Despite most of the world feeling that the best day of the week is Friday, I have recently realized that I look forward to Mondays most. This is because all of my week's homework is due at midnight Sunday night, and I spend all week slacking off and all day Sunday wringing myself ragged speed-writing papers. Monday morning brings the blessed relief of "well, it's too late now" and six days of slacking ahead of me.
Unfortunately, my current class ends with a bang in the form of a blogging project, and it ends on Easter Sunday night, so I'll be out of town most of that week. Our Application assignments each week have been to write a "blog post" (really a regular academic paper, as that's how she grades it) on some aspect of children's health, and then in the final week we are to revise each week's work and create a health blog, with each weeks' paper being one post. I have a great many personal opinions regarding this project which I will be keeping to myself until my grades are in. Just in case.
When it comes to blogging, I have a fault: I simply can not just use the provided templates. I have two blogs already, besides this school project, and I spent hours seeking out and tweaking non-blogger-provided templates, grabbing one someone else made up and changing margins and colors and images (with no XML experience, just changing numbers randomly and hitting 'preview' to see what it did, which is why it takes so long). I decided to poke around and see what I could come up with for class even though it's not due for another two weeks, and I'm glad I did. I started putzing with it around 11:00 this morning, and just decided to quit for the night now that I'm satisfied with the general layout.
After all that work, I just don't see the point of stopping with five Application paper posts, so after class is done I may just use it as a place to ramble on about my schoolwork and what I'm learning. Though this class seems to focus on physical health under the heading of "Child, Safety, Health and Nutrition", everything that I've learned (and rambled on about) so far has to do with the health level of a child in some area of development. And I can't see the point of a 5-post blog. I'd hate to think I just wasted an entire Monday laying out a blog for 2% of my grade.
Right now the blog is under construction, but if anyone wants to give me feedback, feel free. It's here. Please don't comment on that blog, put it in here. Thanks.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Road Blocks*
Tuesday was one of those days that conspired against us in very subtle ways. I honestly don't quite remember what I actually did, but through some weird combination of blood sugar imbalance, PMS, and lack of proper sleep, I suffered some sort of weird spacial disturbance where I kept dropping things or I would go to set something on a table and miss by a quarter of an inch. The sort of thing where I'd spill something, and then in the process of trying to clean up the cat would walk in it, and I'd grab the paper towels, drop them, grab them firmly, knock over a dish on the counter with them, finally get them to the table, wipe the mess too quickly for it to absorb and thus pushing it onto the floor.... that kind of thing. Little frustrations all day.
We had our Anglican Communion/Adult Confirmation class in the evening, and something seemed very determined to have us be late. I made dinner just fine, utilizing the microwave, and we ate and cleaned up and then started packing up things to go. We were both irritated, and Lanse decided to make tea to take, and the microwave made this horrible noise... but kept running, so he let it run for a minute, but the water was still cold. So the microwave was dead. Long live the microwave. I boiled some water on the stove and he had his tea; he went out to the car while I ran to the bathroom... and the toilet wouldn't flush. At that point it became obvious something didn't want us to leave, so I said screw that, and we left anyway. When we got home, the toilet worked fine. Unfortunately the microwave really was broken.
Yesterday was much better, we had a nice long deep conversation about personal faults and no one got mad, and we figured out how we could go buy a new microwave. And then we did. It's about the same size (slightly smaller inside, but by like... 1/10 of a cubic inch) but it's glossy black and makes a huge visual black hole in my kitchen. I'm seriously considering getting white appliance paint to make it match. But the biggest concerns were size, proper buttons, and price, and this had pretty much what we wanted. Then we meandered our way home and I did homework and played more pirate game and went to bed.
Today has been better. Lanse is away at a work event, so I have the day to myself and I'm really not doing anything different, but I'm enjoying it all being just mine (and the cats') anyway. I'll probably do some beadwork, pretend to study, do more piratey stuff, read for Bible Study tomorrow, and write more blog post on spiritual issues that I'm learning at class.
So stay tuned!
*No idea why I called this Road Blocks but I still feel like it fits, so there ya have it.
We had our Anglican Communion/Adult Confirmation class in the evening, and something seemed very determined to have us be late. I made dinner just fine, utilizing the microwave, and we ate and cleaned up and then started packing up things to go. We were both irritated, and Lanse decided to make tea to take, and the microwave made this horrible noise... but kept running, so he let it run for a minute, but the water was still cold. So the microwave was dead. Long live the microwave. I boiled some water on the stove and he had his tea; he went out to the car while I ran to the bathroom... and the toilet wouldn't flush. At that point it became obvious something didn't want us to leave, so I said screw that, and we left anyway. When we got home, the toilet worked fine. Unfortunately the microwave really was broken.
