Honing...

Experience, as well as other things, are starting to tell me what I'll find in my mailbox on any given morning. Today I predicted a calendar reminder (not a prediction, a sure knowledge), a SA-talk digest (typical, but even odds), and ... something else. Thought it would be a comment from LJ.

Of course, I was exactly right. I got the calendar, the SA digest, and the "something else". But it wasn't an LJ comment.

Instead, it was an advertisement. With an attachment. "Receive Jesus NOW!!", the subject line screams, along with easily fifteen random or quasi-random characters. You mean Jesus is in the attachment? Wow. [Actually, as He can be found in all things, the idea's not half so silly as one might think, especially with the rise of the honest-to-gods technomancers like Echo (and myself).]

Somewhere out there, there have to be a few people receiving honest-to-gods benefits from spam, people who are not the spammers themselves or affiliated with them in any way. Maybe it's the trees, and those who love them. What is the environmental cost of fifty useless e-mails? I don't know, and have no way of telling.

(no subject)

(note: spam I comment on is usually that which finds its way into the inbox of my primary e-mail address. I get perhaps ten a day in the spam filter of that address, have instructed my spamtrap e-mail to dump all identified spam sent to it without my intervention, and I still have to field 25-50 spams in the inbox of the spamtrap.)

Mmmm.

Breakfast. Some crumby, flaky, gooey things out of the toaster with frosting. Mine are raspberry and cream cheese. That fulfils my dessert requirements for the whole day.

Everybody's awake.

Hanky Panky

This song is the one that Darkside mentioned to me when I used the phrase in conversation. I now know what he was snickering about.

I shall have to use the term more often, in this case.

( giggles )

April Fool jokes, discarded

Told Darkside about the former plan to show up at his workplace and pose as his new co-worker the dishwasher. He agreed that it would be a very good joke, but that the joke would be on me, as his workplace would expect me to perform the duties of a dishwasher for that day.

I claimed that I would be up to such a task. Really? he wanted to know, and detailed some of the job requirements. Yep. I have gained good skills with the dishwashing, and my job as the Muffin Queen gave me experience.

(no subject)

Something tells me that today's going to be a high-energy day.

Maybe it's the way that I'm already dressed, with my hair brushed and out of my face with sweatband, bra on, shoes on, and lipstick. That, and the chocolate-covered espresso beans...

Something tells me that this box of them may not last the week. And it's a nice large Trader Joe's box, the $3.99 kind that's 14 oz.

CTY memories, here I come...!

Lovely images...

It may well have been this song that first gave me my vision of the silver rose, the one that made my hand bleed, the rose I could not let go of.

Cleaning out my jewelry collection. There's one necklace that's definitely going. It's just not my style, though it's lovely, and the feeling it gives me on the neck is an itching prickle that forbodes allergic reaction. Even in the hand it feels so.

"...a silver thorn, a bloody rose, lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow..."

I love this song.

I love this whole album.

things unneeded

( TMI )

Progress

Bathroom counter tidied some. Will do more.

Laundry picked up.

Tidied my altar.

Must finish afghan, and vacuum the floor as well. Laundry is on the list as well. Must repair the two duffel bags. Must repair the selection of purses. Must finish tidying the computer desk, and shuffle all papers into their most appropriate binders.

current incense: Dragon's Blood

Doing, done

Vacuumed floor. Put nasty fluoride gunk on teeth; am waiting half an hour before completely rinsing mouth to allow the nasty stuff to work its way in. Stripped old polish from fingernails. Replied to my mother's e-mail discussing my father's operation in November. (Cyst or herniated disc, no one's quite sure.)

Fed the oak staff the other day; he should be fine for the next while. (He eats this orange oil & beeswax stuff, which is making him polish to a lovely dark color. When I first got him, the Viking proposed staining him the same colour, which proposal I rejected and objected to.)

Votania's vacuuming her room.

We need a hair dryer. We need coasters and small trays.

My webcam's on: silenceshadow on yahoo IM. Can't promise I'll be there, because I am flightily cleaning, but I might be.

More progress

Fixed broken drawer on desk. The front of the drawer was half-falling-off, but just needed a bit of a shove from the right direction in order to fit back together.

