I Am The Sum Of My Endeavors

And right now, my endeavors are play-oriented with one lightning-from-blue-sky caveat.
Mainly I'm having fun with Bejeweled Blitz. So here's a few life lessons from the game:

• Don't always take the easiest path; it seems easier but you have to work twice as fast and your score will never be as high as when you think things through. Investment/Return.
• On the other hand, don't overcomplicate things because you'll waste valuable time in planning, not execution.
• Avoid getting caught up in your own glory when you're ahead; that moment of arrogance can cost you the critical connection that results in a windfall of combos.
• When you start a new game, take a look around; that first few seconds of assessment will save you floundering later.
• Make sure you cover all of the board that you can - working one area dry is at first too easy (see #1) and then too hard as you get stuck in one place.
• Further, avoid becoming too obsessed about making a particular match since you could pass up on even better matches as you struggle to make that one combo happen.
• If your hand slips and you move the wrong gem, don't brood about it - that's a waste of perfectly good time and that mistake could actually create an even better combo.
• Never give up the game, no matter how bad it seems; there's more than one way to win (coins & badges), but there's only one way to lose.
• Once you've gotten a few good combos, don't think the rest of the game will just come naturally; you may have to fight even harder to make connections for a bit but the diligence always pays off.
• Give yourself a good mix of easy matches and strategy; keep going and watch out for those sweet opportunities that can push you to the next level.

But that opportunity thing happened - I was just wandering around the local community college website and stumbled across a grant that I spontaneously applied for and then...received. Eeep! Exciting stuff and a bit daunting as my path is once again laid out for me in the coming months. However, it's Energy Management and all about sustainability without compromising technological standards with a vein of physics yumminess. So I'm looking forward to it and wondering just how crazy I am to get into another new round of school with 60+ hours at the clinic.

Yet it's all about the experiences, right? Any time that I don't have something planned, I squander my free time anyway. So I might as well push the envelope and try to accomplish what I can with the time I have. There's just a tiny spark of hope that this could mean that I do something that has an impact; what a pretty little flame that could be...

Where did that year go? Oh, yes - Oxford

Hey ~ that was a quick year. I had thought I'd posted at least once this past year after the last post and kept meaning to come back and check. But no.

Oxford obviously was a happy experience. The only residual sadness is that we couldn't go to England for me to collect my diploma, unfortunately. I don't have any backup at work and the trip would be either frustratingly frugal (hence no real touristy fun) or waaay too expensive.

Yet I am now trying to figure out the next step. Like always. After a major chapter closes and the horizon beckons with promise, I'm trying to fit the wings to my shoes so I can take off. But I haven't been able to identify what I can do for once.

Work is so draining - I have no energy for anything right now. I've hypothesized that it is the nature of existence right now (for a host of reasons, forthcoming) after checking in with a plethora of friends who report similar attitudes.

We have had quite a few major disasters and natural phenomena that have lent us a feeling of environmental unease coupled with a global economy that is just a dervish going for the table's edge. Spinning and spinning. Added to that are the rumbles of unrest between China & India, UK and Israel, US and China, Iran and Iran ~ you couple those with the regular heavy hitters of wars simmering in Africa and the Middle East and there is not a part of the world that is exonerated from political brow furrowing.

Our domestic fears engage from employment and housing markets that aren't stabilizing as much as we thought they would by now and, of course, the health care bill just being passed.

Speaking from one in the medical industry, we clapped on our blinders mid last year and have just peeked out now and again to see how the bill has changed. And it's been like clay, my friends. It was shaped with the public option and has been baked into a gambling tabletop with chips dancing and cards up sleeves. So much brokering has gone on that no one quite knows the implications, and like '93, I am sure (with every beat of my cynical little heart) that 980+B is a mild estimate and it will sound so much more effective than it ever will be.

HIPAA alone took 15 years to implement and is now accompanied by an eyeroll for all who have to deal with the clauses and regulations, which were common sense in origin and pure bureaucratic nonesense in execution. And since there is STILL usage of other provider identification numbers beyond NPI, the useful impact of this legislation to assist electronic billing and standardization is nullified. So what sort of trauma and terror awaits us now?

The credit card 'fix' last year resulted in the companies having enough time before implementation to discern creative new ways to gouge their customers. During the time it takes for the insurance companies to reel and roll with the new regs coming from this bill, they, too, shall have the opportunity to recoup their profits in more creative ways. Oh, wait. Nevermind. They already have with the requirement that small businesses carry the load for required insurance offerings. I haven't read the bill of course, but I don't recall there being any limit on the cost of these insurance plans that small businesses will now be required to subsidize. Oh, the modern American way. How fantastic.

Sorry - there are aspects of the bill of which I wholeheartedly approve such as making sure that the less fortunate in the country have medical care. That's the most important thing. Not only the homeless and poor, but those stuck in the middle that cannot apply for public assistance but aren't really getting by, either. I grew up in that atmosphere and it sucks. So I'm really glad that we're moving in the right direction.

