An Attempt at Poetry July 7, 2009

It’s been a long while, and sadly the job offer I spoke of last fell through, as did all the jobs I’ve tried to get since then, but I haven’t given up yet! I still have some good things going on, which is the topic of my first attempt at freeverse poetry.  Hopefully its not a complete failure.  Well here goes…

The Gift

Shaped by Prometheus’ hand

Before the breath of life

I feel nothing.

I grow and am carved

Setting my features

To perfection.

Flaws arise

And are wiped smooth.

A process ongoing

Unending for many

But few, a gift.

The breath of life flowing

Floating along the current

Arrives and is absorbed.

Awakening

A shattering of harsh clay

A soft form, full of warmth

Breaks free.

What is this transformation

That comes to so few?

It is love

And it is priceless.

There’s supposed to be spaces in there, but in the preview it always removes them, so hopefully the stanzas are obvious, wish I could figure out how to fix it though…

Things are Looking Up! September 19, 2008

Okay, been a long time (again) but finally i’ve found something good to talk about.  As the title says, things are looking up!  My long search for a job may be at an end…for the time being.  Last week I put in an application at the florist shop across the street from my house, and the other day I went by to check with them, and they said they’d love to hire me for the holiday season, starting about mid October and running through Mother’s Day.  That makes me really happy!  Finally, I will no longer be unemployed!  And I’ll finally be able to start saving money again to go back to school.  Although it will be a while till I get the job, a friend of mine’s mom called the same day and asked me to do an all-day babysitting for her youngest daughter.  The gods are obviously looking down on me with a smile!

As to the weekly Stargate marathons: true, my friends have fallen a bit behind, but thats okay, cause we’re going to finish season three either next week or the week after!  Then on to season four!  And before you know it, we’ll be at the end of season five (sniff, sniff) and on to season six.  I promise to watch every season six episode with them, no matter what, because I’m writing a new Stargate fanfic, and I need to do research on Jonas’ character and how he acts.  So that will be my justification to myself…its all for research!  Anyway, onwards onwards!

My mom left a few days ago to spend the rest of the month with her parents for her mother’s 80th birthday, so now I’m pretty much the woman of the house.  It sucks… Nothing gets done with the pets unless I do it, but I suppose thats okay.  I’ll reserve my judgement until washday, if I’m left doing that all alone, then I will reiterate my statement that it sucks.  But we’ll just have to see.

Oh by the way, before I end this entry, I just have to say: there’s this awesome free online game called Dream of Mirror Online (DOMO for short) and I started playing it a few weeks ago.  Its great!  Its a social rpg…so you meet a lot of interesting and friendly people *wink* *wink*.  Anyway, try it out if you’ve got the time, its pretty fun!

A Return to Normalcy August 27, 2008

Or as normal as possiple, I suppose.  Yesterday, I went out and mowed the lawn.  Yes, both my dad and my brother had me mow the lawn.  But that’s okay, I’m used to it, and its not too strenuous.  It did seem a bit pointless, though.  With the drought we’ve been having here, most of the grass is dead anyway, so I could hardly tell what parts I had mown already and which I had yet to do.  So later when it grows out, we might see silly streaks all over the yard, oh well!

Today, I took a trip down to the dentist for a routine cleaning.  I don’t know about other people, but I’ve always heard that lots of people are afraid of going to the doctor, dentist, etc.  I on the other hand, have never had problems with visits to any doctors.  Well, with one exception, the eye doctor.  But not for the reasons you might think.  Going back to the dentist and doctors, I’m always relaxed when I go to the dentist, and I don’t even mind getting fillings (not that I get very many).  Although, today they found a tooth that needed the filling replaced, so in a couple weeks I’ll be going in for that.  For regular doctors, I don’t really have a problem there either.  I don’t really like the blood pressure cuff, cause to me it really hurts, but as to shots, exams, and taking blood, I’m good.  Now, eye doctors.  I go every year, because my eyes suck… The exam itself is fine, picking glasses is fine, but the pre-exam is what gets me.  Its where they do the glaucoma test and the test for eye focusing.  That glaucoma test with the air that shoots into your eyes kills me every time.  My eyes blink like crazy, they water, its horrible.  Normally the person has to do the test multiple times in each eye because they don’t get the picture right.  When I was younger, I actually thought they shot water into my eye, before I realized that it was my eye watering that did that.  That is the only part about doctors that get my hands clammy.  Whew, that was a long diatribe there!