Yesterday was much better, we had a nice long deep conversation about personal faults and no one got mad, and we figured out how we could go buy a new microwave. And then we did. It's about the same size (slightly smaller inside, but by like... 1/10 of a cubic inch) but it's glossy black and makes a huge visual black hole in my kitchen. I'm seriously considering getting white appliance paint to make it match. But the biggest concerns were size, proper buttons, and price, and this had pretty much what we wanted. Then we meandered our way home and I did homework and played more pirate game and went to bed.
Today has been better. Lanse is away at a work event, so I have the day to myself and I'm really not doing anything different, but I'm enjoying it all being just mine (and the cats') anyway. I'll probably do some beadwork, pretend to study, do more piratey stuff, read for Bible Study tomorrow, and write more blog post on spiritual issues that I'm learning at class.
So stay tuned!
*No idea why I called this Road Blocks but I still feel like it fits, so there ya have it.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Birds
Taking turns in the birdbath this morning:
- 4 or 5 Sparrows
- a House Finch
- 2 Tufted Titmouses (Titmice? They're newly arrived and really pretty. I hope they stay.)
- female Cardinal
- 2 male Cardinals, occasionally chasing each other off
- 2 Blue Jays
- male Bluebird, who's never far from his family so they're probably watching too.
Monday, March 23, 2009
I was drawn by Ursula Vernon - a dream
The land was flat and covered with trees, except for the part I was standing in which was a long clear section somewhat like a golf fairway. At the far end of the clearing was a tall hill with a foreboding dark and pointy castle on the top. The skies were unnaturally dark, like when it's just about to storm and it's nearly dusk anyway, so it's this eerie darkness you can sort of see through but not really. An evil ruler had just taken the throne and was doing something dastardly, but I didn't know what.
What I did know was that all the creatures of the land were happily frolicking along, heading towards the ocean. It was exciting, all my friends running along, as though they were just going for a day at the beach. I went along too, but then the ocean was nearer than it had been, and kept crawling closer, up over the land. The other creatures didn't seem to realize that the water was already here and kept running ahead through it to get to where the ocean should have been, and they went in over their heads and didn't come up. As the water lapped my feet I realized that the evil ruler was planning to drown the world while he was safe on the hill and start it all over again. I turned and began running towards the hill...
...and then there was a mirror...
...and the world went wobbly, like looking through very old glass...
...and I was standing in a bright white hallway with old gray formica flooring. It was finally bright enough for me to get an idea of what kind of creature I was. I had some round bits, with one long leg right in the middle, and then two really long ankle kind of things came off the end of it and I had two very large webbed feet. I also had a long, round, wobbly - and yellow - trunk of some sort. And possibly knobbly antennae. I was colored like a Dr. Seuss character but I knew without a doubt that I was drawn by Ursula Vernon, and I did not match my surroundings at all. There was a wide floor standing mirror behind me, which faded away as I watched. It was still there, but it wasn't; like it'd be there if it was needed. If I came back.
A human lady came around the corner and stopped short. She had brown bobbed hair, wore a long white lab coat and carried a clipboard. She said, "Hello! Who're you?" very kindly, and invited me to follow her to her office. As we entered the hall she'd come from, I noticed she was was walking somewhat... carefully... and looking around a lot. Suddenly, a door opened and a middle-aged gruff looking man stopped short in the doorway. He had glasses and a lab coat like the lady's, and was very tall and solid with rumpled graying hair. The sort of man you don't want to argue with. He took one look at me and said to the woman, "Grab it! What is it?? It's a... demon-thing! We've got to take it to the lab!" With a squeal and turn on my heel, I dove around the corner and back through the mirror.
I was in a different part of the clearing, where the castle looked the same distance away but the water hadn't quite reached me yet. Rather, the water had nearly reached me, but both the water and I were nearer to the center of what remained of the world. It was very quiet. I knew there wasn't much time left, if I hadn't already lost it all. I also realized that there was nothing that one small creature could do here; I couldn't climb up to the castle and challenge the evil ruler who had magic and power with just my webbed feet and wobbly trunk and knobby antennae and disagreement on my mind. I'd be blasted to cinders in an instant... if I was even accorded the time of day to begin with. I knew that the answer to saving my world was through that mirror... in that other place. I turned back to the mirror and went through.
