Strolling II

Must-see

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:28:56 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1JZ9O15280

Incredible sand-painting performance, via MetaFilter. You have GOT to see this. I don't even understand any of the language or content and I was about to cry like some of the audience members.

I was about to say that jinglymushroom could maybe help out with some translations, but my observation of the non-Cyrillic details tells me that this is from a TV talent show in the Ukraine, so I don't know whether this is actually in Russian or not.

Just go see.

From your friendly neighborhood consumer health librarian

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:55:13 GMT

I was just replying to a friend's post regarding potentially suspect information she received about the swine flu, and thought, hey, I should post this publicly where anyone can read it.

Here are sources of GOOD (accurate, up-to-date, scientific, unbiased*) information about the flu:

U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) page on swine flu: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/?s_cid=swineFlu_outbreak_001

World Health Organization (part of the United Nations) for international info: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

U.S. government flu information, gathered in one place: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/ (from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)

*I realize I have friends who regard everything the government does and says as violently biased. Now is perhaps not the time to argue about this, but my opinion is: One company trying to sell me drugs and nutritional supplements is MORE likely to provide systematically biased information than a large federal government organization made up of thousands of people and reporting to two different bodies of elected officials from all over the country, most of whom can't agree on what kind of sandwich to have for lunch, much less on what ideological slant to take on any given issue.

This is a public post with screened comments. Don't make me leave yours screened.

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:22:56 GMT

I am so angry I could scream.

My boss just stopped by to let me know that one of the two brand new painstakingly handmade heavy wooden cabinets, full of antique photos and fragile books that I worked on for a month and carefully arranged...

HAS BEEN MOVED.

And I don't mean two feet to the left. I mean fifty feet across a very large conference room and up a step. By three people, none of whom is qualified to move heavy wood furniture, late one Friday afternoon, ON A WHIM.

Set aside the fact that it has been moved from where everyone walking in the room can see it, to where only those sitting up front in a large meeting will even notice it.

Set aside the fact that a complete exhibit has now been split in two (the larger cabinet isn't movable without special equipment, so it remains next to where the other one was).

What's horrible about this, is that the cabinet is full of old and unique photos and books, on bare wood so there is nothing to anchor them to the spot if the cabinet tilts. And my boss and I (and the locksmith, who wasn't one of the three people there) are the only ones with keys. So I am sure everything inside has been tumbled around, maybe even damaged.

Ah, but this is the fact that tops off all others: the person who suggested moving the cabinet, and who helped move it, is OUR INSTITUTIONAL DIRECTOR, the very same man who cares so much about this collection that he had it moved out of storage and near the library so it could be worked on, who asked me to look into how to organize it, who directed me to put together the exhibit and the carpentry shop to make the cabinets, who wants to be the one who writes "the book" about Mendota. He has all these high hopes for the collection, yet he a) doesn't want to pay for a professional archivist to organize it so people can use it, and b) doesn't care enough about the actual artifacts to take decent care of them when they're on display!

And when I called the person who schedules the conference room to see if she had any idea who moved the cabinet, she began laughing uproariously, like she was remembering a madcap adventure, and said it had been her and the Director and another person, and they just wanted to see if it would be more visible there. Here's a direct quote; imagine it being said with much laughter: "Maybe it would have been nice if we'd have called you to let you know?" I was sitting at my desk gaping into the phone, trying to figure out if I should reply with a loud "YES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN.", or just sort of laugh along with her. People who think they are being funny are usually offended if one responds with cold silence. So I said, "Well, you know, yeah..." in a self-deprecating way, and laughed a bit along with her.

Lest you think I would swallow anger simply to be polite, because of the involvement of the director, there may be some politics involved here. People are very territorial around here, and duties can be informally assigned based on who feels like doing something, leading to a blurring of job boundaries; a sure way to gain an enemy is to imply that what someone thinks is their prerogative, is actually yours. So I had to do some swallowing, to keep the future peace. Otherwise I'd have shouted at this idiot on the phone loud enough to scare the patients in the library.

