Hopefully this will be a nearly final update on Kitty. At least, health related update. She's been home 2 weeks (yay!). The vet was very appropriately cautious at the time - just because she was coming home didn't mean everything was cool. All it meant was, she was feeding herself finally, and it was time for some individual lovin'. So it was a pill poppin', kibble counting fun fest. We went from 'OMG!! FOOD!!' to "oh yeah. that food thing...' 10 days later, I skip a day of work and take Kitty in to the vet for a progress report blood test.  Wednesday I remembered (*sigh*) to call back... And she's fine. A little high in the billirubin(sp?) count, but otherwise we're clear.  I'll be feeding her a single pill for a little while longer, but that's *so* very livable-with.  She's a little thin, but she's also a young, energetic cat, so there's going to be an element of boniness as a natural consequence of that. But her keelbone and spine don't scare me with their definition any  more. 

As flechyr points out, there may still be some kitty health posts. Mostly (hopefully(or not)) they will consist of us figuring out where to bury her fuzzy little corpse after the next idiotic thing she does/eats/jumps on/destroys/etc. But that's just the joys of living with a cat, so no biggee. And honestly... This evening, flechyr was over at a friend's place. I get cranky coming home to an empty house - I've just gotten used to having flechyr around, and I like just having him here when I get home.  But tonight, having Thalia yelling at the door until I got my tushy through it... yeah, it's nice to be wanted at home :D .  Now I just have to find a good brush for a short hair cat - Thalia's finally discovered the joys of shedding! Oh yay :/ 

Until 3 AM, when Thalia will cry mournfully because she's not allowed in the bedroom (damn allergies) and dig at the door and spill the bathroom trashcan, waking us up, I will love my kitty. I'll even love her after she wakes us up. It's just right at that moment that I might question our sanity...

http://www.symphonyofscience.com./index.html (thanks to rowandollI think ;D )

I remember that, as a child, the harshest punishment my parents could give me was to deny me Sunday evening TV. I would far rather have been spanked, yelled at, *anything*. Sunday night was Battlestar Galactica and Cosmos. To this day I wish I'd had the right kind of interest in space, because I listen to Carl Sagan talk about the universe and the amazement and joy he had in looking out at the universe and then looking at our own planet and seeing the interconnections and possibilities and just the sheer awesomeness of it all. Okay, yes, he sounded like a Muppet and a lot of his theories seemed more grounded in his desires than in fact. He approached the world with a sense of wonder and skepticism I have seen only in the truly passionate, or maybe fanatic. I know there are still people who complain that he wasn't really a *good* astronomer, just a popular one. But you know? He made me look up, into the sky, and realize that as vast as the cosmos is and as infinitesimal as any one of us is in relation to it, it's still a part of me and I am a part of it, and in some respects the cosmos exists as it does *because* I am here. I never became a scientist, but Dr Sagan left an indelible mark on me. Most of the time I never notice it, but it is part of the filter I see the world through. "We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter. "

Oh New Cat, why do you do this? Why do you make cheerful purrings and loving pounces only to waste away in sickness?  It's barely been three weeks!  You get better, or so help me I'll... I'll... Well, I don't know *what* I'll do, but it's going to involve a lot of stomping and screaming, and won't *that* make the neighbors look at me funny! And then you'll be embarrassed to be our kitty, just you wait!  Stupid cat, being all sick 'n' stuff...

Feh.

I find anger and despair to be flip sides of the same coping mechanisim coin.  I'm desperately trying to stay angry right now. I just have to be real careful where I direct that anger.  So just... bear with me. Or ignore me. I'll be in the corner, bitching.

Feh, again.

Because it's that kind of week, and I somehow got sucked into reading the archives for Girls With Slingshots:
http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/archive.php?today=796&comic=278
The rest of the comic is really not usually safe for work, nor for the delicate of sensibilities*, but it is strangely amusing. The specific comic referenced here, however, *is* safe, and is totally a propot considering our new family member. Who is definitely getting more comfortable around us. (Seriously, cat. The trash can? At 4 in the morning?! Witch!!) (Actually, I think the trash can may have woken me up, but i didn't really hear it. What I heard was little kittty paws trying to get into the under-sink cabinet.  It didn't worry me, but I sure wasn't going to get back to sleep while she did it.) Ahem. I digress.
( On Greek yogurt, and mostly only interesting to me. )I'm so wierd (like no one else figured that out). I'm waxing poetic about freakin' breakfast food.  Ah well. At least I'm getting my dairy product :)

*edit: but the comic does have a Scotch-Irish cactus with a French mustache. Who is also not safe for work, mostly due to his passion for spider plants.

