And I managed to read all the fiction in my LJ writer's group.

Did I accomplish much else? House a little cleaner, laundry done, chose several cookbooks to clear out the shelves a little (ones I have literally NEVER used). Did some grocery shopping, helped my mom-in-law, seriously discussed how much money it will cost to get to California to get married and have a little honeymoon...

Not too bad a weekend.

How does one do indented paragraphs in LJ? (I tried the Rich Text editor, but since then you can't use an LJ cut, it won't work.)

Cuervo seems sick, poor kitty. We're keeping an eye on him; he's been lethargic all day and threw up several times, as well as unauthorized peeing. His appetite seems okay, though, and he responds to petting and loves. If he's still dragging around tomorrow, though, he's off to the vet.

Still no writing done. Also did not pick up sketchbook, as I planned. Why are weekends so short?

Sleepy now.

Vegas week, again.

My mother is a deeply exhausting person to be around. But we had a good time. She won almost $5,000 - just some awesome winning (Treasure Island, for those who like to know the good-paying casinos). We spent a few days hanging out at the pool, did some walking, some shopping, all the usual jazz. Never really logged in, just 'cause the hotels charge for wireless use PER LAPTOP, and since Barb was with me, we didn't want to pay that much. It was only five days, after all. Does mean I'm a bit behind on friends, but I'll see if I can catch up with folks.

I came home to find it's "Blog Like It's The End Of The World" day, so I figured I'd best post something, even useless gobblygook; I haven't anything really exciting to talk about - I know everyone's heard me ramble on about Las Vegas (I don't think Barb really enjoyed herself, but it was nice to have her along!). I figured out I do a LOT better if I drink more water and remember to stretch - after Vegas Fatigue set in, the second day (!), I realized that every time I go, I walk everywhere, miles & miles, and I drink a LOT of alcohol. Duh. So I did some stretching routines daily and drank water, and viola! I feel pretty good. And we have the weekend to relax, hooray.

Is it just me, or it is suspicious that just when the TSA determines we can't carry liquid through security many airlines decide to stop serving complimentary beverages? Fortunately our flight was short AND it was Southwest, who will still give you soda and peanuts, even when the flight is only 40 minutes.

Came home, found all was well (blessings upon sillymagpie!), but Cuervo indicated his displeasure in our absence by checking the litterbox I just cleaned and then pooping on the bed. *SIGH*

The other cats seem happy we're back, especially Cairo, who is very insecure and needs constant reassurance.

Today they were running a retrospective on the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and because I love "what if?" scenarios, I started to ponder on whether it's possible that this action was one of the most important, and pivotal, in my lifetime. Think on it - it was a fair bet that Kennedy was going to be the Democratic nominee; it's a pretty good bet that he would have gone on to be President. This would have changed the history of the 70's in one major way: No Nixon. No Nixon, no Watergate, no Ford, no Carter; Kennedy likely could have served two terms and then left the White House to his VP (whoever that might have been), who may or may not have served one or two terms. Would then have Reagan come into the WH in 1982, or...? Now, I'll admit that foreign policy probably wouldn't have changed much, or world problems. The rise of Muslim extremists would have happened, and it's probable that Iran would have seized the embassy anyway. And Kennedy very likely wouldn't have gone to China. Vietnam would have probably ended just as badly. I know it changes nothing, but I love thinking about things like this. I once tried to work up an alternate world history based on Jack Kennedy surviving back in November '63... (I ended up sticking more or less closer to this world history just 'cause it's easier and then I don't have to do a lot of exposition.)

Icon Sqee Meme

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your userpics.
2. Make a post and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee.

The ones that typographer asked me to explain are behind the cut.

( Squee! )

Speaking of cats, they need to shut up. Either Cairo or Cuervo (they tag-team) think that 3:30 am is the time for us to be up and feeding/petting them. One night it might be Cuervo, the next night Cairo. It curtails my sleep... and has for three days. First it was Cuervo, then Cairo, and last night it was both of them.

Skinny, finicky, sheds long hair everywhere except where it gets barfed up as hairballs, but very loving with large eyes.

So, since I started using the laptop most of the time, I haven't sat down at my desk in a few days. But once in a while I need the desktop for something, so I went in to boot up and sat down. The keyboard felt funny. Scratchy. Dry.

As though a cat had hacked up a hairball on it.

*SIGH*

Who knows how to clean cat barf out of a keyboard (short of immersing it or getting rid of it - it's a fairly expensive cordless)?

