Bad Things on Tuesday
- Still sniffling with a cold
- It's too cold for Florida right now, It was in the 40's this morning when I was walking my dog
- My toes are frozen. Really they are ice cubes now.
- So cold out this morning I didn't want to get out of bed.
- Realizing that I didn't book my hotel room in time for the totally awesome hotel special for our trip to Seattle
Good Things on Tuesday
- Finding out that the Hotel has another totally awesome special that saves me just as much money,
- Finally feeling like my cold is going away.
- Getting my music play list for our Seattle/Portland trip ready
- My dog snuggling with me under the blanket this morning
- Getting up in time to take out the trash, with the holidays there was a lot of trash.
- Work being low key and drama free today - (so far)
- Nick coming home tonight from London at around 6:30pm
They tore down the Lake Champlain Bridge yesterday. I guess I should say that they imploded it. I've never been over it, but a lot of people up in this area have had their lives turned upside down by the closure of this bridge. They were originally planning on replacing it in a couple of years, but back in October when the water levels dropped, a passing boat noted some severe rotting on the newly exposed parts of the bridge. They shut it down immediately to all traffic and have been quick to remove and get a plan in place for a replacement bridge which they'll begin construction on next summer. Many of the residents on the Vermont side of the bridge have jobs in New York and vice versa. Without the bridge you either have to drive 25 miles north or 15 miles south to catch a ferry. One of those ferries was recently shut down due to ice. It's a pretty crappy situation for everyone involved.
At least the bridge implosion was cool.
I sometimes listen to NPR on my way into work. It depends on my mood as to whether or not I'll stick around for all of Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. I always like the historical bits at the beginning, but some of my long-time neighbors may remember that I'm not a big fan of poetry. I don't know what it is, but I find poetry pretty annoying sometimes. I can usually tolerate it coming from Garrison Keillor, read in his dulcet tones. I happened to stick around for it yesterday and was in for a treat. There's nothing like a dose of intensely intimate poetry at 8:30 in the morning on your drive into work.
I snipped out just the poem for this mp3 of yesterday's program. Enjoy.
O Best of All Nights, Return and Return Again
love cave around her face. Return and return again.
How when the lamplight was lowered she pressed against
him, twining her fingers in his. Return and return again.
How their legs swam together like dolphins and their toes
played like little tunnies. Return and return again.
How she sat beside him cross-legged, telling him stories of
her childhood. Return and return again.
How she closed her eyes when his were open, how they
breathed together, breathing each other. Return and return again.
How they fell into slumber, their bodies curled together like
two spoons. Return and return again.
How they went together to Otherwhere, the fairest land they
had ever seen. Return and return again.
O best of all nights, return and return again.
Lydia does not have many marvellous things to write about in comparison with other countries, except for the gold dust that is carried down from Mount Tmolus.
- Herodotus, The History, 1.93
http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/oldestcoin.asp
As I recline, hopefully recuperating, my mind has turned to indulgences, and my selling therein of. For those of you late to St Flamingo Dancer flock, my New Year’s intention is to bestow upon myself sainthood. I am so wonderful, already a goddess, that it is a natural extension of my fabulosity.
I am also in it for the money. I shall sell indulgences. Not the kind of indulgence that gets you a good after life, or anything of that nature, for that side of the market is already taken. No, I shall sell indulgences that perpetuates happiness in this world, and revenge upon those who wrong against my “clients”.
I thought about what currency I should use, and thought about the Electrum Stater Of Miletos or the tripodes", "axes" or "skewers" of the pre-Numismatic Age, but eventually I arrived at the conclusion that Herodotus, sometimes, was right and so I shall use gold dust as my currency of exchange.
So I am thinking of setting the base rate of 14 grams of gold dust per smiting of employers, mothers in law and generally anyone who gets in your way in the supermarket. I set a lower price for smiting as I gain a certain large degree of pleasure from it myself!
28 grams of gold dust for the general sending of plagues and boils upon the person who annoys from the neighboring work cubicle, former university friends who now have 1. better jobs, 2. more money, 3. beautiful partners, or 4. has had cosmetic surgery though pretends otherwise.