This is all so far past unacceptable, I don't know what more to say, except that I am so far succeeding in keeping myself from running over to the conference center to check on the cabinet's contents. My boss (who is almost equally offended by all this, bless her) advised that we sleep on our irritation, and go over and check tomorrow. I had a group here until 2, so I've been keeping myself in the library for, let me check...thirteen minutes. My 2:30 group isn't coming today.

It's going to be a long, long two hours until I go home.

EDIT: I had another strong urge to go over to the conference center at 3, but I rode it out. This is ridiculous, though. I'm going to sort the mail, finish cataloging the two items I have left in today's batch, and then go home.

Sometimes the gimmick doesn't mask the quality

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:44:34 GMT

Fredo Viola's cluster duets (and trios, etc.) are always amazing, but this time he's concocted your basic really good song,"Red States"--which he presents here as three simultaneous performances in three countries. Sort of a distributed cluster...

"Red States" by Fredo Viola, the English group I Am Your Autopilot, and French flutist Scalde

Why do I feel so at home?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:57:16 GMT

I just got, and responded to, my first e-mail inquiry about joining the SCA since I became Baronial Chatelaine (newcomer welcomer) Sunday night. (That didn't take long...!) Oh, and an LJ-related note: the person who e-mailed me found a post I put on the madisonwi LJ group maybe a year ago about the SCA, and that's what led her to be interested in joining!

I'm really the Chatelaine again, now that I've started doing one of the duties of the office! I just love doing this. I was Shire Chatelaine in Rokeclif and Kingdom Chatelaine a couple of years ago, but now I get to welcome people to the SCA in my actual hometown. There is something about this that feels like coming full circle. My first non-newcomers' event in the SCA was here in Jara. So although I lived elsewhere, I feel a little like I was new here once, too, in Madison. (That was one long, cold, lonesome event for this newbie...anyone remember the Pas d'Amour? In one of those livestock barns next to the Coliseum in fall 1997? That's one event that will never let me forget how hard it can be to be new.)

I am suddenly taken with uncharacteristic ambition: I want to do a good job. Anyone have Chatelaine-y advice?

Next fall I would like to do a real blow-out Newcomers' Feast here in the Barony. Who'd like to help out? Any ideas for sites? I know we could use devikat's co-op's living room again, but I'm hoping this will be too big for that! Ideas for fun activities? I wouldn't mind having a co-autocrat (and you wouldn't be committing to being my deputy or anything). Let me know your thoughts/ideas.

It really is all about the slushies

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:48:30 GMT

The verdict on the cherry creamslush from Sonic: tasty and not heavy like a shake (though I am purposely avoiding looking up the calorie load). Not strongly-flavored, but then if I liked strongly-flavored, I'd have gotten lime. (Next time, maybe.)

Yum. Bet it's even better in July.

listening to "Fringe - Pinetop Seven" on Blip

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:21:37 GMT

A character sketch in a song. Alt-country.

listening to "Machaut - Virelai - Douce dame jolie - Medieval Anthology" on Blip

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:17:41 GMT

Most fun medieval song EVER.

listening to "The Western Ash - Pinetop Seven" on Blip

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:26:07 GMT

See if you can resist this song...

listening to "Bedshaped - Keane" on Blip

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:20:06 GMT

Um...I'm not sure what this will do...I'm new to Blip.

Construction: ouch in my future

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:07:53 GMT

http://www.channel3000.com/news/18612014/detail.html

Revised plan for next few years (not that there was one before): get a house with access to Midvale Blvd. BEFORE 2011, or be completely cut off from downtown and all parts of the East side of Madison except work (I can still take Cty M north of Lake Mendota for work) during the construction.

Anyone know how to start the homebuying process in earnest? I mean, the step AFTER I browse Trulia every few weeks and despair of ever finding something reasonably-priced in an area I actually want to live in.

And no, I really don't want to spend $379,000 to live in a condo unit big enough for my needs in Sequoya Commons, even if they are above the Sequoya branch library. Good location though.

*sigh*

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:45:02 GMT

I can't BELIEVE I just screwed up my foolproof ginger snaps recipe.

