Meme* Madness

Doing the meme from yesterday, I was reminded of one that East Coast Alaska Girl tagged me with about a bazillion years ago. So here goes.

1. What are the 3 stupidest things you've ever done in your life?
I try not to regret the things I have done in my life. Who I am now is based on where I have been, and I am pretty happy with the person I am (not to say there is not room for improvement). But here goes.

1) Getting married without having figured out who I was first. You can't build a life with someone else until you have built a life for yourself.

2) Letting that marriage go so long without being honest with her about how I felt.

3) Putting aside my dreams for someone else, when I knew in my heart it would not make the slightest difference to the other person.

2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?
The Multi-State, Girlie-Advising Posse. You can't have too much tough love in your life.

3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up five people to dine with, who would you pick?
1) Myself twenty years ago.
2) Myself twenty years from now.
3) Socrates
4) Thomas Jefferson
5) Leonardo Da Vinci

4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?
That I was not in debt, that my friends were free to pursue their callings without financial concern, that I had the means to see some of my friends a little more often.

5. Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.

Things I wish DC had:
24 Hour Metro.
More places to eat at 3:30 in the morning.

Things to avoid.
Thomas Circle (at least until they are finished with construction)
The area around the Capitol when we are on "Mauve Alert" or whatever the color coding is now.

I tag, City Mouse, Bea Yourself, S.

* Forgive my ignorance, how is this word pronounced?

City Mouse tagged me with this meme

SEVEN SONGS:List seven songs you are into right now; no matter the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good. They must be songs you're really enjoying this week. When you're done, tag seven people to see what they're listening to.

1. Sweet Child O' Mine; Guns and Roses. When I am in a crappy mood (which because of work silliness has been most of this week) this song goes to 11 on the iPod.
2. American Woman; The Guess Who. Same reason. Sometimes you just really need loud rock and roll.
3. Origin Of Love; Hedwig and The Angry Inch soundtrack. I love how this song sets up the psychological action of the whole show. Plus, it's a beautiful story.
4. Shake Your Groove Thing; Peaches and Herb. What can I say, I am old enough to remember 70's radio. And I can't hear it without seeing in my mind's eye Bill Irwin in The Clown Bagatelles.
5. The Big Reel of Ballynacally/The High Hill/Flash Away The Pressing Gang: Solas. My favorite Irish trad band. Great walking music and really lifts the spirits.
6. It's Only Rock and Roll; The Rolling Stones.
7. Blinded by the Light; Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Yeah, really have no excuse for this one. Just fond memories.

I tag the MSGAP (Multi-State, Girlie-Advising Posse), at least those of you with blogs. This would include S, Bea Yourself, Lucky Spinster, East Coast Alaska Girl, Biker Chick. I don't have two more, I am afraid.

Rats: Part II

I was on the phone with a colleague this afternoon, and happened to look out my apartment window down on the rat trap below. And there was some poor guy, cleaning it out.

After I got over my convulsions, I was left with one thought.

Thank god I have job skills.

Rats

The window in my apartment looks out onto the backs of two other apartment buildings. At night, I look down on a light fixture that shines over two doorways. The doorways are flanked by two concrete posts, and the light from the fixture just manages to paint the edges of them. The fixture itself casts a lovely pattern on the ground. All in all, a lovely composition.

At least it would be, but the focal point of this composition is the largest rat trap I have ever seen. I don't mean the kind with a spring and a piece of cheese, but the ones where they go in and get stuck and then starve to death. It is huge. Seriously, you could lose a poodle in there.

I have a severe rodent phobia* (I have been known to cross the street to avoid them), and I don't really want to have to contemplate how large the rats are that this trap is meant to ensnare, and how close they are living to me.

*There is a funny bit of irony there, but I don't think I will share it.

Back Into The Cave

I have decided to head back into the cave.

It is safer there.

Self Editing

On the phone with S the other night, she pointed out to me that of late I have not been very open here on the ol blog. I suppose this is true, and probably why I have stopped posting on a regular basis. I won't go into why I feel the need to self edit, but it does leave me wondering if I shouldn't just discontinue writing here.

Your thoughts, gentle readers?

Munich

Saw the film this evening. I have to start off by saying I think it is a very well crafted bit of storytelling. Probably the best piece Spielberg has ever done.

Now, having said that, I have to say I had huge thematic issues with the movie. Despite his protestations otherwise, Spielberg has sent out a message that says violence will only beget violence, leading us down an endless path of retribution. I don't have a problem with this idea, in fact I believe it with all my heart. What bothers me is that in the end, the mouthpiece for this notion is a man who murdered eight people, and is seemingly only concerned with their actual guilt after he feels his family is threatened. And lest we forget, his family is in danger because of his actions. He made a concious choice to murder (whether you call them assassinations or murder, the people in question are still dead) these people, yet Spielberg expects us to have some level of sympathy for him. Sorry, Steven, the character is a scumbag, plain and simple. Murdering for the state is no different than murdering for the mob, or for the guy's rolex, the end result is still the death of another human being. Having a moral issue with it after you have committed the deed is not evidence of a strong character.

