Babbling Babel

So tired. I have been tired since around 4 o'clock this afternoon.  EXHAUSTED is what I feel.  Attempting to stay awake is very trying.  I haven't even listened to all of Babel yet.  I got it in the mail today and I did a little happy dance with my joy face.

This is sort of what my "Joy Face" looks like - minus the facial hair

  I have to say I am a little saddened by Whispers in the Dark and Lover of the Light.  I got so used to the way they played them at the shows, that it just sounds horrible to my ears now.  I wonder if it will grow on me after a few listens.  I think I am mostly upset because I knew I loved the band and how absolutely amazing Marcus was by the video of them performing Lover of the Light in Paris in 2010.  I am up to Lover's Eyes.  I am really enjoying all of the newer songs (one's that they haven't been playing at their concerts since 2010).



I would have listened to it over and over again tonight had I not already promised to help my friend smooth the edges of sheet metal she cut into the shape of a guitar.  We filed that piece of sheet metal, with metal files, of course, until it was so smooth, it was practically back to the cutting you stage.  Filing metal makes a rather loud, awful, abrasive noise - not very conducive to taking Mumford and Sons into your soul. ugh, I can feel myself beginning to babble nonsense - like I usually do when I am tired.  Stupid laundry.  I really wish it would finish.  I left a half hour ago and it had 25 minutes left to go.  I come back, it STILL says 25 minutes.
 I feel like beating my head against the wall. 

My Mind is NOT Alright

As I continue listening to my Temptation of the Night Jasmine, I'll write about something literary.  My mind is slightly disturbed right now from watching The Kids Are All Right.  Wow, it was just messed up on many levels.  Ugh - there was just too much sex and nudity for me to handle. It was almost as bad as my 14 year old self watching 40 Days and 40 Nights (OMG - I can't believe that was 10 years ago - a whole freaking decade).  Ick - to both things! Besides being mentally beyond alright, my physical self has been under the weather as well.  I have been comforting myself with the audiobook of The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, lots and lots of tea, and a movie.  The movie backfired, but the book is very interesting.  I like spies, England, and history.  It doesn't hurt that there is always a bit of a romance story woven into the series.  I started out on this series on my 21st birthday, when my sister gave me The Masque of the Black Tulip as a present.  I feel very akin to Charlotte, all innocence, trust, and imagination fostered by an intense love of reading.   Sometimes, I think my imagination is a curse - like when I was watching the stars out on the dock and I honestly became freaked out at the thought of someone just randomly popping up and out of the water.  I guess having too much imagination is better than none. 

Ugh - I honestly tried Googling The Temptation of the Night Jasmine and I got a picture of Josh Hutcherson.  Really, I am not lying.  Here is the article it came from: Josh as Tommy.  Oi - my mind is really NOT alright. 

Fragments

Currently, my ears are being blasted by the happy sounds of my nephew getting out of bed time.  He just said my name too!  All of it and no weird little kid accent.  Just, "Stephenie."  I am amazed.  The last time he was saying my name in two garbled syllable chunks -  now, I have a full name.  Yay!

Today has been pretty great.  I am super tired and my ears are constantly ringing.  I spent another night out this weekend listening to the Brother's Quinn after a full day of cleaning at my grandma's house.  More creepy guys hit on me - woot for guys old enough to be my father!  I watched SNL on the tv they had at the bar.  There was no sound, but it is good just watching Mumford and Sons in silence.  *Sigh* tomorrow (the new album comes out).

I haven't really seen any new movies.  I watched one that I believe was called Fragments.  It was very interesting; however, slightly annoying.  I just wanted to give everyone a huge hug and pull them back together.  Some guy walks into a diner and starts shooting people.  All the rest of the diner's patrons that survive the shooting are left to pull the pieces back together.  I was really confused by the one kid and the dad worrying about them finding out about his "pre-existing condition" and him losing his job. They never tell you what his pre-existing condition might be, just that he has one.  I want to know what is wrong with the kid; other than he seems pretty suicidal all the time.  I don't know if that was from before or after the shooting occurred.  I have The Kids are All Right; however, I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.  I really, really, really want to - I'm just exhausted.  I want to crawl back into my bed and read a little with a hot water bottle on my ear. 

