...No wonder Carey Hart got back together with her!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddZPrJ8ROto

It's the smoke, shawty

What I'm listening to: A karaoke pahty!

I think Wyclef is actually in my Number 1 Artist spot. He's the only one of my long-time loves who is still putting out really great music (though I did like Kate Bush's last album quite a lot.) He's just so talented. This song, for eg, is a great tune, makes me couch-dance, and is clever and funny and creative. And posted for free on his site! Here's what he wrote:

"This song is a parody of the the current craze of artists using Autotune. But don’t get it twisted Autotune might get you a hit single for the movement but it can never substitute for raw talent! Heres my parody, I am Mr. Autotune featuring Nick Cannon. Here are the lyrics so everyone can sing-a-long like we’re in a Karaoke Party!!"



Nick Cannon: DO I NEED SINGING LESSONS?

Wyclef: HELL NA
ALL YOU NEED IS SWAGGER WE GON RUN IT THROUGH THE COMPUTER

Nick Cannon: BUT I DONT KNOW MY DO RAE MI FA SO LA TEE DO

Wyclef: ITS OK
AS LONG AS YOU GOT RHYMES WE GON MAKE THE DOUGH

Nick Cannon: THEN WE GON MAKE THE SHOWS
THEN ME AND YOU GON BLOW

Wyclef: BUT IF THEY EVER ASK YOU TO SING LIVE DONT EVER SING ACCAPELLA

Navel Gazing: The Books That Changed My Life - Forget the habits, just learn this 1 thing

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

This book is actually too densely written, hard to get through, too complex to be easily applied to everyday life. But when I was re-reading some bits last year I realized that I'd internalized a lot of it. The main thing I got from it: That you should plant your identity in principles, and not in externals that you can lose. Don't take your identity from being a spouse, or a parent, or an employee, or an activist, or a student, or whatever. You can lose ANY of them at any time, and then you'll lose your identity. I've seen that happen.

But your core beliefs can't be taken from you; and Covey argues that there are principles that are fairly universal, and those you especially can't take away from someone. Ever since then I've carried around this idea that at the core of my person is a set of beliefs that I won't let anyone touch, except myself. They change, they evolve, but only at my bidding.

At this point I wish I could embed Joni Mitchell's "The Sire of Sorrow" but it's disabled on youtube. It's her song from Job's point of view, and Job is the ultimate story about who you are once everything's been stripped from you.

Once I was blessed
I was awaited like the rain
Like eyes for the blind, like feet for the lame
Kings heard my words, and they sought out my company
But now the janitors of Shadowland flick their brooms at me.

Listening to... hiphop

Outkast - Spottieottiedopaliscious


My characters for my new book began as real people -- Paris Hilton and Jason Newsted (former bass player of Metallica). I chose the latter because he seems like the quintessential Nice Guy and I thought I'd like to write about a QNG.


And at some point he turned into a black guy. So now my character is a combination of Newsted and Pharrell Williams. Which has really helped move my plot forward.


And it means that now I'm listening to hip hop instead of metal. But Williams likes all kinds of genres, especially rock, and his own band (N.E.R.D.) is a mixture of hip hop and rock, so the heavy metal will still find a place in there. He'll be an interesting hero by the time I'm finished with him. Interesting to me, anyway. ;-)

XXX

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner posted a question on her blog about books that her readers would be embarrassed to admit they read/loved. Since Gardner specializes in Christian books, many of her readers are Christian. And it's interesting to see that the main thing that embarrasses them is sex. They're embarrassed to admit they've enjoyed books that contained sex.

But not books that are horrors, or violent, or gory. So as people have pointed out before, and my brother recently brought up: Why are we so much more shocked by sex (in movies, in books) than by violence? Why is much of North American society more hung up on a potentially-life-giving act, than on a life-taking one? This seems to be a North American thing--or maybe countries colonized by Britain. Even ex-French-colony-Quebec is more cool about nudity.

The only area where perhaps this isn't true is in music. There's a lot more tolerance for "Let's Get It On" and "Sexual Healing" than for, say, gangster rap.

Nano-nano

I signed up for National Novel Writing Month again (50 000 words in November.) I realized that Fernando will be at his sister's for part of the time, so there isn't too much risk of divorce. It will be a good way to jolt my next novel into existence. My only goal is the first 50 000 words of a rough draft --> get some new ideas going --> establish the tone, etc.

