Age Ventures

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2006-08-11 20:21:09
The boy stayed an extra day to be with me today. I can’t get over how silly happy that makes me.

Whimsy
2006-08-09 20:21:01
You Are 60% Brutally Honest Honesty is important to you, but generally, you try not to be brutal about it. You’ll sugar coat the truth when you need to… and tell a white lie when necessary. How Brutally Honest Are You? Got this from my friend DP’s site. I hope he won’t mind that I’m less brutally honest than he is.
More About: Whimsy

Lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on
2006-08-08 20:18:01
I’m going to Costco - any minute now. For all the times I told the PO that the situation at work was hurting me, it surprises me that it turns out to be true. K told me yesterday that he’s noticed how much nicer G was last week (to everyone) after I left. I can’t believe what a difference his being more polite to me has made in my psyche. Perhaps it is arrogant of me to attempt to correct his behavior - after all, I certainly can’t control everything that happens in my life. But that is the conveniently specious argument that abusers use to justify their actions - the world is a hard place, so just get over it. It is the intellectually lazy approach - the division of all things in life into a few categories because we don’t want to deal with the complexity of reality. It manifests itself in countless, seemingly unrelated ways. It is the broadcast email that carries away with it the relief of one’s responsibility yet accomplishes nothing; th...
More About: Opinion , Ring , Rings , Reed , Lies

2006-08-08 20:18:01
Never made it to Costco, but the groceries have been acquired and I’m resting before the cooking part. The boy arrives tomorrow so it was a major trip - or at least a comical one. I like to keep things to drink in the house for the guys working on the kitchen, and the boy has “special” dietary needs. So the cart was overflowing with such disparate items as a case of bottled water, regular coke, diet soda, cookies, a ton of produce, a large bag of potato chips, tofu, frozen lasagna, low-fat milk, bacon egg and cheese Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine entrees, bran flakes, and a variety pack of cereal with more sugar in it than I should have in a year. I suppose the checkout guy just thought that I’m really struggling with my diet. Watching When Harry Met Sally again during my break (lifting the case of bottled water was less than fun - it only got as far as the floor of the garage) and paused it during the airplane scene to write about one of my memories of flyi...

Saturday
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Met with very nice neighbor who lives next door. She was housesitting for another neighbor this morning while they attended a funeral; I stopped by to bring her coffee and a croissant. Despite the tragic circumstances, we had a wonderful visit. Turns out she’s a bridge player and she immediately arranged for us to play together early next month, pooh-poohing my protestations that it’s been ten (10!) years since I lifted a card. She’s also over twenty years into dealing with Type 2 Diabetes, she’s a former high school prinicipal (one of the first four in the state), and a real pistol. She’s been persistent - she’s patiently waited out my protracted refusal to emerge into the light. She emailed me again last night and I decided it was time to get out and see the world. She asked me about depression because her husband’s children have difficulties with it. She’s very direct and open - my long lost twin (even if she is 20 years old...
More About: Turd , Saturday

Stuff to read (August)
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Bear ArmsJoel Klebanoff's Ramblings McDonald's Snack WrapThe Impulsive Buy All the President's WordsBonez May, July & August Now CancelledMilt's Page Hoping. Praying. Wishing. For armageddonWhere it Stands Weak weekRobservations Stuck in the Middle with…..Coroner Stories
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Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becomi
2006-08-06 20:15:03
What a difference a day makes. We got through our discussions and my boss handled it beautifully. I wish I could tell him that, but I don’t want it to sound like I’m just happy with the outcome. I’ll need to find some way to tell him. What really made me happy was that he honored my request that this be handled gently. I hope he appreciates in some way that I didn’t go to HR, that he was able to handle it within the family so to speak. Part of my hesitancy about revisiting the topic, even to compliment him, is that I don’t know whether this got to his management. I didn’t tell them and I can only hope that no one else did. G was terrific - he’s a smart guy; he listened; he understood. What helped him understand was replaying some of his behaviors that mirrored what others have done to him lately - that got his attention. My boss let us talk, and G began to appreciate that many of our interactions that he considered arguments really ...
More About: Life , Bein , Being , Ving

In passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Ad
2006-08-06 20:15:03
I’m about to launch into another three hours of work - this luxury afforded me because I finished the laundry this morning . I did manage about 90 minutes of sleep and was grateful for it. The day went well - many comical elements to it, really. Most comical is watching Girlcat and Boycat inspect the changes in the kitchen. When I left this morning they were sequestered to keep them away from the guys taking down the wallpaper. The housekeeper was also here; she’s like their second mother - she feeds them and gives them fresh water and I’m sure comforted them today while she cleaned the master bedroom and bath as the terrifyingly loud and unwelcome intruders assaulted the kitchen. Girlcat gets bored easily and has left the remainder of the inspection in the capable (and thorough) paws of Boycat. G was good today and I’m girding my loins for our discussion with my boss tomorrow. Been practicing in my head how to handle it. LL is apparently safe, for w...
More About: Time , Hat , Sing , First , Pass