Looking forward to tomorrow’s Stargate Thursday, we’re heading in to the season 3 SG-1 midseason episodes.  I warned my friend Brittany to bring the kleenex for this watching, and I can’t wait to see how she reacts to that special episode.  Just in case she reads this…I’m not gonna say which one!  Well, looks like thats it for today, hopefully I actually get back into making regular posts, that would be really nice.

Atlantis Gone, But Stargate Lives On August 26, 2008

Yes, I know I'm short, but he's really tall!

Well, its been a while. A long while. And quite a lot has happened. I finished my sequel I wrote to A Tangled Green. It can be found on my fanfiction profile linked on the sidebar. I pretty much lost my job, and have been spending months searching for a new one, in fact. Stargate Atlantis was canceled, and I went to the Chicago Stargate Convention over the weekend. Quite a busy time, don’t you think?

Atlantis, I was crushed when I found out, a day or so before leaving on my trip. My two friends who have been watching Stargate with me regularly on Thursdays were pretty shocked as well, especially since they were both just getting into the Stargate universe, and looking forward to more. And on the subject of universe, happily (in my opinion) Stargate will not be ending completely at the end of this season, but will live on in the new series Stargate Universe, and the SG-1 and Atlantis movies. I’m satisfied, if not overjoyed. My friends are just about in the middle of season 3 of SG-1, so they have a long ways to go before they reach the end of these two series and head on to the movies and the new series.

Anyway, on a brighter note, the convention was a blast! It was my first convention, Stargate or otherwise, and I truly enjoyed it. All the guests there were amazing, and I got a photo with Michael Shanks himself! True, it was more like : “Hi!” “Hi.” *grabs me around the waist and pulls me close* *camera flashes* “Thanks!” “Thanks!” And off I went. But still, an amazing guy. If only I would have been able to be at the lunch with him and Tony Amendola, that would have been the icing on the cake! I did get David Nykl and Ben Browder sitting next to me at breakfast on Sunday, though, so who am I to complain? An amazing event, all the actors were great in their Q & A’s and really funny, and man I wish I had better pictures. My lame camera my brother gave me to use was crazy, and always looked like there was an earthquake going on in every picture. So you don’t know who I took a picture of unless you were there, and you’re me… Sigh. I got some great Stargate memorabilia, and am hoping to go to the convention in Vancouver in April (crosses fingers). But I can’t do anything till I get a job and some money, cause I am completely broke. Bone dry.

Well, looks like I’m off to bed, job hunting in the morning. Or staring at my photo of Shanks, either one…

To Horsebackride or not To Horsebackride, That is the Question July 25, 2008

And the answer to that would be not…sadly, after three weeks of trying to plan a horseback riding trip for my birthday today, it fell through so many times I just threw up my hands and gave up. But I’m still going to have some friends over at my house, and we’re going to have an extra long Stargate marathon tonight. For the past few weeks our Stargate Thursdays have been going really well, and tonight we’ll be finishing season 2!

Hopefully today I will be able to finish another one of my chapters on the fanfiction story I’ve been working on, even though its my birthday, I’ve got an audience to please, and I’ve kept them waiting long enough. There should only be about two chapters left in it, so I should have some time to rest from it very soon. Hopefully they enjoy the ending.