My profile.

One of my fave songs when I was a kid

Terry Gibbs "Somebody's Knockin'"

awesome-o

most amusing thing on the internets today

Scott Baio did perpetrated some Foolishness on the tweets this week. Including threatening to sue someone because she unfollowed him.

Scott Baio's Righty Rant -- What do you get when you combine a washed up child star and unimpeded access to a computer keyboard? Apparently, in the case of Scott Baio -- one-time "Happy Days" and "Charles in Charge" heartthrob -- the result is a stream of vitriolic statements about "liberals" and a flame war with some random person.

Baio, an admitted conservative, posted a series of now-deleted statements that got a few folks riled. A sampling:

"Someone said that the best thing about the cash for clunkers is, now most of the obama stickers are GONE!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!!!!"

Then, in response to a protest that Obama is "still our pres," Baio replied:

"yeah and Michael Vick still plays football. What's ur point? They both are losers."

Baio defended himself later in an interview with Glen Beck. And despite an assertion that he can roll with the punches ("it's the kind of game I'm in"), Baio has since converted his Twitter page to an approved access-only account. (from the Washington Post)

So the site Dear Author has started calling him a chachbag, and trying to get his name associated on Google with the term.

I really must incorporate this word into my vocab.

shit his dad says

shitmydadsays "Just pay the parking ticket. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in the civil rights movement. You double parked."

First Aid Mabel

I did a two-day First Aid course recently, for my work. I'm really glad because for years I've worried about something happening at work, or in my life, and my inability to cope with it. But I also had, like, First Aid Performance Anxiety. That taking First Aid class would somehow be like gym class and I'd be bad at it!

But all went well. It was very interesting, and though I won't remember everything if ever in a Panic, I at least feel a bit more confident. I have actual Heimlich and CPR technique, rather than guesswork. I even know how to use these little portable defibrillators which some places own. The machine speaks instructions to you. Very cool.

As usual, I got past my Perf Anx by usually volunteering for things first. But we were usually doing stuff as more than one person at a time, so it's not like all eyes were on us. I had to...

- Demonstrate that I knew how to approach someone laying on the floor, to find out what state they're in. And then put them in the recovery position if they were unconscious still breathing. (That's the posish my vet put Nombly in after giving him The Fatal Dose! Only the cat version.) I practiced this at home with my stuffed dog. "PUPPY! [clap my hands loud] PUPPY CAN YOU HEAR ME? PUPPY!!"

- Demonstrate that I could two types of bandagings. I did cut across hand, and cut on arm.

- Demonstrate that I could do CPR.

- Demonstrate I could use the defib.

- Play a person with a crustacean allergy, and my group had to figure out what I had by asking me questions. Weren't they surprised when they asked "Do you have an epipen with you?" and I whipped one out of my pocket! (which the teacher had given me) Now my coworkers (I was in training with 2 of them) think I should carry an epipen at all times, just for drama.


Did you know...

- Anyone can buy an epipen? You get it at the pharmacist's counter. This might be handy for any time I need a sudden shot of adrenaline.

- When you give CPR you're supposed to push the chest down at a rate of 100 pushes in 1 minute, which is about the same beat as "Staying Alive" or "Another One Bites the Dust."

I couldn't sing the lyrics to myself while counting out the 30 pushes, so I discovered the easiest thing was to sing the "ah ah ah ah staying alive staying alive" part over and over. "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" "9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16" "17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24".

* Part of the routine with CPR (and most emergencies) is that you assign jobs to people. You tell one to call 911, another to wait for the EMTs and show them where you are, and another to get the First Aid kit/mask/defib. But my coworkers and I added a fourth job...

Mabel (kneeling next to unconscious nonbreather):

- Joe! Go call 911!
- Mary! Go get the First Aid kit!
- Bob! Go wait for the ambulance!
- Sally! Start singing "Staying Alive"!

I told this to a staff member today, and she said she'd be so freaked out she would just start singing without question. And of course, it could just devolve into this. [Full version here.]

We also thought you could just put the songs on a playlist labeled "1" on your ipod, and ask someone to get it for you.

