Blank
Nano Word Goal: 16,670
Personal Word Goal: 26,000
Words Written Today: 1,003
Total Word Count: 26,154
Percentage Completed: 52% |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|08:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
I just found out something very interesting: if a produce truck gets pulled for hauling drugs, that produce goes to the food bank. Neat, huh?
In other news, interview Thursday afternoon with Wendy's lady.
In other other news, I was on the phone for 45 minutes this afternoon with the mortgage company. Since I took a pretty big pay cut, I figured I could get some hardship assistance. Nope. My payment is now 31% exactly of my gross income. *sigh* It was about 25% before, so I didn't qualify. If I made $.25 LESS an hour, I would qualify. I have him transfer me to a different department, well, I'm not deliquent, so I don't get help that way. There is a different option, but that won't cover my escrow payments. I would fall behind on that and that means dealing with the county. No thanks. Sent me to refinance, I could shave almost 2% off the interest rate, but would gain points. *sigh*
So, instead, I'll just tough it out. I'm not quite to the point where I just stop paying my bills and save up for a place to rent. Plus, honestly, I can't do that. I have to pay my bills. Maybe I'm just crazy, but it's a contract and I honor those.
I can make the payment after my paycheck this week. I'll just have a little bit left until next paycheck. BUT. Things are selling pretty well. Once I get the rest of the house in shape, I'm throwing one of the couches on craigslist (unless one of you local peeps wants it, I'll cut you a deal and even help move it!). I keep bidding on projects on elance and have written two articles so far for a freelance site. If I can write 10 a week, I can make an extra $75-150/week. That's a pretty big deal. Of course, you know, take out some money for tax purposes (put that in savings, so at least I can make a little bit of money on it).
If the Wendy's job doesn't pan out, I'll stick with call center until the holidays are over at least. I can make some serious money over the six weeks. They are going to be dishing out overtime like a mofo. I'll take it. And, Pier 1 is hiring, so I can go head up there and see if I can get some part time. I may have to miss out on brunch for a few weeks, but it's a small sacrifice I'm willing to make. I need to get the savings account back into shape and, you know, keep the bills paid.
I'd also like to maybe have some Guilin soon. :) Although, while I miss having take out food, it is kind of nice to be relying on myself for feeding myself instead of a guy in a drive thru box. I also enjoy pizza again :)
Ok, gotta get ready for bed. |
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| Roommate Legal Advice in AZ |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|06:27 pm] |
Hello Everyone-
I need some legal advice concerning a now ex-roommate. He and my other roommate broke up and he moved out. However, he hasn't come back to get his name off the lease or to pick up the rest of his stuff. I'm not sure where he's staying. He also owes me for last month's rent and utilities. Is there any free/cheap place that I can seek legal advice regarding what to do about him paying me back & what to do about his stuff he left? What are the small claims and abandonment procedures like in Arizona? Thanks.
-Stephan |
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| Of Changes and Things |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  awake | ] |
Sweet Jebus.
Where to start? Gods I have no idea... things have been a whirlwind for the past couple of weeks.. and half of it I'm not sure I remember.
What I can say is this... while Carolina may have been abnormally sucktastic.. I like this show. Siegel knows how to run a damn show and does in fact care about how his show looks. I hope that I'm accepted back.
I am, in fact, dropping Louisiana. I'm done. The utter bullshit that I've had to put up with in the past few years, hell, in the past two weeks has convinced me that it is not where the money is. And I run my business, because I want to be able to (gasp!).. live off of it.
After promising me ( yet again!) that he wasn't bringing in any other chainmailers to his already crappy show... there's a new chainmailer there. No biggie,... their stuff is completely different from mine. But the principal of the matter is that he made a promise that he again didn't keep.
Sunday, the gate count for the show was under 1000. This is it's 10th YEAR people. 10 years... there should be more than a thousand people through that damn gate.
And the show looks, for lack of a better phrase... ghetto. The comparison from the Carolina show to the Louisiana show.. it's lightyears. My head hurts too much right now to give it a more eloquent description, but it's like comparing a mudfield to a meadow .
