the stars behind my eyes

even if you have no interest in wrestling, this is hysterical.

http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7187

(an entire match done with action figures and smarky commentary)

thanks for all the happy thoughts and vibes.

vitaminj is in cleveland for a division meeting. it's just me and tanrimil. i'm trying to care about smackdown....it's not working. althoough i'm amused that they are in london and everyone is rooting for kurt angle and not rey mysterio. mysterio is the face, or should be, but the last few weeks he's been getting boos.

(too lazy to link the lingo and characters...you all have google if you're THAT interested :) )

been working on our home beltaine rite. i know how it ENDS (*nudge nudge wink wink*) but getting the other elements i want to mesh with the 'big finish' has given me writer's block.

bought pansies and flower boxes for the deck. tanrimil went with me after her pt appointment, and we had a good time. i should also mention that whenever i take her to PT she buys me tim horton's coffee afterwards :)

anywa, re: the deck, can't wait for the canopy. it may be 65 everywhere else, but the sun doesn't set on the tanrideck, (seriously) and it's usually about 80.

i think i deserve double stuff oreos. i shall go do that.

(oh jeezus-krist...mark henry already lost one match in typical sucky fashion...wtf is he doing BACK in the ring now?)

Comment, and I shall give you a letter. Go back to your journal, and write FIVE words beginning with that letter, including an explanation what the word means to you and why.

bojojohn gave me G...

1. GROVER! the bestest muppet ever! he used to crack me up, long before i liberated a tickle-me-elmo from the clutches of some child.

2. GRAPES. one of my favorite snacks is cheese and grapes.

3. GOOFDOG. somehow, that became a nickname for my cat GARTH (who could be another G). he was being silly one day and i asked him why he was being such a goofdog...i have no clue where it came from. but it has stuck. Garth is permanently attached to my lap whenever i'm home (although some days he favors seamus_mcnasty's) and has awakened me to warn of raccoons in the house and candles left lit and blazing. while it may sound flaky, he is definitely my familiar, and has been told he must live FOREVER.

4. GENEROUS. something i wish i could be more of, and not just with financial things (which i think i do okay in). i wish i could be more generous with my time and my patience (often lacking) especially with people/groups i care about. i know this is one big negative thing i have about myself and i really really try to work on it.

5. GOTH. as in TULIPS! THAT HAVEN'T BLOOMED YET! my front GARDEN though looks beautiful (hail eostre!), but the Queen of the Night tulips i planted will just set it off...and puzzle the neighbors (again)

boring, i know, but it makes me feel good to see how many things are crossed off...

High

1. write intro soc exam
2. grade intro soc exam.
3. call/e-mail IT about SQL and get back to Commander D (in progress)
4. call scioto village (tour)
5. call juvenile detention center (tour)
6. call juvenile court (tour)
7. call juvenile detective/school resource officer (guest speaker) left message
8. call children's services (guest speaker)
9. check on 4/25 and 7/21 for recruitment/academic advising
10. annual evaluations (mine and tweak's) (note to bitch about mine later)
11. copies of syllabi to tweak and academic affairs
12. week 4 readings (in progress)
13. week 3 readings (in progress)
14. find readings for intro soc for weeks 8 and 9 (this is week 4)
15. promotion portfolio timeline
16. Week 5 readings.
17. write exam 1 for juvenile delinquency.
18. grade JD comment papers
19. grade miscellaneous intro stuff




Medium

1. e-mail aislinggheal about henna-ing? the tops of my feet and bribe her with roller derby article!
2. vacuum.
3. week 6 readings.
4. clean bathroom.
5. trash/recycling
6. clean kitchen
7. mop floors.
8. dust.
9. schedule various appointments for heart, nose, eyes, psyche, uterus.
10. merlin to vet
11. neko to vet
12. week 7 readings.

Low

1. week 10 readings.
2. Week 8 readings
3. week 9 readings.
4. affirmative action paper (which needs a whole list of its own, really)
5. renew NCSA membership.
6. renew ACS membership
7. renew ASA membership (these are all low priority b/c they require MONEY
8. get biography to S for ADF warrior's guild webpage.
9. attack admin pile (in progress, and always will be)
10. look for books for alien abduction project.
11. somali immigrant project proposal
12. teaching portfolio evaluations (will be important for promotion)
13. write exam 1 for juvenile delinquency.
14. grade JD comment papers
15. grade miscellaneous intro stuff

because apparently that doesn't extend all the way up the ADF ladder.

i'm in the middle of reading 'Solitary Druidry.' I can thus far sum it up as...disappointing.

