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Fruitbat5150
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Country: United States
State: Oregon
Birthday: 6/27/1963
Gender: Female
Interests: animals books art baseball fog philosophy ocean darkness moon Ganesha
Expertise: Rationalization
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
9/28/2002
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| Another Snow Day today!
For once the LCC (Lane Community College) has their stuff together: it's already up on the website (on the main page in red letters; gee, what a concept!) that the school is closed today. We have a little snow here in CG, and lots of ice in Eugene. So far we'ven't been able to find a place online that reports CG weather (even tho we have an airport, mustn't they have a weather station?!), only Eugene, 20 miles away. Anyway, half an hour ago up there it was 20F with a wind chill of 9. I've only been in such cold weather a few times n my life! Here's an excerpt from the weather advisory: "Any travel is strongly discouraged. If you leave the safety of being indoors... you are putting your life at risk." Pretty wild, eh? I'm sure people in the midwest and east are kind of snickering at what pansies we are -- but people here don't know how to drive in snow, and there were several accidents in Eugene yesterday, so they ended up closing some streets, too.
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| I keep forgetting to transfer things here for others to read. heh. Will try to be better.
December 23, 2003 We went to the Dog Park!
Finally, after living here over two years, we took Pup to the Dog Park! I needed DH to go with us the first time in case Pup didn't want to come back to me when it was time to go home (or got into some other kind of trouble) because DH can chase him down much better than I can. Of course it's an enclosed area, but it's big (1/2 acre maybe?).
I'd been to this particular dog park alone to scope it out, talk to some other folks, see if small dogs ever come/if big dogs have a problem with small dogs (some big dogs do). So I knew we didn't have to worry about that.
Yesterday was the 3rd day in a row that we had sun, so I thought maybe the dog park wouldn't be too muddy (DH would not want to go if there was too much mud). I was in a grouchy mood and felt like getting out of the house (quite a surprise in itself, *especially* when it's sunny!) It was very foggy in Eugene, tho. Weird.
I expected Pup to take off as soon as he realized we took the leash off. Nope. Did his business, did a lot of sniffing and marking, but he didn't run to see other dogs, and when they came up to him, he was kind of hesitant. *sigh* Now I feel like a bad mom for not taking him to play with other dogs when he was younger and LOVED playing with other dogs. I can hardly believe he's going to be 8 in January! He did like saying hi to other people, tho he was kind of shy around some of them, too. At least I didn't have to worry about him jumping all over them, like he does if we ever have visitors at home. We walked around and he stayed very close to us (DH went back to the car before long as it was quite cold [43 we later found out] and he doesn't have a jacket that serious). I did notice after a while his tail wagging when he met other dogs, and he also enjoyed the car ride (half hour each way), sitting on my lap and looking out the window. When we were waiting at a stoplight, an older woman walking very slowly with two canes smiled very hugely at him (who can resist such a face, eh?) and that made me smile, too.
*I* had a lot of fun. Got some great smooshy kisses from a one-year-old boxer named Jake. Met a Sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog; like a miniature Collie), a Beagle, a couple of pit bulls (they seem VERY popular up here, thank goodness most of them are raised to be nice dogs), all kinds of 50-80lb mixes, saw a St. Bernard being walked outside the park, and -- ta-da! -- correctly identified a Queensland Heeler! *preen* His mom didn't seem as impressed as I expected (come on, how many people know what a Queensland Heeler is?!! Tho I spose more folks at a dog park would know than the general population) but *I* was very impressed with myself.
A dog park is *the* place to meet new people. It's hard to NOT say hello to someone when your dogs are sniffing each other. Seriously. Even for people who don't usually make small talk with strangers. I highly recommend it to meet possible partners as well as friends. There were a lot of different people there (we stayed about 1/2 an hour) even tho it was cold (especially for Eugene) and a couple days before Christmas.
So I'll probably take him again sometime. Maybe he won't feel the need to stick totally close to me, tho I don't think I'll have to chase him down. Maybe take some pics next time. I did bring the camera, but once we got there I felt like just enjoying it rathe than taking pics, ya know? Sometimes I feel like that. I also discovered that the very small thin hardcover sketchbook that came with my travel watercolors fits very nicely into the camera case! How convenient ;) So next time I'll probably try some sketching, too.
I finally asked on the Oregon Birders mailing list about some good not-too-much-walking birding areas around me. It's like, woah, I actually *feel* like going out. (but not going to the gym ;) Weird weird weird. I might even go out somewhere today, even tho I'd been planning to use The Good Computer for as long as DH sleeps. But maybe I'll go out for a bit while it's still light.
