Stylish!

I am so together that even my mail is color coordinated. Seriously, isn't this a pretty set of catalogs to find in one's mailbox all at once on a single day? Sadly, although I am stylish, I apparently can't take a picture anymore that is not blurry. WTF?

Movie review: Word Play

We finally saw Word Play, the movie about xword puzzles. It was enjoyable, despite the VERY FIRST thing being a bit of Sunday NPR with Her Overlychipperness, Leigh Ann Hanson (Sp?)

My thoughts:

1. Wouldn't a movie of Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis be excellent? Either a documentary about the real strange people who obsess over Scrabble, or a fictional version starring Linsday Lohan and Jude Law as up and coming Scrabble players.....
2. How many people started doing xword puzzles after seeing this movie?
3. Is it worth getting cable just to see Jon Stewart on a daily basis?
4. Will I ever finish a Sunday Puzzle?
5. Will I ever do a puzzle in ink?
6. Who knew that anent was a word (from the puzzle I did last night, a Monday puzzle).
7. Why do I prefer jigsaw puzzles? Must be the pretty pictures.
8. Why do I like sudoku even less than xword puzzles? Will I become senile faster?
9. Is it sad to totally OBSESS over something trivial like xword puzzles, or not?
10. I wish more time was spent explaining how people construct xword puzzles, that was the best part (besides Jon Stewart).

For a funny xword related snarky blog post, look here.

Witch hazel

One of my favorite plants, the witch hazel. It is blooming now. NOW, DID YOU HEAR ME, NOW, IN NOVEMBER. IN WISCONSIN.

A match made in heaven

eighty million dollars

What would you do with eighty million dollars? Our neighbors have that question to answer, since they just sold their data security company for $150 million, and $80 million was their take (it was a privately held company). I can't even begin to imagine that much money, it is just not comprehensible, and yet the people right across the street from us are living it.

This is different than all those hardships and embarassments people on reality TV go through, after all, they only win $1 million dollars, and they have to eat bugs to do it. $1 million seems like so little compared to $80 million. Why bother?

Seriously though, I wondered what I would do with that kind of money. Haven't you ever played that game? Pay off all the mortgages of your house and your family's houses. Give each child relative a college fund. Then what? And why pay the mortgage off on your own house if you could just sell it and move to Paris?

Our neighbors already had it pretty good with their current jobs, they are always getting renovations on the house done, they have a cat sitter who comes all the time, the dry cleaners stop by all the time, they have a lawn service, they have a cleaning service, they get food delivered all the time (no I do not stalk them this is pretty easy to see). They have nice cars, a house PLENTY big enough for two people. And soon, that will seem like small potatoes to them when the daily massage therapist comes, or when the full time cook moves in.

And the kicker, apparently the husband is planning to go to Med School. Why, when he can retire for life? Me, if I got $80 million dollars, school would be one of the last things I would think about doing.

The soundtrack of my life

The other day I woke up singing (in my head, of course) Blue Bayou (the Linda Ronstadt version, of course). Then later in the day, I found myself humming Rhinestone Cowboy. This morning, walking to the bus, I started humming Cats in the Cradle, by Harry Chapin. The odd thing is, I haven't been listening to the radio at all, especially not a station that would actually plays these songs (although I do LOVE Linda doing Blue Bayou). So where is the music coming from? Commercials? Maybe. I noticed that a Hem song I like is the soundtrack for that "play it forward" commercial by some insurance company. Maybe there IS a tiny radio planted in my brain.

What I heard today

When you teach a class of 250 students you are bound to get some interesting things happen. Today there was a test. I had already scheduled alternate tests for 4 students who have learning issues, but today I got:

1. A phone call 15 minutes before the exam from a student on the way home to deal with a family emergency.
2. An email from a student who needed to go to the health center instead of coming to the exam.
3. A student who came in to the exam at the end, in tears, saying that she had just woken up.
4. A student who came after the exam and explained that he had totally forgotten that the exam was today (guess he must have skipped class today then...).

Of course, since I am a total wuss, I let them all reschedule. I was only pissed at the last person, since he declined my offer to take the exam today, saying he didn't have enough time to study (I know, I am SUCH a pushover) and then asked for the last handout (since he clearly hadn't come to class the two times it was handed out in class). Sigh.

