Weblog 294
October 2, 2011~ 12:00 am
We're FINALLY into the 'real fall'! Leaves are burnishing nicely in every shade of orange, yellow and red, and the air is CRISP indeed. (I haven't turned my furnace on yet, even though the nights are in the low 40's. I just layer on more clothes, more blankets, keep the hot water bottle close, and enjoy it!)
It's interesting to me how something that is dying, feels more alive....autumn is like that. People become more vivid as well when the impermanence of life is truly accepted. With daily reminders that life is short
when the bones are right beneath the skin and the skeleton apparent, the flesh feels more precious. We're all of us just hearts beating inside of a death to come. We may try to masquerade that fact, or put on many masks in an effort to deny it; we may get wrapped up in 'stuff' or in obsessions of one kind or another trying to distract ourselves, but the truth is life is sweet BECAUSE it's not endless. (At least not the flesh and bone part of it, the part we walk around in.)
In contrast to the dark graphic above, I think most folks live in fairytale denial- wrapped in their protective shells like safe little thrones, while trying hard to keep things dreamily attractive.
Spas, fitness centers, plastic surgery, magazine articles on how to look younger, oodles of STUFF to buy, racing about collecting STUFF may keep fear at bay, but along with it, the very important realization that time is short. (Or, as Warren Zevon said when he knew for a fact he was dying, "Enjoy every sandwich.") Not... "try a NEW SANDWICH and you'll FORGET where you're headed" or "grab someone's ELSE'S sandwich and you'll feel more powerful" -or "don't stop eating till you have the BEST SANDWICH"- his answer was simply to appreciate. I'm convinced the key to a happy life is rooted in appreciation.
I took Friday off to drive Wayne to his endoscopy appointment, a procedure he has every three years to monitor his acid reflux and any changes in the mucosa of the esophagus itself. (Happily, there were no apparent changes) but we took the day to enjoy each other's company as well as keeping his medical appointment. We had a BIG lunch afterward --(with Wayne still a bit loopy from the propofol, the Michael Jackson drug.) While musical hits of the 80's were being piped in, Wayne kept asking for Thriller or Billy Jean. LOL!!! -- and when the nurse told him 'the doctor will be in shortly to talk to you, as soon as he's available"- Wayne heard, "The doctor is a vegetable" -and said so. LOL!!! He kept referring to the gastroenterologist as 'Dr. Conrad Murray' (who looks, according to Wayne, like a sadder Godrey Cambridge.)
(I believe he's right.)
After lunch, we stopped at Family Video to rent 'Thor', which Wayne has been itching to see, and it was pretty much standard fare for those superhero sagas -but perhaps in the case of Thor, it was really aimed at, say, a twelve year old boy. LOL!!! I'm not kidding! It was all glamorous special effects and demon-like, ugly frost giants and lots of fighting. The character of Thor grew on me, though. I like the way he laughed whenever danger poked its head out. That fella really loved to fight! So even though it was a doctor appointment/procedure day, we managed to enjoy it just the same.
Saturday we BOTH watched 'Lars And The Real Girl'. (Yep. Didn't send it back to Netflix yet. I wanted us BOTH to see it together)- so I've had a 3-day weekend. What a TREAT.
You know --from the time I saw 'The Shining' with it's scary scene of a demented Jack Nicholson chasing the boy through the topiary maze, I've found mazes both fascinating and threatening. If you're like me and you've picked up a crossword puzzle book and found a few mazes in there and couldn't stop yourself from trying to find your way out with a ballpoint pen, you're probably fairly intrigued by labyrinths yourself. (I guess in a certain sense, life itself is one of those things: one way in..... one way out.)
(That lovely woodcut is a 2001 piece by Maria Arango, and I really love it.) Life is all snaky and twists turning this way and that. We each, in our own way, find our own path through. If you'd enjoy looking at the various types of mazes found all over the world, pay a visit to Labyrinthos. What wonders they are! I get lost simply looking.
Never stop looking. We get one shot through here.... through this life. Keep your eyes peeled. LOL! (And stay away from the propofol- or anything that promises to take all pain away. Life ain't like that. It's a mixed bag of pain and beauty, ease and hardship. Tough it out.)
October 3, 2011~ 5:45 pm
I'm BUSHED! Played catch-up today at work and typed like a MANIAC! LOL!!! My day out of the office on Friday really piled it on, but...... SUCCESS!! (I'm a bit 'manic' as well. Blogger gave me FITS all day yesterday, from the time I turned on the computer in the early morning until I went to bed last night; then again this morning at home, I COULD NOT GET IN! Could not log on.)
