Friday Night Trivia

Ever notice how the whole breakroom/dish dynamic in offices is always so weird and awkward? Case in point: There's always a cupboard of coffee mugs in the employee kitchen, but no discernible way to determine ownership of said coffee mugs. Are you just supposed to use yours? Or is it understood that there's a general office mug 'pool' that everyone is welcome to draw from. If the former, then why is it I haven't seen my personal mug back in the cupboard since the day after I started? It's very cute - one of those Starbucksy Tuscan-style ceramic latte mugs. Kind of a sage green with light leave & flower buds entwined all over it, and a red and yellow checkerboard rim. I see my co-worker using it all the time and don't know if I should say anything about it or not? Demand it's return?
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In other news Curt & I are having one of our periodic not-quite-fight "disagreements" that is resulting in the dreaded "state of the relationship" address. We've gotten much better at this, I must say. We no longer rush to take the absolute worst possible interpretation of what the other is saying (resulting in all night sobfests) but we're still not giving one another the benefit of the doubt when it comes to selfless motive. We're pretty good at identifying problems in our relationship but fall miserably short in a) agreeing on what those problems are; and b) finding ways to fix them.

I think we need a couple's coach/referee but Curt's skeptical of counselors. My only experience with the mental health industry isn't that great either. A couple of years after my parent's divorce I went to my company sponsored employee counseling service to try to work through some issues I was having that negatively affected my relationships with them. As Richard Gere said "I was very ANGRY at my father". The entire first session was devoted to answering a huge list of required questions regarding my non-existent substance abuse habit. How many times do I have to say "I am a social drinker and a second hand smoker. I do not currently, and have never taken any kind of illegal drug"??? The second session was devoted to required follow up questions about the emotional triggers and people in my life who contributed to my non-existent substance abuse habit since the previous session. I got to talk about my Dad for about 5 minutes in the context of "I've never done drugs, but I did recently discover my father occasionally smoked joints in the basement. I always thought it just smelled moldy down there. Oh, and he says one of the reasons he left my mom was because he couldn't stand making love to a woman who smelled like an ashtray". Needless to say, I didn't go back for my final, 3rd free session.

But I think an experienced couples counselor could be helpful at this point. So long as they're not "faith based" or any of that bullshit. Though it might be amusing to see what someone like Dr. Laura would do with our relationship where just about every gender-based stereotype she assumes is totally flipped in our case. Curt's the stay-at-home spouse and the one who wants to "talk about us" all the time and I'm the one who blithely sails along bringing home the bacon thinking as long as we're having sex, everything *must* be OK. I'd like to see her confronted with all the happy, successful couples whose relationships don't conform to her rigidly narrow view of "ideal" gender roles.

Note to self: Validation through Tree Killing

Don't feed the trolls, don't feed the trolls... Damn. Sometimes it's hard to tell the trolls from the people worth wasting a breath on, though. So now I've wasted all fucking day responding to people who imagine "knife wielding feminists" around every corner bent on castration (really - the only huevos they're after are those in a Spanish omelet, folks - go visit and see.) Forget dead people. "I see feminists!" is the new horror phrase in blogdome.

I barely had time to finish my letter to Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer giving him props for his appearance on CSPAN yesterday during the House International Relations Committee meeting on the status of US policy in Afghanistan; and then launching into my favorite "why doesn't the administration support RAWA?" diatribe. But then, according to Matt Yglesias all of this activity doesn't "count" as any kind of interest in politics. Because you know - I don't waste my hard earned cash subscribing to worthless political periodicals. In hard copy, no less (true political junkies gotta kill those trees, you know).

One down, how many to go?

Tenet Resigns as Head of CIA

Miss Modesty?

What's wrong with this piece? I'll give you three guesses. Give up? It's the statements by the editor at Seventeen:

"We like to call this new girl Miss Modesty," said Gigi Solif Schanen, fashion editor at Seventeen magazine. "It's such a different feeling but still very pretty and feminine and sexy. It's just a little more covered up....It's kind of like a sexy take on a librarian," she said. "I think people are tired of seeing so much skin and want to leave a little more to the imagination."

Maybe, just maybe she might be missing the point, oh... completely? Notice, if you will that the thought that perhaps a great many teen girls don't LIKE being turned into sex objects doesn't even cross her mind. Oh, no. The *obvious* conclusion is that these girls are just going for that "sexy librarian look". Yep - that's it alright!!. Their primary purpose is *still* to be the living embodiment of every hot blooded heterosexual male's sexual fantasy (phew!)- they're just changing *which* fantasy that is. Whore is out. "Hot for teacher" is in. See it here first, folks - fashion forecast for next year - plaid schoolgirl uniforms will be out, nurse and maid uniforms will be all the rage in the Junior Miss departments across America.

Why the fuck can't they just let little girls BE little girls???? Modest clothes and all?? Teen girls are naturally self-conscious about their bodies. Sure some are curious, too to see what kind of power they can wield with their newfound sexuality. But many aren't comfortable with the weird new reactions they get. Many don't like that new look in the eye they start getting from boys and men. That's what puberty is FOR - getting used to your new body. Why won't the media give them that time, and the clothes that make them comfortable in their new skins??? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question).

Memorial Day Undercurrents

I’ve started about 3 different entries for today but as soon as I get about a paragraph in I lose all interest. I’m feeling particularly apathetic. I think it has something to do with all the war movies my step dad insisted on watching on Memorial Day. It’s just – when you’re actually in the MIDDLE of a war and people are *actually* bleeding and dying for some ridiculous reason (or no reason at all); it makes it really hard to stomach the Holloywoodified dramatizations of the same thing. In times of peace it’s just so easy to shrug all the violence off as so much make-believe; with all the realism of a video game.

(***may trigger***)

Looking back, maybe it started when the conversational subject somehow landed on the Nick Berg video. My stepdad hadn’t seen it but Curt had watched it, in full technicolor and stereo sound. This I did not know. My dear husband was smart enough not to tell me about it. I’d seen the stills and brief snips of the video (but no sound) but thought I knew, from reading other’s accounts what it entailed. A couple of local DJ’s had, in fact recently been fired because they played the audio of the tape on air, “gurgles & all”. For some reason I was under the impression that it had been a relatively quick, clean execution (not that that matters & all but for some reason it helped to think he didn’t suffer). Maybe it was the recent viewing of “Kill Bill vol. 1”. If petite women like Uma Thurman can decapitate an adversary with a single sword stroke then it should be an easy feat for a strong, burly terrorist. But as my stepdad grilled Curt for details my naivete was quickly shattered. No, it wasn’t a curved scimitar of razor-edged Syrian steel that was used (as I’d thought). But a dull knife, possibly serrated about a foot long. It wasn’t a quick stroke. They basically sawed his head off – ALIVE while he screamed with every stroke. That’s about as far as Curt got before he finally took my “that’s enough!!!) pleas seriously and cut short his narrative.

You may think I was trying to bury my head in the sand to spare myself the “unpleasantness” , but you’d be wrong. Sure, I’m one of those people who covers their eyes during the scary parts of horror movies. I have an overactive imagination as it is - I already imagine the worst so I don’t need it spelled out for me in kodachrome. But that wasn’t it. I caught a hint - just a hint of eagerness in my stepdad’s voice as he asked where he could find the video to watch himself and that did it. In that instant it suddenly clicked for me why the video was one of the top most googled items on the internet in the week following the murder. It wasn’t because so many folks are outraged - it’s a snuff film, pure and simple and people are getting a perverted voyeuristic thrill out of watching this horrendous atrocity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that wasn’t his intent at all – I think he was honestly wanting to see what all the fuss was about – to witness the “awful truth” himself, free of the censorship of the cable news networks. But in that moment it just felt so very, very wrong for us to sit there, safe & sound in the living room describing this man’s death in grisly detail.

Over the River and Through The Woods

To Grandmother's House We Go!! Yep, we're down in lovely Florence at my Mom's this weekend. Been to the beach *twice*. Even flew a kite! Jinx has such fun down here. Of course we can't keep her out of the water - but what's more entertaining is her need to be the unofficial North Jetty Beach Welcome Hound and greet each and every single person, kidlet or canine in person. She's very polite about it - not at all cheesy or cloying. A simple tear by at full speed within a foot or two will suffice. She's intrigued by the kidlets but thanks to her experience with my friend E's daughter keeps her distance - she knows some of the small two-legged's can be a mite intimidated by 50 lbs of midnight black hounddog charging them at Mach 1. If anyone seems friendly or inviting she stops and allows them to worship her beauty, but is respectful of the sand castles and miscellaneous beach toys of others (though she was sorely tempted by an unattended soccer ball). She reserves the ass-sniffing for her fellow four leggeds, of which she typically finds at least a half a dozen willing playmates. Yesterday there were two corgie mixes, a border collie, a greyhound and some kind of shepherd retriever mix. I think the rolling in dead stuff compulsion must be passed on the short-legged gene, beccause Jinx, thank Maude seems unaffected. Not so the corgies. Our darling girl inherited the swimming compulsion instead. She's very obedient, and came right back after the greyhound smoked her ass during the 1/4 mile packed sand sprint event. But NOBODY beats her in the swimming events, man - it was all we could do to keep her out of the surf, then out of the river (the beach in question is right at the Siuslaw River bar).

What He Said!

I finally heard Gore's speech calling for the heads of the Bush defense team on Franken today. Wow.

Just to tie up some loose ends. You'll be happy to know that the Great State of Texas has finally come to their senses and ruled that yes, Virginia the Unitarian Universalist church is a real, honest to *insert object of worship here* religion. I was.

