Googling – The Quirky Universe That Presents Itself

While, ironically, searching for KNITTING links of all things, I came across this interesting thread on Polyamory. It was quite amusing (Read: Sidesplitting) to read some of the (negative) reactions and quite refreshing to read (positive/neutral) others, the poster Magz in particular, with regard to the subject of Multipartner relationships.

On a side note: Someone really needs to set up an open group for Atheist/Poly/Pansexual/Geeky Knitters at the Randallstown Library LOL. I need somewhere! C’mon people!

Ah well. I go off now to read the rest of Multicultural Manners and then to some Iain M. Banks stuff.

Traces of the Trade

Just watch. Thought provoking program. See more here. Also check out this blog.

Accentuate The Positive

Lately, it seems as though whenever I try to type up something in the realm of pessimistic, the power goes out.

Not kidding.

Yesterday, just as I was typing up a rant about the Maternal Parentals behavior, a sudden wind storm blew up and, before I knew it, the power had flickered out, taking everything I’d written with it. Prior to this, while typing up a whining epilogue regarding my (honestly fun) experiences at the NIH, the power flickered again, only this time with no known cause. A time before that, a week and a half or so ago, much the same happened and I was stuck in the dark, with my mother, with only two candles, my laptop, and some videos downloaded from Youtube to keep us company.

Given that I made a vow to actually make firm attempts at not being pessimistic, I am going to take this series of events as a coincidental reminder of my pledge. I was all set to put in another tirade today but, on thinking about it, I saw no point in expending the energy in a useless attempt at trying to reason with my mothers’ nicotine addiction or her mishandling of the finances.

Instead, I’m biding my time until I’ve saved enough to get out of here. It’s really the only solution to our relationship at this point.

I’m Here…

Geeze, I sound like that creepy little kid from Doctor Who…

Anyway, I’m finally here, Inpatient, at the NIH for the study. I’m sitting, well standing at any rate, in their oversized overalls with a “”Microdialysis” machine hooked up to me. Great fun.

*rolls overly long sleeves up for some relief*

Oh yeah, where was I? Oh, right!

Things here are pretty cool and they’ve just brought in dinner. I’m about to eat it. Zzzzz…. It’s apparently designed to see how my body responds to a certain caloric intake. If you like, says I. Incidentally, this is a post not done the lazy way. I actually logged in. How many calories did that burn, I wonder?

Someone’s apparently blowing bubbles in the courtyard just under my room window because a few of them keep flying my way. I’m going to investigate that, since it’s so much more interesting than anything I could possibly write here and then I’ll eat. Tra.

Library Wars…

You sniveling little…

I was going through the catalogue of the Baltimore County Public Library system after reading about two authors I’d come across on Wikipedia while Wikiwhacking. One author, Octavia Butler, wrote a trilogy called Xenogenesis and…of course I wanted to snap it up as soon as I saw the synopsis. I won’t give it away but I will enjoy reading it. It’d be a nice change of pace from the books I’ve been reading lately on cannibalism and recipes. Anyway…

The other author, Iain M. Banks appears to have an interesting premise as well and, if you know me, you’ll know my motivation in reading his books. Aside from good Science Fiction.

The thing about the BCPL is this: We’ve got an electronic checkout and hold system and, to my amazement, I found most of the Iain Banks books checked out at every branch. Now, he’s either really popular (sorry if I don’t know this!) or someone’s being a book hog. Based on what I’ve read so far, I’m inclined to believe the former even if the latter also happens to be true.

Throw me some comments people. And candy. That’s always lovely.

Ironic, Isn’t It?

No sooner do I put myself toward the goal of learning how to Crochet then I get a sprain right between the thumb and first finger of the hand I’d be working with.

I’m not giving up. I’ll just keep looking at the videos to see if I can adapt to using my left hand. Either that, or whine to Aunti loud enough for her to hear me from Washington State.

I really don’t understand how you crocheters do it. Knitting, I get. It actually came (fairly) naturally to me once I understood the process. With Crochet, it seems like no matter what I do to look at the videos, people doing it, etc., I can’t even scratch the surface. I won’t say “I can’t” though. That’s bad language deserving of a hefty donation to the Watercooler Bank Bottle of Destruction. I will instead say “I will” or “I am” and work towards doing just that.

Now I away to do two things I am still capable of doing. Eating and Knitting.

Food wise, tonight is going to pretty much be a KISS situation. I’m making veggie soup. Yum. It’s going to be my special blend though.

Knitting wise, I’m still working on the scarf I’m making for my father. It’ll probably be done by the end of today since I’ve got nothing else better to do.

Blast From The Past

Man, I sure was annoying back when this blog first started. I know I’m still probably annoying now but, in reading some old entries, I was much more annoying even to myself.

Wow, what the years can do to your perception.

Technically, this blog was started fairly recently when it comes to WP.com but the overall history of this whole things writings actually goes back as far as 2002 and, basically, I incorporated the entries from old blogs into the then newer Blogger blog which allowed for remote posting. Definitely an improvement in that the old site that carried my blog didn’t have this or much else going for it.

One thing you should consider and greatly pity me for: I must go through the nearly five hundred Uncategorized posts currently listed on here and…categorize them properly.

