Hiatus

If you're still checking for updates, you will have noticed that there haven't been any for well over a month, until now at least.  For that matter, this really isn't much of a post either.  I'm just checking in to let you know that I'm not going to be posting for a little bit longer.  "Real life" has gotten too hectic and I've had too much going on.  Mainly, though, I haven't been able to think of anything to blog about.  Christmas is fast approaching and things have been going wrong right and left (I'm sick, a 50 foot tree fell and smashed our fence, our car windshield broke, my inlaws are about to visit, etc, etc, etc) and we've been going to concerts and playing video games (remember how I'm so bad at first person shooters?  I'm still no better, and "Left for Dead" is giving me a nervous breakdown.  I'm determined to get better at it eventually!) and so I haven't even attempted to post.

I feel bad about that, though.  Each day I try to make myself post and I just can't do it.  So I'm giving myself permission to quit for now.  I'll be back after the new year has started.  (Though I might have to make one exception to post about "Sherlock Holmes", which I am really looking forward to!)  And if somehow I get inspired I'll start posting again sooner, but don't count on it.  Look for me after 2010 has begun.

If you are looking for fun things to do, I highly recommend any of the things we've been doing lately:  Star Wars: In Concert (which was amazing!), "The Princess and the Frog" (which is by far my favorite princess movie, and is a "real" Disney movie in every way),  "Left for Dead" (which for me is frustrating but fun) "Super Mario Wii" (perfect Nintendo game, a return to the old-style Mario games), 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live, or the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza (so much fun!). 

You'll see me on here after the New Year if you come back then, and some of you I'll actually see before then in real life. :)  I'll still be Tweeting and updating Facebook, so if you keep up with me on those sites (or on my sidebar here) then you'll know I'm still alive. 

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!

November!

   Somehow the time seems to be flying by this year, and suddenly it's November!  This makes me happy.  Well, the time flying by doesn't, but I do love November.  I really love it once the time changes, since it feels so much more like fall once it gets dark so much earlier.  It's cooling off finally, and the leaves are changing. . . or in some cases, they've already changed and have fallen to the ground.

    I love the foods associated with this time of year, especially almost anything that uses pumpkin.  I love seeing the Christmas decorations and foods showing up in stores.  I love that more and more ads show Christmas scenes.  I love Thanksgiving, when we usually go to my parents house and spend time with my family and eat way too much.  (And watch the Egg Bowl, of course.  Go Dawgs!)  I love Christmas shopping, even though I worry I won't be finished with that by Thanksgiving.  But each year I promise that this will be the year I don't have to fight those crowds between Christmas and Thanksgiving.  I haven't managed that so far, but this year. . .

    I always threaten to start decorating for Christmas on the day after Halloween, but Caradorn is adament that we wait until after Thanksgiving.  We compromise by getting everything ready before Thanksgiving so we can decorate the tree as soon as we get home from my parents' house.  I'm not sure that's much of a compromise, though, and I think I need to figure out a way to start getting some of the decorations up before that.

     We have lots of things to look forward to over the next two or three months, but this time of year I really enjoy the normal days almost as much as the days when we do something special.  Settling in with a mug of hot cider or hot chocolate and playing games or watching a movie, building a fire in the fireplace, baking pumpkin bread, taking a walk and hearing the leaves crunching underfoot. . . there are so many things I love about this time of year!  I just want to enjoy every minute of it and forget about working.  But of course I can't do that.  We do have lots to do, and the one time of year I love even more than this is December.  When Thanksgiving is over, I want to be able to sit back and know we've finished everything important for the year.  That means we'll really have our work cut out for us this month.  But that's okay, because I feel more motivated than I have in a long time.  It's fall! 

And by the way. . .

    I forgot to mention that I am angry!  We went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival during our last couple of WDW trips, and found lots of food that we enjoyed.  We bought the festival cookbook and I was browsing through it trying to decide which thing I would cook first.  Several of the dishes that we enjoyed are in the cookbook, but I've discovered that two of my favorite things from this year's festival that I had intended to cook are not in there!  I wasn't surprised to find that the Tangerine Mimosa from Morocco wasn't listed, but I think we can figure that one out on our own.  Sadly, though, the Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie from Ireland is also not listed.  That is probably not something I can figure out through trial and error, which means I'm going to have to start Googling and hope that I can find a recipe for something similar.  And I am most upset that the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee from France isn't in there, either.  That was my favorite thing at the festival this year.  We trekked all the way through Epcot just to get that on our last trip.  I fully intended to cook it once we got home - but now I have no recipe!  I'll have to check last year's book to see if it's in there, and if not I guess I'll need to start Googling for that as well.  I've been wanting to find a good recipe for orange creme brulee since Disney changed the Soarin' creme brulee at Seasons in the Land pavillion from orange to vanilla, so I guess I will start looking for a good milk chocolate recipe as well.

    Grumble, grumble.  Oh well, I guess of all the things I could be angry about this is pretty mild.  But still, it's irritating.  I want that milk chocolate creme brulee.  And since I think it is highly unlikely that I'll be able to convince Caradorn to take me back to Epcot before the Food and Wine Festival ends (though of course I'll try!) I suppose I'm just going to have to search until I find the perfect recipe.  I imagine that will mean trying quite a few different recipes until we find the right one.  Poor us, having to suffer through lots of chocolate creme brulees.   Hmmm. . . maybe I'm not as angry about this as I thought!

Odds and ends and way too much shopping

    The past week or so has been really busy, but it's also has it's share of excitement.  And somehow we have found plenty of time to shop.

    Last Thursday afternoon my phone rang, and when I didn't recognize the number I almost didn't answer it because I've been getting lot of telemarketer calls lately.  I grabbed it at the last minute simply because I knew it was a central Florida number.  I'm so glad I did!  It turned out to be a friend from the Orlando area.  He was calling to let me know that Jonathan Coulton has finally scheduled a concert in Orlando.  I was so excited that I almost started shrieking into the phone, but fortunately for my friend's ears I did manage to control myself.  As we were talking, though, I was getting more and more excited about it.  I was pacing back and forth and almost jumping up and down and talking faster and faster.  Shortly before we got off the phone Caradorn walked in, and he looked really confused about why I was freaking out so much.  Once I hung up the phone I tried to explain to Caradorn why I was so excited, but I was talking too fast and waving my arms and pacing and jumping and it took a while for him to get the idea.  Of course we bought our tickets when they went on sale on Saturday.  I am so excited!  I am really excited about seeing Coulton again, because I love him.  But I'm almost as excited because so many people I like in Orlando have been dying to see his show, and now they'll be able to.

    After we bought our tickets we decided to go to Nashville for the day.  I've posted before that I hate shopping, but that's not entirely true.  I hate shopping for clothing or anything specific that I need, but I enjoy browsing in some stores.  We hit all my favorite places in Nashville and I bought way too much.  After grabbing sushi at Ru San's we checked out Urban Outfitters, where I found a Snoopy shirt and a book - "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", which I'm reading now. (It's okay, but doesn't have nearly enough zombies so far!)  Then we went to Green Hills and spent far too long at Davis Kidd, one of the best bookstores anywhere.  I got Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and Caradorn and The Kidd also found some books, plus Cardorn got me a packet of Opus postcards which I am now threatening to frame.  I found my favorite new shampoo/body wash/bubble bath at Sephora - Philosophy's Pumpkin Spice, which smells like Fall.  And I discovered that Macy's has a great selection of Snoopy shirts - though I controlled myself and only bought one, which has Snoopy and Woodstock and says "Chicks love Nerds".  Caradorn and The Kidd found a big selection of Star Wars shirts, so they were happy, too.   While we were in Nashville we also stopped by Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to stock up on groceries we can't find in Rocket City.  I'm trying to cook more lately, and I have found that I'm more likely to do that if I have lots of interesting ingredients to work with.

    Sunday we had to do some errands around Rocket City, and we made the mistake of going into Petsmart.  Every time we go there I torture myself by visiting the cats who are waiting to be adopted.  This time I saw the prettiest kitten I think I've ever seen.  Her name is Willow, and she's white and grey with big beautiful golden eyes.   We do not need a kitten.  We don't need any more pets, but we've agreed that we would consider an older cat if we found just the right one.  No kittens!  But I can't stop thinking about Willow.  She was so cute, and so pitiful.  She really was pretty, though, and so surely someone already gave her a home.  Hopefully.  Because I am really tempted to swing back by there this afternoon just to be sure she isn't still waiting for a home.  And if she's there I'm going to have to play with her.  So I really, really hope she isn't there.  We don't need a ktten!

