Dragon's Musings
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*stretches* Ok so I figured out absolute positioning. This is kinda cool I think. Anyway, I made a new layout and have it all up for perusal. Don't I look swank now. Well not really. I look like I'm in the kitchen with a Greek grandmother. That's not far from the truth. That is my mom's Nana, and she's Albanian. Otherwise known as Athena. Yes, I am related to Athena, so don't get ideas because my great-grandmother was the goddess of wisdom and war-craft. I know, she doesn't look quite so impressive in this guise, but trust me she was. Regardless Athena married a Seraphim (Seraph?)which is why I think my family is all screwed up. Because, well we all know inter-pantheonic marriages are tough to make work. Especially when half of the pantheon is convinced of His own utter Supremicity, and won't allow anyone, especially His Heavenly Host to admit that other gods exist.
Well, there we go. If I wasn't already going straight to hell (if I believed in such a place, which I don't), I would be now. Damn, I'm good on the sacrelige. Were it about 5 centuries ago, I'd be excommunicated and burned as a witch! Go me!
Ok so now that I've offended 2 belief systems (one mostly dead--they should see Miracle Max), and have exhibited my hubris, I should probably go. Well I should go take a shower now. There's something about collecting everyday wear and tear that takes someone down a peg. Besides, I'm several generations out from dieties. No MY Nana. That's a different story. She's got the whole all-seeing all-knowing thing going. And you'll catch hell if you cross her. I wonder where she gets it from. *looks at picture above* oh yeah.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 22:13
Blog #2 of the day just to point out the new layout. Hi Nana! Well it's my mom's Nana.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 21:52
Forgive me Susie for I have sinned. It has been many many days since my last blog. It's hell being hounded on two computers at the same time. And well having cats knocking at the door. And chili simmering on the stove waiting for me to have it for dinner and parents coming home and *pulls hair out* so this is El Tempo Blogo until I finish my chilli and go back upstairs where I can be hounded on only one computer. And Buffy reruns are over.
Well... must eat.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 19:30
Time I left house: 7:25 am
Time I'm supposed to leave my house: 7:20am
Time I'm supposed to be at work: 8:30am
Time I arrived at work: 8:45am
Time in car: 1 hour 15 minutes
Time driving: 1 hour
Total Commute: 1 hour 20 minutes.
Times I fishtailed: 3
Times I almost got in an accident: 1
Times I called to say I was going to be late: 1
Number of busses passing before I could get on one: 1
Number of emergency vehicles I saw: 2
Number of schools closed: lots
Temperature: -1 F
Windchill: -1 F (thank goodness for small favors)
Estimated high today: 4 F
And what does all this equal?
I should have stayed in bed
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 09:17
Temperature update: Still freaking cold. How cold is it? Well cold enough that the only bra I can wear that doesn't immediately let the whole world know how cold it is out is my convertable strapless bra. Because it has to have THAT much support and padding. Not that I need padding in my bras. Nature has endowed me quite well thank you.
Well I have yoga tomorrow, if it isn't cancelled due to the horrid Lake Effect that is STILL going on. It's one of those days that you just want to keep consuming hot items: hot cocoa, oatmeal, chilli, soup, etc. just to keep innards warm. Well then you start feeling a wee bit spludgy.
So now I'm up in my cold room, being... well... cold. Because my room is on the Northwest (North by Northwest, it's that movie with that famous bi-plane divebombing the people scene) side of the house, the wind is forever blowing on my windows. And I have one measley heating vent in my room. Itty bitty heating vent... big large room. Anyway, it's cold. Which isn't a problem normally when I'm sleeping because:
a) I have my down comforter and toasty blankets;
b) several pillows and a large black panther stuffed animal (Big Mr. O) specifically positioned to block the cold from the windows; and
c) a pre-warming service.
Note the semi-colon use.
Pre-warming service? Well I shall explain. One of them just left. Often it's just one, only on some freakish day is it all four. Sometimes I get three, but usually it is one or two. They are, of course, my beloved felines. Right now, it's just Mr. O warming my bed. He's my Little O not my Big O for obvious reasons. Homey don't play that. Anyway, sometimes the boys have a big ol' cuddlefest and make my bed nice and toasty because cats can produce a lot of heat. It comes from all the solar energy they absorb. In fact, on a sunny day, with enough dozing cats, you wouldn't need any electricity from a power generator to run the lights and stuff in your house. If only said energy could be harnessed.
