I have been salivating over several images published by todd456 at zoto.com.
I think they are simply gorgeous and I am so curious as to how they were made.
Such fluidity and movement! I want to be able to do that!
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
I want to be able to do that!
I have been salivating over several images published by todd456 at zoto.com.
I think they are simply gorgeous and I am so curious as to how they were made.
Such fluidity and movement! I want to be able to do that!
ancient India and the language of consciousness
Dragon Mood? -- curious
I stumbled across this site and thought these definitions quite understandable. I wanted to remember them.
I stumbled across this site and thought these definitions quite understandable. I wanted to remember them.
Contemporary Hindu culture originated primarily with the Aryans who invaded India about 1500 B.C. bringing with them the Sanskrit language and the Vedic religion. However, for at least 1000 years prior to this invasion, there existed a culture in India about which we know very little.
The cities of the Indus river valley left no large monuments and although they did have a written language, it has not yet been translated. From some fragmentary evidence that does remain, scholars conclude this early culture contained within it many elements that were later incorporated into the Hindu religion.
The Language of Consciousness
The exploration of consciousness has developed to a remarkable degree in the Hindu culture. In fact, the Sanskrit language has shown itself to be sufficiently precise in describing the subtleties of consciousness exploration that many Sanskrit words, with no adequate English equivalents, have become commonplace in our own contemporary culture. Consider for example these terms:
asanas: postures used to stimulate flow of life-force through the body and to aid meditation.
atman: The human soul or spirit -- the essence of the inner being.
ahimsa: The doctrine of non-violence toward sentient beings.
akasha: The ether; primordial substance that pervades the entire universe; the substratum of both mind and matter. All thoughts, feelings, or actions are recorded within it.
Brahman: Hindu god who represents the highest principle in the universe; the essence that permeates all existence. Brahman is the same as atman in the philosophy of the Upanishads.
dharma: One's personal path in life, the fulfillment of which leads to a higher state of consciousness.
dhyana: The focusing of attention on a particular spiritual idea in continuous meditation.
guna: A cosmic force or quality. Hindu cosmology maintains that the universe is composed of three such qualities: satvic, meaning pure or truthful; rajasic, meaning rich or royal; and tomasic meaning rancid or decaying.
Ishwara: Personal manifestation of the supreme; the cosmic self; cosmic consciousness.
karma: The principle by which all of our actions will effect our future circumstances, either in the present or in future lifetimes.
mantras: Syllables, inaudible or vocalized, that are repeated during meditation.
maya: The illusions the physical world generates to ensnare our consciousness.
moksha: The attainment of liberation from the worldly life.
mandala: Images used to meditate upon.
nirvana: The transcendental state that is beyond the possibility of full comprehension or expression by the ordinary being enmeshed in the concept of selfhood.
ojas: Energy developed by certain yogic practices that stimulates endocrine activity within the body.
prana: Life energy that permeates the atmosphere, enters the human being through the breath, and can be directed by thought.
pranayama: Yogic exercises for the regulation of the breath flow.
samadhi: State of enlightenment of superconsciousness. The union of the individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness.
sadhanas: Spiritual disciplines. Practical means for the attainment of a spiritual goal.
samsara: The phenomena of the senses. Attachment to samsara leads to further rebirth.
siddhis: Powers of the soul and spirit that are the fruits of yogic disciplines.
soma: A plant, probably with psychedelic properties, that was prepared and used in ritual fashion to enable men to communicate with the gods.
tantras: Books dealing with the worship of the female deities and specifying certain practices to attain liberation through sensuality, particularly through the heightened union of male and female energies.
yoga: This is the Sanskrit word meaning union and refers to various practices designed to attain a state of perfect union between the self and the infinite.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Memorial Day
Dragon Mood? -- most relaxed
It's midday Monday, Memorial Day.
S and I are moving as slowly as two people can move and still be recognized as alive and breathing. (laughing) I guess you could say that we're pretty relaxed.
S cleaned out our little frog fountain yesterday and replaced the pump with a super-duper high-powered one that has been languishing in the basement for the past eleven years. That fountain really spurts and trickles now, believe me! I'm so pleased that she cleaned it out and IT WORKS!
While she worked on the fountain, I made super-duper (my favorite word today, I guess?) oatmeal-bran-banana-blueberry bread. It turned out scrumptious and extremely filling, as you may well imagine!
We also made a quick run into the nearby little town for some emergency hardware supplies and, of course, the mom-and-pop hardware store was closed. Amazingly, the local drugstore (national chain) had something close to what S was looking for and I was able to buy some colorful nail polish for my toes ("Juicy Tomato" by Maybelline). Meanwhile, the skies had clouded up and it began to rain. Not to be deterred from our in-town itinerary, however, we hit the ice cream place for the obligatory blizzard, vanilla yogurt and doggie ice cream sundae (Cisco was in the back of the car, whimpering for her ice cream).