"It's my superpower.  I am Sarcasmo, woman of sarcasm. My enemies are struck down by my barbs of steel. Barbs - barbed comments?  Heh."
--Lucy Miller, BBC7 Doctor Who Adventures

There's a lot of things in my head that never make it to the keyboard - new cat, wierd relationships, sword stuff. But by the time I'm at a keyboard I've either forgotten or think I've parsed it out in my own head and so it loses importance - until the next time something goes wonky. Nothing terribly disturbing in the long run, just - wonky. Whatevs.

Welp, I am now an officially registered student of CLC. If they ever remember to bill me, I'll even be a *paid up* student :D . I've put off or forgotten to register for training courses for so long now... and I still need to find access to a couple. The joys of hunting online-only courses :/  But at least this is a start  -- 'Introduction to SQL'. I suspect it's stuff I've managed to teach myself by now, but I'd rather have an official nod to how it all functions. Still need to find Visual Basic for Applications, and maybe some SAS training (although I have a book for SAS; might even read it some day)

Now to get through the next hour without going spare from bitchy docs who can't get their way and want to throw hissy fits about it. Not even a psychiatrist (they're usually the worst)! This woman... Yah! ::deep breath:: And in-house IT people who have no grasp of how the business side works, so they just throw data around because it's easier for *them*... Never mind how that mysterious data affects anyone else, like our outside vendors and end users, and not like they *told* any of us they were doing it - even if we hadn't anticipated the problems it caused, we would at least have been prepared to deal with the fallout.  *GRRRRR!!* Id10ts!  Meh; could'a been worse.  I think I only really care because, if my unit had tried to blanket add a metric ton of data to the database, IT and the rest of the groups would be hunting our heads, as has happened in the past.  Double standard, much?  ::vent vent vent::

Whew!  done now :)  Tonight will be Imax StarTrek, tomorrow will be me talking out of my @$$ in a classic case of 'those who know, do; those who don't, teach', (which isn't fair to me. I do know, I just can't quite do. Yet.) and folk house-concert in the city, and Sunday will be me trying to make up for not being available to help out the event tonight and tomorrow :(  But time is crunchy this month, and I do what I can when I can and complain the rest of the time. It is, after all, what I'm very good at :)

My cube smells like an Italian restaurant - there was a group walk to one of the farmer's markets downtown. I was buying some pretty green peppers and a couple tomatoes when I got blind-sided by a bunch of basil that forced me to buy it.  So fresh, the stem ends are in water.  I was very tempted to by some of the herbs still in pots, but I can't afford to plant them outdoors - the grounds crew would think they were weeds, with my luck, as they seem to have a penchant for randomly ripping plants out of my front (oh, the wonders of condo living when it conflicts with the casual wildflower gardner.  I wouldn't mind so much if they only planted things as well as ripping them out :/  ). Plus, all their tags said 'full sun', and the only patch I have is maybe half a day of sun.  Overthinking things? Yep, I know I am.  I may try some basil anyway - It's very pretty just as a plant.  I'm thinking of throwing some willow withies woven together as a bit of a fence.  Maybe that will fend of the rampaging groundsmen.  Fun to contemplate :)

T-70 hours and counting (give or take)

battery for watch = check
ground coffee = sorta check. I'll need to make more.
Still need to check my class instructions.
Last bits of coif for me, collar thingie for flechyr - I may just pack the last of the white linen and my scissors and deal with it when we get there.
Also need to put together a music list, although since I dont' drive, I have very little right to the radio.  MP3 player goes on the charger tomorrow.
Boss knows what he has to cover while I'm out.  Whether or not he remembers... Not my chicken. 

Still not sure what I've forgotten, but I'm confident I have enough to fake it.  As long as we remember the tent and all the stuff to put it up, almost everythign else can be dealt with. Actually, my class supplies are probably the only thing I *can't* fake, but ::shrug::  I'm freaking out a bit about that. I can't decide if I want no one to show up, or lots.  I want lots of people to be interested in bobbin lace, but I can't really effectively teach more than 6 or so at a time, and I'm still not great at dealing with people, so...  Ah well, fate shall determine. 

This is definitely one of those things - I can't wait to be at Pennsic. Getting there, packing, dealing with the car - not so fond. But once we're there and set up, it'll be great.  Hopefully :D  This oughtta be a heckuva week, with all the sword-geekery going on this weekend and the shopping and learning stuff the rest of the week.  And stuff.

