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The weather is lovely, and I've been feeling good lately. I decided to do the Lake Mingo trail today. I haven't done it since before my surgery, and until a couple of months ago I definitely wouldn't have been up to it. I'm a bit tired, and I'm glad I ran out of trail when I did, but I feel good.
I hate winter.
Early this week, they were predicting a snowpocalypse for this weekend. On Wednesday I was considering going to EFRC on Friday because I might not be able to go on Sunday. On Thursday they toned the forecast down a lot, and I decided not to. Then Friday, they brought back their dire forebodings of horrible white doom. On Saturday, friends had been planning some outdoor fun, but it was canceled because it was raining. Nobody wants to go sledding on slush in the rain. And they were posting blizzard warnings for Sunday.
I got up, not quite as early as I was supposed to, and things were OK at the time, but I had a really bad feeling about what they would be like later in the day. I assumed that if I did go, we'd get a horrible storm that I would not want to drive through, but if I stayed home the weather would be fine. I dithered for a while and finally decided to stay home. Surprisingly, even though I stayed home, we're having a howling blizzard. I can't see the lane from the garage right now, but I suspect it has drifts too deep to drive through.
ETA: I just walked around the block. The wind really is gusting at least 50 MPH. Fortunately, we appear to have very little actual snow, so the drifting isn't too bad -- as in I might be able to drive down my lane right now, but then again I might not. I was very warmly dressed, and it was actually kind of fun while I was out there -- when I had my back to the wind!
Early this week, they were predicting a snowpocalypse for this weekend. On Wednesday I was considering going to EFRC on Friday because I might not be able to go on Sunday. On Thursday they toned the forecast down a lot, and I decided not to. Then Friday, they brought back their dire forebodings of horrible white doom. On Saturday, friends had been planning some outdoor fun, but it was canceled because it was raining. Nobody wants to go sledding on slush in the rain. And they were posting blizzard warnings for Sunday.
I got up, not quite as early as I was supposed to, and things were OK at the time, but I had a really bad feeling about what they would be like later in the day. I assumed that if I did go, we'd get a horrible storm that I would not want to drive through, but if I stayed home the weather would be fine. I dithered for a while and finally decided to stay home. Surprisingly, even though I stayed home, we're having a howling blizzard. I can't see the lane from the garage right now, but I suspect it has drifts too deep to drive through.
ETA: I just walked around the block. The wind really is gusting at least 50 MPH. Fortunately, we appear to have very little actual snow, so the drifting isn't too bad -- as in I might be able to drive down my lane right now, but then again I might not. I was very warmly dressed, and it was actually kind of fun while I was out there -- when I had my back to the wind!
Humorous dream
Sep. 16th, 2010 01:14 pmI seldom post about my dreams, mostly because I seldom remember enough to post, but I just woke up from one that had an amusing moment. (I was up way too late last night.)
At the beginning of what I recall, I was in my car, in an unfamiliar town. I don't know what town it was, but I was driving to a furry con. I got off a highway onto a main street, and quickly found the sign for the next street I was supposed to be on. It was very narrow and curved a lot, and I realized as I came around a blind curve that I was completely in the left lane and driving way too fast, but there was no other traffic. I came to a T and turned left and I knew I was at the hotel, although the parking area was kind of small and it looked like a tennis court. I parked and started looking for the con, which in some dream way involved finding a hallway where every attendee would be posting a picture on the wall. I walked into what I thought was the right hallway -- there were some people around and there were sheets posted on the wall. Only I discovered that these people were playing D&D type games. The sheets on the walls were characters for these games, not part of the con. And they were for sale, for prices like $30 or $50 for a character sheet. I realized I wasn't in the right place and moved on into a place that was more like a hotel lobby. About this time, I realized that I was not wearing a shirt (I don't usually have, or at least remember, that dream) and it was sort of inappropriate. Not looking where I was going, I bumped into a woman, a stranger dressed like a businesswoman. Somehow I knew this was especially a faux pas because I was shirtless. The woman looked displeased and I did my best at a flowery apology. (I have no recollection of what I said in the dream, but it was a good apology.) The woman somewhat archly told me "That is how you apologize to an old lady. I am a *lawyer*." With a nasty grin as she said lawyer. In the way of the dream, I knew that I was in big trouble if she wanted me to be. I pretended to faint dead away and fall on my back with my limbs in the air as paws. She reached down to give me a hand up and I knew she was yanking my chain. I chuffed at her. And then I woke up.