The most GLARING problem is the entire third chapter being devoted to providing excerpts from greek and roman writings about druid sex practices. I can sum it up thusly:

"druids were incestuous pedophiles who fucked anything that moved."

really?

there's no provision of historical context (as in, why would the folks that were being invaded by and then subsequently invading the celts put out negative information? surely propoganda was invented BEFORE 1945?) or any analysis at all as to why this would be written, why greeks and romans would focus on this, could there have been misunderstandings between the cultures. nothing.

of course, there's a handy list of websites referencing "polyamoury" at the end.

those of you who know me SHOULD know that i don't really care who is fucking whom. if everyone involved is consenting (including other partners that might not be involved in that particular instance) i don't really care; and in reality even if that ISN'T the case, it's none o' my business. i've got friends all along the consensual sexual spectrum, including true polyamoury and swinging. it doesn't even enter into the friendship equation. (the only reason i know about some of it is because people didn't want me to be uncomfy seeing them with a non-spouse).

however, an INTRODUCTORY book into druidry is really NOT the place to make a statement. I consider myself on the druidry path, but does that mean i should have sex with whomever and whatever i please, regardless of my own interpretation of right behavior? that's the impression one is left with at the end of the chapter.

If one felt STRONGLY about this (which the author certainly does, i'm guessing) it would have been more appropriate to have a chapter LATE in the book discussing morality, maybe include the historical references, with appropriate analysis (hell, ANY analysis) and a wide range of moral/ethical issues...not just 'WE FUCK ANYONE.'

so far the rest of the book is simplistic, which i suppose for an intro book it needs to be. citations from websites rather than actual texts irk me, but that may be just the college professor in me...

i wish i had borrowed it from someone before i bought it. i suppose i just assumed 'why not excellence' was something to be asked reflexively. (kinda like i figure how 'what would jesus do' should be asked, rather than just emblazoned on bracelets and license plate frames.)

i know no one cares...but here it is. especially for those of you who think that we professors just show up for class and have nothing better to do! :) (i miscounted in le earlier post)

High

1. write intro soc exam
2. grade intro soc exam.
3. call/e-mail IT about SQL and get back to Commander D (in progress)
4. call scioto village (tour)
5. call juvenile detention center (tour)
6. call juvenile court (tour)
7. call juvenile detective/school resource officer (guest speaker)
8. call children's services (guest speaker)
9. check on 4/25 and 7/21 for recruitment/academic advising
10. annual evaluations (mine and tweak's; in progress)
11. copies of syllabi to tweak and academic affairs
12. week 4 readings (in progress)
13. week 3 readings (in progress)
14. find readings for intro soc for weeks 8 and 9 (this is week 4)
15. promotion portfolio timeline

Medium

1. e-mail aislinggheal about henna-ing? the tops of my feet and bribe her with roller derby article!
2. vacuum.
3. week 6 readings.
4. week 5 readings.
5. clean bathroom.
6. trash/recycling
7. clean kitchen
8. mop floors.
9. dust.
10. schedule various appointments for heart, nose, eyes, psyche, uterus.
11. merlin to vet
12. neko to vet

Low

1. week 10 readings.
2. Week 8 readings
3. week 9 readings.
4. week 7 readings
5. affirmative action paper (which needs a whole list of its own, really)
6. renew NCSA membership.
7. renew ACS membership
8. renew ASA membership (these are all low priority b/c they require MONEY
9. get biography to S for ADF warrior's guild webpage.
10. attack admin pile (in progress, and always will be)
11. look for books for alien abduction project.
12. somali immigrant project proposal
13. teaching portfolio evaluations (will be important for promotion)

that oughtta keep me busy...and now i've killed 15 more minutes!

so, some updates.

i've made 2 of my gazillion phone calls. both were painless. and enough of my flist convinced to feeling the same way about phone calls, that we could maybe start our own 12-step program or something...

the 2nd was to the police commander who e-mailed me about the consultant's job. so, some details:

the initial project was called "Neighborhood Safety Working Group" and was commissioned by the mayor when the homicide rate skyrocketed again a few years ago, to find out why, etc.