I guess I need to remember to throw the cover over it before I leave it for any length of time... of course, that won't help all the REST of my desk, the stereo, the stereo remote, the printer stand... Yes, I know I should discourage him from sleeping on my desk, but honestly, unless I stay here and keep an eye on him 24/7, that ain't happenin'. Silhouette is nothing if not persistent - if you take him off something he's not supposed to be on, he will jump right back up - and he will keep that up until you are tired and give up.

I also (ew) need a new address book.

Anyway...

GAH! He's barfing again! (At least on the tile...)

Remind me again why I like cats...

So, I realize this morning that Mother's Day is actually THIS coming Sunday, and not the following one, as I had been laboring under the impression it was. So I raced home to make sure I had a present delivered to Mom by the weekend (it will be delivered Friday), rather than meandering around shopping, as I had planned.

I'd been toying with letting my hair grow long for the cruise, but it's hot and heavy and rather scraggly looking. I think I'll chop it off. (Or rather, have Rick chop it off.)

Slept late this morning; I think I'm still recovering from Tuesday's lack of sleep night.

Friday I went to the ophthalmologist. I have healthy eyes, but I learned that someone with my bank account shouldn't have an eye doctor in the Biltmore. The CHEAPEST pair of frames I could find there was $110.00. So I went to price frames at Costco, where that was closer to the most expensive. Much better. I do need progressive lenses, but it looks like it'll make reading a lot better for me. We'll see if I can afford any other bells and whistles; the lenses aren't going to be cheap, and I am broke. (At my doctor's office, the frames would be covered to $130 dollars, with a base $100 for progressive lenses; I didn't ask about the price of the lenses at Costco. However, Costco DID have a wider selection of frames, since the Biltmore office contained largely Big Name Designer frames which appear to all be heavy thick horn glasses these days, and that is not a style that looks good on me - I need gold-toned wire frames.)

Speaking of money, several months ago when I had more of it, I placed an order at Forbidden Planet U.K. I've gotten other things from them, and while slow, they usually process orders. This time - I heard nothing. I finally checked the site. The order was still just sitting there. I wrote to them and asked. They said they were in the process of filling said order. I saw the charge hit my account, and thought, "Good." The next day the money was returned to my account (a few cents more); and then the day after THAT, I saw a new pending charge for a yet another few cents more. I figured it had something to do with the exchange rate. But now there's no pending charge at all, and it still hasn't cleared. So on the one hand, if that order is NEVER processed, I don't get my silly Dr. Who things I don't really need anyway and there's a little extra money in my account. On the other hand, WTF?

The Diamondbacks and the Padres are tied at the bottom of the 10th. This game has been vaguely annoying in that the D-backs have scored every single time I've left the room, so I haven't actually SEEN any of the 7 runs we've scored.

( I finally found something to like about Mr. Scary-Man Pope Benedict )

My shoulder is hurting again. I don't know why. It's back to hurting like it did when I first injured it, a couple years ago. I haven't been doing any lifting, honest (in fact, I've barely been to the gym at all, lazy-ass me).

Top of the 11th. I had planned to watch a little stuff off Tivo today...

I steam-cleaned the kitchen/dining room floor and am cleaning all the cats' food dishes. They Aren't Happy about this. I haven't finished vacuuming yet. Got my review done Thursday and delivered yesterday. I now need to empty the dishwasher and finish up in the kitchen, then look for some rhubarb recipes (or maybe vice versa). Bottom of the 11th, no score yet.

And it's a beautiful day. I was reading that this is the earliest Easter can ever fall (at least in the Western calender, where Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which was Thursday, and the full moon was Friday, so) - the last time it was this early was 1913, and it won't fall on March 23 again until 2228. Wow. Apparently the earliest possible date for Easter is March 22, but that won't happen until 2160, and the last time THAT happened was 1818. (Trivia read from Clay Thompson's helpful "Valley 101" column.) To quote, "This all has to do with the moon and tradition and the old Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar and the Council of Nicaea and some other stuff." For the Orthodox, Easter won't come until April 27.

It is a beautiful day outside. March in Arizona means fruit and flowers on the same tree:



I was taking pictures of many things, so ( here they are: )

I was unable to do this entry on my laptop because something wouldn't let me insert images. So I came in to the desktop and found that when I enter journal entries here, I ALSO don't get that annoying "your clock doesn't match ours" note. I wonder what's up with the laptop?

Anyway, happy day, all!