I got a great breakfast made for me this morning, scrambled eggs, link sausage and potato wedges with orange juice! Mmmm! Hopefully we’ll be having some cheese pizza and….duh duh DUH….a homemade cheese and seafood dip for our tortilla chips! Cause I have been having problems finding another job since my bookstore job told me they had me on the backburner until their salary cutbacks were taken off, my brother isn’t going to have a present for me…Once I get this job I’m interviewing for on Tuesday, then he’ll buy me the cellphone he promised. By then I’ll be able to pay the monthly bill, since I will then have a regular check. But enough of that.

I’m really excited for today because I’m going to be introducing one of my friends from my old job to my two best friends from school, can’t wait to see how they get along! I’m sure we’ll all have a great time! But I’m going to cut this entry short, just wanted to give an update. Really sorry its been a while since my last entry, busy busy! Hope my birthday goes off without a hitch, well, without any more of a hitch than there has already been!

Stars and Stripes With Cats and Dogs July 4, 2008

Whew have I been busy! Getting a new HDTV, redoing the living room with four floor to ceiling bookcases, moving the two smaller bookcases that were in there up to my bedroom (read: closet), filling said bookcases with several of the many boxes of books I have in my room, rearranging my room so everything fits…Lets just say I’ve had my hands full.

As an update, Stargate Thursdays floundered a bit as Stargate Wednesdays as well, but we finally finished season one last night! Whoohoo! Only 193 episodes to go! That comment sure made my friends’ faces fall. And then I added, “And two movies!” Because long before we get there, Stargate Continuum will be out and I will OWN it!

Well to all of you who live in the US of A, today is Independence Day, and a happy day to you all! Having two cats and a dog, Fourth of July and New Years, and Memorial Day, and pretty much any other day people can make an excuse to shoot off fireworks, become a bit difficult. Luckily our animals aren’t too frightened of the noises. A dog we used to have had to be medicated every time otherwise she would get really panicky. It sucked. But anyway.

I’d also like to go back to the Stargate subject and say that I was very heartbroken on hearing the news on Monday of Don S. Davis’ death. I had been looking forward to seeing him at the Stargate convention I am planning on going to this August in Chicago. Sadly, this can no longer be. I think I speak for all Stargate fans when I say, we will all miss him very much. As others have said before me, Hammond of Texas has fallen in battle.

And on a happier tone, I have been booking along with my sequel to A Tangled Green, I just posted my eighth chapter. These chapters are coming much slower, and I have been told that my sequel is, to put it mildly, a bit more dry than the previous one, but hopefully the past two chapters, and all the upcoming chapters, will lay these thoughts in the dust. I admit, the setup was a bit dull, but it had to be done. Now the real excitement comes! Anywho, stop over and read it if you like, its on the sidebar.

Didn’t do much special for Independence Day, no cookout, no fireworks, just us sitting around the house doing our own little things, as usual. Kind of like four people living on the same floor of an apartment building, instead of four blood relations living in the same house. But hey, life’s life.

And talking about life (as if I talk about anything else), I’ve been having some major problems at work. For some reason, they haven’t put me on the schedule for almost a month, and I was counting on the money working full time this summer to go back to school and to pay for expenses for my trip. Now I’m frantically trying to find a new job, and figure out what the heck is going on with the one I have. Aren’t they supposed to tell you when they fire you? Oh well, we’ll see.

Anyway, think I’ve caught up with most of what’s been going on, hoping to get back to regular postings now. But again, like a weather report…I wouldn’t skip the umbrella if I saw dark clouds, no matter what the weatherman says (or in reverse, I wouldn’t count on it raining everyday, like they say). Wait, that wasn’t what you were expecting? Okay, let me rephrase that. Like a weather report…DON’T COUNT ON IT!

To All You Fathers (Of Which I’m Not) June 15, 2008

Sorry its been such a long time since my last post…as a particular Doctor might say “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” And that would be your clue as to one of the things I’ve been doing in the interim. Watching all four seasons up to the current episode in England, which by the way I just watched a few minutes ago. Great episode! And if you’re still in the dark, I’ll give it to you…I’ve been watching Doctor Who. Add to that a hellacious problem with my sequel story I’m writing, and you get a very preoccupied person.

