Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
Topics for discussion:
� Does anybody actually enjoy the taste of Endive lettuce?
Isn�t this really just self-explanatory? Endive is stinky and bitter and tastes like weeds on which we really should never have begun to chow down. And yet, for some reason, somebody, somewhere did. And I really hate it when I get a salad just filled with the stuff, when I had no warning that such a bitter weed would be nestled there amidst my beloved carrots and other assorted salad-stuffs.
� Barbara stuck in the Anchorage airport for 18 hours and 28 rolls of film
Barbara returned home from her trip to Alaska, last week. She used 28 rolls of film on pictures while she was there. That�s twenty-eight, people. Now, Barbara and Arnett flew stand-by on their trip. While this fact caused no undue hardship on their way to Alaska, on their way home it was an entirely different matter.
Seems like, because it was the end of summer in Alaska and therefore the end of anything resembling decent weather, everybody and his brother wanted out of the state at the same time Barbara and Arnett did.
For those of us who have not had the privilege of flying the friendly skies in the last two months or so, I should say that they are now checking everyone�s film very carefully. Because of some new terrorist threats, they now run each and every roll of film through an x-ray machine of sorts (one specifically designed for rolls of film, apparently). Well, as a result of their flying standby, B&A got booted on to/off of several different flights over the course of 18 hours, only then finally getting on a plane to come home. As if the 18 hours stuck in an airport were not enough to cause a coronary, B&A of course had to go through numerous gates for the different flights they were alternately booted on to/off of. In doing so, security had to run 28 rolls of film through their specially-designed film x-ray machines...six times. That's six times for each of the 28 rolls of film...And many, many minutes.
Barbara finally broke down in to tears at one point, poor thing.
� Ricky the Rebel Pelican
Last weekend, I went to visit John. On Saturday, we ended up spending time by the ocean, goofing around. At one point, I looked up at this circle of pelicans, flying together. They were flying in clockwise circles, with the entire circle gradually moving...uh...I think it was South.
All of the pelicans were doing this�all except one: Ricky, the Rebel Pelican.
As we watched, Ricky the Rebel flew not in a clockwise direction, but counter-clockwise. At first, I assume he was just trying to get in to the groove and he would join in formation with his cohorts momentarily. But no. He continued to fly counter to the rest of the group, although staying with them. I watched him do this for some minutes.
It was fascinating.
Oh and as a side note: I finally got some new sunglasses! Or rather, John bought a pair for me, which is even better. I even broke with tradition and did not buy Ray Ban Wayfarers. Instead, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Bucci Tiaras, the toffee-colored ones.
� The Renaissance Faire or �How I Lost My Fear of Sabers in One-Hundred Degree Heat�
John and I were supposed to go to the Ren Faire on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The Ren Faire up in John�s neck of the woods is actually about 30 miles away from where he lives�30 miles, driving inland, toward Gilroy (The Garlic Capital of the World). It is significantly hotter over by Gilroy. Therefore, although it was nice when we left John�s Saturday, by the time we got to the Ren Faire the temperature had skyrocketed to 103 degrees!
After much discussion, we attempted to go to the Faire anyway. However, in the five minutes it took us to walk from our car to the ticket window, we lost 217 pints of liquids from each of our bodies including, if I am not mistaken, actual blood.
We decided to just buy tickets for the next day, when it was supposed to be a full twenty degrees cooler, and go hang out at the beach. So we did just that (see tale of Ricky the Rebel Pelican, above).
However, while we were standing around making the decision that probably saved our lives, some man with a rather obtrusive saber sticking out of his pants attempted to change my mind about going to the Faire on Saturday, as only a man with a saber sticking out of his pants could do. This included sticking said saber as far up my ass as possible considering I was wearing blue jeans, all the while saying incredibly lewd things to me. All I can say is, it�s really a good thing John missed most of this (he was buying tickets). I don�t think he would respond well to seeing another man�s saber up my ass, supposedly playful as that exchange might have been. I am up for all sorts of fun, mind you, but this dude gave even me the willies with his saber-talk.
We returned the next day and had a whole lot of fun. We had our Tarot cards read and, say what you will about how silly these things are, the lady actually said some things that could be considered very meaningful
I have mixed thoughts about Tarot or any other such �fortune telling� device or individual. For the most part, I think of it all as entertainment. Take Horoscopes, for example: I will read mine, if a Horoscope page is in front of me. I think of them as simply entertaining, though, and would never plan my life based on my horoscope. That said, when you read about what a Libra is supposed to be�well, that�s pretty much me, dead on. When we first started dating, I gave John a thing to read on Libras in relationships, because it was as if it were written specifically about me.