The building was deserted; my hallway was lit with the same strange flourescent bulbs but some connecting hallways had been locked down and darkened. I peeked down the connecting hallway I'd been in earlier, and the nice lady scientist darted quickly out of a door with her arms full of papers. She'd been watching for me, and she was ready. "Quick!" she hissed... "We've got to get you out of here!"
We made a mad dash for the lobby doors and came out onto a sidewalk with occasional passers by who, for some reason, saw nothing unusual about a three dimensional cartoon drawing walking around their city. Two cars were pulled up to the curb, both run down... a dark green truck and a dirty red four door convertable of some sort. They were full of guys in their early 20s, of the 'cowboys without manners' type, and were clearly in on lady scientist's getaway plan. She shoved me towards the pickup saying, "Get in!" As she climbed into the convertable, I heard her say, "Quick! Go! Her world is dying, we have to save it!"
How did she know...?
What I did know was that all the creatures of the land were happily frolicking along, heading towards the ocean. It was exciting, all my friends running along, as though they were just going for a day at the beach. I went along too, but then the ocean was nearer than it had been, and kept crawling closer, up over the land. The other creatures didn't seem to realize that the water was already here and kept running ahead through it to get to where the ocean should have been, and they went in over their heads and didn't come up. As the water lapped my feet I realized that the evil ruler was planning to drown the world while he was safe on the hill and start it all over again. I turned and began running towards the hill...
...and then there was a mirror...
...and the world went wobbly, like looking through very old glass...
...and I was standing in a bright white hallway with old gray formica flooring. It was finally bright enough for me to get an idea of what kind of creature I was. I had some round bits, with one long leg right in the middle, and then two really long ankle kind of things came off the end of it and I had two very large webbed feet. I also had a long, round, wobbly - and yellow - trunk of some sort. And possibly knobbly antennae. I was colored like a Dr. Seuss character but I knew without a doubt that I was drawn by Ursula Vernon, and I did not match my surroundings at all. There was a wide floor standing mirror behind me, which faded away as I watched. It was still there, but it wasn't; like it'd be there if it was needed. If I came back.
A human lady came around the corner and stopped short. She had brown bobbed hair, wore a long white lab coat and carried a clipboard. She said, "Hello! Who're you?" very kindly, and invited me to follow her to her office. As we entered the hall she'd come from, I noticed she was was walking somewhat... carefully... and looking around a lot. Suddenly, a door opened and a middle-aged gruff looking man stopped short in the doorway. He had glasses and a lab coat like the lady's, and was very tall and solid with rumpled graying hair. The sort of man you don't want to argue with. He took one look at me and said to the woman, "Grab it! What is it?? It's a... demon-thing! We've got to take it to the lab!" With a squeal and turn on my heel, I dove around the corner and back through the mirror.
I was in a different part of the clearing, where the castle looked the same distance away but the water hadn't quite reached me yet. Rather, the water had nearly reached me, but both the water and I were nearer to the center of what remained of the world. It was very quiet. I knew there wasn't much time left, if I hadn't already lost it all. I also realized that there was nothing that one small creature could do here; I couldn't climb up to the castle and challenge the evil ruler who had magic and power with just my webbed feet and wobbly trunk and knobby antennae and disagreement on my mind. I'd be blasted to cinders in an instant... if I was even accorded the time of day to begin with. I knew that the answer to saving my world was through that mirror... in that other place. I turned back to the mirror and went through.
The building was deserted; my hallway was lit with the same strange flourescent bulbs but some connecting hallways had been locked down and darkened. I peeked down the connecting hallway I'd been in earlier, and the nice lady scientist darted quickly out of a door with her arms full of papers. She'd been watching for me, and she was ready. "Quick!" she hissed... "We've got to get you out of here!"
We made a mad dash for the lobby doors and came out onto a sidewalk with occasional passers by who, for some reason, saw nothing unusual about a three dimensional cartoon drawing walking around their city. Two cars were pulled up to the curb, both run down... a dark green truck and a dirty red four door convertable of some sort. They were full of guys in their early 20s, of the 'cowboys without manners' type, and were clearly in on lady scientist's getaway plan. She shoved me towards the pickup saying, "Get in!" As she climbed into the convertable, I heard her say, "Quick! Go! Her world is dying, we have to save it!"
How did she know...?
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