    Yesterday I found out that Star Wars in Concert is coming to Nashville, so I'm hoping to get tickets for that when they go on sale tomorrow.  And tomorrow we are going to another concert.  Kiss is going to be in Birmingham, and we are taking The Kidd to see them for the first time.  Caradorn and I have seen them before, and we didn't love them - but we did like them, and  it was a fun show and I think The Kidd will get a kick out of seeing them.  We're going to make a day of it, I think, since we always enjoy visiting Birmingham.  And now that I'm back on a cooking kick I need to visit Penzey's again.  Penzey's is a wonderful spice shop (and website) and I need to stock up on all the spices I need for fall and winter.   I don't know where the time has gone - I can't believe October is almost over!  But I do love the fall - the color of the leaves, the cold air, the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and celebrations.  The soups and stews and spiced ciders, and of course the baking!  I see Pumpkin Bread in my future.  And Gingerbread.  In fact that sounds like a good thing to add to today's "To do" list.  And then this evening we will settle in to enjoy warm gingerbread and "Dollhouse".  And most importantly we will enjoy staying home and not shopping for a change!

   

Proctologist makes an ass of himself, no one is surprised

    The other day I mentioned that the audience for the first show we saw at Bonkerz last week was not good, and I said that I would explain more about that later. 

   First, let me stress that the whole audience wasn't bad.  Unfortunately, there was one fairly large group there who was completely rude and inconsiderate, and they just happened to be seated right in the middle of the audience.  It wasn't a reflection on the performers that they were like this - they were bad from the moment they got there, and continued the same behavior through each stand-up routine that night.  The one good thing was that they claimed that one of them was a proctologist and that most of the rest of them worked for him, which did lead to lots of jokes from the comedians that night.

   Also, I will admit that I am particularly sensitive to what I consider to be bad behavior by audience members.  I really have no patience with it at all.  It makes me furious.  So something that might seem like no big deal to most people can seem like a huge deal to me.  I don't really know why I feel that way, but I take audience behavior very personally. . . especially when we are watching a performer that I particularly like.  Since Karl Anthony (also known on here as Blondie from the Adventurers Club)  is one of my favorite performers, I really wanted him to have a good audience for his show and it bothered me that he had to deal with such rude people.

    I have fairly high expectations of audience members.  I think that when you choose to attend a show, you are sort of entering into a contract with the performer.  They are agreeing to give you their very best performance, and you are agreeing to behave in a considerate and respectful manner during the show.  I also think that you have an obligation to your fellow audience members - that you need to make every effort to refrain from doing anything that might distract them from the show.

    The group at Bonkerz last Friday night apparently did not feel this way at all.  They chose to go to Bonkerz and there's no way they didn't know it was a comedy club.  They knew they were there for a show.  And yet they barely paid any attention at all to the people on stage.  The spent the entire evening talking - loudly - to each other.  They seemed almost oblivious to the comedians, except when they would occasionally make comments about the show.  And any time a performer tried to talk to them they would argue or make rude comments to him.  I guess in a way they were hecklers, but most of the time they didn't seem to even notice that there was a show going on.  They were just rude.  Each of the comedians tried to deal with them and make them pay attention and be quiet.  I thought Karl did the best job of incorporating them into the act in a way that made sense, and his act didn't really suffer because of their behavior.  It still made me angry on his behalf, though.  I didn't feel as bad for the last performer of the night simply because he did not make any effort to be nice to them, and actually seemed to enjoy the opportunity to be mean to them.  It didn't work, of course, but I'm sure he expected that after seeing how they responded to the first two performers.

    I admit that I didn't find all of the performers that night to be expecially funny.  The person who did the intro and warmed up the audience annoyed me more than he entertained me.  He had a couple of funny moments but mostly his humor was not at all my style.  Plus, he seemed big on audience interaction and I am most certainly not.  (I know, sometimes I do I like shows that use audience participation.  It's true that I grew to love participating at the Adventurers Club and of course I always am happy if I am chosen to interact with David Copperfield or Gaelic Storm.  But if I am not familiar with a performer and I'm not already a fan of their show, I just want to blend in and not be noticed. It makes me horribly uncomfortable to have some random performer trying to interact with me.  I really hate it. I even hated it initially at the Club, though I got over that pretty quickly.)  Still, I was there in the audience and so I tried to act like I was paying attention and tried to be polite, while still trying to blend into the background so he wouldn't try to talk to me.  I wish the rude group had done the same.  But of course they didn't.  And as the evening progressed I got angrier and angrier at them.

    I wanted to say something to them, but it wouldn't have made any difference.  They knew they were being rude - both to the performers and to the other audience members - and they didn't care.  At times they actually seemed annoyed that the other people in the room would dare to interrupt their conversation.  If it had been up to me they wouldn't have been in the audience at all.  I would have escorted them out as soon as it became apparent that they had no intention of behaving appropriately.  If they didn't enjoy the performances they didn't have to laugh or clap.  They didn't even have to stay - they could have chosen a moment between acts and left the venue.  But since they chose to remain there, they should have at least been quiet and acted as though they were paying attention.  I don't know what their problem was.  Maybe they had gotten an early start on their drinking.  Maybe they just enjoy disprupting performances.  Maybe they are just jerks.  Whatever it was, I am sorry that the performers that night had to put up with them.  I'd like to believe that it was an isolated incident, but judging from the reactions by a couple of the performers I'm guessing they are used to that sort of thing.  Which is just sad.  I know that the days when people dressed to the nines and were on their best behavior for a trip to the theater are gone.  However, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to be considerate to those around them.  It makes me sad that what was once considered common courtesy isn't very common these days. 

    But maybe I'm just being cynical.  Maybe they were the exception and that sort of behavior is not becoming as common as I'm afraid that it is.  Since I intend to go see Karl Anthony perform often in the future, I should get the chance to find out.  And if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking his show out for yourself.  You'll be glad you did!

  

Brief Recap. . . well, maybe not so brief, actually.

    Caradorn and I just got back from Orlando (again) and I realized that I haven't really been blogging much lately, so I thought I'd try to get some thoughts down about our most recent trip while they are still fresh in my mind.

    This trip was much more low-key than I though it would be.  I was battling migraines the whole time and had to take things much more slowly than I wanted to.  Plus, it was unbelievably hot and humid - I've never been that uncomfortable at WDW before, which made my head feel worse.  Because of this we didn't do everything I had intended to, but we still had fun.

    We left Rocket City mid-day last Wednesday and got to Orlando that night.  We spent Thursday morning at Universal Studios.  I liked it, but not as much as the "real" studios in LA.  After a brief hike through Epcot that afternoon for some creme brulee we went back to the room to crash before Halloween Horror Nights.  I enjoyed HHR, but wasn't ever particularly scared.  I did get startled and laughed quite a bit, but everything seemed to strike me as funny instead of scary.  Of course we skipped the Saw house, which I was afraid would bother me too much.  But the houses and scare zones that we did do were well done, just not scary.  I was wearing a glow in the dark Snoopy Halloween shirt, and my favorite moment was in one of the houses when some Scareactor who was supposed to be jumping out and growling at people said "I like your shirt" and then waved his arms and said "Rarrrrr".  Not too intimidating, but very cute. :)

    Friday morning we had planned to go to Islands of Adventure but ended up sleeping late and lounging around the room for a while.  We shopped for a while that afternoon  and went out to dinner before going to Bonkerz comedy Club to see our favorite comedian, Karl Anthony.  We always find him hilarious when we see him perform, but until this weekend we hadn't managed to catch his stand-up act.  He was wonderful, just as we expected.  The audience, on the other hand, was not.  Or rather, part of the audience wasn't.  I'll have to write more about that another time, but I don't know how Karl managed not to scream at them or throw things at them - I think I would have.  We stopped by a party for a bit afterwards, and I know I was probably terrible company since the migraine was trying to come back and I felt sort of dazed.  We stayed far longer than we should have, but we were really enjoying the company. (It's always nice to be around fellow Coulton fans!)  And someone gave me my very first beer from a keg - yes, I'm sure I've had beer from a keg at bars before, of course, but never at a party.  And I've never actually seen a keg before.  Caradorn had trouble believing I hadn't seen one before, and I had to remind him of what I was like in high school and college - the parties I was invited to never involved kegs.   So that was interesting. :)

    Saturday we did make it to Islands of Adventure and we enjoyed it.  We grabbed luch at Mythos, which was really good. (Mmmm - Risotto of the day. I'm drooling just thinking about it.)  We took a billion pictures of Hogwarts Castle, and I was so excited to see it that I was practically jumping up and down over it.  I kept telling Caradorn "But look - it's Hogwarts! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's really Hogwarts! Look at it!  Look! Hogwarts!!"  I'll post some of the pictures soon.  I'm so looking forward to the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter next spring.  I'll probably hyperventilate or just freeze and won't know what to do when faced with the "real" Hogwarts (and Three Broomsticks, and Zonko's, and Ollivanders. . .).  It will probably be totally overwhelming for a Harry Potter geek like me!

    Saturday afternoon we went back to Epcot for dinner and while we were there we caught the show at the UK, and met up briefly with my sister and brother-in-law.  We used to go to WDW together all the time, but in the last few years I've been going with Caradorn and The Kidd and sometimes my parents, and she and my brother in law have been going with his family most of the time.  She was with them this trip as well, so we didn't really spend any time together - we'll have to go back together sometime soon.

    Saturday night we went back to Bonkerz to see Karl Anthony again, who was hilarious.  The audience was much better this time and he was able to cover more material than the night before.  A couple of the bits had me in tears.  I'd go back to see him again in a heartbeat - he really is the funniest person I know.  (And I know I'm biased, but he was by far the funniest performer of the people that were performing that night.)