***

A research study at the University of Illinois suggests that people were more effective at Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) if they were listening to the Bee Gees 'Staying Alive' while performing it. The reason is apparently that the song's tempo, 103 beats per minute, is close to the optimum number of 100 compressions per minute to help jump start a heart during a cardiac arrest.

I don't mind this song, but if you're working in the health service it might be an idea to get a bit of variety and check out other tracks with a similar tempo. DJ BPM Studio - which specialises in just this kind of thing - has a whole list of 100 BPM tracks including Madonna 'La Isla Bonita' and Bjork 'Isobel'; pretty close too is Lily Allen 'LDN' (100.01 BPM), Pink 'Stupid Girl' (100.02), ABBA 'Dancing Queen' (100.47), The Clash 'Hitsville UK' (100.69) and Blondie 'In the Flesh' (100.8). [source]

Navel Gazing: The Books That Changed My Life - accidental finding

My Traitor's Heart - Rian Malan

A book that someone lent me, and that I finally read because I'd had the book too long and had to give it back. I'd never really asked for it, and I don't know why this guy at church liked it or thought I'd like it, but man... WHAT a book. Sometimes there are ideas in life that you're taught, but you don't really internalize them, or envision what they really mean. This is one of those books that took some *nice ideas* and showed how powerful they can really be. And at another level, it's just a great book at showing how Complicated Life Is to understand--that you can't take a country's history and politics, submit them to a little analysis, and set down a bunch of easy conclusions. History is FUBAR.

It's an autobiographical story of a guy who was supposed to write a history of South Africa, but found he couldn't do it without writing about his personal struggle as a Guilty White Liberal growing up in the 70s, and a crime reporter in the extremely repressive and violent 80s. This book just blew me away. Malan tells you a story and you believe one thing--then peels away another layer for you, shaking the thing you've just come to believe. And on and on he peels away the layers, until you feel as messed up and confused as he does.

And then at the end of the book he tells this Disney like story about a Nice White Couple who go off into a poor community and revive it... and then it all unravels, he's killed, and she loses everything. But after a long struggle she commits to staying out there anyway, because she decides that you can't just love people when they love you back. You have to love them, even if they hate you.

I would have to say that story definitely became foundational to my core values.

If you want rock versions of Prince songs

some groovy prince covers

I wrote this song while looking in the mirror.

Wow--happened upon this great video of Prince playing a medley of songs on acoustic guitar. It's great. This is what's supposed to happen you go on MTV "Unplugged" (unlike half the performances, which don't sound any different than any other live performance.)

click here

K'naan and Bob

I follow Kanye on Twitter because he posts a lot of links to his free music projects. Here's the newest:

The Messengers is a remix project done by DJ/Producer J.Period and T.O./Somali MC K'NAAN, and it matches K with three of music's most celebrated "Messengers": Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan.

It's 5 AM, I gotta get back to bed, so I haven't listened to much so far. But first take... issa gonna be great. Especially "Don't Think Twice," which is my fave Dylan song.

Anyway, the songs are all free if you want to try them out.

Judging by his tweets, looks like he's come to the attention of Jay Z and Timbaland (he already does stuff with Nas, and Kardinal Offishall and others.) I hope he only gets bigger. I'm not like those people who don't want to share their fave artists with the world... this guy is seriously talented. Must be shared!

Dix ans plus tard...

Sometimes I write myself letters, that I can't open for years. I just found one today that was meant for 2009. Yay! It was actually meant for January. And judging by the first line of it, I opened the last one late too.

What was going on in 1999...

* We often tease my dad for talking about religion, and apparently on his 50th birthday we threw him an (in-family) religious themed party. I don't even remember! Stepmommy made a cross-shaped cake, we had cross-pictured plates, and balloons with Bible figures on them.... Oh wait... I do vaguely remember buying the religious posters and banners. My anti-religious husband apparently loved the banners.

* Fernando was working the night shift.

* Lord Sherringham's current names were: Sherry, Sherry Beans, Beanie, Kakebeenwa , Beanie Baby.
Lord Tigernan's: Tiger, Nombly, Nomms, Nombalogne, Pooks, Pook-de-Ville, and (this one only by Fernando) Shithead.

* Tigernan had a heart murmur, was breathing funny, and just had a urinary tract infection. Sherry still sometimes had blood in his stool (that's gone), acne, dirty ears (he must clean them now, because that got better this year), and hairballs. He was also sporting a Fernando Haircut.