But as to the picture for today, as the caption says, its the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Not much else to say there. Anyway I thought I’d make sure to mention a very Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there, and as my title says, I’m not one of them…obviously. I don’t think its medically possible for a female to be a father, at least in the biological sense, so there. We took my father out to the Old Stein Inn, a wonderful German restaurant that has a wonderful Biergarten. Which, due to how crowded it was, we did not get a chance to sit in. But that is neither here, nor there.

On a sad note, the happy news I had last post of having two Stargate days for last week fell to naught. I didn’t even manage to get one, due to scheduling problems with my two friends who have been sharing them with me. We shall try Stargate Wednesdays instead, hoping that day will work better for our schedule, but I’ll have to let you know how well that turns out. At this rate, they will be watching Stargate until the sun burns out, or explodes, whichever one dear Sol decides to do when the time comes.

And on that morbidly humorous note, I bid you all adieu. I have to get working on the fifth chapter of my sequel, eager fans await! Wish me luck!

A Horse of a Different Color June 6, 2008

Okay, I think I’ll be slowly putting in picture by picture. These pictures don’t actually have anything to do with the day’s post, most likely, just a picture I’d like to share. This one is a much nicer framed one than before. Its looking up in the center hall of Kepler Gymnasium (German version of High School, highest school of three types for that age range) in Freiburg, Germany. Those are gigantic paper-mache (I think thats how you spell it) creations hanging from the ceiling. Anyway, enough of the picture, on to the post.

The title of today’s post is in reference to the wonderful musical I went to see yesterday at a dinner theater. The Wizard of Oz! It was fabulous, characterization was spot-on, transitions were very artistic, the tornado scene in the beginning was amazingly done. Seemed a bit hurried towards the end, but all in all, a wonderful show.

Now, about Nathaneal’s birthday. He didn’t actually get to open his presents or cards until the afternoon of the next day, before we went to the musical. I was happy, my present made him smile! I got him two books I thought he’d like. Working at a bookstore, those are the easiest presents to get. He was also very happy about the dedications he got. I dedicated my final chapter of my story A Tangled Green to him, as well as Wednesday’s post here. I asked the wonderful Joseph Mallozzi to dedicate that day’s post on his own blog to him, and he kindly obliged. Not without wondering if I had spelled my brother’s name correctly though. Ah, well, it happens. Then, to even my own surprise, although I did have a sneaking suspicion that this would happen, one of the actors was making birthday/anniversary announcements at the beginning of the show, and he included Nathaneal as well. This warranted a chuckle from my brother.

Other than that, nothing much is going on, I’m going to see if I can attempt to write at least some of the first chapter to the sequel of A Tangled Green tonight, but no guarantees. I’m still a bit tuckered from mowing our lawn in hot, sticky weather with ‘air as thick as a brick wall’ as my mom said. But hey, somebody’s gotta do it. I’m just glad its done and over with…until next week. Guess I’m running to a close here. Until next time. Ta!

Rain on Your Parade (or Birthday) June 4, 2008

This photo was merely an excuse to attempt adding an image, and because I really think its beautiful. A bit badly framed, but hey, I was moving quickly in an airport, so gimme a break. This is an image of gorgeous stained glass panel inside an airport near Reykjavik, Iceland. But on to other things.

The title of this post is not actually referring to me, its referring to my brother. For today is his birthday, and this post is dedicated to him. Happy Birthday Nathaneal! The rain is, well, rain. Lots of it. Severe thunderstorms, high winds, tornado warnings, its been a pure joy. And did I mention I’m terrified of thunderstorms? But anyway. Hopefully this didn’t ruin my brother’s special day too much.