    Sunday morning we made a brief visit to the Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates and the Haunted Mansion (and to stock up on popcorn for my dad and The Kidd, and to get a Vinylmation I was regretting not getting earlier - it's wearing bowling shoes! So cute!) and then it was time to head home.  For the first time in quite a while we weren't sure when we'd be coming back to Orlando, which made me more unhappy about leaving there than I usually am. I'm always happiest when I am planning another trip to Florida.  Not having another trip on the horizon to look forward to makes me sad.

    But then today I discovered that David Copperfield will be in Tampa in January.  And of course Space Mountain will have reopened by then, and we promised The Kidd that we'd take him back as soon as we could after the reopening..  And January is usually a good time at WDW - the crowds tend to be low.  So now I'm happy again.  It's time to start planning another trip!

Different ends of the spectrum

    I've had encounters with two different types of pet owners lately and it has really made me think about how lucky some animals are to own the people that they do. 

    Tomorrow is the first day of October, and assuming that they are sticking to their plan my sister in law (Marie) and her husband will be breeding their dog within the month.  They have owned several pets since I first met Marie 15 years ago.   Marie bought a puppy shortly after I met her and owned that dog for several years.  Then she decided to move into an apartment that wouldn't allow dogs, and so she gave Mollie to her parents.  When she was finally able to have a dog again her parents had become attached to Mollie and so they kept her.   After having her child, Marie decided to get another dog and so she adopted a chocolate lab puppy from the shelter.  The dog turned out to be more energetic than Marie was prepared to deal with, liked to escape their yard, and the child was afraid of the dog.  Marie kept him for a few more months - until he was no longer a cute and easily adoptable puppy - and then returned him to the shelter.  This was not a no kill shelter, and I strongly suspect that he didn't manage to find a new home in time.  Still feeling that their family was incomplete without a dog, Marie bought a mini daschund who seems to fit in well with the rest of the family.   She wasn't satisfied with just one dog, though, and so she also bought a female Golden Retriever.  They had a scare last year when they though they'd be expecting Golden/Daschund puppies and after that I thought they'd get smart and have both dogs "altered".  Ha!  Silly me.  Actually, it made them decide that they really wanted Angel (the Golden) to have puppies and so they searched until they found an affordable, intact male Golden for sale.  They bought him and if things go "well" Angel and Prince will be parents before too long.

    I've seen pictures of both of these dogs.  They're cute, but I find it hard to believe that either one is a full blooded Golden.  Certainly neither one is a shining example of the breed.  I'm sure they are both great pets but neither one of them has genes that should be passed on.  And of course Marie hasn't had any genetic testing done on them, so they could both be carriers of all the health problems Goldens are prone to.  I'm not opposed to the responsible breeding of purebred animals, but with so many dogs and cats dying in shelters each day I think it's horrible to breed a dog just so your pet can have puppies.  And I wonder what will happen to Angel and Prince after the cute new puppies arrive. . . I'm afraid that they'll either end up in a shelter (having been replaced by a puppy or two) or that they'll become their own little puppy mill, cranking out puppies as long as they can.

    Marie and her husband aren't abusive pet owners, but they aren't good pet owners, either.  At best they are neglectful.  Mostly they are irresponsible.  They see pets as disposable, and are far more likely to abandon a pet to a shelter than they are to make any significant changes in their lives in order to accommodate the pets.  If their dog escapes the yard repeatedly they'll take it to a shelter rather than getting a better fence (or keeping the dog inside, or in the garage, or a pen. . .).  If the dog scares their child and acts too wild they will wash their hands of it rather than investing in obedience training.  If the dog gets sick they'll have him put down rather than "wasting money" on potentially expensive treatments - but then they'll go buy a new motorcycle with the money they saved by not paying for treatment.  A pet might be better off with them than in a shelter, but I cringe when they adopt a young animal because I know that it's chances of finding a new home will not be good by the time Marie's family tires of it and returns it to the shelter.

    On the other end of the spectrum are Mr and Mrs O.  They are a very nice couple who lost their cat to kidney failure last weekend.  After losing my Newton to kidney failure a couple of years ago, I know how much of a shock that can be.  A cat can be healthy one day and on death's door the next day.   I felt terrible for Mr and Mrs O when I heard about their cat.  Then I found out that the cat was already older when they adopted her.  They are good pet owners.  They love their pets and they give them a good home.  They chose this cat knowing they were likely to have her for fewer years than they might have a younger cat, but they wanted to give her a chance to find a loving home anyway.  I wish I could be like them.  I remember how hard it was to lose Newton, and to lose my dog Marc a couple of years before that, and I am afraid to adopt an older pet.  I want to, but it scares me - what if I get too attached and then it dies?  Of course you run that risk even with younger animals, but it seems so much more real with the older ones.  And when we see those older pets at the adoption fairs I feel so torn. . . they look so sad.  They need love, too.  But it's such a risk for an owner to fall in love with an older pet knowing that your years with them are likely more limited than your years with a puppy or kitten might be.  Especially when you are an owner like Mr and Mrs O, or like Cardorn and I.  Our pets are a part of our family.  They aren't disposable.  They are ours for life, however long that might be.  And it hurts so much when we lose them.  I want to be the kind of person who can rescue an older pet and give it a loving forever home for the rest of it's life.  Hopefully I will be willing to take a risk like that the next time we decide to welcome a new pet into our family.

    These days, with so many unloved and unwanted pets filling the shelters, I guess even a temporary home is better than the alternative.  But I can't help but think that while an animal might be lucky to find any home (even one with someone like Marie), they are even luckier that there are people out there waiting to give them a second chance.  An animal might be lucky to find an owner like Marie, but the really lucky ones have people like Mr and Mrs O waiting to give them loving homes when they are abandoned again.

You Ruined Everything

    For most of my dating life, I was in serious relationships.   I had one boyfriend through most of high school and one through most of college, with a couple of shorter relationships thrown in between.   I was never the type for blind dates or anything like that. . . I tended to date guys with whom I was already friends, and only those who I could imagine spending my life with.  Shortly after my breakup with Nate, I resolved to change that.  I wanted to date lots different people, and I decided that I would say yes when people asked me out even if I wasn't sure about them.  I went on one date and had met a couple of people I was interested in, and then I saw Caradorn.  I saw him across a room and asked a friend who he was, and found out he was the best friend of a guy I was considering going out with.  Coincidentally, another girl liked both Caradorn and his friend Chuckie and was trying to choose between them.  I was appalled by this (who tells a pair of best friends she's trying to choose between them?!), but once I saw Caradorn I wasn't too worried that she'd choose the guy I liked.  Who would choose anyone else if Caradorn was one of the options?

    Apparently that girl would, because she chose the other guy.  I wasn't too upset about Chuckie being off the market, because I was still planning to keep things casual and date around and one of the factors in the girl's decision was that Chuckie had told her he was hoping for marriage soon.  Caradorn had said he was not.  A couple of weeks later I was juggling in a place where Caradorn was singing, and we discovered we got along really well.  He was friends with two of my best friends and so the four of us started hanging out.  One evening I cooked dinner for all of us and after our friends left, Caradorn stayed to help me clean up.  We ended up talking for hours and by the time he left I realized that the casual dating thing wasn't going to happen after all.  By our second date we were already talking about the future as though it was a foregone conclusion that we'd be together. 

   Jonathan Coulton wrote a song after his child was born.  Every time I hear it, I think of Caradorn.  I was happy before Caradorn and I started dating. I had all sorts of plans - most of which I changed after we fell in love. Now I can't imagine my life being any more perfect than it is right now.

You Ruined Everything

I was fine

I pulled myself together
Just in time
To throw myself away
Once my perfect world was gone I knew
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

You should know
How great things were before you
Even so
They're better still today
I can't think of who I was before
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

Bumps in the road remind us
The worst of the best behind us
Only good things will find us
Me and you

Days will be clear and sunny
We're gonna need more money
Baby you know it's funny
All those stories

Coming true
Despite my better efforts
It's all for you
The worst kind of cliche
I'll be with you till the day you leave
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

(Retrieved from http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/index.php/You_Ruined_Everything/Lyrics)

Do I see a light up ahead?

    I think that maybe - hopefully - there might be a light at the end of this tunnel after all.  In the last day or two several things have happened that give me hope that maybe all this stress really is just temporary.

    It seems Caradorn's testing has finally gained momentum and there might be an end in sight after all.  I'm so happy that our schedule might be back to normal before too terribly long.  These testing periods are really important for his program, and I do understand why they have to do them,  but they are really hard on everybody - both at work and at home.  I think everyone on his program has a really short fuse at this point and it will be better for all of them when they are done with this round of tests.  I will certainly be happier when they are over!

    I've actually started sleeping again.  I'm still really tired, but I don't feel like I'm going to slip into a coma at any moment so that's an improvement at least.  Even though I still haven't been managing to get to bed early, I haven't been lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep.  I fall asleep pretty quickly after my head hits the pillow - which is really unusual for me even when I'm not having trouble sleeping.  I'm feeling so much better than I was even a few days ago.  It's amazing what a difference it can make to your whole day when you don't feel like a zombie.