But I digress. Where was I? I'm not sure anymore because it's still damn cold
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 20:54
Insert bitch about the weather here:
It is cold.
It is very cold.
It is freaking cold.
It is freeze your ass off cold.
And it is snowing.
Lake Effect.
Gah! Stupid Canadians blowing air across the Great Lakes, crippling parts of the border so they can swoop down from the North and invade the country. Actually, Canadians know better. They wouldn't touch us with a 39 1/2 foot pole. Let's just say that I wish I were an ELF! Gah! I wanna be an Elf! I wanna be able to walk light over the snow and not sink in. I want to be impervious to the cold. Though I'd have to cut my hair, 'cause long hair and the wind we have going now is not a good thing. Snarls you realize.
You know, I was done with winter December 26. Silly calendars that make the beginning of winter December 21. It's Midwinter. Really, it is. And it's the bleak midwinter right now. Though it is getting visibly lighter out which is an encouraging thought. I need my sunglasses for my drive to work because it's right into the rising sun. Well part of it is. That makes me happy. Only like 12 days until a groundhog upstages an Uber-important mother goddess. Yes. Dispater gets to have Halloween, Lugh gets forgotten, Bel gets mayday, but Brigid gets upstaged by a groundhog. Yes folks. Mark you calendars. Feb 2 is Imbolg. It's a happy spring festival. It's the beginning of spring, folks! And if you count... it's a very good time for a motherhood festival. As if you recall Beltane (fun Beltane). Well 9 months from Beltane is Imbolg. Hmm... Let's ponder on this one for a minute shall we? Yeah, so it was the time when you moved your sheep, and they started to lamb (pretty baby sheepies) so they had a party. Parties are good in the beginning of February, don't you think?
Well back to Brigid. She rocked. She had a cloak of stars. If that isn't kick-ass, I don't know what is. I have a fake cloak of stars. Well it looks like there are stars on the inside. :) And for that I must thank Amanda for picking out the fabric. Speaking of cloaks *cracks whip* that's a surprize. Well, at least Brigid insinuated her way into Sainthood. What? Didn't you realize that on the Calendar of Saints, that Feb 2 is St. Bridget's day? Go us sneaky pagans.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 19:16
May I just say that my scanner is Evil? Well I'll say it anyway with or without permission. My scanner is evil. It is. It's evil. It hid its software, but we got the driver from the internet so it's ok for that. But now, it's being all magenta/cyan/green/yellow on me instead of a nice white. It doesn't seem to think that white can exist for more than a pixel. The thing is that I have this adorable picture of my coworker's daughter that I'm scanning as a favor (no you pervs it's not going up on the internet). I also have some meeting-doodles that I'd like to be able to upload. Yes, they are going to be happily residing in the "art" section. Well that is if this FREAKING scanner would work right like it is supposed to! Damn thing wouldn't know a white background if it got hit upside the light-bulb!
I wish I could just bang my head against something right now. It's that or bang the scanner against something. *big sigh* Bitching to Shells about it as we speak, but that is no excuse for poor behavior on the scanner's part. I swear it needs to learn some manners. *glares at scanner*
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 16:25
Well I just want to say that there are some people who just should not be using computers. Plain and simple. Computers should be banned from them, and they should not touch them. Ok, maybe I'm being judgemental because I like to think of myself as a decent user of a computer. So I can't program a program from scratch, but I can code html and I do know some css, and php. Of course, if I DON'T know, I know where to look. That being said, there are some people who just should not use a computer. I'm talking about the people who do not know that you can tab through fields and insist on going up to use the mouse (which has the middle roller button--only has it disabled) to click to the next field as opposed to hitting the tab key and making it go that much faster.
I'm talking about the people who believe that aliases chosen as online IDs are a personal affront to her knowing who they are, who do not realize there are different reasons for being online other than a narrowly-defined space in which to work. The idea of google frightens them. Or they just use it's main search capability and don't realize that they archive pages. And don't care to learn about it. And then think they're all expert. People who think that because they use a computer in one way that EVERYONE else in the world uses (and has to use) the computer in the same exact way. That a computer's only use is as a word-processor.
Ok, I may be talking a little harshly on people who are just learning. People who may not have had the benefit of growing up with a computer in the house. But you have to be willing to learn if you're going to use it!