(side note: there was some significant 'gang' activity, although they weren't CALLING it that. they were called 'neighborhood disputes' in the media...)

anyway, they got a professor from a large college in the south of the state to try and work with the departments electronic police report system, collate that with court records, etc. a veritable SHITLOAD of data (and we all know my love of data, eh divanoir?) Anyway, he hit a snag when trying to get the report data into something that was of use to most statistical software. apparently it's in an SQL relational data base (which may be redundant). each report can have many actual entries, especially since there would be separate ones for each offender, victim, property, etc. Up towards 500+ data fields. apparently, this professor couldn't figure out how to do it, or something. there may be more drama than that, which i'm not yet privileged enough to know :)

now, all these records are linked by the incident number. so in THEORY, one could create a data set with a hellaciously long record length, matching things up by incident number. i know how to do it, or at least what the logic would be. the question is if it can be done realistically. my hunch is it'd have to be done in chunks (maybe all january, all february, etc.). but i need to check with IT people before we make this a formal relationship.

so that's the deal thus far. :)

now i need to write an exam for my intro sociology class so i can give them a study guide (ugh). i hate writing study guides. and there's that boatload of phone calls to do, as well. i best get to it.

before i forget this, b/c it's just too funny. i had initially told someone that the 4-leggeds appear to be getting along fine...well......

Monday, while i was at karate apparently, garth and neko (both cats) were on the landing poking their heads thru the bars so jim could pet them (our steps go up about 6 steps, landing, then a 90degree turn and up 5-6 more steps) Sassy (dog. shih tzu to be specific) and tanrimil were getting ready to go outside. so, sassy sees G&N getting some loving and not HER, and is none too happy with THAT, so she barks and charges down the steps. neko, being the wisest 4-legged in the house, gets the heck out of dodge. garth (having recovered from toothcleaning, but still a bit grumpy about the 2x daily antibiotics) turns and just THUMPS on sassy.

you know how cats do that thing with their front paws WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM! really fast? like that, and with feeling. and then he ran down the steps.

so sassy's sitting there, going "huh?" at which point, garth decides he has NOT been clear enough in whatever he was saying, LEAPS from the bottom step UP SIX STEPS to the landing and WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM!!! again.

(the tanrisis says "dog's are so funny when they are trying to learn these important lessons: dont' f*ck with cats)

sassy's response again was "wtf?????"

so, after thumping her a SECOND time he runs back down the steps where seamus_mcnasty is observing all this. his eyes (garth's) were HUGE, fur all puffed up, mouth wide open...classic Pissed Off Kitty (tm) so he's sees vitaminJ's foot move, and attacks THAT and chews on his shoe for a while.
VitaminJ just looked down at him until he was done, and asked "are you finished?"

Garth stalked off, (probably stomping his feet, but we can't hear that with the carpet) and growled for about 20 minutes more....

when i got home and heard the tale, i looked at Garth and said "well, at least you won."

YES, you are all thrilled, i know. (some of this is a repeat from yesterday's postings, but i've been handed some stuff and remembered others.

1. establish a timeline for my promotion application. i'm eligible for 'ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR'. woot! so i have to put together a committee, a portfolio, etc. it's not due for a while, but i know how i am :)

2. call various doctors: eyes, heart, uterus, sinuses, psyche to be specific :)

3. minutes from 3CG meeting (HEY GROVIES...FREAKIN' VOTE!!! WOULD YA?)

4. other miscellaneous 3CG stuff (site bookings, e-mail reference summerlands)

5. RE ESTABLISHING FREAKING DAILY DEVOTIONALS (and write up the weeks i haven't written yet)! 19 out of 20 weeks of my meditation requirement, and i lose steam. great. i also need to finish articles for Oak Leaves and for Crane Chatter

5a. update DP on yule, imbolc, and ostara

6. pre-reg for trillium, summerlands, trothmoot, wellspring...oy. (and try to figure out how to pay for them all...)

7. pick up DVD player from repair shop. yes, i fix things rather than throw them away. sue me.

8. send e-sympathy card (cheesy, but i can't find the person's real address)

spring break over...i am very far behind in my flist....i'll get caught up i promise!