And so the insanity begins...

Votania didn't get home until after nine last night. I'd already wrapped the presents (I still need to wrap Fluffy, the hat, and the HP glasses) and mopped the kitchen floor and mopped my bathroom floor and done my laundry; we still need a thorough vacuuming.

I don't know how we're going to retrieve the cake. Clover is, as far as I know, still out of town, and evealone's car Vampire is not entirely in working order -- she smokes when sunlight hits her. Not to mention the transmission fluid she's been out of for a week or so.

Bus, probably.

Morning

Darkside and I elected to eat breakfast outside this morning -- did he even *eat* breakfast? No. I did what he terms "the older-sister routine" at him just now... he used me as a mousepad. But anyway, we sat outside to avoid the media circus inside. There are two conflicting televisions, the College Television Network, and the bigscreen tuned to whatever the hell the people are watching.

I elected to talk to Darkside instead.

Next up, Database. Whee!

Being used as a mousepad is fun.

Hey, Marx?

You know that activity you mentioned? I've got time open this weekend. Thinking probably Saturday afternoon? No anime club this week, but I do want to give plasma in the morning.

Noise Pollution

Administration has decided that a nice way to commemorate this day and uplift those who need uplifting is the plugging in of a sound system in the courtyard, and the playing of uplifting and patriotic tunes.

These same tunes interrupted, at several points, our speech class, with amplifier-effects that did not in any way resemble normal feedback squeals.

Noise pollution. Bleaugh. I'm avoiding it in the lab, which shouldn't be far enough away from it to escape; I guess they've turned it down.

Hiding

Too much energy floating around today, both good and bad. I'm not prepared for this. I'm prepared for the hiding-from-it part, but I'm horribly unprepared for what my duty is, the directing of this energy to a specific purpose.

Magicians are like programmers. You can find more than enough of the people who can write code, and pay them minimum wage. You can likewise find a large number of the people who can create good vibes, and produce massive amounts of energy.

It's rarer to find people who can design programs and write them; rarer yet to find people who can design programs in such a way that other people can write them. It's a bit of a search to find magicians who can produce the energy and direct it than just energy-makers; it's rarer to find magicians who can use the energy output by others and direct it to a purpose.


I am one of those who can direct the energy of others.

Today I hide. I do not know what purpose to direct this to. I have been confused by the contradicting stories and media blitz and hyperbole and the occasional outright lie -- so I hide.

I shirk on my duty, because my duty is not clear.

It is now my duty to find out what I'm supposed to do so I can go ahead and do it.

Birthday Celebration!

cindygerb says that today is Orgasm Day. Today is also her birthday. Celebrate her birthday with orgasms!

What a delightful idea. I think I just might.

dlachta

Would everyone just turn off the damn media? It's giving me a headache!

...Here, the only thing that's on is the Spiderman.

Ooooh!

Darkside told me, the other day, about some webshooter toys that shoot silly string, but can be refilled with water when that runs out.

Clover happened to get Nephew those for his birthday. I called Darkside to giggle. Woke him up, poor boy. (Silly me.) "I feel sorry for your house," he said, upon learning what Nephew had gotten.

Nephew proceeded to blast us with both cans of the string, and we have photos. We'll see if they wind up coming to a webspace near you or not. There was much giggling, and after the stringfight was over with Spiderman, the two villanesses in black (votania and me) decided to throw web at each other. It was fun.

Fortunately, vacuum cleaners are good things.

Narcissa quote of the day (from when she was three or four, at the end of a birthday party when the grown-ups were putting things away): "Don't clean up all the fun!"

General English Major Bitch

Quotes ( " " ) are used to mark something that somebody has said, or something that is phrased in this exact manner, in computer-type usage, to contain a "string" (a group of letters organized in a certain fashion), to denote a perhaps unfamiliar word (or a familiar word used in an unfamiliar way) that is to be defined, or to be used with a certain definition other than the standard, or in the talking of items or activities that can be described as "alleged" or "so-called".