* Hm this was soon after we were married--had just bought the queen mattress.

* Fernando interests: bikes, camping, guns, go-carts, wilderness survival, preparing for Y2K, buying bed sheets, golf, bow-hunting, and primitive living. (Don't know what that means!)

* His dislikes: Yeti (a stuffed sasquatch I ran around with at the time), Religionspeak, Marx Brothers movies, movies that inspire copycat crimes, pickled stuff.

* I was wearing my turquoise Turkish dress, a Darth Vader watch, no earrings, dyed blonde hair with bangs, longish and layered and tied back. (I don't have the dress anymore, nor the watch, now bleach my hair, same cut apparently, but impossible to ever tie back cause I'd get a headache in one minute.)

* I had recently inherited the money from my grandfather which I later used for university.

* I was researching the Marx Brothers, writing a Harlequin (not sure which book that means!).

* I was thinking about going back to university, had just been made zone manager at work, and had apparently turned down the chance to take online Ryerson courses through work (but I must have changed my mind, cause I took 3.)

* Ahhhh Fuentes!!! Aaaahahahahaaa! Apparently my latest Crispy story was that he admired Larry Stevenson for being so honest. Must have been just after Stevenson came to the story to have a one-on-one talk with him?

* I was still attending church, but must have been near the end. Ah yes--I was up for renewal on the board, and didn't get it. I stopped soon after. (I wasn't bitter, just felt I had reached the end of my usefulness to others, and to myself.) Id been attending for 10 years. (I still believe in God but never joined another church.)

* My dad was still making his plane (that went on for these 10 years!) Step-mommy now had birds (awww but that first one is gone now.) Pablo worked nights at the radio station; Muthah had laser eye surgery and decorating her house.

* My grandfather died a month before.

* My dad's fave topic at the time was suffering. (Yes, that's my dad.)

* I was into the Star Wars Joseph Campbell hero journey thing. (Something I'm still all about, though the details of my spiritual beliefs have changed a lot from this letter.)

* While writing I was listening to Steve Bell's "This is Love", and the last book that had really moved me was Connie Willis' Doomsday Book.

Hm! Innnteresting. Well, I'll have to write a new letter for the next ten years. I should make some predictions this time, it would be more entertaining.

What do we do with Nombly's stocking this year?

I was going to write about how I hate Fall, then realized I wrote the same thing almost exactly a year ago

'Everyone's so happy about Fall being here, but I'm not enjoying it. I don't want shorter days. I don't care about the Crisp Air and Crispy Leaves. I usually at least enjoy that it's the one season you can wear almost 100% of your wardrobe, but when you're working in dress code this means nothing. "Will I wear my black slacks or my black slacks? Woo!" This Fall thing is overrated.' (Oct 9, 2008)

fave comment of the day

Comments posted after a movie review:

Ben

Mon 10/12/09 12:37 PM

Oh brother.

Jen

Mon 10/12/09 12:47 PM

ditto

AD

Mon 10/12/09 4:04 PM

How can you “ditto” something that doesn’t make any sense? What does “Oh, Brother” mean anyway?
I can tell you why I am typing “Oh, Brother” right now. You two are dolts.

1st words

An agent whose blog I read is having a First Paragraph contest (best first paragraph of a work in progress.) So I entered mine, cause I think it's pretty alright:

Never send a monk to do a woman’s job.

That's it.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash's latest album is based on a list her father gave her when she was 18, of the best 100 country songs, cause he felt she didn't know enough country music. Cool idea for an album. And now she's ready to make the next 9 albums!

Homes of the day

I wouldn't put my office in the basement, but I find it interesting that this office is also the toy room (there's another shot they posted of more toys.) Good idea for someone who wants to surf the internet all evening but still be available to drink "tea" from their child's teacup, bandage teddy's broken arm, and so forth.



This house is too ugly to be 350 000. But if they threw in all their 70s decor, they might convince me!
This house is only around $260 000, and has the required Lower Level/basement. I do like all the windows.


But it's begging to be painted a jaunty colour. Pink! Yellow!

yay christmas song time!

It's getting on time for Christmas albums to be released. Yay! I think the Sting one holds promise, cause he's a very wintry sort of guy, and I love The Cherry Tree Carol. More promise than the Bob Dylan anyway.

