My darling lives in a world that is not mine
An old child misunderstood... out of time
Timeless is the creature who is wise
And timeless is the prisoner in disguise
Oh who is the beauty... who is the beast
Would you die of grieving when I leave
Two children too blind to see
I would fall in your shadow... I believe
My love is a man who's not been tamed
Oh...my love lives in a world of false pleasure and pain
We come from difference worlds... we are the same (my love)
I never doubted your beauty... I've changed
And when I call
Will you walk gently
Thru my shadow
The ones you dream of
The ones who walk away
With their capes
Pulled around them tight
Cryin' for the night
Cry for the nightbird
-Stevie Nicks, "Nightbird"
You are Spaceman Spiff! Zounds! You are the intrepid Spaceman Spiff, the engaging explorer ensconsed in an unending universe of exotic and evil extraterrestrials! You're brave, but you should give that dictionary a rest. Take the What Calvin are You? Quiz by contessina_2000@yahoo.com!
I keep thinking about the wand that rj anderson received from her friend. What a cool present to give a Harry Potter fic writer. I think that I want to make a wand for myself. When the weather gets above 50 degrees, I'm going to get out in my shop and fire up the lathe and see what forms from a piece of cherry wood I've been saving for a rainy day. I also want a "gentleman to answer my fire". Is this asking too much?
Ravenclaws value intellect -- you like things which challenge your mind, whether it be math, art, history, or all of the above and more! You might be somewhat withdrawn, or your intellect might make you a bit mysterious to others.
I Think telephones are really a huge problem
I Think companies are too much on my mind
I Think engineers have got a lot to do with why the world sucks
But what can you do?
Like a blue rain, beating down on me
Like a Browning line, which won't let go of my brain
Like Bob's ass, it is in my head
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
I Think equipment is gonna drive us all crazy
And receptionists make me feel like a child
I Think machines will eventually be the downfall of civilization
But what can you do? I said what can you do?
Like a blue rain, beating down on me
Like a Browning line, which won't let go of my brain
Like Bob's ass, it is in my head
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
Like a blue rain, beating down on me
Like Bob's smile, cruel and cold
Like Browning's ass, it is in my head
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
Blame it on cold calls
Certainly not me. Today is going to be finance day. Already this morning I applied for a new mortgage to consolodate all my debts into one payment and to get some cash in the bank. I really thought the whole process would be kind of a pain, but I ended up with a cool loan officer that was lots of fun. Thanks, Charles! I'm not sure my 12 year old vehicle will hold out much longer and I want to have some money in the bank for a "new" one. I love that old car. It starts every morning. It costs only $69/month for insurance, is comfortable and rides good. It also looks pretty good for an aging vehicle. I hope it keeps going for at least another year.
This afternoon is tax time. My financially minded mother, who does taxes this time of year, even though she's retired, sent me a tax program this week, so I'm off to do them. Hopefully, that will put some more money in the bank, too. I need a bit of a nest egg. Business has been very bad this year and my income is down 20% since 2 years ago. Ugh! I was reading one of the zendom threads about cold calling and was getting very discouraged about all this. The only way I can increase sales right now, since my established customers are either not buying anything or going out of business, is to cold call. I spend hours a week on this very thing. I think it's one of my least favorite things in the world to do and yet how else will I pay the bills? Yeah, I can look for another job, but another problem with this economy is that no one is hiring. So, I plug away, survive until things pick up and find companies that are buying equipment. Until then its tighten the belt, watch every penny, and read lots of fanfic.
The new Star Trek Voyager card set will be released soon. I saw this link and thought the card was pretty cool. I love tearing into an unopened pack of cards and finding something special in it. It's sort of like opening a Crackerjack box or hunting for Easter Eggs and finding a real gold ring or the prize egg. Great stuff. I wish they didn't cost so much. A box of these cards is around $80. Why should I pay so much for pictures on squares of cardboard when I can buy a whole season of TNG episodes on DVD for $110. Decisions, decisions.
After work today, I went to Office Max and bought a new desk chair for my home office. YEAH!! I've wanted a new chair since I bought my old one many moons ago and I've needed a new one for the last 6 months. The last straw was when the arm fell off yesterday, so today's the day. I love putting stuff together like these chairs. 12 screws and a little elbow grease and you go from a heap of parts to a terrific chair. Presto!