The whole family (votania, marxdarx, Nephew, and I) will be dressing up in our ren Garb and heading over to Baskin Robbins at one or so. Fun!

I'll get to see how the bodice fits. I may have to take it in...

Found the lost glasses of marxdarx...again. He hates the things, so he's being a complete bitch about wearing them, which leads, of course, to unattractive squinting and bumbling around the house looking for them. This time, he set them down to get into Garb, and then they got lost. Donated my spare hardshell case to the cause. Also found his lost headphones. The couch had eaten them.

( babble about shoes )

Nephew's taking a bath. I think he got some soap in the eyes, from the way there is shrieking.

Need to see if my montly budget has room for my cellphone.

Finally getting around to fixing my broomstick dresses. Yay, pretty things to wear! Both of them blew seams, related to my bust size. As this has gone down, it's probably safe to say that this won't happen again after I fix them. Finally managed to convince votania that large breasts are in fact a problem, with the following illustration: Strap two cantelopes to your chest. Never take them off. "Ow!" she said, picturing the situation. Marx echoed her. As a reasonably-endowed woman (C or D, usually D) she has difficulty wrapping her mind around the concept that perhaps, in some cases, more is not necessarily better.

Creativity...

According to mcredneck, thimbles are for nipple armor.

Gotta make myself an outfit like that one of these days.

In other news, finally shredded to hell the things sitting in the mending basket for the purpose of shredding to hell. Silk rips so very nicely...

Why I dislike Spongebob Squarepants so very much:

The show is stupid. I don't mean that in a childish, "I don't like it just 'cause" sort of way. I think it actively encourages lack of thought.

No one is going to argue with me over the topic of that starfish guy. That starfish guy, whatever his name is, isn't smart. That's part of the character. I don't have a real problem with that.

I don't have a problem with Spongebob being easily amused. Spongebob can pick up anything, and have a blast with it, even if he's not using the thing in the way that it was intended to be used. In one episode, Squidward litters, and Spongebob has a ball with the little piece of paper.

What I do have a problem with is the way Spongebob consistently fails to think. Marx read a Spongebob book aloud to Nephew, and I didn't like it at all. The starfish gets Spongebob built up into hysterics about aliens, which Spongebob has already been told don't exist, and through messing with things that they shouldn't have been messing with, they launch off in Sandy's rocket ship, get turned around, fail to realize they're back on Earth, meet "aliens", and at long last come home. Throughout the incident, the only characters displaying any level of thinking are Sandy and Squidward, and Squidward's usually portrayed as the bad guy.

I am accustomed to books featuring protagonists who use their minds to get around problems that might have seemed too big for other people to get around. Even in kids' books, that's what I'm used to. I have no patience with a storyline based around someone's carelessness, or failure to step back and take a good long look at things. I'd rather read about heroes being strong and brave and smart despite bad situations than about people bumbling into scrapes and out of them through sheer dumb luck. I don't value that at all.

Mmm, ice cream.

We all got dressed up and went out, about an hour after we'd planned to. Marx's mother called, and when that happens it's rarely fun. Marx's mother thinks I'm absolutely insane. She has no idea which one of us two is seeing him, and hasn't asked. She probably doesn't want to know. I don't blame her.

They had a flavour of ice cream at Baskin Robbins called Heartbreak Healer. It was chocolate with bittersweet chocolate chunks, and red hearts. Mmm. I of course got some, but couldn't finish it all.

Fry's grocery did not have white posterboard. Dammit! I shall have to seek that elsewhere. I may bus myself to Albertsons. I need to make three giant-size Tarot cards, and a sheet or two with different card layouts on it. We did find some wine on sale, though, and got yummy bread for yummy sandwiches, and milk, and tomatoes, and soda. We ran into Adam on our way home and his way to work. He looks spiffy in his work clothes. Note to self: when making a BLT, and there are no tomatoes, ketchup makes a very poor substitute. I only tried it on a quarter of one sandwich, thankfully. Further note to self: use more lettuce next time when making a BLT and there are no tomatoes.

Tomorrow sounds like a good day to donate plasma, and/or apply for the one job. If I get it, I'll schedule school accordingly.


current incense: patchouli

Laa laa.