32 grams will get you traffic free highways on the commute to work, no waiting in line for doctors, at banks, government departments, or checkouts, and wait, there’s more - no grey hair. In the case of the gentleman, you will be granted hair that remains on your head and never on your ears, but it may be grey. 32 grams of gold dust only goes so far!
The big stuff, a gold bar, will get you three wishes, as long as you remember your place and don’t expect to rise above me, as my fabulosity will not be undone!
Other indulgences upon request. Price non negotiable, no guarantees or warranties. Non returnable. Responsibility and risk upon the requester.
An indulgence, in Catholic Theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the Treasure House of Merit accumulated by Jesus' sacrifice and the virtues and penances of the saints. They are granted for specific good works and prayers.
Indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early Church. More exactly, they replaced the shortening of those penances that was allowed at the intercession of those imprisoned and those awaiting martyrdom for the faith.
Abuses in granting indulgences were a major point of contention when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation (1517).
Finished Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb.
This is set in 1964, from October up through what is quite possibly the best (read: outrageously funny) school Christmas pageant ever.
Felix Funicello (Annette's distant cousin) is in fifth grade and is trying to deal with scary nun teachers (he's in a Catholic school), two older sisters and the odds that the new girl in school is a Communist spy (she's from Russia).
There are no words for how fantastic this book is. It's very funny and sweet (in a weird way) and all around wonderful.
And how can you not love a book that has this for its first two sentences: "The year I was a fifth-grade student at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School, our teacher, Sister Dymphna, had a nervous breakdown in front of our class. To this day, I can hear Sister's screams and see her flailing attempts to shoo away the circling Prince of Darkness."
(The rest of the book is awesome, too.)
Stocked with beer already thanks to the hubby
Definitions of colonoscopy on the Web:
- visual examination of the colon (with a colonoscope) from the cecum to the rectum; requires sedation
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - colonoscope - an elongated fiberoptic endoscope for examining the entire colon from cecum to rectum
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - colonoscope - a flexible fibreoptic endoscope used to examine the colon and obtain tissue samples
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colonoscope - Examination of the entire colon with an optic fiber tube inserted through the anus and rectum.
aspirus.org/aboutAspirus/index.cfm - a test that uses a long, flexible tube with a light and camera lens at the end (colonoscope) to examine inside the large intestine.
www.childrenscentralcal.org/HealthE/P03012/Pages/P03011.aspx - A procedure in which a long flexible viewing tube (a colonoscope) is threaded up through the rectum for the purpose of inspecting the entire colon and rectum and, if there is an abnormality, taking a biopsy of it or removing it. ...
www.medicinenet.com/virtual_colonoscopy/glossary.htm - Examination of the interior of the colon using a flexible viewing instrument.
www.everydayhealth.com/gerd/understanding/glossary.aspx - a diagnostic procedure in which a flexible tube with a light source in inserted into the colon (large intestine or large bowel) through the anus to view all sections of the colon for abnormalities.
www.womenshealthzone.net/glossary/c/ - colonoscope - A thin, lighted tube used to examine the inside of the colon.
www.pbs.org/secondopinion/episodes/coloncancer/medicalglossary/story283.html - colonoscope - The long flexible lighted instrument used for performing Colonoscopy.
www.ostomy.evansville.net/terms.htm - colonoscope - Flexible, elongated tube that can be inserted through the anus allowing the inside of the colon to be seen.
www.hollister.com/anz/ostomy/resource/glossary.html - (col-un-AH-skuh-pee) examination of the colon with a long, flexible, lighted tube called a colonoscope. The doctor can look for polyps during the exam and even remove them using a wire loop passed through the colonoscope.
www.mesothelioma-line.com/articles/glossary/ - An examination of the large intestine utilizing a long lighted fiberoptic or video scope.
www.ostomy.evansville.net/terms.htm - Visualization of the lining of the anus, rectum and colon through a rigid proctosigmoidoscope or a flexible fiber optic endoscope (types of viewing tubes). This procedure allows diagnosis of tumors and inflammatory diseases.
www.abbottdiagnostics.com/Glossary/index.cfm - Procedure that allows inspection and tissue sampling of the rectum and large intestine by inserting a flexible tube with an attached camera through the rectum.
www.barrx.com/Patients_and_Families/index.cfm/55
HAPPY NEW YEAR - I think not! I was gong to say that I am really pissed off, but under the circumstances that might not be qute the right descripton!