At the beginning of what I recall, I was in my car, in an unfamiliar town. I don't know what town it was, but I was driving to a furry con. I got off a highway onto a main street, and quickly found the sign for the next street I was supposed to be on. It was very narrow and curved a lot, and I realized as I came around a blind curve that I was completely in the left lane and driving way too fast, but there was no other traffic. I came to a T and turned left and I knew I was at the hotel, although the parking area was kind of small and it looked like a tennis court. I parked and started looking for the con, which in some dream way involved finding a hallway where every attendee would be posting a picture on the wall. I walked into what I thought was the right hallway -- there were some people around and there were sheets posted on the wall. Only I discovered that these people were playing D&D type games. The sheets on the walls were characters for these games, not part of the con. And they were for sale, for prices like $30 or $50 for a character sheet. I realized I wasn't in the right place and moved on into a place that was more like a hotel lobby. About this time, I realized that I was not wearing a shirt (I don't usually have, or at least remember, that dream) and it was sort of inappropriate. Not looking where I was going, I bumped into a woman, a stranger dressed like a businesswoman. Somehow I knew this was especially a faux pas because I was shirtless. The woman looked displeased and I did my best at a flowery apology. (I have no recollection of what I said in the dream, but it was a good apology.) The woman somewhat archly told me "That is how you apologize to an old lady. I am a *lawyer*." With a nasty grin as she said lawyer. In the way of the dream, I knew that I was in big trouble if she wanted me to be. I pretended to faint dead away and fall on my back with my limbs in the air as paws. She reached down to give me a hand up and I knew she was yanking my chain. I chuffed at her. And then I woke up.
Home from OVFF
Oct. 26th, 2009 02:03 pmI'm home in one piece from OVFF and the house didn't burn down while I was gone.
OVFF gave me a lot of laughter, hugs, and reconnection with existence. I'm not going to go into much detail about either my life or the con in this brief post; I'll just sum up that if I could spend more time with you folks I'd be in much better shape. Thanks to everyone who was nice to me and everyone who made the con great in general.
I will try to post more about both halves of that later. I've been isolating myself too much. But right now, I'm wasting daylight; we're actually back early enough that I can get in a short walk in the woods.
OVFF gave me a lot of laughter, hugs, and reconnection with existence. I'm not going to go into much detail about either my life or the con in this brief post; I'll just sum up that if I could spend more time with you folks I'd be in much better shape. Thanks to everyone who was nice to me and everyone who made the con great in general.
I will try to post more about both halves of that later. I've been isolating myself too much. But right now, I'm wasting daylight; we're actually back early enough that I can get in a short walk in the woods.
Wolves! also, foxes and stuff
Sep. 27th, 2009 10:03 pmMy current friends know about my passion for tigers, but what you may not know is that I was passionately interested in wolves years before I ever got to be close to a tiger. I became a wolf sponsor at Wolf Park in 1987. But as Wolf Park grew from a tiny shoestring operation into an internationally known facility with hundreds of visitors per day, I was less and less able to connect. I'd almost stopped visiting, and then I started volunteering at EFRC and it was very hard to find time to get over there. I let my sponsorship lapse when I was unemployed, since I couldn't afford it and I wasn't taking advantage of it anyway.
But this weekend, I wasn't going to EFRC. Because I'm uncomfortable with strangers, I've pigeonholed myself as someone who doesn't deal with visitors, in my own mind and in the minds of the EFRC folks. This weekend there were major events scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday, which meant that they would fit feeding cats in way early in the morning, and the rest of the day would be mostly people-herding. So Rebecca told me that I should not plan on coming in, and I didn't get an email that said differently.
Combine this extreme rarity in my life, an open Sunday, with the fact that I've been re-reading ElfQuest online, and it makes sense that I ended up driving to Indiana today after all, but in a slightly different direction and not getting up so early. I went to see the wolves, plus bonus coyotes and foxes.
Wolves are soul-wrenchingly beautiful. My house is full of images of wolves, but seeing them with my own eyes and hearing them sing with my own ears is still magical. Against the pain of seeing them is the pain of not being able to touch them. Wolf Park is also home to 3 foxes. Foxes don't command the awe that a large predator must, but they make up for it with "aww", and they are very beautiful in their own right.
But this weekend, I wasn't going to EFRC. Because I'm uncomfortable with strangers, I've pigeonholed myself as someone who doesn't deal with visitors, in my own mind and in the minds of the EFRC folks. This weekend there were major events scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday, which meant that they would fit feeding cats in way early in the morning, and the rest of the day would be mostly people-herding. So Rebecca told me that I should not plan on coming in, and I didn't get an email that said differently.
Combine this extreme rarity in my life, an open Sunday, with the fact that I've been re-reading ElfQuest online, and it makes sense that I ended up driving to Indiana today after all, but in a slightly different direction and not getting up so early. I went to see the wolves, plus bonus coyotes and foxes.
Wolves are soul-wrenchingly beautiful. My house is full of images of wolves, but seeing them with my own eyes and hearing them sing with my own ears is still magical. Against the pain of seeing them is the pain of not being able to touch them. Wolf Park is also home to 3 foxes. Foxes don't command the awe that a large predator must, but they make up for it with "aww", and they are very beautiful in their own right.