S and I also cooperatively consulted on preparing a pork loin roast that turned out spectacularly well, if I say so myself. Lina had given me the idea of a pork roast smothered and marinaded with plain yogurt. But her roast was done with lots of Indian spices and dried fruit, which I didn't want to use. So, S and I ended up choosing a hoisin sauce (which had been languishing in our cupboard since the Y2K era), a jar of roasted and minced garlic and some dijon mustard, all mixed together, and spooned over the roast.
I baked it for about a half an hour at 425 degrees to seal the juices in, then smothered the roast with plain yogurt, covered it and cooked it at 350 degrees for another two hours. Oh yes, at S's recommendation, about an hour before the finish, we added about 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar to the by-then ample gravy to sweeten it just a bit. Finally, the last half hour we baked it uncovered, marinating the roast a couple of times with the juices in the pan.
It was excellent; well-flavored and pull-apart tender. We fixed some brown basmati rice with its savory nutty smell that just begged for pork gravy poured over it. Yum! We topped off the meal with steamed brussels sprouts and a small serving of cottage cheese. UMmmmm-ummm good!
We watched movies, painted toenails and enjoyed each other's company. It was a good day!
It's midday Monday, Memorial Day.
S and I are moving as slowly as two people can move and still be recognized as alive and breathing. (laughing) I guess you could say that we're pretty relaxed.
S cleaned out our little frog fountain yesterday and replaced the pump with a super-duper high-powered one that has been languishing in the basement for the past eleven years. That fountain really spurts and trickles now, believe me! I'm so pleased that she cleaned it out and IT WORKS!
While she worked on the fountain, I made super-duper (my favorite word today, I guess?) oatmeal-bran-banana-blueberry bread. It turned out scrumptious and extremely filling, as you may well imagine!
We also made a quick run into the nearby little town for some emergency hardware supplies and, of course, the mom-and-pop hardware store was closed. Amazingly, the local drugstore (national chain) had something close to what S was looking for and I was able to buy some colorful nail polish for my toes ("Juicy Tomato" by Maybelline). Meanwhile, the skies had clouded up and it began to rain. Not to be deterred from our in-town itinerary, however, we hit the ice cream place for the obligatory blizzard, vanilla yogurt and doggie ice cream sundae (Cisco was in the back of the car, whimpering for her ice cream).
S and I also cooperatively consulted on preparing a pork loin roast that turned out spectacularly well, if I say so myself. Lina had given me the idea of a pork roast smothered and marinaded with plain yogurt. But her roast was done with lots of Indian spices and dried fruit, which I didn't want to use. So, S and I ended up choosing a hoisin sauce (which had been languishing in our cupboard since the Y2K era), a jar of roasted and minced garlic and some dijon mustard, all mixed together, and spooned over the roast.
I baked it for about a half an hour at 425 degrees to seal the juices in, then smothered the roast with plain yogurt, covered it and cooked it at 350 degrees for another two hours. Oh yes, at S's recommendation, about an hour before the finish, we added about 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar to the by-then ample gravy to sweeten it just a bit. Finally, the last half hour we baked it uncovered, marinating the roast a couple of times with the juices in the pan.
It was excellent; well-flavored and pull-apart tender. We fixed some brown basmati rice with its savory nutty smell that just begged for pork gravy poured over it. Yum! We topped off the meal with steamed brussels sprouts and a small serving of cottage cheese. UMmmmm-ummm good!
We watched movies, painted toenails and enjoyed each other's company. It was a good day!
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Movies: Crash and Sideways, Neverland, Aviator
Dragon Mood? -- amazed at S
Friday night, S and I finally left our little house in the pine forest and went to see a movie. We chose Crash over the Star Wars Sith whatever-it-is movie; I would still like to see that one on the big screen.
We both thoroughly enjoyed Crash. It's a Pulp Fiction-like movie with multiple stories, chronologically shuffled around (there's that time thing going again) and multiple sets of characters who appear to crash into one another's lives with randomness and suddenness. The other major theme of the movie is prejudice, stereotypes and mis-assumptions about what other people are thinking and doing. It's extremely well done and I highly recommend it. You don't need the big screen to see this one; however, I'm glad that we did. Whoever the director of photography or cinematography was, they did a great job. There are numerous scenes with these very dreamy lead-ins (I'm specifically thinking of the car lights on the freeway images). There are images in my mind from the movie that felt artistic and yet edgy. I just liked how the film was shot -- its look, you know?
Last night, S voted for DVDs so we rented three: Sideways, The Aviator and Finding Neverland (I think that's the title). We watched Sideways.
[the sunlight is encroaching on my screen -- gotta take a sun break -- post more later]
[now mid-morning Monday] Hello, again. Just to finish off this post about movies, S and I watched Finding Neverland (Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie) and The Aviator (Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly). I really liked Finding Neverland because it's all about imagination.
The Aviator was big and bold but it never really pulled me in. Probably the closest it came was one or two of the dialogues between Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn ("We're not like them; we're all these acute angles ... and we'll end up looking like freaks." -- or something along those lines).
