More Old Louisville

Old Louisville

I went to the St. James Art Festival this weekend in Louisville, KY. I am so glad that I did because I got to see some absolutely breathtaking architecture. I love restored old buildings!

Pondering the existence of a "soul mate"

I wonder if people really do have a soul mate. That one person that will compliment your life in ways you never anticipated it being complimented. I’ve never felt like I have met someone who could fit that bill for me and I don’t think I’m the only person who hasn’t. Sure I’ve been in love before but the whole time I knew that they were not who I considered to be my Prince Charming. Never a love so strong I felt as if I would take a bullet for them, that if they were gone from my life I would stop breathing. Some people never meet that one person they completely mesh with. They may marry and grow old with someone and they may in fact love them but they essentially just settled, holding true to the engrained belief that truly meeting the love of your life and having them captivate your heart is the stuff of fairy tales. Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn’t. Personally I’ve never met anyone that took my breath away the instant I first saw them, knowing from the moment that I locked eyes with them from across a crowded room that this was it. I have never felt like I was missing anything because of this and I’ve never felt particularly envious of those that had experienced those feelings. Honestly I have only crossed paths with a few people who have experienced this. The majority met their spouses in high school or college then went through the motions expected of marriage and children, watching them grow and leave the nest and then diligently watching their 401k until retirement. My older friends are currently at the retirement phase, my young friends are at the beginning of the journey but it’s essentially going to be the same resolution at the end. This doesn’t seem like living life to the fullest. I think that I would rather have just one day with someone that gave me the feelings described above; realizing that they were the one and no one would ever touch my life in that way again. Even if it was just for that one day, it would be better than spending a lifetime going through the motions expected by society with someone that may love me more than anything but they just aren’t that magic piece of the puzzle that is my life.

And along came a spider......

An unfriendly looking cloud

View from my favorite park

Saturday August 22, 2009

The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday! The temperature was in the seventies and the breeze was blowing just right. I stayed outside for five hours taking pictures around my house and reading my book, which I've almost finished now and I love it!

More of downtown Nashville

Starting out with Roland

I am a huge Stephen King fan. Huge doesn’t even begin to describe it. I would go so far as to say that I’m his number one fan if I didn’t think it would conjure up the vision of me as an overweight nurse who collects ceramics and the occasional injured writer in the minds those of you who actually read my blog. I have read most all of his books. I could even tell you the differences in his writing before his accident and his writing after if you were so inclined to listen. Some of his books I’ve even reread. I have an original The Shining hardcover first edition from that I can easily say is one of my most treasured collector’s items. He is really the only fiction reader I enjoy reading, any other books I read are usually non fiction since I’m a major knowledge junkie. There has only been one thing he’s written that I never even bothered trying to read, The Dark Tower series. It just never appealed to me. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t bring myself to start it, perhaps knowing it was an epic and realizing I’d have to wait for the next one to come out which with my patience level is not a good thing. I’m so bad about not wanting to wait for the conclusion to anything, books or television shows that since the days of TiVo I simply record the season finale of my favorite shows and wait to watch it until the next season’s first episode is released so I get to see the resolution to any plot mysteries that crept up in the prior episode. On top of hearing that the story was told against a mystic, western background I just didn’t really want to even try to read it. However, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a story that was in a collection of short stories, one of the better collections of his short stories in my opinion, Everything’s Eventual, called the Little Sisters of Eluria. I read the foreword to it that it was part of the Dark Tower series. I read it simply because it was just another story in the book, after finishing it though I was thoroughly impressed and couldn’t believe what I had been avoiding all of these years. I was rather embarrassed that I had the audacity to say that I was a huge Stephen King fan when I hadn’t even bothered a glance at his epic saga. Perhaps it was meant to be that I wouldn’t stumble across it until this late date, because he did not finish the series until after his accident and I would have worked my self into an aneurysm or stroke waiting for the saga to conclude. I shall start the saga today and I have purchased all of the books from beginning to end so I won’t have to make an interruption between books to drive to the bookstore. I don't think I will be disappointed.

Downtown Nashville

View from pedestrian bridge

It's just around the corner......

I can’t wait for the season to change. Fall will not get here soon enough. My absolute favorite time of year is from mid Sept through early November. If I could pick any month to stay in forever it would be October, and not just because my birthday is on Halloween. The weather is perfect, the leaves are changing, and there is nothing I love better than sitting on my deck, reading a book while an autumn breeze blows against my skin.