01:39 pm December 15th, 2003 ABC Holiday Wish List
This was posted on one of the artists' mailing lists I'm on, and I thought I'd share mine with y'all: "Compose a Christmas Wish List, using all the letters of the alphabet. Be as creative as you wish with this. Your items can be concrete (i.e. real stuff like your own laminator or weaving loom) or abstract, (vague stuff like more patience, wisdom, imagination)"
This was fun, especially knowing that I can make some of these actually happen!
A Airline miles to visit loved ones & online friends, including BP Sisters [BP is the mailing list. LJ friends too, of course!]
B Bags & bags of beautiful bodacious beads
C Confidence in my artistic ability & eye so that I'll know when something (paper art or jewelry or fiber art or whatever) is good and I won't have to be so angsty about it!
D DH to progress on his Dissertation
E Energy - personal energy so I can do stuff
F Flax gift certificate www.flaxart.com
G Galapagos Islands trip - the one place I most want to visit
H Hugs - in-person and virtual for and from all my friends
I Ideas & Inspiration for art - never seem to have much and have a really hard time thinking of things to draw or paint or jewelry to make or ideas for postcards or altered books or whatever
J Joyous moments for everyone
K Kisses from my husband and pets
L Longer hair and the ability to French braid and do other cool styles
M Magic sewing machine that makes clothes for me; gorgeous fabrics and cute styles that always fit just right [and to make clothes for DH - he isn't so easy to fit either, with a desk belly but teeny little butt ;]
N Nuthatch sighting - a bird I've never seen before and would really like to, especially since I use the word nuthatch a lot ;)
O Oven - I want to be able to clear out our kitchen enough to be able to use the oven again!
P Postage stamps to send lots & lots of postcards & other mailart & goodies
Q Queen-for-a-Day spa treatment & shopping spree
R Ready-made healthy & yummy meals whenever I want them (waiting in the freezer would be acceptable!)
S See's Candy - a pound box with 3/4 Raspberry Creams and 1/4 Milk Chocolate Molasses Chips
T Time in my life to do everything I want to do
U Unlimited photocopying including color for all kinds of swaps, postcards, altered books, etc
V Velvet Cloak - floor length, black crushed velvet with rounded hood, lined with emerald green satin
W Watercolor paints & Watercolor paper - I'ven't tried hot press paper yet and really want to!
X X-acto knife - silly of me to not already have one!
Y Yummy Yarns - soft snuggly colorful ones
Z Zuni bear beads in lots of sizes & made from lots of different stones
11:48 am December 7th, 2003 Why witches have black cats
So they don't get white fur all over their clothes.
(this realized as I took a black knit tank top out of the washer and found several very light blond to white pug hairs on it)
Joke for Geeks:
Werner Heisenberg, Kurt Godel and Noam Chomsky walk into a bar.
Heisenberg looks around the bar and says, "Because there are three of us and because this is a bar, it must be a joke. But the question remains, is it funny or not?"
And Godel thinks for a moment and says, "Well, because we're inside the joke, we can't tell whether it's funny. We'd have to be outside looking at it."
And Chomsky looks at both of them and says, "Of course it's funny. You're just telling it wrong."
12:41 am December 6th, 2003 Happiness is....
(this was a writing prompt on one of the online artists' lists I'm on)
...getting a big breakfast from McDonald's and not feeling guilty about spending the money ($3.15) or about the fat & calories -- after all, I had dental work done yesterday, so soft foods like eggs and hotcakes are perfect.
...having wild birds come to my back yard and eat. They almost feel like pets, or like hosting a party that lots of people come to and eat and chat and have a good time.
...getting chores done early in the day so I can relax (and do art!) the rest of the day.
...thinking about my hubby having a couple weeks of Winter Break soon so he can relax a bit and so we can spend more time together.
...fog creeping over the pine tree-covered hills | | |
| Birds Galore!
In just ten minutes I saw about 2 dozen American Robins out past my backyard, roosting the big trees, and flying West. They were flocked in such a way that at first glance I thought they were starlings. I've seen no robins for months, and they weren't here an hour ago. For about 20 minutes it'd been raining extra hard, with some tiny hail, even. How very strange.
Then, after the rain settled down, three starlings came to the deck (they don't very often at all, even when they come to the tree for suet). I looked to be sure that all the robins were still robins. Yep. Maybe the first clump I saw were starlings, but robins look different in flight and all the individuals I looked at thru the monoc were robins.