I didn't realize how sad I'd become if I couldn't fiddle around in here, but..... (well, it's a long story which I'll shorten for you.) Since April of this year, I cannot log in normally by going to the Blogger home page: it won't load, times out constantly. Whatever updates that went into effect at that time, my old computer couldn't handle the flash or javascript version or intense graphics or whatever updates they put into their interface, and still.... the Blogger home page doesn't load for me.
I finally found a way around it by logging in via a variety of proxy sites which strip scripts and images- (and whatever else is loading there) and that's worked from April until yesterday. Yesterday I'd simply get a message that said:
Crap! I don't have a computer that will even LOAD those things, this 'Nellie' is OLD (but it functions just fine using the old Blogger template written only in HTML, which I know like a second language at this point.) No matter what I tried, that damn message would pop up in an I-frame across the top of the page and the underlined, 'Dismiss'..... didn't respond at all. Sooooooo frustrating.
Finally, first thing today at work I tried to log on to Blogger. Got the SAME DAMN MESSAGE..... (but when I clicked the 'Dismiss'.....TA-DAH!!!) it allowed me to switch back to the old tried and true, comfy Dashboard I've come to know so well after 6 years of constant use.
Here's my advice: if you have an OLD computer that can't handle most of the new stuff out there, STICK TO THE ORIGINAL BLOGGER INTERFACE.....
and you'll do just fine. (Somehow-- probably while the damn dashboard was loading, I accidentally CLICKED on the 'Try the new Blogger interface!' link. Man! I'm gonna be MUCH more careful in the future.
Here's my vote: DON'T WANT IT, DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T MAKE ME CHANGE A THING.... don't break what's not even broken, Blogger.
(I'm sure there are plenty of folks around the globe who either have old computers and can't switch, or simply don't want to... or don't like the new version.)
Me and folks from third world countries are getting along just fine using Internet Explorer 6 with Windows 98 and an older version of Firefox. (Laugh if you want to) but IT WORKS.
As long as it doesn't get broken by programmers out there, floating on the GOOGLE CLOUD, thinking up ways to turn water into wine. LOL!!! Leave us be. WE'RE HAPPY with what we have!
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
We're FINALLY into the 'real fall'! Leaves are burnishing nicely in every shade of orange, yellow and red, and the air is CRISP indeed. (I haven't turned my furnace on yet, even though the nights are in the low 40's. I just layer on more clothes, more blankets, keep the hot water bottle close, and enjoy it!)
It's interesting to me how something that is dying, feels more alive....autumn is like that. People become more vivid as well when the impermanence of life is truly accepted. With daily reminders that life is short
when the bones are right beneath the skin and the skeleton apparent, the flesh feels more precious. We're all of us just hearts beating inside of a death to come. We may try to masquerade that fact, or put on many masks in an effort to deny it; we may get wrapped up in 'stuff' or in obsessions of one kind or another trying to distract ourselves, but the truth is life is sweet BECAUSE it's not endless. (At least not the flesh and bone part of it, the part we walk around in.)
In contrast to the dark graphic above, I think most folks live in fairytale denial- wrapped in their protective shells like safe little thrones, while trying hard to keep things dreamily attractive.
Spas, fitness centers, plastic surgery, magazine articles on how to look younger, oodles of STUFF to buy, racing about collecting STUFF may keep fear at bay, but along with it, the very important realization that time is short. (Or, as Warren Zevon said when he knew for a fact he was dying, "Enjoy every sandwich.") Not... "try a NEW SANDWICH and you'll FORGET where you're headed" or "grab someone's ELSE'S sandwich and you'll feel more powerful" -or "don't stop eating till you have the BEST SANDWICH"- his answer was simply to appreciate. I'm convinced the key to a happy life is rooted in appreciation.
I took Friday off to drive Wayne to his endoscopy appointment, a procedure he has every three years to monitor his acid reflux and any changes in the mucosa of the esophagus itself. (Happily, there were no apparent changes) but we took the day to enjoy each other's company as well as keeping his medical appointment. We had a BIG lunch afterward --(with Wayne still a bit loopy from the propofol, the Michael Jackson drug.) While musical hits of the 80's were being piped in, Wayne kept asking for Thriller or Billy Jean. LOL!!! -- and when the nurse told him 'the doctor will be in shortly to talk to you, as soon as he's available"- Wayne heard, "The doctor is a vegetable" -and said so. LOL!!! He kept referring to the gastroenterologist as 'Dr. Conrad Murray' (who looks, according to Wayne, like a sadder Godrey Cambridge.)