    The Kidd - who I don't discuss all that often on here - is having a really good year at school so far.  Last year was a little rough for him.  He kept "forgetting" to do his homework (or even to write the assignment down) and we had to be really vigilant about making him keep up with his work.  Even when he did do his work, he would often lose it before he got to class. This was especially upsetting because he's extremely smart and capable of easily getting straight As, and his grades were not reflecting that at all.  It seemed like he just didn't care about school.  It was a very frustrating year and I was worried that this year would be more of the same.  Thankfully he seems to be taking school much more seriously now. 

    We have all sorts of half finished projects around the house that have been driving me crazy.  We have so much to do, but not nearly enough time.  Somehow every project we start tends to get far more complicated than we expect it to and they all take ten times longer than we anticipate.  For quite a while now I've felt like we've been in a holding pattern - we never seem to make any progress because we are always dealing with unexpected problems that crop up. We had a brief bit of success with one of our kitchen projects a few weeks ago, but then several more things popped up that needed work and I started to get discouraged again.   Finally it seems like we really are starting to make progress.  We've actually finished a couple of things recently!  Even though we still have lots to do, it feels wonderful to be able to check some things off our list.

    We reserved a room for ConGaloosh yesterday. That's something we should have done as soon as we decided to attend the event, but somehow we kept putting it off.  I think I've been a little bit afraid that I'd jinx things if we got the room.  So many things could go wrong between now and then that would keep us from going!  I am glad that we finally have started making concrete plans, though.   We can't stop moving forward just because something might go wrong.

     We are even planning another trip during October.  I have decided to be brave and check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios this year, and I'm actually really excited about it.  It isn't the sort of thing that I usually do, but I've looked at the pictures for the last few years and the theming looks amazing.  I also want to go see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Mad Cow Theatre.    I've wanted to see this show for a while - I've heard good things about it.  The fact that one of our favorite actors ("Snoopy")  is in this production means that we will like one character even if we don't end up loving the whole thing.  I expect to like it anyway, though - everything I've heard makes it sound like something I would enjoy.

    And finally, some good and bad news.  Gigi's Cupcakes has finally opened a store in Rocket City.  We've been hooked on these cupcakes for a while now - we always get some when we visit the Nashville area.  I am glad that they are in Rocket City now, but that does sort of pose a problem for the big "lose weight/get in shape" program that we've been trying to follow.  It's hard to lose weight when you're constantly eating cupcakes!  But we've made a rule that we can only go to Gigi's once a week (except for special occasions!) and we can't eat them on a day when we haven't exercised.  And of course it helps than I usually can't eat more than half of one of their cupcakes at a time.  Those things are huge!  There is a Merry Margarita cupcake waiting for me in the kitchen, and I plan to enjoy it while we play 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live tonight.  I know - it's a wild and crazy start to the weekend, but I'm looking forward to it. 

   

    I'm looking forward to lots of things right now, which is a nice feeling.  Especially compared to the way I felt for the last few weeks.  Life seems full of potential again!  I was so tired of just seeing the darkness stretching out ahead.  It is wonderful to finally see the light again.

In cheerier news. . .

   It seems like all I've done lately is complain.  I am usually a happier person than I have seemed on here lately, but I haven't wanted to vent to Caradorn since he's not thrilled with work right now either and this has become my outlet.   I haven't been sitting around moping all the time, though.

   Last week we did manage to carve out enough time to go have fun together.  Of course the time had to come from somewhere - and a band parents meeting seemed like a great place to find some.  So to further dash my hopes of winning parent of the year any time soon, we skipped the meeting and went to a movie instead.

   I used to love Mystery Science Theater 3000 when it was on TV.  In recent years some of the folks involved have started doing something new.  It's called Rifftrax.  Now that they aren't on television they have branched out more.  They don't just do commentary for bad older movies anymore.  Now they cover all sorts of movies, including things like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

   Last week there was a Rifftrax Live event in some theaters across the country.  It was a showing of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" with commentary by the guys from MST3K.  There was also a special musical guest: Jonathan Coulton!  It was broadcast from a theater in Nashville (and oh, how I wish I had known about it earlier so I could have tried to get tickets for that theater!).  Fortunately one of those theaters was here in Rocket City.  Caradorn and I debated and debated about whether to take The Kidd or not, but we finally decided we would.  We were hoping he wouldn't be scarred for life from the experience.  I was half afraid that Coulton would do "First of May", which I like but really don't want The Kidd to hear any time soon. (No, there's no reason he ought to play that at a sci-fi/outer space/zombie movie.  It wouldn't have made any sense for him to play it.  But I figured if we took The Kidd that he'd end up playing it anyway.  Fortunately he didn't; he played "The Future Soon" and "Re: Your Brains" instead.)

   It was great! We all really enjoyed it, and thankfully no one said anything that we would have felt guilty about exposing The Kidd to.  I am hoping that they will do this sort of thing again.  I think that tickets sold well, even here in Rocket City, so that's a good sign.  In the meantime I will be downloading more Rifftrax to listen to while we watch some of our DVDs.  It was so nice to just sit back and enjoy something and laugh and I think we could use more of that sort of thing.   Lots more.   There are lots of Rifftrax, and I think Caradorn and I need to work our way through all of them.  We'll even let The Kidd join us for some.

I am thankful, really. But. . .

   Let me preface this post by saying that I am truly thankful that Caradorn has a good job. . . especially lately, with all of the layoffs that have been occurring here in Rocket City.  I was horribly worried when it was announced that there would be layoffs on Caradorn's program, and incredibly relieved when he was informed that he is considered "crucial" to his project.  Yay!  It would be darn near impossible to support our family (and our Disney habit) on a teacher's salary, so it's important for Caradorn to have a good job in his field. And I really am thankful.  Very, very thankful.  Truly.

Have I said I am thankful?  I really am.

So I wouldn't want him to lose his job.  Or to quit.  Really, I wouldn't.

I really, really wouldn't.  Honestly.

But. . .

I hate his job so much right now that I could scream.

   His hours are usually great.  He has quite a bit of flexibility in his schedule most of the time and he can even use "Flex time" to take more vacations without using his vacation days.  It works out well for us most of the time.  But there are a few times throughout the year when they start testing his product.  I hate those times. He works ridiculous hours and spends the bulk of his time in another city during the testing process.  The testing goes on almost all day and all night, every day, including weekends, and someone from his group has to be there the whole time.  It usually only lasts a few weeks but this time is apparently more complicated because it has stretched into months at this point.  That's months of Caradorn being away most of the time including weekends.  He was supposed to be done before Labor Day, but now it appears that it's going to take even longer - which means he will likely be working that weekend.  That is especially upsetting to me since Labor Day weekend is supposed to be a Rock Band Weekend for us, when my sister and her husband visit and we all do nothing but eat stuff that's bad for us and play videogames (mainly Rock Band) for the whole weekend.

   I'm fed up.  Especially since I recently discovered that one of Caradorn's coworkers refuses to work weekends, which means the other group members have to work his share as well as their own.  He has also been leaving work when he's ready to leave and refusing to stay late if he is needed.  Apparently this is because he needs to spend time with his kids.  Well Caradorn needs to spend time with his kid, too. Caradorn finally said something the other day about being unhappy about possibly having to work Labor Day weekend, and Coworker actually said "Well, at least you might not have to work next weekend." Really, Coworker?!  You haven't worked any weekend.  I think it's your turn to work a few weekends.  In fact I think you need to work Labor Day weekend.  After, all, at least you didn't have to work last weekend. Or the one before that.  Or the one before that. . . I've always liked this coworker before this, but I hope I don't run into him anywhere while I'm still mad about this.  If I do it won't be pretty.  I am furious with him right now.

   I know the testing will be over soon.  I know that things will get back to normal before too long.  And in the meantime I do know how lucky we are that Caradorn has a good job.  But right now I have had enough of all this testing.  I'm tired of not knowing if it's safe to make plans for the family since I don't know when Caradorn will have time off.  I'm tired of having to cancel travel plans because Caradorn can't get away.  I'm tired of worrying about whether the testing will be over before we're supposed to go to ConGaloosh and what we will do if it isn't.  I'm tired of getting angry every time his boss calls or I hear his coworker's name. I'm tired of Caradorn being stuck in telecons and conference calls during the small amount of time he is home.  I'm just tired.  I've been in a terrible mood lately, and a large part of it is this stupid testing.  I want it to be over already.

   But I am thankful he has the job.  I really am.  I'll just be more thankful when he isn't devoting all his time to it.

Karma

I don't know if I really believe in the idea of karma. Far too often I have seen horrible things happen to good people, and wonderful things happen to horrible people. I love the idea that "Cheaters never prosper", but it seems that far too often, they do. Usually I can keep myself from dwelling on this kind of thing, but sometimes the thoughts of how unjust life can be get stuck in my head and I have trouble of thinking about anything else.