Of the four I saw this weekend, I'd pick Crash as the best of the lot.
Friday night, S and I finally left our little house in the pine forest and went to see a movie. We chose Crash over the Star Wars Sith whatever-it-is movie; I would still like to see that one on the big screen.
We both thoroughly enjoyed Crash. It's a Pulp Fiction-like movie with multiple stories, chronologically shuffled around (there's that time thing going again) and multiple sets of characters who appear to crash into one another's lives with randomness and suddenness. The other major theme of the movie is prejudice, stereotypes and mis-assumptions about what other people are thinking and doing. It's extremely well done and I highly recommend it. You don't need the big screen to see this one; however, I'm glad that we did. Whoever the director of photography or cinematography was, they did a great job. There are numerous scenes with these very dreamy lead-ins (I'm specifically thinking of the car lights on the freeway images). There are images in my mind from the movie that felt artistic and yet edgy. I just liked how the film was shot -- its look, you know?
Last night, S voted for DVDs so we rented three: Sideways, The Aviator and Finding Neverland (I think that's the title). We watched Sideways.
[the sunlight is encroaching on my screen -- gotta take a sun break -- post more later]
[now mid-morning Monday] Hello, again. Just to finish off this post about movies, S and I watched Finding Neverland (Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie) and The Aviator (Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly). I really liked Finding Neverland because it's all about imagination.
The Aviator was big and bold but it never really pulled me in. Probably the closest it came was one or two of the dialogues between Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn ("We're not like them; we're all these acute angles ... and we'll end up looking like freaks." -- or something along those lines).
Of the four I saw this weekend, I'd pick Crash as the best of the lot.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Time theme
Dragon Mood? -- a bit imperious; dragons are timeless and don't wear wristwatches
Since I just finished reading several books written around the theme of time, I read with great interest the Science News magazine that we got this week. In it there was an article about a New Zealand college drop-out named Peter Lynds who is postulating there is no such thing as discrete units of time. Time is completely a subjective human experience and has no reality in ... er, reality. Lynds has created quite a stir in the scientific community with a paper entitled, "Time and Classical and Quantum Mechanics: Indeterminacy vs. Discontinuity."
Here's an excerpt from an interview with Lynds by an organization called Epiphany in C:
I don't know about you but he sorta lost me talking about the "flow of time" and the "dimensional representation of time." A graph or a picture would be very helpful here, Mr. Lynds.
And ... I'm posting this before 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I could be watching cartoons, you know.
Since I just finished reading several books written around the theme of time, I read with great interest the Science News magazine that we got this week. In it there was an article about a New Zealand college drop-out named Peter Lynds who is postulating there is no such thing as discrete units of time. Time is completely a subjective human experience and has no reality in ... er, reality. Lynds has created quite a stir in the scientific community with a paper entitled, "Time and Classical and Quantum Mechanics: Indeterminacy vs. Discontinuity."
Here's an excerpt from an interview with Lynds by an organization called Epiphany in C:
Interviewer:I am still trying to wrap my mind around the concept of "time" without a direction or flow. I'm with you on the idea that motion would be impossible if there was such a thing as a static instant - but the "time" that leaves me with (without a flow) is still a bit muddy. Einstein killed off the idea of a universal "now" with his description of time depending on ones speed and relationship to gravity. Now you appear to be killing off one's individual "now" - as a neuronally induced cinematic-like illusion of a progressive present moment (aka consciousness). Where does that leave time as a concept - and our relationship with it, if it does not flow? Can you explain what you mean by "relative order of events"?
Peter Lynds: Hi and a big thanks for your interest in my work...
To try to answer your question, although there mightn't be a flow of time and there's no such thing as an instant or present moment in time in nature (i.e. they're completely subjective), there is interval in time (relative duration as indicated by a watch). If there wasn't duration between events, those events couldn't take place successively and all physical continuity, including motion and the progression of the hands of a clock or its mechanism, wouldn't be possible. As such, I think an assertion of time not existing is a bit strong, and should firstly be made with the acknowledgment of duration.
I think one must also be careful not to confuse the notion of a flowing time with a dimensional representation of time, as they are not the same things. The first is something that would actually have physical existence, while the latter is just the way in which interval in time is represented and modeled. The same applies to spatial point in nature vs. a dimensional representation of space.
In relation to relative order of events, as time doesn't flow or go in any direction, it's the order that a sequence of events take place in that's relevant, not the direction of time itself. The order of a sequence of events can take place in either one order relative to its reverse order, or in the reverse order, relative to the first. Moreover, it only makes sense to say that the order of a sequence of events take place in one order, if one firstly stipulates which direction is to be considered which. For example, the assertion that events are taking place in a forward order, could equally be said to be taking place in backward order, and the reverse said to be forward. The same for up and down, future and past etc.
I don't know about you but he sorta lost me talking about the "flow of time" and the "dimensional representation of time." A graph or a picture would be very helpful here, Mr. Lynds.