And the consensus on a feminist bulletin board I occasionally visit is that we shouldn't worry about a draft in 2005. Just because a bill has been introduced does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination that it will survive to become law. Shame on me for not remembering my Schoolhouse Rock lessons from Saturday morning cartoons!! - especially "I'm Just a Bill". I'm thinking Shrub & Co. could use a brush up, too - starting with The Preamble.

Pending Draft legislation will include women

The Draft – including women - will Start in June 2005 From Here Be Hippogriffs

I don’t know how I feel about this. I’ve always been a bit rabid on the issue that if boys are required to register for the draft then girls should be too. Wherever men go, women should be there to - evenunto the trenches of the front lines. And vice versa. I’d always planned, if there ever was a draft called to try to register myself as a matter of principle. I had just as much of a right to fight & die for my country as my brother, I thought. Not that I’d want to, of course - and especially not in a war whose justification was morally suspect. Though – in the event of a morally just war (only being the defense of one's friends & family, such as an invasion by aliens or Cuba – that’s about it) I’d have volunteered anyway so the draft wouldn’t have been necessary. So I guess I was arguing for my right to become cannon fodder for rich, old fatcats in Washington in an unjust war, just like young men have been for millenia. Sounds ridiculous, I know. But I so strongly believed in the equality of the sexes that it made perfect sense. If I wanted full equality with my brother that meant I had to accept both the privelege and the sacrifice. Though ideally, I don’t want either one of us to be fed to the Gods of blood and money.

But now that I'm 32 and well past the age of having to register, and it looks like younger women *will* have to take my place on the front lines, I don't know how I feel. Do I have the right to insist they be sent off to die on my behalf? Especially given the high rate of sexual assault in the military? Ideally? I want a world where there's no need for a military at all. Short of that, I want a military where men accept women as equals, and honor them as comrades in arms - not interlopers. But that can't be accomplished if there aren't any women there in the first place.

I’m sure I’ll be writing my representatives about this but right now I’m damned if I know what to say.

Oregon Assisted Suicide Law Upheld!

snip:

“The attorney general’s unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician assisted suicide,” wrote Judge Richard Tallman in the 2-1 opinion by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said Ashcroft’s action “far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law.”

Maybe there’s hope for journalistic integrity, yet

(From Atrios) The New York Time is fessing up in some cases to giving information provided by Iraqi exiles more credibility in the ramp up to the war than they should have, and not independently confirming that information which, in hindsight they should have recognized as being biased.

Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq. We have examined the failings of American and allied intelligence, especially on the issue of Iraq's weapons and possible Iraqi connections to international terrorists. We have studied the allegations of official gullibility and hype. It is past time we turned the same light on ourselves… we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge.

They also admit subsequent burial of information in back pages that came to light afterwards that appeared to contradict that information – when it should have been given more prominence.

It’s a start.

Kittlin's shoe fetish, exposed!

You thought I was kidding about the Kittlin's weird popsicle stick/ shoe fetish habit, didn't you? Here's photographic proof. Though he prefers the aroma of the Teva's, the old knock-around-the-house shoes next to his head are the usual recipient of the popsicle sticks (on hearth). Though what they're doing there I don't know - Curt's supposed to be saving them for me so I can start using them to flag my perrenials, in hopes of differentiating them from the weeds next spring. 

Cheeky Monkey, or Immaculate Conception??

Chimp Give Zoo Twin Surprise

Something fun

I know I've been a bit heavy on the politics lately.

So, to make amends I offer this fun little bit of brain candy as a distraction. Experience the Wheel of Reincarnation (thanks to Going Dutch).

Curt, I'm sure is a bit annoyed that I'm letting them "get" to me. His philosophy is, if you can't change anything why let it affect your peace of mind? But that's where we're different. I never underestimate my power to effect change. I know I *can* make a difference, even a small one. I think he's accepted that until the election, I'm going to be more than a little obsessed with politics. Then, if Kerry wins I'll be thrilled and able to go about my boring daily life again, confident that the country is in good hands. If Bush wins, though - it might just get worse. After a suitable mourning period I may feel the need to get even more active, in order to counter what will surely be 4 more years of Hell (and emigration to Canada isn't really an option). Bush will move forward with even *more* of his idiotic policies under the impression that this time around, he was actually given a moral mandate by voters.

Coalition governement.... hmmm now there's a thought!

These are my new best buddies: WeCount.org.They've just launched this wonderful "Tell Kerry What You Think" survey to give folks disenfranchised with the Democratic party a voice.

They're calling for a coalition of Democrat/Green/Independent/anti-Bush republicans to unite together under Kerry to defeat the Shrub. This would entail, of course Kerry reaching out to them and including members of those groups in his administration. In other words - a real, living, breathing, effective multiparty democracy!!! How cool would that be?

Spinning Class, Republican style

My conservative co-worker, E. was a bit gobsmacked by this article on the Drudge Report today – “Kerry pokes fun at Bush mishap” they give Kerry crap for making a comment along the lines that maybe the President forgot his training wheels.

Now, I don’t know if Kerry said that or not, but given the context: I wouldn’t hold such a comment against him. As a lot of folks over at Atrios noticed, the irony was just too thick to ignore. If the man sets himself up as a laughingstock is it our fault for laughing? You'll notice that Drudge doesn't make any mention of Bush's earlier "training wheels" comment, leading the reader to believe Kerry pulled the comment out of his ass completely out of spite, in an effort to infantize the President. Sure, he may have been taking the opportunity to rib Shrub a little bit, but if you want to play the "who's infantizing who" game - just remember who originally brought up the phrase, and in what context. So it's OK to infantize a 2000+ yr. old civilization of millions, but not someone who took a spill from a bike???.

Oregon Strawberries. Sweeter. Redder. Simply Better

Strawberry season ripens early in Oregon What sucks is we're losing market share to California and Florida berries, that taste like plastic - but look prettier! You can't even get Oregon berries in local grocery stores. Though, I'm wondering if more upscale places like Zupans, Hayden's or New Seasons might have them....

How to win the heart of an ex- waitress

In today's Oregonian columnist Margie Boule gives us the details of John Kerry's recent suprise dinner at a local restaurant following last week's rally in Pioneer Courthouse Square. You knew I was voting for him before, but now I feel less like it's an "anything but Bush" vote and more like I'm voting for a candidate I can genuinely admire.

At the end of the dinner (where he enjoyed some great Oregon wine), Kerry

"...rose and headed to the "dish pit," surprising dishwasher Cesar Juarez. "He just walked in on his own accord, said hello to Cesar, thanked him and shook his hand," John says. No one is sure if Cesar got much out of the brief conversation, "since he doesn't speak English," John explains. Nevertheless, all agree Cesar appeared to be charmed."

And perhaps more importantly, he tipped very well. Would he have thanked the Mexican dishwasher had he not been running for President? Does he do this at every restaurant he eats at? I don't know. But there weren't any cameras rolling at Higgins' that night so I don't think it was staged. But as someone who worked their way through college in the restaurant business, it really showed me that the man can identify with me and what my personal issues are in life (or were at one time). He was a good customer, didn't give the staff any grief, and showed that he appreciates those who make his priveleged lifestyle possible. I think it's genuine. I doubt the Shrub has ever thanked a dishwasher in his life.

Armchair Activist, at your service

Finally found some worthy gmail seekers (must scroll down)to give my invites to. Anything to support the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). I was very pleasantly surprised by the 2nd guy. I'd originally replied to his original offer giving him crap about his "hot chicks" comment, and he emailed me back:

Seeker: "whats wrong with hot chicks? we can all use some eye candy while we live thru our daily lives, nothing makes a day better then seeing a really hot girl walk by, makes you forget about work, school, etc, it kind of frees your mind"

Moi: "Because every woman's goal in life is to make some horny strange man smile?? Come on, I thought you were deeper than that. Do you realize there are women committing suicide by the hundreds in Afghanistan today because they are still held enslaved by their abusive husbands and families in dire poverty with no access to healthcare or education. They WISH they had you're freaking problems at work, and school - any semblance of a "life" as you know it outside their 120 degree tents. All they have to look forward to in life is dying in childbirth or from some easily cured illness after being sold into marital bondage to the highest bidder. They can't even walk down the f*ing street without a male escort. Bet you didn't see that soapbox rant coming did you? Tell you what - if you want to match this guys offer (above link) I'll give you my second invite."

Seeker: "hey thats actually a good idea. I lived in Bosnia till 1996 and lived thru the war so I do know how Afgan women and people feel. Sure I can donate its for a good cause. Any particular fund? health? education? let me know and thanks for a good idea"

And then he posted back to the original post, encouraging others to do the same, and promising to use his invites for the same cause. How totally cool is that!!!??? Just goes to prove that anyone *can* make a difference; and most seemingly sexist jerks are perfectly redeemable.

**Update: The first guy finally got back to me. He was so impressed with RAWA that he upped his donation to $50! So I've just raised $75 for them!!! I'm so thrilled! Hmmm... what *else* could I do to raise funds? This is fun!

Note to Reuters headline editors

When reporting on Iraqi prison abuse you may want to refrain from leading off with the phrase "US probes 8 more..." You're making Leno's job too damned easy and it's not something that should be made funny.

Got GMail?

Who knew GMail accounts were such a hot commodity? (via Defective Yeti) Though I'll admit I wanted to get in on it early just to get my preferred user name with no #'s or underscores. But I certainly didn't think I'd be able to until the gods of Blogger game me the opportunity. They're owned by Google, don'tyaknow. Then I didn't think it was such a big deal anymore. But I guess it still is, because once you've been blessed with your gmail account you are given the privelege of inviting a certain number of friends to join up, too. Psssst - all you active Blogspot bloggers - join up and secure bragging rights (and cool bartering leverage) now!! There are a few folks offering to trade their vote for an invitation. I'm sorely tempted. Fucking ethics!

