Month: September 2005

Tomorrow’s gonna be COOL!

It’s warm in the house right now cuz I refuse to shut my Open Windows and turn on the central air. I love Open Windows! So does Leo – he sometimes lays in his hammock, other times he just lays in front of the kitchen screen door. But tomorrow, it’s supposed to be chilly – yay! I might even get to wear a sweat shirt at the Light the Night walk!

Speaking of the Light the Night Walk (for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society), after my whinging last night, several people contributed to send me over my goal – woohoo! (Hmmm, maybe I should have had a higher goal. 馃槈 Thankie, thankie to elsaf, gregmce, felicityk, hergrace, and drox! I really appreciate your contributions – especially at a time when we’re all being spread thin between so many worthy causes.

I know that I like to do what I can for the many worthy causes that we see every day in our lives. But you really do have to make a choice. I decided about a year ago that I would focus my contributions on two major causes: Gay Rights and the Woman’s Right to Choose. I even contribute to a couple of political arms (non-tax deductible) with respect to those causes. Sure, I’ll donate to other causes when I can. I’ve given to Red Cross to help with Katrina, and I intend to do so again once some time has passed (because they’ll still be needing, but probably not receiving as much). I’m not as regular in blood donation as I probably should be (and being O positive, I’m rather popular, blood-wise), but I have done it and encourage others (who can) to do it. But eventually, you have to realize that you can’t save everyone and you can’t help every cause.

I’m going to do the Light the Night Walk tomorrow night and will probably have a good time doing it. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll think often of Jenny (the friend who died from leukemia my junior year of high school), and her sister, Tracy, who was an inspiration in love and hope after Jenny passed away. And I’ll carry my glow-in-the-dark balloon and maybe a few other people will notice us and think about contributing to their favorite cause.

Typing some stuff in…

Well, so far, no contributions to Light the Night – the walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma that I’ll be doing on Thursday. Alas! You folks really are all donated out, aren’t you? 馃檪

So anyhoo, my poor addiction is sucking at my very marrow, but I don’t care. Gonna play more City of Heroes after I finish this post (and catch up on my FList). Yesterday, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. Today, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. Tomorrow, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. It’s coming to be my schedule. Thank goodness I’ve scheduled myself to walk on Thursday. Might go back into safety mode after that, however. (It’s weird how I get into an antisocial funk for awhile. Not disagreeable to be around or anything. Just prefer to return home to my kitty and bury myself in my computer. Then I’ll get into the “must go OUT AND DO STUFF” mode for awhile.)

The other night, I had another celebrity filled dream. This one starred Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy. Davison was playing the part of a businessman on a space station who’s killed his wife and trying to get away with it. Sylv is playing the guy who runs the space station & is trying to discover who dun it. A key clue is the reflection off of Davison’s bald patch… (Yeah, didn’t make any sense to me either.) Some of the time in the dream, I’m watching the movie, in other parts, I’m watching the making of. And then there was a scene with a guy who looked like a VERY old Davison and I’m telling dad how amazed at how badly he’s aged.

My brain – see, it’s warped! Must go have a replacement. Maybe one that doesn’t get addicted to City of Heroin. 馃檪

Yup, it’s Autumn! And Trina’s trying to become more social…

Since the first day of Fall, I’ve been wondering if maybe Summer had decided to stay & give Autumn a miss. But as of yesterday, it’s actually seemed like Autumn – yay! Walking home from school yesterday, I saw steel gray skies, some trees (the maples, of course) starting to turn, and encountered a lovely cool breeze that never let up. There’s my favorite season! Back again!

I notice that it’s been over a week since I last wrote in my journal. Wow – now this was what I figured would happen after the first couple of weeks of having my LJ. But it has taken almost two years to get to this point. I blame my lack of posting to my City of Heroes addiction. Since getting my level 50 hero, I’ve been creating and playing lots of other heroes and so my drive to play has increased. If it wasn’t so much fun, I’d be worried. 馃槈

Anyhoo, I’m doing what I can to get back into my rather limited social life. Last night, I went off to the Fisher’s for homemade pizza & folks to chat with. Today it’s off to see My Fair Lady at the Schuster Center in Dayton. My aunt, cousin, mom & I are going to see it. Then going out for dinner afterward. Apparently this show is getting good reviews. A show not to be missed. Nice!