In other happy news, I finished and posted my last chapters of the fanfiction story I had been writing. Because of the way the story turned out, I’m setting up now for a sequel, hopefully that goes smoothly. Sadly, this week will not feature a Stargate Thursday, as my parents informed me yesterday that we are going to see The Wizard of Oz at a dinner theater tomorrow night. I managed to negotiate a partial rescheduling of the Stargate event to Tuesday. I say partial because my friend Nikki cannot come, unfortunately, but Brit said she was happy to come and catch up on some episodes she had missed (read: slept through) and the actual event will still occur on time that Thursday as well. So that should be a treat.

Not much eventful things have been occurring other than that, pretty much sitting at home staying out of the rain. Tonight I should get much better sleep because I won’t be up writing another chapter, finally. I’m taking a little hiatus of sorts to finalize ideas for the sequel before I actually start putting pen to paper, or rather, fingers to keyboard.

Since we have yet to give my brother his presents (he mysteriously slipped out of the house, presumably to go see a friend, several hours ago), nor have we eaten any of the wonderful red velvet cake we bought for him, I should probably cut this post a bit short. I am anxiously awaiting his return and the delicious cake that will accompany it. Hopefully he likes the present I got him, will have to wait till next post to let you know.

The Power (or lack) of Connectivity June 2, 2008

Well, its been a while. And if you think a bit about my title, then you’ll know why. Internet difficulties. My dad decided to replace our modem, and lets just say it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. Difficulties ensued, date of when the problem would be fixed was pushed back, several times. And then, I came home from a semi-harrying day at work to find…the internet was back up! A whopping four or five days ahead of time. To say I was thrilled would be a definite understatement.

Just the previous day, I had my friend Nikki (mentioned in a previous post, if you’re counting) post a note on my fanfiction story to let my readers know that my internet was down and would be for quite a while. Lets just say I was happy to prove that statement false. Not wishing to make my readers wait any more than was absolutely necessary, I posted one of the two chapters I finished during my little…hiatus. I’m fixing up the second chapter now, should be posting it up later today. But man did I have a lot of e-mail, fanfiction stories, and blog posts to read up on since the last time I was on.

Sadly, my mom’s not feeling too well. So today I’ll probably be taking care of her, finishing up my chapter, watching the pets race around the house with no halters on. Today was the designated day to give them their flea and tick medication, so the halters had to go until the goop dries on their backs. If you have pets, you know what I’m talking about, if you don’t…too bad. There’s even a possibility of baths for the two cats and one dog that make up our furry contingent. That should be fun. But we’ll see.

Before I forget, I must update everyone on the Stargate Thursday that came and went during my internet fiasco. Both my friends, Nikki and Brittney (Brit, if I spelled your name wrong, please don’t kill me…) were able to come this time, which made me very happy. We were able to watch five episodes in the four hours we had together, I was pleased. Lets see, we saw Brief Candle (they both thought the marriage cake scene was hilarious), Cold Lazarus (I think they may have been teary eyed, or maybe I’m just crazy), Thor’s Hammer (in which they both seemed to think it would be no problem at all for Teal’c to just walk through, despite my many failed attempts to reason them out of it), The Torment of Tantalus (which they both were very interested in, although I was sadly too busy making dinner to actually see their reactions), and Bloodlines (they enjoyed the interaction between Teal’c and his son Ry’ac, this not being one of my favorite episodes, I enjoyed Daniel’s wonderfully out of character outburst with a gun). Whew…this Thursday, Nikki is looking forward to rewatching Fire and Water (see previous post for her reaction) and I’ve sworn her to secrecy so that Brittney can enjoy it unspoiled.

I think thats about it, I need to get back to putting the finishing touches on chapter 8 of my story. Until next time, hopefully my internet stays with me for the duration. Oh and by the way, my friends said that my Velveeta shells and cheese I made for them was the best they had ever had. I don’t know if it really was, or if they were just saying that so I wouldn’t kick them out on the street. I don’t think I would…I’m a horrible cook. So their compliment brightened my evening immensely.