Hmmm... which one to take?? Chocolate covered Macadamia nuts & Kona coffee from Hawaii? Someone to make me their deity of the week? I mean, a daily sacrifice of fruits & berries would be nice but my hubris might piss off my favorite personal deity, HanaHanaNui, The Great Parking & traffic God. Some of these offers are rather disturbing. More "Date with my Wife" and "Pair of my wife's worn underwear" and "pictures of my wife" then I care to see. I'm leaning though to the customized blog template. I mean, I'm liking mine now but it's still a bit blase.

**Note: I may give one to this guy for pure creativity: My Inbox is too small for alien secrets

Yes, it's a hoax

per snopes. I kind of figured that out quickly after the link he provided for The Drudge Report turned out to actually link to the Drudge Retort and not the real thing.

He Has Returned

Managed to work all day yesterday. Woohoo! Monday & Tuesday I could only work about 3 hours before the pain between my eyebrows sent me home screaming for painkillers. I still feel a bit crappy - maybe I picked up a bug in the hospital and 3 days of no sleep lowered my immunity enough to give the critter a toehold on my respiratory system.

In case you missed it, the 20th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death was Sunday - and someone is already capitalizing on the publicity, claiming to be Andy returned, just like he promised - and launching his own blog.

Maybe Andy should buy the Oregon Vortex. Seems like it'd be right up his alley. It's one of those mystery spots where gravity seems to go backwards and weird things in general happen. I've never been - but keep meaning to go.

Welcome to the Theocracy of the United Christbots of America

In honor of my Lone Star residing in-law's I’ve vowed to not engage in any knee-jerk Texas bashing, though I’m sorely tempted after reading that the Texan comptroller has denied the Unitarian Universalists tax-free religious status (thanks Rivka and others) , because they don’t have a common “unifying creed” to which members must avow belief in order to be considered members. According to the Texas state government (an obvious authority on theological matters), an organization’s members must share a belief in “God, gods or a higher power” to be considered a religion. For the sake of familial harmony I'm determined to believe this idiocy is not shared by most independence-loving Texans (of whom I'm told "live & let live" is the unofficial state motto). It wouldn't be so tempting to believe these views aren't representative if they didn't keep electing people to public office whose agenda is so clearly evangelical.

Random Rant with Bad Analogies & Cliches

Hindsight may be 20/20 but I think I can honestly say that Seymour Hersch’s account of how the atrocities at Abu Ghraib were allowed to go down pretty much matches exactly what I had assumed.

First Shrub OK’d Rummy’s “take the gloves off” policy regarding the Al Queda-ish prisoners in Cuba. (Which most Americans would probably say was justified at the time. These people didn’t conduct themselves by basic humanitarian rules of warfare like the Geneva Conventions, so your average non-bleeding heart citizen would say we don’t owe it to them; and we desperately needed the intelligence – they were preparing to strike again on US soil at any moment).

Then Shrub somehow equated Iraq with Al Queda – in error, as it turned out, and what started out as a non-conventional war against terrorists (where there are no rules) morphed into a conventional war against a sovereign nation and their innocent civilian population (where there are definite internationally accepted rules of engagement). But Shrub et.al. didn't stop and think "hey - we've opened a new front. Let's stop and evaluate the new operating environment and think about how this might change our existing strategy".

As a result, Shrub & Co. grossly miscalculated our welcome in Iraq and bit off more than they could chew, and in a pathetic attempt to fix the situation just made it 100 times worse by trying to extend the rules they were applying(successfully) against the Al Queda prisoners to a totally different environment – a group of mostly innocent and wrongfully detained Iraqi civilians. This is where ignorance can be fatal. It’s like thinking “hmmm. Here’s a tough stain. I know bleach works well on stains, and so does ammonia. So using them *both* will be doubly effective!” then dumping it all in a bucket together without bothering to read the warning labels, which clearly say “DO NOT MIX BLEACH & AMMONIA. DOING SO WILL CREATE POSSIBLY FATAL CHLORINE GAS” (which happens to be one of the original chemical warfare weapons introduced by the Germans in WWI. But I digress)

The minute they invaded Iraq they should have put the kid gloves back *on* to protect what tiny vestige of moral authority we still had. They should have thought back to their Basic Western Civ 101 course taken their Freshman year in college and at least tried to recall the basic recipe for terrorism. They should have stopped and reassessed; solicited advice from the expers, and re-thought, period. But no. Rummy instead doggedly ignored every warning his intelligence community and military command gave him and put this inept Cambone character in charge of interrogations. The same guy whose own right hand man happens to be Army Lieutenant General William G. (Jerry) Boykin, the same guy who called all Muslims the spawn of Satan. Not a team very well suited to instilling trust and warm fuzzy feelings in the bosom of the Iraqi people, is it?

Apparently the administration, caught up in the excitement of going to war in order to “Make America safe from terrorists” totally forgot that besides identifying and neutralizing current terrorists (i.e. Al Queda operatives); the only way to stop the spread of terrorism is to win the hearts and minds of moderate people (read “Arabs”) who might otherwise become the next generation of suicide bombers. It’s much easier to do than you’d think. Mickey Mouse has already done most of the work for you. People around the world want to like Americans – but more importantly, they want just a little of what Americans have. A high standard of living. Opportunities to work and get an education. A good economy. Physical safety while going about their mundane lives. Real power and a voice in their government. Freedom to practice their religion. Until now, Americans have had a knack for turning occupied populations into allies. Shit, we dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese after THEY attacked US and they still managed to worship us.

And the sad thing is, Bush had the power to give them some of that. But he didn’t. Because at heart he doesn’t believe in spreading the wealth. If he can’t even be convinced to spread some of it to middle and lower class Americans do you honestly think he’d think to give it to the “infidels”? If he cared at all about helping the Iraqi people, he’d have offered the carrot instead of the stick. Instead of blackmailing the nice, innocent people of Iraq into helping us why not bribe them with, oh I don’t know – a generator to make their A/C run? An armed escort for their daughters to go to school? Reliable internet access? New diagnostic equipment and supplies for the local hospital? Plum construction sub-contract?? Hell, howsabout a scholarship to Yale?

But neither he, nor Rummy thought of that. Because at heart, they're not givers. They're takers - simple schoolyard bullies. "Give me what I want and fuck the rest of you non-corporation and/or non-Christian peons" is the only diplomatic language they understand.

Jack's Place

I like Big trucks & I cannot lie... you other cats can't deny... . You've got to know Jack to understand why this is so funny. He's a big huge orange marmalade stray we adopted who is the biggest wuss kitty you'll ever meet. He even let the 2 month old Kittlin kick the crap out of him. But for some reason he *really* has a thing for big trucks. He usually hangs out on the hood of Curt's decrepit old '66 Ford Pickup - but I think he just couldn't resist big Orange Daddy here (the excavator being used by the construction crew next door).  

A Plague of Locusts

They do Freak People Out. Thank Maude we don't have these around here. The brown hobo spiders are certainly bad enough (a smaller cousin to the Big Mama mentioned last week decided to take a shower with me this weekend). It's an easy bet I'd be one of those who lands in the ER from trying to outrun the critters.

Is it time to go home yet?

Back at work today, though I don’t know for how long. It feels like someone is wielding a rock hammer right between my eyes, and a little of the nausea has come back. Once they pulled the packing out on Friday (a most unpleasant experience that unfortunately embodied every one of my Total Recall nightmares) I was able to breathe a little through my nose, and by Sat could actually sleep. And sleep. And still want to sleep some more. Cleo fulfilled her duties as nursecat admirably – quietly lying on my tummy emitting soothing lullaby purrs to keep me abed. She somehow managed to draft Jinx into taking up a semi-permanent post at my feet, too – temporarily suspending all thoughts of flying nylon ducks that typically occupy our wonderpuppy’s cognitive existence.

This had better be worth it.

Serious. The surgery went fine, but thanks to the PPO gods I was kicked to the curb just 2 hours post op still "leaking" or as most people would say "bleeding like a pig" and nauseous as hell. The bums waiting for the bus on Burnside got a treat on the way home - watching me barf blood into a bag I was given especially for that purpose while we were sitting at a red light in traffic during rush hour. Curt had to pull over once just to change my sodden bandage. I think I ruined my shirt and one of his that he happened to have in the trunk while mopping up.

But for the short time I was at the hospital they were all very nice and comforting and caring. And at the time I was pretty happy to get out of there. I hate hospitals. Hate sick people. Most of all hate being one of 'em. My nose itself doesn't hurt that much - I've just got one hell of an overall headache the nurses chalked up to caffeine withdrawal, but I think it's anesthetic hangover. What's really shitty is having to breathe out of my mouth nonstop. My throat was so damned dry after the surgery from the tube, I felt like an icechip whore. But my throat seriously kept closing up from the dryness. It's worse when I try to sleep. I'm totally exhausted but have to keep my head elevated to keep the blood and crap from draining into my stomach - but everytime I drift off my throat softens, I start to snore and choke myself. I'd better be able to at least breathe a little through my nose tomorow. Getting shaky - must go.

Going' Under & stuff

I kept telling myself it's just a minor procedure - outpatient and all, even if I will be totally under. Tried to not think about it at all until the day of, but it didn't work. The apprehension and anxiety got to me last night. Didn't sleep well at all last night. Finally picked up & moved to the couch to let Curt get some rest, at least. I guess it's natural once you hit 30 to start feeling your mortality. I should have mentioned it on the boards before so I could get all the good advice I know the other members would give me. Take care of yourself. Take a hot bath before bed, listen to soothing music. But I didn't do any of that stuff. We watched the Last Samurai instead. Fantastic movie, by the way but in hindsight I probably didn't need to see thousands of healthy men dying in gory detail by the sword when I was about to go under the "knife" myself.

