Wednesday, November 30, 2005

While the cat tries to strangle me

This is sort of that weird interlude between breaks. There is a longish weekend centered around stuffing ones body with L-Tryptophan and getting lots and lots of sleep. Then you somehow end up back at campus for a week and a half of classes and finals. Conveniently this is when all manner of tests, papers, and projects happen on top of regularly scheduled homework. Oh yeah and there are events like choir concerts and winter balls to make things even more stressful.

Last night I got less sleep than I have gotten all year and I still didn't manage to get half of my work done by the time it was due. I also forgot about dinner and missed a talk i wanted to go to because i was being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous theatre project.

Did I mention that I have no housemates. That is right. I live alone and fairies pay the other bits of my rent. I have seen Lz maybe twice since like last sunday. She left monday night for break and came back late monday and campus has eaten her. Me and 5l had dinner together Monday and I randomly see her running to and from things but thats pretty much it. It will be like this until after the Gala but when the Gala is over I will have several projects to work on and will probably start sleeping in Emery, then magically it will be finals time and we will leave for Christmas break.

A house isnt the same without people in it. I think that is the moral of the story. Now I am off to research frogs and find pretty pictures.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Shampoo...who knew?

For all of you who figured the great game was over, I feel the need to clarify, specify, notify and addify...

I haven't washed my hair in over 7 weeks now. Some people had this idea in their heads that this was a game of duration 6 weeks and at the 6 week point game equaled over. They clearly misunderstood the purpose of my experiment. The IDEA (which for some reason needs capital letters) was to not wash my hair for 6 weeks and see what happened. If I looked like some sort of caffeteria mop after 6 weeks I would consider the whole shampoo thing again with a new sense of respect. However, if the hypothesis held water then for what reasons would I again subject myself to the social construct known as shampoo. Clearly it seems foolish to readdict myself to a comercialized product when it was not needed in the first place.

It turns out that after 6 weeks I was still mildly greasy but upon completion of week 7 I discovered pantien pro-v quality hair without that silly shampoo. All for the price of wearing hats for 6 weeks...which I would have done anyways as I like hats and dont like cold ears.

However, my partner in crime is not having the same results. She is done on wednesday and according to her she fully intends to wash her hair that day. I can't blame her. She held out and played the game with me just for ja-ja's. I think I will give her my shampoo for a consolation prize.

I guess then the reasults are inconclusive because we have one with amazing results and one with not so much. Therefore I motion that we institute a more broad scale experiment and yall play the game and let me know what happens and the world will be a better place. Let me know if you want to play.

On an unrelated note the past 2 days I have had really BAD coffee. I think I need to clean out the maker or something but I dont really know. Anyone have coffee fixing advice?

Me and my house sort of have adverse feelings about the talking box. It is good for the occasional movie or mindless game or DDR but that is really about it. 5l watches this show that doesnt use it's given name and I pay homage to the gods of football on Sundays and the occasional monday night but thats about it. A lot of people find this hard to believe. I find it hard to believe a lot of people who make it their occupation to know what the talking box wants them to think. Or something like that. Anyways I say all this to say that we are making our fridge comercial. By we I mean me and 5l watching me be ridiculous. All the little icon figures that come off of boxes or lables get cut out and plastered to the eating box. My favorite I think is the shiny woman holding a watermellon with the spanish word for watermellon scrawled beneath her- she came on a spagetti squash. (This would be known as a diversion- We made spagetti squash last night. I have not had so much fun eating in a long time. I highly recomend the gourd if you happen upon one. You have to trust me here its well worth the whatever cents a pound it is. Give your mouth a distraction once and a while its good for it) I have discovered that one of the problems with the happy lable game is that most of our food is either too store brand or too crunchy granola to seek to entertain us. Pretty much all of my food comes in happy white boxes maybe with some grass or flowers or whole grains sprinked on ever so simply just so they can show you how pure and good it is for you. Otherwise it has the word Shawrs scribbled on it with maybe a bowl of peas. And peacans go on the front porch. They even get a song. (On a slightly related note I went shopping before I came home and the RQM got me some stuff just so i wouldnt starve. Now I am the proud keeper of 13 cans of tuna and about 9 cans of peas minus the half can in the eating box- and no peacans are not stored on the front porch they only go out there when more or less empty)

This started out with a point and has since devolved. That means I can degenerate further into pointless lists.