But to get on with what I was saying... the whirlwind. I've survived the first weekend of having a booth at overlapping shows. God I'm an idiot. But an idiot with a plan, dammit!
Cullen and I left North Carolina stupid early on Thursday morning... I, being the determined and stubborn idiot that I am, had already stayed up a good portion of the night to make more stock for the Louisiana booth. I drove the entire way, since Cullen has passed out, and I wasn't feeling tired yet. 11 hours later we're in Louisiana. I'm mildly exhausted, but again, like an idiot, awake, ( thank you panic and stress.. you are the reason I get anything accomplished).
From that point it's all pretty much a blur... I paid too much to have someone set up a slightly dinky , psuedo 10 X 10 tent.. It's more like.. 8 X 8 .. almost octogan shaped. I will say that the lovely lady renting me the tent is a doll.. and said not to worry about the money..and that if the tent didn't work out for me... she wasn't going to worry about it.. THIS is why I still love our community.
Because of a sudden change in plans I'd also had to call in re-inforcements in the form of a friend in Texas who has also been in the chainmail biz ( as another Randolph co-hort), for many years, to run the booth with Cullen since I had to get back to the Carolina show where I knew I would be needed ( and again.. thank god for my stubbornness... it paid off). I may be bullheaded, but I trust my gut instincts now, and for good reason. Ugh.. but either way.. calling in a favor to a friend also cost me a bit , since I was paying for her gas, and manager wages.
I sleep all of 5 hours on Thursday night.. and wake up retardedly early.. feeling fine... except for the punching bag that someone has shoved down my throat. I've only ever had this happen in Louisiana.. where the air gets so cold and crisp that my uvula swells up to twice its size. It's nasty, it's gross... and it makes me want to kick things. I'm not certain why it happens there.. since I've slept in plenty of other cold ass places.
Anywhoo... I leave site and proceed to drive fuck-all everywhere gathering more of what we need for the booth. Namely: tables. Tables. You'd think no big deal to find just regular card table? Oh no.. no. Wal-Mart had them... for $30 a pop.. and I needed three. I just couldn't make myself spend $90 on 3 CARD TABLES. Enter the epic search involving hunting dogs, tracking devices and CIA undercover agents. All in vain. Cullen and I found some... for $27 a pop. Lame. But time was a-wastin'.. and I had plans to get out of Louisiana by 2pm.
Contain your laughter please. I had hope at that point. Becky ( recruited chainmail friend).. was back at site cranking away, trying to fill in the blank spots in my stock.. and Cullen and I got the booth set up. All told.. after making more stock and painting new signs, and in general, just getting everything looking like I actually BELONGED there.. I didn't leave until 9pm.
I will never, ever do this to myself again. Sweet Jesus. I was already running short on sleep, was exhausted, and feeling rather sickly by this point. Then I loaded up on caffeine and sugar, and drove like mad for 11 hours AGAIN.. trying to make it to site before 9am, when they close the gates.
My ultimate arrival time? 8:35 AM. Booya! Hail to the chief, I am Rockstar! I get the booth open, set up AND spread new ground covering to boot, before either of my employees get there. I'm sleep depped and slightly manic, but I managed to make it through the day without incident. And THEN stay up that night to fight with the credit card machine and its lack of wanting to connect to anything resembling a signal or a satellite..
I now feel like an honest to goodness booth owner. Like surviving a rite of passage. Yes, I can indeed do this, and do it well.
Which brought me to my decision, that Louisiana.. is just not worth my time. I think the most I'll consider is having someone else run a booth there for me. But really... is it even worth that? I see no real motivation to build there, or invest any more of my money in that show. Carolina is 100 times better , AND so far, it hasn't tried to kill me ( Louisiana has a history of not only trying to blow my tent down on multiple occasions with 80mph winds... but also.. collapsing said tent.. with SNOW. Fuckers). Carolina so far, while it has indeed sucked this year.. feels like it's the right choice. And is being run by someone who knows his business, and knows where to put the focus of it.