Anyway, when it comes to Tarot, I figure most readers are just in it to make a few bucks. No problem there, so long as I (as the one spending the few bucks) am not asked to spend any more money than I would spend on something else frivolous. I have been to psychics or tarot readers before, for fun, to mixed results.
I didn�t expect much from a Tarot reader at the Ren Faire. I went for entertainment purposes and for the chance to sit in the shade for a while.
Some of what she said to me was pretty generic. She talked about my having overcome a lot of trials and having come through a very dark time, but that I am on the other end of that now and trying to use what I learned to help others. All of this is true (well, aside from the trying to help others part because, as we all know, I only care about me, me, ME!), but really � who hasn�t overcome trials and dark times? She also said that I am beginning a new chapter in my career now (again � yes, but that was a pretty easy shot in the dark) and that what I am beginning now is my �soul�s calling� and what I am meant to do here.
Cool. Well, except that I don�t know if she really meant my actual career or the political and volunteer work I have begun recently.
So John got his reading and it was similar in that she talked to him about this being a super-transitional time for him, too (true). She said he would soon need to go off on a little �spiritual quest� or just some �hermit� time alone to ponder things. This made sense, because John is very much like that. He has gone on little �spiritual quest�-type trips before and will again, I�m sure (he says every time he drives down to see me, though, it�s like he gets to go on one - all that time alone, in the car, you know). She also told him that I am and have been a huge influence on him and especially in the area of compassion � that I have taught him and have much to teach him about compassion. Hee. :)
Man, I hope he listened to that part.
I ate no turkey leg, but I had a roast beef sammich and a strawberry crepe. Oh and wine�lots of wine�
Also, apparently John has legs made for a kilt. Of course, I knew this�but he was told this by no less than six (count �em six) maids shoving overwhelming amounts of cleavage in his face over the course of the day. All he did was blush, every time they said it.
He�s so cute.
� Food and How it Relates to My Possible Future with John
So as you may have gathered from all this John-talk, John and I have begun to discuss getting back together. We�ve been talking about it for like three weeks, now.
I have mixed emotions and a plethora of thoughts on the matter, but one thing I said to him last week was that if/when we get back together, we seriously need to evaluate the role of food in our lives. Food has become the center of our social universe and this is causing adverse affects on my ass (not to mention our wallets). I told him we need to limit ourselves to going out to eat once a week.
Of course, as of yet we haven�t decided whether or not we�re getting back together, so that rule has yet to kick in.
And yes, we resumed having sex. What am I, made of stone over here, people?
� Falling Asleep on the Freeway � An Educational Quiz
Um...I didn�t almost fall asleep on the freeway on the way home from John�s. I didn�t, I swear!
However, I read somewhere that if you can not actually remember driving for the last twenty miles or so, you have been, in effect, sleeping and you need to pull over and rest. *ahem*
I have no actual quiz. And I�m realizing that in each and every case, these headlines are far more entertaining than the actual stories. Sorry, but I have always been known as a huge tease.
� Vicodin � The Single, Angry Girl�s Best Friend
I hurt my back driving up to John�s. John had Vicodin. �Nuff said.
Actually, here�s how it happened: On Saturday, we ran in to a whole lot of crazy drivers and inconsiderate waitresses and grocery store clerks and shit and it seemed like we had bulls-eyes tattooed on our foreheads or something � every jackass within a twenty-mile radius seemed to gravitate toward us, all day long. When we got this waitress from hell at a little burger-stand we went to, we just looked at each other and broke in to simultaneous laughter because seriously - we totally had asshole-karma or something. Anyway, so while we were on our way back to John�s place, I took one of his Vicodins. In only a few minutes, I was feeling no pain. We stopped at a produce stand and a fresh fish stand to get ammunition for dinner. Apparently, the gal working at the fish stand was also bitchy. At least, that�s what John tells me. I was kind of out of it by then and really did not notice. I was too busy watching the pretty fishies swimming in the tanks...
� National Credit Meetings or �How to Feel Smugly Superior in Just Three Short Hours�
Last week was �Riemer Week�. This is when a bunch of Credit Professionals get together over the course of a week every year for free booze, seminars, meetings, free food, free booze and the opportunity to schmooze. Did I mention the free booze? Riemer Week was last week. It took place in Huntington Beach, so I didn�t get to fly anywhere, but I still got free food and free booze.
