One of my former profs asked me what it is about me that attracts hurricanes. I wish I knew.
I woke up Saturday to Ashley saying Nate's boss had told him to get out of the city ASAP and head up to the base near Memphis. She said I had two options: come with them, or come with them. Needless to say I had to think long and hard weighing those options. We had a not unpleasant drive and after getting turned around in Memphis and going about twenty miles out of our way, we got to the base at about 1 a.m. We slept in REALLY late and then went and got Chinese food. Had a bit of a run-in at the restaurant with the people not wanting to let Reba in. I kept my cool, which is pretty admirable, I think, considering my stress level was at about six at that point. I'd been thinking a lot about what this hurricane was going to do to my life.
OK, in the grand scheme of things, my losses are nothing -- some clothes, a few books, a bed. But it wasn't the material things that I was (am) worried about. All I've been thinking about is my degree. What does this mean for my career? At this point, I think it's fair to say that the Fall semester is a wash -- literally. I feel better now that, as 'Wela was good enough to say at least three times to me on Sunday, this is a temporary setback, that after a little while we'll get back into it. I'm fortunate in that I don't have any experiments going, that I have no samples that require subzero maintenance. Some of my pals aren't so lucky. Sure, I have many journal articles that are probably now soaked, but the Higher graced me with the foresight to catalogue them all, and those catalogues are on the laptop I brought with me.
But on Sunday, with my unused placenta shedding at a crazy pace, I couldn't see that clearly. When we stopped at a Kroger store for munchies, I sat in the van, watching the rain steadily come down and knowing the worst was still yet to come, and I cried. And cried. And cried.
I can honestly say that the only time I've felt worse than that was when my sister died. I felt lost and powerless in the face of that amazing force. Yeah, you get warning and you can get out, but that doesn't make the devastation easier. I have friends I can't get in touch with. I worry about them, and I feel for the ones who've lost so much more than me -- their entire homes, their lives. I remember feeling shocked and awed when Andrew hit Miami in 1992, but that's nothing compared to what I feel now living through it. I'll be happy if I never have to go through anything like this again.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
When on Earth . . .
. . . did I become a joiner and a potential leader?
First there was the Society for Conservation Biology. Joining seemed innocuous enough -- $5 membership, $10 shirt, meetings once a month, give an opinion here and there. Next thing I know, I'm chair of a committee.
Then there was the Graduate Student Association. Grad students are entitled to have a liaison at faculty meetings, but no one's done it for over a year. The faculty are doing new faculty interviews at the end of the semester, so it'll be important to be in on the faculty meetings, to represent the grad students' opinions of potential faculty and report all happenings to the rest of the grad students. Hey Dawn, Chad thought you'd be interested in doing it. OK, no biggie. Now a handful of grad students want to formalize the GSA and register with the university and the SGA in order to get financial assistance to get big name seminar speakers. In order to do that, we need to elect officers and write a charter, and that handful of grad students is already nominating me for president.
What the hell???
First there was the Society for Conservation Biology. Joining seemed innocuous enough -- $5 membership, $10 shirt, meetings once a month, give an opinion here and there. Next thing I know, I'm chair of a committee.
Then there was the Graduate Student Association. Grad students are entitled to have a liaison at faculty meetings, but no one's done it for over a year. The faculty are doing new faculty interviews at the end of the semester, so it'll be important to be in on the faculty meetings, to represent the grad students' opinions of potential faculty and report all happenings to the rest of the grad students. Hey Dawn, Chad thought you'd be interested in doing it. OK, no biggie. Now a handful of grad students want to formalize the GSA and register with the university and the SGA in order to get financial assistance to get big name seminar speakers. In order to do that, we need to elect officers and write a charter, and that handful of grad students is already nominating me for president.
What the hell???