Mary Gives Joseph a Smackdown (or "The Cherry Tree Carol")

story in New York Times

Definitely sounds like a Hollywood (big time reporter moves to small town!) type movie.

Eight months ago, Mr. Sprengelmeyer, 42, worked as the sole Washington correspondent for The Rocky Mountain News, the Denver newspaper that went out of business in February, but his job these days is a far cry from the Senate press gallery.

In August, he embarked on a new life in this isolated little town as owner, publisher, editor, primary writer and sometime ad salesman, photographer and deliverer of the weekly Guadalupe County Communicator, circulation about 2,000.

“I covered the war in Iraq and the presidential campaign, and I knew I was never going to top that, even if I found another reporting job,” he said, sitting on a battered chair in his single-story storefront space. “I just wanted a completely new direction.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/business/media/12communicator.html?em

*In* for Richard Curtis

My brother mentioned he watched Love, Actually tonight -- reminding me how much I love the writer (and sometimes director) Richard Curtis.

I first-lurved him as a co-writer of Blackadder, which was hilarious from one season to the next. Then I saw 4 Weddings and a Funeral, knowing nothing about it, and SUPER loved it. And then I saw Love, Actually and was once again amazed at his ability to write completely over the top farce, and then be sappy in the next scene, and it works. And finally I discovered his TV series The Vicar of Dibley, where he wrote everything from sex-with-sheep-jokes, to a sweet friendship that grows up between the vicar and her most pig-headed parishioner, to a fantastic romance story for the final season.

I mean... what WHAT could be funnier than Bill Nighy as the washed up pop star trying to make a comeback with a tacky remake song he knows is shite? And what could be more moving than the Prime Minister's introduction about Heathrow airport, and the fact that if you really look love is, actually, all around us? How can one man manage to fit both this storyline, and this theme, into the same movie?? The man even made me like the song "Love is All Around" and introduced me to "God Only Knows" from the Beach Boys. Genius I say.

Or what about 4 Weddings, where one of the first lines of dialogue is:

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck! Fuck! Fuck iiiit!

And the next-funniest scene is:

Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!

And yet there's also that incredible scene where John Hannah reads WH Auden's "Funeral Blues" at his boyfriend's funeral. Soooo sad. "I thought that love would last forever. I was wrong." Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Navel Gazing: The Books That Changed My Life - Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire

This is just one book representing a period of my life when I was first studying developing countries ( I was actually influenced by a variety of sources--lots of different articles, Franz Fanon etc.)

I think the strongest idea I took from this one book was the idea that when you're poor you feel like the universe acts upon you, rather than believing in your ability to act on the world--and Freire's pedagogy is all about changing that. It struck a chord, as it helped me understand my husband better.

random post you might randomly like!

I added a "you might like" widget to this blog. You know, so after you read a post it will suggest "you might also like to read these other related posts!" Except... the things it suggests... I have no idea how they're picked, cause they're really random! But for this blog it's kind of amusing, so I'll leave it.

funny? or just funny?

I've got so much of my new book's plot and characters figured out, I'm really excited! But one thing I still haven't resolved is The Level of Humour. So I'm reading and watching comedies (and romantic comedies) right now to figure it out. Maybe in November I'll just have to plunge into Nanowrimo, write up 50 000 rough words of rough copy, and see what level of humour it achieves. And then decide if it's funny enough, or if I need to ramp it up.

Wherein I defend 2 romcoms

Reading Entertainment Weekly's "40 Bad Romantic Comedies" lists (there are two.) Most of the movies I haven't seen, because I'm pretty good at avoiding bad movies. But I (and most of the commentors) have to disagree with two choices:

Two Weeks Notice is one of my favourite rom coms. The hero is irredeemably stupid, and that's a rarity in romances. And the heroine is consistently frumpy, ethical and intelligent. It's a great combination.

The other one we all defended was Head Over Heels, which I just saw on TV this week. It's not a good romance, but it's a great comedy. The heroine is an art restorer, but she lives with four models, and they're trying to figure out if the hero is a murderer. He doesn't even appear on screen much, because most of the movie's goodness comes from watching the dumb models. If you made a movie about Zoolander's roommates, this would be it. I love comedies about Groups of Dumb Guys (Judd Apatow movies, The Hangover, etc.), and it's a nice change to find a comedy about a Group of Dumb Girls. I totally recommend.