The cookies are flat and greasy and dark. There is a big ring of grease on the cookie sheet after I remove each one. This has not happened in about a dozen times making this recipe. I checked back at all my measurements and can't find anything I did wrong. If I had to diagnose them I'd say too much shortening or too little flour, but I know I measured everything correctly.

Only difference this time: I used the shortening cubes rather than scooping from a tub. I wonder if the measurements marked on the cube wrapping are wrong? Or if maybe, scooping from the tub, I got less shortening into the dough, and the cube measurement is too accurate?

I wanted to make soup tonight, but I am sort of pissed at my kitchen right now.

EDIT: I did end up making the soup (totally worthwhile, though I did change a lot about the recipe, enough that the greens are no longer particularly sneaky). And it's been a lovely quiet weekend, and if ruined cookies are the worst thing that have happened to me recently, then I think life is going pretty well.

Concert anyone?

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:02:38 GMT

[This is for those who are in greater Madison...sorry, everyone else.]

I was supposed to go to a hockey game with my dad tonight, but he isn't feeling well so he has given away the tickets & we'll go another time. This does free me up though...

Anyone want to go to the Christmas concert of the Fayrfax Ensemble tonight at 7? (Website and more info about the concert at: http://www.fayrfaxensemble.com/) They're a Madison vocal quartet that does music of the 14th through 16th centuries. I've never heard them perform, though I recognize the bass from UW Summer Choir. Entry is free and there's a free-will offering. And there'll be a recorder ensemble too! It should be both Christmasy and SCA-atmospheric.

Let me know if you would like to join me...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:16:56 GMT

I would just like to gleefully point out that I am checking e-mail, playing computer games, and posting to LJ right at the moment...from the center of my queen-sized bed. Nothing is wired to anything.

I have joined the 21st century at last!

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 03:31:14 GMT

(This is really only relevant to people in the Madison area, so feel free to ignore if you live elsewhere.)

There is going to be a Newcomers' Open House and Feast here in the Barony of Jararvellir on Saturday, Nov. 15, starting at 4pm, feast at 6. Lady Wren (devikat) is in charge, and Nagamochi (gcmadtown81) is doing a really neat feast. If you are new to the SCA or to the Barony in the last year or so, or are interested in learning about what the SCA is all about, please come. Those who want to eat Feast will need to RSVP to Lady Wren; cost is $3. We are encouraging non-newcomers (people who are already in the SCA) to come and share their various arts/sciences and be friendly.

I am sort of the deputy/promotional person for this, and I've just posted complete info on the Jararvellir e-mail list. If you aren't on that list and want more info, ask me and I'll send it to you.

I've been to a couple of these and they are fun! Very low-key, just a bunch of people chatting and ooh-ing/aah-ing over cool things that people have made/are making.

It feels good to be doing Chatelaine-y things again. (A Chatelaine is a newcomer welcomer.) I was Kingdom Chatelaine for a few years not too long ago and I kind of missed the hands-on aspect. NOT that I will be putting my hands on people at this event...! ;)

Winnah!!!

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:35:39 GMT

I never win anything, but amidst the calls about satellite TV and voting for Obama (I AM! I WILL! Stop calling me!), I just got a call from the toy store eithni and I visited Monday night. It seems my raffle entry won me a 250-pc safari puzzle! YAY!

Tomorrow I'll go pick it up, see what level of difficulty it is, and then either keep it for the library, or give it to one of the teachers. Then I'll take my state purchasing card (which I was planning on shopping with there tomorrow anyway) and buy something else for the library.

This is very cool. I never win anything. I mean, I'm not alienorh, after all.

Meme stolen from eatsoylentgreen

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:26:16 GMT

Appearance:
- I am 5'4 or shorter.
- I think I'm ugly.
- I have many scars.
- I tan easily.
- I wish my hair was a different colour.
- I have friends who have never seen my natural hair colour.
- I have a tattoo.
- I am self-conscious about my appearance. (Isn't everyone?)
- I have/I've had braces.
- I wear glasses.
- I'd get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free, scar-free.
- I've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger. (Mostly online, but occasionally in person.)
- I have had more than 2 piercings.
- I have had piercings in places besides my ears.
- I have freckles. (Very few and only in the summer, but I like them. They remind me of my dad. My mom never had a freckle in her life.)