(I believe he's right.)
After lunch, we stopped at Family Video to rent 'Thor', which Wayne has been itching to see, and it was pretty much standard fare for those superhero sagas -but perhaps in the case of Thor, it was really aimed at, say, a twelve year old boy. LOL!!! I'm not kidding! It was all glamorous special effects and demon-like, ugly frost giants and lots of fighting. The character of Thor grew on me, though. I like the way he laughed whenever danger poked its head out. That fella really loved to fight! So even though it was a doctor appointment/procedure day, we managed to enjoy it just the same.
Saturday we BOTH watched 'Lars And The Real Girl'. (Yep. Didn't send it back to Netflix yet. I wanted us BOTH to see it together)- so I've had a 3-day weekend. What a TREAT.
You know --from the time I saw 'The Shining' with it's scary scene of a demented Jack Nicholson chasing the boy through the topiary maze, I've found mazes both fascinating and threatening. If you're like me and you've picked up a crossword puzzle book and found a few mazes in there and couldn't stop yourself from trying to find your way out with a ballpoint pen, you're probably fairly intrigued by labyrinths yourself. (I guess in a certain sense, life itself is one of those things: one way in..... one way out.)
(That lovely woodcut is a 2001 piece by Maria Arango, and I really love it.) Life is all snaky and twists turning this way and that. We each, in our own way, find our own path through. If you'd enjoy looking at the various types of mazes found all over the world, pay a visit to Labyrinthos. What wonders they are! I get lost simply looking.
Never stop looking. We get one shot through here.... through this life. Keep your eyes peeled. LOL! (And stay away from the propofol- or anything that promises to take all pain away. Life ain't like that. It's a mixed bag of pain and beauty, ease and hardship. Tough it out.)
October 3, 2011~ 5:45 pm
I'm BUSHED! Played catch-up today at work and typed like a MANIAC! LOL!!! My day out of the office on Friday really piled it on, but...... SUCCESS!! (I'm a bit 'manic' as well. Blogger gave me FITS all day yesterday, from the time I turned on the computer in the early morning until I went to bed last night; then again this morning at home, I COULD NOT GET IN! Could not log on.)
I didn't realize how sad I'd become if I couldn't fiddle around in here, but..... (well, it's a long story which I'll shorten for you.) Since April of this year, I cannot log in normally by going to the Blogger home page: it won't load, times out constantly. Whatever updates that went into effect at that time, my old computer couldn't handle the flash or javascript version or intense graphics or whatever updates they put into their interface, and still.... the Blogger home page doesn't load for me.
I finally found a way around it by logging in via a variety of proxy sites which strip scripts and images- (and whatever else is loading there) and that's worked from April until yesterday. Yesterday I'd simply get a message that said:
"Blogger will no longer work with your outdated browser.
Upload to a modern browser such as Google Chrome/Dismiss."
Crap! I don't have a computer that will even LOAD those things, this 'Nellie' is OLD (but it functions just fine using the old Blogger template written only in HTML, which I know like a second language at this point.) No matter what I tried, that damn message would pop up in an I-frame across the top of the page and the underlined, 'Dismiss'..... didn't respond at all. Sooooooo frustrating.
Finally, first thing today at work I tried to log on to Blogger. Got the SAME DAMN MESSAGE..... (but when I clicked the 'Dismiss'.....TA-DAH!!!) it allowed me to switch back to the old tried and true, comfy Dashboard I've come to know so well after 6 years of constant use.
Here's my advice: if you have an OLD computer that can't handle most of the new stuff out there, STICK TO THE ORIGINAL BLOGGER INTERFACE.....
and you'll do just fine. (Somehow-- probably while the damn dashboard was loading, I accidentally CLICKED on the 'Try the new Blogger interface!' link. Man! I'm gonna be MUCH more careful in the future.
Here's my vote: DON'T WANT IT, DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T MAKE ME CHANGE A THING.... don't break what's not even broken, Blogger.
(I'm sure there are plenty of folks around the globe who either have old computers and can't switch, or simply don't want to... or don't like the new version.)
Me and folks from third world countries are getting along just fine using Internet Explorer 6 with Windows 98 and an older version of Firefox. (Laugh if you want to) but IT WORKS.
As long as it doesn't get broken by programmers out there, floating on the GOOGLE CLOUD, thinking up ways to turn water into wine. LOL!!! Leave us be. WE'RE HAPPY with what we have!
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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