Michael Jackson in white face blackface

Have you read the story yet about the blackface routine done on an Australian game show, and Harry Connick Jr (who was a guest judge) 's reaction to it? Good for him, for stepping up and saying something right then, on the show.

click here

Update on my life

OPINIONS
I don't understand this Nobel Peace Prize thing. Very silly. The guy is in the middle of two wars, not to mention he would have only JUST got in office when he was nominated and had therefore done nuthin' up until then, not to mention what's he done that's so peace-prize-worthy? Clearly the Nobel PP is as reliable a marker for "good work!" as an Oscar.

SAVING YOUR LIFE
All the managers have to take First Aid training at my work, and I'm the virgin--I've never had any training at all. That's always made me nervous, so I'm glad to finally be doing it. I had my first day today, then a second one next week. Here's what you can now do in my presence:
- get burned
- get a cut
- slice off your thumb
- choke on something
- go into shock
- become unconscious
- get a nosebleed
But don't have a heart attack until after next Friday. Fernando's jealous. Because he works in a hospital where every nurse has advanced FA training, they only give the orderlies CPR.

Did you know?
- In Quebec you're legally obligated to stop and help someone in distress.
- But you're protected by a Good Samaritan Act if the person sustains some other injury while you're helping them--protected from being sued.(My trainer said only BC doesn't have a Good Sam law, but that's not the case according to internets.)

DREAMS
On the other hand, it's a bad idea to go for a nap when you get home from a day-long session of First Aid. I had the WEIRDEST dreams/nightmares than I've had since the time I dreamed my plane crashed into a building. It meandered through many weird things, all vaguely themed on First Aid, but ended with a monster who wanted to eat me. And it was okay if he only ate a bit at a time, but I was afraid he'd eat me completely so I was calling around trying to get someone to pick me up and give me a lift out of there.

OLD BOOK
Taking a small break before I rework the synopsis.

NEW BOOK
Breakthrough! I finally figured out which Shakespeare-Henry-V character will be the Male Romantic Lead in my story. And I've also finally got a handle on said Male Romantic Lead. It's very exciting. This was one of the sticking points in my book (the fact that I want a love story in my book, even though I'm basing this on Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V which are not romances.)

NOMBLY
I'm fairly resigned to a Nombly-less life. My campaign to make the other cats hang out with me more seems to be working--I'm seeing more of them, and not only at feed time. I think Sherry's a bit confused though. "Why do you suddenly find me so fascinating? Oh well, extra pets. I'm in."

MUSIC
Good haul at the library today:
- Malcolm X soundtrack (used to have on tape)
- Best of James Bond (in case I'm missing a song or two)
- Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen (wrote lots of famous Cotton Club type songs)
- Bryan Ferry doing Dylan covers
- The Neptunes Present... Clones
- Morcheeba
- last Alanis Morissette album (figure it's worth a listen)
- Public Enemy's It Takes a Million...

I'm killing it, I'm killing it

I know, all my posts right now are "ooer I love this song!" That's what happens when I get back to working on my writing. I just listen to music while researching, plotting, brainstorming.

Happy by N.E.R.D.


You see I'm happy (happy)
Things are lookin good now (good now)
I feel so alive( so alive)
I'm on overdrive (overdrive)
I'm killing it, I'm killing it

Canadian winter car chase

posted on a friend's facebook page

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."

- Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum, p. 247

(She came across it on Amanda Palmer's latest blog post.)

Sandra, our Lord and Saviour

Fun writing resource! This site shows lingo that would have been in use in a given year. I want to have a diary within the next story I write -- passages from the diary of the character's great-grandmother. But what I'm going to attempt is a funny diary. A 1918 version of Georgia Nicholson.

Mind you, the language isn't much different from my grandmother's. Maybe I should just be hanging out playing bridge with her and her cronies. "Boy! Take a gander at that. I sure am keen on that." Hm. Needs more work.

Speaking of Georgia Nicholson, if you recall her little sister always invades her bed along with her posse. In this book, the posse consists of "Scuba Diving Barbie, Charlie Horse, a parsnip" and the cross-eyed kitten Gordy. The sister has also taken Georgia's statue of Jesus, put him in a frock, and is calling him Sandra--Barbie's best friend.