For example, President Dubya Bush has been "peacemongering". In this context, the use of quotes around "peacemongering" is to indicate that the way that the word is being used really means that he's been talking about blowing the hell out of Saddam, and is unlikely to be changing his mind no matter what his advisors or the American public say.

Pet peeve: when people use quotes instead of italics, bold, underlining, or other forms of emphasis.

Take a look at these two sentences:

I really don't like peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.
I really "don't like" peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.

In the first sentence, with the phrase "don't like" in italics, the meaning is clear: the not liking is not a mild feeling, but a strong one: I hate them! I really do! I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole!

In the second sentence, with "don't like" in quotes, the way that I must think of this is that "don't like" is a special, perhaps sarcastic or ironic use of the two words, not meaning the standard. Perhaps I absolutely love them, and I'm saying this while rolling my eyes, and after I finish saying this, I will snicker, because everyone knows that I love PBJ; the best birthday gift you could get me is one of those jars of the striped PBJ stuff, because I won't eat anything else.

There is one usage where the use of quotes and italics overlaps. If I'm talking about a word, or a short phrase, whenever I mention it out of its usable context in a sentence, I have to mark it to my reader somehow so they won't get confused about what I'm saying. In this case, it is perfectly acceptable to italicize the word in question.

Today's word is perdurable.
Today's word is "perdurable".
Today's word is 'perdurable'.

It's generally confusing, but the simplest rule to remember to avoid making my editorial ears steam is this: Emphasize using <i> and </i>!

Men: I don't get them.

This morning, Darkside and I were talking, and he made some reference to bonking me over the head with a battery-operated tool. I looked blank, and he indicated the sort of thing he was talking about. I cracked up laughing: Darkside, joking around about vibrators?

Our conversation veered a little bit, and somehow I cracked up over a sick thought that I didn't reveal. Darkside wondered aloud what I was laughing over: using Pikachu as a battery for a battery operated toy? As a matter of fact, that had been my very mental image. He's getting better at following my nonstandard and very eerie leaps of thought.

Later in the day, when I was walking him out to his car, I had a favor to ask of him: would he give me a ride? I was hesitating over asking, however, so he said: "Speak now, or forever hold your peace -- but in your case, I'd say 'battery operated toy'..." (punning on the homonym peace/piece)...

What gives? Darkside, joking about vibrators?

But then, there was the moment when I was hanging with him before Social Issues & Tech started, and he'd said something funny and cute; instead of giving him a hug and/or kiss, I laid the Vulcan grip on his neck. "I think that nerve-pinching you as a sign of affection is better than giving you a kiss," I said.

"Eeew!" he said, cringing. "You said the K word!"


Asked Echo about the situation. Evidently this is one of the more weird questions he's been asked. He wanted to know had Darkside ever seen my vibrators, or seen me use them. No? Had Darkside ever been to my house? Yes? Then don't be so sure about his having not seen them. Oh. Not within the past nine months, and the vibrator jokes are a new thing? Huh. Maybe he's getting off on thinking about your vibrators; I wouldn't let him borrow them, if I were you. So he's not interested in a relationship? Then he wants to have sex. Ohhh, so he said you're 'not his type'? Every woman is every man's type. And that thing about me pulling the big sister thing on Darkside? Maybe that turns him on. If you want to sleep with him, play it up!

He called Votania back. Evidently the conversation that he and I had deeply disturbed him. Heh.

I have a new usericon!

Teddyborg is gone; in its place...
( It's all Darkside's fault this time, not Essy's. )

Quiet afternoon

Other than the webshooter fight, the afternoon and evening have been quiet. Dawn stopped in for a while, and was appropriately giggly at my new artistic endeavour. We are making evil, evil plots for the game. Darkside shouldn't be worried, though.

No. Not at all.