C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

Watching Craig Ferguson on the ol' Tivo, trying to catch up on this week - don't know how I fell so far behind. Watched three Ellens this afternoon, have three Craigs, plus Jericho, Bones, four episodes of The Sarah Conner Chronicles... and all my Netflix I'm behind on, too. Geez.

And now to meme:

Post a comment and I'll give you a letter, and then you have to list ten things you like that start with that letter. nutmeg3 gave me the letter D. D? Let's see what I can do with D...

( Top Ten Things With D )

God, I lead an exciting life.

Friday I went under the knife again; this time they pulled the screws they'd put in six months ago. I have a couple of stitches and a band-aid; it's not too bad. Operations are pretty easy these days. They laid me down on the bed and boom, I was waking up.

I started to work on the pieces of the second novel that I chopped out of the first one - expanding it and making it into its own story - and found a section I was CERTAIN I had written down. I eventually found the scenes hiding on my old laptop, making me glad I hadn't already gotten rid of it. Whew!

I have finished, again, the first novel. If anyone would like to read it for me (or for yourselves, I HOPE it's entertaining - I can't tell anymore), just drop me an email.

Oh, hooray for mustangsally's LOLCats. What would we do without them?

Once again, my favorite LOLCat:

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

On the one hand, JERICHO! So awesome it got to come back, 'cause we'd left off on a killer cliffhanger. Sad that in addition to Johnston (Gerald McRaney) being gone, so, too, apparently is Gail (Pamela Reed). Now Johnston was killed at the end of last season, but why would Gail be gone, too? She should be there supporting/chastising her sons. (Unless they simply couldn't get the actress back after the cancellation fiasco. I saw she was on the first episode of Eli Stone playing HIS mother.)

On the second hand, Torchwood! My God, when did this show get so good? It stands as a perfect monument to "let the show find its feet!" The first season was okay, full of "meh" episodes, while this season has been, flat out, AWESOME. Knock wood. No spoilers, but the end of last night's second episode... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

On the third hand... Why, why, why won't my cats let me sleep in the mornings?

At least they seem to be content with their food this morning and aren't here begging for more, please.

We have 5:30 reservations at Barb's favorite sushi place this evening.

Oh, and while I'm talking about television, if you've never seen Craig Ferguson's talk show (because, well, it's on in the freakin' middle of the night), then Tivo it or something. His monologues alone are worth it. We laugh so hard sometimes I have to back up to listen again because we miss stuff. I need that DVD-R now so I can save some of them (before I fill up my Tivo with saved eps).

Okay, first I have to get rid of all these "starving" cats (like I believe that)...

Geez, I committed the unpardonable sin of doing something before feeding them the moment I got home. Woe is me.

I guess I haven't posted 'cause I haven't had too much to say lately; been just rolling right along. Had a busy weekend, much of which is chronicled in rahirah's journal; had some fun at the Chinese New Year festival, ate lots of really good Asian food (both Chinese and Vietnamese), trolled through a couple of nifty Asian markets, met framefolly, and had a good time. (Speaking of things Asian, I've been on-and-off listening to the cast recording of Avenue Q and I wondered when the term "Oriental" became offensive. I think it's a lovely word, myself, but I don't want to cause, heavens, offense, so I use "Asian" instead... Of course, one could go into my usual rant about the term "Native American," but that's another piece of offensensitivity...)

Anyway, that's the usual stuff. Otherwise, my cats seem to be filling the litterbox at an alarming rate (I swear, it's getting to where I have to clean it twice a day now), and I think that while they love the gooshy food, and Silly is less skinny now, it doesn't improve the litterbox situation.

( Some memes, just because. )

Why has Tivo taken over my life? That's just a rhetorical question, really. I always knew if there was a better way to watch more television, I'd love it if I found it.

I've missed two workouts already this week because my cat will not let me sleep through the night, so when the alarm goes off, I want to SLEEP. This he barely allows, what with jumping and hopping and nudging things off the bureau... Gad, I'm tired.

And then I see that because I didn't read LJ last night, everyone I know posted at least once, several twice or three times. So I hastily skimmed this morning, after finally dragging myself out of bed almost a half hour after my second alarm went off.

I keep reminding myself I'm too young for menopause, but I'm still having hot flashes at night. It's been quite cold here for Phoenix (don't laugh at us, you folks with snow - I know we're wusses), so we have the flannel sheets on and a couple of blankets. I wake up broiling in the middle of the night and have to cool off - this, of course, is likely why the cat decides it must be time for me to be up.