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Vet update
Dr. Mahly came by yesterday evening and tested the TEENSY bit of urine Ashley and I had managed to collect, and Reba DEFINITELY has a UTI. So I need to give her an Augmentin pill twice a day for fourteen days, and I have to make sure she has food on her stomach when she takes it because it makes dogs with normal stomachs feel ooky, so we can all imagine what it would do to Mademoiselle Sensitive Tummy. So last night she got rice and applesauce for supper with an Augmentin/peanut-butter dessert. Her Iams was available to her, but she decided to hold out for more rice and applesauce. This morning it was Iams, rice, and applesauce for breakfast with an Augmentin/acid-reducer/allergy-pill/peanut-butter dessert.
Then I headed to Ferrara supermarket, fought all the old people in the narrow aisles, and bought out all their Gerber turkey and rice dinners (all twelve of them), threw in a turkey and vegetable dinner and a chicken noodle dinner to give me seven days' worth of meals, grabbed a tub of plain yogurt to restart her natural flora and a tub of vanilla yogurt for myself, and came home to write on Naomi's now six-months-overdue birthday story.
I think I'm going to go start A Shadow of the Wind before I have to make Reba's supper and go to bed. That is, if I can get Brighid and Severus to give me a break until tomorrow. ::grin::
Then I headed to Ferrara supermarket, fought all the old people in the narrow aisles, and bought out all their Gerber turkey and rice dinners (all twelve of them), threw in a turkey and vegetable dinner and a chicken noodle dinner to give me seven days' worth of meals, grabbed a tub of plain yogurt to restart her natural flora and a tub of vanilla yogurt for myself, and came home to write on Naomi's now six-months-overdue birthday story.
I think I'm going to go start A Shadow of the Wind before I have to make Reba's supper and go to bed. That is, if I can get Brighid and Severus to give me a break until tomorrow. ::grin::
Friday, August 19, 2005
Took the taxi to the hospital for my tests today. I had told the dispatcher yesterday I wanted to pay by credit card, and she said OK. The guy dropped Ashley and me in front of the hospital, wrote me out a receipt for the $21.50 charge (I thought it was going to be AT LEAST $30), and then drove away. Didn't scan my card or anything. The cab company has no address for me other than knowing they picked me up at Privateer Place (I met the guy at the front gate), and apparently they incorrectly wrote down my number because the driver said he tried to call me to say he was running a little late but couldn't get through. My phone never rang.
I'll mail them a check on Monday. Why do I have to be so freaking honest? Guess you can always use extra karma points.
So, because the guy was running late, I got to the hospital at 9:05. My first appointment was at 9:00, and I still had to go through registration. Oh, well. Went to do the PFT first and had an awesome RT by the name of Suzette. She did this one test on me that gauges your lung muscle function. I've never done that one before. I need to tell P and Gina about it and tell them to have that done on all their future PFTs. Then it was to off to cardiology for an ultrasound of the ticker.
I'll tell you something. It's a humbling thing to watch your heart working. With all the muscles I'm used to thinking about being so weak, it's amazing to see that I have a muscle that is that strong and works that hard all the time, non-stop. It really makes you think about what you eat and how you live. ::shakes head:: I mean, it looks as though it should give out at any second, the strokes are that intense, but it just keeps going. I wish I could explain the feeling.
So after that, Ashley and I walked to Magazine Street and caught the bus to Canal Street. What to say about Magazine Street? I was expecting it to be wider, like the rest of the major streets here in NOLA -- four driving lanes with the neutral ground in the center. Nope. It was a two-laner made a little narrower by street parking. It's loaded with antique stores (I stopped counting after six in about ten blocks) and little boutiques and tea rooms, most of which are in converted residential homes so there's NO WAY I could get in them. And the sidewalks are TERRIBLE -- some of the worst I've seen. The trees laugh, push up their roots, and say, "This is what I think of your stupid sidewalk!" One of them even had a French accent. ::grin::
Got to the Quarter, ate at Subway, then headed for the Green Pirogue. As I was headed up a curb cut for the GP, I spotted a store catty-corner whose sign boasted imported Belgian chocolates. After buying some triple chocolate pralines at GP (have I mentioned yet that I'm PMSing?), we went into Grenier & Chocolat. That's French for "attic and chocolate" -- they sell antiques and those Belgian yummies I mentioned. I've had three of the eight dark chocolates I bought. The orange and the cantaloupe were tasty, but the hazelnut creme one would've brought me to my knees if I could walk. As it was, I had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and just moan. I've heard people compare some kinds of chocolate to sex, and I'd bet money this little bit of heaven would make that list. I've never tasted anything so incredible.