Things that amuse me today at work:
1. 104 is working the day shift which means he amuses me all day (it is cloudy so he can come out during the day)
2. there is a 'large male deer on campus-you know the kind with the horns' which apparently bothers people. Its like they dont know we live next to the woods or something. At least one of the other callers refered to it as a 6 point buck- someone knows what is important.
3. They are here to clean the cameras today which means lots of closeups of the hairs in this guys nose. Classic...and recorded. And his boss has red hair and mutton chops. Excelent
4. The worlds biggest yuppy just drove on to campus. Dude he looked pristine. Perfectly white teeth and plucked eyebrows and an off white magnum sparkly clean with one of those phone ear pieces. I was like 'look man dont come to close our your comercialism might wear off on me I dont wash my hair'
5. Edible arrangements popped in with a yuppy birthday present for the dean of new students and token students.
6. My favorite regular caller is graduating for real this time in December
7. One of the wonderful RA's STILL has not registered his car and is now on probation. Way to be a leader
8. It smells like spring outside.
9. The piano tuner lady was wicked perky today for no apparent reason
10. The truck with the cracked egg on the front-with sunglasses
11. My name is still on Dispatch Info board with hearts and flowers- I didn't write it though.
12. A Cascadia Farms granola bar (part of my lunch- a NEW addition!) pretty much every ingredient says organic. I dont know why they cant lump them or something to save space but oh well. But at any rate they are really really good. They are one of those white box products.

That is all you get cause I am now bored enough to start homework.

-Jn

Beads in her hair
And beats in her head
Flowers spring up
Wherever she treads

Sunday, November 27, 2005

On muses

There ae 2 muses at home. They are lazy little buggers and they call and all around to follow suit. So there was travel and there was food and there was family followed by friends and all the makings of some sort of love song gone wrong but as much as the muses whined there was no inspiration. I had to drive through the night to shuck them off behind me and when the sun was on it's way upwards I found words strewen across the highway like some god awful wreck just waiting to be pieced back together and me without a pen. . . someone by me a tape recorder for Christmas. . . words decompose far too quickly in my head anymore.

Back Pocket Poet0-Jn

Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together

Shine all night (11/27/05 I-80 east)

Maybe you thought it was you that was choosin my comin and my takin leave
But I promise you this time baby, when I walk out that door it's cause of me
See that there road is open wider than your arms will ever be
And there's bluer than your eyes when the sun shines on the sea

And if the sun can shine in the morning then I can shine at night
But if you can't catch a falling star you don't deserve to hold this light
Cause I'm chasing fallen wishes and making old wrongs right

Running headlong far to fast but at least I'll burn out bright
-Jn

Monday, November 21, 2005

A Jump Start

I am supposed to be writing a paper that is due at 1130. This will hopefully easy me into that happy writing process. I like my topic and I have tons of research but that is partly the problem. I have so much to say and so many ways to say it that i end up making circles instead of doing that forward motion thing.

So to update yall on life and love and general interest stories. . .

I am in love with sancho panza- he is the rodent that lives under the fun room at our house. We don't know what flavor of rodent he is but he chews on the house at night.

Lz and I went on a hot date to see Oliver at HW highschool. We got comp tickets which was nice of the bf. She went only to watch him in the orcheststra and I went only to check out the stage/props/costumes. It was a good show inspite of us.

Saturday we had the big t-giving party at the house. A lot of people came and it was madly successful. We also have tons AND TONS of left over food (and some left over booze tambien also) It was a gooed enough party that the three hostesses all passed out at somepoint on Sunday because we could not stay awake any longer.