Clover did come back from wherever it was that she was last night, and was there to drive us to Sam's to get the cake. Much happiness was had. This was around twelve-thirty, when I got home from school. Benes cancelled class in light of the fact that no one was going to get anything done. Clover's car is the Big White Beast, or something like that. Pretty computerized car. Touchscreen for controlling stuff. Nice.

There were presents when we got home, and lunch. Clover had to run errands, but came back. There was webslinging, and photos taken. There was pool-fun, and I chatted with Echo. Clover left. There was more fun, and then cake. Dawn came over. There was more cake, and Spiderman coloring books. Dawn left, after much tickling of Nephew.

Now it's bedtime.

What a nice birthday.

Just to see if I can...

silly, silly Loony.

Omens...

Eight of Spades got lost in Nephew's new Harry Potter card trick box. Figured out how to find it and get it out.

Interpretation: Once I figure out it's me that's lost, I will be able to figure out how to extract myself from the situation.


In other news, both votania and I have been having thoughts about California. I have obligations here until Halloween, but after that...


Realistically speaking, I would like to finish my degree at the DeVry at which I started. I have friends here: ralmathon, evealone, Dawn... well, Dawn's moving to California and getting married as of January... who the hell knows where Neighbor's going to end up... evealone seems to be a wanderer too...

The obligations to people I have locally: Votania and Nephew, sticking with them; Darkside.

I'm sticking with Votania until she gets her degree, whatever that's going to wind up being. If at all possible, I would like to be within easy regular contact distance of Darkside. Local phone calls, I guess would be my ideal boundary. I feel hair-raising panic over the prospect of not being close enough to him to be there if needed.


...And Votania pops out of her room to talk about moving. Hmm. ...We may actually do this.

Well then.

Somewhat after June 21, 2003. Nephew's school lets out at the end of May.

gremliness, it looks like you and I are going to become a lot closer...


I have no idea where we're moving to as yet. But I remember the last time that I had a decision to move made with such a quickness. It was when BJ and I were preparing to move to Arizona, and he told me one day, and we had decided that we would the next. There was no long debate process; we just knew that we were having to do it, and that this would happen, so we'd better have it happening smoothly.

I think that this is very much the same feeling. I'm still getting pangs about potentially being non-near my Darkside. However, knowing Darkside as I do, I've been anticipating that he will wind up in California as well.

Tuesday when I was retrieving Nephew from school, I walked down the street feeling how warm and soft the air was. I would be happy if the temperature never got above the 90's, and the humidity was good, and everything felt just the way it did then.

It feels like that at the house of Guide Dog Aunt. It feels like that near Grandma's house. ...I'm going to love this.


Tick. Tick. Tick.

And a big happy welcome

...to aratina, an old friend from my days at UAF, the second semester of which was ralmathon's only semester there. He may or may not be acquainted with crimmycat.

Portents

evealone is predicting interesting things for the future. He just wishes he could be there. Well, fly on the wall, he says. "Have fuuuun!"

Dear me.

He evidently has relatives in the area, whichever area that happens to be.


I'm still in bounceoffthewalls mode. What the fuck is up with me today? Things seem to be calming down, finally, which explains why I'm not.

Whee! I'll get to meet Red Sandlewood, finally!!!

Portents:

evealone says that I'll know when what he's talking about has arrived. "Too late, of course, but... (heh heh heh)..."

Darkside

I'm going to miss him so very much, if it does not happen that he decides that California is a great place to be living.

I love him.

I like hearing his voice every day, or at least five days out of the week. I like being able to tap him and get him to check out a funny webpage. Bonk him over the head.

I love him.

He smiles at me and apologizes for the traffic. He comments on my laundry situation. He remembers when and where my classes are.

I collect new friends everywhere I go, but the prospect of leaving Darkside, then seeing him again and realizing that I have been supplanted, and so has he... that's not a pleasant thought. Darkside is the only Darkside in the world, and I love him. I love other people, but only he and I can share that particular connection. Everybody else has to connect somewhere else.