And ... I'm posting this before 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I could be watching cartoons, you know.
We got INOCULATED!
Dragon Mood? -- smug with anti-virus inoculation
I realized this morning that I still haven't blogged about our Norton Internet Security fiasco. I think I almost want to BLOCK IT OUT OF MY MIND!
Last week, in preparation for trying to install this software, I printed out numerous support documents from Symantec's Support website. I'm talkin' NUMEROUS. And there were many links and articles talking about all the possible and potential errors one could encounter installing this software. That should have been a clue.
Saturday morning (last Saturday morning), I woke up, happy and ready to tackle this installation. Allow me to digress. In preparation the night before, I had read up on System Restore, created a System Restore benchmark, backed up megabytes and megabytes of data on CD and generally did everything of a preventative nature I could.
Saturday morning. I began the download of Norton Internet Security at 8:10 a.m. Two hours later (yes, we still have dial-up and downloads are SLOW!), I was ready to install it. I followed the directions, the installation wizard popped up, and two screens later, the error messages started coming. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, I logged off, logged back on, and tried the installation again. How do you make that game-show rejection sound in a blog? Enhhnnnnh!
By this time, it was 10:30 going on 11:00 and I had had ENOUGH! I was DONE!
I pulled up my gmail account, searched through the numerous PC World newsletters I've received over the past year and found it. Yep! A small but highly effective anti-virus software from a company called Avast!. And it was FREE!
I downloaded it in under three minutes and installed it in less than five. Done! So far, so good! Avast! .... you are a prince among men! A diamond among chunks of coal! And with a good piratical name like Avast! (the exclamation point is included in the name -- sort of like Yahoo! I guess?), who could ask for more?
I realized this morning that I still haven't blogged about our Norton Internet Security fiasco. I think I almost want to BLOCK IT OUT OF MY MIND!
Last week, in preparation for trying to install this software, I printed out numerous support documents from Symantec's Support website. I'm talkin' NUMEROUS. And there were many links and articles talking about all the possible and potential errors one could encounter installing this software. That should have been a clue.
Saturday morning (last Saturday morning), I woke up, happy and ready to tackle this installation. Allow me to digress. In preparation the night before, I had read up on System Restore, created a System Restore benchmark, backed up megabytes and megabytes of data on CD and generally did everything of a preventative nature I could.
Saturday morning. I began the download of Norton Internet Security at 8:10 a.m. Two hours later (yes, we still have dial-up and downloads are SLOW!), I was ready to install it. I followed the directions, the installation wizard popped up, and two screens later, the error messages started coming. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, I logged off, logged back on, and tried the installation again. How do you make that game-show rejection sound in a blog? Enhhnnnnh!
By this time, it was 10:30 going on 11:00 and I had had ENOUGH! I was DONE!
I pulled up my gmail account, searched through the numerous PC World newsletters I've received over the past year and found it. Yep! A small but highly effective anti-virus software from a company called Avast!. And it was FREE!
I downloaded it in under three minutes and installed it in less than five. Done! So far, so good! Avast! .... you are a prince among men! A diamond among chunks of coal! And with a good piratical name like Avast! (the exclamation point is included in the name -- sort of like Yahoo! I guess?), who could ask for more?
Thursday, May 26, 2005
And another book I read...
...was the delightful love story, The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. I ordered it from QPB back last winter and hadn't gotten around to reading it until the big bad flu struck.
I'd definitely recommend the book to others. In fact, I already have: my sister and a co-worker. By virtue of blood, my sister will be getting my copy before too long.
Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before.I thought Niffenegger did a great job of keeping the reader oriented, considering how potentially disorienting all the flashbacks might have been. I loved getting to know Henry and Clare both. I wanted them to be happy even with Henry's curious disorder.
I'd definitely recommend the book to others. In fact, I already have: my sister and a co-worker. By virtue of blood, my sister will be getting my copy before too long.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Mustn't forget to tell you this!
Dragon Mood? -- charmed and charming
I feel like I'm still catching up from being sick last week.
When I was about ten or eleven, I read Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and I loved it! I didn't want the book to end! As the years have passed, I haven't forgotten the book and always wanted to re-read it. I did just that last week ... I read it one afternoon and evening.
I had so much fun, I kept reading and lolled and frolicked in her three companion books/stories, "A Wind in the Door," "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" and "Many Waters."
The neatest part for me was how I felt: like a ten-year old again, young and carefree and free to lose myself in the stories. I was right there with Meg and Charles Wallace and Mrs. Murry and the twins.
I wish there were more stories about the three "witches" (who were really not witches at all): Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. If I could be one of them, I would be Mrs. Whatsit with all her multiple layers and odd combinations of clothing. She was the "communicator" of the bunch.
And, I loved how "Wrinkle" began: "It was a dark and stormy night." What a hoot! Ms. L'Engle obviously has a sense of humor!
