Weblog 55

February 25, 2007~ 12:00am



What the hell IS that thing? I found it during a routine google search for something entirely unrelated - as though anything could be related to that - and I know one thing........

although the claim is that this washed up on some Japanese beach, I can tell you I've seen it in my nightmares- and it's something that comes for you. It doesn't look fast, and it doesn't look like it has any means of weaponry or the ability to do you any harm- other than the queasy feeling in your stomach when you look at it, but oh baby it's out there....

.......... and it knows our address.

February 25, 2007~ 8:15am




On a happier note- I also found this one. And you know how silly signs delight me. How about that now.....TITS! From the Salvation Army! Who'd a thunk it? Something to drop in the old kettle, right?

LOL!! oh sometimes there is God- so suddenly.


February 25, 2007~ 3:15pm
Well, I'll be hanged....today I called my mother at the accustomed time to say I'd be over (this, with much trepidation because the forecast was for "no immediate threat"- possible 1 inch snow "tonight"- whatever time that was supposed to be)- and danged if SHE wasn't the one today to say it may not be a good idea. "I don't know, doll. They're talking about ice, and you never know..."

Bless you, bless you, surprising lady! I can stay put - not worry - and 'see to things' tomorrow. (If you follow this at all, you'll know I'd originally planned on being holed up here the entire weekend after being out for a quick visit and dinner on Friday night- a whole weekend of being battened down and prepared for another ice storm.) Well, that Great Lakes 'clipper' must have shifted north, and we've seen none of the ice predicted for the Pittsburgh area that was supposed to come in from 3:00 am till 3:00 pm today. But one never knows....

It's the scariest thing in the world getting caught on the roads when one of those things sneaks through and decides to turn what looks like shiny, wet pavement into a skidding sheet of Death! So hooray for mum! She's growing up. LOL!

Of course, with all this nice extra time on my hands, wouldn't you know I can't get into my Cutecast poetry forum at all. Damn thing is down- first time in 5 months, so I really shouldn't complain....but something else weird is going on, and I can't upload pictures to any of my image sites. Everything times out, or says "Connection was Reset While You Were Uploading". God almighty.........it's like that old Twilight Zone where Burgess Meredith played a misanthrope who only lived to read. The world comes to an end (nuclear war or something) and his library is the one thing that survived. Then the damn fool drops and breaks his glasses....that's me today. At least I can type in here. At least for now- this thing's probably ready to give up the ghost as well. My luck is a many-miseried thing.


February 25, 2007~ 6:30pm
I can get into my forum again! The day is not lost....not only that, I realized I was having all the upload problems, just since my AVG antivirus programs did a HUGE update yesterday. (Since their 7.5 betaversion, which they insisted you switch to because the old version will no longer be supported) I've have problems on and off. I uninstalled AVG (GOOD RIDDANCE!) and that was a bear to get rid of. I uninstalled-- and they said the uninstall was 'unsuccessful' due to a file that could not be removed. I left my control panel and went into 'find files', typed in AVG and Grisoft both, and got TONS of extra files still there! I removed all of these, and proceeded to my Windows registry repair, and cleaned all the registry entries out.

When I checked in the 'regedit' function after rebooting the computer, SURE ENOUGH! - still folders in there and booting up was a bitch due to all the gunk still left behind that my system couldn't find a proper path to. FINALLY it was all gone- (as well as a second recycle bin that appeared mysteriously one day....lol)- and it boots smoothly. UPLOADS picture files again, and I am, as I am typing this, downloading a free virus program called Avast, that is highly recommended by CNET. Hope that one is the answer.

So I'm in a good mood! How do I describe to you the light inside my head when I've worked through these computer snafu's on sheer determination and dogged persistence- knowing absolutely nothing....lol. Well I feel like some wonderful street vendor- not a care in the world, no one to answer to- enjoying a beautiful sunny day, walking along in impossibly decked out fashion....well.....like this-




-proud as all get out, a little worn- but unusual as hell, and full of fun...

and brave. That's me.

February 25, 2007~ 8:30pm
UPDATE: lol...I made two unsuccessful attempts to download the Avast- the first got to 19 percent, then quit. The second attempt got to 36 percent, then dropped off the radar. (Something about 'the source code could not be read')- so I went directly to the Avast site rather than using the CNET link, and there they offered an array of languages-- ahah!---must have been in a different language, so I chose the 'English version' and it downloaded like a charm. (As it was coming into the homestretch, nearing 99 percent, I almost stood up and cheered!) I'm all registered- and I have to say I was delighted just now, when a window popped up and a little voice said, "Virus database has been updated." lol....gone, the patchwork AVG symbol (and with it, some unpleasant associations) and voila!- the little blue serif "a" in my taskbar. It revolves like a tiny globe whenever I log onto something, checking....checking things out for me. Nice to have something that watches your back. Nice indeedy.