Ok, I'm a bitch I know. I don't think age has anything to do with it. Because I've known people in their 70's finally get a computer and realize all the things about online SN's and all that sort of thing. It's my conclusion that there is massive tunnel vision and a refusal to learn. Perhaps because if they know, they will realize how difficult some things really are. And if they realize that, they cannot feel superior.
*takes a deep breath*
My other big rant is on SUV's but I suppose that will have to wait for another time because they get me riled up. I guess I don't have a big problem with the smaller SUV's but mostly the big ones where they believe that because they are 10 feet off the ground they are safer. Well perhaps they themselves are safer against a collision with a smaller car, but they are making the roads far more dangerous. And there's such the small fix for that too. *takes another deep breath*
I should just go back to writing my happy little Elf stories. Ok I will.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 20:38
I had another weird dream last night.
It out the back of my house and I think there was snow on the ground, but it was raining as well. I remember it was raining because I had an umbrella. So for some reason we were going out the back to wait for the bus. Yes, I was school-aged in my dream. So I walked out along the side of my house to see the road to see if the bus was coming. Well, in one of those dream-shifts, the road was the one I grew up on and there were other people there. I think they were people I went to HS with. So we were horsing around and I was pushed and I almost ran into an easel. Yes, there was a Chinese man painting in my dream. So I kinda smile at him, but he's pissed, and he goes to move his painting. Then I guess my punishement is that I have to paint to. So I get a canvass and some paint, and I'm painting this carriage scene and we're talking about serial murders and stuff. I think it might have had something to do with my painting, but I'm not sure.
But then I'm in school, and it's like the Middle School I went to school at. But I'm like faculty and we're in a classroom and the tv comes on and the comic-strip "Cathy" apparently had a yoga program. And it was on at noon, and the other teachers and I thought it would be cool to do that, but as the TVs were all on mobile carts and stuff, we had to reserve a cart for everyday at noon.
And in the meantime, I had a package to give to my dad. I had packed it, and I remember packing my fantabulous new wireless keyboard on top. And he's back from Taiwan and I give him the package, and lo and behold he's gotten himself a wireless setup himself.
~*~
Yeah. Oh, Jen has an amusing convo on her blog.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 08:39
Freaky Dream Alert
I haven't had one in a while. Well not one that I remember. So...
I'm not remembering the exact order of all of these, but I was ina bathroom. There were a few people in there--well maybe just me and one other person. It was a girl's bathroom. I think it was a Buffy-Inspired dream because there was this vampire/sludge monster. Actually, the face was the one of the vampire/sludge monster on the rerun last night. (I think season 2) But anyway, it was green and dripping and gross. And it was literally throwing shit around. And it had to be herded back into the toilet from whence it came, and finally, just the head was sticking out and it needed to be slapped around a little.
And then, I'm not sure if it was before or after the vampire/sludge monster, but there was this golf course type thing. Maybe it was a driving range, but where this one guy teed off was from this little building. Well, there was a grill on top. Yes, actual BBQ was being made as you stood behind the grill thingie and teed off over what looked like an oven door that opened and closed like a trap door. My first drive went nowhere, as did my second, but my third went really far. Apparently because the owner/guy moved the grill and opened up a wind-current to make the fire hotter. So then we're actually IN this place, and we have to get changed to go out for winter stuff... like skiing I think. And I remember starting to change my shirt, and there was this little cubby that was by the end of the grill and I remember being trapped in there.
And I think the last part was staring at a map and hearing the story of the Erie Canal--only most of the Adirondak region in NYS was a really big lake. And I'm arguing with a lady at work 1) how the song goes and 2) how long it would take to go places on it. Because we were reading a diary written in like the 1800's about traveling on it. But in the winter, the lake froze up mostly so you had to take wagons around the bottom of the like.... Like going from Buffalo along the Southern Tier to Binghampton. And there were things marked on the map--like where this one guy died. And as I'm remembering what the map looked like, it was like NYS was backwards--which would expain the big ol' lake where the Adirondaks are. But Buffalo was still in the west and Albany/NYC still in the east.
