Kratzen vom Rathaus

Oh, Heck

I just realized I never posted the link for "It is Pitch Dark."
How am I supposed to spread the insanity if I don't post links?
Bad enabler.

Here's the link.

Speechless

Ah, it's that time of year again. October is coming. Back in Ohio, the leaves are thinking about turning and the weather is getting cool (for one day followed by 90 degree weather.) Out here I have my own fall traditions, one of which seems to be the nasty chest cold that develops into laryngitis. I'm ahead of schedule by about two weeks and am impressed with the speed and voracity of this one, because I could talk pretty well last night. Today- nothing. I'm considering sewing up some semaphore flags, or maybe a small campfire and a wool blanket.
Fortunately, Tony and I have a variety of hand signals from motorcycling. And neither the cats nor rats seem to understand the word 'no' no matter how important and relevant it may be when it's said. (The rats look at you as if you've broken some precious heirloom of theirs and the cats just ignore it.) So I guess my voice is not terribly necessary around the house. But I miss it and hope it finds its way back soon.

Why I Love My Husband, #6435

ME: Oh, look at this. Evidently the NHL season opener was in London and there was some sort of lighting problem which held the game up.
TONY: Huh. Were they using Lucas Electrics?

Support All Our Troops

You boys rock. Thank you.

The Final Stage is Acceptance

Took in some dry cleaning this week, and since Tony wore his suit to Jen's funeral that went too. The last time he wore the suit was my mother's funeral- we're not a very formal couple- and I guess with the travel and the mourning we somehow forgot to take it in. Since I immediately switch hangars and get rid of the bags (Marbles and the plastic manufacturers have a difference of opinion on whether those bags are toys) it just slipped under the radar. In fact, I had no idea until I checked the pockets outside the dry cleaner's and pulled out a memorial card.
Only it wasn't Jen's, it was my mom's. Maybe I'm just numb, or maybe it's finally time, but that nasty pang of remembering mom was really dull and my real reaction was to laugh about missing the cleaning.
Sorry, Jen. I'd give you a sheepish grin if you were still around to shake your head at us and laugh.

I Told You I Won Professor bingo

The prof had some coffee brewing and said he'd had a long day. Then he fluttered his hands to the side and said; "There's also fake sugar and real sugar..."
OMFG, that's the first time I've heard anyone but me use the term fake sugar in context.

Today's Random Musing on Mortality

Would it be considered offensive to request Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" be played at my funeral?

My Brain Has Been Eaten By a Grue

Back at PAX, one of the concerts had MC Frontalot, who Tony and I both like. He did a lot of songs from his latest album which I hadn't heard yet, and the one that stood out was; 'It is Pitch Dark.' (From Zork, of course, and the whole song randomly slips references to various text based games. It's like a game to find them all.)

Anyway, the song is highly meme-able, not only for the in-jokes but for the infectious muppet-like backbeat. It sticks in your brain and won't let go. took a few days to lose it after the concert. Which was fine. But now I've realized he has a video. OMFG. I love it and the video is even more playful with the easter eggs. But the song... I can't stop huimming the song. :)

Ketchup

Let's see, what HAS been going on in my life recently?
1. PAX
PAX (Penny Arcade Expo up in Seattle) was amazing. It was also amazingly fun. Although I was worried I didn't quite fit the standard demographic, I quickly learned that demographic is a pretty fluid concept in the gaming sector. That was awesome. So was Seattle for that matter, and I'd love to go back some time when I can actually explore it. Plus there was the train ride up, which was more of a lark than anything. Turns out it was the capper on a truly great weekend, but everything was so fun it's really hard to say that. All I can say is sleeper upgrade is worth the money. Maybe it's not elegant like in the days of the Pullman cars, but lounging on the couch reading or playing cards while the world goes by outside your window is a must-have experience. Plus you get rocked to sleep at night. What more could you ask?

2. Jen
For those of you who knew her, my friend Jennifer Morson died two weeks ago Thursday morning. She died in the middle of the night and, while the coroner's report hasn't come back, I'd bet money that it was respiratory attack then heart attack brought about by drug interaction from some of several her doctor prescribed her. Don't dork around with these things, people. Just because someone has a license on their wall does not mean you should let them think for you as well. Get all the information on anything someone tries to prescribe for you- it's only common sense.
I'm not saying much more about it. If you knew Jen, I'm sorry for your loss. I'm also really sorry for mine and I just don't want to talk about it.