Now, I'm just waiting for the vet to come bring some antibiotics and Advantage for Reba, and I'm going to try to do a little writing on Nay's b-day story.
I'll mail them a check on Monday. Why do I have to be so freaking honest? Guess you can always use extra karma points.
So, because the guy was running late, I got to the hospital at 9:05. My first appointment was at 9:00, and I still had to go through registration. Oh, well. Went to do the PFT first and had an awesome RT by the name of Suzette. She did this one test on me that gauges your lung muscle function. I've never done that one before. I need to tell P and Gina about it and tell them to have that done on all their future PFTs. Then it was to off to cardiology for an ultrasound of the ticker.
I'll tell you something. It's a humbling thing to watch your heart working. With all the muscles I'm used to thinking about being so weak, it's amazing to see that I have a muscle that is that strong and works that hard all the time, non-stop. It really makes you think about what you eat and how you live. ::shakes head:: I mean, it looks as though it should give out at any second, the strokes are that intense, but it just keeps going. I wish I could explain the feeling.
So after that, Ashley and I walked to Magazine Street and caught the bus to Canal Street. What to say about Magazine Street? I was expecting it to be wider, like the rest of the major streets here in NOLA -- four driving lanes with the neutral ground in the center. Nope. It was a two-laner made a little narrower by street parking. It's loaded with antique stores (I stopped counting after six in about ten blocks) and little boutiques and tea rooms, most of which are in converted residential homes so there's NO WAY I could get in them. And the sidewalks are TERRIBLE -- some of the worst I've seen. The trees laugh, push up their roots, and say, "This is what I think of your stupid sidewalk!" One of them even had a French accent. ::grin::
Got to the Quarter, ate at Subway, then headed for the Green Pirogue. As I was headed up a curb cut for the GP, I spotted a store catty-corner whose sign boasted imported Belgian chocolates. After buying some triple chocolate pralines at GP (have I mentioned yet that I'm PMSing?), we went into Grenier & Chocolat. That's French for "attic and chocolate" -- they sell antiques and those Belgian yummies I mentioned. I've had three of the eight dark chocolates I bought. The orange and the cantaloupe were tasty, but the hazelnut creme one would've brought me to my knees if I could walk. As it was, I had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and just moan. I've heard people compare some kinds of chocolate to sex, and I'd bet money this little bit of heaven would make that list. I've never tasted anything so incredible.
Now, I'm just waiting for the vet to come bring some antibiotics and Advantage for Reba, and I'm going to try to do a little writing on Nay's b-day story.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Tests and birthdays and yummies
'Course, the tests aren't academic, either.I head to Touro Hospital tomorrow to have an echocardiogram and a pulmonary function test. The PFT is something I'm supposed to have done MINIMALLY once a year, but since I've lived here for a year tomorrow and I didn't think to have one done before I moved . . . . Well, you know. ::shrug:: The echo is to give my new doc a basis to work off of. I told her some docs like to do the occasional echo on MD patients and my sister had an inconclusive "enlarged" heart when she died. She had listened my ticker and said the rhythm was steady, but we might as well do it. Here's hoping my pump works properly. Afterwards, Ashley and I are headed for the Quarter to wander and buy pralines from Green Pirogue. Poor girl hasn't had any.
Speaking of living in NOLA -- I can't believe it'll be a full 365 days tomorrow. Man, time flies. A year, and I STILL haven't started on my research. I suck.