I also got hit on my more married men than could shake their stick at me. And only one of them was even tempting.
It was all rather nauseating, really. It seemed especially nauseating this year, for some reason. Perhaps it was that one man with the �Hello, my name is Bill and I�m an Alcoholic�-red nose who was literally drooling on my blouse Thursday night who finally sent me over the edge.
The good news is that I think I get to go to Vegas, finally, in November. Sure, it will be on business and I only get to stay one night (one for free, that is), but the business will only last like four hours. And my room will be free, as will my air-fare. And I plan on making the most of the rest of my time there, boy howdy!
Now, I�d just better get to go. The Little Big Man already mentioned to me this morning that he wanted to go. He hates these fucking things and the only reason he wants to go is because it�s in Vegas. If I don�t get to go this time, I will actually be pissed. He and I have gone though this sort of thing before. I get a hell of a lot more out of the meetings than he does � he only goes when these things take place in Vegas or New Orleans or someplace cool he wants to go. Well, yes, I want to go to those cool places, too. But I actually get business-related value out of the trips, as well.
� How My Being So Upset About Johnny Cash�s Death May Really Be More About My Own Parents and other entertaining asides
I really don�t want to talk about this right now, but suffice it to say that Johnny Cash has always reminded me a lot of my father.
~~~
And now...This Weekend:
Friday night, while I wanted to get Drunky and Funky, I did not...although I did have three glasses of wine on an empty stomach and felt like punching a guy, so in spirit, I was there.
I went to dinner with the friend of a friend. Yes, I had a blind date. It did not go well.
Do people just arbitrarily fix their single friends up with just any of their other single friends, putting no actual thought in to whether or why these two individuals may or may not get along? Because, after this disaster of a date, I actually called my friend BN and said, �If you really think he and I would get along, you do not know me at all.�
Let�s discuss the gentleman�s resume, shall we?
� Republican.
While I have dated Republican�s before, I will only do so if their other charms so overwhelm their political views as to cancel them out or they are just not that interested in politics anyway, so the prospect of having actual political arguments is kept to a minimum. Blind Date Guy was not only Republican, he was loud and idiotic about his opinions. Plus, he had no other charms.
� Missing front tooth.
Sure, things happen. People lose their teeth. Maybe they do so only that week, so that they haven�t had time to get it fixed (not so in Blind Date Guy�s case as he has had a broken front tooth for "going on three years now" with, apparently, no urge whatsoever to have it fixed). My only real suggestion � warn a gal, when you fix her up with someone, that they have missing and/or broken front teeth. Otherwise, said gal may find herself staring at said tooth all night long and, after a while, not even caring that she is probably being incredibly rude in doing so.
� Boring Financial Dude.
Just because I work in credit, does not mean I want to discuss financial matters for two hours before we get to arguing about politics.
� Assumed that since I am soon-to-be 37 years old and single, I must be positively hungering for a husband and kids and really did not care to hear the truth from me on the subject.
I�m sure you can all guess my attitude about that. I ended up asking him why he�d even bothered asking me any questions on this subject, since he�d obviously already made up his mind about me and hearing my reply didn�t matter in the slightest.
� Doesn�t own a television.
Oh. My. GOD!
� So clueless that yes, he still wanted to see me again. Um...no thanks. There is not enough alcohol in California.
So after that excruciating evening, my weekend could only improve by comparison. And it did. Both days were heavy on errands, but I managed to squeak in some fun, also.
John came down. Although Saturday was errand-heavy, it did include seeing his mom and sister, Kitty. It also included dinner at Lucilles. Woo-Hoo!
Sunday was laundry-day. It was also the day I discovered that I don�t really like any of the new HBO Sunday night shows, dammit! Where is Six Feet Under? I don�t even really like K Street, despite the fact that not only is it about politics, but George Clooney is involved in its production. I�m going to give it more time, though. I want to like it.
And now, here I am...back at work...Monday morning...*sigh*
And I�m still in a funk, so I guess it wasn�t all PMS.
~~~
Word of the Day for Monday September 22, 2003:
martinet mar-t'n-ET, noun:
1. A strict disciplinarian.M
2. One who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods.
~~~
Quote A Day:
If there is anything you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. �Goethe
Inspiration of the Day:
Two decades after Patrick Awuah sought help tapping into the standard American dream, he is going home to Ghana to pursue one of his own making: Awuah, who studied engineering at Swarthmore College and made a small fortune at Microsoft, is building a university - one that he hopes becomes the seed for an African Ivy League.
Be The Change:
Help out at a school where you grew up.
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