Family/Home Life:
- I've sworn at my parents.
- I've run away from home. (Briefly, and with the intention of coming back that same evening.)
- I've been kicked out of the house.
- My biological parents are together.
- I have a sibling less than one year old.
- I want to have kids someday.
- I have children.
- I've lost a child.

Embarrassment:
- I've slipped out a "LOL" in a spoken conversation.
- Disney movies still make me cry.
- I've snorted while laughing.
- I've laughed so hard I've cried.
- I've glued my hand to something.
- I've laughed until some sort of beverage came out my nose.
- I've had my trousers rip in public.

Health:
- I was born with a disease/impairment.
- I've had stitches. (If oral surgery counts.)
- I've broken a bone.
- I've had my tonsils removed. (Recently!)
- I've sat in a doctor's office with a friend.
- I've had my wisdom teeth removed.
- I've had serious surgery.
- I've had chicken pox.
- Right now, I have a highly irritating medical problem.
- Right now, I am in pain.

Travelling:
- I've driven over 200 miles in one day. (Um...lots, and recently. I think this was written by a Brit, or at least someone on the East Coast of the US.)
- I've been on a plane.
- I've been to North America. (Yep, a Brit.)
- I've been to Niagara Falls.
- I've been to Japan.
- I've been to Europe.
- I've been to Africa.

Experiences:
- I've been lost in my city. (Four of them.)
- I've seen a shooting star.
- I've wished on a shooting star.
- I've seen a meteor shower.
- I've gone out in public in my pyjamas.
- I've pushed all the buttons in a lift.
- I've been to a casino.
- I've been skydiving.
- I've gone skinny dipping.
- I've played spin the bottle.
- I've crashed a car. (Just the one, though.)
- I've been skiing.
- I've been in a play.
- I've met someone in person from the Internet.
- I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.
- I've seen the Northern Lights.
- I've sat on a roof top at night.
- I've played chicken.
- I've seen the Rocky Horror Show
- I've eaten Sushi. (I feel bad bolding this...I'm allergic to all fish and shellfish, so it's always vegetarian. But I have it often.)
- I've been snowboarding.

Relationships:
- I'm single.
- I'm in a relationship.
- I'm available.
- I'm engaged.
- I'm married.
- I've gone on a blind date.
- I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.
- I have a fear of abandonment.
- I've been divorced.
- I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
- I've told someone I loved them when I didn't.
- I've told someone I didn't love them when I did.
- I've kept something from a past relationship. (Somewhere I have my first love letter, which was sent just before the era when such things would have happened over e-mail.)

Honesty/Crime:
- I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't.
- I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.
- I have lied to my parents about where I am.
- I am keeping a secret from the world.
- I've cheated while playing a game. (Not while playing against someone, though.)
- I've cheated on a test.
- I've driven through a red light. (Not on purpose.)
- I've been suspended from school.
- I've witnessed a crime. (Does it count if you only hear it?)
- I've been in a fist fight.
- I've been arrested.
- I've shoplifted.

Drugs/Alcohol:
- I've consumed alcohol.
- I smoke cigarettes.
- I smoke pot.
- I regularly drink.
- I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them.
- I take cough medication when I'm not sick.
- I've done hard drugs.
- I've been addicted to an illegal substance.
- I can't swallow pills.
- I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem.
(Anyone surprised that this category has no bolds? Then you don't know me very well.)

Mental Health:
- I have been diagnosed with depression. (PMDD.)
- I shut others out when I'm depressed.
- I take anti-depressants.
- I have an eating disorder.
- I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it.
- I've hurt myself on purpose.
- I'm addicted to self harm.
- I've woken up crying. (I'm more likely to fall asleep crying.)

Death:
- I'm afraid of dying.
- I hate funerals. (And weddings.)
- I've seen someone dying.
- I have attempted suicide.
- Someone close to me has attempted suicide.
- Someone close to me has committed suicide.