I could crawl into bed right now, open the book and be a young girl again. What a delight!
I feel like I'm still catching up from being sick last week.
When I was about ten or eleven, I read Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and I loved it! I didn't want the book to end! As the years have passed, I haven't forgotten the book and always wanted to re-read it. I did just that last week ... I read it one afternoon and evening.
I had so much fun, I kept reading and lolled and frolicked in her three companion books/stories, "A Wind in the Door," "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" and "Many Waters."
The neatest part for me was how I felt: like a ten-year old again, young and carefree and free to lose myself in the stories. I was right there with Meg and Charles Wallace and Mrs. Murry and the twins.
I wish there were more stories about the three "witches" (who were really not witches at all): Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. If I could be one of them, I would be Mrs. Whatsit with all her multiple layers and odd combinations of clothing. She was the "communicator" of the bunch.
And, I loved how "Wrinkle" began: "It was a dark and stormy night." What a hoot! Ms. L'Engle obviously has a sense of humor!
I could crawl into bed right now, open the book and be a young girl again. What a delight!
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Fifty-two, skiddou ........ JAN!
Dragon Mood? -- happy-happy!!
I was getting back in the car last night, after working a ten-hour day and after filling my car with $1.99 gas (imagine that I was excited to find sub-$2 gas?!?!), when my cell phone started ringing, "Staa-aa-art Me UP."
It was our pied-a-terre neighbor, Jan, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. She asked how we were doing and I gave her the requisite, Reader's-Digest version of our lives. She asked if we were free to come over for a "toddy" (as she cutely calls it) and some dinner. She had a big pot of chicken chop suey going and wanted us to join Tom and her.
I jumped on that invitation! It sounded fun and NO COOKING for me tonight!
Well, to make a long story just a little shorter, we found out that today is Jan's birthday. May 24th it is and it turns out to be her 52nd birthday. She and I are the same age. (I honestly thought she was younger than me.) So than I had to tell her about water dragons!
In fact, I'm gonna cut this short and go put a little Word doc together for her on WATER DRAGONS!!!!
Happy Birthday, Jan!!!
I was getting back in the car last night, after working a ten-hour day and after filling my car with $1.99 gas (imagine that I was excited to find sub-$2 gas?!?!), when my cell phone started ringing, "Staa-aa-art Me UP."
It was our pied-a-terre neighbor, Jan, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. She asked how we were doing and I gave her the requisite, Reader's-Digest version of our lives. She asked if we were free to come over for a "toddy" (as she cutely calls it) and some dinner. She had a big pot of chicken chop suey going and wanted us to join Tom and her.
I jumped on that invitation! It sounded fun and NO COOKING for me tonight!
Well, to make a long story just a little shorter, we found out that today is Jan's birthday. May 24th it is and it turns out to be her 52nd birthday. She and I are the same age. (I honestly thought she was younger than me.) So than I had to tell her about water dragons!
In fact, I'm gonna cut this short and go put a little Word doc together for her on WATER DRAGONS!!!!
Happy Birthday, Jan!!!
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Languorous Sunday
Dragon Mood? -- moving slow and happy
It has been a lovely, slow-moving day. I hope the word, "languorous" is the right word. I have spent a lot of the day sitting here at the computer, downloading pictures from our digital camera, playing with them (ever so slightly) in Photoshop, and uploading them to our brand new account at Flickr. Whew! That's a lot of pictures. Plus, I cropped and reduced many of them so S can upload them to her Palm. All this technology is fun and exciting and wonderful ... but it does take time. Thankfully, I enjoyed it and just took my time.
I fixed myself a breakfast of turkey bacon (so easy and unmessy in the microwave!) and a nice little Pyrex mixing cup of good ol' fashioned oatmeal (yes, arterial walls -- you are WELCOME!) with a little brown sugar, broken up walnuts and some berrily-delicious strawberries. A breakfast fit for a queen!
Then the queen decided to take a nap. Mind you, this was early in the afternoon on a wonderfully gray, rainy Sunday -- what could be better? S covered my legs and feet with a "lap blanket" as she calls it and I was warm and safe. I slept and dreamt in a deep, dark place; it felt profoundly restful there. Then I heard the dog growl a low growl which segued into loud and repeated barking. Nap over.
Later, we talked over the world's problems and decided to go get an ice cream cone.
When you can't solve the world's problems, doesn't an ice cream cone sound like a good idea? I had lowfat, low-sugar yogurt with Spanish peanuts in a cup, Cisco had a doggie ice cream (replete with little doggie bone) and S, the sugar-glutton, had a large Blizzard filled with Reese's Pieces. Eeechchhh! Too much sweet for me!
We walked around the "estate" and took more pictures of the flowers. I've already downloaded them off the camera and UPloaded them to Flickr. All this UP and DOWN loading! I hope to post one here from Flickr. It will be a test.