But I'm really not keen on the idea that our deficit just keeps growing (which is funded mainly by China and has been tying our hands a bit too much lately on that front for my comfort - I hate being nervous about upsetting the foremost country of human rights violations) while we parcel out these substandard attempts at correcting our social issues. The economic bailout didn't patch the ship, it's just a bucket (albiet a very, very pricey one) that's shoveling water and debt into the ocean of America's economic landscape. And right now, health care reform is looking so much like health care rearrangement, just passing the responsibilities around to placate the masses and make our current government feel accomplished, that I'm disheartened.

So I guess my hypothesis for the level of apathy in myself and friends is that it's a social depression for which we're not yet getting counseling and taking our meds. My Rx is that we need more exercise as a holistic option: 1. Our minds need a daily workout ~ I need to stay involved in everything I can to keep my focus 2. We need to increase our endorphins through more smiles achieved each day ~ I need to make myself do the fun stuff instead of sacrificing the fun stuff to be productive. I just might find I can be more productive when I start having fun again! 3. Get outside and take advantage of the season ~ Spring is all about rebirth.

I've noted that the center will not hold. But I still find beauty in asymmetry, value reconstruction, and can make this work. I just don't know if I want to take part on a more public level yet or not.

Reasons of the Sun

Oh, how happy Oxford has made me. Delving into these old documents and now, planning databases with all the obsessive joy that entails has been thrilling. I'm a sick woman.
But there are so many little gems that historians come across every day. Notes made in census logs that are completely random and extraneous, thereby fascinating insights into bias, social structure, and even just plain old gossip. The amazing transformations of surnames from simple occupation identifiers of the masses to new gentry. And oh! All those misspellings that lead you astray with their verisimilitude.
I had to share this one: Reasons of the sunne. In a probate record, all the possessions of a household are listed - valuables, mundane items, even household necessities and sometimes down to minutiae. It's actually: Raisins of the sun. How yummy; the description and the item itself!
But reasons of the sun instantly made me smile. To imagine the sun as an entity (much like the Doctor Who episode) with motivations unbeknownst to us is delicious. In the lower latitudes, the sun is warrior, dominator, cruel master. Farmland and median climates can portray the sun as a benefactor, grandfather, or earth's consort. Cold climes and nature worshiping areas of the world have thought the sun to be goodness, an enveloper, etc. Plenty of cultures of the world worship the sun and some think that all religions derive from sun worship. So to know the reasons of the sun within those connotations puts you in the mind of a diety.
But I really had a little grin for it because I imagined areas that don't get much sunshine supplicating a drowsy sun for explanations. The imaginary look of surprise on that personification of our system's star before stammering out a list of 'reasons' for the lack of sunlight is guffaw-inducing.
Man, I'm a Seattleite through and through!

A little Wordle for my Soul Pancake

Damn you, Rainn Wilson! You have now given me so much techy writey joy joy that I'm not getting the four hours sleep I wanted this week!
Here's the Wordle for my poolside reflections:

Immersion to inversion

It happens once in a while; you look askance and see things in a whole new light. Almost as though a shaft of heaven pierces the veil of normality around you and all takes on a golden glow. But no one else can see it. Just you. Maybe you wonder if your eyes cast a new sheen or if your skin swallows some of the glow and it begins to bubble like soda does in the back of your throat with a really good laugh. You might feel like, all of a sudden, it's all just too perfect. Too wonderful. But the best part of it is that you're not yet touched by the fear of loss that can accompany such a realization. You're still bathed in it; swimming with the tiny bubbles of 'now' that swell around you, expands within you, and hopefully, spills out of the pool when the light dims and you emerge, breathing in the air that tastes new because you have not been breathing it for a while.
I'm standing by the pool, seeing the light fade but holding the image in my mind and feeling my heart beat with joy that doesn't come from without but rather from within.
Because he smiled and he's so damned adorable and we've carved out an island for ourselves amidst this ocean of undercurrents.
I'm calm now. Not pensive or reflective or sad or fearful - I'm becoming the stillness of the pool after I've left it. The ripples becoming undulations that ease into swaying before the images of the world, where once fractured, begin to coalesce and become recognizable, though inverted and thereby revealing.
So I look. I see.

Pom Pom

Just having a bit of Pom juice with my Lemon Chalet GS cookies. It was originally supposed to be Limonata soda, but I was greedy and sucked that down too quickly.
Much like life, lately. I'm running through experiences so fast that it's already nearing the close of the first quarter 09 and I didn't even have a handle on the end of last year yet. All these projects, aspirations - they all swirl around and I'm hoping they don't funnel down.
I'll post a Gally report soon. Always a blast! I'm hoping this becomes an annual thing. We've made such lovely friends there!
Around here, I've made two distinct, though happy, errors. I've joined Facebook and Fritter. I mean Twitter. I can waste two hours without noticing the time slippage on it. Talk about frittering away the evening. Both sites are like this. And yet how much fun to run around and read life journeys encapsulated in < 140 words on one and stay in touch with a true horde of friends on the other. It's so efficient that way - you'd think it would mean a savings of time. Instead, it just enables me to interact with even more people! It's a blissful issue.
So, onward! I'm off for a touch of paperwork (that should have been done hours ago) and then for bed. Sleep sucks. It's just so dang time consuming...