3. Lynn
Lynn had a scare last weekend in a fun chain of events. She's hideously allergic to penicillin, which made things interesting early on this year. It made things interesting again when she got ahold of one overripe raspberry that caused frightening hives and disrupted her immune system. This let in an infection in her leg which landed her in the hospital on dilaudid last Saturday night. Being a wee bit touchy about meds right now because of Jen, I gave Lynn what-for on how soon she needed back off it. She made the break on Wednesday, but still had withdrawal symptoms. Yikes! Lynn seems good for now, although there have been many doctor visits and more to come, but the two operations they were trying to schedule have been put off indefinitely.

4. Rock Climbing
Tony and I are in a rock climbing class with Carolyn and Peter. It's good doing something with them again because we don't really spend that much time together any more and that's a shame. Climbing itself is pretty fun, I guess. It might be more fun if I weren't psychotically acrophobic. But I'm hanging in there. Literally. The worst part is when you get to the top of the wall and have to FALL BACKWARDS onto your harness and belay line. I'm having trouble with that whole letting go of the wall thing. I love and trust Tony, but it's still enough to make me feel faint every time. The time he got it jammed somehow while I was at the top, I think I actually did for a second. Ah well, I'd take an EMT visit over, say, wetting my pants or screaming at the top of my lungs any day. I'm not sure what all my options are in those situations, but in the end, I'm safely tied into a cable and being unconscious could only help my descent technique. Tony, of course, scrambles up the wall like a monkey and makes my belaying somewhat of a speed exercise- but last week he did one slowly. Of course, the climbing route had no holds in place, but because there was a simulated gorge in the wall he used that instead. I tried to tell him the route was gone since it was written on a piece of tape at the bottom, but it's pretty hard to hear up on the wall and he was concentrating on how to get to the top. So I just held the line at the ready in case he fell and spent the time musing why everyone thinks I'm the stubborn one in the relationship. He made it to the top no problem, which is one of the things i really love about him. When Tony wants something, he's going to get it.
Carolyn and Peter both seem to love climbing as well, and I suppose what's not to love for them. It's athletic and a bit thrilling. I feel a bit sad that I just don't seem that adventurous any more and I wonder if that's part of getting older but I'm not ready to consider that yet.
If I get anything out of climbing, it's the feeling of accomplishment in making it to the top without completely freaking out. I know I can climb the silly things because the belay line is there to help, it's the mental stuff I'm trying to work out. So I don't even bother with the technicals and just hang out on the low rated walls. This made for a rather annoying moment when the instructor said something about joining the gym last week and I mentioned Tony and I already belonged. One of the other women in our class registered  such complete shock and horror all over her face, I just sat there thinking; "Yeah, the frightened, out of shape woman belongs here. I guess this place doesn't have high enough standards for you, after all." It really irked me. But I made it up the next wall faster for it.

5. Calculus
Well, my numbers have finally come up in the professor lotto this semester. I really like the way my calculus teacher thinks and as far as I can tell, he's sane. This makes me a little sad my coursework has been a bit screwy so far. One month in and I've already missed two classes (one week's worth) and bombed a test. Sigh. Really, I LIKE math. I'm actually pretty good at it. If things get boring again in October, the professor might even come to that conclusion as well.

6. Travel Plans
Ceej has invited me on an adventure. I don't have details yet, because it's not firmed. She wants to go away in October. I don't know if I can, but would love to try. An alternate plan is January, but the weather won't be as nice. I dunno. Either way, I think it will be a blast. We've had fun the few times we've gone out prowling together, so the idea has totally taken over my meager attention span since she made the offer. Well, actually a blood elf character (run by her husband David) made the offer by asking if I was going when we ran into each other on the zeppelin tower in Tirisfal, which kind of added a surreal element to the whole thing. And they say gamers are anti-social...

There. I think you're more or less caught up. It's late and I'm tired.
Oh, wait. Monterey! And otters!
I think that's another post.

Nothing Says 'You're Special' Like Chinet

Ok, we all know that humor is my best defense. But honestly, it's not my fault. There's just so much to laugh at. Like funeral urns for instance. Boy, there certainly is a wide variety of taste out there- I'll just keep it at that comment since it's not nice to make fun of people when they're mourning.
So far, my favorite travesty has been some scattering urns. Well, not scattering exactly. Evidently, Catholics find scattering a big no-no, so there are many biodegradable urns out there for good Catholics who don't want to waste space after they're gone. Some are incredibly nifty; made of sand, gelatin, salt or homemade paper. Some are breathtakingly beautiful. And some are just, well, breathtaking...
But this urn takes it for me. It looks like nothing so much as a paper plate, with embellishment done by a van painter on commission. I can't imagine how relieved great Aunt Agatha would be to know she's getting such a classy send-off. Of course, with some of my elderly relatives it might be fair, particularly after the endless iterations of potato salad at the family potlucks.