It has been a lovely, slow-moving day. I hope the word, "languorous" is the right word. I have spent a lot of the day sitting here at the computer, downloading pictures from our digital camera, playing with them (ever so slightly) in Photoshop, and uploading them to our brand new account at Flickr. Whew! That's a lot of pictures. Plus, I cropped and reduced many of them so S can upload them to her Palm. All this technology is fun and exciting and wonderful ... but it does take time. Thankfully, I enjoyed it and just took my time.
I fixed myself a breakfast of turkey bacon (so easy and unmessy in the microwave!) and a nice little Pyrex mixing cup of good ol' fashioned oatmeal (yes, arterial walls -- you are WELCOME!) with a little brown sugar, broken up walnuts and some berrily-delicious strawberries. A breakfast fit for a queen!
Then the queen decided to take a nap. Mind you, this was early in the afternoon on a wonderfully gray, rainy Sunday -- what could be better? S covered my legs and feet with a "lap blanket" as she calls it and I was warm and safe. I slept and dreamt in a deep, dark place; it felt profoundly restful there. Then I heard the dog growl a low growl which segued into loud and repeated barking. Nap over.
Later, we talked over the world's problems and decided to go get an ice cream cone.
We walked around the "estate" and took more pictures of the flowers. I've already downloaded them off the camera and UPloaded them to Flickr. All this UP and DOWN loading! I hope to post one here from Flickr. It will be a test.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
A full day
Dragon Mood? -- tired old dragon-girl
It has been a full, FULL day ... and I'm pooped!
I will hopefully write more tomorrow about all my doings, but I just wanted to post this little note in my blog:
I absolutely feel blessed and cup-overflowing rich with all the good people and abundance of things in my life.
Like what you ask?
Well, my dear partner who never lets a day go by without challenging me in SOME WAY! And my sweet hijita, who understands only too well how excited I can get about the color of colored glass in a photo on Flickr and listens patiently nonetheless.
Oh, the color! and the flowers! and the leaves on the newly-leafed trees! I am drowning in a sea of pleasures!
And, if I'm rambling, well, ... that's because I'm pooped and I need to go to BED!
It has been a full, FULL day ... and I'm pooped!
I will hopefully write more tomorrow about all my doings, but I just wanted to post this little note in my blog:
I absolutely feel blessed and cup-overflowing rich with all the good people and abundance of things in my life.
Like what you ask?
Well, my dear partner who never lets a day go by without challenging me in SOME WAY! And my sweet hijita, who understands only too well how excited I can get about the color of colored glass in a photo on Flickr and listens patiently nonetheless.
Oh, the color! and the flowers! and the leaves on the newly-leafed trees! I am drowning in a sea of pleasures!
And, if I'm rambling, well, ... that's because I'm pooped and I need to go to BED!
Friday, May 20, 2005
Norton's software, the dragon-slayer?
I AM back at work today and feeling better than I have since Saturday afternoon -- yes, that's SIX days ago.
I am looking forward to gathering up the dog and my Hawaiian-flowered gypsy bag and heading home to the pine trees and the daffodils and my piano.
But waiting there for me is a task. A mission. A quest, you could almost say. To survive installing Norton's Internet Security software. Which I tried to install two weekends ago -- with terrible, horrible, very bad results. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that spending three hours on the phone talking to a techie in India is NOT my idea of a great way to spend Mother's Day. And that three hours was spent just trying to UN-install the damn software. Very terrible, very horrible, very bad.
So, as the dragon, I'm feeling like I'm going to re-meet my St. George. And I can tell you that St. George won't be the one walking away from THIS fight!
(Now, if I can just NOT throw up ...}
I am looking forward to gathering up the dog and my Hawaiian-flowered gypsy bag and heading home to the pine trees and the daffodils and my piano.
But waiting there for me is a task. A mission. A quest, you could almost say. To survive installing Norton's Internet Security software. Which I tried to install two weekends ago -- with terrible, horrible, very bad results. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that spending three hours on the phone talking to a techie in India is NOT my idea of a great way to spend Mother's Day. And that three hours was spent just trying to UN-install the damn software. Very terrible, very horrible, very bad.
So, as the dragon, I'm feeling like I'm going to re-meet my St. George. And I can tell you that St. George won't be the one walking away from THIS fight!
(Now, if I can just NOT throw up ...}
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Sick
I am sitting at work feeling like I'm on drugs. No, seriously.
I have had the flu for the past four days. Bad flu -- multiple episodes of vomiting, fever, chills, dizziness, ... well, you get the picture.
So I talked myself into coming into work this morning (a combination of shrillness and good ol' guilt). Big, big, BIG mistake. I'm nauseated and dizzy. The lined wastebasket is a hand grab away -- I made sure of that. I think I'm gonna leave shortly and take the back roads home. No freeway for this spinning, speeding gal.
I wish I could blink myself home, into bed. Right....NOW!
[Note to self: next time, don't do the heavy-handed "you should go to work" guilt-trip thing. And, self ... if you still fall into that old bad habit of being hard on yourself, have the sense not to listen to that claptrap. You are 52. You have good, positive internal tapes. You have loving voices to listen to. Listen to them.]