When I was in high school, someone I respected and cared about had his life almost ruined by false allegations against him. I knew the allegations weren't true, and so did most other people. That didn't matter in the end, though - he ended up settling with the person who was making the accusations and then he moved away to start a new life elsewhere. I still think about him, and I hope he ended up happy, wherever he went. Later, I learned that the woman had made similar allegations against several other people over the years - both before and after the incident I had known about. I believe she benefited greatly from settlements each time. Either this young woman was a perpetual victim with unbelievably bad luck or she was a scheming opportunist who enjoyed ruining people's lives. I know which one I think she was. I hope that wherever she is now she's living the kind of life she deserves.

This sort of thing always makes me furious. Far too often all it takes is a whisper of an allegation and the accused is immediately assumed to be guilty. No one cares about any possible evidence. Just look at the Duke case a few years ago. It didn't matter that there was plenty of evidence that showed that those boys probably were not guilty. As soon as they were accused they were considered Guilty, and nothing they could say or do was going to change that. Those boys' lives will never be the same, and all because someone made false allegations against them. Of course we know the truth now, but still they are remembered for that case and none of their other accomplishments. Many people still consider their accuser to be the victim, even though the boys were the real victims in that case.

I've heard so many stories lately about people who have been accused of things, and everyone assumes they are guilty despite a complete lack of evidence. I'd love to think that these stories were the exceptions, but instead it seems to me that they are the norm.

Don't get me wrong - I know there are bad people out there. I know that often, the allegations are true. But I hate the fact that with any sort of "sex crime", people are always assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. That's not how our society is supposed to work. I don't know what the answer is. Obviously we want the real victims to feel they can come forward. We don't want them to assume that they will be disbelieved when they tell their stories. On the other hand, simply being accused of a crime shouldn't ruin someone's reputation for the rest of his life, and too often now that's exactly what happens - even when the accused turns out to be innocent.

I would like to think that both possibilities would be considered when allegations are brought against someone: Maybe they are guilty. Maybe they are innocent. I would like to believe that sympathy would not always lie with the accuser. I would like to believe that it wouldn't come down to a "He said, she said" situation but that people would consider the evidence involved.

Mostly, I would like to believe in karma. I hope that those who are guilty end up suffering far more than those that they victimized, and that they get to experience more fear and pain than their victims felt. But I also hope that those who accuse others falsely will reap their own rewards. . . I hope that they suffer far more than they would have if their allegations had been true. I hope that they live in their own personal Hell for every day of the rest of their lives, and that eventually the rest of the world sees them for what they truly are. I hope that the day comes when no one will believe a word that they say, and they have to live with the knowledge that it's their own fault they have to live that way.

Could be worse.

The city tree people came by today and informed me they will be trimming a maple in my yard to keep it away from the power lines. Last time they really butchered it, so I am not pleased by this. In addition, they let me know that they intend to inject some sort of chemical into the ground by the tree to retard it's growth. I don't think I like that idea, either.

This afternoon The Kidd informed me that one of his new teachers had assigned him a project to do by tomorrow. I was sort of surprised, since it's just the second day of school. I was really surprised that she expects it to be turned in tomorrow. This is the sort of project that most teachers would allow at least two or three days to do. Still, I think it's good for The Kidd to learn to work under pressure so I wouldn't have said anything to him about finding it somewhat unreasonable. However. It turns out that this particular project requires lots of supplies that we don't normally have lying around the house (though after this I think I will try to keep some around) but more importantly they were not on the supply list. So this afternoon we were scrambling trying to get everything he needed. He did finish fairly quickly once he got the supplies, but I am not pleased that I had to go get all that stuff on such short notice. I really hope this isn't going to be a regular occurrence with this teacher, since most afternoons are much busier than today was.

And of course I still feel like a zombie. I have even cut out caffeine in the evenings and still I can't sleep until the wee hours of the morning. Since I have to be up by 6:00 to make sure The Kidd is getting ready for school, I am not getting a whole lot of quality sleep. I think I'm going to start running again tomorrow (I was taking a bit of a break) in the hopes that I will be so exhausted afterward that I'll be able to sleep.

But at least I am having a better day than the girl in this video. And my day is better after watching the video - I found it quite amusing. Especially since I know a few girls like this one.

Tired

Today has not been a good day. It has been one of those days where I would like to go back to bed and stay there - possibly forever. I've been really frustrated with several things and I am really irritated with a few people, and everything just feels like too much today.

In addition to all the other things that are going on, I am finally facing that fact that a few of my friends are really more like acquaintances at best these days. I know that people change and grow apart, but it still makes me a little bit sad to realize that these people with whom I share all kinds of memories aren't really a part of my life any longer and won't ever be again.

And on top of those things, I still am not sleeping much. I think I slept for 3 or 4 hours last night, but not for more than a half hour or so at a time. I am just so tired. . .and I've gotten overly emotional as a result. The other night I stayed up watching a sappy movie and crying over it. It was silly chick flick, and at one point I was totally sobbing over it. I was the only one awake and I was trying to be quiet, and I was just crying and watching this stupid movie that wasn't even that sad, but somehow it seemed like every scene was just heartbreaking. That's not like me at all, and I hate being this way.

I'm just. . . tired. And frustrated. And angry. And fed up. And I want to just scream at someone or throw things or something. And that isn't like me, either. I am hoping that once I finally start sleeping well again that my outlook will improve and I'll feel more like myself. But of course the things that are bothering me today will still be around then. Maybe by then I'll be better equipped to deal with them.

Antici. . .pation

As you may remember if you read my blog while I was over on Myspace, I was a huge fan of the Adventurers Club at Walt Disney World until it closed last September. Caradorn and I used to go there as often as we possibly could, and when the closure was announced we tried desperately to convince the idiots who decided to close it to change their minds. Sadly we were unsuccessful, though the Club still stands in Orlando and could be reopened tomorrow if the folks in charge came to their senses. Rumor has it that the building will be removed sometime in October - but I try not to think about that since it breaks my heart to know that it will be gone for good after that. They could still decide to bring it back in another location sometime in the future, though. (And hopefully not just in China, where they are supposedly going to open an Adventurers Club restaurant.) Maybe we'll be able to go Adventuring in a new Adventurers Club someday. We do have one last Adventure to look forward to in Orlando and I am really excited about it.

It's less than two months now until ConGaloosh, the Adventurers Club convention that Caradorn and I are going to. We've really missed the Club over the last ten months and are looking forward to seeing the fans and cast members again in September. And of course I am most looking forward to the evening that we will be spending in the Club itself. There will be a couple of Library shows that night, and I am really looking forward to seeing who will be playing the different characters. There are so many cast members that we would love to see again at the Club, and not enough roles for all of them, so I know we won't see everyone we would like to see.

One of my very favorite cast members is in a musical at another Orlando theater during September, which I am afraid probably means he won't be appearing during ConGaloosh. His Hathaway was always my favorite, and I loved his Fletcher Hodges and Emil Bleehall as well - I had hoped to see one of them at the Club while we were there. We do plan to go see his musical while we are in Orlando, but a visit to the Club just won't be the same without Snoopy there. We do love seeing him performing elsewhere, though, and I'm glad we'll get to see him during the ConGaloosh trip even if he isn't at the Club. He is always fun to watch in any role, and I've never seen the musical that he's going to be appearing in, so I am looking forward to seeing it. I'd rather see him at the Club and in the musical, though!

I'm fairly certain that my other favorite performer from the Club will be there that night, and I've even heard a rumor that he'll be wearing leather. I love Blondie as Hathaway, so I would be thrilled if he was playing that role during ConGaloosh. Of course I also love him as Otis, so I'd be quite happy with that as well. And he's great as Emil, and Fletcher and even Graves for that matter, so as long as he's at the Club I'll be happy no matter what role he's in.


Whoever ends up appearing at the Club, I'm sure I will be happy to see them again. For now, I am enjoying trying to guess who will be in which role. Looking forward to an evening at the Club is almost as much fun as actually being there, and I am enjoying all the anticipation leading up to ConGaloosh.

Happiness is. . .

I love "Happiness is a Warm Puppy", the Peanuts book with cute drawings about what happiness is. Most of the things in the book are very simple, things like "Happiness is walking in the grass with your bare feet." It sounds so trite, but the more I think about it the more I realize how true it is.

I haven't been particularly happy lately. I haven't felt great, and I've been stressed out by all the projects that we've been working on around here. Caradorn hasn't been home as much as I would like and The Kidd was spending a week with my parents, and I felt sort of overwhelmed by all that was going on. Things weren't progressing as fast as I would have liked and I was getting discouraged - it seemed like a constant case of "1 step forward, 2 steps back."

We made a huge amount of progress over the weekend, though, and suddenly things are looking much better. I think there might be hope that we will eventually finish all of our projects. Some root beer and some sleep last night seem to have cured my zombie problem from yesterday, and this afternoon I finally have time to sit down and relax.