On top of that, we've got a couple of hot personal opportunities we're persuing this week, too which have my mind racing. I was just hanging out in the reception area of work earlier this week and a headline in the local business paper that was sitting on the table caught my eye. It was about a woman who was selling her plant shop. Now, this wasn't just any old plant shop - it's one of two I used to drive by all the time (but never went in for some off reason) and think "I had that idea! A shop in the inner city devoted to houseplants! That would just be the coolest ever!" Only my vision included a plant hospital and babysitting service. As it happened, Curt had a similar idea before he'd ever met me. Only his involved having a wheel & kilns there and making his own pottery to use as planters. Our love of houseplants is one of the first things we discovered we had in common. But anyway - he's doing OK as a loan officer and likes it OK (the hours and freedom are great) but he'd really like to get out of finance and find something more stable. And we've always talked about how he'd probably be happiest owning his own business. So when I saw this article, it seemed like fate.

Besides just selling plants, she rents them (for events & such) and has maintenance/ delivery service. Been in business 15 years - 8 at the current location. Curt called the broker and for $30k down, she might carry the contract on the rest. It could be that easy - one huge dream come true. He's trying to raise the capital from a family friend (the same one that had the house in Port Townsend we thought about buying) and it's looking like it might, just might all work out. So keep your fingers crossed.

Then there's a whole other thing that I don't have time to get into right now. Maybe later.

I keep forgetting to mention

(though maybe I'm in denial) that I'm going in for sinus surgery on Thursday. Technically, it's "Bilateral Endoscopic Ethnoidectomy with Maxillary antracamies" or something like that. Sounds a bit like a Star Trek episode where they implant something in your head in some sci-fi version of an anthropology study, doesn't it? It's an outpatient thing but I'll be under general anesthetic. Which is a good thing - because it will go something like that scene in Total Recall where Arnold pulls the homing signal out of his head through his nostril. Twice. Four days of recovery, then, they say. But it will be so nice to not have this constant pain in my face. I'm trying to focus on the results, not how much it will hurt while I'm getting there.

Get your Irk On...

So according to the Red Cross' report given to the Bush administration last year, coalition military intelligence officers estimated that about 70 percent to 90 percent of the thousands of prisoners detained in Iraq had been "arrested by mistake,". And according to the Franken Report this morning, one of the prison administrators *refused* to release people whose names were actually cleared.

And per this LA Times article, we'll probably never know what really happened to female detainees, because if their families ever find out they were raped while in American custody they may be as good as dead - victimized a second time to satisfy the family's honor.

You know, I've gone beyond the weepy "It didn't have to BE this way!!" phase and am quickly moving through red, blind outrage to the white hot "this fucker's gotta go down" phase. I've mostly been an armchair activist my entire life. I get outraged, sign petitions and vote but very rarely volunteer or give any $$ to my pet "causes". That's about to change. For the first time in my life I actually sent $$ to the DNC last week, and I've just signed up to volunteer with MoveOn.org.

!

Castle for sale, cheap!

Spider Friends

I was cleaning house yesterday and found this monster spider in a towel that was laying on the bedroom floor (Go to the RiverRocks album). I'd found her twin, I think last weekend in the gardening chest you'll see Cleo lounging on later in the album. I was a bit concerned that it might be a brown recluse - which I've heard we have in Oregon (and which can be deadly). But according to all the websites, we actually *don't* have any brown recluse here in the NW - the only confirmed sighting came from some household goods that had just been moved up from Kansas. What the experts say is, people & physicians are actually confusing nasty bites from the Hobo Spider (or Aggressive House Spider) for that of the Recluse. Like a good Buddhist I was going to let the little critter go, much as she creeps me the hell out. But after reading how dangerous they can be (and remembering that my uncle ended up in the ER last month from a spider bite); I made Curt dispose of her. If the one in the chest was a male, I don't want any more of these lovelies running around the house. The Kittlin was fascinated enough with the one I found in the towel. The little shit has no fear and I can't afford any huge vet bills right now.

Wanna know what kind of folks are imprisoned in Abu Ghraib?

These kind. Real threats to U.S. security, aren't they? The terriblely sad thing is - if they weren't before, they just might be now (or 5 years from now). We're just making friends in the Arab world left and right, aren't we? Think about *your* neighbors for a minute. What if they only had to mention your name in someone's ear to land you in a place like that? Bet you'd think twice about letting your dog bark all night and piss on their azaleas, wouldn't you?

Define Moral Authority for me again??

I think this is the first thing anyone in our current administration has done that’s made me at all proud to be an American. Though the hypocrisy, its stench is overpowering.

Wash and wear, my ass!!

You'd think with all the billions of dollars they sink into the women's fashion industry they'd manage to come up with products that come even halfway close to the quality of menswear. Case in point. I bought a shirt for my husband recently for $25 that was a beautiful sueded silky fabric - a material I'd love to see in a shirt of my own. He insists on washing every new piece of clothing *before* he wears it. We wash it, and throw it in the dryer - and even dried on high it comes out completely wrinkle free. He has a complete closet full of such clothes that will never see the bottom of an iron. His dress slacks come out just as nice, are stain resistant as well and still have the original pleat in the legs as the day they came off the store hanger. And they still fit just like they did in the dressing room.

I, on the other hand spend the same amount of money on a shirt, or a nice pair of pants... and then do my absolute level best to get as many wearings out of those clothes as possible before I *have* to wash them. Because I know - the minute Maytag gets ahold of them they will NEVER, EVER look the same. I can wash them on delicate, even line dry them and they still come out shriveled, wrinkled and faded. Why???? Why?? Is it the same laundry gods that allow dry cleaners to get away with charging women twice as much for similar items of clothing????

No, I think not. I think it's the fashion industry that counts on women being brainwashed into wanting the newest, hottest "look" so they quit wearing clothes that have supposedly gone out of style long before the shoddy material and design manifest themselves via regular wear and tear. You know, maybe the genderfied gap in income wouldn't be so apparent if women didn't have such high expenses. Yeah, sure it's all a choice - but there's no denying that men who conform to societal standards of personal appearance get off a hell of a lot cheaper than women who do the same. Besides just the quantity of clothes, shoes, accessories and jewelry a woman needs to appear "stylish"; there's cosmetics, nailcare & that sort of thing - which women spend hundreds of dollars on a year; haircuts that cost 3 times as much as a man's (nevermind color & perm if that's your thing); and pantyhose (don't EVEN get me started on pantyhose!!!). What have men got? Hmmmm... shaving cream and razors. That's about it.

Truly, that's one reason I love living in the Pacific Northwest, where the "natural" look, hairy legs and all is quite the norm. Let's me spend my money on truly important things - like cool plants for my yard.

How Does Your Garden Grow??

Today we went to a great Spring Plant Fair at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds. I'd read about it here and had mentioned it to Curt; then he saw a live news broadcast this morning from the fairgrounds and that clinched it. I honestly didn't think there'd be that many people - I mean, after all it was just a little plant sale put on by the Master Gardener's Association, I thought - not one of the big garden & patio shows at the convention center or anything. The traffic jam we hit a mile from the fairgrounds quickly corrected that assumption. Obviously, we didn't understand the allure. Apparently this event is an annual tradition for most serious gardeners in the area. They'd brought their own wagons.... everything from bright red Radio Flyers to homemade contraptions crafted out of recycle bins and garbage can lids strapped to luggage carts. Once we were inside, it all made sense. Sooo many neat & wonderful plants and garden art & stuff - and everybody so helpful & nice & eager to tell you how to care for your acquisitions. We went with a contrarian strategy - starting at the back row and working our way forward. We were looking for just 3 things, specifically - something(s) shade loving for the built-in planter in our covered porch; a golden chain tree (which we'd had at my childhood home & I've wanted since the day we bought our own house); and maybe some water hyacinth for the birdbath (which Curt's sister had suggested as a way to keep the water clean). By the third row we'd navigated we'd gotten all that and more - including this amazing angel trumpet with variegated leaves (for the shady spot). The guy we bought it from only had 3 plants - we must have had 12 different people stop us afterwards begging to know where we'd gotten it. At $15 for the 6" plant (maybe 2" tall?) we were feeling pretty pleased with our purchase - we'd wanted a conversation piece for the porch and we sure got it! The blooms are supposed to be wonderfully fragrant in the mornings &/evenings; too! I also came across these really cool stepping stone molds that I couldn't bear to leave without. We've got a couple of areas where we want to put in stepping stones and I've been trying to figure out how to make my own; more decorative ones for awhile so it felt like fate. We got the Fleur de Lis mold and a border mold (of grape leaves). Each mold takes 48 to set and a week to cure - so we might have enough to complete our projects by the end of the summer. So arms full (since we hadn't thought ahead and brought a wagon) we beat a hasty retreat to save our checking account, even though we'd only seen about a tenth of the show. Neither one of us has much willpower when it comes to plants.

Tomorow we're heading down to the Oregon Garden - which we've been trying to get to for about a month; but our own home improvement projects have kept us at home every weekend lately.

RiverRock Most Admired Company...

I'd heard about this little mix-up. But I didn't know until this article that the company is based in Port Angeles, WA!!! The old family homestead (on my Dad's side) is just outside PA - I still have an aunt and cousins that live around there. Hmmm... I guess maybe there *are* jobs up there, if we ever decide to ditch Portland. I'd love to work for a company like this!!