I'm on book 6 and haven't gotten tired of the series yet. Maybe because each book is short and only covers about half a year in Georgia's life, so it feels more like reading one long book. Or watching an episode of a tv show each week.

Love Song of the Day: Doesn't Mean Anything by Alicia Keys

I love Alicia Keys first album--the one with the American Idol try-outs fave "Falling."


Her second album left me meh. I was disappointed.

And then her third album blew me away.



So if this song is from an upcoming album, Imma get excited!

fave song right now: Mr Autotune by Wyclef, with Nick Cannon

updates on meeeeee

HEALTH: Well the sickitude is gone. I went to work today, bit tired, not much appetite, but fine. I got my appetite back about an hour ago, a few hours after a big mug of tea. First time I felt hungry in 5 days. Too bad, cause this No Appetite thing would be a great way to eat more moderately!

On the foot side, my clogs are still working quite nicely. I only have one sore foot this evening, and not as bad as it would normally be after work. May need to get another pair next year for casual wear!





MUSIC: There was this great song at the end of a Numb3rs episode last week, and all us internets people were searching for it! It was like... a community project. I kept the web page open and refreshed each time I came to the computer. Well someone found the song while I was away from computah - hooray!

Ryan Levine: "Don't Walk Away"
No one ever learns to live alone
They just get tired and their hearts get cold.

Depressing, and I don't agree. But artistic! And well-suited to the tough guy Numb3rs cop.

BOOKS: Struggling to get through a Jennifer Crusie book. Getting into the next Georgia Nicholson book.

WRITING: Finished my query letter (got my mother's final input, as someone who hadn't read a single page of the book and could say whether it made sense.) Now I've got to rewrite my synopsis before I can start looking for an agent. HAPOO! But at the same time I'm letting myself start work on Henry V.

WORK: It's busy! As usual. Nothing ever new there.

TV: Watched third episode of House today. Sigh. Well, I think they're finally advancing the character and making him less of a sociopath. And one of the doctors murderered someone, which was sort of cool. But honestly I'm soooo tired of those doctors.

Also watched a doc on the LA Times for story ideas.

STRATFORD: Back to planning. Must book before all is lost.

BED: Yes, I must go now.

Navel Gazing: The Books That Changed My Life - Oh Henry

Walden - HD Thoreau

I like lots of his short writings too, and I don't love Walden cover to cover--I'm not enough of a nature girl to like all the nature-ee descriptions. But there are other chapters where Thoreau chastises us for not living more simply, and his words are probably more relevant today than ever before. He also stresses the importance of knowing yourself, digging into who you are, approaching yourself as an undiscovered territory. In the end, I think he's too much on the side of individualism, and underestimates the importance of community--but when it comes to Individualism, there's no better advocate.

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

meuuuuuuuh

I'm actually getting tired of tv (on the net or on the tube.) But I don't have the energy for anything else. Meuuuuuuuuh. I called in sick for work tomorrow, cause I want my energy back before I dive back into my week.

I can't even remember all things I watched today. ...Some Dr Phil, a Morse episode I think, the beginning of Dawn of the Dead, clips of Chris Lilley stuff on youtube, part of The Notebook, the Starsky and Hutch movie (not very funny), and now I'm watching Entourage from Surfthechannel. Behhhhh.

I don't even want to go to bed because last night I had creepy dreams. I don't know what happened in them, only that they felt disturbing. I think it was cause my body was in pain, and it was translating to my dreams. I was uncomfortable. And woke up feeling that way. And felt that way all day.

blehhh still feeling sick

i have no energy, but i lay in bed for an hour and couldn't sleeps

i shall spleuh on the couch and watch inspector morse

Man am I tired. After the library I went back to bed for another 3 hours.

tired, but not yet grumbly

I slept for 10 hours. Went to the library to get a book they transferred in for me, before they send it back (the next Georgia Nicholson!) I was SO exhausted by then, I had to take two sitting breaks on the (5 minute) walk back home. Now I'm having faux-chicken broth, and I've got some Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect mysteries from the library to keep me occupied.

grumgrum grumble

I think we have the Norwalk virus. That's the gastro most likely for adults to get.

Just took another 4 hour sleeps. My tummy is still grrrrrumbly.