And to further my socializing, on Thursday I’ll be going on a Light the Night walk with a coworker and lots of strangers. It sounded fun, I’ll get to meet his fiancee, and it’s at the Fraze Pavilion, one of the nice venues in the Dayton area. Now I know lots of you are probably donated out with the Katrina relief funds and whatnot, but if you’d like to contribute a little ($5? $10?) to the Light the Night walk, you can do so at this website. It’s in aid of Lymphoma & Leukemia research. (My co-worker’s mother has lymphoma. A friend of mine in high school died our junior year because of leukemia. These diseases touch a lot of us and our loved ones. Please give something if you can. If you can’t, that’s OK too!)

So, perhaps with these small steps at socializing, I might get out of my antisocial funk I’ve been in for the past couple of weeks. And maybe even post a bit more to LJ!

My Strange Catholic Church/Tomorrow People Dream

To preface this, I’ll state that I have never been to a Catholic Mass, full, half, or otherwise. (So who knows WHERE this came from in my dream.)

Anyhoo, in this dream, I was going to a convention that had four of the stars from The Tomorrow People in attendance. Nicholas Young (John), Mike Holloway (Mike), Misako Koba (Tsui Tai), and Elizabeth Adare (Elizabeth). Of course, I was going to see Elizabeth (as seen in my icon). My good & dear friends elsaf & judiang were there as well, because we support each others fan obsessions, whether we understand them or not. 馃檪

So, where is this convention being held? In a Catholic Church after a half-Mass service. (OK, so what was I smoking before bed?) We arrived before the service and you were supposed to sit in the pews in front of the guest star you most wanted to see. Unsurprisingly, the pews in front of Nick & Elizabeth were fuller than those in front of the other two. The church itself was freakin’ HUGE. It looked a little like the UCC in Dayton which used to host PFLAG meetings – huge choir stall behind the big altar. But this church was even bigger. And rather dwarfed the number of attendees.

The first thing that happened was some grand music played, and various people from the audience got up and posed at the front of the church in some sort of Nativity scene. The girls and I were rather perplexed by this – how did people know where to stand? But we figured it was probably something done every Sunday and folks knew where to go. After this invocation, it was time for the talent show.

There were a couple of biddies near me gossiping about the first person to show off his talents. They didn’t approve of him because his mother had come out as lesbian and they just didn’t approve. I tapped the lady who was bitching and said “Oi!” but she gave me a stern look and went back to gossiping.

So they bring out the church’s horse (which anyone can use during the talent show, of course) and this young man proceeds to do some jumping up onto and off of the horse tricks. They’re really pathetic, but the girls and I clap loudly to spite the two biddies.

The next couple of talent show spots don’t go as planned and there’s a huge lull in the service. And eventually people start gathering and talking and the celebs go out to the audience (which now looks more like a bunch of beds rather than pews). But they get sent downstairs to the meeting rooms before I get up the gumption to go talk to Elizabeth.

We girls head down after realizing nothing else is going to happen in the service and are sitting around waiting. (The meeting hall, BTW, resembles the typical university lounge area with little stations of comfy chairs & sofas.) Eventually the convention organizers decide to let the stars meet with the people and I wake up. So, as often happens in my rare “meet the celebs” dreams, I never did get to meet Elizabeth. Heh.

Family Reunion

My Gramma’s family has a reunion every year, the Sunday after Labor Day weekend. This, then, was the day for it. The reunion was a bit smaller than usual, but that meant I could learn a few more names. (And we managed to have a name tag for everyone, for once.) I think I finally have the family tree up to date, which isn’t easy. (My Gramma had 8 siblings, and the second oldest had several kids who had several kids.)

I have fun at family reunions, even when I don’t know a whole lot of folks. But if people show up every year, you do get to know ’em, and that makes it even more fun. And I like databases, so I keep the family address book up to date (as best as I can). We might have, for once, gotten invites out to everyone. Well, we sent them at any rate. Some didn’t arrive, it appears! One family member received hers yesterday! Whoops! (So Amy, did you & Rachel get your invite?)

Out of Granny’s siblings, there’s only two left. We’d had a rather bad trend in that we had one fewer sister each reunion since we started it a few years ago. But both Granny & Maxine were able to attend this year, just as they had last year. Phew!

