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August 31, 2005

Help for Hurricane Victims

Updated 9.2.05

Donations to the American Red Cross hurricane relief effort can be made via amazon.com: American Red Cross Hurricane Relief/amazon.com page.

Via Ted at Rocket Jones:
California Yankee has compiled a list of places where you can make a financial contribution and help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has a recommended list of charitable agencies.

Posted by me, of course!

Perspective

My apologies for last week's vent. I seem to have forgotten my own oft-spoken words: "if that's your biggest problem in life then you've got it made." I've since written that statement out in large letters and pinned it to the wall right behind my laptop. That should prevent me from losing perspective again.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. :-)

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August 25, 2005

The Way It Is

I was going to title this entry "I pulled up my bra straps" but then thought nah, that's a lame attempt at injecting humor when I'm not feeling humorous (even though I did indeed yank on them just before I started typing.)

SO...

Ted @ Rocket Jones kinda-sorta knows where I'm going with this, since I alluded to my mental state in an email I sent off to him this a.m. Funny, I haven't heard back from him. Must have been my oh-so-intense mindset! My brain is ready to explode or implode, depending on how you look at it. Last week I travelled to Pennsylvania, thinking that being out of the city and sticking with the commitment I made to help a friend move was going to sooth what ails me. Nah-uh. Two days before I was slated to depart, I learned that my youngest sibling was going to tie the knot that weekend. Er, that's not much notice, is it. OH THE PRESSURE. I expressed my, er, surprise at the sudden announcement as well as letting him know about my prior plans. The event itself has extenuating circumstances I'll not go into here, but I will say that I wasn't in agreement - period. I'm not one to turn my back on my family, no matter what the situation is, but I knew I couldn't be in three states at the same time - NY, PA and my mental state. I was torn. I felt really, really bad about it, but I also knew it would be better to keep me and my occasionally BIG mouth far enough away in order to prevent a sudden outburst or two.

I went to Pennsylvania with the hope of landing in some sort of a calming mental state of mind. I managed to visit a couple of places I'd gone to as a child and snapped some photos and fed the deer. This was all squeezed into time spent washing windows and vacuuming and moving furniture out into the garage and killing big spiders. The underlying current of pressure remained, and my attempts to banish it from my brain proved futile. I wasn't a basket case but I was indeed a stress puppy. Vigorous exercise didn't make a dent. Been there, done that, didn't change anything.

In between, around and somewhat book-ended to the above-mentioned things, I've had weekly visits to the dentist, where major road work is taking place. Well, not really. It just seems bigger than it really is. For me to have visited the dentist so often in one year is a huge deal. I just realized that's something else I commited to this year and have managed to stick with. Yay for me.

Also creeping into this saga is the back-and-forth I've been doing to my mom's house. She's just at that age folks; she stresses about a gazillion things, we have lengthy phone conversations when I'm not there and I try my best to reassure her about her children - that they're all adults and can fend for themselves. But hey, she's a mother and that's what mothers do, they worry about their kids. Any parent can relate to that. As one of five kids, it would be nice if the attention to mom was spread around a bit, but only two of the five bother. Sometimes that gets stuck in my craw so deeply that implosion feels imminent.

Later this evening I'm headed back out once again, travelling to mom's for a few days sans laptop. Nevermind all of my own crap (work, etc.) that I've got on my mind. I frequently fantasize about moving clear across the country or even out of it completely. I'm like a kid who wants to run away from home, never to return. Yup. That's what I'm feeling like today. Tomorrow is another day.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (9)

August 15, 2005

The Things You Learn

My web statistics have reflected a number of Google searches on the word "dusting." For the life of me, I couldn't figure out if these people were searching for information about actual dusting -- that is, using a feather duster or rag to wipe dust off your counters, etc. -- or looking for something else entirely (crop dusting?) Anyway, one day and numerous hits to my blog later, I decided to review the Google searches to see what came up. Wasn't I surprised when I found that "dusting" has yet another definition. Read on:

A common cleaning product has become the inhalant of choice for a growing number of teens. Teens once inhaled nitrous oxide from cans of whipped cream, but now many are inhaling compressed air from cans of computer dusting products and the results can be deadly. The practice is called "dusting." - The KCRA Channel

I had no idea this was going on.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (12)

I'm a Slug and Other Nonsense

Let's talk about the weather
Here in NYC, the temperature coupled with humidity has made for some extreme discomfort. It's not as if this was a few days' worth of "help me, I'm melting!" atmosphere but more like days and days and days of it. Evidently today is supposed to be cooler. I hope so, because when the weather is so extreme, I tend to morph into a slug, dragging my butt from point A to point B without so much as a smirk on my face.