Will attempt a little Jell-o.

kittention

I can't take any more of this salt sh. I'm attempting ice cubes and un-vegetarian-Jell-o. At least I'm finally getting some kitty attention!

wahhh

my headache went away and now it's back! pooey gotta take a second rapimelt

the elecrolytes are making me grumbly

sux

salty

Got some sleep. Feeling better. Finally got to drink, but Fernando said I should start with the electrolyte drink, which tastes like salt. So. Drinking cold salt water isn't really what I was dreaming of. Sigh.

Gaaastrooooo nothing but gaaaastroooo

Since gastro outbreaks are really common in hospitals, I assume that's what I've got. That's why I don't think I'd ever take a cruise, cause you always hear these horror stories about gastro outbreaks, that spread ship-wide

Viral gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection caused by several different viruses. Highly contagious, viral gastroenteritis is the second most common illness in the United States. It causes millions of cases of diarrhea each year.

Anyone can get viral gastroenteritis and most people recover without any complications. However, viral gastroenteritis can be serious when people cannot drink enough fluids to replace what is lost through vomiting and diarrhea—especially infants, young children, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems.

[Top]

Symptoms

The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are watery diarrhea and vomiting. Other symptoms are headache, fever, chills, and abdominal pain. Symptoms usually appear within 4 to 48 hours after exposure to the virus and last for 1 to 2 days, though symptoms can last as long as 10 days.

I would MURDER someone for a glass of ice water

Fernando told me he didn't get his Tummy Troubles under control until he stopped drinking for 12 hours. So I've only drunk a little water when taking gravol (not helping), immodium (helping), or Tylenol (my leg muscles ache now.) But I'm dying to eat or drink something coooooooold. I want a Freezie!

I keep vacillating between way too hot, and freezing cold.

Man, I haven't watched Regis and Kelly since I was a house cleaner and Mrs. Aitken would be watching it. Ripa has ripped arms! I remember when Regis came out with a book called I Am Only One Man, and I used to say, Thank God! Mehhhh heh heh heh.

I want to die.

Oh good, my cold cloth is still cold because they haven't put the heat on in the apartment yet. Ahhhh.

Fernando's actually glad I'm sick, because he was never sure in the end whether he had a bug or food poisoning from what he ate at the hospital the first day. Now he feels like he can be comfortable still eating at the hospital. Thanks Fernando. Thanks. Did you really need to know that badly??

This is the first sick day I've taken from work in ages. The worst I remember was the year I got that insane pneumonia-flu-bronchitis that was going around, about 9 years ago. I missed an entire week of work. I hallucinated that my feet were talking. I had to sleep sitting up cause I had trouble breathing. It was one of the most miserable weeks of my life. It was the first time I could understand how people died of the flu during the Span Infl outbreak. I was soooo tired, I could barely make it the bathroom.

Kelly Ripa is lauding the maternity leave times in Canada.

I hope I didn't give this bug to anyone at work cause it's just GROSS.

Woody Harrelson's a cool guy. And Ripa's right, he does look like a teenager. I'd like to see the zombie movie he's going to be in.

I'm huuuungry. All I ate last night, at work, was two pieces of veggie sushi, and my pudding. Then I started feel nauseous so I stopped. But I daren't eat yet. It'll just come right back out, from one end or another.

In other news... I wore my Rockport shoes the first couple days at work, and they were comfortable, but my fasciitis certainly hasn't gone away, so my feet were still killing me. The next two days I wore my special clogs, and what a difference! Much less sore.

Ew Woody stop you're gonna make me cookie toss! He says that Kelsey Grammar used to salt butter, and just eat it. EWWWWWWW.

I love this milk ad, with the French-sounding Grandma. Her grandson is sad because "his tarantula was on his last leg. So I gave him a glass of milk" --you see this kid and his dying tarantula-- "and said Poor Ben. Don't worry, there are more bugs in Grandma's basement." And then she says to the camera: "There's nothing more comforting than a Grandma."

Fuuuuuck

Fernando's been sick this week. He's fine now, but tonight I started the exact same symptoms...

- the chills
- cookie tossing
- and then 24 hours of regular bathroom visits

wee.

Luckily he bought gravol and immodium towards the end, so maybe that will help. I've already emailed in sick to work.