I would have liked to have worked out this morning, I have a pinched something in my shoulder I need to ease out (since I can't afford massages anymore). In trying to figure out my expenses for the next month or so, I'm thinking I won't have disposable income again until maybe August. Maybe. Remind me again of how gorgeous the dining room is and that yes, we do like that goofy old dog...

And speaking of pets, the last two days Silly has begged for his food then promptly gakked it up somewhere on the carpet (and once on the tile, fortunately). SIGH. I do love these animals, I do...

I got an offer from ( Amazon: )

And now Silly sits on me and purrs, giving me that "I adore you" upside-down head look. Dang cats. I love 'em.

Silhouette is reverting to his kittenhood. Of late, he has started doing things he hasn't done in years, like jumping on the table during dinner and trying to steal food off plates. Most notably, he's once again decided that the Best Fun In The World is to put both front paws in the water dish and fling water everywhere. Last night I filled up the nifty cat-watering station (the kind with the little pump and filter and everything), which holds about eight cups of water or so, bowl and reservoir, and I came home to find the pump gasping for lack of water and the floor soaked.

Silhouette merely looks at me with his gigantic lantern eyes and asks for more gooshy food, please.

Somehow Moonlight has worked its insidious vampire spell on me. While watching tonight Mick officially became Sean Patrick's Favorite TV Vampire, taking over Angel's previous spot. I kind of knew Sean Patrick got into that whole "vampires can be really freaky mean when they want to be" thing, but he was just cheering in the back of my head with this episode. Ah, so it goes. At least it won the People's Choice Award -- and finding out that O'Loughlin is actually Australian explains why he delivers lines in such an odd, monotone-ish voice. Too bad they couldn't have let him BE an Australian vampire. That could have been really cool.

I joined the 50-Million-Pound Challenge, which is being sponsored through my work. I am hoping this will motivate me, knowing there are prizes and I'm competing with other people. I even bought a new scale, since I was pretty sure my 20+ year-old one really wasn't giving me an accurate reading. Unfortunately for me, the inaccuracy appears to have been LOWER, so now my official "starting weight" is somewhat less than I actually AM, so I have to work hard just to get to my "starting weight." Eeeg.

I haven't touched my writing in weeks. Instead, I crochet.

( Some pictures )

I think I'm tired. It took me a while to get over the cold; today was really the first day I felt "normal," but I think it's wearing on me. I will go to bed, and see what the weekend brings, creativity-wise.

So which is better, to be walked on at all hours of the night (usually from 2:30 on) or to listen to the wails of an incarcerated cat after I finally got tired of the former?

Unfortunately, our house is so small there is no room in the house where the cage can be put where he will not be heard, and while most of the time Cairo doesn't let on he's Siamese vocally, when he's in the cage magically his tiny "mwow" is amplified to massive proportions.

Then, of course, once Cairo was in jail, Cuervo decided it was HIS turn to walk. Only he walks AND wails at the same time.

I'm so tired. I'm so glad it's Friday. And payday, although much has already gone to pay some Christmas bills. Still, I think I'm going to buy that embroidered jacket I posted here in my "wish list" before Christmas. It's on sale now. :)

Last night I was writing some new scenes for Possible Book Two and watching some Shark Week shows when I was suddenly struck by a deep ennui. Feeling cold and despondent, I took a hot bath and went to bed. Now I wonder if I was just tired because of all the walking on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

I wonder if we could figure out a way to rearrange the bedroom (which has been in this configuration for many years now) so that the bed is not under the window. That's usually the driving force behind such moves, as several cats ago there was a similar problem with the bed being the Super Highway to the windowsill.

I wonder which would be cheaper/better in the long run, to get a HO loan to expand and beautify this house, or sell it, pay Mom back, and buy a slightly larger one? (A question that really doesn't have to be answered until my creditors accept a settlement offer.) With the prices that some of the houses in this neighborhood have been going for lately, it's still a great time to sell... but it's a crap time to buy, of course.

{sigh}

(Pictured in icon is the only good cat, Silhouette, who curls up and sleeps through the night. Good kitty. Good kitty.)

Night before last I was awakened by the most horrible screams of pain going on outside. I believe the victim was small and feathered; the perpetrator had four paws and whiskers. It was a terrible thing to listen to, the screeching.