*snrk* today's Two Lumps.
http://www.twolumps.net/d/20090722.html
Explains a bit about our wacky little group, now, don't it? :D

...I want to be Fred Regent. I really, really do. Maybe more than to be the Doctor's companion. Oh, the horror -- or something.

If you like wacky Brit WTFery, read Man from the Diogenes Club. It's utterly bril'.

I was worried, I admit. I don't do memorial stuff very well - I'm very circle of life/never say goodbye, just see you later. I was afraid of a weepfest. I got a nice celebrate-as-you-will. I'm glad.

Dear Universe, or To Whom It May Concern;

KNOCK IT THE HE!L OFF; 'k thx bai.

Sincerely,
me

Boy.  There is a lot that's gone on in just the past few days. I'm stuck in a place where I"m not sure what I want to say about any of it, though -- some of it was disappointing, some of it ws great, some of it just sucked rocks. Well, the sucking-rocks part was wholly work related, and entirely my own stupid fault, so the main reason I don't want to talk about it is cuz I don't need any more reminders of how irresponsible I can be over projects I hate.  Nothing to see here, move along, move along.  On the up side, I now know that I can make nearly 130 phone calls in a seven hour time span. Go me :/
( I has alternative lifestyle; read at your own peril (not that I get at all detailed, actually) )
And this weekend is Reclaiming our History, which is probably Tourdion's only gig this summer. Ye gods and hairy fishes, I hope it goes well!  I need my performance fix!

Ah, May. I've never been a fan of my birthday, so to ease my pain I've decided to give everyone FREE COMICS! Weeeell... maybe it's not really *my* idea...

www.freecomicbookday.com

W00T! :D

I'm listening to The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency on BBC7 (it's about a woman starting a detective agency in Botswana).  At some point she describes herself as a Traditionally Built Woman, and procedes to describe why being a Traditionally Built Woman is a better thing than being a skinny woman - snakes do not mistake you for trees, for one thing, and they will hear you coming and not bite you.  A wonderful doctor cannot be her husband, as he is not very Traditionally Built, and he does not think he will fatten up well :)  It's all so very pleasantly presented, too.  Cultural exposure is an interesting side benefit, too.

There's a lot in the blank spot between posts. I'd have to say it was all made of epic fail this time, unfortunately, particularly last week. Nothing made it to LJ, as most of my issues were worked out in long rambling talks with myself, for which I can thank the mile+ walk to the morning train - passing cars can't tell that the crazy lady is talking to herself, and suburbanites are otherwise too lazy to walk the walks, so I'm safe to be my own therapist (healer, heal thyself...) Some fail = mine, some fail = others (and mostly entwined with mine), some fail = fate with a lousy sense of timing, or perhaps caused by fail #2. At least one fail that's added itself to my personal scourge of stupidity, the one that gets pulled out and caressed like a sharpened bone knife when I don't feel *quite* bad enough about being such a screw-up. ::rolls eyes:: Drama princess...

One of the fallouts from the morning 'therapy' sessions has been that I've drawn my attention to some personality changes I hadn't actively noted. I'm still workign on the good/bad/indifferent aspects of these changes, if they even exist. At some point in the near future I'll have to see if corrective measures are needed. The tricky bit is always identifying which changes are justified and which should be reversed if possible. The filter of 'I'm always wrong' is thick and hard to ignore, regardless of how invalid it may be. I'm not worried about fixing it today, though, and it's nothing that's (big air quotes here) "life threatening". I just want to figure out where I stand with myself before it *does* become a cruciality. Proactive, not reactive - not something I'm good at, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try.

Totally ganked from emyrldlady , who I happened to stumble on when she posted a fanfic to a shared list. And I'm trying to look busy without actually looking at this stupid *many expletives deleted* data interface I'm supposed to be proofing. What some people think "just needs a little tweaking"...

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here (many of which have been made into famous films). How do your reading habits stack up?


Instructions:
Look at the list and bold those you have read.
( The List )
I'm more amused by the number of these I've heard radio plays of on BBC7.

Two random British awsomenesses(esessesesessesseses)

1. I can has British books! W00t!! (Which is to say, I got my 'Tak V Bowes' today. Something super cool about getting stuff from overseas. I need silk now.)

2. BBC7 'Catch My Breath'. Super f-ing creepy horror story. Started Monday, only stays online 7 days, so go NOW to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/schedules/2009/02/17 or www.bbc.co.uk/radio7 and go to Schedules. Not the usual bogey men, and some loverly Scottish accents for people like me what adores them.

Yay!