You've got the SHINE, boy!

For me, Halloween = the last day before NaNoWriMo, or in my case this year FiMyNoMo.

I hope Dodi has finished her nephew's 3-headed costume.

I am on the fence about buying candy to hand out. Will kids actually show up? We never actually see kids in the neighbourhood, but they might avoid our house out of fear of E year-round the way the cats do.

I'll probably buy a few bags, and force E to lock it in the gun locker as soon as we've decided that no kids are going to show. Otherwise I will eat it all and sink into a depressive funk on Nov.1 - bad start to the month.

In honour of Halloween, we watched The Shining last Friday (we yuppied it up with sushi and sake, but it was still scary). If anyone knows of a scarier movie, bring it on. Danny on the big wheel with the noise of carpet/no carpet freaks me out every time. Kubrick was a freaking genius. Nicholson was also amazing.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

The perfect kickoff to FiMyNoMo.

Feeling Like Forrest

Excellent Information R/evolution. video

found via Ed

How many people watching it have no idea what the card catalog is?
I barely used a computer in university - I typed my papers. My younger sister had a Commodore 64 when she arrived at university her Freshman year.

I worked in desktop publishing with the first version of Quark, and helped develop first generation web sites.

The technology revolution has been playing in the background while the rest of life's events have been taking place: moving, changing jobs, changing relationships, repeatedly gaining and losing 15 lbs.

I can appreciate the significance of the Internet, home computers, and computer technology in some respects. However, I think everyone who has been involved from the start is too close to see the big picture. What has started? Is this the beginning of something amazing or horrifying?

All I can hope is that I've helped make a positive contribution.

Now back to our regular discussion of moldy bread and gravel shoveling....

Waste Not, Want Not

alternate title: Dumpster Diving, Anyone?

In this weekend's Gazette somewhere in the middle of the inane blathering about what Gazette employees are watching on television (note to the editors: FIND SOME ACTUAL NEWS), I was introduced to 'Freegans' - people who are so against the waste in our society that they get their food by dumpster diving. They don't do it because they can't afford food - the person in the Gazette article (sorry - I tried to find a link in the Gazette online archives, but Freegan turned up 0 results...) had a tidy sum in the bank. Freegans dumpster dive to make a statement about how gross it is of us to waste so much food.

While I agree that it is gross of our society to be so wasteful, I don't think I could do the dumpster diving thing. Am I a pampered, spoiled Westerner? I will grab odd things people have put on the curb on trash day (wood, furniture, etc.) , but not food.

I make an effort to not order more than I can eat - I'll split a meal with someone or take the leftovers home. At home I really try to not throw food out, but with two people, stuff inevitably goes bad. I started composting this year so at least the rotting fruit and vegetables don't go to waste.

Am I missing something? Are the rest of you dumpster diving and I'm the only fool actually buying new bagels? They're probably all dropped on the floor and sneezed on before they're bagged and sold in the store anyway...

How's the Book Going?

The dreaded question.

YOU guess the answer.

This weekend, I

-Started reading Volume I of the Children of Violence series by Doris Lessing (I wanted to read the Golden Notebook, but it was already checked out of the library)

-Shoveled more gravel, this time mixed with clay-like dirt

-Made turkey soup with actual turkey carcass broth

-Did freelance writing (paying) work to support my growing online shopping habit

-Found the new must-have dishes I must have online

-went to the hardware store to color-correct the gallon of salmon-color workout room floor paint that E bought from a chip I selected (I swear the chip didn't look salmony)

Looking over this list, NONE of it should be more important than getting my book done. grrr.

Using My Powers for Good Instead of Evil

I have an active imagination.

It's incredibly useful when I'm trying to think of a snappy headline.

It's horribly limiting when I'm trying to reach a little higher on a rock climbing route or fall asleep in a relaxed state.

I have a well-honed ability to run "what-if?" scenarios through my head at lightning speed.
I can imagine all the spectacular ways I could fall - oh sure, there's a mat, but the corner of that mat is all worn down, what if I fall on the corner? What if I fall exactly where the 2 mats meet? I'll literally slip through the crack and crack myself in 2 - no thank you.

At night I worry incessantly about things that might happen. It's INSANE.
I have been trying to teach myself to imagine positive things. While no good can come from worrying, there is a whole creative visualization industry behind the idea that if you THINK it, it's practically real.

While I'm not sure about thinking money will fall from the sky and then waiting for it to happen, I do think it's better to be positive than negative. I'm trying.. trying...

But what if?

aaargh

Must picture myself as successful published author who is worry-free, relaxed, and a risk-taking rock climber

Hey - when I look at it that way, the author part seems much more achievable than the rest of the sentence!

: )