Chance Meetings on the SuperHighway

In one of those weird little quirky coincidences of the information age, my cell phone happens to have nearly the exact same phone number as a little Bed & Breakfast in Eastern Oregon. I get lots of interesting calls for them – people looking for reservations; once a hysterical woman left a voicemail trying to track down her wayward husband

“Faith*??” This is Mary Smith – is Frank there? *Sob* He was supposed to be home last night but isn’t here; and he didn’t call *incoherent weeping* …I know he stays there sometimes. If you see him could you tell him how worried I am and to call me????”

Faith is apparently the name of the innkeeper. Usually I just ignore the messages or quickly tell people the correct number if they happen to reach me. But in this particular case I couldn’t do that. She deserved to know her plea for help had not reached it's intended audience. So I broke from tradition and called her back, leaving a message with the right number. Unfortunately she never called me back so I’ll never know if Frank made it home OK; or if he’d just gotten caught screwing around.

I’ve always been rather fond of B&B's, ever since my parents & I stayed in one in Cape May, NJ when we attended my brother’s graduation from Coast Guard boot camp. So maybe because we watched Bagdad Cafe last night (a quirky, funny little film about a little hole in the wall reststop in the middle fo nowhere); and maybe because I had another request for reservations on my phone this morning my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to find out more about this place on the internet. No webpage, but they are mentioned in several travel guides. This one paints a particularly bucolic vision of the town, Ione and the B&B.

Snip: "What do you DO in Ione (population 300)? Well, go for a walk. Sit in the park. Talk with the neighbors. Breathe warm evening air that stirs with the sense of gardens growing, the sound of sprinklers turning. Gaze at rose-colored sunsets and slow rising moons. In short, to be, as Dylan Thomas puts it, "young and easy under the apple boughs and happy as the grass was green."

Armed with more info, I called them to introduce myself today on the pretext of asking them to check to see if they have any brochures or listings with the incorrect area code. Faith was wary, kind of reserved... but nice. I think she thought I was a nutcase. No, they don't have a webpage and they don't really advertise anywhere... she didn't know how people might be getting my number. So I'm kind of chalking it up to divine intervention - a message from the universe that one of these days, when we get sick of the rat race in the city we might just have to go visit in person. In fact, I think there's a premise for a novel in here somewhere. If only a could find a quiet, peaceful place to write it..... maybe Ione??

Clive Cussler's "Sahara" coming soon to a theatre near you?

Oh, I do hope they work out all this legal crap and & get Cussler back on board the project. Dirk Pitt was made for the big screen and Matthew McConaughey will be absolutely yummy as Dirk... *sighs dreamily* James Bond? Pleeeaaase.... he's a pretentious boor in a penguin suit next to my baby Dirk. Now if they could just get Ed Harris in the film somehow.....

Scully Was right, after all....

In case you're dying to find out (as I was) what conclusions the scientists eventually came to regarding the Fires of Canneto di Caronia (see April 5 post - sorry I can't link directly to it); Bob, author of the Shade Tree Physics website , was kind enough to take pity on my "what's up?" email and provide an update:

"Dear Kelli - Initially I was a bit skeptical about the idea of a geothermal hot spot producing an electron cloud on the surface by some unidentified dissociation process., It now, however, dawns on me that red hot magma should boil off electrons by thermionic emission. If that hot spot is not too far below the town, the electrons should not have much trouble working their way to the surface.

See my new comment at the bottom of the "insert" page A Canneto di Caronia (ME) at: http://www.ebicom.net/~rsf1/cann-for.htm One new report has it that the fires tend to occur primarily when trains are approaching. Maybe the weight of the train compresses the ground and forces up an extra dose of the flammable gas (if such exists) or stirs up the local electon cloud.

Best regards, Bob F."

So basically... seismic/ volcanic activity under the town is creating a charged electric atmosphere above the surface which overcomes the insulators in electronics, causing them to combust. The phenomenon has abated recently and the civil authorities have installed lightning rods and grounding lines to help dissipate the energy.

Damn. My bet was on the devil.

Ya' Think?

If the United States is to win its "war on terror" it must overcome hostility abroad and halt the rise of militants with a new "Marshall Plan" for the Muslim world, two leading Democratic lawmakers say

Ya’ think? In any case, I’m really glad to see the Democrats coming out with this. Voters typically don’t like switching horses in the middle of a stream. Maybe they’ll reconsider if they see their original mount has “spooked” and is headed hellbent for election straight toward that waterfall up ahead while the alternative is actually determined to make his way *across* the turbulence to safety on the other shore. That’s all Kerry needs – a little cheesy cowboy rhetoric to counter Bush's "back at the ranch" imagery.

The "Close your eyes & wish it away" method of geopolitical action, by GW Bush

Oh, I wish I could have been there! Mass Protest Decries Bush Abortion Policies . For a pretty good list of the specific ways in which Bush seems to have declared war on women, check this out: War On Women.

I just don't get Bush's blind devotion to abstinence. Yeah, sure - it works so long as you don't fall off the wagon, but that's a very hard thing to do. A recent study shows 88% of those teens who make virginity pledges still have sex before marriage. This is compared to 99% of non-pledgers. Pledgers do have fewer sex partners - but here's the downside (in my mind, anyway) they get married at a younger age. Which indicates to me, at least that they're just getting married because they're horny. Oh yeah, that's the foundation for a good, solid stable marriage.

Don't get me wrong - I think abstinence is a great option - I practiced it myself for extended periods of time before I got married. The problem is; Bush wants to teach kids that abstinence is the ONLY option for birth control - that it's the ONLY option for protecting themselves against STD's. He wants to INTENTIONALLY and DELIBERATELY keep kids IGNORANT of other ways to have sex safely and responsibly. So in Bush's ideal world, when they *do* fall off the wagon (as 88% of them DO) they are completely vulnerable to getting pregnant and catching STD's. They'd have no access to emergency contraception, or a safe first trimester abortion, or healthcare if they catch HIV's. Because in Bush's mind, they should be PUNISHED for CHOOSING to have unprotected sex - nevermind that he left them NO OTHER fucking choice. Literally.

Sorry for all the CAPS - it's something I get pretty worked up about. It's this fucking lose-lose situation he wants to force people into. Adhere to *MY* strict right wing religious beliefs about sex and marriage or suffer the consequences you heathen scum!! And what's worse is, he's not just trying to impose them on Americans. He's locking up all US funding and support for global reproductive health care, family planning and HIV prevention/care contingent upon foreign citizens complying with those beliefs, as well.

This is where the idiocy really shines through. Bush's master plan for fighting HIV in Africa (sorry - no specific source - I saw it on an OPB interview), for instance is to push (& fund) only "abstinence until marriage" programs. If he'd bother listening to any of the organizations who actually *work* in Africa and understand the culture and history there; he'd know that marriage is not defined the same way there as it is here, so there's a large % of couples living together or otherwise in long-term relationships who aren't, technically "married"; and that African men are not particularly known for their fidelity anyway (maybe not the women either, but I've only heard of the high incidence of men infecting women). Nevermind that rape is so prevalent in parts of Africa - specifically in Rwanda where an estimated 11% of all females, or approximately 535,000 women, living in Rwanda at the time of the genocide were victims of a concerted rape campaign. During the course of the rape campaign, an average of 4 women were violently sexually assaulted, most of them by HIV+ men, every minute of every hour of every day for 100 consecutive days. More than 67% of women who were raped in 1994 during the genocide are now facing death from AIDS. Now the same thing is happening in the Sudan; and not just to females.

So what's Bush expect these people to do? Prove under oath that their pregnancy/ HIV was a result of rape before he'll let UA funded air organizations provide care or perform an abortion?

"I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive." (Albert Einstein)

Did I ever mention I have the same astrological sign as Einstein? Yep - we're both Piscean. (That might explain why I'm so enthralled of rivers, huh? The fun little game on the Brother Bear DVD even said my totem was the salmon). Needless to say I've always felt a certain kinship to the man especially once I learned he shared my INTP Myers-Brigg type, too (only 5% of us in the population - aren't we special?). It's not so much his scientific theories that intrigue me - it's his views on God & Religion and everything else ; in my egomaniacal moments I like to imagine we think alike. Two people with great imagination who are at heart; incredibly curious about the world around them, enjoying swimming through life upstream against the currents of "accepted" societal norms. The difference, of course is sheer amount of brain power - and mental discipline (which I sorely lack). Anyway, they've recently found a diary written by his last girlfriend which chronicles his last years. Despite his apparently shitty treatment of his first wife; I still admire the old bird. Had I been in Ms. Fantova's shoes, I'd've gone for the old fart too.

What Smurf Are You?

Around our house, we've adopted the word "Smurf" as the snarky argument equivalent of "uncle". When one of us has had enough of whatever fight we're currently engaged in and is starting to feel like it's moving into irreparable "you hurt my feelings" territory, we cry "smurf" to tell the other to knock it the fuck off, seriously. Because, after all - who embodies warm fuzzy "why can't we all just get along" vibes better than the smurfs? So I was very curious when Frog posted a link to the Smurf Name Generator to see exactly *which* smurfs we were evoking. Turns out I'm "Meshugana Smurf" whatever the fuck that means - if I slip my middle initial in there I'm either "Boozy Smurf" or "Radioactive Smurf" depending on where I put the initial; and "Megatron Smurf" or "Full Monty Smurf" using my full middle name. Curt is "Super Absorbant Smurf" which is strangely appropriate given his obsession with toilet paper (Charmin with Aloe is harder to find than you'd think, thankyouverymuch). Had we both hyphenated our last names after marriage as we'd once discussed, we'd be "Squanto Smurf" and "Transparent Smurf" respectfully - one more reason not to do it, I'd say.