Random:
- I can sing well.
- I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
- I open up to others too easily.
- I watch the news.
- I don't kill bugs.
- I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for sake of being able to rhyme.
- I fucking swear regularly.
- I sing in the shower. (Or I would if I didn't live in an apartment.)
- I am a morning person.
- I paid for my mobile phone ring tone. (Just once.)
- I'm a snob about grammar. (And spelling, and capitalization.)
- I am a sports fanatic.
- God has spoken to me
- I play with my hair.
- I have/had "x"s in my screen name.
- I love being neat.
- I love Spam.
- I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day.
- I bake well.
- I don't know how to shoot a gun.
- I am in love with love. (I know the song, too.)
- I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
- I laugh at my own jokes. (Sometimes uncontrollably, enough to not be able to tell the rest of the joke.)
- I eat fast food weekly.
- I believe in ghosts.
- I am online 24/7, even as an away message.
- I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
- I am really ticklish.
- I love white chocolate.
- I bite my nails.
- I play video games. (Casual games.)
- I'm good at remembering faces.
- I'm good at remembering names.
- I'm good at remembering dates.
- I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
- My answers are totally honest.

I know I haven't posted in a bit. Things have been busy. My post-Pennsic post is halfway done, sitting in my e-mail account. And I've been to two events since (and another next week). What was I thinking when I planned this month?!

Good news though--I auditioned for the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and got in! The director seemed very impressed with my choral experience (first time that's happened; maybe experience is just very important to him). I sang "North Woods Lament" by Master Hector of the Black Height and he really liked it--even asked whether there was a choral arrangement of it, as he's considering a program of nature-related songs for a future concert. (aaron_pike, would you consider arranging it, do you think?) I also had the dreamed-of experience of being handed some music to sightread, and realizing I already knew it ("O Taste and See" by Ralph Vaughan Williams; we looked at it briefly in Mixed Chorus when I was a high school freshman, and I liked/remembered the melody, which, thankfully, is in the soprano part). He had me sing it anyway, and then handed me one of those one-line sightreading exercises to do, which was easier than "O Taste and See" would have been if I hadn't known it, I thought.

First rehearsal: Tuesday Sept. 9th. Can't wait!

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:47:58 GMT

I strongly suspect that this recipe for Kale Crisps, which I clipped from the Isthmus last year and decided to try today, is not supposed to turn out an oily black color. The recipe says to bake 10-15 min. at 425-450; I took them out after 7:30 at ~435 and they were carbonized. I would suspect an overactive oven, except that I have a thermometer in there for exactly that reason. I would suspect a bad bunch of kale, except that it was gorgeous raw, and the rest of the bunch (which I cooked up in my usual way: parboil, drain, sautee in olive oil with salt/pepper) tastes yummy. That leaves me suspecting some kind of typo in the recipe.

The texture is neat (light and crunchy, dissolves in your mouth), but the flavor is...well...a little like I suspect eating cigarrettes would taste. Is kale related to tobacco? Or do leaves just taste a lot the same when they're burnt?

So, I've put kale on the shopping list again, and will try another time, maybe only cooking at 420 degrees for 5 min. or similar. In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy my sauteed kale.

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:51:56 GMT

Hey--thanks to a whooooole bunch of people for making the discussion of my last post so interesting! It's very seldom I attract that much attention with a post.

Now I'm wondering if I could work that post, and the great comments, up into a Northwatch or even a TI article. Obviously it's a bit too late for this year (Pennsic having started, uh, yesterday), but I do think it's a neglected topic and might make for an interesting article.

My first Netflix DVD was the movie of The Other Boleyn Girl. It's almost like a bare outline of the book, it leaves out so much. The deleted scenes section of the DVD was full of plot points that had been completely excised for the final version--and that's not counting things that were gone before they even started filming. The timeline is compressed enough to be confusing (wait, she's having her baby now? Didn't she just get pregnant earlier that day?), the character of the mother is chopped out and then recreated as a sad feminist, and even the main point of the book--the relationship between the sisters--is hard to get a grip on, as they seem to alternately love and hate each other for no apparent reason. Oh, and George's homosexuality isn't even hinted at (though the actor does mention it in a character sketch featurette; maybe those in charge think it somehow came across in the movie? Not really.) Things move at such a pace, and the lighting is so shadowy, that they have to put a prominent birthmark on the Queen's lip just so you don't get confused as to which one's the Queen. Oh, and the costumes aren't anything to write home about, there's exactly one instance of period-style music, and the dancing doesn't look authentic to me, though I'm no expert in that. In short: don't bother.