If we are trying to make some statement about trying to stop an endless stream of violence, then please have it come from someone not steeped in the blood of others.

Mr Crankypants

There is a lot swirling around in my head at the moment. Some of the randomness.

I have had American Woman on continuous loop on my iPod for two days now.

I have been in a pissy mood for about the same amount of time.

By invading Iraq with no real cause, George Bush has left the US without a viable military option where Iran's nuclear ambitions are concerned. In an election year, there is no way Congress is going to authorize another military action.

Being on the road so much, I forgot about the concept of free time. I am having toruble adjusting to having it.

I am becoming increasingly bitter about my inability to make a living in this town.

I know I have no right to bitch about the above. But I'm going to do it anyway. It's my blog and if you don't like what I have to say, fuck off and read someone else's.

I am perhaps a little cranky this morning.

No one should read anything into the mental diahrea (sp?) above. Just need to write so I can get out of my own head for a bit.

Peace

No, I Have Not Died

I have been in tech for Lift at Theatre of the First Amendment since I got back from Orlando. The time with the family last week has generated a lot of thought, but I have not really had time to process it, let alone write about it. More on that later.

Big things have shifted for me on an emotional and psychological level. Some of it is related to the time in Florida (I was there for my Uncle's funeral), some related to my birthday (I am 38 now, for some reason a scary number to me), and some is for reasons I will keep to myself. I will say that I was re-reading a post I wrote over the summer, and it has come back to haunt me in a big way.

So. Happy New Year to all. If I can ever get my brain to slow down long enough for me to write what's in it, there will be more.

I know you are all quivering in .......



anticipation.

Peace in yer crease.

Home Again

I got back form Orlando this morning.

There is a lot more in my head at the moment, but I am trying to decide how to say it, and whether it should be said at all.

It is good to be home.

Alaska Time, Or Insomnia?

Either way, it sucks. I have been up for three hours now, and am rapidly approaching the time when I actually have to get out and run some errands. I have to fly to Orlando this afternoon, and have a few things that must be dealt with before I go.

I have in the past day and a half, imported about 2/3 of my CDs into i-Tunes, and thus onto my iPod. I now have two days worth of music. I will be with my family in Florida for three days, so at least I have options for dealing with the insanity. For two days at least.

I love my iPod. It is my constant companion*.

I have no idea whether I will be able to post on the ol blog while I am away down South. I am staying at my Uncle's house (I think), and don't know if there is a shot at an internet connection down there. I also don't know if there will be the opportunity.

I saw King Kong Friday night. It dragged a little in the middle, and I could have lived without the bug scene (I have a bit of a phobia there), but like my blog sis, Lucky Spinster, I cried through the last twenty minutes of the movie. I am usually one of those geeks who sits all the way through the credits anyway, but this time I was forced to so I could avoid having anyone looking at me and being able to tell I was crying. I am a big sap**, what can I say.

As I am going to spend three days with the fam, I decided to go see The Family Stone this afternoon. I figured a comedy about family was just the thing to help lighten the mood for the next three days.

Boy has that movie been mis-marketed. It is billed as a comedy, and there are certainly funny moments, but it deals with some rather serious issues. Issues that at the moment hit a little too close to home for me. I have not read the review in the Post, but was told it was not favorable. I think it is worth a look, although maybe as a rental.***

*That and my fuzzy alligator.

**Actually, I am a girl. At least that is what my close friends keep telling me.

***Do people even rent movies anymore? I think I am the only person on the planet not signed up for Net Flicks.

Mea Culpa

So I just read this post.

Wow. How delightfully passive-agressive of me.

I owe someone a very big apology.

BTW

Happy New Year, everybody.

A cheesy toast, but a nice sentiment:

May the best of your yesterday be the worst of your tomorrow.

Peace

Meaning? Or, Sometimes A Light Up Santa With A Trash Can Is Just A...

While driving around L.A. with D last month, we spotted a light up Santa Claus with what appeared to be a light up trash can behind it. My first response was "Perhaps it symbolizes the crass commercialsm behind the holiday season."

Or perhaps it was just a light up Santa with a light up trash can.

I tend to read meaning into a lot of things, both the arrangement of objects, and people's behavior. Being the meglomaniacal person that I am, I often assume people's behaviour is in some way about me.

An example:

As my regular readers know, I have a thing about the return of phone calls. This started as a professional thing. When a phone call is returned can often give you a clue as to where you fall in a colleague's radar. Now that has bled over into my personal life, so that if someone has not called me back, it indicates things to me that it probably shouldn't. I know that people are busy and it's not always about me, but it still bothers me.

I suppose this "trait"* of mine helps explain why I have such a hard time taking the things I am told at face value. Not the negative stuff, or the strictly benign stuff (when someone says "It's four PM." I usually believe them), but I often worry that, in an attempt to not hurt my feelings, people tell me what they think I want to hear.**

This is why I love the Muti-State, Girlie-Advising Posse so much. They tell me when I am being an idiot, much like Feste's foes in Twelfth Night. I would rather be told I am an ass.

There is a point in here somewhere. If you find it, could you tell it I am looking for it?

*You say neurosis, I say trait.

** Further evidence of my meglomania