Finished The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays, edited by Michelle Clarke & Taylor Plimpton.
This is basically the anti-Christmas book, and if you have a dark sense of humor, odds are you'll love it.
The first essay is by John Waters, and it's my favorite of the bunch. But there are also essays from David Sedaris (but not, sadly, The Santaland Diaries), Augusten Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Dave Barry, Robert Benchley, Mark Twin, Jonathan Ames and Chris Radant (the short story that inspired Home for the Holidays), plus a ton more.
Also, the cover is fantastic.
I finally saw Blade Runner for the first time. I still haven't read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep, but I knew that Blade Runner would still stand on its own as a separate entity so I decided to go for it. Let me preface by saying I think Ridley Scott is a brilliant director, I think Alien is one of the finest films of our time. However, I know that Scott is also not much of an "actor's director", he expects his actors to do their job without much in the way of direction, and unfortunately, the cast of Blade Runner, with the exception of Rutger Hauer, needs some serious direction. Let's face it folks, it's a fluke Harrison Ford ever got into acting in the first place. And while he's got that sort of bumbling charm going on, he plays himself in every role. I originally watched the "Final Cut" version which is Scott's supposed final edition of the film. Having never seen the theatrical release with the voiceover, I felt that a lot was left out of the film that they intended to explain in the voiceover. I'm halfway through the theatrical version right now and the voiceover is done so badly it's laughable. While they do hit you over the head with some explanations, a few of them are more subtle points that would have really cleared up a number of things in the Final Cut version that I felt were lacking.
Anyway, in the end, I didn't give a shit about the characters. I didn't give a shit about the plot. I didn't care who won or who died. I didn't understand why Ford and Young connected, they had zero chemistry, it made no sense. I also didn't care if Ford's character was really a replicant or not. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of it. I know I'm considered a geek around these parts, but I didn't care for Blade Runner at all. Gee, so glad I picked up the 5 disc special edition blu-ray with 30+ hours of crap on it. Bluh. I decided to only finish the theatrical version and watch the deleted scenes. I understand it's the type of film that probably gets better with repeated viewings, but frankly, I had no desire to after viewing the Final Cut alone. I decided to give the theatrical version a go because I do realize that many people lived with that cut for a long time and originally fell in love with that film. By the time the Final Cut version was released a couple of years ago people knew the ins and outs so well that were explained in the old voiceover, they no longer needed it in the final cut. Fine. But that doesn't help a first-time viewer. Again, I had picked up on 90% of what was explained in the voiceover WITHOUT the voiceover, but it's that 10% of crap that would have shed a bit more light on the film.
I had to wash Blade Runner out of my system on Saturday night so settled in with Raising Arizona which is one of my favorite movies, but it had been far too long since my last viewing. I don't know, they were jammies, they had Yoda's and shit on 'em. There are a lot of great lines in that film and that's one of my favorites. That film is so clever and funny and Holly Hunter is a freaking goddess. She can be so funny and so serious in the same moment, it's such a treat to watch her in anything.
I'm down to three episodes of Twin Peaks before I'm done. There have been a lot of really great guest stars. The old guy from Robocop, you know, the one who says, "Dick, you're fired!" shows up as Andrew Packard. Miguel Ferrer is also in Robocop. By the way, his character, despite being a guest spot, actually has growth. In a recent episode he walked in and hugged Truman, which was hysterical. He was so cold and sciency in his first episode. And while he's still a bit cold and sciency, he has a healthy dose of respect for the folks of Twin Peaks and finally seems to get them the way Cooper does. I liked that.
Now it's time to get my ass into the office for another short work week that will still have five days of work crammed into it. Bluh. I need coffee.
For the New Year, I am going to grant myself sainthood - Saint Flamingo Dancer the Wonderful - and throw a bit of fabulosity about the world. I will also sell indulgences for financial gain (mine). Stay tuned for price lists.
wonderful christmas eve dinner with family and friends!
awesome way to end off the year 2009!
merissa.
x