1- Watching my dogs eat ice cubes
2- Sunshine
3- Tulips
4- The little girl next door asking to take my collie for a walk
5- Calls from Mom and Dad
6- A clean house
7- Money left after the bills are paid
8- A stiff brandy and water
There is a question on the Yahoo-zendom list about whether or not anyone in RL knows about our fanfic writing. Since I don't write fanfic, I didn't answer the question, but it got me thinking. How many of my RL friends/family know some of the things that are closest to me? The things I spend time doing and loving? Not too many. I've always been pretty private about the things I care most about. I had an obsession with horses when I was 9 or so. I read every book I could get my hands on. I ate, dreamed, played and wished for a horse. My family laughed at me. That fucking hurt! So I started keeping the things I cared about private. There are very few people who know what I'm passionate about. No one knows all those things. In some ways I find that rather sad. I can post this and if anyone makes fun of this entry, I can delete it. I can't do that with family, friends, or co-workers. Am I a coward? Or are we all like this? How many people do I know that I have no clue what makes them tick? Lots, I'm sure.
It was a beautiful morning. One of those crystal clear, late summer days that I love. I had pulled on sweats and a t-shirt and followed the dogs out into the back yard to take a couple minutes to check out the garden and draw in a few deep breaths of the cool, fresh air. An airplane arched overhead, inbound for landing. The sun was shining. The blue sky was crisscrossed with white lines from jet trails indicating still winds. What a day!
I went inside to complete my morning routine, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to work. When I arrived, my boss pulled me aside and asked if I could take his place in a training class. His boss from NY was flying in that morning for a meeting and he would not be able to attend. I completed a few tasks and left, looking forward to enjoying more of the day by driving the 30 miles to the class. It was 8:45.
As I turned on the ignition, the local FM station blared, “An airplane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We will continue to broadcast details as we receive them”. My first thoughts were “What crazy idiot has stolen a plane now?” Being a licensed pilot, I tend to follow anything to do with airplanes and flying. I read accident reports and study why they happen because I don’t want to make the same mistakes. I immediately tuned to the AM news channel and drove off to my class. In fascination, I listened to the producer of the NY news affiliate call in to describe the scene as he left his lower - Manhattan apartment that morning. He had heard the noise of a large jet “Large Jet?” flying low overhead. He looked up just as it crashed into the North Tower. The plane disappeared into the building, leaving a gaping, smoking black hole. “A large jet?” “What would a large jet be doing flying low over a populated area?” One of the first things we learned in pilot training was to fly at least 1000 feet above the highest obstacle when flying over a city. Also, if possible, always fly over open areas, such as water or fields instead of buildings. “What had gone so horribly wrong that an experienced airline crew would disobey these most basic rules?”
As I was pondering this, the radio announced: “A second jet has crashed into the South Tower” Time for a paradigm shift. “This was no accident, this was deliberate, but Why? Who? How?” As I continued driving, the reports and horror escalated “…airplanes have been hijacked…” “…flames pouring out of buildings…” “…bodies falling…” and as I pulled into the parking lot “…third plane crashes into Pentagon…” I exited my car, knees wobbly, hands shaking, and dialed my cell phone as I walked into the building. “J. (my boss), have you heard the news?” “Yes” “Does M. (his boss) know?” “Yes” “Where is his office in NY?” “Midtown”
The sun was still shining, the sky was just as blue, but in that short drive, the world had changed. It was strange how I continued on, even when my life had been shaken to the core. I walked into the lobby and spoke to the unsuspecting receptionist. “Have you heard the news?” She was frantically trying to connect to CNN as I proceeded to the training room.
I was conflicted. “Do I interrupt the class or do I quietly enter and take my seat? Why disrupt everyone else when they can do nothing? They’ll find out soon enough.” So I found an empty workstation in the back row and silently sat down. I tried to concentrate on what the instructor was saying, but I just couldn’t. When I realized the computer before me was connected to the Internet, I clicked to every news website I could think of. The national news sites were jammed. Local news revealed more horrifying details. “…4th planes crashes in PA…” “…All airports in US are shut down…” “…South Tower collapses…” “…North Tower collapses…” “Thousands may be dead…” Oh, my God!
During lunch break, 50 or so trainees and employees gathered around the lone television set to watch the horrendous images. No one spoke, we were all in shock. Somehow, I made it through afternoon classes. As I walked to my car, the sun was still shining. The sky was even bluer. There were no crisscrossing jet trails. I looked eastward and noticed one lone fighter jet patrolling the US/Canadian border, not 30 miles from where I stood.