**Editorial note: Further research tells me "Meshugana" is Yiddish; an daccording to the Yiddish glossary it means "Mad, Crazy & Insane Woman". Which is also strangely appropriate. I feel so uncool when people throw out hip Yiddish slang and I'm totally oblivious. *sigh*

River Me This....

I’m not terribly thrilled with the original “Three Rivers” title of the blog. It was originally inspired by the name of the (now defunct, I think) regional athletic league my high school was a member of and was the only riverish reference I could come up with to match my signature Norman Maclean quote (the *true* inspiration for the blog). So I’m now entertaining several alternatives:

RiverRocks (current)
River City (one of Portland’s many monikers)
Riverine!!! (picture a Red Dawn type call to action, like C. Thomas Howell’s screaming “Wolverines!”)

Any other riveresque suggestions are wholeheartedly welcomed.

Battle of the Mother In Laws

Both my mother and Curt's mother are R.N.'s. Which is convenient when we have some minor health malady going on. But currently they're both on a mission to diagnose Curt's underlying 'problem'; of metabollic syndrome (i.e. pre-Diabetic insulin resistance); chronic fatigue and general feeling of crappiness. Obviously, the weight is a big contributor of all that - but Curt swears he felt the same way even when he was younger and in incredibly good shape. So now my mom is convinced his problema are due to his low testosterone; and Curt's mom is convinced they're due to sleep apnea. Both base their information on supposedly brilliant rogue doctors. It has all the drama potential of amade for TV movie, I tell 'ya: Battle of the Mother In Laws!! Stay tuned for play by play action.

Where are Scully & Mulder?

Just one of the truly trivial things I'm currently obsessing about: MSNBC article Basically, there's this little Sicillian town where all things electrical are spontaneously combusting into flame (is that redundant?) but apparently *only* when humans are present. Locals & their priest think it's the work of the devil and believe sacrificing a goat might fix the problem; but they've decided to let the scientific community investigate first. So far, the Luciferian theory is whipping the piss out of anything the scientists can come up with, though this guy has his own theory The Fires of Canneto di Caronia and is looking for someone to fund his expedition to Italy to investigate personally.

I'm finally taking the plunge

into true blogdom and have begun posting links to my favorite blogs. Maybe in the sad hope that some of them might be intrigued at finding the link in their tracking statistics and find their way back to mine. Right now I have an audience of one, I think - my dear hubby and it's getting a little lonely in River City.

And I'm adding a few new ones, as well - Long Story, Short Pier is one I'm newly intrigued by - if for nothing else than the really cool old pics/photo's; and equally intriguing links such as this Mona-Lisa synch.

Can't let the Fuckwits win

Don't ask why - something to do with anti-semitic racist asshats googlebombing the word Jew; making their vile website google's #1 result - and a call to bloggers everywhere to link to an actual Jewish informative site to foil their evil plot.

Sometimes small things are easiest.

Circle of Smirk

Yes, I've been a very bad, bad blogger. In my defense I *have* had several "hey that's kind of an interesting thought - I should blog that!" instances in the last week; but I just never quite had the gumption to set them down. So you'll have to make do with some general "what's going on in my life right now" musings instead.

We had a gorgeous 80 degree Easter weekend. Brunch @ Dad's - then we attended a spur of the moment BBQ with my bro, Kyle* & his wife Beth* and my bro’s best old friend Barry* and his wife Judith* that evening. Now, Barry’s never really been a friend of mine – in fact, quite the contrary as I found out when he reminisced about throwing one of my romantical Kah-Nee-Ta conquests up against the wall to warn him against ‘dating’ me. Having one over protective big brother interfering with my love life was bad enough – I certainly didn’t need his friends jumping on the bandwagon, too. But I got my revenge a year later by sleeping with Kyle’s new best friend when my best friend Karen* and I visited him in Maui. Yeah, I still remember that vacation very fondly. I got a little revenge against Barry the other night, too by mentioning a mutual friend of his & Kyle’s who Barry had at one time been dating – then later had an affair with while he was dating Judith; after she’d given him 2 illegitimate kids. Had she not been present; and were we not wanting him to do some electrical work for us I might have twisted that knife a little deeper by mentioning the *ahem* “premature” aspects of that illicit relationship that I was made privy too by that mutual friend.

But that would just be cruel. Right now I’m feeling more that a little sorry for the guy. When Kyle had talked about Barry before he’d always talked about how well he was doing. Making lots of “bank” as an electrician – buying his own house and having lots of toys (of the all-terrain variety). Needless to say this rankled me quite a bit as Barry was always viewed by our family (and the community in general) as a bit of a loser; who would never amount to anything. I, on the other hand was the prodigal child who everyone Expected Great Things Of. So from where I stood (in a 670 sq ft apartment making at most half of what Barry was bringing in) it wasn’t quite right. Yeah, it’s petty I know. So I was reassured a few weeks back when Kyle & Beth revealed that life with Barry wasn’t all it’d been cracked up to be. Their house, according to K & B was a bit of a shithole and though Barry’s wife was a SAHM; so disgusting they couldn’t stand to spend more than a couple of hours there visiting. Granted - I've been a card-carrying member of the slob brigade myself for most of my life but the petty, small, jealous part of myself that I'm in no way proud of was curious to see how bad life was like for the old Barryman - in order to, yes - once again feel superior.

So off to Barry's we went and as slovenly as their house was, my much anticipated air of superiority was tainted by the realization that for Barry & Judith - life ended after kids. Barry lives in a perpetual twilight world of "remember when I kicked so & so's ass?" and I can't really tell when Judith ever had a life aside from him & the kids. A fun evening for them is sitting on the porch, drinking beer and smoking, maybe sitting in the hot tub overlooking the trailer park next door and making fun of the inhabitants. Helloooo….. you’ve got a split level ranch in serious need of repair and weird bacteria/hairbunny/toothpaste spit mutant colonies growing in the corners of your bathroom. WTF are you so proud of?

But everyone needs someone to feel superior over. Barry has the trailer park dwellers, I have Barry – shit the trailer dwellers probably gloat over what they perceive as my shitty life, so I guess it’s just the circle of smirk in action.

Disappointed as I may be at times that I’m not a svelte high powered attorney; corporate executive or best selling author (as I fully expected to be when in high school), if nothing else I can say I *lived* before I settled down, dammit! Shit – I still do – and fully expect that to continue if/when we have kids. Both Curt & I still have hopes and dreams that we’re working towards. We take some pride (though definitely not arrogance) in our house, and invest sweat and money into making it nicer than it was when we bought it. And probably most important – we continue to have little adventures in life, giving us ample post-high school stories for BBQ consumption. And the thing is – I’m sure they do have plenty of stories from their life after turning 21 – what’s sad, I think is that they’re more proud of the people they were and the lives they led before then.

Pride Doesn't Pay The Bills

You know, so far I like my new job. There’s just one small, minor negative that’s proving there’s good and bad in every situation. As I mentioned before, a couple of the guys in my dept. apparently are rather politically conservative. Which would be fine if they’d just keep their close-minded, idiotic views to themselves. But no. They feel the need to share. It started with the bashing of the European political systems as I've mentioned before; then they started bashing the new progressive talk show network, Air America Radio which has launched in Portland on AM 620 this week. E & D listen for a short while then criticize that "you'd think they could hire better producers - it sounds like high school radio"; "They just sound bitter and angry"; and "isn't that the same thing they were talking about yesterday" you know - I could say the same and worse about conservative talk radio hosts; from Limbaugh to fucking Dr. Laura but I don't.

Then tooday E. was talking to one of our branch offices about whoknowswhat; and after he got off the phone he says “Wow – did you know Will* (the owner/Pres) has a rule that we can’t hire people for temp jobs if they haven’t worked in 6 months? I can understand that if they have a criminal background, or maybe if we had low unemployment, but Oregon’s still got the highest unemployment rates in the country. So this branch has already lost two of their biggest customers who are now using another temp agency that does hire these people”. Yeah – I’d say that’s whacked. Doesn’t bode well for the business intelligence of management. But then, here’s the annoying part. I add that why no, that doesn’t seem very smart – people will often only turn to temp work after all hopes of finding work in their chosen field is gone, which can often be more than 6 months; or even wait until their unemployment benefits run out – because if you take a lower paying job you’re screwed not just financially; but then you have no time to devote to a job search – and it looks bad on a resume when you do try to go back to your old field. To which D. replied with a rather sneering “yeah, why would anybody want to work instead of enjoying a paid vacation??. I’d never take unemployment”. I replied that I’d always had the same attitude until I was put in that situation (didn’t mention Hubby’s extended involuntary “vacation”) and decided that those funds had been paid in for a great many years on my behalf and I might as well use them. Since D. has a wife & 3 kids; his attitude was rather surprising. E asked him “why not?” “I’ve got my pride” was D’s reply; clearly indicating I should be ashamed for dipping into the socialist welfare system.

Yeah, well – pride doesn’t pay the mortgage, put food on the table or shoes on your kids’ feet, dickwad. I’ve worked damned hard to get where I am career-wise and I’m not going to watch all that hard work get flushed down the toilet just because people like you, who have probably never had to bust your ass working 3 menial jobs at a time think it’s “shameful”. Talk to me about pride when you lose your fucking house and are moonlighting as a pump jockey because you were too good to “go on the dole”. Bet the kids will be real proud of Daddy then, won’t they?

Parenting 101

If/when we do spawn, must remember this lesson by : Defective Yeti

Calling Scully & Mulder...

I’m going to follow this definitely odd story pretty closely: Sicilian Blazes Put Science to the Test .