Puerto Rican Nights

Oh so sleepy.  Ok, strawberry wine doesn't make you seventeen.  It will make you very blissfully sleepy.  That might also be because I hardly slept last night.  Between not being able to get comfortable and dreaming about Puerto Rico (I was reading a travel guide before bed - they have a book museum - will be there sometime).  I CAN'T WAIT TO GO!  I'm so excited.  Yesterday was officially the beginning of my last 28 days as a 24 year old.  Yikes!  We watched some like it hot for book club tonight - Marilyn has a line about being 25!  That's a whole century!  It really makes a girl think!  Ugh - maybe that is why I had a dream about these clocks all being at different times and I couldn't decide if I was late or early...just really frustrated.  It can go with the dream where I had not one, but two horses sit on me.  It all seemed like a bit of a joke, the horses weren't hurting me, I just really wanted this thing off my chest.  The last one was about to poop/pass gas in my face, that was when I started to get pissed and really try to push it off.  Then I woke up, thank god. 

On to the update.
Relationships:  I have met some really wonderful friends recently.  I am such a lucky girl.  I also read an article about how to make friends as an adult.  It was really interesting because I have been trying so hard recently to find friends now that my school friends are no longer nearby. I've been a pretty lucky girl recently for such a recluse. 
Health:  I read an article this week that blew my mind.  It was these weird facts about the human body like:  for every pound of fat you gain, your body creates 7 additional  miles of blood vessels.  When you lose weight, your body just reabsorbs all those extra miles of blood vessels.  So far, my body has reabsorbed about 105 miles of blood vessels.  That is just a crazy number to think of in terms of your body.
Career:  Well, I did get us a meaningful use attestation.  Hello bank roll!  I also get my Puerto Rican vacation hours paid.  Oh yeah, life is sweet!  Is it October 12th yet?  Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico!  Sometimes I wish that wishes really did come true:  I'd be married to Prince William, live in a croft in Scotland, and be a successful writer/everything else under the sun that I've ever wished I could be.  Hmmm, if only.  I'll just wish that the days up to Puerto Rico go fast and the days in Puerto Rico are epically long and sweet.

Turn the Other Cheek?

I'm starting this before I head out to Zumba tonight, so when I come back later tonight...well, I'm hoping things will still make sense. 

Anyways, I have had a few thoughts swirling around in my head about the riots that apparently started over a "film," if you can even call it that. My mind has been working away on the myriad of things that are being said about what happened on September 11th.  Yeah, the one last week...that date that commemorates one of the worst days.  I don't know if it was planned or not, I just know that it is pandemonium.  People are saying it is a terrorist attack and calling Obama weak for not responding in a harsh way.  All because of a movie that barely got watched?!?

I'm not saying that these people can't be actually pissed off about this film, but this is an extreme response.  There was someone trying to justify the riots by saying we'd be pissed off if someone misrepresented someone like Jesus or Abraham Lincoln.  Duh, it's call Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Angles and Demons.  Jesus had a baby with a suspected prostitute and Abraham slaying the undead - yup, been there, done that.  Some people were pretty pissed, especially about Jesus having a baby with a whore, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE A RIOT AND WE DIDN'T KILL PEOPLE THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE.  I'm completely baffled by it; violence for no real reason other than you didn't like a movie.  So what!  Deal with it, people in America can say what they want: good, bad, stupid, ugly, hurtful, truthful and just plain non-sensical. 

So then I flip my thinking  brain to a people who have never really had freedom of speech.  Do they fully understand what it means?  Do they know that, aside from a few things (like shouting "fire" in a crowded public place and defamation), people can say whatever they please and not have any real repercussions.  Yes, they might regret saying it later or relationships might be hurt, but we have the freedom to express what it on our minds.  If these people literally can't understand the concept of our government protected right to free speech, then I can see how they would jump to the conclusion that our government has "allowed" this to happen.  I don't know how educated these people are that have been whipped into a frenzy by the media and their religious leaders.  Have you looked at the Tea Party recently? Or those crazy psychos with their sign protesting whatever it is they feel they need to protest about?!?  They get whipped up into some crazy ideas that other people have led them to believe is the truth.  I know I have been led astray before fully looking into a topic and after, I have regretted what I thought I believed.  I wish people could just take a deep breath, realize that people make mistakes and say/do stupid things, and then let it go.  You don't have to forgive, just realize that person isn't like you and move on.  Just because another person thinks something, doesn't mean you have to - use your own brain.

As for whether or not our President responded in a "weak" manner; I just want to say "SHUT UP."  Are you kidding me?  We want more violence and hate?  If it was a terror attack, don't you think it is better that we respond in a calm, forgiving manner.  It will piss the little shits off that they haven't pissed us off.  Take a deep breath, realize that those ambassadors and other people would not have wanted more deaths in countries that they clearly loved.  Would they be sad that this happened, yes.  I think they'd be more upset if the we declared war and lashed out like a hurt, wounded, and scared animal.  Be compassionate and let it go.   Do we really want to start something bigger than a riot in response?  All for what?  A movie.  Way to turn the other cheek.