Let's change the subject to photography
Now that my bitching about the heat is done, I can whine about my photographic pursuits of late. Last week was a family party and I was the unofficial photographer for the event. For someone who can easily take some pretty decent photos outdoors, I absolutely suck when it comes to photographing indoors. Though one or two photos managed to come out okay, the remainder were godawful. Nevermind waving the magic wand over them in Photoshop; I tried it and it didn't help. Printing out the photos was nothing more than one pathetic rendering after another. Perhaps it's time for a camera that has an external flash unit - or something. All I know is that this latest attempt was nothing more than crap. CRAP CRAP CRAP.

Let's wrap it up
ION, (in other news), I've been futzing with templates and colors and images yet again. Each time I looked at the previous header graphic on this page -- the one with the lifeguard stand on an overcast and foggy beach -- it depressed me and didn't exactly light my fire to write anything. Now that I've returned the graphic to one used last year at this time, I'm no longer avoiding the page. We'll see how long THAT lasts. :-)

This concludes today's morning edition.

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August 11, 2005

Get Your Stupidity and Insensitivity Here

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of 9/11, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an unusual announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing yesterday.
- more @ Fulton Chain

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (8)

August 9, 2005

Hot Steamy Nights

As I lie on my bed, thinking about you, I feel this strong urge to grab you and squeeze you, because I can't forget last night.

You came to me unexpectedly during the balmy and calm night, and what happened in my bed still leaves a tingling sensation in me.

You appeared from nowhere and shamelessly, without any reservations, you lay on my naked body...you sensed my indifference, so you applied your hungry mouth to me without any guilt or humiliation, and you drove me near crazy while you drained me.

Finally, I went to sleep.

Today when I woke up, you were gone, I searched for you but to no avail, only the sheets bore witness to last night's events. My body still bears faint marks of your enthusiastic ravishing, making it harder to forget you.

Tonight I will remain awake waiting for you...

... you fucking mosquito.

Also posted in August 2003 and August 2004. Obviously I decided it will be an annual event each August. Original source via Zoe @ MBIAT

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (11)

August 2, 2005

Virginia's Homespun Bullshittery

I finally managed to catch up with Kat yesterday and we spent a lengthy amount of time chatting away by phone. Now before you folks who live in Virginia jump all over me, the title is a direct quote from her -- an expression of the goings-on since moving from Houston to Virginia. In discussing her new life there and her interaction with the folks at the local phone company, she labelled it homespun bullshittery.

Seems her new locale in a lovely but extremely rural part of Virginia has left her tapping her ladylike feet, impatiently awaiting the long-ago promised but yet to be delivered broadband access. The local telephone company's response was nothing more than "well m'am, your name's on the list and they'll get to you when they get to you" or some such nonsense like that. Nevermind the fact that the phone company is RIGHT DOWN THE STREET from where she lives.

Other than this minor (though sometimes major) inconvenience, Kat is busy settling in and making the best of it. Before I forget, I promised I'd mention that she'll be in attendance at the Lake Country MusicFest in South Hill, Virginia on August 13. If you plan to attend the musicfest, do go over to Kat's blog and leave her a comment (she uses dialup to check email but says that it takes just about forever) that you're going. She's all for meeting new folks and hey, I think I know some folks who live in Virginia, though they're not necessarily within close proximity to her. (Hey, I do what I can for friends, ya know?)

So... that's the news from a rural part of Virginia. Kat plans to be back online blogging as soon as she has broadband access, whenever that happens. This concludes today's PSA. :-)

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