One of the interesting things we do at this reunion is a White Elephant sale. You bring in some old crap from home, wrapped in a paper bag, then it gets auctioned off, sight unseen. I bid on two items (totaling $7.50) and got some actual nice crap. Candles, DVDs (not ones I would have bought), and some shower gels. Mom, meanwhile, paid $6 for two cans of diet Coke. Heh. But she also got an ice shaver for less than the two Cokes – should be fun to play with! (I’m sure you hate having ice that has a beard, too.)

Lots of birthdays on my FList today & tomorrow. So Happy Birthday tptigger, blinovitch, and tomorrow, versaphile!

(Bleh! I’m tired! I didn’t think reunions wore one out, but perhaps they do! Well, they, a really good sinus headache, and too much time spent playing City of Heroes probably add up to wearing one out.)

Quick Survey

After a discussion with elsaf and judiang, I decided to find out what others thought. And the thing we’re curious to know is, do you make your bed in the morning or not? Judi seems to think lots of people do this. I think it’s rarer than she thinks. So now you can help figure out who’s right!

Vote early (and often)!

Idiosyncratic Treen

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1. A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.
2. A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.
3. An unusual individual reaction to food or a drug.

List five of your own idiosyncrasies and then tag five friends to do the same.

Well, I was tagged by felicityk, so I decided, since I’ve not posted lately, to give it a go.

  1. I’m anal retentive to a fault, but as messy as all get out. I still haven’t figured that out.

  2. Going along with the anal retentive bit, I can’t stand to see light switches all messed up. Up is On, Down is Off. When you’ve got a room that has 2 sets of switches, it annoys me if they don’t go right. (The Media Center at school is a major offender of this problem.)

  3. I talk to myself. When I’m at home or in my car, who cares? But I also talk to myself when I’m out shopping. Usually trying to talk myself out of buying something. Or to repeat something so that I remember to get it.

  4. I sing to my cat. Often. And he’s never just called Leo. No, the poor thing has a million different nicknames.

  5. Cilantro tastes like soap to me. Actually, I don’t think that’s idiosyncratic, I think people who don’t think it tastes like soap are the ones with the idiosyncrasy.

OK, judiang, elsaf, prairiepete, hadleylovesroma, and btrproducer, you’re it!

Feeling Teethy

Listening to music & reading my flist at the mo’. Just being lazy, for the most part. But I thought I should write a little since I’ve not in a few days. (Yes, I’ve still got Friday from my trip to write about. The exciting story of Trina getting a sunburn while she swims at the villa!)

I had a great time with elsaf and judiang this weekend! The Henry Ford was lots of fun (and I can’t believe I forgot about the Model T ride & the Dymaxion house when I wrote about the day). Judi and I succeeded at preparing a meal worthy of Elsa. We had a wonderful barbecue with Elsa’s family on Monday. And the drive back was safe! (Although I took my time coming home, with many stops cuz of the stupid sun making me sleepy! Actually, one of the stops was to visit the Media Play in Toledo and I bought Eric Idle’s Greedy Bastard Tour book. It was a whim. Should be a fun read. I love travelogues by funny people (Bill Bryson, please stand up).)

On Tuesday morning, the NPR DJ mentioned it was September 6th and I thought “Oh yeah! It’s Tuesday! I have a dental appointment today!” Well, my usual dentist, Dr. Bentley, referred me to Dr. Kim, a tooth surgeon, to get my wisdom teeth out. They’re starting to get cavities and he’s afraid they’ll ruin my other (perfect, I might add – well, nearly) teeth. So Tuesday was my consultation.

Things were, as usual, harried in the tech department at the end of school, so I was two minutes late getting to the office. They took the overly expensive 360掳 x-ray of my mouth. Then I had to wait over an hour (typical! hurry up & wait!) to see Dr. Kim. He informed me that, as lovely as my teeth are (he did complement me on my teeth), he’s going to have to cut the bottom two. Their roots curl a little and might be wrapped around the nerve! Eep! He asked if I wanted a local or general anesthetic. I asked his advice and he suggested, with getting 4 out at once (top two and easy pull), I should go with unconscious. Never been under before, so this will be interesting…

He asked about family history and I do have family that get ill with anesthetics. So they’re giving me the anti-sick pill before they put me under. Dad’s gonna drive me back and I’ve got a 3 day weekend to recover. I plan on have a VERY easy schedule for the following Monday – which I can do if I’m able, or which a sub can do if I’m not.