February 27, 2007~ 7:00am
Dinner last night was an eye-opener...pleasantly so, I think, though I'm not sure- first off, the flaky cod was heavenly, the salad crisp and flavorful, my mother's conversation (dare I say 'spritely'? lol...yes, I will)- all very pleasing but the best part was the young waitress. Kept calling me 'love'- (and she was all of about 16)- and initially I found it charming. Then I realized that all the 'dears' and the 'what wouldya like, love's' meant that she saw me as an old fart! That is the only instance when young girls call women by such endearments while acting in a servile capacity....I'm an OLD!



There she was, grinning away, rolling her eyes, making nice, and all the while she was seeing me wearing my Depends and gumming my roll! Mum of course, felt quite comfortable with all this being a lifelong "hey, doll", "o.k. sweetie", "thank you, dear" sort of a gal herself- but I was charmed - amazed, and finally, yes....dismayed! (Though when you think of it, that little kewpie doll with the million watt smile could have just been trying on 'attitude')- you know, like little girls clomp around in their mother's high heels; it could have been worse. I could have been looking at this-



while ordering "extra tartar sauce.........please?"- then waiting for the icy chill to leave my frost-bitten face, sans sauce anyway. I should get used to it. Maybe the white hair gives me away. Just a tad. Also, I've become a NOTORIOUS over-tipper. I figure, anyone still on their feet while I can sit down and just look at the scenery deserves the extra cash, God bless em. Some of the hardest work there is, is trying to serve human beings who are starved- at the end of shitty work days- and all while wearing tight shoes. (To me- that's a recipe for almost certain bloodshed.) So I do thank all waitresses out there. You make life so much nicer. Truly you do.


February 28, 2007~ 11:45am
Today I may have broken some taboo or other of my spirit guide the crow, for I have partaken of one of his brothers of the American plain, the great buffalo-



I ate chili today, made with buffalo meat. And I feel strangely healthy. Pleasantly invigorated. I have an urge to paw the ground. To never comb my hair again. To grow a goatee....and hunch. Eventually to be slaughtered by rich decadents on safari-type jaunts into the wilderness-- people like Dick Cheney. People like Cheney's face-shot friend.

I accept handouts of food from all comers. I do not cook, and I never question. I would have accepted sausage from the Canadian "pig farm" serial killer. And happily- when you live on crackers and Hostess Suzie-Q's, you have no shame when something with protein is offered.

I am Buffalo. Hear me roar.


March 1, 2007~ 8:30am
I am so sad today. The 86 year old mother of my good friend, Al, suffered a major stroke in which the language center of her brain was completely destroyed. She is in hospice now, awaiting the inevitable and oh, Lord, this strikes so close to home.

We are all moving in that direction, toward what light there is....taking comfort in believing (at least for me) that there is a purpose to it all, a meaning in the suffering, the million losses of a lifetime leading to the final one, when we too join those who have gone ahead of us. If you believe....if you really believe, I think there are open arms waiting. And wings. A golden forever somewhere.....oh, Al, I hope....I hope it's true.




March 2, 2007~ 7:00am
Let me say this for once and for all time....THERE IS NOTHING STINKIER IN THIS WORLD THAN FRISKIES CAT FOOD! There. That's off my chest. Usually I buy the Fancy Feast Gourmet stuff for the 2 beasts, and those are delicate little green aluminum cans, the aroma when I open those things makes my mouth water...........

but Friskies, oh LORD, what a stench. The damn cats love it- I think because the can is twice as big, and REEKS so much, I can't bear to keep a half-eaten one around, so they get to pig out! (I even double-bag and Ziploc them before they go in the trash. I'd wash them with detergent, but I'm afraid I'd puke right into the sink.) I doubt- I truly doubt, there is anything more malodorous- despite what horticulturalists say about this thing-




From the Associated Press: "A rare flower that smells like rotting flesh and grows nearly 9.8 feet tall has bloomed in Indonesia, setting a new record for the species’ height, officials said.

The Amorphophallus titanum - known locally as a carcass flower for the stench its bulbs emit upon opening - blossomed at the Cibodas Botanical Garden in Bogor. The flower, one of the largest and smelliest in the world, comes from the rain forests of Sumatra island, and typically grows to more than 9 feet tall. -AP"

Pretty damn impressive isn't it? But what about that name...."amorpho PHALLUS TITANUM".....a 'CHANGING, HUGE DICK!'...wha????? LOL!! Hey, to some, a cigar is just a cigar. And a can of Friskie's is just a can of Friskie's-- not Amsterdam's Wallen red light district in an alleyway near the Oude Kerk that smells like low tide...



***

(Return To Weekly Archives)