It's kind of like a roller coaster, but without the lap bar.

So- I had an a really great vacation. A friend hosted me in San Diego for 2 days of beach walking, Mexican food, seals that didn't seem interested in going clubbing at all, and lots of downtime.  Downtime seems much easier to accomplish when the company is good and the air smells like the ocean, I'm telling you.  Usually I epically fail at relaxing and it starts to feel like work but that wasn't the case.  California is gorgeous and I totally get the appeal of the west coast now.  The trip to and fro, despite being long, was easy.  Sabine's great suggestion of Tylenol PM and a stiff drink before boarding to come home was a great one (file under: Sabine is Still Not a Role Model).

Annnnd then I came home and reality kind of jumped up and said "HI!!!!!"  On Easter, Max was killed in a motorcycle accident.  Now, Max is not one of my close friends. I've known him for 15+ years, and he's always been around, but we never got cozy.  That being said, he was really close with a lot of the people I do consider close enough to want to be able to tend to their needs and - big surprise - situations I have no control over don't exactly set well with me.  I'm doing what I can do to help make things easier for those that I can but it's still rough to see my people hurting and not being able to fix them. So instead, I'll make up the beds and get out the skillets and do some cooking and fawning.  Sabine and I are going to hang blinds, too... because nothing distracts people like wrenching the power tools away from Sabine and I and hanging up the blinds for us.

Basically, I'm thinking that when you add together a really good weekend and a really harsh Monday, you get something that feels a bit like being hit by a truck with some pleasant tones.  And this is why I don't write Hallmark cards...

--

Puppies napping.

I'm going to babble now.

Do you ever notice how things have a tendency to come up out of nowhere and then suddenly repeat themselves in different parts of your life?  It doesn't have to be a deep something. In the past two weeks, I've had at least 6 unconnected people mention in conversation how much they love Count Chocula.  I've also had a book and a subject come up repeatedly in the past little bit.  The book is Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom.  When it came up for the 4th time in as many days this morning I went ahead and Kindle'd it - it may not be coming up for a reason but at the very least, I trust the taste of those people who are reading it and seemingly getting something out of it.  That's easy.

The subject? Not as easy.  For some reason the theme of full disclosure and internet privacy and personal openness keep coming up, and they're tangling themselves in such a way that they can't be isolated separately, at least not in my little brain.  I've tried to sit here and write out my thoughts but all I really get is a convoluted tangle so apparently, it isn't really ready to be written about... we'll just call this a bookmark and maybe I'll get back to it later.  Or not. I seem to be expert at saying "I should write about that!" and then promptly not doing it.  Or even belatedly not doing it... anyhow.  We'll see. It gets thinks, though. Lots of thinks.

--

I'm officially counting down now, by the way. I'm on an airplane in 48 hours.  Squee!

Pizza, Tiki Bowls,and Nude Hose

The Scholars' College Reunion was this weekend. Unlike many schools, we don't do class years - we just do the entire damn college every 5 years.  Anyhow- I had an amazing time.  Walking to campus from Brent and Jeanie's was nostalgic (I used to walk that route, as I rented part of the duplex across the street from them for a bit, and before that I was at their house all the time anyway).  Walking home? Not as nostalgic. Turns out they've fenced in the impound lot AND fixed the cemetery's fencing so that sneaking out the back is harder than it once was but we worked it out.  It wasn't very much of a shortcut but it was scenic.  It turns out that Tiki Bowls still taste like Pineapple Juice, we're still more excited by "You Never Even Called me by My Name" than by most other songs, and reports indicate that current Scholars' students still arrange themselves around the table based on who actually read the text.  Thank God for things that never change!  Furthermore, my souvenirs from the weekend include t-shirts, a brick with a plaque on it, and a railroad spike, which also indicates that not much has changed about my sentimentality.  John as Sara's plus one did a great job of ferrying us around, babysitting purses, tolerating inside jokes that weren't applicable to him, and hanging out in a college kid bar.

Sunday after Jhan's family and John got on the road, the rest of us took off in the Firebird to take some pictures around town.  There was Public Indecency at the Train Station, possible violations of "no skating" rules downtown, and we're not going to talk about the cannon at all, but we did have a ton of fun.  Such a ton of fun was had that I made it home, sent a text that said I didn't need any recovery time because I felt great!... and promptly passed out in the Comfy Chair with a pile of cats for an hour and a half.

I'm hoping for an easy - and fast - week this week.  I'm rolling into it pretty damn happy with the state of the me in general and all recovered from the weekend with only a pile of laundry and a sewing project to keep me occupied until the next weekend gets here - which I am anticipating eagerly.

--

I spent way too much time dwelling on this earlier.  Kinda creepy, eh (the link, not the dwelling)?

Keepin' it classy.

me: http://blogs.shreveport-bossier.org/blog/post/2011/04/12/Town-South-Food-Wine-Pho-Slush-Puppies-andLive-Bait.aspx
.... are you feeling any better?
Sabine:  my kind of place. I'm maintaining. I haven't gotten sicker. Sinus congestion is being handled by meds and the scratchy throat hasn't turned into a full blast sore throat. I'm taking this to mean that the emergen-c powder I snorted is doing some good.
me:  did you really snort it?
Sabine:  How do you take Emergen-c?
me:  You put the powder in the vodka, jackass.

So now another thing that I am seriously desperately looking forward to is going for pho in a place that sells Slush Puppies. That may be the last Slush Puppy machine in Shreveport. Or in the WORLD. 



.... Woah.  "Bait Shop Pho" would be a righteous punk rock band name.  Somebody get some talent and get on that.