Sleep optional (apparently)
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Can’t get anywhere near it.  It’s not a medication problem - I’m just nervous about returning to work tomorrow.  Things there can’t have been pleasant for a couple of folks while I’ve been away.  My boss plays it close to the vest but I know him pretty well - there’s almost no chance that there haven’t been some repercussions.  Intellectually I can tell myself that’s not my doing; emotionally is another matter. But there is the distraction of When Harry Met Sally in the DVD player - left over from several viewings in whole or part in the past few days.  Just video comfort food.  Not my favorite movie, but it’s reasonably bland and has a happy ending.  For now, that fills the bill. If my remote access to work were available I’d probably be working.  At this point it’s a toss-up whether I should attempt sleep at all.  Nearly 3 AM, which affords at most 4 1/2 hours.  Better than nothing to be sure; problem is, I can̵...
More About: Sleep , Rent , Opti , Appa , Parent

The joys of spam and other drivel
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Still going strong on the new meds. Ooh, I forgot to pick up the new prescription today. Oh well, I’ll get it tomorrow. Reducing the SAM-e and the thyroid supplement have worked perfectly - I think the thyroid supplement can stand yet another decrease. Can’t do that for another week - have to work my way off of it slowly to avoid problems with my thyroid. I’m still a little flushed and “glowing” at this dosage (because the new antidepressant is stronger), which bodes well for dropping the supplement again. One of the happy outcomes of this mix of medications is that it makes me severely heat intolerant. SSRIs can have that effect; I take a full dose of one plus another drug that boosts serotonin and norepinephrine. Those plus the thyroid medication make me really attractive in the heat of the summer. Random musing: When men and women with the same first name get married, is it ever confusing, as when messages are left on their answering machine...
More About: Spam , Drive , Other

Plenty: A full or completely adequate amount
2006-08-06 20:15:03
I have a theory about hate speech. It’s not very original - it’s commonly assumed that hatred toward one group or another is based primarily in one’s own frustrations (a mild way to put it). The desire to control the actions of others - or at least denounce them - arises from a need to feel superior (or at least resentment over what one lacks in life). Persecution of the Jews has historically rested in their relative success. Hitler tapped into that resentment brilliantly. Those who condemn others for alternative lifestyles resent what they perceive as a freedom to break the rules that they have been shackled with. And it’s convenient to blame someone else for one’s troubles in life. In my extended family there were strident racists (even a KKK member or two). We come from poor stock - what one used to refer to as white trash (those of you who’ve read my blog in the past know that I consider that term a racial slur). My father was raised i...
More About: Comp , Full , Plenty , Complete , Lent

Stuff to read (July)
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Nota Bene (Twists & Turns) What it most effectively conveys is how limited our minds are. Mel Gibson, example number 4029. (Championable - Fatherhood, Parenting, Love, and Politics) It seems to me that people who have character traits … that they can’t deal with, often compensate by going on hogwild moral crusades. Jesus in support of gay marriage? Part II (Zealot in my Closet) …hatred and other forms of anti-compassion toward gay people attempting to engage in virtuous behavior, who do engage in monogamous, loving, honoring, long-term commitments to one another, who contribute to their communities is also a great sin. Follow the trackback link to Christian Conformists and The Rose. And Lo, The Humiliation of America Continues (Electronic Darwinism) I’m wondering, is Iraq’s current situation then the Republican model for America? Repercussions of the Evacuation of Foreigners from Beirut (MyScribbles) An interesting place to cure one’s in...
More About: Stuff , Read , July

How compulsive is it to?
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Stack outgoing mail in order by size? Admire the symmetry of the arms of chairs on the sun porch through the door in the family room? Fret when the housekeeper has moved the screen behind the cat perch two inches out of position? Think about things I regret having done 30 years ago? Watch an old movie for the 10th time rather than subject myself to reality TV? Retain a vast storehouse of dialogue from said movies? Know every goof or inconsistency? Notice the clothes the characters are wearing and how suitable they are in each scene? Return to a week-old post to insert a missing period? Shave superfluous text from old posts to make them more readable?
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Movie trivia - the answers
2006-08-06 20:15:03
Open the post for the answers. The original quiz with hints is here. What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don’t ever ask me! Long as you live, don’t ever ask me more. John Wayne, The Searchers Some people guzzle God like it was a keg of beer. Liza Minnelli, The Sterile Cuckoo The nicest thing about feeling happy is that you think you’ll never be unhappy again. William Hurt, Kiss of the Spider Woman I don’t want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don’t tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth. Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire I don’t trust happiness. Never did, never will. Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies I can think of a lot of things I’d rather do to one of the Danahers - Miss Danaher. John Wayne, The Quiet Man Can you hear the heartache in her voice? Can you feel it, Joe? In come the strings, and it changes everything. The music fills with a hope...
More About: Movie , Answer , Trivia , Answers , The A