We have two more weekends here... and then I might just say fuck it, and let Kristi run the booth for me in Louisiana.. and just head my happy ass home. I have a next year to plan dammit.
More to come I'm sure.
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| A bizarre and vaguely creepy request. |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|01:55 pm] |
Hi friends,
I need some bones for a project. Any shape or size, tiny to huge. I'm also very interested in getting a ribcage of some kind. I'd take dirty bones but I'd prefer if they were meatless. The thought of soaking meaty bones in my bathtub makes me feel kind of ill. I've looked online but they're way too pricey. Any suggestions? A packing house perhaps? Know a farmer with bones scattered around the farm? Bone hunt! Thanks loves. If I procure enough bones I will post a picture of the finished product.
-C |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|12:36 pm] |
i thought i would check here also and see if anyone needs some company or a DJ or extra driver for the trip to L.A. for We the People Music, Arts, and Cultural Festival on November 21st?
i posted on craigslist already, but after the charming Tucson police stuck me in county for Rock the Bells, if i miss this i wont be up on my quota.
thank you for any information or help! |
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| Keeping Cats Out of Bed: The Impossible Challenge |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|12:28 pm] |
So my allergist wants me to try to keep our cats out of our bed.
How the HELL is THAT supposed to happen?
I mean, he'd like them off the bed entirely, but that's unlikely to ever go down. I suppose we could try closing the door to the bedroom 24/7, but won't they just scratch at it like they do most closets? Wouldn't they remember that, you know, they've been in there BEFORE? So we're going to try to shoot for just keeping them out of the SHEETS - the INSIDE of the bed, you know.
Except they follow us around like loyal puppies, and they scratch at any closed door we try to hide behind (unless it's the exit). This is a problem. We can't have them scratching up the doors. So how are we supposed to keep them out of the bedroom at night? And if they're in the bedroom, there's definitely no way to ensure that they never jump on the bed. That's just crazy talk.
The entire thing is basically asking the impossible of us, but I talked to Maria at lunch and we are going to try to figure out... something. Or at least try to experiment. I'm not terribly optimistic, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to make cats LOATHE the bed, I'm all ears, believe me. |
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| A note, somewhat in generalities, of no specific significance |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|03:23 am] |
My mother's surgery was followed on by by the news that my Great-Uncle Alan had had fairly routine knee surgery. Alan was the last surviving of the eldest Bennetts, and I wasn't at all close to him -- he and his family moved to Australia long ago, part of the parade of my mother's family that moved Down Under, with my mother being the last of those to make the journey.
While Mum's surgery was incident-free, and she seems to be recovering well, Uncle Alan's surgery went south in the post-op, as blood clots formed and the doctors couldn't clear them. Death by thrombosis. I'm not sure quite how old he was, but I believe it was early nineties.
No condolences needed -- I'm more noting this because it does suggest, given that I manifest more Bennett characteristics than McDonald (the writing and books do seem to be from the McDonald side, as is the bipolar, but the ADHD may be from the Bennett side, curiously, and the music and bear-like build certainly are), that I might well follow in that line and have many more years left in me yet, rather than kicking off in my sixties the way McDonalds seem to do (although my Uncle Patrick kept on ticking past the deadline, so even that's no guarantee.)
So, if that's the case, it does rather behoove me to rattle myself into some kind of shape if only to have a more comfortable life in those later years. Also, just to have a more comfortable life in general. |
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| Nanowrimo Project Day 9: Meet Me Halfway |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|11:01 pm] |
I really really wanted to write at work today, but that was damned near impossible with the amount of running around I did. I mean, thinking back on today, there wasn't a whole of things I did, but writing was neglected. Dorian and I went to the Avenue after work and cranked out some words. I managed to get through Chapter Six even though I thought I had nothing going on in it. Basically, he's startingto figure that something's going on. He's finding clothes that once belonged to customers he just saw wearing them. I think I should just stop freaking out about the plot and just get on with it. I'm more than creative enough to work everything out in the end.
Chapters Worked On: Chapter 6: The Forgotten
Nano Word Goal: 15,003
Personal Word Goal: 25,000
Words Written Today: 3,025 or something...