The little things

Everybody has different preferences, and many are so engrained in our senses we won’t have it any other way. There are cat people or dog people; those who either prefer a White Castle burger or a Krystal, coffee with cream or no cream. I don’t really think these things are major issues, they can just pose a minor annoyance, especially when you are in a relationship with someone who has preferences opposite to what you do. They say opposites attract, which is true, but little annoyances such as these can eat away at the fabric of a relationship after several years go by if the foundation is not very secure in the first place. My ex was a White Castle eating dog lover who drank his coffee black, I am a Krystal eating cat lover who prefers my coffee with so much creamer in it that it looks like milk. At first these things weren’t a big deal, but as the relationship deteriorated they became big annoyances, just contributing to the underlying current of hatred that was brewing, just more lava building up under the surface for when the volcano finally erupted. I have a friend whose marriage is now ending, and the little differences such as these have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Arguments over where to eat, fighting over a pet, etc. have been impossible to overlook for them although at one time they were. Even though the relationship started to turn bitter long before, these things have just contributed to the demise of it that much sooner. The little things really do factor in to the big picture.

Fluorescent, not sparkling....

It’s been quite awhile since I last blogged. I don’t really have a good reason why. I’m still following politics and the news just as intently as ever, just haven’t been much up to putting my two cents in about it all. Sarah Palin walked away from her post, not really walking away from a life of politics but instead to focus all of her energy on attaining a much higher political position a few years from now. I don’t think she’s going to be a shrinking violet fading back into a life of domesticity. Michael Jackson died. To say that was a big event would be an understatement. I can’t even think of a word to describe it. From his mock marriage to Debbie Rowe to the scary dermatologist that I wouldn’t even let close enough to me to remove a skin tag the whole situation is so crazy that it seems like it can’t be reality, yet it is. I’ve had a lot of projects that I’ve been working on this summer, some I’ve grown quite accustomed to (gardening) and some that are new (making jewelry and sewing). This has kept my attention pretty focused. I’ve also spent as much time as possible outdoors, in the hopes of becoming perhaps a darker shade, one resembling the tint of an actual human instead of a corpse, which just resulted in going from a shade of white to off white and developing a spitz nevus on my shoulder that I have to get surgically removed. I don’t know why I’ve been stuck with such pale skin. When Twilight came out and the actors in it were so pale I thought maybe the pasty white look would be trendy but I soon came to the realization that if sparkling in sunlight doesn’t accompany it then it isn’t that impressive. Sigh.

Greetings from Jurassic Park

On the way to Louisville, KY 4/7/09

Cyber Cop

If you have some idle time on your hands and want to do something constructive you can log onto www.blueservo.net and monitor the US/Mexican border. No joke. If you see suspicious activity you are supposed to report it. This takes Big Brother to a whole new level. Bored with Tivo? Become a cyber cop and bust a Mexican! The only requirement to do so is a valid email address to register (although I'm sure current members of any white supremacy group are strongly encouraged to apply). I wonder if you have the ability to speak into your webcam and have it broadcast on a loud speaker at the border. "HEY! I see you, the border patrol's on their way Pedro! You stop-oh now-oh!. Hang on a second, damn screensaver popped up again." Next they will be working on sonar with a live feed so bored civilians at home can do their part and watch for Cubans trying to make it to American soil, meanwhile Cuba will do their part to place GPS in any inner tubes and infant floaties they sell.

Where's Charlton Heston when you need him?

Chinese has managed to poison some more of their people with tainted food once again. I'm beginning to think that a conspiracy is going on. Poison in the baby formula, toxic paint on the toys, food with pesticide type chemicals.......China is filled with many intelligent people so to be this stupid and careless can't be an accident. I'm beginning to think this is a form of population control. First they started with the one child per family rule, now they are weeding out the population via other methods. Think about it. Those most susceptible to food poisoning are the elderly, those immunocompromised, and children. They are getting the elderly pushed into the ground that much sooner via tainted food, same with those that are sick, and those pesky little girl infants they don't like are exterminated as well via formula (or toys just in case mom is breastfeeding). This is perhaps China's stimulus recovery idea. Of course, there is another idea for population control all together. Remember Solyent Green? Wait a minute, they may have already thought of this..........