Snip: “A series of spontaneous fires started in mid-January in the town of Canneto di Caronia in about 20 houses. After a brief respite last month, the almost daily fires have flared up again -- even though electricity to the village was cut off.
An endless flow of scientists, engineers, police and even a few self-styled "ghostbusters" have descended on the town searching for clues to the recent spontaneous combustion of everything from fuse boxes to microwave ovens to a car. “

But even though locals are convinced it’s the devil at work; they & the local priest have decided to let the scientists take first crack at solving the mystery. So far, the scientists are failing. It’s going to be rather interesting to see if any attempts at exorcism end up doing the trick.

Mutual Mastication?

Little did my new co-workers realize G. had hired a *gasp* LIBERAL!!! Good thing you can’t discriminate on the basis of political beliefs or my ass might go right back out the door. Poor guys – I guess I’m a killjoy – I think a big part of their day was spent discussing politics before I came on board. Now they try to get a good discussion going about how shitty the European (read “more socialist”) systems are compared to ours and I sit here and throw in my 2 cents of “sounds good to me” and suddenly everyone gets real quiet and starts working furiously again. Hey, at least I’m not one to slap ‘em with a harassment suit when they start discussing how hot Erin Moran was in Buck Rogers. I just casually mention how great Gil Gerard’s spandex-wrapped physique was, too. Yeah – I’m a killjoy all right.

Having a politically charged working atmosphere might be good or bad from my honey’s point of view. Good if I get my argument fix at work; bad if it just riles me up more when I come home to him. We shall see.

Other random thoughts of the day: I could use more little kisses from my honey, but he has this tendency to pucker up only when either his or my mouth is full of food; which is mildly vexing. Mutual masturbation is one thing but mutual mastication? Not so much.

What the hell *is* a Scuzzy drive, anyway?

**8/31/09 Update: For those of you reaching this post via a search of "scuzzy drive" - I can now tell you it's actually "SCSI" - a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices .

Note to self: please remember to look for and call the nice people at the Oregon Unemployment Office who finally sent you a job referral 4 weeks after you’d gotten a job and quit claiming benefits to advise them of your change in status.

Also, please remember to check the mirror a little harder before heading out to work in the morning. For cripe’s sake the other day your shirt was inside out and today, it’s stained. I can’t believe your husband lets you walk out the door like that!

Apparently impressed with my fanatical knowledge of early 80’s sci-fi shows, my new co-workers have insisted I take this Geek Test. Apparently, I outscored them with 29.6%, which makes me a “Total Geek”. But I still don’t know what the hell a scuzzy drive is.

We got a visit from the cutest pair of ducks the other day. The female sat her ass down right in front of our door - I was worried for awhile she'd build a nest there and block my quick escape route to the river trail. But no, they apparently didn't like our menu selection of hard, dried cereal which D. provided them with so they moved on to mooch elsewhere.

Maude, my life is boring

- compared to the adventures of an English lass named Fiona who is working for a contractor in Iraq.

Ready! Set! Blog!

I just realized I've got like 5 minutes alone with nobody else in my little cubehood - time for a quickie. It's gorgeous here today. Mid 70's - all the tulips are in bloom and everything else is bustin' out all over. Curt got off early and came for a quick walk along the river. the Fisherpeople were out fishin and the ducks/ geese were gettin' it on (not sure which, but there was a lot of honkin' goin' on). You could see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood in all their snowcapped brialliance. I'm really liking my new digs.

My initial plan to wallow in menstrual, baby-less depression and crawl under the covers, not coming out until it was time to go to work on Monday was foiled by the nice weather. Besides one ass-chafing trip to Winco for our semiannual canned goods & meat stock up it was pretty nice. Note to self - NEVER AGAIN go to Winco on a Saturday afternoon. You used to be smart - you used to go after 10:00 pm. At least it wasn't raining this time.

Any Idiot can get pregnant

But apparently not this one. Say hello to little Aunt Flo. :(

5:00 and still no Flo

5:00 and still no Flo. Not that I'm anxious or anything. Or drinking tons of fluids so I have to pee every 20 minutes so I can check, or anything equally neurotic like that.

In other news, I'm checking out this place - just in case: Andaluz Waterbirth Ctr.

Gestatory Limbo

*ahem* Ok - don't panic, don't get too excited here, but maybe, just maybe, quite possibly one of Curt's swimmers *may* have triumphantly crossed the finish line last month. Fuckin' piss-on-a-stick test still says no, but Aunt Flo's over a week late and she's never been that late before. Never. Ever. She likes my Chicken & Dumplin's too much to miss dinner, I swear. So something must have happened to her in transit. Of course, we all no how much success I had with the ovulatory versions of the piss-on-a-stick tests so that might account for it. Though, come to think of it... if I *were* knocked up right before I began those tests they'd have come out negatory anyway, right? But if so then I'd surely be far along enough for the EPT to work?? Or maybe it happened during the 4th week of my cycle and it's still too early to show up???... The boobs are tender and I *might* be a little more tired than usual but aside from that, I'm not experiencing any other symptoms. In any event, time will tell.

I'd go to the ob/gyno to have them confirm (though I think they just have more expensive pisstests that aren't any more sensitive than the OTC ones) but I'm still in a bit of insurance limbo. My benefits won't kick in for another 2 months - Curt's tried to get me on his and we don't know if I'm covered or not. I should definitely be after the 1st. So I might as well give it a week and see what happens. I'll just abstain from the alcohol consumption and other prego "no-no's" until then, just to be on the safe side.

Of course, it could be what with the stress of starting a new job, and my wanting a baby so bad maybe I've subconsciouisly talked myself into a fake pregnancy? Stranger things have happened. In any event, I'm also not experiencing any symptoms of the premenstruel variety (besides aforementioned boob tenderness), either (like cramps and mood swings) which typically presage Flo's arrival.... so, WTF?

Lunch from Hell

Have you ever had fire extinguisher go off in your car while driving? I can now say that I have! Woohoo!!! Not as much fun as you'd think. Dad's borrowed full-size Bronco, extinguisher rolling around loose in the back... sudden stop in traffic and... you get the picture. I managed to pull over and get the pin back in but it wouldn't stay. Eventually had to crawl back there and tie it upright to some heavy box full of emergency auto gear (flares, rope, whathaveyou). Did I ever mention one of my biggest irrational fears is of chemicals getting thrown together in the back of a truck and causing a lethal reaction or worse yet, causing an explosion? Yeah, laugh all you want but that's exactly what happened to some poor family on the way home from the beach here in Oregon a few years back. Two out of the 3 kids burned alive while their parents could do nothing to get them out of the backseat (the fire was too hot). The same old bleach/ baking soda? reaction I think that was on CHiPS a long time ago. Bleach and some other common household item, anyway - stuff you'd commonly pick up at the store together.

Needless to say, I'm pretty damned thankful it was just a fire extinguisher.

Peeing on a Stick is Harder than you'd think!

Bad blogger! Bad, bad blogger! Guess I won't be winning any awards any time soon for most consistent posts. In my defense, I've had quite a bit on my mind lately - and not much time to blog with the new job. I'm trying to keep my image squeaky clean for at least a few months so don't expect me to update as regularly as before. Yeah, I know - I *could* blog on my own damned time but by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is get on the computer some more. But I'll try.

So how's the new job, you ask? Pretty nifty, if I dosaysomyself! The first project they gave me really has me stretching myself intellectually - to the point where by the end of the day I've got major brain drain goin' on. The people are nice. I work with three other guys in the IT dept. and then our boss, the VP (of what, I'm still not sure). Hours are good - we're expected to be in "sometime between 8 and 8:30" and work until the job is done. Though without a key yet I can't stay much later than 5:30. Even then, the commute is a breeze - 25 minutes tops. It's 15 with no traffic at all. And I love the part of town I'm in! The office is right down by the river - the Greenway trail is just across a railroad track and small parking lot from the door right outside my cube. I've been trying to take short little walks every afternoon to ease the cramp in my ass from sitting so long. And wonder of wonder... there are windows!!! If I lean back in my chair I can see 'em. If you overlook the dumpsters it's quite a nice little view, and they let in tons of natural light, which I can feel already improving my mood. There are all kinds of nice restaurants and shops in the immediate vicinity - all with parking.

So all things considered, I'm pretty damned happy. I like the work, the company, the culture, the people and the money. I'd almost send my old boss a thank you note if it weren't for the principal of the damned thing. I'm still dying to hear how they're coping without me.... I'm petty enough to want to know that they're struggling. Maybe I should be glad I don't know, though - what if they're doing even better without me? That'd bite the big one. Maybe I should just be glad that my new job's keeping my mind so occupied I'm not obsessing about the old one anymore. For that at least, I'm very thankful.

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In other news, I have yet to get knocked up, despite increased efforts to get me in that condition. This month we tried using one of those "ClearBlueEasy" ovulation detection kits. Easy my ass! Apparently it requires a *certain* amount of urine to work correctly. Twice I *though* I'd peed on it for the requisite 5 seconds, but apparently I'm better at peeing on my hand than on the stick it's holding, because I couldn't even get the reference line to show up after hours, let alone the specified 10 minutes. Of course, it might help not to lose the instructions next time. According to the woman on the end of the 800 help-line, there's a second method where you pee in a cup and stir it with the stick that might be a tad more effective. You can tell a man designed these fucking things - what woman could control her stream of urine well enough to make it accurate?

Happy Birthday To Me...