Was making a meatloaf for supper tonight (and by definition for lunch and supper for the next three days AT LEAST), and Ashley asked me if I was getting excited for my birthday. I shrugged and said, "Sure, but it won't be any big deal. I won't be doing anything." Apparently I was wrong (silly, silly me), because she proceeded to inform me that she was making me supper and then she and her hubby and I were going to "do something," and there also "might be a surprise but I'm not telling you anything about that." I refrained from telling her she makes me supper every night. ::grin::
Oh yeah -- pop quiz. What do you get when you combine tofu, cocoa powder, chocolate soy milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract and blend it all until smooth? Give up? A TRULY YUMMY dessert that tastes almost exactly like pudding but has less fat and LOTS of protein. I know, I was skeptical when Ashley brought it over, but that stuff was MMM MMM GOOD!! That girl's a freaking WHIZ in the kitchen.
Speaking of living in NOLA -- I can't believe it'll be a full 365 days tomorrow. Man, time flies. A year, and I STILL haven't started on my research. I suck.
Was making a meatloaf for supper tonight (and by definition for lunch and supper for the next three days AT LEAST), and Ashley asked me if I was getting excited for my birthday. I shrugged and said, "Sure, but it won't be any big deal. I won't be doing anything." Apparently I was wrong (silly, silly me), because she proceeded to inform me that she was making me supper and then she and her hubby and I were going to "do something," and there also "might be a surprise but I'm not telling you anything about that." I refrained from telling her she makes me supper every night. ::grin::
Oh yeah -- pop quiz. What do you get when you combine tofu, cocoa powder, chocolate soy milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract and blend it all until smooth? Give up? A TRULY YUMMY dessert that tastes almost exactly like pudding but has less fat and LOTS of protein. I know, I was skeptical when Ashley brought it over, but that stuff was MMM MMM GOOD!! That girl's a freaking WHIZ in the kitchen.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Xena comes to NOLA
Went to the post office this morning and saw a catering crew setting up. Ashley asked me if it was some kind of pre-registration thing, and I said, "With catering? No way. It's gotta be something else."
Turns out the "something else" is a CBS movie called Vampire Bats being filmed right here at little ol' UNO, starring none other than Lucy "Xena" Lawless herself. And before anyone asks, no, I haven't seen her. The closest I've been to the production is running over cables and slaloming around ladders to get in to the library for research journals. Though I will admit, I didn't REALLY need the journals TODAY. ::grin:: I was curious, all right? I'm from Kansas, and when they DO film movies in Kansas, they're never where I am. When I left to come home this afternoon just before 4:00, it looked like they were setting up to film right next to my building. Did a quick scan, didn't see anyone famous.
The plot summary, which I've gotten from our departmental secretary Teresa and from what little info I can find online, is that Lawless plays a university bio prof. A student is found sucked dry, and the culprits are bats mutated by the tainted water supply.
::shocked look:: Tainted water in New Orleans? Now THERE'S a stretch of the imagination! ::she said sarcastically::
The hero of the movie is the guy who played the captain in the B5 Legend of the Rangers movie. Brett Butler is also supposed to be in it.
On a funny note, Lisa (a TA in our department) went in to one of the teaching labs this morning to start setting it up for the start of classes on Monday, and she opened the door to find a lot of people already in the room. When they told her they were filming a movie, she replied, "In here? Now? I'm supposed to be getting ready for teaching." You'd think they'd've warned her. Or all of us, for that matter, since the main character's a bio prof and they're using our buildings.
Interesting times. I'll let you know if I manage to spy Xena or Capt. Marsten or Grace Under Fire.
Turns out the "something else" is a CBS movie called Vampire Bats being filmed right here at little ol' UNO, starring none other than Lucy "Xena" Lawless herself. And before anyone asks, no, I haven't seen her. The closest I've been to the production is running over cables and slaloming around ladders to get in to the library for research journals. Though I will admit, I didn't REALLY need the journals TODAY. ::grin:: I was curious, all right? I'm from Kansas, and when they DO film movies in Kansas, they're never where I am. When I left to come home this afternoon just before 4:00, it looked like they were setting up to film right next to my building. Did a quick scan, didn't see anyone famous.