I think I will most certainly use knitting as a form of escapism if the tendon between my thumb and first finger will let up on the pain for five seconds.

Marks of Determinism

When I finished putting that last entry in, I figured I’d go back in blogposts to one I did a while back. One poster in particular had a blog that impressed me then. I eventually found the link and read one entry in particular that’s really inspired me.

I’m not going to be daunted. I’ll just keep The Clash playing in my head on a loop LOL.

I’m Going Down…

Get your filthy minds out of the gutter. I’m going down to Bethesda for the first of six Inpatient stays for the study.

Ironically, I am not nervous about my upcoming stay at the National Institutes of Health. Considering the fact that they’re going to be doing some surgery on me, I suppose I should be but I’m not. Instead, I’m more scientifically interested in what’ll be occuring when I get there and whether they’ll let me use their computers to continue to update this blog while I’m down there.

Included in this blog post are the notorious pictures. This, my fellow Terrans is the first in a long line of pictures that will document my progress in attaining this goal.

Anyway, one is of me from a side profile while the other is the front angle. The shirt has been pulled back a bit to give a better idea of body shape but otherwise, the pictures are accurate. The shirt is an XL and the pants are a size 16 womens. Whatever that means in the land of Ladies clothes is unknown to me. In Mens I wear a 36 – 38 depending on the cut.

My current stats are:

• 61 Inches/5 Feet 1 inch/1.55 Meters tall (not likely to change)
• 228 US Pounds/104 Kilograms/16 Stone (working on it)

Within one year, I hope to have at least lost one quarter that weight. If only I could gain height for each ten pounds lost…*sigh*

My ultimate goal is to get down to around 140lbs/63kg/10st and maintain that weight with a healthy diet, exercise, and all that good stuff.

For a good laugh: On a recent visit to my PCP/Ob/Gyn, it was again suggested I consider a breast reduction. Not due to my weight but because, in her opinion, I am simply too top heavy. She gave me another referral and I’m going to call and see about it but check first with the $2,600.00USD medical study people first to see if it would disqualify me from participating. I don’t want to lose out on that money as it would get me back in school but it would be nice not having the lead weight issue.

I’ll just have to see.

I’m Such A Blog Hit Hussy

I just whored my Art Blog out to the Text Ads thing on Blogshares. I feel so cheap and dirty now. I hope I get lots of hits LOL.

YAY! I Can Has Bike Racks!

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I’ve been a near constant complainer regarding the Maryland MTAs removal of the old bike racks. They’ve finally officially put their stamp on the new ones they were putting through a “trial run” and, if this news story is any indication, people will hopefully use them the way I want to.

Next stop, bike parking, and then my learning. I need to find lessons. I really do. It’s not easy being twenty-seven years old and not knowing how to ride a bike. People just don’t seem to realize that, for a person with no experience, it’s not just a matter of getting on and riding off. I’ve been trying to learn on my own lately. My scarred legs and I want to find an instructor before I bleed to death or get Tetanus.

Education – University Goals

I’m not even yet back in Community College and I’m already making plans for where I want to transfer to as a four year student.

I’m incredibly gifted to live in Maryland in what is essentially a central nexus of quite a few of the best colleges in academia and I’ve been exposed to enough of the students and staff at each school within the Baltimore area to know which of those options I favor. In going down to DC and into Northern Virginia, I hope to learn more about their schools as I’ve learned about the ones here to be able to make a truly informed decision.

In addition to the location and atmosphere of the campus, I am also taking note of the academic credentials of the administration at each school. It’s of paramount importance to me that I’m truly intellectually challenged and not merely “passed” through as I have been before by a minority of professors and teachers (No names). Professors are getting Googled the hell out of. Test scores, attrition rates, dropout rates, enrollment rates, complaints, and all are going to be examined while I work through my two year college. Nothing will be spared. *gerbil growl*

All of this is in an effort to secure a good future and to make sure I’m not bored stiff over the next six years of my life. Happy me.

One To Live By

And I fall asleep counting my blessing. –Irving Berlin

It was nice seeing this one when I went to add an entry to my list a few minutes ago. It snapped me out of my bad mood. I really like 43Things for that little quote thing in their sidebar.

Xenophobic Forwarded E-mails

I am getting so sick of people forwarding me these racist e-mails. For the record, don’t send me this shit ever again. I don’t want it taking up space on my computer or in my thought processes.

It’s ironic too because, but for immigration, most of these very same people would not themselves be American citizens. Their ancestors came from other places as well, displacing Native peoples in the process, and making selfish land grabs where they really had no right to do so.

To bitch now about the fact that the current immigrancy is coming from places where the people don’t look like or speak the same languages as the majority of people here deserves nothing less than ridicule.

It is also ironic because, at one point or another in the history of this country, their own ancestors probably faced the same sort of Xenophobic bigotry but made it through and succeeded despite the overwhelming opposition to their presence in communities around the country.

Before you start up with the “Go back to your own country” bullshit, you might well want to look at your own family history instead of kicking the ladder out from under someone who’s just coming here to get a better life for themselves as most of your own ancestors also did. Quit blaming people who don’t deserve blame for your own personal failings.