I'm sitting at a bistro table next to a window with the laptop and a cup of tea, and I just realized that I am actually feeling quite happy. I have some 1940s music playing, there's a cat curled up in a sunbeam next to me and a dog sleeping by my chair. Outside it almost looks like fall and the flowers are blowing in the breeze. There's what looks like a young wren singing and splashing in the birdbath and a family of cardinals at the bird feeder, and three hummingbirds keep visiting their feeder right next to the window. The Kidd is upstairs playing one of the computer games he got for his birthday and he occasionally comes down to ask me to come see something new he has built on there. On the coffee table is a big stack of books that are waiting for me to read them, and according to Caradorn's last text he might even be home at a decent time today.

There isn't anything hugely exciting going on, but it's still almost a perfect afternoon. I'm always so busy trying to get things done or looking forward to the big things like trips or concerts or shows that I sometimes forget to stop and appreciate the simple things. I need to remember this more often. Sometimes happiness is as simple as a quiet afternoon and a cup of tea.

Smarter than the average zombie

I am so tired. I literally do not think I have ever been this tired before. Also, I don't seem to be able to think clearly any longer. I don't know if it's a result of the massive, energy-zapping home-improvement kick I was on for the last few days, or if it's because I am now the parent of a teenager and this is how that feels, but I am exhausted.

Actually, I do think I know what's going on here. I think I died. Maybe it was that huge cabinet that fell on me the other day or maybe it was just a lack of sleep that did it. Or maybe someone killed me during the brief time when I did manage to sleep last night. I guess it doesn't really matter too much what killed me since the end result is the same - I'm dead. Given the way I feel right now I'm not sure I would complain much if I was snuggled into a cozy little coffin six feet under (as long as I had blankets and a TV, and maybe snacks), but I am not. Unfortunately, someone seems to have turned me into a zombie.

No, I don't have a craving for nice fresh brains. I'm not some silly video game zombie (Or a Jonathan Coulton zombie for that matter). Nor am I a horror movie zombie, so you can just put that chainsaw away.

No, I think I am a real zombie - one of those dead people that doesn't know she's dead but instead staggers around trying to complete some task. But I have figured it out, hence the "smarter than the average zombie" part. I'm really stiff and achey - I think it's the rigor-mortis kicking in. I don't seem to be too focused on any one particular task, though, so whoever did this doesn't seem to have done a very good job.

I don't know why someone would have done this to me. It makes me sad. If there was something they wanted me to do, they should have just asked me. They didn't need to do something this drastic.

Anyway, I'm off to try to find a cure now. And maybe get dinner while I'm at it. I'm thinking burgers. Or pizza. Or maybe something I haven't tried before. I might be in the mood to be more adventurous today. I know! I've never tried sweetbreads before. . .

Since I'm feeling lazy today. . .

Yesterday I discovered a wonderful site - The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator. Since I am in fact feeling lazy today, and since I have a ton of things to do before The Kidd comes home Sunday, I decided to make use of that site for my post today.
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Holy Blog Of Doom, Batman! I just returned from my daily swim on the beautiful Fijian beach and realised I have not updated this since the 21st... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. But I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it.

I am so busy with discovering time doesn't stand still, learning to speak Japanese, and just generally being an embarrassment to my cats. My day is a nightmare I would like to wake up from, from the second I am woken by murderous Teletubbies to sun down and beyond. I am putting money aside so I can run away. Maybe tomorrow.

I solemnly swear I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. You have my word! Don't hold your breath though, you're likely to turn blue..

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Okay, well. . . I guess there really isn't anything more to say. No promises that I won't use that site again. . . I always did love Mad Libs. :) Now I need to get to work. I've frittered away all the time I was supposed to be using for big projects while The Kidd was out of town and didn't really accomplish anything. (I had fun though - I guess that's something.) I have today and tomorrow to finish my entire "To Do" list before he gets back and life returns to normal. Wish me luck!

Movies

We've been watching lots of movies this summer, in theaters and at home. I thought I'd take a few minutes today to post my thoughts on a few of them.

Wolverine - This is the first in the "X-Men:Origins" series. I had heard mixed reviews before seeing this one and wasn't sure what to expect, but I actually really enjoyed it. Lots of good actions scenes and more of a storyline than I had been led to expect. It didn't entirely work with the established story of Wolverine from other movies and the comics, but it worked well enough. I'll be buying this on Blu-ray when it comes out.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - I really loved the first Transformers and had high hopes for this one. It didn't entirely live up to those expectations. I liked it, but didn't love it as much as the first one. The action scenes were great, but the story had plot holes big enough to drive Devastator through. That isn't usually a problem for me - I have a pretty good ability to suspend disbelief - but there were several things that jumped out at me while I was watching the movie. They were enough to distract me from the movie, which almost never happens. Add to that the fact that the humor was more suited to a 13 year old boy and it adds up to something less that I had hoped for. But I did still enjoy it and I am sure we'll buy it eventually.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Loved it! We saw this at midnight the night it came out. I continue to be suprised by just how popular Harry Potter is here in Rocket City. The movie was showing on 12 of the 18 screens at our Rave Theater and the place was packed. I saw lots of people I recognized from the book releases, and many people were in costume. The movie would have had to be pretty bad for me not to like it and fortunately it was pretty good. I think it's my favorite of the series to date. I usually re-read all the books in the series before each book or movie release, but I got smart and didn't do that this time. I think I enjoyed the movie much more than I would have if the book had been fresh in my mind. While I was watching the movie I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was only afterward that I started realizing just how much had been left out. There were some fairly important parts of the book that were not included in the movie. I'm particularly unhappy about one thing that was left out and one thing that was greatly minimized. And there was one huge addition that I didn't like at all. Plus, too much screen time was given to a fairly minor plot point. Still, despite all that I did greatly enjoy the movie. I'm looking forward to seeing the last two movies - and I'm really glad that the last book is getting two movies; there's no way they could do it justice with just one film.

Wanted - We watched this one on television. We had intended to see it in theaters but saw Hellboy 2 instead, and in retrospect I'm really glad we did. I didn't love this one. Visually it was fun - the action scenes and effects were good - but there was almost no storyline. And it seemed like there was a story lurking there somewhere, but they just never really explored it. I love fluffy action movies (face it, "Doom" is not ever going to be up for any awards but I love that movie) but this one just didn't do anything for me. I don't think I'll be watching it again. I probably would have liked it more if James McAvoy had kept his real accent; at least it would have been fun to listen to then. (And as a side note - I am so looking forward to "Gnomeo and Juliet". I'm glad McAvoy is going the voice of Gnomeo, though I wish they had stuck with Ewan McGregor.)

Death Race - Loved it. I know it seems strange given the complaint about "Wanted" not having much a story, but I thought this one was great. It did have a storyline beneath all the action. It was a perfect summer action movie - lots of explosions, cool car scenes, characters that you could either love or hate, and a great accent to listen to. Some parts were pretty predictable but there were a few surprises too. I will be buying this one.

Tropic Thunder - Well, I didn't find this one offensive. After hearing so much about it when it was in theaters I thought I would be, but maybe all these years of South Park have dulled me to offensive things because "Tropic Thunder" didn't seem that bad to me. I didn't really find it funny, though. A few scenes, yes, but overall. . . meh. Not great. I really only watched it because Robert Downey Jr. was in it - I don't like Ben Stiller and really don't like Jack Black so maybe that contributed to my dislike of the film. I will definitely not be watching this one again. Just not my thing, I guess. It just kind of left me flat.

Made of Honor - Usually my movie tastes are more "guy-like", but I do like a few romantic comedies. I mainly watched this one because of Patrick Dempsey, and the fact that there were Scottish accents didn't hurt. I really liked it! It was totally predictable, but it was cute. One of those happy, fluffy movies like "You've Got Mail" or "Simply Irresistable" that I enjoy. It's still a chick flick, but one I think boyfriends or husbands could tolerate.

It's a Conspiracy

Darth finally seems to have gotten used to having me home again. He's still sleeping on the bed, which is unusual for him, but he's not trying to keep me awake. Which is great - now I can finally sleep, right?! Wrong. Apparently I am really not supposed to be sleeping.

For whatever reason I wasn't tired enough to sleep at a reasonable time last night, so I was wide awake till around 12:00. I finally started to feel like I could fall asleep, but just as I started to feel drowsy the thunderstorm started. Apparently God, or Mother Nature, or Zeus (is he the one that throws the thunderbolts?) or whoever else is in charge of the weather decided I should stay up a little longer. Kelly (the sheltie) is afraid of storms. Horribly afraid of them. She whines and whimpers and pants and cries and tries to climb up onto the bed. But if I put her on the bed she paces and tries to jump back down to the floor.

By 12:15 the power went out. Apparently Rocket City Utilities also thinks I shouldn't be sleeping. The only way that Kelly will calm down during a storm is if she is in a room with a person and the television is on. By this point I was in the guest room with Kelly because Cardorn has to go to work ridiculously early right now and he really needed to sleep. Kelly was not happy when the power went out. After a couple of hours the storm died down, but the power didn't come back on. She is also afraid of the dark. Usually there is enough light in our house for her to be okay, but with the power out it was pitch black and that apparently made her nervous. I didn't want her to wake Caradorn up, and I also didn't want to lock her somewhere by herself because I knew she'd be terrified. And so I spent the rest of the night in the guest room with a flashlight on, listening to the radio. A few times I thought that Kelly was calm enough for me to try to sleep, but as soon as I turned one or the other off she started freaking out again. If I started to doze off with the flashlight and radio on, the radio station would suddenly play a REALLY LOUD song. I don't know what station it was - it's an old radio and I couldn't tell what I had it tuned to - but apparently whatever local station plays weird elevator music/jazz also doesn't want me sleeping.