Last night I went to see Mighty Merle Haggard, who, at 68, is sounding pretty awesome. He does a pretty short set, though, and doesn't do encores. And he didn't do Mama Tried. But he was in fantastic voice. I've decided I'm never ordering tickets from the Celebrity's online site again -- I chose a seat pretty much exactly where I usually sit: the front row third seat in section(s) A7/A6, which is usually empty because most people buy tickets in pairs. But what I GOT was row 13, fortunately on the aisle. I suppose it's a good thing to occasionally get back that far, because while, yes, every seat in the Celebrity is a great seat for VIEWING, I found that the seats in the back are crammed in very tightly so there's no leg room at all (and I really don't think my legs are all that long), and it never, EVER fails that someone twice my size sits in front of me (guy was just as tall as me sitting one tier down, so I had to lean into the aisle all night to see). From now on, I drive over to the box office (it's a few blocks away) and buy my seat face-to-face where I can say, "That one," and not be badly surprised the night of the show. I was happy to find out that the Celebrity hasn't changed its picture-taking policy, it must have been John Hiatt's "no pictures" decree at that show which required me to actually return my camera to the car before entering. Of course, from row 13 I don't think I got very good pictures, and I didn't take very many. Plus, it must have been 40 degrees in there. Guys?!? It's November! Turn off the air conditioning already!!!

I woke up a lot during the night. I feel strange and light-headed this morning. I sure wish this allergy/sinus thing would go away.

My brand-new, spiffy, wonderful 4-gig iPod mini will not talk to my computer because my computer is so old its USB ports (all six of them) are too slow. WAH!!! And we specifically bought it because rahirah said that many ports was a very good thing (to date I've used one), and of course the price was right. It's still a very good machine, little problems notwithstanding; the 60-gig drive is less than half full, even with so much of my music library on it.

I do remain amused that a 4-gig drive is in a machine about the size of a pack of gum (the 40-stick size). I remember an old, old 5-MEG drive that was this huge, heavy box that took up half the machine, and was an amazing jump from my very first computer, a 64-K dual-drive 5-inch floppy (which set my folks back over 2 grand, but they justified it was for college)... Ah, geek memories.

Anyway, I have to go get a new port to replace some of these old ones and then load some music into my iPod, which will hold approximately a day's worth of music. I love it! (Maybe I should have sprung for the 40-gig iPod... then I could just load my entire music library, which, according to iTunes, is currently almost 3,000 songs, and 6.5 days' worth of listening...)

Was pleased upon checking out the Buy Blue list that I already patronize many of the top Blue donators. It's a good comprehensive list of who gives what to whom; and I like the fact that it's not a "boycott THEM!" sort of thing, just a head's up to let consumers know where some of their money is going. Kewl.

[Edited: The hyperlink to Buy Blue doesn't seem to be working... So here it is: http://www.buyblue.org/company/ranking/donations?page=0 ]

In the time it took me to go outside, see last night's food hadn't been eaten, come in to write that post, and leave for work, last night's food was somehow eaten.

Dusty appeared suddenly on the porch after I arrived home, somehow miraculously dry (it's raining out) but very fluffy from the humidity. So I'm happy again. :)

It's the little things.

The porch cat appears to be gone. The food I set out last night is still there, which means all the outdoor cats are gone--Dusty and his three or four friends we'd been seeing (Dusty was the only one who came up to be petted). I'm hoping this means some do-gooder has captured them and taken them to a no-kill shelter where Dusty will be adopted, or at least they'll be neutered and released (which is what I meant to do with him, eventually... really, I did).

But I miss him, anyway. {sniff}

It's amazing the thoughts which come to one as you're laying in bed half asleep while cats are dancing around your head and on your bureau (where they aren't supposed to be), and you drift from the dreaming world (I was in the midst of a long and complex dream which stayed with me for a while, but it seems to be gone now) into the waking world, and I thought to myself:

If the Vatican doesn't want gay males in the seminary because of the temptation of being around a large number of men, then it seems to me the obvious solution to the priest shortage problem is lesbian women. No temptation there.

Last night I finally saw The Graduate all the way through for the first time. I knew all the famous scenes, of course, but had never watched the film. I bet those folks who despise musical montages hate this movie. One whole section in the center is Benjamin stalking watching Elaine while they play "Scarborough Fair" two or three times all the way through. Funnier movie than I expected--I hadn't realized it was written by Buck Henry.

Then we watched Monsoon Wedding. I could really come to love Bollywood movies. I love the Indian dress and music, whee!

Turkey came out good, but there's a LOT of leftovers (a turkey goes a long way in feeding three people), including a large amount of gravy. I then came all over with a craving for Big Ass Chocolate Cake, but there was none to be had, so I had to settle for Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls.

( Yes, I am a follower. )

I talk too much. I guess that's why we call them "interests."