Don’t bitch at me either because, due to intense laughter at your expense, I’m not likely to reply. Instead forgo the last part about me and follow the directions.

To all the people coming in, welcome and thanks for considering this your home.

Now I have to go contribute to the Watercooler Bank Bottle of Destruction with coinage for cursing so much. There goes my lunch money you idiotic fuckers!

Fiscal Responsibility – Negligence of Updates

I put forth a resolution a while ago on 43Things not to buy frivolous stuff for an entire year. I made this goal on 1 January 2008 and I’m still going strong. Sadly, though my updates have been sporadic at best.

An interesting quote from the site:

“The rain does not fall only on one roof.”
- Cameroon proverb

We, as Americans and Westerners, spend a lot of time complaining over the prices of things but we don’t have it even a tenth as bad as people in other parts of the world. As I’ve looked at the news over the past few weeks, it’s really brought that home for me even more so than it had before. I can only hope that we all find a way together to economically sustain our global population with regard to necessities like food, shelter, and medical care without destroying our ability to live on the planet in the process.

Terra is more than four billion years old. Short of a planetesimal, it’s not likely to go anywhere. It’s had floods, fires, famine, meteors, asteroids, Tsunamis, and all other sorts of things happen to it in the history of its existence. It’s supported numerous species and watched the memory of their passing sink into the barely understood past. It’s highly improbably that we’d destroy the Earth. It’s infinitely more probable that we, through our efforts, would destroy ourselves.

It’s a shame we don’t have any viable extra-planetary options.

The Greatest Gift a Friend Can Give

One of the greatest gifts you could possibly give me, aside from something you’ve made, is a piece of literature. I hold such items in the highest regard because, in giving it, you honestly had to have made at least a cursory examination of my temperament, personality, and personal beliefs in order to choose what you gave me. Equal to that is the fact that you’re giving me an opportunity to expand my intellectual and social knowledge in exposing me to new music, books, and other such works of art.

Fancy gifts intending to show up or impress almost never work unless there was some honest thought into whether it was something in line with my views. I’ve turned down gold and have made my opposition to things like diamonds (despite being born in April and as an Aries) about as well known as my own true name. So to get a personally thought of and/or hand made gift is something that really touches me in ways I could never express enough.

A friend of mine has recently done just that. My friend Zoukplouf has written a book and sent me a copy as a personal gift. It’s completely in French and, but for a few stumbling words and phrases, is unreadable to me but now I am even more determined to learn now that I’ve personalized the language in a way that is positive. I give myself one year as a goal to get to at least third grade reading level in French. I want to be able to read his book without having to bug everyone around me for help.

Whether he knows it or not, he’s my gateway through which I’ve become truly enthusiastic about learning French beyond a means of communication with friends.

In appreciation for his gift, I’m making him more than the hat I’d originally intended on making. I’m going to figure out a way to split the Painted Desert Multicolor yarn I have so I can make him a matching hat and (hopefully) fingerless gloves. Pictures will be posted as items are completed both here and on my Art blog.

Long Time In Posting

This is Leslie (AKA AurniaStar). I made her a gift (the scarf and hat she’s wearing) a while back but never posted her picture. At least, I don’t think I did. Anywho, here goes:

Would she have killed me for forgetting? I doubt it but I felt the need to share regardless.

It’s all part of my Pedicab fantasy…

It’s all part of my Pedicab dream…

Enough of the cheap one liners. I’m an obsessed woman. I keep having lurid fantasies involving myself riding around on a Cycle Rickshaw. These kinky mental sojourns have me riding about, doing shopping, going from place to place, and otherwise being unencumbered by even the Maryland MTAs bus service. Instead, I take leisurely rides to the 24 Hour Shoppers and pick up what I need in the middle of the night, which is when I’m actually lucid and coherent enough to function.

No, I am not a vampire.

I’m not even remotely enticed by the thought of a car but would instead prefer the rickshaw. In truth, it’s economically more viable for me to get as most of my trips from my home are local. I can zip to where I have to go and zip back with relative ease. I don’t have to worry about gas as I’m the primary engine and most of them are thousands of dollars cheaper than even the cheapest car. The most expensive one I saw was for $8,000.00USD while the ones I’m more interested in run for less than $3,000.00USD.

Three good studies once my bills are paid will get me a cheap one. I’m looking forward to attaining this goal.

Wow…She’s Beautiful

The knitting is pretty great too! (More)

I admit to being a bit lazy with the length of posts…I haven’t slept in a bit. I hope to correct for this once I’ve had a proper meal. I also haven’t eaten properly in a few days. Go figure. :-/

Not Like I ‘Needed’ Validation…

Newsflash: Bisexuality isn’t just “a phase”.

For women, bisexuality may not be just a phase (MSNBC LiveScience)

And More

Duh.

It’s remarkable how it takes so long for some of this stuff to sink into the minds of people who refuse to accept that not everyone is exactly like them.

OKCupid Browsing

I don’t often blog about the random profiles I come across on OKCupid but I came across a few that really made me stand up and take notice. Me thinks I’m gonna be writing messages soon.