Today: lots of sleeping, followed by some puttering around the apartment (ran the dishwasher, started laundry), registered four books on Bookcrossing and then dropped them off around town (including one in the middle of some kind of party, complete with amateur blues band, in the Marshall Park shelter), got recycled print cartridges for the library computer that the patients use to print out pictures of their favorite stars and video game heroes, dropped by the new MyMenu shop to get some entrees for this week (review later, but they don't look stellar to me), and then back home.

Tonight I need to do a midi of "Ave Maria" by Victoria, arrange my handouts and tweak my outline for my class at Pennsic ("Translation as a Bardic Art", 4-6 pm, Monday Aug. 4, AS 2), and ponder starting packing. So much of what I camp with is more-or-less permanently packed anyway, that this is never a big task, and other stuff is still packed after WW (batteries, utensils/plates, bardic bag, and such). But I always need to make sure that what I am hoping to bring is actually in the bag/bin/whatever it's supposed to be in.

I leave for Pennsic first thing next Saturday, Aug. 2. Is there anything I can bring back for folks? I'm getting some stranded silk floss for lostvirtue (putting it down here in hopes of remembering it better). I do find it fun to shop for people.

Pennsic Psychological Health Tips

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:29:32 GMT

I've just begun to put these down in pixels...can anyone think of other points that need making in this list? Remember this is not a general health-related list, just psychological health. The health-related list would be mostly different.

Rule so important it is above numbers: THIS IS YOUR VACATION. Treat yourself well and don't put pressure on yourself to accomplish more than you realistically can.

1. ALL physical health caveats you've heard apply here. If your physical health goes downhill, your psychological health can't help but follow.
2. If you camp in the same tent as family/friends/sweetie, take plenty of time during the day to go off and do your own thing, but try to spend at least a little time together (alone together, in the case of a sweetie or your child) before you go to bed, to share what you've been up to. This is part of the joy of camping with someone.
3. Consider that your hardest day psychologically, that is, the day when you feel disorganized, irritable, unhappy, impatient, etc., is very likely to come immediately after your night with the least sleep. It is worth maintaining a semblance of a sleep schedule at Pennsic. Daytime naps do not necessarily make up for lost sleep.
4. Make absolutely sure you do (at least a little of) what YOU want to do. Don't let your family, friends, household, Kingdom, etc. hijack all your time, or conflict with your very favorite activity. You may have to arrange for this in advance by making it clear to those around you what you absolutely do not want to miss, getting babysitters, arranging for someone to handle something for you, etc. Don't leave it until the last minute--setting things up BEFORE you leave is best.
5. If camping with strangers/acquaintances, make sure you are not being too shy to express your preferences of what makes you comfortable and what you would like to do with your time.
6. If you have the means, choose your food based on what you know you will enjoy eating, even when you are hot, tired, stressed, etc., rather than based on cost, value, convenience, things you think you should be eating for nutritional or weight-loss purposes, things your family will like, etc. Splurging is called for here. Food that you like will not only provide sustenance, it will help you feel physically and psychologically comfortable. Now is not the time to start a new diet.
7. Now is also not the time to start or discontinue psychiatric medications of any kind, even herbal, even caffeine. Don't make your body/brain work any harder than they have to in adjusting to the unusual conditions at Pennsic.
8. If something happens (injury, money problems, etc.) and you won't be able to do the things you had your heart set on doing at Pennsic, try to focus on what you are able to do, the friends you're able to hang out with, and the fact that there will always be more Pennsics.
9. Allow yourself to feel what you feel: hate Pennsic, hate the heat, hate your noisy camp neighbors, look forward to going home, if that's how you feel. Even if you scrimped and saved to come to Pennsic. Even if your family/friends are having an absolute blast. If the hatred and irritation start to feel overwhelming, it might be time for a town trip to some air conditioning and maybe a movie (drop by Info Point for directions and a movie schedule). Don't let yourself feel guilty for what you're feeling, that's just piling discomfort upon discomfort.
10. If there are people you know you need to talk to in times of need, such as your mom, therapist, best friend, sweetie, etc., bring their phone numbers, and an extra battery pack for your cell phone. The absolute worst time to find out your cell phone is dead is when you are having a crying jag and know you need to talk to your sweetie in order to calm down.
11. Everything is magnified at Pennsic: fights are more quickly escalated, small slights seem worse, children are more irritating, a partner's jealous or irritable streak more likely to show. Drama sprouts readily. The "walk away, take a deep breath, count to ten" rule is even more important than it usually is, in keeping you from overreacting or saying things you don't mean.