The plot summary, which I've gotten from our departmental secretary Teresa and from what little info I can find online, is that Lawless plays a university bio prof. A student is found sucked dry, and the culprits are bats mutated by the tainted water supply.
::shocked look:: Tainted water in New Orleans? Now THERE'S a stretch of the imagination! ::she said sarcastically::
The hero of the movie is the guy who played the captain in the B5 Legend of the Rangers movie. Brett Butler is also supposed to be in it.
On a funny note, Lisa (a TA in our department) went in to one of the teaching labs this morning to start setting it up for the start of classes on Monday, and she opened the door to find a lot of people already in the room. When they told her they were filming a movie, she replied, "In here? Now? I'm supposed to be getting ready for teaching." You'd think they'd've warned her. Or all of us, for that matter, since the main character's a bio prof and they're using our buildings.
Interesting times. I'll let you know if I manage to spy Xena or Capt. Marsten or Grace Under Fire.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
What a day . . . .
Today started with an email from my old friend Suzanne telling me her service dog Mozart died. I just cried and cried. Mo was my first introduction to service dogs (Nay and I were only acquaintances at the time) -- I'd never even heard of them before Suz got him. She had him for twelve years, and he was a great boy once he actually grew up. He was a yellow lab, and I remember his boisterousness quite well. Once, he saw someone across the room who he thought he should meet, so he pulled Suz clear across said room. My fondest memory was a Halloween when Gina, Stacy, and I lived at the dorm. Stacy, Nay, Suz, Suz's brother John, and I went to a dorm dance as the Addams Family, and Mo and DJ even had costumes of Halloween themed boxer shorts turned backwards so their tails could fit through the holes. Rest well, Mo-mo, and play ball with my Sam.
After that, the day wasn't too bad. I had lunch with Barney, and we talked about my research and my courses for the Fall. I don't feel like we accomplished anything as far as the research is concerned, but I have decided on my courses. I'll be taking Stats with Chad and a few other bio grads, and I'll be taking Conservation Genetics. I'm excited about that course, but I've heard it's difficult. The plus is that the prof is a great lady who is VERY approachable. Barney is trying to talk me into taking a GIS/GPS seminar (global information/positioning systems), but I'm not too sure about it. The pro is that I would have three more 6000 level hours taken care of (including my other classes), meaning I'd only need three more hours in the Spring to complete my coursework. The con is that I would be taking nine hours of 6000 level courses THIS semester along with trying to figure out what the HELL I'm doing with my research. And the two classes I'm already taking are going to be tough and time-consuming. And did I mention I'm trying to figure what the HELL I'm doing with my research? Chad's trying to talk me into the seminar, too. AND I'm getting a roommate, so that will interfere with study time at home. ::sigh:: I don't know what to do. I think I'll email the instructor of the GIS/GPS seminar and quiz him.
Then I thought I'd have a nice, relaxing evening at home watching a movie with Ashley and Nate. I got Rory O'Shea Was Here in the mail yesterday from Netflix. Apparently it's also called Inside I'm Dancing (what a stupid title). It's an excellent movie. I highly recommend it.
It hit me hard.
Right between the eyes.
Repeatedly.
With the claw part of the hammer.
I haven't cried that hard from a movie in a long time. And it wasn't even the movie necessarily. It was sad, don't get me wrong, but it brought back a lot of memories -- of friends lost, of battles fought, of dreams, of longing, of broken hearts, of the stupid/silly things I've done, of support from the only people who can REALLY know what you're going through. I really can't explain it any better than that.
Spoiler alert.
There's the part where Rory is in the hospital with pneumonia, the oxygen flowing, and his friend is sitting outside the ICU looking in, and the doctor's saying it doesn't look good.
Wonder who I thought of there?