Sunday marked 6 weeks for the great hair experiment. I don't really know what to tell you. My hair isnt that pantien pro-v comercial grade hair any more but then again it is not all dry and gross either and the grease factor went down considerably. In general I like it a lot and it makes a good story. I tend to enjoy getting wierd looks. I think I will keep it. So to summarize hair experiement 1 was dying it when I went home for the football game, and experiment 2 was the no shampoo challenge. I am working on what comes next. I am thinking its finally time for the blue. SW! was all about doing it for me as she has experience, which might mean waiting till after I get back from home. Who knows. I dont know what comes after that. Dreds maybe? Eventually one does run out of things to do with ones hair that dont involve cutting it. I can't give it another good chop for at least a year if I plan to donate it again. Of course that rules out dreds for a whole year too. Sigh. I might have to pierce something instead. I suppose I should get through the next experiment before I go on worrying about the next on though. Don't worry I will make sure I post so you can continue to live vicariously through me.

One final note. I am headed south on Tuesday evening and driving through the wee hours to get home with my partner in crime shuff-dog. My current plan is to stay up later than normal this evening (I dont actually think I can do it) and sleep for the majority of the day on Tuesday as I have no classes. Hopefully this will translate into an uneventful drive with one or two stretch/obtain fuel breaks but no long term sleeping events. And as traveling gets me in a good thinking sort of mood you can forsee poetry on the horizon. Mmmmm.

Pancho I love you- Jn

Monday, November 14, 2005

A milestone of sorts

I am currently munching on TLC. That would be Tasty Little Crackers made by Kashi. This means they are crunchy in more ways than one and on the whole they are an ok breakfast. And yes they really are called TLC- It says so on the box.

It is only 730 and I have already had an exciting morning. Actually before 4 am it was an exciting morning. See I was crusing down Miles River road NOT late for work thinking to myself Jenn you are driving way to fast for this curvy crazy road and someday you are gonna die on it. Right about when I decide to slow down a car passes me. I think to myself sh*t that is gonna be a cop. So I make a full and complete stop at the stop sign and procede on then next street at the posted speed. I wasnt wrong. He turned around and caught up to me (cause at this point I was barely moving) blue lights a blazing. Good Jenn good. And this is in Hamilton too which is worse because 104 will know and I wont hear the end of it. For a fleeting instant I thought just maybe it was 104 but it definately wasn't. He runs the plate runs the liscence and inquires as to what on earth I am doing out so late and where I live if not at the college then sends me on my way by saying "just slow down a little ok?" So I scoot myself to campus and pass the Wenham cop on Rubbly going less than the limit and I'm thinking look he is gonna get me too. Gah. But he wasnt interested in a slow car and I got myself safely tucked in to campus and in to RRC where they were awaiting my arrival. Come to find out that someone up there likes me a lot (and he has a Nextel). See it pays to work for DPS. It also pays to not put your foot on the gas peddle to hop over the town line (which just might have crossed my mind for a fleeting instant) because the Wenham Cop will be waiting right there for you. It also might pay to drive the speed limit. Me and Catsby will have a talk about that later today. For now she is just pouting in the Chapel Lot. Then (I swear just for kicks) they run my car again and I hear it over the scanner at work. Now thats not fair hearing about yourself over the scanner like that when you are working and not even doing anything wrong anymore.

I am ok with this for 2 reasons (3 if you count that nothing happened). 1 I am now much more likely to drive slower especially on Miles River where I swear I am going to hit a patch of ice on that curve (you know the one) careen off into the trees and die this winter. 2 apparently there are some sketchy kids from Lynn (Lynn, Lynn the city of sin) running around the north shore breaking in to cars and stealing stuff then snagging a 'free' ride home. So him stopping me was part for speed and part to make sure it was my car. As I said before I am ok with that.