If I had a hammer

There's a gentleman, we'll call him Kenny, who comes into the clinic for massage. He's developmentally disabled, with a combination of autism, mental retardation, and possibly other conditions of which I am unaware, and stands 6"3 with a heavy set physique. He's been coming here for years, infrequently, for massage, and looks forward to his visits. Lately, he's not been able to make it, so today was something he was looking forward to with extra expectation.
He comes in and needs a hug right away. Usually this is fine, but I'm a germaphobe, and last time he had just finished with some cheetos and left that incandescent yellow, slobbery powder on me. In the past, I've brought a change of scrub top just in case, but wasn't able to today. So this time, I had vowed I wasn't going to hug him, especially since I'm so slammed with the end of the year paperwork.
I was bouncing around, trying to work as fast as I could, and he took it in stride. And then he went to the restroom before his massage. He made a few strange noises, and I was so very alarmed; what was he doing in there? I told the massage therapist to double up the sheets in case he's not well and vowed I would clear him for massage by asking if he was sick. It's not a good idea to get a massage when you're ill, not only because you are undressed in a room for an hour and can't easily return to the restroom if needed, but also because it pushes the toxins through your system which amplifies the illness.
He came out of the restroom after washing his hands (germaphobes always listen to make sure that handwashing is complete - I've sent grown men back into the restroom if I don't hear that water. Sick, isn't it?) I was typing away, entering billing into the system that is way past due, and asked him if he was okay. He said no and looked away. I focused on him and his eyes were red and began to tear up.
"What's wrong?" I ask him and give him a hug like I should've done when he came in. He told me "these guys were mean to me - gave me a hard time" before he just turned his head into my neck and cried.
He rides the bus and rings the bell for Salvation Army, and is aware that his functioning in society is a testament to better social acceptance of the disabled. But right now, he's just wounded to the core because a group of kids thought it would be great to make fun of him.
"I'm so very sorry, honey," I told him, and rubbed his back during the hug. "You just forget about them, okay?" He nodded, still unable to speak. "You know how your phone message says that you'll be able to overcome all of this?"
He nodded again, as he lives in an assisted living home, he has his own apartment and advocates for better treatment of the disabled. He speaks and gets out there every day, doing his work, going to appointments, and riding the bus everywhere. So he's a representative of the cause and is all too aware that he's doing what he can to make this kind of thing better.
"Well, it will happen, okay? You just have to keep going. And I was too busy to give you a hug today..." He pulled back, and I smiled into his teary blue eyes.
"Yeah, I didn't want to bother you - you were busy."
"Were you crying in the bathroom?"
"Yeah." His eyes teared up again, and I gave him another hug.
"If that ever happens outside the clinic, you come in and tell me, okay? I'll talk to them -"
He pulled back again, standing up straight. "But I need to have an appointment to come here, don't I?"
"Yes, you do. I just mean if you're coming in to your appointment and that happens, you tell me. I'll be sure to tell them not to do it again." He came in for another hug.
"It's okay. It'll be okay. Right now, you just go in there and have a wonderful massage. Okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, okay." He wiped his eyes and smiled, went to give the massage therapist a hug, and went in to his appointment.
But I'm caught out here, unable to do the work that took precedence over a person, on the very day he needed a hug most. I'm angry and disappointed with myself, recognizing that the work was an excuse because I let my phobia overcome me to the harm of someone else. I'm always so self-congratulatory about loving everyone and then I fail so abysmally that I'm consumed with self condemnation.
I'm going to be lucky to muster the time and energy to volunteer with Kim at the Union Gospel Mission, and this terrible emptiness which I used to fill with volunteering has been filming over and hardening. I'm sick of questioning whether or not to donate to this or that, or to give that person on the side of road some cash because I know that the odds are against them actually needing it. I used to be angry at people abusing the system, and I still am because it means one less person who really needs it getting the help that can get them out of the cold. But I'm starting to see that this perspective keeps me from sharing, and hardens that core of my soul even more.
I need a shiny hammer and the guts to break things like complacency, fear, sloth, and the self indulgence that has been glazing me over before I get so hard that I can't move anymore.

Golden

Oh, this wacky financial crisis. Isn't it fascinating to see the scramble of each party as they rally round the family? With a pocketful of shells for every sucker - oh, I mean voter - who has turned on the news today.