I needed to connect with family. “Dad, how are you?” “Fine.” “How’s Mom?” “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s playing golf with M.” We chatted during my drive home, glad to be able to talk with each other. Later, I sat on my porch as the sun set. I smiled as my dogs wrestled and growled at each other, romping around the yard, tails wagging. The sky was now pink, purple and gold. It was strangely quiet. The jets were gone.
For those of you Patrick Stewart fans, mediatrek has a new interview, featuring him talking about ST:Nemesis. Damn, something about that guy is so...ah hmmm...Also there's a clip of Kate Mulgrew talking about "Tea at Five" on "Rosie". I just love those Captains.
One of my favorite authors is finally releasing her 5th book after 12 years. I started reading this series in the 80's and have looked for this book every Christmas since the last one was published. It seems that when I'm not exploring the stars via Star Trek or Star Wars, I'm learning about early man. Odd combination. I quess I just like stories about the human spirit. See you in the book stores on April 30.
Since Monday is the 6 month anniversary of the attack on America, I posted this...May we never forget.
PERSPECTIVE 09-22-2001
On Monday we emailed jokes
On Tuesday we did not
On Monday we thought that we were secure
On Tuesday we learned better
On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes
On Tuesday we relearned who our heroes are
On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived
On Tuesday we gave money away to people we had never met
On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools
On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school
where someone was not praying
On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room
On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug
their kids
On Monday people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a fast
food drive through line.
On Tuesday people didn't care about waiting up to 6 hours to give blood
for the dying
On Monday we waved our flags signifying our cultural diversity
On Tuesday we waved only the American flag
On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race,
sex, color and creed
On Tuesday they were all holding hands
On Monday we men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or
poor, gay or straight, Christian or non-Christian.
On Tuesday we were Americans
On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses
On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America'
On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children
On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children
On Monday we had families
On Tuesday we had orphans
On Monday people went to work as usual
On Tuesday they died
It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into
perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things
we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten
or overlooked, hopefully will never be forgotten again.
My Mom and Dad have been going through old pictures, newsclippings, letters, etc. to make binders and in general organize stuff that has collected for the last 45 or so years. For the past 2 months I have been getting a "care package" each week containing samples of their treasures. Since my snail mail usually consists of bills and ads, I have come to look forward to these weekly windows into my past. Yesterday, there was an 8 1/2 x 11 envelope full of stuff. One of the fun things I found was a "letter" I wrote while in college. It was typed on a series of 10 punch cards from the Computer Science Lab, complete with punch outs. That brought up lots of memories of spending hours waiting for my Fourtran program to run only to find out I made a syntax error which shut the whole thing down. I'd make the correction and then wait a couple more hours for it to run again. Now, I bitch when Road Runner takes over a millisecond to load a page. How times have changed...and in this case for the better...Another memory of the Computer Science Lab...I was doing my senior project with 2 guys. It was a computer model of how a robot arm moved when given certain inputs. It was the night before the project was due and the program was almost complete. (Remember, this program was all on those wonderful punch cards, and filled 1 1/2 boxes). ie. there were probably over 1000 cards. One of the guys was carrying the boxes to the computer and dropped them. Cards flew everywhere. We all groaned and needless to say turned in our project slightly incomplete. I always did hate those group project classes.
I'm trying to set up this blog the way I want it, but being a total newbie to HTML and webpublishing I don't even understand the help files - very frustrating when the answers to questions just raise even more questions. I want to install Comments, but there is no ABC instruction or even code (that I can find) to cut and paste. I also would like to be able to refer to other webpages/sites/people in the body of the blog, but I don't even know the terminology, so I don't know what to search for. If anyone has the time and inclination to help, I would be grateful.
I'm looking forward to spring. The last 2 days have been the coldest yet this winter and I'm tired of gray skies and brown grass. I want to see some flowers blooming and start digging in the garden again. I want leaves on the trees and be able to sit outside on my porch. All of that is at least 6 weeks away *sigh*.
Well, I'm finally getting around to doing a real post to my blog. I came across this so I thought I would add it. It reminds me of an old friend who loved D&D and tried to get me to play it with him. After a couple times, I just decided it took too much time and lost interest. That may have been my loss.
What D&D character are you?
I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Ranger Bard
Alignment: Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.
Race: Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently conccern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.
Primary Class: Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.
Secondary Class: Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.