Total Word Count: 25,151
Percentage Completed: 50% |
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| Cowboy R und den Wand |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|04:48 pm] |
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Ich war mal ein austausch schuler auf Deutschland.
I was an exchange student in Germany. I went with a private organization, and made a direct exchange with a German family... their kid came and lived with my family for a year, while I went to Germany and lived with his family. This did not develop into a friendship between either of us and the other's families... we were simply too different, had values that were too far apart.
That's not really what I wanted to write about, though. I wanted to write about the fact that today is the twentieth anniversary of the reunification of Germany.
When I went to Germany in 1986, there were two Germanys, the Federal Republic of Germany (West) and the Democratic Republic of Germany (East). I went to a town named Göttingen, which was only a few kilometers west of the border. My host family took me, at one point, to an overlook, where I could look down on the chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
It was dangerous to have a united Germany. After all, a united Germany had started two world wars in thirty years. I had my doubts about the causal relationship between a united Germany and world wars, but that was the official line... there would not be a united Germany in our lifetimes, because it would be dangerous.
I wanted to go to East Germany. I got on a train bound for Berlin, but the border guards looked at my passport and turned me back. They said I didn't look enough like my passport picture. I imagine that was just an excuse, but who knows what the real reason was.
At the end of the year, I reluctantly left Germany. If I could have figured out a way to stay, I might well have. I was mostly happy in Göttingen. I had friends, I liked the atmosphere of the city... the only thing in the whole town I didn't like, actually, was my host family.
But I didn't have the resources to stay, so I came home to Arizona, and a while later, joined the Navy. Which is where I was in November 1989. I don't remember President Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech, but I do remember feeling very relaxed about being in the Navy, feeling that the likelyhood of the war we'd been dreading throughout my childhood was now very low. (I was surprised, a year later, to find myself in a completely different war... but that's another story).
I remember watching on the television on the mess deck of USS Papago (ATF-160) as the wall began to topple. I was surprised and overwhelmed that the world could be so reasonable for a change.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to return to Germany since the wall came down. I'd like to. I'd like to travel in the places that used to be East Germany, to look at the architecture, to see what it's like.
Congratulations to my German friends, for being part of a country that [i]isn't[/i] a dangerous factor in world politics. Congratulations for being part of a reasonable world. And most of all... congratulations on this twentieth anniversary of the wall falling. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|04:17 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hungry | ] |
Got moved again. And it was pretty hot in there today, too. Someone screwed with the thermostat I think. Or turned it to heat. I almost fell asleep at one point, it was that hot in there.
We listened to a couple more calls today. Wow. Just...wow.
Seriously, if this was the level of service that I gave people that store would have been down the toilet after I took over. No wonder they are hiring like crazy.
I'm still a little sleepy, but I need to get some articles written so I can get paid for that next week. Calling mom tonight to see if she can pay the phone bill so I don't lose that. I'll probably stop by Famous Sam's tomorrow to see if a manager is there so I can see if I can have that job. That would be very nice, indeed. I highly doubt I'll get the cook job.
Oh, and I made 2nd interview with Wendy's. So that's good. She wanted to talk at 9 a.m., but I can't, I'm in class. I suppose I could pull the "I have to go to the bathroom" thing, but I don't know how long it's going to last (the call) and trying to explain why I was in the bathroom for THAT long, well, that would be more than embarrassing. :) I emailed her back and told her after 2:30 is much better, and I can devote my full attention to everything. Fingers crossed! Next Tuesday is picture day at the call center...that was my deadline (originally), but I may have to push it to before I become an actual employee of the company. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|02:27 pm] |
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Code Green comic: more americans deny global warming. Who whould we believe, Fox News or our own lying eyes? http://ping.fm/Ma5Nz |
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| Things that suck really fucking hard |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|12:52 pm] |
- Got a sensitive/sore tooth over the weekend that just throbbed when hit with liquid. Turns out I have to get a root canal this Thursday because one of my back teeth is absessing. Fuck.
- I still haven't scheduled my tonsil surgery that I now officially have to get, and I am DREADING it. |
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