What a great birthday present! That's right, I finally got myself a job offer yesterday. I'm thrilled - especially as I'll be making quite a bit more $$ than my previous job, and doing about the same thing. The office is down overlooking the river, almost to downtown. So the commute is easy. Good stable company - they're publically traded and have been in business for 15 years at least. They do Human Resource outsourcing - everything from temp and employment placing to "PEO" (still not sure what that stands for) which is where they 'co-employ' a client's employees and take over everything from payroll to worker's comp to benefits management. They've got about 45 branches - mostly on the West Coast but a dozen or so on the East Coast as well.

Third interview's a charm, I guess! I was pretty proud of myself - I asked for $2k more than I really wanted to sart and they offered me exactly what I was shooting for. I start on Tuesday. But now the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome's setting in - you know, the feeling that there's gotta be something wrong with them if they want to hire me?

Hormones and such

Flea had a great entry about PMS yesterday. It seems like such a silly topic to me somehow . Don't know why that is, really - it *is* a serious condition that can seriously impact the quality of every woman's life (and her family's). But at the same time we women get so pissed when our emotions are so easily dismissed as hormonal in cause that we tend to trivialize that impact.

One of the hardest things about my getting fired is remembering that awful morning with the hatchet squad - all women, all supposedly "sisters" and sleep-deprived and emotionally spent me, totally speechless and empty, defending my emotional outburst of the day before on the bad PMS I'd been getting since coming off b/c. It was my one parting shot, my "last words" and I couldn't come up with anything more grandiose than "it was the PMS". Maude, how pathetic. How unprofessional! But honestly - I'm sure that was it.... so why not own up to it? How else am I supposed to figure out how to not let my hormones control my life except by recognizing it for what it is?

Road Trip!!

Has already come and gone.... but it was lovely while it lasted. We went to the enchanting little Victorian town of Port Townsend up on the Olympic Peninsula over VD Weekend to check out this little house & shack on 2 lots an old family friend of Curt's is offering to sell us at a killer deal... and carry the contract! There are renters in both houses now. The main house is on the national historic register. A small fixer-upper... there'd be room for 3 bedrooms (4 if you included the parlor), with lots of neat architectural interest.... and it might have even made a decent small B&B at some point. But. But, but, but. The current owner would want us to get financing within a year or two so she could get her equity out of it and there's just no way we can do that right now... I'm unemployed and we couldn't get enough rent out of either property to cover the mortgage. The rental market just isn't high enough. And it needs a new roof.... and would need lots of other fixing up... and insurance and taxes... blah blah blah. ***Sigh***. So no go... it just wouldn't make sense unless we were going to move in it ourselves. And I'm not quite ready to relocate.

Friday night we stayed in a wonderful little bed & breakfast and had a late romantic dinner at a local cafe. Which was a good thing because up until then we were both a bit grouchy. We'd missed the turn off from the main hwy to P.T. and ended up going 40 miles out of our way... but in the end it was worth it. Saturday after checking out the property (and scaring the tenants in the process with our lurking) we went on to Port Angeles and stayed the night with my aunt and uncle. Though their saggy uncomfortable guest bed didn't hold a candle to the feather & down dreaminess of the B&B bed; the company was delightful and we had a wonderful visit.

Back home to reality... Jinx hadn't missed us a bit. Our friends S&M had puppysat and they have a slightly stupid and clumsy (but still endearing) Golden Lab male that's only about 6 months older than our pooper pupper. They're best of buddies, though. We were planning to breed them once upon a time in an attempt to create some Chocolate Lab puppies... until his *ahem* not so desireable genetic traits became apparent. He's not too bright, for one. Doesn't even fetch... and he's a Lab!! And he's got some kind of "collapse" syndrome where he just passes out in the middle of running. And bad hips, I think. I'm feeling very snobby but the truth of the matter is he's just *not* good enough for our perfect little girl :)

I got an in-person interview last Friday with the software company I had the phone interview with last week. I'm pretty sure I blew it. Maybe sabotaged it in a not-so subconscious way. I told them the travel wouldn't be a problem, but I think it would. I'd miss my aminals and my honey too much. I got a bad vibe off the one woman who would be my boss - I don't think she liked me very much. And from the looks of the visitor sign-in sheet, there were about a dozen or so interviews before me. But hell, that probably means I'll get an offer. They said they'd call me one way or the other this week.

I'd much prefer this other job I interviewed for last Wednesday. The phone interview went well and on the in-person interview I met with 3 men - the finance manager (who I'd report to); the IT manager (who would handle the hardware side of things, but who I wouldn't report to which would be refreshing) and the General Manager (or President) of the company. Usually they don't waste that kind of time on someone unless they're seriously considering them. I thought all three interviews went rather well and was pretty confident afterwards; but they said they'd call me one way or the other by last Friday and there's still been no word. So I'm about to give up all hope of getting it. It's sad to say but one reason I kind of liked the idea was the fact that I would be reporting to and working most closely with men. I know it's sexist as all hell but the last job with Jan & Shelly just really left a bad stink in my mouth. Sisterhood is all well & good until one sister is deemed a thread by another.... then watch the fuck out! It's like woman feel the need to put on this "cooperative" face; but then when the reality of competition comes along, it's every woman for herself. Which would be fine - I can respect that. If they'd just be fucking honest about it. Men on the other hand can seem to compete against one another (and against women) and still be friendly about it - and most of all, honest. Maybe it's just that I find working with men much simpler, and easier. I know how devious a woman can be - I'm a perfect example!

Burning bridges over troubles waters

I'm having a bad night. For some reason I'm back on the fucking mental tilt-a-whirl about the whole job thing. I don't know what triggered it tonight - I stayed up late, watching late night TV and thought I'd be able to nod off easily, but instead I started re-hashing the whole "what did I do wrong?" shit. Next thing I know I'm choking back sobs, trying not to wake up Curt - so I slipped out of bed and thought I'd try to work it out on paper.

I feel so fucking betrayed, is what it is. I wonder - was it just the last emotional argument I had with Shelly or had they been displeased with me since before fucking November, when the first indication of something wrong came up - but were just too chickenshit to be honest with me? Then I catch myself going down the same path again and again and get pissed with myself for letting this whole thing rule my brainwaves. I give myself the same sorry advice I've given countless others: don't let the assholes have this kind of power over you - the power to affect your peace of mind. They're not worthy of that sacrifice on your part. You have the power to choose who has that kind of control over your emotions. I get angry at myself for letting myself imagine some sort of sisterhood, some kind of bond of camaraderie that obviously wasn't there. But then I start thinking about *why* they're not worthy - why they're such chickenshits - and off I go again, wasting more energy reliving what *exactly* makes them so unworthy, and the playback starts all over again.

Was I wrong to stand up for myself back in November? Was I wrong when I tried to take full control for this last, big project as every piece of career advice I've ever read suggests, as the best way to get ahead? They all said the only way to get noticed by the boss' boss is to take on a high profile project and make it a huge success. I'm beginning to suspect maybe Jan and Shelly read the same advice.... and weren't about to let me get that kind of visibility. What truly sucketh is I had pretty much already decided I didn't want either of their jobs. I just wanted to keep my job for another 6 months and see this project complete so I could put it on my resume. Take those formal programming classes on the company dollar that I'd put off doing so far. Then I'd have happily trundled on my merry way.

I guess that's what I'm really bitter about. It wasn't my decision. It wasn't on my terms. They weren't mature or brave enough to be honest with me so we could have parted ways in a manner that wouldn't make me have to swallow my fucking pride fighting the urge to burn that bridge in a fiery inferno, as I so desperately want to do to assuage my wounded ego. I'll never know exactly what I did wrong there - where did I fuck up? Because I don't know that I'd do it any different if I had to do it all over again.

Dance of the Seven Scarves

Well, the short term contract didn't pan out. They wanted someone with experience in a specific accounting program that I, of course am unfamiliar with. But the phone interview with the software company yesterday went well, I think. I felt good about it, anyway - which probably means I won't get it :( They said they'd let me know by mid of next week.

In any event, I'm taking that old saying "dress like you've got the job you want, not the job you've got" to heart and prettying myself up a bit. Especially as this job basically entails meeting with clients - so my favorite slouchy sweater and fur-encrusted black leggings look isn't going to fly. I'm actually kind of enjoying shopping for girly stuff - interview outfits, etc. I still refuse to wear skirts, but after accepting that with my big shoulders my favorite austere "professional" wardrobe of black jackets on black pants makes me look overly masculine - I'm embracing accessories. Thanks to Curt's family who have bought me cheap jewlery the last couple of years for Christmas (not knowing I usually don't wear any) I've got a few trinkets, but I my scarf collection was woefully lacking and I do love my pretty pieces of fabric (in moderation). So I bought about a dozen or so lovelies... some at a discount Ross type store, some at the local Value Village.

Nothing to see here....

Really, I'm not intending this to become a weekly blog - it's just sort of become that since I'm not working. Used to be I'd blog to give my brain a rest at work, but now, if I'm on the computer it's to check email or apply for job postings, or to play games :) Things are beginning to look really good on the job front. I've gotten several nibbles in the last couple of days which is re-affirming. One came from a referral from my old boss before Jan - it appears Jan had told her I was "laid off" and she recommended me to an accounting staffing agency. They don't normally deal with technical jobs but happened to have a short 2 - 4 weeker developing reports that I might work in. I'm waiting to hear if their client liked my resume. Then, they passed on my resume to an actual technical staffing agency they partner with who called me today. They have several Business Systems Analyst positions coming in lately and think I would be a great candidate for some of them after I re-format my resume a little. I really do like working with headhunters when I can. It's nice to get some objective, 3rd party feedback on your resume & experience - what your strengths and weeknesses are. And finally, I've got a phone interview tomorow with a software company that I applied to on Monster. So things are looking good.