Now begins my monday as my relief is just about ot walk in the door - Jn

Friday, November 11, 2005

Things that make me ill

1. Mildew- I got to work in cave like conditions scrubbing mildew off the bottoms of the theater seats because someone decided storing them outside under a tarp was a good idea. I was fine for the first hour or so but eventually the little beasties and the bleach made it through the face mask and in to my system. I scrubbed as hard as I could when I got home but I still felt like they were crawling all over me (cause mildew crawls apparently). I even almost washed my hair.

2. Water in Ispinach- So they tell us anyways. Of course the little town notification system doesnt work for us for some reason so I had to visit my local Zumi's to play backgammon with the other Jn and hear local chit-chat to figure this out. The story goes along the lines of some idiot busted a pipe at the water cleanin plant and a bunch of extra potasium hydroxide got spewed into our water. Wicked basic- drink it and your skin melts off- something like that anyways. So we arent allowed to do anything but flush and we are told to flush often. Good thing we thought to warn the LL cause she had no clue either.

3. Today is veterans day- Now before you destroy me let me explain the actual illness. No one knows this. I didnt know until I came to work and 104 drilled me. We have class today and while a day off of school is perhas a shtty reason to remember a holiday at least then you thinkg about it for a few minutes. But no- Business as usual. No one knows. No one cares. If they did know they would probably protest war or something. People at my school have no respect for authority and not sense of community or respect for it. I mean hell you might not think war is such a great idea but for God's sake at least respect people for standing up for what they believe in. Can't you at least respect someone even if you think they are wrong. Sometimes when Fr. Lias gives the benediction he includes the phrase 'Honor all persons' Thats right even the idiots. They are still people after all and made in the image of God. I am getting off topic but the point still remains. It is veterans day and no one knows about it.

4. godhatesfags,com- Words cannot describe to you how angry the 'gospel' this site preaches makes me. My organs begin to decompose when I think about it. 104 found it this morning because they picketted the funeral of a kid from his alma matter who was killed in Iraq. According to the site God hates people in the service people who live(d) in Lousianna, people from sweden, and any number of other things. (those are all I can think of off the top of my head and i do not intend to swing by that website again) Need we wonder why people hate Christians? God does not hate people. He may hate actions but NOT people. (see above) And I am pretty sure he is not really amused when people twist scripture all around to suit their purposes. (He will still love them just maybe not what they are doing) Love people. Hate actions. BUT LOVE PEOPLE.

I am gonna end with this cause this was pretty much all I could think of when I was looking at the site...

Luke 6:27-38 But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

I also like the way this comes out in Matthew 5 so you get that too (43-47) You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

It goes round...and round

5 things I plan to do before I die.

1. Visit all continents and play in all oceans. (2 continents and 2 oceans...I have work to do)
2. Publish a real paper in a real journal
3. Run away to the rainforest
4. Own a house (or whatever the culture I am living in calls a house)
5. Get through grad school

5 things I can do.

1. Poetry
2. Make kick ass 'Cosas' (house recipe- includes apples and chicken and whatever else ends up in the pan)
3. Read people
4. Play hostess (The RQ taught me well, the late, Great Grandma Goldie taught her well)
5. Get up at crazy hours for work without a problem

5 thing I can't do.

1. Focus
2. Speak in English (or any other language)
3. Produce adrenaline
4. Tolerate stupidity
5. Get through a school day without some great error (late for class, forget about class, forget the homework, forget about a testm etc.)

5 things I say.

1. Damn (it is really an all purpose word)
2. Varieties of the word Urinate (as in I am Urinated right now, or I have to find a Urination station)
3. Woof (a word for describing the ineffible)
4. Stellar (and everyone I know says it now)
5. Any number of random song fragments, quote board quotes or movie lines that get stuck in mine and my housemates heads daily. (eg It's cheese that makes the world go round, I smell bacon in the air, not the pleasant mother pheasant plucker, explodingo...)