Nephew discovered the Dragon Tales link on his homepage. He's having fun. I cleaned the counter in my bathroom. I have two candles burning, and some incense. The grown-ups are having a conference in their room. My phone service expires tomorrow if I don't renew it.

To be fixed: the rectangle-chunk fluorite choker, the garnet/dagger choker, Votania's broomstick skirt, Votania's butterfly nightgown, the navy blue laundry bag, the wolf lamp. The first choker needs a new jump ring, the second one needs restringing, the skirt has a bit of a problem in attachment between the waistband and the skirt in one place, the nightgown needs a strap sewn on, the laundry bag has a great gaping rent that needs sewing shut, and the wolf lamp needs a new switch, which will require a trip to a hardware store.

I have a bit of jewelry that is a gift for Dawn, and I must remember to pack the book that belongs to Guide Dog Aunt. It's a Vorkosigan book, which is why she thought it belonged to me, but it's actually hers.

*sigh* To distract Nephew from being hurt that Mommy was doing ritual without him, he wanted to wear my fishnet gloves. I let him borrow them for a bit, telling him that fishnet gloves are worn by girls, and guys dressing up gothic like Eric from The Crow. He wore them, and one of my spiked bracelets, for a bit, then got tired of them, as per usual. I helped him out of them, and now he's off to other pursuits. More Dragon Tales, evidently. He's at the say what you want them to say stage, and I just overheard him with a Mommy-quote: "Work! Work!" said to the computer, when a web page is slow at loading.


current incense: Butt Naked, plus the vanilla candle and the rose candle that had the citronella spilled on it, plus the current mix from votania's room

Tweaking (style)

I may want to define my own style, probably based off of the current style I've got, just 'cause I like it. This is because I want to add some extra possibilities to the day_currents, including current incense, et cetera; maybe current energy level or something as well. Actually, what I want to do is make up to, say, five, customizable currents. For you chemical experimenters on my friends list, you would be able to tweak it to make current drug:, et cetera.

Of course, doing all of the above makes it necessary to learn exactly how one does work with the stuff... n00bing all over the place right now, in the worst way. Failed miserably to tweak my dates. Bah.

Eventually, I swear, this will turn into a project. Perhaps for school, perhaps not; perhaps just for me; perhaps it'll be good enough to share with friends. I'm seeing a client on the way... eventually.

Evening

276, fully clothed. Did 20 reps of wingflap @ 40lbs, 20 forward pulldown @ 60lbs. Am going to make a habit of washing laundry twice a week, and then working out after I put the clothes in the washer. If I make that habit unshakable, unbreakable, then I'll guarantee myself regular workouts; all else will be dessert, in the most delightful of physical-exertion-treat ways.

On the house...

Drink recipe:

Half your glass full of Vanilla Coke. Add appx. 2 oz. almond amaretto.

Votania loves it.

*evil cackle*

So... Marx shared his power of not-getting-drunk with Votania. She drank a LOT, and failed to get drunk. I did get a little tipsy (having not had anything to drink). She was not particularly happy.

I gathered all the tipsiness within me together. I can sing beautifully sometimes. "Floating, falling, sweet intoxication; touch me, trust me, savor each sensation; let the dream begin: let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write: the power of the music of the night. " I then put my hands upon her forehead.

She got drunk, all right.

I made her some of the almond amaretto vanilla coke, and she shared with Marx. He got drunk. He's never been able to get drunk before. She's evidently shared some of her powers.

They both got silly. Nephew got a little concerned. I, being the sober one, reassured him that they were just being silly, it was what they had been drinking that was making them silly, and only grown-ups were allowed to drink things with alcohol in, just to make sure they would know how to not get too too silly. Reassured him that they would both be acting normally in about an hour.

Nephew's going to get a sleepover on the couch tonight, as the silly grown-ups will need space to themselves.

Votania took the last of Marx's buzz, as someone needed to go get the laundry out of the dryer. But she gave it back, and now they're both drunk again.

I love nights in with the witches.

Allowances:

Nephew is allowed to come in my room as long as it's clean.

I will be trying to maintain it in a clean state.