Curse you Craft Gods!

So I think the craft gods hate me.  I think all of my crafts turn out pretty crappy.  I do have to say that my perfectionism and the incredible imagination I have creates these perfect little ideas that my abilities quite haven't gotten to yet.  Take for example, I made this mosaic table that had a bunch of uneven tiles.  I wanted to make it even and after about 5 or 6 years of thinking about it, I finally got the resin stuff and attempted to make an even top for my table.  I read/saw somewhere online that you could make a bit of a frame with duct tape that would hold the resin in place until it set up and then you just peel it off.  Ha...hahahahah.  Someone was having a chuckle.  Boy am I glad I put the plastic sheeting down because it was one giant mess.  My dad and I propped pieces of plywood along the sides to try to help, it just made it harder to see the resin seeping out of the bottom of the tape frame.  I checked on it yesterday and it looks usable still.  There are places where the resin didn't get to, places where it is a bit thick, and some stalactites that I'll have to sand off (?maybe? it doesn't want to come off with out peeling a majority of the wood and paint off the sides).  Maybe I just have to keep working away in order to win the favor of the craft gods.  Maybe, like Hercules, I have 12 labors to complete before I can be free from whatever bad craft karma got attached to me. 

The History of Love

Hey hey - two days in a row.  Now there's a start to a good week!

I have to say one of the best books that I have read recently, besides The Hunger Games, was The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  This book will blow your socks off.  The book within the book is so ridiculously good, you wish it were a real book you could run out and read.  The book has several different view points: two rather grouchy old men and one young girl.  It takes a while to catch on and even figure out what is going on (the first point of view switch really throws you for a loop) in the story.  Bits and pieces of a book, The History of Love, the young girl's mother is translating get patched into the book.  The two old men are worlds and times apart; however, they both knew each other as young men in Poland before the war.  One of these men ended up in New York, the other in South America.  Writing is a common link for all of the characters involved, but as the story continues, the threads of each of their stories begin to intertwine and a beautiful picture is formed.  The ladies in my salon all agreed, the ending left much to be desired; however, the rest of the work was just jaw droppingly, can't put it down, I want more amazing. 

I'm going to leave with a quote from the book that made it into my quote book:

"Even now, all possible feelings do not exist.  There are still those that lie beyond our capacity and our imagination.  From time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written, or a painting no one has ever painted, or something else impossible to predict, fathom, or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world.  And then, for the millionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges, and absorbs the impact."

Bars, Pooches, and The Hunger Games

Well crap, I get Internet and then it goes and shuts down just as I hit the write button.  I guess that is what I have notepad to type away in while my Internet figures out what it wants to do and maybe, just maybe, reconnect!  We can hope!

So, it has been a while, but I will honestly make an attempt at writing every day this week.  I won't make future promises or grand sweeping ones that encompass forever; I'll just start with this week.  I have some catching up to do!  I went to a friend's gig this Friday night down in Whitewater.  I definitely see that I missed a lot of culture by skipping the bar scene (I honestly did anthropology homework at a bar one night - very interesting culture to record).  It was amazing...and kind of disgusting.  I got to watch the Brewer's lose (not good) and listen to The Brothers Quinn play (my friend is even better than I thought he was - and I thought he was pretty awesome to start with).  One of the guys who was friends with the band decided to sneak up on me when my friend (the singer/fiddle player's girlfriend) went to the bathroom.  Ugh - it was kind of painful.  Since when are wangsters hipsters who like fold music.  Anyways, he decided to come chat me up.  This included leaning in close to shout over the music.  I was blasted by the lovely bouquet of cigarettes and alcohol.  Everything else he said was lost in the din of The Brothers Quinn and then my friend returned and he kind of scampered away.   He returned later while the band was on a break and talked about being Turkish ('I get really dark if you put me in the sun, I got a lot of gypsy in me too'), being adventurous and gypsy like ('most people go on a vacation to Florida for a while, I stayed for 2 years....was kind of a beach bum, didn't care if I had to sleep on the beach'), and the rest was mostly just blather.  I give him credit, he tried really hard to get my attention.  I just can't handle a wangster.  There was a rather cute nerdy guy that looked like a cross between Josh Hutcherson and Weezer (Rivers Cuomo); however, he looked so drunk - his eyes were barely open.  He did make an attempt to come over by me but got blocked by this girl's husband, so he just sort of stood around by us awkwardly.  Poor guy.