It was very strange.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 08:32
So my Tolkien geekiness is confirmed. I just finished my great Silmarillion Family Tree project. Well I finished it a bit ago, but I just uploaded it now. Go look: Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 21:44
So I'm bored. When is that new? Not really. I had some mindblowing thoughts to write about here, but at the moment they have gone away from me. That's not too surprising considering. Usually I get deep thoughts when listening to NPR which is kind of to be expected because it isn't mindless radio. But I think my deep thoughts were about something that was not inspired by NPR only I can't remember what it was. I think it might have been about relationships and friendships and whatnot. About being a doormat and being a victim and making a choice not to be that way anymore. Making a choice to stand up for yourself and say "hey" I don't need to sit here and take this. And not do it in a violent way either.
But like most things, you can only tell someone for so long to stop being a doormat and to take responsibility because it has to be a decision you come to all your own. There is a certain amount of light-headedness when you make that choice to step out of someone else's shadow. And sometimes, a certain amount of shame too. Shame in how you treated people when you were being the bobble-headed sycophant for whomever. And you have to face that shame . It makes me glad I have the friends I do. I can't put links up to them becaue none of them really have websites. Sometimes, you just stumble into a great group of people. You don't set out to make friends with them or to cultivate them for whatever purpose. It just happens. All of a sudden, it comes to you and you realize they are a group of people you would trust forever. True, you may have snit-fits and other terrible things, becasue it always happens. Sometimes, you'll get mad and upset at each other. But they're there.
On a completely different note. I went to Wegmans and Target and got me some new furniture for my room. A "entertainment stand" and a lamp. Of course, my entertainment stand is not being used for a tv/vcr etc. It's storing my printer and my music books and the aforementioneld lamp. It was just time for a change, I think. And a section of my floor saw the vacuum for the first time in a long time. I still have hordes of stuff to organize, but I can only work a little at a time. Sometimes, I hate fighting entropy.
But anyways, I have a package to mail tomorrow. Susie knows who it's being sent to. It means that I'll have to trek across campus tomorrow during lunch to get to the post office, but I think it will be worth it. Just to know I'm spreading joy and cookiness everywhere. :) I also have been an absolute Tolkien geek the past few nights. I've been making a family tree for the Silmarillion. For those of you who don't follow the Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion is the creation story for the universe, and to keep the people straight, there are some geneological trees in the back. The thing you don't realize is how everyone is related until you get them all on one--which is what I'm doing. I think after all this work I may turn it into a freaking wallpaper, just to keep it with me always.
So that's it from here... not much else is going on. I have to go make dinner soon.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 18:08
So tell us about your chicken story Liz.
Ok, I will.
So it's my dad's birthday tomorrow, and he hinted loudly that he wanted me to make him his chocolate-covered cherry cookies. Recipe here. Yes, he hinted it to me by deciding to make a Manhattan--which involves marachino (sp) cherries--just like the cookies. So he showed me how to make one, probably in the hopes that I will sometime be an obedient daughter and make him one upon request some other time. *rolls eyes* So I ask him. "Do you want the cherry cookies for your birthday" and he replies all sarcastically surprised "oh! what a good idea!" *rolls eyes* (look folks, I've go the smart-ass gene from both sides).
So, we dont' have enough cherries to make the cookies, and we need some other stuff too, so I have to stop at the store. I forget to do so yesterday, so I do today. And I'm thinking: I'm going to be baking cookies, I don't want other stuff going on in my kitchen when this happens. Yes, when I'm baking, the kitchen is MINE. So I think Wegmans has fish frys you can buy and shop while you wait for them to be freshly made up. I'll get three of those. Nope. They moved where the fish was, and it was not anywhere near the frying stuff, and no one was there to ask. So I'm a little disappointed, so I continue picking up things (butter, cherries, vanilla, chocolate chips, combos, mike & ikes, and some lean cuisine microwave dinners on sale 2 for $3), and I figure Wegmans has rotissirie chicken that's pretty good, I'll get one of those, bake Grands (tm) while I'm making up the cookie dough, and it'll be all good.
Wrong.
They don't have any chickens out. But I see them rotating on the rotissirie. And there are 2 employees and like 6 people in line at the deli. So I take a number, so as not to appear rude by just yelling stuff at the people at the deli (number 11, serving 8) and wait in line at the deli--because that's who's in charge of the chickens. And apparently numbers 7 and 8 were having big orders, because the lady with number 9 almost left, and she was up next! Lady Number 9 only wanted cheese. So they call Number 11--which is me--and the guy asks "what can I get for you?" He was like the manager-type guy fortunately. And I say, "When are you going to put the rotissirie chicken out?" He tells me "soon" Because the chicken lady was on break.