5 things that attract me to the opposite sex

1. Plays in other countries
2. Plays in other languages
3. Plays outside
4. Plays music
5. Plays with cars and power tools

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

stickers stickers stickers


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Elephant in the rain (11/07/05- Ipswich)

The saddest dream
You've ever seen
An elephant in the rain
He circles again
And the slickered children
Wait their turn
And reach out as he goes by
This great gray beast
Reduced to chasing hay
Does he make you wonder
Does he make you cry
Can you touch the empty
When he passes by


-Jn

Saturday, November 05, 2005

An essence of goodness

So the way my life works lately when I come home it is exciting if I can say well at least it wasnt a bad day. (By the way the day is more or less considered over when I pull in the drive way even if it is like 1pm. Yeah, bad things and stress happen here but it is mostly safe from the things that beat me up.) If nothing else it just means that right now I dont take goodness for granted. Anything positive needs to be grasped and magnified if at all possible because the plusses are few and far between.

Friday I did not get all of my homework done before it was due because I confused my schedule but I did make it to all of my classes. I got to play in the shop for a good long time and build which is great because 1. it requires thinking but I can still do it well right now 2. my prof tursts me enough with everything to give me basic instruction and say go then she goes nuts over whatever I make because I have a high quality control in my work and she doesnt have to rebuild everythign I do 3. I get to play with power tools. I played with the (now) indoor kite eating tree for a while, climbed into the heights of the black box, and built a happy little table to go with my happy little benches. Oh yeah and I painted turkey butts brown too. Then I got a space of time all to myself in the house to unwind before friends came over. SW!, E and I just sat around and had a drink and talked for ages. It is so nice to know that Gordon kids to not have to get plastered any time there is alcohol around (seems like most do) and also that I have good, thinking friends.

Today it was nice enough to open windows. Kt came over in the afternoon to do homework and homework actually got done. We went into Ispinach to get dinner and walked around for a bit. We got duck (which amuses me to no end) at the Thia place and hit up Zumi's (aka the best coffee shop ever). I decided I love Ispinach and I need to play in town more and maybe live here forever. Sept I also need to live in Peru for forever so I have to negociate how to make that work. I am working on it. Basically it has been a wicked chill weekend with a disproportionate amount of goodness compared to the last few weeks and I am still getting things done. Tomorrow is the All Saints Day service at church and SW! is getting poured on for which I am excited and if I can swing it I will go to the All Souls service tomorrow night before I go to work. Here's hoping.

Maybe the creative juices are flowing tonight with the duck digestive juices. Hmmm...

-Jn

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

A week in my house

Su blog se ha publicado satisfactoriamente.
Your blog was published satisfactorily

This is 5Ls computer and it says things in spanish. It says perty much everything in spanish except for some random programs.
The computer I am typing at belongs to my housemate. She is a spanish major so she likes to keep things interesting and make everything in spanish except for those few programs that don't do spanish. However all things google are in spanish and therefor blogger is too.

Speaking of 5L she is NOT the pleasant mother pheasant plucker. She is not the pleasant mother pheasant pluckers son. And she will Not pluck the pleasant mother pheasants until the pleasant mother pheasant pluckings done.
5L does not actually belong to any tongue twisters though we say them a lot.

Speaking of pheasants there is a rodent living in our floor. To read about the aforementioned Sancho Panza you should follows the pleasant mother pheasants down the rabbit hole. There is even a picture of some astronaught con headlamp and cobwebs.
We were speaking of pheasants but pheasants have nothing to do with rodents. Pheasants are birds. 5L may be confused with a rodent from a popular childrens movie. That is ok. On an unrelated note we have some type of rodent living in our floor. His name is Sancho Panza. The other night we made a voyage into the depths of the basement to try to located him. We located him but still could not make visual contact so we dont know what type of rodent it is. Pictures were taken and 5L has a more extensive version of this story in her live journal which happens be to located under not the plesant mother phesant. This includes a picture.

Don't leave canned peas on the front porch
There are 2 half cans of dehydrate/rehydrated canned peas on our fronts porch. They have been there for several days. My fault.

-Jn
-Jn