Quo Vado?

After dropping the call to kMom at the same place twice in two weeks, and finally arriving at the end of my contract I finally switched cell phone providers this evening. The process took forever, but I ended up with a nifty new phone, ‘in’ minutes and hopefully a smaller phone bill. Now, anyone trying to reach me by phone on a consistent basis knows that carrier pigeon could quite possibly be a more reliable method of contacting me. The phone bugs me; I can’t see people’s faces or body language over it, which means that I have to work twice as hard to understand what they’re saying and identify intent based on sound alone. Add to that, I get bored when my eyeballs lack something related to examine and it all adds up to phones and I not being a great combination. That being said, I’ll spend the next week programing numbers and enjoy my new toy anyway.

All Request Question:

What do you think about to make yourself fall asleep at night?

Ok, well the answer to that is kind of difficult. If my brain isn’t working too fast, I imagine myself on display in a storefront window, trying not to move or be conspicuous. By focusing on not moving my brain usually stops moving quickly. On the days my brain doesn’t shut up I toss on a sleep CD and focus on it.

So, the following is what happens when I read too fast. Today’s Oneword: Robot

crap, there for a minute i thought it said reboot, just what i didn’t want to do right at this moment. so the question becomes, what to do when you read the word wrong, do i just go on like this until my time ends or do i start all over again?

People wonder why I don’t like reading aloud, and it’s because my reading style resembles scanning much more so than reading. Speed is the cool thing about it, that and you get to read something over again and understand new things about it, but reading aloud when you typically skip small words is torture. So, please, just let me make it up. Thanks!

This morning’s wakeup dream had an interesting waking thought. Just before the alarm rang I dreamed that someone had found the ‘break’ wires in my head and clipped them. If that wasn’t odd enough, I first thought ‘maybe that’s not such a bad idea.’ As I stumbled back into bed I thought, ‘I need to blog that thought.’ It is a ponderable idea, what would happen if I clipped the lines that keep so much of my person in check?

I’ve had too much fun in the music section as of late, adding stuff from Yo-Yo Ma (Rules!) to John Mellencamp to Nickleback and some Wyndam Hill Piano tunes. I haven’t wrapped my hands around all of the tunes. I’m also part of Mr. Fun Ball’s CD exchange, though I don’t know my tunes exchange partner. There was also an interesting article in the NYT (sorry that it’s a sign in link) about how one man was enlightened about the inner workings of one of his co-workers just by listening to the music he had on the iPod the co-worker sold to him. Add that to the large amounts of NPR I’ve been listening too and I’ve had much music experience. Here’s hoping your tomorrow is filled with excellent music.

Let’s make it an all request Monday. I’ve never done one of these before, so are there any random questions out there you’d like to ask?

Unconscious Mutterings Week 96

1. Limited time only:: Disney-fication of America
2. Voluptuous:: Special undergarments required.
3. Nutritionist:: ah, please no more information
4. Belt:: tools
5. Star crossed:: lovers
6. Snakeskin:: boots
7. Athlete’s foot:: bigger than mine
8. Boom:: mike
9. Freezer::burn
10. Store hours:: Sunday’s ‘til six.

Well, the long weekend is ending. The weekend lacked energy and focus, but provided excellent rest. So, why is it just now coming to a close, you might ask? Simple, after three days of becoming friendlier with the cat my sinuses were killing me this morning; that, combined with a headache the size of Alaska, merited a morning off. I’m sure I’ll want to kill myself later in the week, but for now sinus headache medicine and rest are going to have to do.

I found myself pondering something of a quandary over the weekend. I recently purchased undergarments that put what I have in more ‘appealing’ positions. These garments accentuate what I’ve been blessed with, even things out, slim other parts down and I can still breath once wearing them. The problem I have is a typical identity attractiveness problem. We’re having a city-wide singles service on Sunday and I was planning on wearing them there. So, if I’m there and catch someone’s eye because of my special garments what will either one of us think when it turns out that my outward appearance resembles, but doesn’t match what I really look like, or even how I spend most of my days. Will he feel cheated because I sold him false packaging? Will I ever feel comfortable with him knowing it was the wrapping? Most likely this is just one of those things that I’ve chosen to over-think, but it bothers me that while I’m not a what you see is what you get kinda girl, I’m choosing to add special wrapping to attract guys.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope this holiday morn finds you safe and warm. As I tried to get to sleep last night, I thought about Thanksgivings past, and what traditions my family associated with the holiday. It turns out I fell asleep stumped, Thanksgiving had no firm traditions attached to it, different people would make the meal and there would be variations depending on the chef, but on the whole nothing sets this holiday apart in my memory. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t really hurt that this is the ninth Thanksgiving I won’t be home. It’s funny though, since I moved to ATL I’ve never spent this holiday alone, one year I did Thanksgiving kmsqrd style, and every other year different people have invited me to their celebrations. I enjoy the holiday, but spending so much time around people I don’t know wears me out, so I’m usually to wherever I’m house-sitting by six or seven so I can enjoy an evening of rest.

I’m house-sitting again this year, and in complete honesty, I’m not happy about it. Most years I housesit during Thanksgiving to get some time alone because my flat-mate(s) haven’t left town. This year Alm is headed to Biloxi (I just finished dropping her at Hartsfield) and I was looking forward to spending the weekend in my home, alone, puttering and seeing to some desperately needed cleaning. That just didn’t happen, a good friend of mine needs someone to watch their dog, and so off I go to the other side of town. Someday I need to get good at being OK with saying no just because I don’t want to do something. Ah, well, I have friends who need me I guess I cannot complain.

Have a great Thanksgiving! Travel safely!