I hate the twenty-first century

Or so goes the title of the book I am reading now, the I Hate the Twenty-first Century Reader. Why, you ask, would someone want to compile all the stories about the worst aspects of our lives? Why would someone publish it? And why would I get it out of the library to read?

This compilation is brought to you by guys who made the I Hate George W. Bush Reader, the I Hate Corporate America Reader, and the Jesus is not a Republican Reader, so you know where they are coming from.

So far I have read about the crisis in Darfur, about how the rich are getting richer at a faster rate than the rest of us, and about how our country's public health system is about to collapse. It does make for good reading, really.

Channeling Jim's Journal

I went to the Dentist today.

It was okay.

People get tired too

Yesterday my guest blogger wrote about the travails of a pampered pooch, but today her owner is feeling very nonpampered. Two people from lab were sick in the past few weeks, and now two more are sick this week. Wonder if I am next.... They have somewhat varying symptoms, sore throat, head cold, stomach ache ( I know, rarely reported by anyone over six years old) so I doubt there is one mega bug circulating.

Maybe it is anticipation of the four inches of snow we are expected to get tomorrow, quite a dissonant image with the 60 and sunny temps we are experiencing right now. It is supposed to melt by Saturday, so really, what is the point.

I continue on my goal to write one post a day each week day in November, I guess there will be unavoidable filler in this approach. I could link to something clever, or post a picture, but iPhoto is giving me headaches right now.

I am so tired

From going to dog day care. My "parents" are painting their house and they know I would bark all day at the painters, so they take me to dog day care every day. When I get home, I eat dinner and then fall rest ALL evening until they make me get up for my night-time walk. Life sure is hard. Here is a picture Mom took while I was resting my eyes last night.

Posted by guest blogger meepers

Happysad

There are many things to be happy about today, with the Democrats gaining in the House and Senate, as well as doing well in our state elections. Despite this, my overall mood is one of sadness since Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. I am ashamed to live in this state today, where people are enshrining bigotry and unfairness in the constitution. Sigh.

Anger management

Does everyone get angrier as they get older, or is that only me? When I see someone throwing away a cigarette butt on the ground, I just want to yell "Hey you stupid fuckwad, don't be a fucking litterer!" When someone tailgates me, I sometimes slow down gradually until I am going way under the speed limit, just to piss them off more. I think it is a problem in human culture and part of what makes social living such a challenge.

The other day my husband told me of some less than ethical behavior by one of his colleagues and it is all I can do to not march over to this person's office and yell at them, waving my fist and stamping my feet. I think the source of much of the anger and frustration is that it forces us to realize our own powerlessness. Even if it is over something as trivial as work, rather than say, environmental pollution, or social justice, these little affronts to our dignity add up and make us worse people, little by little. I just feel the scales tipping a little bit more towards my inner bitch.

Melancholy

All weekend I have been thinking about this quote from a web page about the four humors:

"In the melancholic the physical body is master over the others. Melancholics feel they are not master over their body, that they cannot bend it to their will. The physical body, which is intended to be an instrument of the higher members, is itself in control, and frustrates the others. Melancholics experience this as pain, as a feeling of despondency. Pain continually wells up within them because the physical body resists the etheric body's inner sense of well-being, the astral body's liveliness, and the ego's purposeful striving."

I have never read a better description of how I feel when I am depressed. I feel trapped by my body. Sometimes I want to get up and do something, anything, but I actually can't because my body won't allow me to do it, as if the nerve impulses don't reach the muscles. My main thought is "why bother?" Even in my own home I sometimes feel inhibited from moving, as if I were hiding from some predator and had to stay still. When I am home alone, I don't know what to do with myself, and I feel uncomfortable at those times. I hate exercising, it makes me feel vulnerable. My body is in charge.

Not to overdo the physical body thing, as sometimes I feel trapped by my own mind. Like when you are drunk and you wish you weren't but know it takes time for the alcohol to work it's way through your system, when I am depressed I can tell that I am at the mercy of the chemicals in my brain, but I can't make them go away until they get metabolized away.