Feel better soon, Sabine.

Coronation, Spring Sling, and Tournament of Champions weekend

I should know better than to overextend myself to the point that I just don't like humans because even comprehending their existence is just too much work for me.  I did that this weekend, by the way.

God, it was fun.

Lemme recap:

Friday - left work, went to the doctor, got the verification that yes, what do you know, it IS an ear infection! Then I went to get my fantabulous friend Charles from the airport after he'd been traveling for something like 15 hours.  We ran some errands he needed to tend to, him punch-drunk from being awake and flying for eons and me because shots of steroids and antibiotics make me a little bit fun to be around.  Wheeee!  We headed out to Lake Bistineau (Charles's purpose for being in town was an SCA event he was cooking for), I stayed for a little while, and then my punch drunkiness and I went home for bed.  For reasons I still haven't grasped I didn't sleep well, and it was a long and restless night. 

Saturday - the Beekeeper and I got up and out of the house by 8 AM so that we could make it back out to the SCA event for the morning festivities.  Moose and Bri's final court was great.  Havordh and Gana's Coronation ceremony was sweet, and Ifor made me cry a little bit.  The rest of the morning was spent visiting with sweet friends I have missed dearly and turning over my proxy letters for the Pelicans'* meeting that I was going to miss to go be a derby girl later... and I'm definitely a little sad about that.  See, I knew that when the time came for a polling, my dear Jeanie was surely going to be polled positively on, but I wasn't expecting an announcement about her impending elevation to be made that night.  I'm a touch heartbroken that I missed it, but whenever, wherever her elevation is - I'm going to be there.  Even if it is on Mars and it conflicts with my own investiture of Empress of the World (which I can totally reschedule, because I'll be the boss by then).  Sooo- bittersweet on that. Thrilled that my dear friend is being recognized but sad that I wasn't there to see her face when it was declared.

ANYhow- we got home a bit after noon, and I tried to take a nap. Didn't work.  The trip to Jacksonville was uneventful.  The dressing rooms of pop-up tents behind the rink actually kind of rocked... it was a pretty day and locker rooms, even good ones, usually smell like stale hockey player and ham sandwiches.  I was cranky due to just being sleepy, a little nervous (though not nearly as bad as last time), and just a bit wonky.  It passed.

Game recap- I was skating as Blocker 2 in 3 lineups.  At least 4 times when those lineups came around- Blocker 2 was in the box.  Discouraging, but... eh. Whatchagonnado?  I yelled like a damn fool instead.  I went hoarse cheering and felt like I contributed better in the jams I was in than I did last time, so that's something.  I wasn't nearly as nervous this time, which helped.  We were skating in front of a much smaller crowd- which helped.  I've seen one video so far of a jam I was in and... it was better than last time. I'm still not thrilled with my skill sets but I have a feeling that I'm getting closer to a lightbulb moment.

And then there was a party.  Oh yes.  There was a party, and it was lovely, and there was bourbon and pole dancing (I engaged in the former but not the latter).  I got back to my room at around 3 AM, and we woke up at 7:30 which was a special sort of hell but entirely necessary.

Sunday - I'd like to say I was super productive but really, all I accomplished was picking Charles up, dropping him off at the airport, napping, reading most of a book, and playing trivia.  I got invited to play on a Tournament of Champions team at the pub, and while Team Chum Bucket did well- we didn't win money, just tickets to a Mudbugs Playoff game that I'm not able to go to since it conflicts with my reunion this weekend. Oh well. It was fun, and the french fries were amazing.

--

When I first decided that, for 40 days, I was going to banish all animal proteins AND soda from my diet, I was a bit delusional.  Soda lasted for over half of it - but is back.  It's back in moderation, though, not nearly to the degree it was first.

As for meat?  I've not fallen off the wagon at all, however - I WANT TO.  This has become a stubbornness thing and not a health thing, which I don't like, but I really honestly miss fish, and just to make it clear - I would probably stab you with a spork for a rare tuna steak right now. And don't even get me started on salmon. Or crawfish. Or even shrimp, and I'm not really a huge shrimp fan.  EvilSara, being my best enabler has actually figured out the math for sunrise in New Zealand on Easter Sunday vs. where I'm going to be at that precise moment in the event I should feel the need to play the "Screw it, it's Easter somewhere" card and you know what? I might do that.  I'm NOT EVEN CATHOLIC.

I don't think that I'll be allowing pork or poultry back in, though (and beef wasn't really a factor to begin with).  Honestly, I feel REALLY good these days, and I do believe that diet has been a large part of that.  I think that I'll be able to practice moderation, though, and allow back in some fish now and then without compromising whatever progress I've made in that department.




*For those not in the SCA - the Order of the Pelican is kind of like the "lifetime award for service" in our organization.  Present members are allowed to have input (or polling) before the decision is made to induct a new member.

Two things, having nothing to do with one another.

Sabine has inspired a new word in the Tribal Language (which I'm pretty sure we still call Squidspeak): scarcasm. The word that I inspired is agnuish.  Personally, I like scarcasm better, but we're all about full disclosure up in this joint, right? Right. If any of you actually geek out on etymology enough to want to write an appropriate definition for either, feel free.

--

Amazon sent me an email this morning subjected "Now available: The Unclaimed Baby."  Clicking on the email led me to see that that's the title of a Harlequin Romance and that Amazon hasn't gone into adoption facilitating, so it was short-lived excitement but I had a few great seconds of thinking that my dad had upped the ante in his attempts to get me to adopt a herd of children.