We got the president telling us in a folksy tone what a mess our economy has become. Mysteriously. Let's not point any fingers, especially at those who might be funding this boy's lifestyle post presidency. Oh, and I don't recall him moderating his language to avoid a panic - nope, it was definitely to cause one. Maybe everyone will dial their representatives and yell at them to vote for the bailout - hell, any bailout! - while they run to the banks. Good work, W!

Then we also get the Democratic reps releasing a news feed about how they've got this all figured out and will put a bill before Congress tomorrow. And no worries, folks! We're the majority, so it's a shoo in! Yep, that's right. No one can oppose us. This whole 'representative' thing doesn't mean we represent what those dopes - oops, voters - want, but rather what party they checked off on that ballot. So we'll send out a generalization of a petition under the guise of polling for opposition against golden handshakes for execs and use those names as voters who 'approve' a bill that we've not released yet. Brilliant!

Even better, the Dems are commenting on McCain's toddering over to the White House as a sign that he's getting desperate and trying to use the crisis as a campaign booster. Ummm...yeah. Like Obama's just sitting on his campaign bus preparing for the debate. Sure, McCain has had more face time with W, but that's no reason to be bitter. He's definitely trying to work this, but Obama is also trying to be engaged in the process. And come on - wouldn't we think less of them if they sat back at fundraising dinners and watched it on TV?

McCain just doesn't want to do the debate, though, so he's trying to make a case for the debate to be postponed 'during the crisis.' Really? You want to go there? It's bad enough that the press had to threaten to boycott the muzzled Palin meet and greet tour (coming soon to a city near you! Watch her talk animatedly with semi world leaders! See her nod and look touched and concerned all at the same time! Wish you could read lips because there's no sound!), but now you're going to give another signal that you have no confidence, this time in your own ability to talk without a script? Sheesh.

But, as amusing as today has been for me, I'm still peering over the cliff's edge. Houses in my neighborhood sit empty. We're cutting back on our expenses and trying to focus on paying down our debt. I'm beginning to doubt whether or not I should continue my schooling right now or take some time off in the light of the coming credit crackdowns. And yet, the Bush administration suggests that we just pat the heads of those individuals who have taken money from uninformed and misguided Americans and walked away laughing while those people stumbled under the weight of the consequence of their financial ignorance. And all of us will pay for the gilding of the handshake these companies will receive? I can only think of those houses, sitting empty, those lots of undeveloped land in my area that disillusioned Americans now pine for, and feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal.

The waves are crashing below us and the tide is coming in.

I Heart Me Some Chewbacca

Hey, yeah - it's me. It is I. Gone for long enough that the two people who were reading my blog probably think I have disappeared into the ether, never to corporealize again. Hmm. Corporealize sounds in my head with a Texan accent. Oddness.

We were in Vegas a scant two weeks ago, Keefe and I. Had us some fun and wandered around the strip to have frozen drinks in ridiculously oversized mugs that lit up at the base, dinner at the Top of the World Restaurant (which was actually quite fabulous), and a good time by wandering around Vegas, opening entertainments like your close friend's cupboards to find some comfortingly familiar things and surprising new items. The best part was the burning passion that was kindled at the Hilton. I never thought my eyes would stray, but he just -

Well, he's big and strong and has these beautiful baby blues that just melt your heart, even while appreciating his dangerous side. Sure, if he were to ever come for a visit, I would need a plumber on standby to keep my drains clear, but there's just something about that little Wookiee yell that makes my heart flutter...

It was that yell that drew my eyes to the machine from halfway across the casino. So I prepared for some fun. I had just popped a twenty into the Star Wars slot machine, and hit one eensy little button. And there he was, and there, and again, yep - again, and I'm not IG-88ing you - AGAIN! Do you know what five Chewbaccas mean to me? Palpitations and a cool bean. I'm very small potatoes, so $100 is big to me. I danced around, got all giddy, posed for a picture, and then went to another machine. That one was tapped out, I thought to myself.

So I repeated the procedure - this time with a ticket worth $114.50 - hit my Max Bet, and bopped my head to the Williams' music magic and literally got chills when the next result was shown. There was a few more Chewbaccas in this arrangement as it was more than one line that hit, so it was worth $110! I was very calm this time (likely since I expected a full contingent of purple bunnies with camo and Uzis to morph out of the machine to take me away). I just looked at it, printed my ticket, and waited for Keefe to finish his current slotplay. But the calm wore off when no reality-challenging personificated animal life dripped into being around me, and I had to get another picture. I was so happy. So. Very. Happy.

And to console myself these past two weeks, when the clinic is nightmarish, or I'm tempted to ram someone's car off the road because they are too slow to live, I return to that happy time. I see the blue eyes, the chestnut fur/hair. I hear that rousing refrain of times past, times when Lucas brought joy to his fans because he actually cared to work at the product he released; times when he was open to ideas and got valid input from those around him instead of just nose enemas, and I think: Yesssss [drool, drool].