Now while I was standing in line, the chicken buzzer went off, so the chickens were freshly done. And I'm thiking If I was the chicken lady, I'd know how long the chickens had to take to cook and take my break accordingly so I could come back from break a little before the chicken alarm goes off and can get my hands washed and gloved and my workspace prepared with all the sauces they put on teh chickens and whatnot, so the chickens get done and I can get right on them! Apparently the Chicken Lady did not think thusly.
So I go and stand by the empty place where the rotissirie chickens go when they're all boxed up. And I wait. And I wait. And I hear the manager guy tell the Chicken Lady that I wanted a chicken and I had been waiting (go Manager Guy!). So she asks me what kind, and I request lemon pepper (this becomes important). So she goes in the back and steps through into a trans-dimentional porthole or something because she disappears from view. At which point I realize there's another customer by me who was waiting longer than I who asked me if they were going to put chickens out, and I told her the Chicken Lady was getting me one because I had taken a number and asked.
Now I feel a bit bad because this lady has 3 kids under the age of 7 and she was waiting longer than I was, but then again, I asked. So the Chicken Lady finally reappears from her transdimentional portal and is very confused as to where she is. But eventually, she gets around to making me my requested chicken, and she hand delivers it, and says "At leas you know it's fresh,"
Which was true, but I noticed that the freshly prepared chicken had an unusual yellow growth from it's stuffing hole. And I think cool a free lemon! shoved up the chicken's butt!
So the moral of the story is: there's always a bright side.
PS. the chicken was good, especially when dad squeezed said free lemon over the chicken right before we ate it.
PPS. The cookies are baked (41 with cherries 7 with walnuts--because the cherry jar with 1 cherry per serving and about 50 servings per jar only had 41 cherries. ok 42).
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 22:18
Ok so my parent's computer is majorly sucking at the moment... Like it needs lots of new and good stuff. So mom came in here to use my computer to check her e-mail and discovered lo and behold, my mouse sucks. I knew that. So what do we do today? Buy me some new winter boots. Oh, yeah, we go looking for a new mouse for me. Well my new mouse and keyboard is beyond cool. Because they are both cordless and the mouse is that laser thing too so it can run over everything. I am very very happy. I hope I can make graphics that don't suck now. Oh, And I think I can probably lay backwards on my bed and do computing in bed. That rocks my socks!
My father, who didn't like FotR the first time through requested that I put in the DVDs. Unfortunately, I was already going shopping and desperately needed new winter boots so I had to go and thus missed most of the middle. And that is sad because I love to watch LotR for all the elves. I love elves. I'm changing my layouts for Elf Addiction so it is really ugly now. I have also discovered the wonderfulness that is OFUM which is the Official Fanfic University of Middle-earth. That is, of course, a good thing. I also sucked it up and got me a user name and password at FF.net because I really really want to write a story to protect my pretty beautiful elf Legolas. Because he gets mobbed by all the drooling fangirls. Don't get me wrong, I have fantasies on doing things to his elfhood that would make anyone blush. But I like to keep said fantasies secret and safe with me.
I have a feeling I'm going to get paged to do some menial outside cold work in a moment. Because if I buy a new "toy" I can't play on it and my father yells and bitches, but if HE gets a new "toy" he can play with it for the next 92 hours nonstop and (insert diety here) help anyone that disturbs him. Plus that, I'm in need of a beverage. Jen has a new layout. I think Shells is in the middle of a crossover, so *shrug*
Anyway, have a happy weekend.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 13:47
New Year, New snow. Well, at least it was somewhat plowed in my parking lot.
Time spent in car: 1 hour
Total commute: 1 hour 15 minutes
Number of Fishtails: 2
Number of times Tailgated: 3
Number of accidents passed: 1 (needed 3 police cars)
Number of plows in Manley: 1
Time spent in first gear: 30 minutes
Number of idiots driving too fast and in two lanes: 2
I've updated the Chats page. I have like 4 or 5 prittees to put up too. I've also added my Dreams page to my spankin' php layout. I'm also in the process of making my Elf Addiction site switch over, so it is very ugly at the moment. But Legolas *sigh* is going away for now, and Elrond is the man... er elf... er half-elf.
Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 09:01