The definition of Insanity:

Harpies

I hate it when people openly judge others and ridicule them to make them feel uncomfortable. I was in the store the other day waiting to check out. A man was at the counter checking out with his stuff, followed by two little old ladies, and then me. The two little old ladies were talking amongst themselves but talking just loud enough that other people could hear. The way people talk when they want to act like they are trying to hide what they are saying but really want you to hear it. They were commenting on how trashy tattoos were, what a disgrace it was to have to look at them, people with them shouldn’t be allowed to show them in public, etc. I could tell this was making the cashier uncomfortable. I noticed that she did have a small tattoo on her wrist that was visible which must have been what started the discussion amongst the elderly bats. I don’t have any tattoos. I’ve thought about getting one but I haven’t simply out of fear of the pain of receiving one but I don’t look down on people that do. If anything I look at them with admiration for having a high pain tolerance. I think they are sexy on a man. Irregardless of that fact even if I didn't like them I wouldn't criticize those that did. The old ladies tirade was obviously embarrassing the cashier which seemed to be their malicious intention. The ladies looked over their shoulder and noticed me. I was dressed in a solid black pantsuit, jewelry, and my hair was fixed all proper looking. To them I probably looked like a judgmental Republican type conservative. I guess that made them feel as if they should invite me into their conversation, assuming I would agree with them. The first lady turned to me, reiterating her point that tattoos are disgraceful, and then asking if I agreed with them. I responded loud enough for everyone to hear that if you had a tattoo it should at least serve a purpose, kind of like an advertisement. They looked at me confused. I then said “like the one I have below my belly button. It says ‘pay before you pump’. Don’t you agree?” They then looked even more confused and then one of them seemed to finally “get” it, whispered in her friend’s ear and they both made a shocked little huff and promptly turned back around. The cashier was smiling and the man in the front gave me a thumbs up as he finished paying for his stuff. The old ladies spoke no more; they paid for their stuff and got out of there as quickly as possible. The cashier thanked me when I reached the counter and we had a lovely little chat about assholes like the judgmental harpies we had just encountered.

Ignorance is Abundant

Yesterday it was brought to my attention the level of ignorance some people possess that I seem to be completely oblivious to at other times. It absolutely amazes me the amount of seemingly intelligent people who were depressed yesterday due to the fact that Barack Obama was being inaugurated. It wasn’t the issue of him being a Democrat that was being complained about. They were upset that the Muslim Antichrist had arrived, upset that the economy didn’t magically change over night, making racist observations about a race takeover because they’d finally managed to get “one of theirs” into the Whitehouse. What the fuck? Even though segregation ended long ago it is more than apparent that the mental segregation that many people have never ended and never will. It really bothers me. Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. I don’t have to agree with the opinion of someone else, I even welcome opposing viewpoints as it makes for interesting conversation, but when their views are just blatant attacks of inaccurate verbal vomit it pisses me off and scares me at the same time, because it may be an ignorant idiot just like this that tries something stupid to get Obama out of office. Not to sound clichéd, but can’t we all just get along?

The benefits of cyber socializing

The thing that I like most about social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace is the fact that you can socialize without actually socializing. People who you don’t really want to talk to that often but feel obligated to can easily be communicated with at just the click of a mouse. You can update your status so people know what’s going on and how you feel, and then if they run into you in a store or something they aren’t surprised when you are pissy because your status has already indicated your mood. I do try to change my status often so as to not seem to monotonous. It’s always either agitated, pensive, melancholy, or my personal favorite, cantankerous. Manic isn’t an option in the list of choices or I’m sure I would have picked it at least once already. You can gloat about your accomplishments and evaluate your self worth by counting the number of comments you receive. You have a multitude of insults at your disposal that you can send to friends in seconds. I’ve read some reports talking about the downfalls of social networking because it prompts you to take the easy way out instead of actually calling or visiting someone. I say that’s a crock of shit. It’s absolutely perfect for the antisocial environmentalist. It is a very green option. You are saving gas by not actually visiting your friends, saving postage and money by not getting them actual greeting cards, and saving a little bit of energy at the same time because you don’t have to recharge the battery on your cell phone as often because you make fewer calls.