Right. Well, let's clean up here. So, I have my Keefe, Family, Friends. They're the most important thing. The Oxford class that just started this week, that's a good thing. Once it's geared up, I'll let you know about it. We're just in the honeymoon phase of the class right now, getting online and setting ourselves up. Um. I just did a very quick little exercise in my head to list out the things that make me happy. Keefe, Family, Friends, Learning. All other things I came up with revolve around these items. Can't I just sell my crap, move everyone to England, and go to school for the rest of my life? Huh? Please? Yeah, didn't think so.

So where do all my other activities fit in? The interest in politics? People and Learning. Hobbies like scrapbooking, cards, gaming, reading - the same. Singing? Nope. I don't sing for others typically, so guess that one doesn't fit. Writing, though, is about people and learning for me, so that does. I sing every day, though, and it does make me happy. So is my list then Keefe, Family, Friends, Learning, Singing? How ridiculous! But my addled brain seems to accept it now, and it's like each is a side of my homeplate to happiness. As long as I touch a few sides of it as I'm sliding in from work, obligations, social constructs, or my own self-directed fear mongering, I'll have a homerun to happy.

But now I need to get a homerun to sleepytime. But here's a cool link to The Washington Post's Post Politics Hour, which is a daily discussion at 10 a.m. with their Congressional and White House correspondents. The link is to a specific discussion that has a lot of interesting facts about Palin, but you can wander and see more updated, pertinent forays into public versus media political commutation. A point of interest is the discovery that she had taken a per diem payment from the state for over 300 nights that she was staying in her own home. Per diem is to reimburse you for expenses you incur while travelling on the clock, not kicking back in your own house. Geesh.

This race is going to be so much fun. Maybe I should add it to my happiness parameters?

Found this on The Root regarding Obama's part in the changing race paradigm of the U.S., inspired by Jesse Jackson's recent speechifying faux pas:

http://www.theroot.com/id/47225?GT1=38002

Worth a read as it's a quick snack that has a bite but a quixotically smooth finish.

Suicide Kisses

I was driving up 405 on my way home from a usability study for Microsoft. Had some fun and got my toy as reward, so not melancholy, despite the weather. I was in a good mood and there was a break in the rain which has been relentless this spring.
My eyes were drawn to a hand fluttering out of a driver's window. I love watching people in the other cars, heading towards something or someone. I imagine their lives, taking those flashes I see and creating a flipbook in my mind of who they could be. All these people clutching cell phones, twining hair, eating, reading (I kid not - saw a woman reading a book propped against her steering wheel while merging onto the freeway. Might have mentioned her before), they each have alternate fates that my insatiable imagination has penned in my mind's eye for them.
But this hand dancing from an SUV didn't provide anything. I like to think it's because somehow I knew that a piece was missing. Sometimes, on sunny days, I'll cruise my arm out the window, orchestrating music or just dancing with the breeze - I'm running alongside the car, in the sun, even when I don't have time to enjoy the warmth and am zipping from errand to meeting. So my imagination had enough to go on with this butterfly hand, but it was stalling on dead air. I was nearly parallel with the SUV, curious now, when the hand swooped inside and then popped back out again, this time with a cigarette.
Such a lovely hand; fine-boned with elegant fingers, youngish, and turned so quickly into an object of pity. The only thought I had was that this woman was slowly killing herself. So no backstory was bubbling up from my creative recesses because it was fruitless, her past. She didn't have much of a future, so forming her past in my head would be a maudlin exercise of futility.
I was passing her by, but my thoughts stayed on her and her smoky hand. How sad, I thought. Interesting that I am so convinced of premature passing with that habit. My mind went exactly there - oops, kiss her goodbye. What a waste. Yet on a more surface level, I'm not sickened by smoking, it's just not for me. But I do have the underlying belief that it shortens lives and that those who do smoke, die younger than they might have. Probably from my father dying as young as he did. And it's just true that every smoker I've met knows they should quit and that it's harmful, but they do it anyway.
It's been hours, and I had forgotten until Keefe was playing GTA IV, smashing his car through police barricades and swooping over pedestrians and I was suddenly reminded. I don't know why. But I felt the need to post a farewell kiss to the suicide girl.
SWAK

Anchoring Tags in HTML

Good explanation of creating anchors in HTML so you can link to a section of a page you've created, in order to jump to a particular point on the page from a link. I got this from Indiana University's coding pages:

You can also link to a specific part of another document that you have created. In the destination document you use the following markup:

<a name="anchor name">text</a>

In the main document, where the user will see the link, you put the following markup:

<a href="pagename.html#anchor name">text</a>

So in the destination document (which in this case is the Table of Contents (DemoCon.html), you would place the following markup tags somewhere on the page (in this case the last word of the first paragraph).