You Are the Investigator

5 You’re independent - and a logical analytical thinker. You love learning and ideas… and know things no one else does. Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations. You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it.

by way of profgrrrrl

I think there may be something more wrong with me than I usually think. I just now realized that unless I’m trying to navigate my way through the airport, I usually listen to music/dvds with an ear bud only in my right ear. The left ear hook gets shoved into the top of my shirt, and I work with input coming into only one half of my head. Does this leave the other half of my brain free to think about other things? If that’s the case, am I leaving the correct side of my brain available for thought activity at work, or am I trying to use the creative half to analyze things, or am I making more of this phenomenon than needed? Now that I think about it, tunes in both ears can be overly distracting, as I get lost in the music. Maybe this behavior is for the best.

Ok, so I’m listening to the new Robert Downey Jr. CD. Yeah, there’s something sick about that, but I did really enjoy his stop on Ally McBeal. I’m not sure what I think about it, it is for the most part the ‘piano bar’ type of music I was expecting but I haven’t heard the lyrics enough to figure out what I think about it. I do have to say that the guy’s expression at the store when I described the album as sounding like piano bar music was comical. His face morphed from mildly interested, through almost puking to blank before I got to music, very funny.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I give you the following list of just some of the things that bring a swell of gratitude.

1. I’m not dead yet.
2. My family is healthy and busy giving one another a hard time.
3. I have a good roof over my head.
4. My stomach is rarely empty.
5. I have cute toes, but I’m not going to show you.
6. I have a brain; I’ve even been encouraged to use it.
7. We have running water.
8. The water heater works. (Bossman is thankful for that one too, though he doesn’t know it.)
9. I have a job.
10. My job does a reasonably good job of entertaining my brain.
11. The USPS does a good job of delivering packages.
12. I have my plane tickets to go home for Christmas purchased.
13. DVDs don’t have commercials between the television series segments.
14. My mom goes with the flow, except for my being home for Christmas.
15. I’m unattached.
16. I live in a time when I can be a structural engineer and not be great at drafting.
17. I never understood how music works; I just like it.
18. I can still pick up Squid.
19. My glasses help me see.
20. They make English riding boots for kids.
21. Cable can usually entertain my brain.
22. I only have one company Christmas party to attend.
23. Someone invented the autocorrect feature.
24. Other than my uni-brow, I don’t have to worry about facial hair.
25. I have access to all different kinds of food.
26. I have a good, running car that doesn’t embarrass me.
27. I have been protected from auto accidents this past year.
28. Aaron Sorkin knows how to write.
29. There are people out there who find me funny.
30. Candles come in different flavor.
31. Light bulbs work.
32. I never wore suspenders.
33. God made turtles, and made some of them green.
34. I had a chance to realize just how difficult it is to act.
35. There are no dead animals hanging in my house.
36. I have a right to say my peace over the next four years.
37. Calculus isn’t an everyday part of my life.
38. I am easily amused.
39. My job has limited people contact.
40. Acne hasn’t scared my skin.
41. My knees are my own.
42. I know my family is well established financially.
43. DVDs allow us to see old shows.
44. I’ve enough blankets to keep me warm throughout the winter.
45. I can live thirteen hours away from home and still keep in touch.
46. I haven’t learned how to sprawl across a whole queen sized bed.
47. I know how to write a complete sentence.
48. My silverware drawer includes an excellent paring knife.
49. The house has indoor -plumbing.
50. I get math, I’ve learned to see the steps in my head.
51. I get my snow fix at least once a year.
52. They ship root bear all over the country.
53. My dad served stateside during ‘Nam.
54. I grew up with the love of a dog.
55. I know my family loves me.
56. I have friends who look out for me.
57. There are times when those same friends don’t listen to me.
58. Crayons come in so many colors. Who knew wax could be so interesting.
59. Sarcasm is a communication tool.
60. I have a shelf; it collects all kinds of things, but has other good uses.
61. My two left feet help me to always have something to talk about.
62. Jess doesn’t like me enough to get in my face, no cat dander for me.
63. I can wear blue jeans at work.
64. The world has plains, oceans and mountains and they’re all beautiful in their own way.
65. There are people who read this blog.
66. In a world as cynical and rough as this one, people still write about romantic notions.
67. I don’t have any where near a ‘perfect’ body; therefore, there is less stress involved in looking cute.
68. Peter Jackson found a way to give scale to Lord of the Rings.
69. Koosh balls are within my reach!
70. In a static system, the sum of all the forces is zero.
71. I have the ability to change the channel.
72. I have clothes to wear.
73. Someone discovered carbonation.
74. I live in a country with an amazing, if flawed, health care system.
75. I’m not that tall so I don’t have to duck when passing under trees.
76. I have a rough plan for the next five years of my life.
77. I’ve learned to be like Gumby.
78. Standing up for what I need emotionally is becoming easier.
79. Somewhere along the line, I learned there was something to be had outside the town I grew up in, if I chose to go that route.
80. I’m still a Hoosier at heart.
81. I didn’t go to Georgia Tech.
82. My love of learning hasn’t waned.
83. Thermacare heat wraps were invented.
84. I’m completely clueless as to when I’m being hit-on.
85. I was enough of a control freak to stay away from drugs, other than caffeine.
86. There are so many pen options that I can pick one to fit my current mood.
87. I don’t always have to have people around to be happy.
88. I’ve been able to save mementoes from my childhood.
89. I can hear music.
90. They make marshmallows.
91. I can read a map.
92. My rocker-recliner is comfortable.
93. Baileys is a beautiful beverage.
94. Someone came up with a way to combine chocolate and milk.
95. I have somewhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner.
96. My stupid debt is almost gone.
97. The heat in my home works.
98. I love to read, and books are easy to find.
99. Priceless MasterCard commercials; they always earn a smile.
100. God loves me enough to claim me and keep me, even when I’ a goober.