Humor me

I have been thinking a lot lately about the four humors, those classic liquids that control our health and personality. I think I started on this around my birthday, when thinking of whether I "fit" my zodiac sign, and it got me to thinking why we like to categorize people by these arbitrary methods. There are the twelve signs of the Greek zodiac (categorized by month of birth), the twelve Chinese astrology signs (categorized by year of birth, clearly incompatible with the Greek version), the three aryuvedic types (pitta, vata and kapha), the Jung Meyers-Briggs personality test (extraversion-introversion; sensing-intuition; thinking-feeling; judging-perceiving), numerology, and the classical four humors. These latter are described below.

Sanguine

Sanguine indicates the personality of an individual with the temperament of blood, the season of spring (wet and hot), and the element of air. A person who is sanguine is generally optimistic, cheerful, even-tempered, confident, rational, popular, and fun-loving. They can be daydreamy to the point of not accomplishing anything and impulsive, acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion. They are courageous, amorous, hedonistic, changeable, innovative, artistic, hypomanic, exploitative, artisan.

Choleric

Choleric corresponds to the fluid of yellow bile, the season of summer (dry and hot), and the element of fire. A person who is choleric is a doer and a leader. Many great charismatic, military and political figures were cholerics. On the negative side, they are easily angered or bad tempered. They have moral virtue, are inspired, doctrinaire, religious, hyperesthetic, receptive, idealist, violent, vengeful.

Melancholic

Melancholic is the personality of an individual characterized by black bile; a person who was a thoughtful ponderer had a melancholic disposition. It also indicates the season of autumn (dry and cold) and the element of earth. Often very kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly creative - as in poets and artists - but also can become overly obsessed on the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. A melancholy is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. This often results in being unsatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works, always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved. They can be despondent, sleepless, acquisitve, industrious, traditional, depressive, hoarding, guardian, gluttonous, lazy, sentimental.

Phlegmatic

A phlegmatic person is calm and unemotional. Phlegmatic means pertaining to phlegm, corresponds to the season of winter (wet and cold), and connotes the element of water. While phlegmatics are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. They are calm, unemotional, logical, curious, skeptical, theoretic, rational, dull, pale, cowardly.

I never felt that I fit my Greek Zodiac - Libra- since we are supposed to be social and balanced. I feel balanced, almost to the point of indecision on many things, but I never felt social. I also don't feel I fit into my Chinese zodiac year - the sheep. They are: " thought to be the most feminine sign of the zodiac. The Sheep is artistically talented and has a great sense of fashion. These people are considerate creatures. This side of their character helps them maintain a healthy social life as well as enabling them to deal with life's ups and downs. Sympathy is very important as is the approval of people they respect. Sometimes they are too sensitive for the real world; they often misinterpret situations. People born in this year are insecure. They need to feel loved and protected. "

But I do feel that the melancholic personality fits me best. I wonder why we like to read these things, typecast ourselves. Aren't we supposed to want to be unique, and not like millions of others who share our sign? I remember in college everyone taking the Jung Meyers-Briggs test and proclaiming themselves an ISTP or something. I remember resisting taking the test, thinking it was stupid. I don't think I ever took it. Now I know why, I am a four humors girl.

Collecting versus crafting

I have always pooh-poohed people who collect things. Who wants to see fifty salt and pepper shakers arranged on a table, or worse, stored in a box? I prefer to make things - knitting, crochet, quilting, beads.

But lately, I have been buying stuff for my crafts, and is seems more like collecting. Pretty yarn, shiny beads, fabric packs. I have too many beads that I just couldn't resist buying, and I keep buying new skeins of yarn for future projects despite not having finished the current projects. Now I know this is not anything special, many people have their stash of stuff, I have even read about people who stored their yarn or fabric in the freezer or car trunk so their husband wouldn't find out about it....

But combined with other aspects of my personality, it seems wierd for me to have a stash. First of all, I am cheap. Second of all, I hate clutter. Third, I hate shopping. I currently only have about seven pairs of shoes (TOTAL). Fourth, I am pretty lazy, and seem to spend more time reading about making stuff than actually making stuff.

But I just can't resist anything that is a pretty color, or soft, or shiny, and could possibly be used to make something. I don't want to collect sweaters, or shoes in cool colors, or premade jewelry, or socks, just craft supplies. I just want to fondle supplies. There has to be a word for this.....