<a name="Links">current</a>

And in the document (this one) where the link appears, you would place the following markup tags in the place that will be the jumpoff point (which is the sentence that follows the markup example):

<a href="DemoCon.html#Links">link</a>

So it will look like this:

You can use this link to go to the section of the Table of Contents page with the link back to this page!

Just thought it was cool and wanted to share.

Peek a Boo!

Wow, out of commission for a little while there. Holiday, longer work days, and laziness all combined to produce a big batch of -- nothing!

Strangely, I'm not too disappointed with that, though. I've been pretty happy with my Legos, watching Keefe on Grand Theft Auto, and organizing my scrapbooking stuff.

GTA is insane! The gameplay is a bit clunky here and there, though, so in a hurry you can hit your cell phone instead of running or get in a taxi as a passenger rather than jacking it if you stand in the slightly wrong place. Otherwise, loads of bloody goodness with spatters on your car if you mow down the screaming pedestrians and lots of extra fun to be had in the absofreaking huge Liberty City. Wow! They were not kidding around on this map - even if you don't play, you need to see the representation of Times Square. It's beautiful.

As for the campaign stuff, the Congressional District Caucus is this weekend, and now that Clinton has won another pool of delegates, it's a bigger priority than it was just last week. So I'll be going as an alternate and hoping that all the delegates show so I can get out and enjoy the sunshine. Why the decreased focus? Because this caucus is the one that 100+ people are campaigning for (drumroll, please) THREE spots. Three! And each person gets to make a one minute speech. It's going to take HOURS.

I'm not running for this one since I personally feel that the Elections Committee needs to be comprised of individuals with more political experience than I. So since the weather report calls for sunny skies that have seriously been lacking lately, I am praying for everyone to show up with bells on so I can run out into the sun. Oh, please. Please.

Pursuit of Nothingness

I've had so much fun being a delegate so far, and have found that I love to talk to people about the campaign. A hard task because politics cannot be discussed with just anyone. There are those who get so emotionally invested in such things that they become unreasonable, and make judgements about others who do not share their views. Well, this can even happy without the emotional component. I've done this.
One of the girls in the clinic is a Republican. I used to think that Republicans were people who didn't appreciate advancement; types who felt that the old ways are the best ones, most likely were very religious, and that all this 'new fangled' stuff was for the donkeys. But she's very broad-minded, open to new ideas, has a tattoo, and likes Science Fiction as well as video games. Darn it! But she does have a strong faith perspective.
I'm really happy that I'm wrong, because I detest classification but recognize it as a natural tendency of us humans, so roll with it when the slope gets too slopey. But it really makes me ask what the difference in all this is. I dislike the leanings of politicos lately of wanting everyone to cork themselves into a bottle of one party or the other, such as being required to vote party lines. This is because I've favored candidates from both parties before, though lately that has declined enough that I can seat myself in the Democrat section. Yet now I ask, what does a Republican make? Compare the main national parties:
Republican Democrat

You'll note that I had to use Wikipedia. Fascinating, really. But the Republican party website lists out their ideology quite well, as well as their worship of Ronald Reagan, whereas the Democratic party website only has the last approved platform and a host of links that do not specify Democratic ideology, just lots of contribution and volunteering links. Hmm.
Either way, it's a good thing to read up on and be familiar with terms that are tossed around like lettuce pieces in the salad of today's journalism. One wonders if the pundits have become the pun.
Obviously, I'm having a great time with this and am looking forward to the Congressional District caucus. But I know I don't want to run for the Elections Committee for Washington State at that caucus, since they are responsible for so much. I don't have the background for it. Hopefully, I can play a part electing others who might be willing to suggest me as an At Large Delegate for National. Oooh! Look how easy it is to become a politician!!
Oh, sadness. Laundry calls. I think I'll stay hidden here in the computer room, scrapbooking my little heart out until it's too late for folding.
But two late little notes: I'm successful so far in the poem a day thingy, though I've started writing more than one per day. Curses! It's a good kind o bad, really. And I am now armed with my 360 Achievements for Legos Star Wars. Maybe instead of scrapbooking, I'll go rip the arms off 25 stormtroopers to get my Let The Wookiee Win. Eeee heee hee.

Two Minutes Till

Okay, I have two minutes to post here before the maudlin hour. I can do it!
We had a great weekend of fun, lots of scrapbooking and I got the craft room organized a little better. Mom and I went shopping today and had a nice time, without feeling too crazed. I don't want to go back to work tomorrow because DG is in a mood and has invited his sister to join the clinic even though I asked him strongly not to. It's going to be fun trying to juggle the responsibility of training her as well as dealing with any nepotism.
Keefe and I had a nice morning, though it's never enough time. He's going to catch up on Battlestar G and finally see The Lost Boys. Weird that he hasn't seen it before. Sadness that Torchwood season has ended with such overblown and yet predictable plotting, but great happiness that Doctor Who is on Sci Fi!
And I'm 25% done with Legos Star Wars! Whoohoo!

Yay!