I have had the flu for the past four days. Bad flu -- multiple episodes of vomiting, fever, chills, dizziness, ... well, you get the picture.
So I talked myself into coming into work this morning (a combination of shrillness and good ol' guilt). Big, big, BIG mistake. I'm nauseated and dizzy. The lined wastebasket is a hand grab away -- I made sure of that. I think I'm gonna leave shortly and take the back roads home. No freeway for this spinning, speeding gal.
I wish I could blink myself home, into bed. Right....NOW!
[Note to self: next time, don't do the heavy-handed "you should go to work" guilt-trip thing. And, self ... if you still fall into that old bad habit of being hard on yourself, have the sense not to listen to that claptrap. You are 52. You have good, positive internal tapes. You have loving voices to listen to. Listen to them.]
Friday, May 13, 2005
schlumptuous! she's done it again!
Dragon Mood? -- glabberghasted
Well, my honey has done it again!
She has gone on another etymological scavenging hunt and found another word:
Here's S's definition of the "new" word:
Josh is taking his actuarial exam today, but if he only knew, he would be elated ("Can I bet her a computer?") and horrified ("Where does she get this stuff?") at the same time!
I think I have a SCHLUMPTUOUSLY crazy girlfriend!
Well, my honey has done it again!
She has gone on another etymological scavenging hunt and found another word:
SCHLUMPTUOUS
Here's S's definition of the "new" word:
schlump-tu-ous adj. -- luscious, sexy, plump (as in 'full'), sumptuous
ex. "She has schlumptuous lips!"
Josh is taking his actuarial exam today, but if he only knew, he would be elated ("Can I bet her a computer?") and horrified ("Where does she get this stuff?") at the same time!
I think I have a SCHLUMPTUOUSLY crazy girlfriend!
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Thursday blahs
Dragon Mood? -- draggin' Dragon
Usually by this time of the week, I'm getting excited about the weekend.
But I continue to feel overly fatigued -- too fatigued for getting eight hours of sleep last night -- so no cartwheels here this Thursday. I'm gonna give this new regimen of thyroid meds a few more days. Then ... if I don't feel better by Monday, I'm gonna call my doc and tell her how I'm feeling.
Waaaah!
I hate this loopy-dopey-tired kind of feeling! Don't I sound like I swallowed a few of the Seven Little Dwarves?
It sure doesn't feel like me, folks!
Usually by this time of the week, I'm getting excited about the weekend.
But I continue to feel overly fatigued -- too fatigued for getting eight hours of sleep last night -- so no cartwheels here this Thursday. I'm gonna give this new regimen of thyroid meds a few more days. Then ... if I don't feel better by Monday, I'm gonna call my doc and tell her how I'm feeling.
Waaaah!
I hate this loopy-dopey-tired kind of feeling! Don't I sound like I swallowed a few of the Seven Little Dwarves?
It sure doesn't feel like me, folks!
Monday, May 09, 2005
It's especially nice to be a mom when ...
Dragon Mood? -- grrrreat big fireballs of GRATITUDE!
. . . your daughter buys you a PRO account ... as in "PRO-fessional" account for flickr. It arrived today for S and me. And I'm pretty pumped!
We took a boatload of pictures yesterday while over at Matt and Sarah's house: pix of baby Preston, pix of all the "kids" playing volleyball in the backyard and of course, the requisite artsy-fartsy shot of Matthew's beautifully-stacked woodpile.
Then, we got home just as the daylight was fading and S was lamenting the fact that we hadn't taken any pictures of her lovingly-planted tulips. So, I took some tulip-icously flowerful pictures.
Which at this point are still all lingering on the digital camera -- arrrrghh! I won't be able to download them until this weekend. Another arrrrrghhhh!
But, Carolina -- thank you, thank you, thank you! That is a SWEEEEEET gift!
And I LOVE being your mom!
. . . your daughter buys you a PRO account ... as in "PRO-fessional" account for flickr. It arrived today for S and me. And I'm pretty pumped!
We took a boatload of pictures yesterday while over at Matt and Sarah's house: pix of baby Preston, pix of all the "kids" playing volleyball in the backyard and of course, the requisite artsy-fartsy shot of Matthew's beautifully-stacked woodpile.
Then, we got home just as the daylight was fading and S was lamenting the fact that we hadn't taken any pictures of her lovingly-planted tulips. So, I took some tulip-icously flowerful pictures.
Which at this point are still all lingering on the digital camera -- arrrrghh! I won't be able to download them until this weekend. Another arrrrrghhhh!
But, Carolina -- thank you, thank you, thank you! That is a SWEEEEEET gift!
And I LOVE being your mom!
Saturday, May 07, 2005
taking the cyber-world by storm
Dragon Mood? -- ready to take a dragon-nap
I'm talking about flickr.
Carolina is posting pix on flickr like there's no tomorrow. Check it out!