The empty wheelchair at the end got me good. I was a sobbing mess. You know, the sobbing that leaves your eyes red and burning and your nose stuffy and your insides aching. I was reminded forcibly of a friend who was cremated and had a memorial service at the chapel on WSU's campus. His empty wheelchair sat at the front of the chapel.
God, that hurt.
That whole movie hurt. I will kiss James McAvoy and Stephen Robertson if ever I meet them.
After that, the day wasn't too bad. I had lunch with Barney, and we talked about my research and my courses for the Fall. I don't feel like we accomplished anything as far as the research is concerned, but I have decided on my courses. I'll be taking Stats with Chad and a few other bio grads, and I'll be taking Conservation Genetics. I'm excited about that course, but I've heard it's difficult. The plus is that the prof is a great lady who is VERY approachable. Barney is trying to talk me into taking a GIS/GPS seminar (global information/positioning systems), but I'm not too sure about it. The pro is that I would have three more 6000 level hours taken care of (including my other classes), meaning I'd only need three more hours in the Spring to complete my coursework. The con is that I would be taking nine hours of 6000 level courses THIS semester along with trying to figure out what the HELL I'm doing with my research. And the two classes I'm already taking are going to be tough and time-consuming. And did I mention I'm trying to figure what the HELL I'm doing with my research? Chad's trying to talk me into the seminar, too. AND I'm getting a roommate, so that will interfere with study time at home. ::sigh:: I don't know what to do. I think I'll email the instructor of the GIS/GPS seminar and quiz him.
Then I thought I'd have a nice, relaxing evening at home watching a movie with Ashley and Nate. I got Rory O'Shea Was Here in the mail yesterday from Netflix. Apparently it's also called Inside I'm Dancing (what a stupid title). It's an excellent movie. I highly recommend it.
It hit me hard.
Right between the eyes.
Repeatedly.
With the claw part of the hammer.
I haven't cried that hard from a movie in a long time. And it wasn't even the movie necessarily. It was sad, don't get me wrong, but it brought back a lot of memories -- of friends lost, of battles fought, of dreams, of longing, of broken hearts, of the stupid/silly things I've done, of support from the only people who can REALLY know what you're going through. I really can't explain it any better than that.
Spoiler alert.
There's the part where Rory is in the hospital with pneumonia, the oxygen flowing, and his friend is sitting outside the ICU looking in, and the doctor's saying it doesn't look good.
Wonder who I thought of there?
The empty wheelchair at the end got me good. I was a sobbing mess. You know, the sobbing that leaves your eyes red and burning and your nose stuffy and your insides aching. I was reminded forcibly of a friend who was cremated and had a memorial service at the chapel on WSU's campus. His empty wheelchair sat at the front of the chapel.
God, that hurt.
That whole movie hurt. I will kiss James McAvoy and Stephen Robertson if ever I meet them.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Just when you thought you'd seen it all #3
There was the Vietnamese Catholic church. "Our Lady of La Vang Catholic Church," to be precise. There's a pagoda in the parking lot with white dragons lounging along the rails leading up into the pagoda. The roof is typical Asian architecture -- tile roof with little spinneret-ish things on the corners. But the spinnerets stand beside angels, and in the middle of everything under the roof is the Virgin Mary. It's garrish and intriguing at the same time.
Ashley and I are going back to take a picture with her digital camera.
Ashley and I are going back to take a picture with her digital camera.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
I think I may have just done it this time
Yup, I jumped in with both feet before I even thought. Two of three parties involved aren't offended, but I can't help but wonder if I should've kept out of it.
The problem is, I've kept out of it for years and watched it keep going downhill.
The problem is, it's not just affecting the two original parties anymore, but I still don't think they see it. There's a third party now, and it's affecting her. I'm a friend to all three, and it's affecting me. There are two other people in the house, and it HAS to be affecting them.
The problem is, the two original parties spend so much time pretending it's not going downhill. What's that saying about denial not just being a river in Egypt?
The problem is, from where I sit, it's already hit bottom.