Okay, reading the titles of this blog may lead one to think that I'm bipolar lately. But I recovered from Monday with a lovely evening of tasty dinner and Doctor Who with Keefe. Then, Tuesday was decent, I got a lot done in the clinic, and now Wednesday has started off with a wonderful surprise.

The Poem A Day guy featured one of my poems! I'm insanely jazzed; I feel like I got published. Here's the link, though you'll have to go to Day 7 Highlights and page down a bit to see me:

So cool

Just had to share. I sent an email to the fabulous writing square ladies because of this and also because I got my most recent project done. It's a short story that might turn into a larger one, and I'm also ridiculously happy about being done. I think it's because I've spent so long on prior projects that being done has always been a big deal. Hopefully, I'll be so much more productive in the future that this will stop being the case.

Yeah

Does somebody have a case of the Mondays?

Crankiness has a new poster child. Me. I get in to work this morning, late, with the fill-in doctor waiting in the parking lot. The cleaning crew didn't make it, so I'm rushing around trying to clean the place while he's chittering at me.
Why's it so cold in here? Oh, that would be because DG turned off the heat over the weekend. Lovely. Frickin' icebox. So I turn that on and begin to wonder what I did wrong. Why's there hate on me? Just in time for the wave of patients to crash in the door and cry about DG being gone today. More snarky comments about vacation. Actually, no - there's a family member in the hospital. I don't even feel bad for making them feel bad. Another bad.
Then the therapists poke their heads out of the massage rooms, hair plastered to their heads from the sauna-like conditions. I wrestle with the heater, but it insists that it's still only 64 degrees. I lose. Oh, well. We'll call is hot massage and charge extra for it. Worked for yoga.
Lunch begins with everyone leaving, even Mr. Chitters. But he returns, oh so quickly, to request that I turn off the lights in the treatment rooms so he can nap. Fine. The phone rings off the hook while I try to eat lunch and then succeed in dumping my Izzi soda ALL OVER myself and the floor. Then comes the people while I'm mopping it up and trying hard not to smash the candy dish for real; I just do it in my head, over and over and over.
It's only half past two.

Suddenly Maudlin

I'm still doing the poem a day, which is a lot of fun. I think I'm learning so much just by reading what everyone has posted. Not that I'm applying it or improving. Poetry isn't my thing. Maybe that's why I'm doing this - to try and see if I can improve.

At any rate, most of mine have been fun. My topics have ranged from banana chips to Charlie Brown, to Spring snow. And then there's tonights:

Thursday

Faded junipers
Outlined against the sky, a dull blue
With nonchalant smears of cloud
Painted on by a hand
That now turns away
Leaving droplets of disinterest
To pool and harden

A front lawn crisping
Waiting for sprinklers on Saturday
With running, wet feet and screams
Fading by Sunday
And forgotten by Wednesday
Just an aspiration today
Making it through

It's so quiet here it hurts my ears

Eek. I should have known not to post anything past midnight. It's my maudlin hour.

Democratic Caucus 4/5/08

Saturday was the Legislative District Caucus, and what a whirlwind. I was hopping around in the cold as a Fred Meyer employee unlocked the doors at 7 a.m. so I could run in and make copies of my campaign flyer. I drove to Lake Stevens High School with doughnuts and butterflies in the stomach to a few cars in the lot. Luckily, I was successful in getting a good number of volunteers to arrive early, so we all were huddled outside in the parking lot, waiting for the doors to open at 8:30 a.m. Once open, the first few hours were a frenzied blur of setting up tables, signing in delegates and alternates, and then campaigning in the packed gymnasium.


I wasn't kidding about that; running as a delegate was highly competitive. Involving speeches, position statements, flyers, and posterboard that left my hands looking like auditionees for the Blue Man Group. There were a good 150 of us running around in between announcements, Q&A sessions, and flute-playing (by the talented Jackie who was helping to MC the stalling sessions) as we waited for the credentialing process.


Each delegate needed to be verified for identity, voter status, and cross-referenced on the list of electees from the Precinct Level Caucuses. Those were the ones that everyone did back in February, electing delegates to go to the LD and County level. Once the verification was completed, we were able to proceed to the question of absentees - and oh, joy. Then verify any alternates that were still around by the same, lengthy process. This seemed to be the main investiture of the day, since we finally got all that done around 2 p.m. (it started in earnest at 10 a.m.).


Things moved pretty swiftly for a while after that, since there were no objections to keeping our LD platform and we heard from local Democrats who were to be running this fall for election. And then came the nightmare prospect of speeches from all those running for the next caucus, the Congressional District Caucus on May 17th.


The CD Caucus purpose is to elect the national delegates for the Democratic Convention in August that we keep hearing about in the news. Those elected here (51 Delegates + 9 Alternates) are "pledged" delegates who must represent the result of the caucuses and will be known as the Elections Committee.