Starlings ate a few seeds, took off, Flicker grrl came and ate seeds! Then she left and the junco/finch crowd took over again. Two boyz(juncos) were squabbling and standing up so tall that I could even see their short little trousers, which I can't usually see on juncos. Goldfinches are back to the non-pimp suits again. It was cool to see the transition on them a few weeks ago.
Now the rain has stopped, clouds are moving swiftly, and sun & blue sky are peeking out a bit. If you don't like the weather in Oregon, wait 20 minutes and it'll change.
The back yard behind ours has a large mock plum tree -- you know the ones with burgundy leaves and weird little sour fruits -- and all the leaves are off it now, thanks to lots of wind the past week. I can see over 20 juncos perched in it right now. More juncos are at the top of a cottonwood type tree at the front of that house. No one eating seed on my deck at the moment. I like it when the leaves are off the trees because I can see the birds better ;) My small maple has about half its leaves, very pretty orangey yellowy pinky, but still enough space to see birds sitting there ;)
And now there's a Varied Thrush in the mock plum with the juncos! Gorgeous orange & black bird, a little like an Oriole. And there's a very faint rainbow behind the bird tree. :> | | |
| November 5, 2003
Free Will?
A few days ago I read Sawyer's Flashforward. In it, some physicists are working on particle acceleration experiments -- and at the same time that they run The Big Experiment, everyone blacks out and has visions of what seem to be the future. Once they figure out what these visions mean, the rest of the book talks a LOT (so much so that one could call it Philosophy Fiction, in addition to Science Fiction) about free well -- do humans have it, or is it just an illusion? Is the future set in stone, etc. Of course time travel is a popular SF theme, but I'dn't before read such delving into free will in fiction before.
So that prompted me to later get out the new Daniel Dennett (philosopher who works mainly in consciousness, free will, and philosophy of science) book that I bought at Powell's, Freedom Evolves. I'ven't gotten too far yet (requires a lot of concentration for me), but his ideas are ... intriguing. He thinks that free will (of a sort; I'm not sure I'd define it the same way he does) evolved along with human consciousness, that it has NOT been part of our universe all along.
I've always tended to think that humans do have a large amount of free will (not TOTAL free will; there are such things as genetics and all), and that some nonhuman animals do, too. Doesn't Puppy have free will when he decides (ok, "decides") whether to lie on the couch or the bed or ask to go outside?
And if we don't have free will, why is there punishment (for dogs, too!) for "bad" behaviour? | | |
| November 1, 2003
It's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) time!
I went ahead and signed up for NaNoWriMo again this year (and even made the suggested donation, coz I think it's such a cool thing) ... but I have no need to write a novel. Last year I started writing a novel, but that quickly (3 days or so) evolved into book reviews.
Writing book reviews is a good thing. Writing nearly anything is a good thing. But is it... wrong, or dishonest, or something to count such words for nanowrimo, I wonder. If I was writing a nonfiction *book* I'd say no. But reviews, even tho they *are* writing for publication, are reletively easy to write. Tho they do have to be *good* writing, if they are to be published.
What nanowrimo did for me last year was allow me to write shitty first drafts. I've never been good at shitty first drafts; usually this means I get no first drafts (or later drafts). What's the point of writing if it's going to be shit? I hate revising. Why do I think mucking with it is going to make it any better? Once I've spewed something out, I don't want to have to go back and reread it. (sad times are these when I don't even want to read what I've written!!)
Today I got a really sweet email from an author thanking Under the Covers for the review we did of her latest book. Part of the review will be used for a cover blurb, and the author was happy almost to tears that her book was enjoyed so much. I forwarded her note to the writer of the review, and told the author that as a reviewer, one of the very best things is to be able to give a little back to an author who has given us so many hours of pleasure. That's part of why I started writing book reviews in the first place (besides wanting to tell others about books I love, etc).
But it's so hard with books I especially loved! How to express my delight in the book without getting into smarmy hyperbole. Knowing that not everyone will enjoy books that I did (imagine my shock when I first learned that there are a lot of people who do NOT like Gone with the Wind!!) How to say, you might like this book if you like ... (whatever it is that I liked about the book -- if I can even put my finger on it).
I worry that a poorly written book review is worse than no book review at all. If I write an essay or a poem or bit o fiction and people think it's poorly written or otherwise don't like it, that's ok, no one else is harmed. If I write a book review and people don't like it, the author is harmed. That's a bigass responsibility. I don't know that I'm up to it anymore.
current mood: intimidated | | |
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