The power did finally come back on at a little after 8:00 this morning, almost 8 hours after it went off. Sadly, The Kidd had just gotten up and the cats had decided it was time for me to get up as well. Kelly was fine by this point but it was too late for me to get any sleep. I am seriously considering trying to nap later, although maybe if I don't then I will actually be able to fall asleep early tonight.

Or at least I can try to fall asleep early. But if this really is some huge conspiracy. . .

{ which of course it must be! ;) }

. . .then I won't be able to. In that case, I am anxious to see what will happen tonight to keep me from sleeping! I'm sure it will be interesting.

It's nice to be missed. . .

. . .but sometimes I wish the animals weren't quite so happy to have me home. Usually for the first couple of days after we come home from a trip the animals are very clingy. This time has been worse than usual, for some reason. Kelly (the Sheltie), Stitch (the Aussie) and Oliver (the orange cat) have been following me around every day looking pitiful if I don't pay attention to them. They are also trying to kill me. Or at least they are going to accidentally kill me, if they aren't trying to do it intentionally. I can't walk down the stairs without at least one of them running under my feet.

On the other hand, Darth (the black cat) has been virtually ignoring me during the day. I would think that he hadn't missed me while I was gone, but he's more than making up for that lack of attention as soon as I try to go to sleep. Each night, as soon as I get into bed, Darth starts wanting attention. I have to keep my hands hidden under the pillow or the covers or he will nibble on my fingers or keep bumping my hands with his head, trying to get me to pet him. He isn't quite as bad if he thinks I am asleep, but if he realizes that I am awake he starts meowing at me until I acknowledge him. If I somehow manage to fall asleep, I wake up later to find him perched on my shoulder, "vulturing" over me like Snoopy. I am glad that he seems to have missed me, but I really need to get some sleep at some point. And even when I do fall asleep, it isn't exactly restful having little feet walking all over me all night. He does eventually get tired and he curls up right next to my face or right between my shoulder blades to sleep. But if I wake up and he realizes it then he's right back to demanding attention.

Oddly, he doesn't bother Caradorn at all. Well, I say "oddly", but I think the fact that Caradorn has thrown him off the bed every time Darth has bothered him when he's trying to sleep might have something to do with it. Darth seems to have given up on getting any attention from Caradorn at night. And The Kidd sleeps far too deeply. Trying to get him to pay attention to you at night is a lost cause. Which leaves me. Add to that the fact that I typically stay awake much later than everyone else and that makes me the logical target, I guess.

I know what you are thinking - you're probably wondering why on earth I don't just shut the door to the bedroom in order to keep him out. And I have tried doing that, but when I do then he and Oliver both sit outside the room, scratching on the door and crying. Plus, each night I figure he must be getting tired of all this by now. Surely he's used to having me home and he will finally go back to "normal" again soon. Of course, by the time he finally gets tired of me it will probably be time for us to travel somewhere else, and then I will get to go through all this again when I come back home.

Half Full? Half Empty? It's complicated.

I was watching the news yesterday when they started to talk about a new report concerning statin drugs. Those are the drugs such as Crestor and Lipitor which are commonly used to lower cholesterol. During the report, they mentioned that it has been discovered that those drugs can cause muscle damage and other complications in some people. This did not come as a surprise to me. It's a fact that I became well aware of a couple of years ago. It's also a fact that caused me untold hours of stress and really highlighted one of the major differences between Caradorn and me.

During the summer of 2007 Caradorn started taking one of the Statin drugs. By that fall, when he had a follow up appointment to see if it was working, the doctor discovered that some of Caradorn's blood work was not quite right. He told Caradorn to stop taking the drug and to come back for more testing in a month. Neither of us was too concerned at that point. But by Thanksgiving his blood work looked even worse. It appeared that Caradorn was suffering from quite a bit of muscle damage, and it was getting worse instead of better. It was at this point that the difference between us really started to become apparent.

Caradorn is a "Glass half full" kind of person. Actually, he's really a "Look, it's more than half full. I think it's filling up even more. It's practically overflowing! Everything is wonderful!" kind of person. He wasn't worried at all. He knew that his test results were just a side effect of the medicine and they would clear up soon.

I am also a "Glass half full" kind of person. Caradorn would disagree - he thinks I'm more of a "Glass half empty" type. He's wrong, though. I really do see the glass as half full. It's just that I am also a "Wait - why isn't it completely full? Why just half full? Is it leaking? I think it's leaking! What if it gets worse?! What if it ends up empty? What do we do?! Quick, everyone panic!" kind of person. In other words, I worry.

I made the mistake of using Google to try to find other possible causes of test results like his. This was a very bad idea, because every single result was something horrible. The possible outlooks for the conditions ranged from "With treatment you can lead a somewhat normal life for a few years" to "If you start writing your will right now you'll still be too late because you'll be dead before you finish." Caradorn didn't care - he still believed it was just lingering effects from the medication. I did care, and I started watching him like a hawk for any symptoms of all the various illnesses I thought it might be. Unfortunately, the symptoms were all fairly normal things that happen all the time, so I was convinced that he was going to drop dead any minute.

It was a very stressful few months. I couldn't seem to concentrate at all. If I tried to read I just read the same few words over and over, and didn't understand any of them. If I watched television I couldn't follow the story lines at all. All I could do was dwell on all the horrible possibilities. Only a very few things were able to distract me from the worry and stress. Rationally, I knew it was more likely that he was still experiencing some side effects from the medications. That didn't matter, though. I couldn't stop all the "What ifs" from circling my brain constantly.

All that really came to a head in the spring of 2008 when Caradorn had to have a muscle biopsy. By this time I was nearly frantic with worry all the time. Caradorn doesn't like it when I worry so much, and so I did all I could to act cheerful. But once he left for work each day I fell apart. I cried almost constantly and felt like I couldn't breathe most of the time. When he went to Birmingham for his biopsy I went with him, and as I sat in the waiting room I was almost hyperventilating. I couldn't focus on anything and just stared off into space wondering how I could live without him.

The next week while we waited for his results was horrible. By then even he was worried, which made me even more frantic. Finally the doctor called, and the results were good. Caradorn had been right all along - he was suffering some of the side effects from the medication, but he was expected to be fine. He has a lovely scar as a reminder of that time, but other than that he's finally back to normal.

You might think that the fact that Caradorn was right would have taught me a lesson about worrying. I wasted so much time panicking over all the things that could happen, and I didn't spend enough time appreciating everything that wasn't wrong. And I might have gotten a little bit better after all that, but I do still worry far too much. At least I am aware of it, though. And I have gotten a bit better about focusing on the good things and not letting the worry take over my life. But still, if you were to ask me if I am an optimist or a pessimist I'd have a hard time answering. I believe I'm an optimist. I like to think I see the best in any situation. But I also see all those other possibilities - all the ways that something might go wrong. I'm not a "Glass half empty" type, but I'm not totally a "Glass half full" type either. I guess you could sum up my outlook as "Glass half full. . .for now."

I'm Back

If you've kept up at all with this blog lately, you will have noticed that I haven't kept up with it. I've been posting most of the time over at Myspace. I've decided that it's time to move back over here, and so I will slowly be porting my older posts onto this blog. All of my new entries will appear here first, though some of them might make their way over there eventually.

Where do you draw the line?

I'm not a huge fan of professional football, but living where I do it's not surprising that I am a Tennessee Titans Fan. Even though Steve McNair wasn't a Titan any more I still was horribly sorry to hear of his death the other day. I remembered him as an all around nice guy and good person, as well as a talented athlete. And then the details started to come out. He had been having an affair with a 20 year old. I feel horrible for his poor wife, and I have to admit that it has changed the way I feel about McNair. It's hard to think of him as a good person when I know he was having an affair with some other girl while he was married, and even though all his other good qualities haven't changed I still think less of him now. I got to wondering about the whole thing, though, and I just don't see how his wife didn't know about the affair. Maybe I shouldn't feel so sorry for her. Maybe she knew and was okay with his relationship - obviously I'm not privy to the details of his marriage, so they could have had an open relationship. Or maybe not. His fans probably won't ever know, and it's really not our business anyway. But it's still hard not to wonder about it. He was vacationing with the girl - surely his wife knew where he was. And if she didn't - why didn't she? It's a fine line, I guess. You don't want to be the kind of person who monitors your spouse's every move, but shouldn't you at least know what city they are in most of the time? His wife shouldn't have had to follow him around in order to keep him from having an affair, but should she have been more proactive about protecting their relationship?