They will be responsible for electing the "At-Large Delegates" (17 Delegates + 4 Alternates), also pledged, who are people like me that are not elected officials of the party, 10 "Pledged Party Leaders" who are elected or posted democrats within the party that also must vote according to the caucus process results, and 2 "Add-Ons" that are unpledged (don't have to vote according to the results of our caucus) from the State Convention in June to go to the National Convention.

Add those to the 17 "Super Delegates," another term heard a lot these days, to equal the full complement of delegates from our state which is 97. About Super Delegates: all are unpledged. They are not required to vote according to the caucus results. So even if Washington State caucus results are 75% for Obama, these Super Delegates could all vote for Clinton if they chose. It's based upon their individual preferences, not our state's results. Super Delegates are elected democrats of the U.S. House and Senate (8), WA Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire (1), members of the Democratic National Committee who live in WA State (7), and The Hon. Tom Foley, as our "Distinguished Party Leader", former Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives (1). Clear as mud? :)

The Elections Committee, formed at the Congressional District Caucus, is the goal of everyone running to be a delegate to the CD Caucus in May. From there, it's National Convention time in Denver, which is where the final determination happens, if things proceed as they have been without a decision, for the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Heady stuff.

I'm in CD 1, which is a little dragonet on the map of WA State of four counties: Snohomish, Kitsap, Island, and a sliver of King. Here's the map if you want to see it or find your own in WA. There were so many people running for this CD that we had to be called up in groups to make our 30 second speeches. Sadly, I was last since I was running around as a volunteer and helping where necessary. Mine had to be truncated, the legs of my reason for running and what I can bring were swept off in an effort to conserve time. This was due to the hour - it was already 4 p.m., which was a good hour and half past when we were supposed to be done.

Once the ballots were cast, a few people began to fade away. We had been there all day and a lot of people were thirsty and hungry since there was no break for lunch and we had cleaned out all the vending machines. We were chuckling to think about the poor kids coming in to the high school on Monday and cursing our names since all the soda, water, juice, and snackies were already purchased by the thirsting and hungry Dem masses.

We heard the word for the first round, which I didn't get but a fabulous guy named Reggie did. He and I had been running into each other and feeding off one another's enthusiasm all day, so I was really excited he got it. I campaigned for an alternate position and waited another hour to hear that I GOT IT! I did a little squeak of a 'Yay!' when they read my name. It's such a cool accomplishment, to get something you're trying for, and that moment when you have it is like cool water on the parched lips of anticipation.

Next up are the 44th LD meeting this Thursday and helping with the County Convention to happen this Sunday at Comcast Arena. Suddenly I'm an active, dues-paying member of the Democratic Party because of one charismatic guy running for president who believes in being a part of the process - Barack Obama.

Two-Thumbed Time Bandit

What is it about seeing beloved film characters depicted as squat and square little stump-legged waddlers that is so damn cool?

Legos has created quite the empire of games, with Star Wars and Indiana Jones, due out this summer. When I first heard about the Star Wars game, I thought "aw - that'll be great for the kiddies."

A year later, I'm playing Legos Star Wars The Complete Saga. Egad! I've succumbed to the Lucas ploy of buying the same thing twice! I have The Original Trilogy, loved it, and still went out and bought The Complete Saga, which has The Original Trilogy and prequel trilogy both. What a maroon!

It's a tough game for me because I'm an OCD gamer. So going through it was hard because I was so frustrated by not being able to get all the Lego Canisters, Studs (money), and other goodies like Power Bricks.

Guess I should explain how it works: First, you go through the game guided by the Story. You collect your canisters, studs, and bricks in between fun little snippets of the movie reenacted with Legos CGI and (very loosely) based on the plot. Then, after playing the entire game, you can go back into Freeplay mode for what you've missed. Or, you can spend your Lego studs on characters to get to areas unavailable in Story mode before then, but it feels like a cop out. Well, it's in Freeplay mode where you can get some of the canisters, and until then you can't have all of them which means you can't get all the Power Bricks. This drives me to clutching my controller a bit too fiercely and twitching. But I'm working on that.

So I have this game and the Original Trilogy to keep me occupied on the Legos front until this summer, when Indiana Jones is due. RockBand, GH3, GTA3 (soon! Ever so soon!), and, I admit, Bejewelled 2, help to round everything out.

But I tripped over this poor film quality, but really fun smash-up of Indiana Jones Legos on YouTube. Damn them. By having the relevant list of videos in the right column, I have seen the hoardes of Legos vids on there. Now I know that all these little videos are out there for me to burn brain cells watching. Maybe you save brain cells when you're charmed and smiling at a program - I mean, you're engaged in it, right? Or you just don't miss them as much with the endorphin's coarsing through the blood and your giggles echoing in the room.

Either way, my gaming has regained its prominent position as a time sucker. If slot machines are the one-armed bandit, my XBox 360 has become my two-thumbed time bandit. And don't even get me started on the Wii.