What do you think, those of you who have been to Pennsic?

(For those who haven't, here's info about it: http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn37/)

Wanna see where I work?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:33:35 GMT

Since a lot of people are inexplicably averse to visiting my place of work at Mendota Mental Health Institute, I took some photos of my library in January and put them up on Flickr. They're available here and have handy captions in case you can't tell quite what you're looking at. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger picture and the caption.

You are also still welcome to visit, but I understand if people's schedules/locations won't allow, or if they just somehow think visiting a mental institution is icky.

Grrrr...

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:52:36 GMT

This guy needs to re-evaluate his priorities:

Why I hate secondhand books

There are children in the world growing up never seeing a book, children who have to leave school to work for pennies or sell their bodies to help support their families, adults who can't read and have no help to learn how even if they had time...and this guy spends his time writing about how pre-read books give him the willies, and someone PAYS HIM FOR THIS? Looks like SEVERAL people (and perhaps a large corporation) need to evaluate their priorities...

He hates libraries, too. I quote:

Ah yes, libraries: as if having to set foot in one of those sombre buildings full of flatulent, regretful people isn't trauma enough, having to take a book home from one of them is always a defeating experience.

HAVING to take a book home from a library? Believe me, unless there's a self-checkout kiosk open, no one at the library is making you check books out, because I'm sure no one is looking forward to dealing with your pampered ass at the circulation desk.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:14:59 GMT

I am irritable today.

That is all.

Do not follow first link if squeamish

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:39:04 GMT

Now that I have added a few newish friends, I wanted to post links to some stuff I mentioned to them at a party last night (which oldish friends might also find interesting):

Caught on camera: a woman ovulates just as surgeons open her up for a partial hysterectomy
I'm actually pretty squeamish, but knowing that this process actually takes place in me every month makes it easier, and very fascinating, to look at. Click "Enlarge image" to see the process more clearly.

The red thing, which is properly called a follicle pre- and during ovulation, shrinks slightly once the egg is gone and becomes something called the corpus luteum, which secretes estrogens and progesterone, which are essential for the normal functioning of the reproductive system.

I learned a lot of this type of thing, in addition to many other fascinating tidbits, in this book: Woman: an Intimate Geography by Pulitzer-prizewinning science journalist Natalie Angier (somewhat animation-heavy official site). Human reproduction, and the female body, totally and completely surpass the ability of the average high school health teacher to do them justice. But if anyone can come close, it's this author. I LOVED this book and have recommended it to tons of people, including my former Nurse Practitioner in La Crosse, who had been practicing women's health and women's reproductive health for 15 years when I met her, and said she learned some really interesting stuff from this book.

Should you not feel like buying it, you can find it at your public library; it was a bestseller and was a National Book Award finalist, so any public library that doesn't have it is not doing a great job of collection maintenance!

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:03:39 GMT

Quiet weekend. As was the previous one. But I was determined to break out of my comfort zone, somehow. That didn't happen until Sunday, but it was worth it (see below).

Friday night, I went to Fired Up to pick up the Iznik plate that has been languishing there all winter/spring:

I'm not counting it among the A&S 50 items because I started it last fall and let it sit there for far too long, half-finished. I finally finished painting it last month...then didn't pick it up until Friday. 2008 starts the A&S 50 list. One item thus far, this knitted purse:

The purse, I'm keeping (especially now that I have a lovely bright blue belt to suspend it from, purchased at Crown Tourney last month). The plate is going up for silent auction at WW, so if you like it, bring your checkbook!