I admit that I can be a jealous person, and I try hard to keep that under control. Caradorn isn't jealous, but I try to avoid doing anything that I wouldn't want him doing. We both have friends of the opposite sex, and with that comes the potential for lots of jealousy - especially on my end. These days, sites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter add a whole new complication to relationships. Caradorn was fine with me signing up for those sites, even though it meant that I reconnected with some of my close guy friends. And of course I've gotten the occasional odd request from random guys who are obviously looking for more than friends, but we laugh at those together before I delete them. I made Caradorn sign up for each of those sites when I did - I thought it would be better if we were both on there. He doesn't use Myspace much, and never uses Twitter but he's really gotten into Facebook. And of course as part of that he's been reconnecting with girls from High School and college. We have each other's passwords, and with my jealousy issues it's sometimes difficult for me to not sign in to see his interactions with the other girls. But I don't, because I do trust him.

Where do you draw the line, though? At what point does jealousy become warranted? What is the line between being too controlling and being foolish and naive? I know that if I were to forbid Cardorn from talking to his female friends that would be too controlling (and I wouldn't want to do that, anyway). I know that allowing him to vacation alone with a female friend would be foolish (and he wouldn't want to do that, thankfully). I think it's foolish not to point out when I think a girl has a crush on him, even though I know he doesn't reciprocate. I think it's overly controlling to expect him to cut off contact with her completely, though - unless we know for sure she has a romantic interest in him, in which case I think it would be foolish not to cut her off. Some things are clearly too controlling, but some are just smart if you're trying to protect your relationship from outside temptations or complications.

I couldn't be happy with someone who didn't understand my friendships with other guys, and I know it would bother Caradorn if I asked him not to have female friends any longer. And I know that neither of us has to worry about the other falling for someone else. Plus, this is a relationship, not a prison. Neither one of us would be happy if we were constantly policing the other's actions. I try to make sure that Caradorn knows who my guy friends are and I include him (or offer to, at least) when I see them. I expect him to do the same. I think if either of us had a relationship with someone that we wanted to keep secret from the other then that would be a problem.

I think if you are the kind of person who would cheat then you will find a way to cheat. Maybe you will hook up with some girl from Myspace like the Barenaked Ladies guy did. Maybe you'll fall for a waitress at Dave and Busters like McNair apparently did. Or maybe you'll fall for a coworker or family friend, or any one of the other people you come into contact with every day. But I also think that people can be stupid sometimes, and in a moment of weakness maybe you will act on temptation and regret it later. I suppose the best thing for a relationship is just to avoid temptation, or to minimize the situations where it might occur. But of course we never know where that might happen - I could tell Caradorn I don't want him hanging out with his female friends without me, but I can't forbid him from going to work without me. Obviously there comes a point where we just have to trust each other. I just wish it was easier to see where that line between being jealous and being smart really is.

Finally!

Caradorn, The Kidd and I decided at the last minute that we really wanted to spend the Fourth of July in Orlando. We called just to see if there were rooms left, fully expecting that they would be fully booked. Shockingly, they weren't. Even more surprising, to me at least, was the fact that the rates were quite reasonable. And so here we are!

This morning we went to Seaworld and rode the Manta. I love roller coasters but I do tend to get nervous before my first ride on a new coaster and by the time we were about to board I was practically hyperventilating. But then someone from the single rider line joined our row, and he was Irish. There was some sort of delay and it seemed like we stood there forever waiting to board but I didn't mind since I was busy trying to keep Irish Guy talking. He was so fun to listen to that I stayed distracted until we finally boarded and took off. During the ride he kept yelling "Fabulous!" which struck me as really funny for some reason. The ride was great - we all loved it, even Irish Guy.

After Seaworld we headed over to Epcot. We grabbed lunch and did some shopping (yay, Vinylmations and Japanese candy!) And of course we went to see "What's Your Problem?" again since we saw Snoopy in there. It's funny - I had a hard time making myself speak to my favorite Adventurers while they were at the Club. I liked them, but they made me horribly nervous. I've spoken to them all far more in our trips since the Club closed than I ever did while it was open. I still wish we could be at the Club tonight, but I do enjoy seeing the former cast around the World (and Orlando) while we are here.

Tomorrow is the Fourth, and we will spend the morning back in Epcot trying to ride Test Track and Soarin, and seeing if there are any familiar faces in the United Kingdom. And then tomorrow evening is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to - Black Ship Sky will be playing at a Fourth of July benefit. We haven't seen them live before and I am very excited about finally seeing them play. I am hoping that Lancelot will be there, since we somehow haven't seen him at all since the Club closed. The last concert we almost went to he didn't perform at, but hopefully he will be there tomorrow. Either way, it will be great to see the band. Finally!

And of course the whole time we are here I will be pointing out all the reasons we should move here, and Caradorn will be pointing out all the reasons it's good we don't live here. But that's one argument I am confident I will win - though it might take a few years. :) After all, I have the lure of the Space Coast on my side and what Rocket Scientist can resist the call of the Space Coast?!

For now, though, I'll just enjoy vacationing here as often as possible. . . and finally seeing Black Ship Sky performing. I think this is going to be a very good Fourth of July. And I hope it's a good one for you, as well. Happy Independence Day!

Gaelic Storm, Licorice Jelly Bellys . . . basically the same thing.

The last few weeks have been fairly busy around the Piratz household, and part of that is because we've been going back and forth to concerts more often than usual. We had planned to be in Orlando today, for a Black Ship Sky show tomorrow, but sadly real life interfered. Hopefully we'll be able to catch one of their shows before the summer is over.

The last weekend of May Caradorn and I went to Atlanta to see Jonathan Coulton in concert for the first time. We haven't been fans for all that long - we first discovered him last year because Snoopy was performing "The Future Soon" at the Adventurers Club. We have become huge Coulton fans since then, though, and I was really looking forward to finally seeing him in person. The concert was great! Paul and Storm opened for him, and though I had never listened to them before I really enjoyed hearing them. I would absolutely go see them again if I got the chance. Jonathan himself was wonderful - and was nice enough not to run over me before the show - and I am very anxious to see him perform again as well.


Then last Friday Cardorn, The Kidd and I went to see Gaelic Storm in Atlanta. They were amazing, as always. We got there early enough to snag spots right by the stage, in front of Pete, which is my favorite spot during their concerts. (Which, upon re-reading this, sounds a bit stalkerish. But I am fascinated by the bagpipes and love to watch Pete play them. I desperately want to learn to play them myself, but the closest instructor is 2 hours away so that isn't an option right now.) After the show was over, I started thinking about when we could possibly see them again. Their shows are my favorite of any concerts I've ever been to. They are so much fun to watch! The more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to go to another show as soon as possible. And conveniently enough, they were scheduled to be in Birmingham the following Tuesday. We managed to get it all worked out, and so on Tuesday Caradorn and I headed down to Birmingham to see them again. This show was even better, and they played many of our favorite songs. We stayed to talk to them a bit after the show, and tried to convince them to schedule a show in Orlando next year since we know they have some fans down there. And of course we took a few pictures, and I finally got a picture with Pete - I've always decided not to ask before this, but since he is my favorite Canadian I decided I would go on and ask. He was very nice. :) As were the other band members. They are a great group of people.

Of course once we got home I started wondering when we could see them yet again, and now we are planning to head to North Carolina to see them in October.

Gaelic Storm has an odd effect on me. They inspire this weird lack of self control and temporary obsession that clouds my judgement. I love them, but the longer I go without seeing them the less I think about seeing them. But once I see them again, I can't stop thinking about them - I desperately want to see them again as soon as I can.

(Something else that makes me feel that way is licorice Jelly Bellys. That's one reason I only buy licorice Jelly Bellys very rarely - once I buy them I can't stop eating them until they are gone. I just can not control myself at all if they are available!)

A few weeks ago, the idea of following Gaelic Storm to Ohio or Minnesota would have seemed ridiculous. A few weeks from now it will start to seem ridiculous again. But right this minute, if I could convince Caradorn to go along with it I would follow them anywhere at all. I have no self control about them! I'd like to be like Paul and Storm and sell all our Star Wars figures to buy a van, and then become full time Storm Chasers. (Gaeliic Storm, not Storm of Paul and Storm, though I'm sure he is very nice.) Sadly, Caradorn has informed me that since most of our figures are not "mint in box" they will not bring in enough money to allow us to do such a thing. Which is a shame, but really - how could they possibly be MIB?! I had to take them out of the boxes to play with them!

There are several other things that have this feeling about, but fortunately I can usually count on Caradorn's better judgement to help keep me under control until the temporary obsession passes again. Which is good, I guess. In the long run, I know it's better to have self control. To be a responsible, reasonable adult.

But right this minute, I'd rather be in a van driving toward Texas and the next Gaelic Storm show.

Or heading toward Orlando for Black Ship Sky and a day at Epcot watching some of the excellent performers there.

But for now I will try to be a responsible and rational person and pretend to have some self control until the craziness passes again. Tonight maybe I will settle in for an evening with Caradorn, Licorice Jelly Bellys, and 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live - my newest obsession.



(And then maybe I will grab a Stella and pop in my Gaelic Storm DVD again, and imagine that I am at their show. )