So, when does Trina go under the knife? October 14, 2005. This date serves two purposes. First, it’s on WOEA Day – we have that day off. Second, it’s in October, when our medical reimbursement account refreshes for the new work year. And with the bill coming to $841(!!!) when surgery is done, I’ll need that $500 reimbursement! (I still have $240 left in this year’s – getting glasses next week, I think. Plus there was the $35 consultation fee that I paid for that appointment.)

I must admit, ever since Dr. Bentley referred me, I’ve been licking my wisdom teeth a whole lot more. It’s gonna feel VERY strange to not have them in my mouth! And gee, I hope I don’t lose any wisdom when I lose the teeth – I haven’t much to spare!

Shangri-La

“All day long the sky is blue
and everyone says ‘how do you do’
in Shangri-La
Every day’s a perfect day
and you can go your own sweet way
in Shangri-La”

Yesterday, it was a Chumbawamba song stuck in my head. Today, the Rutles. (Hey, at least I get music that I like stuck in my head…)

We got up this morning and FINALLY gave elsaf her birthday presents. judiang put me in charge of getting the gifts, so it didn’t go as swimmingly as I’d hoped, but we got her some nice things nonetheless. A KMart gift card for her Martha Stewart tendencies. A garden hopper (being shipped from Amazon.com) for her green thumb. And an indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer, also yet to come from Amazon. (Therein likes the not-swimmingly bit – postpone and things don’t arrive in time.)

Then the three of us headed off to Shangri-La. Betcha didn’t know it was in a suburb of Detroit, didja? Heh. It’s a great place that serves a Dim Sum brunch on Sundays. We met Elsa’s family there and her parents bought us all lunch. Wonderful! And best of all, the Dim Sum was wonderful! Some of the best BBQ pork pastries I’ve ever had. And wonderful tarts. And just all wonderful tidbits.

We waddled back to the car and then looked for firewood. I still chuckle at city folks having to go to the grocery or whatnot to BUY their firewood. We rural folks just pick up the branches that fall & burn them. Home Depot was a strikeout, but Judi got yet another bit of birthday gift for Elsa while we were there. Lowes had some, but we had to ask the right questions to discover its location. Quick stop at Circuit City for a cable splitter for Judi, and then back to veg at Elsa’s.

We pondered going to a movie, but none of us wanted to go unless we all went. So we stayed and we’re all glad we did. We had a relaxing afternoon, followed by Italian dinner making by me & Judi. We tried to recreate the things we did in our cooking class. Elsa, it turns out, is a natural at rolling pici!

The dinner was a success – check out Elsa’s glowing review! Heh. It was nice to do that for Elsa, because she’s always coming up with wonderful meals to cook us.

Now we’re outside & writing in our LJs or (if you’re Judi) downloading pictures from our camera (from the July Italy Trip!!!!) It was a pleasant day – quite the Shangri-La, if you ask me!

The Wizard of Menlo Park

“Old Thomas Edison mixing up the medicine
Messing up time from Accrington to Amazon”

OK, this Chumbawamba song followed me all around Greenfield Village today. elsaf and I picked up judiang from the airport this morning and we drove straight to The Henry Ford Experience. We spent the first part of the day at Greenfield Village and the Menlo Park recreation. I saw this when I was a kid, and Edison’s labs still amazed me today. I understood the science a lot better, too. 馃檪 (And yes, Judi, I will explain the difference between AC and DC to you whenever you’re ready.)

After a display of the first phonograph (tin foil recording!) we then moved on to the Henry Ford Museum. Lots of neat stuff there, too. And I bought far too much stuff in the gift store. Including a great book of science poetry.

We stopped at Elsa’s brother’s place afterwards to pick up the doggies and see the new place. Neat house! And Ardath’s bedroom is painted phenomenally. 馃檪

When we got back, it was a little late, but Elsa got in the kitchen and slaved away to make us a wonderful supper of Thai duck soup (with actual duck!) and grilled chicken salad with mango and other yummy things. I got the fire started in Elsa’s chiminea and so we had a lovely glow & warmth while we ate outside.

Now we’re inside reading LJ and getting angry about the state of things in NOLA and surround areas. Those poor people. Such incompetence in government. And now we find that Renquist is dead. Bleh. Sad times ahead for our country.

But for now, I’m with my two bestest friends in the whole wide world and having a great time. When shitty things happen, you just appreciate your friends and the good things that go on in your life.