Saturday I did something like 10 loads of laundry, including some garb that really needed it, two down blankets that I'm using as my summer bedding this year (mmmmm comfy), and reds. I keep forgetting that all my favorite tops are red, so if the red bag hasn't been done in awhile, that fact explains why I am feeling bored with my current clothing selection.

Also, I talked with eatsoylentgreen, who is neat-o, and I hope I get to talk to him again, though I can't chat while at work. (I wouldn't even if I could. I'd never get any work done.)

Sunday I was not sure what to do with the day. It rained; swimming or a walk were not in the cards. While I almost always feel like shopping, I don't always think it's a great idea. And the folk dance party I was invited to by a vague acquaintance was probably cancelled (see: rain). So I started picking at the locks keeping me in my comfort zone. They didn't hold long.

gregory07 had invited me to a party, hosted by his friend Casey. "It'll be Epic people and Lawrence people, sometimes both, very chill," he said, and I couldn't see anything bad about that...so I took the plunge and went. Casey had 3 premises to the party:

1) Everyone attending had to make at least one sock puppet.
2) Everyone attending had to play a power chord on his electric guitar.
3) Super-secret thingy we all had to do later.

When I arrived at his house, there were craft supplies on every surface: yarn, fabric, googly eyes, plastic noses, feathers, pom poms, beads, and lots more I didn't even get to. Various friendly and entertaining people began showing up (including a little eye candy...I really should not be ogling men that young, but, well, if you'd seen them...). Absolutely everyone did all three things, even the two people who seemed really shy and started out saying they didn't think they wanted to make a puppet. Several people made more than one puppet.

There was a punk puppet decorated with porcupine quills, an emo boy puppet with yellow hair and an argyle vest made out of another sock (this is the one I suggested your name for, colinblackthorn, and people thought "Colin" was perfect), a slutty groupie puppet with badly applied purple lipstick, a pregnant trailer-trash puppet with pom-pom boobs that kept popping out from under her tube top, and a flying pig who kept zooming around, among others. And of course Gregory flouted convention by sticking the head from a monkey stuffed animal on top of his sock, giving it a hat, an earring, a cigarrette, and a feather boa, and calling it French Monkey.

The super-secret thingy turned out to be that he had rigged up a green screen in his basement, lit by really bright work lamps, and we all had to give interviews as our sock puppets! With the bunch of people who'd been invited, and the fact that we'd all been watching Sifl & Olly DVDs all afternoon while crafting our puppets, this turned out stupidly funny. It's anyone's guess whether Casey will be able to use the green screen for its intended effect, but it doesn't really matter, the process was the fun part.

This is Freya. She was made from a sock that had been to Pennsic a few times, some Russian ecclesiastical silk fabric samples, buttons, a plastic animal nose, beads, and yarn.

Freya is portraying a first time SCA event attendee. Her garb is basically a tube of fabric; it was going to be a Viking apron but she has no shoulders for the straps. No one has told her yet that she can't name herself after a goddess.

But she is having a REALLY fun time with the medieval people and all!

Oh, and Freya has a tongue piercing; she wanted me to make absolutely sure you could see it:

After the show, we played Casey's Wii. I refused to box (pacifist, dontcha know), but enjoyed the matches between the various partygoers. It's possible that Gregory was just a bit too enthusiastic in hitting his wife's character, but then, as he kept saying, "It IS Violence Against Women week...or am I misunderstanding how that works?" (You'd have to know his sense of humor. He also told me the world's worst Jewish joke. I am pondering whether I will ever have the guts to repeat it.) Then there was virtual bowling. I did much, much better on the Wii than I ever have bowling in reality...which is not saying much. I came in 4th out of 4, but there was something deeply satisfying in those two strikes I got!

This week: very glad to see sunshine today, finally. After dinner this evening I went for a walk down by the boat slip at Marshall Park, across the street. Lake Mendota is ridiculously high (yes, non-Madisonians, what you've been hearing about southern WI flooding is true; thank goodness I live on a hill). You should see the areas around the Nau-ti-gal on my way to work. The non-floating piers are nearly underwater.