Do you blame me?  Look at that formal wear...I mean face!

The next morning I got up and cleaned my car up.  I washed it for the first time this summer.  It is kind of pointless to wash it since my parking spot at work is under a tree that drops nuts.  So I always have twigs, nuts, squirrel prints, and all the bird droppings you could ever desire plastered across my car.  The inside really needed a good clean out too.  I think it's mostly been vacuumed when I get my oil changed and the boys there do it for me!  Yay!  Anyways, after cleaning my car, I went to the Yappy Hour that was happening downtown.  The event planner was dropping off fliers and had mentioned that the band for the event had dropped out last minute.  I gave her my friend's number and ta da - band for yappy hour.  My table won a door prize and the 50/50 raffle.  All of the money raised by the event goes to Shelter from the Storm.  It is an organization that helps animals with special needs.  They fix up the animals and then find homes for them.  They also are really adamant about spaying and neutering your pets.  They also do check ups and just about anything to help the animals.  They are a really great organization that I'm really glad to help out with, even if it is buy brats and a bottle of wine.  The have this English bulldog puppy that I am just dying to have - I hear they also got a couple pit bulls in that have really bad mange. Poor puppies!  The rest of the night was spent playing Just Dance and then watching I'm Reed Fish.  It was actually pretty cute and quite apropos.

 

I want to talk a little bit about The Hunger Games.  I read all of the books this last week in a matter of days (yes, I did that while working 9+ hour days).  I couldn't stop.  I watched the movie to finally see what everyone was so jazzed about - yup, I got hooked.  I am a little disappointed in a few things, but, again, I am a person that takes the movie and the book separately.  I get that there are limitations to a movie - we don't get all that is going on inside of Katniss's head.  That takes away major chunks of the story.  I think they did a good job with what they had to work with - a phenomenal novel that nothing but the book(s) and an imagination are going to be able fully complete to one's every desire.  I do have to say "whoops" for whoever handled Katniss's head wound in the arena.  Trust me, I saw a toddler take a digger on a driveway and a tiny cut on his head bled like crazy!!!!!!  That giant gash on her head would have been GUSHING, not a nice little bit for Peeta to swirl around on her forehead while having intense eye contact (not quite the ideal substitute for the first time when Katniss realizes she kind of likes the things Peeta's got to offer...mmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmm).  I really like the cast of the movies, I feel slightly pervy/pedifile-ish/cougarish for thinking Josh Hutcherson is cute.  He will be turning 20 five days before I turn 25. Oh well, I guess it is like when I watch the Sandlot now and realize it is a little weird for me to get girlish giggles over Benny. You know what I mean - all girls from the 90s get it.  Jennifer Lawrence is phenomenal and outrageously gorgeous.  Liam Hensworth is really gorgeous as well, which makes every girl swoon and wish that they could be Katniss and run off with Gale.  I think they did a great job playing characters that mean so much to a lot of people.  Clark Gable was afraid to play Rhett Butler because he was so afraid of not living up to the expectations of Rhett Butler and all of Gone with the Wind's adoring fans.    Speaking of The Hunger Games, while I was painting a Scottish thistle on my tea tray, I heard my brother and his friends next door playing "The Hunger Games."  Maybe when they are a little older, they'll get it.  Then again, I was always playing Power Rangers.  Hmmm.

Rant....from a while ago

So I am totally stealing this from when I was trying to write the night before and then post the following day.  It still has a lot of my opinions in it about what is going on currently.   I try not to watch either of the DNC or the RNC because from what I can tell, it's all a bunch of bull.

So I am attempting this writing of blogs the night before.  I seems a little less spontaneous, but it is a nice option for actually getting a blog out without actually having to pay for internet at my own place.  This way, I can write in the comfort of my place, my pajamas, and my steeping cup of tea.  I have been so busy lately, that I have been checking my email on a weekly basis! (Note...this is old information - I have the net now!!!!!!  muhahahaha  and also Netflix, it is my downfall!) I only get to facebook so often because I have control of my business's facebook page as well and I need to keep that up to date.