Dream stories
Aug. 6th, 2009 12:45 pmI woke up this morning in one of those dreams where I wish I could have stayed asleep and seen how it turned out, because it seemed like a really great story was developing. Unfortunately, I can't really remember much; considering that I usually can't remember why I walked across the room, it would be odd if I remembered my dreams well. The key is not so much the actual narrative thread, since even as poor as my dream memory is, I know they are chaotic; if I remembered the whole thing I would see its reality shifting and jumping. What I really wish I could hold onto was the understanding that I feel, as I'm experiencing the dream, that I understand the dream world and how what I'm seeing fits into a bigger world that makes sense.
Mostly for my own amusement, I'm going to try to record what bits I can remember of this dream and why it was cool, in the hope that I might get enough to actually write a story later. If I can manage to capture the non-human psychology that I woke up feeling I knew, I might really have something.
( dream bits )
Mostly for my own amusement, I'm going to try to record what bits I can remember of this dream and why it was cool, in the hope that I might get enough to actually write a story later. If I can manage to capture the non-human psychology that I woke up feeling I knew, I might really have something.
( dream bits )
A look into my brain
Nov. 4th, 2008 06:00 pmThis afternoon, as I was walking through the woods, I happened to think of the fact that when I went to Ecuador, it was the same time zone as here in Illinois. I think that would surprise a lot of people. From there, I hopped to the thought of another geographical fact that had surprised me when I noticed it years ago: the distance from Tucson to El Paso is only half as far as the distance from El Paso to Dallas. After flashing very briefly on the thought that Texas is really big, it occurred to be that it might be fun to actually drive across the southwest through those cities. On to the idea that if I did do a road trip through Arizona, I would have to make a point of visiting Benson. And from there, it occurred to me that there's another small city in Arizona whose name is only familiar to me because it's in a song.
It was two hours before I managed to drive "Take It Easy" running through my head.
It was two hours before I managed to drive "Take It Easy" running through my head.
Epiphany: I don't handle interrupts well
Nov. 18th, 2007 08:56 pmAs I was considering a stupid mistake I made today, I verbalized something that I may have known, but never really thought about as significant: when I allow myself to be interrupted in something that I'm doing (either by someone else, or by my own realization that there's something else I need to do), I do a really bad job of actually picking up the thread of what I was doing before. I spend a lot of my time in a state of stress because I'm always forgetting stuff, and I think that a very large chunk of these things are forgotten when I get interrupted.
I'm not sure if realizing this and thinking about it will actually help me do better, but it can't hurt to be aware of it.
I'm not sure if realizing this and thinking about it will actually help me do better, but it can't hurt to be aware of it.
Lottery winner!
Mar. 8th, 2007 07:16 pmSince I heard that the Mega Millions jackpot was $370M, I bought a ticket on Tuesday. I know I didn't win all the marbles, because I heard on the news that the two winning tickets were sold in Georgia and New Jersey. But I checked my numbers, and I matched the Powerball gold ball, so my ticket is worth $2.
The occasion has given me a chance to update my speculation on what I'd do if I won. I've learned a little more about how the tax laws work, and (assuming what I've been told is right, which is always open to question -- even when the IRS themselves tells you!) the charitable contribution deduction is limited to half of gross income in a given year. Also, I've been advised that it is no longer legally possible (if it ever was) for me to create a new charitable foundation, claiming the endowment money as a charitable deduction, and then letting the money out over time. I would have to donate the money I wanted to deduct directly to already-existing charities in the year that I got it. Since I want to donate the money to small organizations that would use the money directly for my idea of good, rather than to big established organizations that would use much of it for being large established organizations, disposing of millions of dollars in a single year would be rough. So my current plan would be to take the 26-year payout. Each year, my intention would be to max out the charitable deduction within the year. The rest (after the first year, when I'd put away all the money I'd ever need for myself) I would try to use for worthwhile things, but I wouldn't be limited to tax-deductible worthwhile things, such as funding lobbyists for issues I care about or investing in small businesses which I approve of to give them the freedom to look beyond short-term profits.
The occasion has given me a chance to update my speculation on what I'd do if I won. I've learned a little more about how the tax laws work, and (assuming what I've been told is right, which is always open to question -- even when the IRS themselves tells you!) the charitable contribution deduction is limited to half of gross income in a given year. Also, I've been advised that it is no longer legally possible (if it ever was) for me to create a new charitable foundation, claiming the endowment money as a charitable deduction, and then letting the money out over time. I would have to donate the money I wanted to deduct directly to already-existing charities in the year that I got it. Since I want to donate the money to small organizations that would use the money directly for my idea of good, rather than to big established organizations that would use much of it for being large established organizations, disposing of millions of dollars in a single year would be rough. So my current plan would be to take the 26-year payout. Each year, my intention would be to max out the charitable deduction within the year. The rest (after the first year, when I'd put away all the money I'd ever need for myself) I would try to use for worthwhile things, but I wouldn't be limited to tax-deductible worthwhile things, such as funding lobbyists for issues I care about or investing in small businesses which I approve of to give them the freedom to look beyond short-term profits.