She even started an account for me! That would be here.
But . . . there's even more buzz about Backpack. Check that out!
I got me a backpack account. What about you??
I'm talking about flickr.
Carolina is posting pix on flickr like there's no tomorrow. Check it out!
She even started an account for me! That would be here.
But . . . there's even more buzz about Backpack. Check that out!
I got me a backpack account. What about you??
More pills?
Dragon Mood? -- tired; why am I up so early?
I rolled over in bed and wondered "Where am I?" Then I wondered "What day is it? Is it a work day?"
Duh. More and more regularly, I am waking up or waking myself up on Saturday mornings, disoriented. This morning I just couldn't go back to sleep.
I wandered out to the fireplace room and looked at the big clock. Holy cats, it was just after five ... A.M.!
Is it the new pills I'm taking?
I met with my doctor yesterday ... well, actually I was supposed to meet with my doctor, but because of a really bad accident on I-96 and the resulting traffic jam, I missed my appointment entirely. What is ordinarily an hour-and-a-half drive turned into a three-hour marathon. I was frustrated and pissed, to say the least.
I ended up meeting with the nurse-practitioner. She was available and willing to meet with me at 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. I give her a lot of credit for that!
To make a long story short, I am now taking a slightly higher dose of Synthroid (0.075 mg or 75 mcg - micrograms) which hopefully, will alleviate some of the fatigue and incredible coldness I've been feeling. I'm also beginning a six-month course of Iodural, an iodine supplement, four 12.5 mcg tablets per day. There is evidently a pretty strong correlation between hypothyroidism and low iodine stores in the body. My doc had me do one of those iodine/urine tests and my iodine stores were definitely down. She told me that we live in the "Goiter Belt" here in the Great Lakes region because we don't get iodine from living near salt water.
I'm also beginning to take some fish oil supplements that both the doctor and her husband doctor take, again because of low iodine levels. I honestly can't remember what the connection was between the fish oil and iodine, so I'm gonna have to get back with you on that.
Suffice to say that I've got more pills to incorporate into my daily regimen. *big sigh*
I rolled over in bed and wondered "Where am I?" Then I wondered "What day is it? Is it a work day?"
Duh. More and more regularly, I am waking up or waking myself up on Saturday mornings, disoriented. This morning I just couldn't go back to sleep.
I wandered out to the fireplace room and looked at the big clock. Holy cats, it was just after five ... A.M.!
Is it the new pills I'm taking?
I met with my doctor yesterday ... well, actually I was supposed to meet with my doctor, but because of a really bad accident on I-96 and the resulting traffic jam, I missed my appointment entirely. What is ordinarily an hour-and-a-half drive turned into a three-hour marathon. I was frustrated and pissed, to say the least.
I ended up meeting with the nurse-practitioner. She was available and willing to meet with me at 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. I give her a lot of credit for that!
To make a long story short, I am now taking a slightly higher dose of Synthroid (0.075 mg or 75 mcg - micrograms) which hopefully, will alleviate some of the fatigue and incredible coldness I've been feeling. I'm also beginning a six-month course of Iodural, an iodine supplement, four 12.5 mcg tablets per day. There is evidently a pretty strong correlation between hypothyroidism and low iodine stores in the body. My doc had me do one of those iodine/urine tests and my iodine stores were definitely down. She told me that we live in the "Goiter Belt" here in the Great Lakes region because we don't get iodine from living near salt water.
I'm also beginning to take some fish oil supplements that both the doctor and her husband doctor take, again because of low iodine levels. I honestly can't remember what the connection was between the fish oil and iodine, so I'm gonna have to get back with you on that.
Suffice to say that I've got more pills to incorporate into my daily regimen. *big sigh*
Friday, May 06, 2005
Crabby sweet blossoms
My "good-eye" hijita took this picture. Isn't it gorgeous? So luscious looking, you want to bite the picture. At least, I do!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
take a look at DragonPix
Dragon Mood? -- rising and shaking the dust off; this dragon LIKES change!
I am coming up on renewal time for my one-year subscription with Squarespace. I don't think I'm gonna renew. I have never been able to get really comfortable with its interface. So, I'm gonna take my $100 or whatever it was and save my money this year. Maybe I'll buy a "Pro" account at Flickr or maybe I'll buy myself the version 7.0 upgrade for Photoshop . . . or maybe I'll just SAVE that money!
Who knows?
Anyway ... please surf over to DragonPix and check out its rising from the ashes.
I am coming up on renewal time for my one-year subscription with Squarespace. I don't think I'm gonna renew. I have never been able to get really comfortable with its interface. So, I'm gonna take my $100 or whatever it was and save my money this year. Maybe I'll buy a "Pro" account at Flickr or maybe I'll buy myself the version 7.0 upgrade for Photoshop . . . or maybe I'll just SAVE that money!
Who knows?
Anyway ... please surf over to DragonPix and check out its rising from the ashes.
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