I'm starting a plan for myself.  Meal planning, exercise planning, and attempting new things are all part of it.  I think I am going to work my way through this book of 50 yoga poses.  My yoga instructor helped me look through the book and decide if anything was beyond me or if there were poses I should do before attempting certain ones.  This might be my new "Testy Tuesday" topic.  Oh - aliteration.  I'm thinking of even setting up a cleaning schedule, a budgeting schedule, and a writing schedule.  These are things I love to do, but I have gotten away from recently by just poor time management and a feeling that my sunlight hours should not be devouted to these tasks.  I spend 4 days straight hardly seeing the sun (except for out my window), I want to see as much of the sun as possible when I am not trapped in those walls. 

I've also had some things I've wanted to talk about, but haven't had time to vent.  I've watched many movies, read many books, and had lots of culture to discuss.  The recall election yesterday (as stated, from a while ago) was a bust.  I can't believe I have to stare at the smarmy, smug face still. I guess Wisconsin has spoken.  I had the intense urge to tell my coworker who was very pro-Walker:  "I'm so glad your kids don't have special needs because they won't get nearly the help they will need." I know one of the ways that touched home to me was a lack of help for my ESL siblings who really do need the help.  There were just more pressing cases for the part time aid to work with during her time at school.  There was even a young teacher, fresh from her first year teaching, wanting to quit already because her small school disctrict was having to budget more; this meant the teachers of the school were covering more subjects and classes in addition to being needed for extra curricular activities.  I'm surprised more teachers aren't so warn out they can't see how to make in another year.  Another teacher today told use her wages for teaching summer school dropped by $13.  When things begin to hit the richer school districts, like the one we live in, I'm thinking a whole lot more Walker supporters are going to start wondering if their "Moving Forward" was worth it.  I'm hoping some change will come about from all of this, not just a bunch of spent money.

A huge political bug to me right now is based off the freedom of religion.  I really want to hit the people upside the face who want to push around other people and call it their freedom of religion.  Since when did freedom of religion seem to become simply freedom of Christianity?  When did we start feeling that if it wasn't a Christian moral, it shouldn't be allowed.  These people aren't completely base creatures - they are humans just like you and I.  Just because something is allowed by a government, doesn't mean you have to do it!  YOU don't have to go to planned parenthood, YOU don't have to be educated on safe sex, YOU don't have to have use birth control, YOU don't have to be part of the GLBT community - YOU don't have to persecute them either.  They shall get whatever commopence you think your god will dole out on those "godless" people of other faiths/no faith.  I want to hold up a sign to those Christain protestors that say: "Don't look now, but Sodom and Gamora are burning with your sins too!"  Or maybe hand them a salt packet with that on it - I'm wondering how many of them would get the reference.  FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD - the Bible.  It seems like everyone wants to have their hands in everybody elses' lives and if it doesn't conform to their standard, they have a tantrum and call them "the devil."   Why can we not be adults about these issues?  I heard of a procedure the other day that made me cringe: a uteran oblation.  This consists of boiling hot water being dumped into the uterus in order to scald the lining of the uterus.  This then creates scar tissue that doesn't cause bleeding during a peroid or allow for a pregnancy.  Somehow, I fear if our birth control rights are limited, there will be this and many at home abortions attempted.  I can't believe these people are willing to sacrifice the health and safety of other lives because they don't think something is right.  Is it right to have a starving, poorly clothed child go to bed everynight cold and hungry?  Is it right to sink our country further into debt to pay for all of these children that could have been prevented with some education (not just abortions)?  Our state was willing to sacrifice educators, the education system, and cities to balance the budget - I think a whole lot more is going to be hurting if there are more kids in need of education than there are teachers (money to hire teachers), more hungry mouths to feed on the school and governments dime, more books, more supplies, etc. etc. etc.  Oh wait, we've already cut school budgets!  Silly me.  Not to mention, these tea party nuts seem to be going after women's health and not their own.  Should a company's insurance cover vasectomies, your viagra/cialis/fill in the blank erection drugs, or anything penis related?  Because it seems like if it has ovaries attached to it, it's evil.  Are we returning to original sin punishment?  My god, the jerk who came up with that was so obsessed with his penis I'm surprise he had any time to do anything else.  Look it up - he was a horn ball and then blamed it all on women.  Sorry, we can't really help it that some of the male population lives, breathes,  and thinks with their penis.  Not to mention, if a man even felt a tiny portion of the pain associated with a period in his manhood, he'd probably ask for some drugs too.  Not all birth control is taken for avoiding pregnancy, I was on it for about 5 years just for pain alone.  Like curl up in a ball on the floor with dry heaves, intense back pain, and unable to move...coming on suddenly and lasting for HOURS!  I don't think I should have to write a note to my insurance saying I'm going to be using this medication to this purpose; it really isn't their business and I don't think that it conforms to HIPPA.