When will they see how much they're hurting each other? Do they have the strength and courage to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and work their way back up the hill? When will they realize that if they have any hope of making it, they need to do more than vent to their friends or lock their feelings away? Can they realize it's gone way past "we'll ride it out" (it passed that about two years ago) and hurtling into "we need a professional"?
All that hit me in the span of a few seconds, but instead of the quietly sympathetic friend asking those questions, the mean and frustrated bitch said, "This is bullshit. Enough is enough already. Get the help or get out."
Maybe I just should have stayed quiet.
The problem is, I can't. Not and feel like I've done them justice as their friend.
God, I hope I didn't make it worse.
The problem is, I've kept out of it for years and watched it keep going downhill.
The problem is, it's not just affecting the two original parties anymore, but I still don't think they see it. There's a third party now, and it's affecting her. I'm a friend to all three, and it's affecting me. There are two other people in the house, and it HAS to be affecting them.
The problem is, the two original parties spend so much time pretending it's not going downhill. What's that saying about denial not just being a river in Egypt?
The problem is, from where I sit, it's already hit bottom.
When will they see how much they're hurting each other? Do they have the strength and courage to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and work their way back up the hill? When will they realize that if they have any hope of making it, they need to do more than vent to their friends or lock their feelings away? Can they realize it's gone way past "we'll ride it out" (it passed that about two years ago) and hurtling into "we need a professional"?
All that hit me in the span of a few seconds, but instead of the quietly sympathetic friend asking those questions, the mean and frustrated bitch said, "This is bullshit. Enough is enough already. Get the help or get out."
Maybe I just should have stayed quiet.
The problem is, I can't. Not and feel like I've done them justice as their friend.
God, I hope I didn't make it worse.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Simple joys
1. Walking to the grocery store with a friend and admiring the varied architecture.
2. Walking home from the grocery store, standing in someone's yard, and feeling the intense energy emanating from their trees and home -- and wanting to cry for how good it makes me feel.
3. A fillet of salmon coated in Old Bay seasoning (or "Bay of Beluga" as P calls it) and cooked to just the right consistency.
4. Pasta covered in Ragu roasted garlic and parmesan sauce.
5. External speakers for the laptop enabling me to blast my music as though I had a stereo.
6. A good piece of smut written by a best friend.
7. Walking Reba in a sprinkling rain.
2. Walking home from the grocery store, standing in someone's yard, and feeling the intense energy emanating from their trees and home -- and wanting to cry for how good it makes me feel.
3. A fillet of salmon coated in Old Bay seasoning (or "Bay of Beluga" as P calls it) and cooked to just the right consistency.
4. Pasta covered in Ragu roasted garlic and parmesan sauce.
5. External speakers for the laptop enabling me to blast my music as though I had a stereo.
6. A good piece of smut written by a best friend.
7. Walking Reba in a sprinkling rain.
A day in the life . . .
The Sun is shining, and there's a near constant rumble of thunder from the Southwest.
It's a good day to be alive.
It's a good day to be alive.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Help for a friend in need
I was checking up on my pal Adam who lives in Winfield via his blog, and he has the following posted:
http://www.adammessinger.com/2005/08/02/call-for-donations
His mom has been having the mentioned health problems for quite some time, and though Adam doesn't mention it in the blog, her situation was quite grim a couple of months back. If any of you know of any organizations or church groups which may be able to give them assistance (either monetary or advice on how to cut costs), could you please let me know or let Adam know directly via the comment posting feature on the blog. Adam is a very proud individual, and the fact that he is asking for his online community for assistance is testimony for how serious the situation has become.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide!
http://www.adammessinger.com/2005/08/02/call-for-donations
His mom has been having the mentioned health problems for quite some time, and though Adam doesn't mention it in the blog, her situation was quite grim a couple of months back. If any of you know of any organizations or church groups which may be able to give them assistance (either monetary or advice on how to cut costs), could you please let me know or let Adam know directly via the comment posting feature on the blog. Adam is a very proud individual, and the fact that he is asking for his online community for assistance is testimony for how serious the situation has become.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide!