veiled exuberance

none shall pass.

i'm driving, endlessly driving, to the sea. 

arrival. 

i get out of the car and stand in the space between the car and the open door, my left hand on the edge of the glass of the window, my right hanging down by my side.  my hair is knotted from the wind, blowing back from my face.  the water is fierce - steely gray where it reflects the sky, frothy white where the frenzied waves crash into the shore, into one another.  the atmosphere is dangerous, stormy, charged.  little hairs on my arms stand up, and i shiver and smooth them down. 

"let's go," you say.

i'm a little afraid to leave the car here, in the weather, where i know something bad is going to happen.  once it happens, how will we be able to leave?  you're not concerned. 

"let's go," you say again.

there's nothing i can say to change your mind.  i look at you, try to catch your eye, but you're looking out at the sea, feeling the same storm rising in your own body.  you don't look back at me.  you close your door and stride away to the house.  i grip the window tightly for a moment and then release it and close my own door.  i walk away slowly, turning back once.  the car looks insubstantial somehow, and far away.  the silver paint almost blends into the gray of the sky.  it's too close to the edge of the dune.  if it doesn't get eaten from below, something from above will surely engulf it.  i briefly consider moving it, but you're waiting inside.  and i want to know what you'll do.  so i keep walking.  away. 

the screen door bangs shut behind me and i turn around.  gone.  already.  sucked into the sea?  the sand?  there's no car, no escape.  only house.  hello house.

you're in the room with the other people and your voices are little more than murmurs.  i can't i can't i can't find the car.  i'm all of this panic in my head.  no one else is worried.  and outwardly, i don't seem/feel worried either.  i feel like i ought to *do* something, but i can't move.  and the storm is coming.  breaking upon us.  wind.  rain.  furiously beating into the roof, onto the sand.  the surging sea, the spray, the salt, the smell, the wetness of everything.  my bare feet on the rough wooden floor.

it feels so simple and perfect and terrifying.  i've forgotten the people.  i'm alone with the storm. 

i forget about the car.

i forget about everything except the storm.  the door shakes against my fingertips, which are  pressed lightly against the metal of the screen.  i rise up on my toes and touch my nose and forehead to the screen.  i close my eyes and breathe.  the rain blows past the awning, across the porch to gently sting my skin.  it has lost almost all of its force by the time it reaches me.  all that remains to it is the power to soak.  this it does.  when i step back, my eyelashes are heavy with rain.  my shirt hugs my torso, my skirt clings to my thighs.  rain wanders down the waves of my hair, down my arms and legs.  i leave footprints as i walk back to you and the others.

someone looks up and asks, "storm over?"

i nod.

they disperse. 

you and i follow more slowly.  we watch them find their cars, which have mysteriously sunk into the sand.  they dig.  we see a flash of silver paint and know our car is there, too, underneath.

posted by: juuitsu at July 31, 2007 04:39 | link | comments (3) |

mr. wang just showed me this video clip from The Life of Mammals - it's of lemurs and fossa.  i'd read about fossa in Robin McKinley's Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown books and thought they were creatures that she'd made up...  actually, hers might still be made up creatures because she keeps referring to them as large cats...  the real things are like giant mongooses (mongeese?) and they are lemur hunters.  anyway.  i'm watching the lemurs leaping about from tree to tree to escape the fossa and then there's this shot of the fossa's groin and i'm blown away by the size, the MAGNITUDE of the fossa's junk.  holy crap!  this fossa needs a jock strap.  SOMETHING.  this fossa can't be comfortable leaping around and FLOPPING around like that.  so i say to mr. wang, "dude, the fossa has BIG balls."  and he says, "I KNOW!"  and then proceeds to tell me that he did in fact sketch the fossa's balls for his wife while they were watching The Life of Mammals.

mr. wang: i drew his balls & sheath and wrote "FOSSA BALLS" across them

hee.  he cracks me up.

posted by: juuitsu at July 31, 2007 03:52 | link | comments (3) |

i am officially addicted to Etsy.  it's bad.  i bought some soap last week - it's lemongrass patchouli scented and it's wonderful.  i suppose my Etsy *habit* is slightly less expensive than living next to Whole Foods (which has a whole buffet of like products that i'm always itching to try), but i need to rein in my impulses.  ooh, but tonight i saw these crackled beads - which look like fried marbles (i think i wrote about those awhile ago) - so i got them, too.  AND i found a present for someone else.  AND i read about pumpkin cinnamon "whipped body frosting."  it looked like pumpkin pie.  it probably smells like pumpkin pie.  i'm all of a sudden reaaaally craving pumpkin pie.  supposedly this is an emollient.  i'm skeptical.  it looks good enough to eat off of someone.  *slurk*

posted by: juuitsu at July 30, 2007 03:05 | link | comments (5) |

day! 

i feel a whole lot better now than i did at 7:30 this morning when i woke up to the call of...NATURE!  hello, nature, juuitsu is not TAKING your effing calls.  ok?  *nature shrugs*  whatever.  nature is, inevitably, un-dee-nigh-able.

after a really hazy, cloudy day when it seemed like any moment it might rain, the evening sky cleared up beautifully and it was even chilly-ish for Chase the Moon - one could actually keep the moon in sight and chase it.  i'd been prepared for weather and i had a change of clothes in the car just in case it stormed while we were out.  i'm glad we didn't get soaked, though.

so, Chase the Moon is one of those night biking event things - tours, where you're out there to ride as a group, but not so much race (although, some people are out there just to go fast at night!   which is all good as far as i'm concerned).  i'm not sure just how long it's been around, but they do it annually now in Aurora, IL, to help raise money for the Conservation Foundation.  i heard about it last year from my trusty REI events email, and as i'd just come off of my first Indy Nite Ride, i was all for doing more biking at night.  this one is a 25 mile ride through the Fermi(rhymes with Kermi!)lab complex, which i realized i have never seen during the day.  i was talking to this guy about it who bikes there a few times a week.  he says it's really pretty.  and that there are coyotes.  so i asked him if coyotes bark or howl - you always see those art-y images of the lone coyote/wolf howling at the moon...and he said yes, but we didn't hear any last night.  too many people!  there were about 500 of us pre-registered for the event, and they expected a bunch more to come out and register that night (that's what i did last year - waffled to the very last minute!).  the last minute thing works really well, tho.  it's uncrowded enough that you can arrive like half an hour before the event starts (midnight oh one) and register and hang out and then ride.  i think we got there around 11ish last year and it was perfect.  i arrived waaaay too early this year, so there was a lot of hanging around to do (listened to their live music for awhile - the guy playing was decent, but nameless - or, rather, he did not name himself to us), and i really wanted to just get going and ride.  i was really cold by the time we started. 

the beginning is a mess with everyone ready to ride and being all clumped up together.  (for the Indy ride, they have people leave in groups and try and space folks out from the beginning.  it's still a bit of a mess.) it's just slow going until all of the leisurely paced people move over enough to accomodate folks who want to pick up the pace.  there were some hills in the first couple miles, though, which helped with that.  this is a small (-er than Indy) event, so we didn't have to wait very long to start - even in our clumped state.  i wasn't able to convince any of my friends to ride with me (not that i worked very long or hard at this) - their responses ranged from "sorry, don' t have a bike" to "25 miles?!  are you shittin' me?  hell no."  i have a secret, tho...25 miles is EASY, people.  you can do it.  and also, there's a turn around point if you find yourself flagging.  oh, ok, fine.  25 miles is easy if you've been biking semi-regularly and doing about 15-30 mile rides already.  it's not like i haven't prepared for these things.  ;)  anyway.  for the skeptical, you *would* be surprised at what you can do.  biked miles are a lot easier, generally, than walked miles - and biking them takes a lot less time.  i finished Chase the Moon's 25 miles in 2 hours.  i think that's pretty fast for me.  there's a section of trail i've been doing that i *think* is about 20-25 miles (i should really figure this out some day), and it's been taking me about 3 and a half hours to do - about half of it is gravel, though, AND i'm riding a mountain bike, AND i take a little break at one end and then another half way back from there, because it's good to stay hydrated (and i don't have a water bottle clippy thing on my bike).  since i didn't have anyone to chat with while i was riding, i took to chasing people down.  i'd pick someone ahead of me, focus on their tail light (assuming they had one - an alarming number of people seemed to have neither tail NOR head lights - and you're definitely supposed to have the latter), and then ride hard until i caught and passed them.  this was good fun once we'd all spaced out.  i didn't want to be too far from people in front of me as there were a lot of turns, and it's easier to see where you're supposed to go if someone ahead of you is already going there. 

there were bagels and fruit and water and juice for us when we got back - also a few pastries, but people took those first, so i grabbed a bagel and some juice and headed off to my car.  it was 2 am and i was ready to go home.  missed the road i was looking for in the dark, found it when i'd turned around.  got home around 3:00.  tried to take a bath, feared i would fall asleep.  couldn't motivate myself to actually *bathe*.  gave up after 10 minutes and took a shower instead.  soaking my tired self sure felt good, though.  went to bed around 4:00 am.  bunnies were perplexed, but quickly came around once i'd showered them with carrots.

posted by: juuitsu at July 29, 2007 18:25 | link | comments (1) |

powder bunny and moi share a snack.

moi: *munchmunchmunch*

powder b: whatcha eatin', mom, huh?  what?  what?  what?  *reeeeaches for the box top with quiiiivering lips and nose*  oooh.  that smells goooood.  gimme one!  come on, please?  ok?  please?  please?  please?  it smells sooooo good.  mmm.

moi: i dunno, bunny, better cheddars are not good for bunnies...

powder b: oh no, they are VERY good for bunnies.  come on!  please?  *paws scrape along the box plaintively*  they are so salteeeeeeey.

moi: mm.  ok.  here, bun.  *hands powder a cracker*

powder b: *KRONCHE!*  [crumbs fly]  *MONCHE!*

moi:  der bunny!  you are getting crumbs EVERYWHERE.  here, let me take that and give you a smaller...

powder b: *snatches largest cracker bit and runs*   [muffled by cracker] mrrrrnnoo!

moi: right.

powder b: *returns*  more?

moi: just a small piece.

powder b: *KRONCHE!* [more crumbs fly]

moi: sigh.  come 'ere, bun.

powder b: *drops the rest of the cracker*  k.  i'm done.  *darts away*  [loose rabbit fluff makes a little dust bunny whirlwind in his wake]

moi: come here, bun.  you're a mess.

powder b: no!  gonna eat your shoe!  *gnaws with devastating effect*

moi: bun!

powder b.: tee hee!

posted by: juuitsu at July 28, 2007 03:05 | link | comments (7) |

i am about to fall over with exhaustion.  what was i thinking getting up at 6 this morning to ride 20 miles, then walk 3, then go to work?  was i thinking i was going to last until... *thud*

anyway.  i'm out of that ice cream that i like so much.  the dublin mudslide stuff.  it's so good.  i'm having tapioca pudding instead - imagining that the little gelatin balls are the eggs of some vast tentacled colony creature (i just learned that Portuguese Man o' Wars are actually colonies of 'specialized polyps and medusoids' - so, things and OTHER things - and not jellyfish at all).  tapioca is an interesting tactile (tonguetile?) phenomenon.  i really want chocolate, though.  tapioca is not chocolate.  k.

i finished harry potter tuesday morning.  i was right in the middle of the battle finale on monday night and i could NOT keep my eyes open - no matter how i fought the sleep.  so i gave up and tackled it again the next morning.  the last parts were riveting - because that's where most of the action takes place (and the revelations and the reappearance of...well, i'll let you read it and find out).  there weren't any huge surprises.  there were some really good moments, but lots of time is wasted while the characters try to work out what to do, where to go, how they can accomplish what they need to accomplish.  so, in effect, nothing happens a lot.  and then bad things, and then nothing, and then more bad things, and then nothing, and then THINGS!  finally, things.  i guess this is plotting.  i am not as enchanted by this one, but i'm still sad that it's over - not just the story, but the being part of the huge bubble of anticipation and glee.  will we all be saying, "i lived through harry potter"? :)  that's kinda cool.

our HP party was a blast!  it's almost worth the mental fog i'm currently in.  hope that clears up soon.

i went to the race track on saturday - first time for me (when there were actual races going on - i'd been there before to see the fireworks) - for o's work party.  when you walk in, they give you a thick booklet with all sorts of statistics about the horses, the jockeys, the owners, the tracks, and what kinds of wagers you can make.  it's insane.  i read through some of it, but didn't bet on any ponies myself.  after considering the myriad ways one could pick winning ponies, i overhead some people basing their decisions on lucky numbers or birthdays.  so, really, there's only your own system...and it's about as reliable as the lottery.  :)  the people who pay out your winnings seemed uniformly old and crabby, which is unfortunate, because it should be a happy time, and not one where you reflect, "my what a personable cashier...NOT."  "personable," incidentally, is the word o's boss used to describe me later on to o.  let's hope he wasn't thinking, "personable" as in "cashierwench."

i saw o. in his work kit today and had to fight my urge to say, "aw, you're so cute in your uniform!!!"  he was.  but he would totally have socked me for saying so.  *poke*

posted by: juuitsu at July 26, 2007 03:55 | link | comments (3) |

the note on this book says that i should think about replacing it because the "binding is broken" and the "cover is torn."  actually, a more accurate description would be "torn apart by wolves." 

posted by: juuitsu at July 25, 2007 20:01 | link | comments (4) |

my tummy is VERY unhappy today.  i am going to make it a curry.  i hope the curry will appease it.  (but probably it will just exacerbate the problem.  poor tummy.)

posted by: juuitsu at July 23, 2007 23:37 | link | comments (3) |

when The Order of the Phoenix came out, i spent all day reading it.  on the other side of the country, a friend of mine was reading it, too, and we left our IM windows up and reported our progress throughout the day...  i had this tremendous sense of camaraderie.  *grin*

oh, and btw, p.147!

(mine arrived yesterday while i was out and i was...ok, this is embarrassing...too TIRED to read it right away.  i suck.  so i started in on it this morning)

i'm supposed to be at monkeybaby's house RIGHT NOW.  but i've got my nose in this book.  i guess i should go do that.  maybe it's not too gauche to bring it along.  maybe i should just stay home...

harry potter harry potter harry potter!  la la la!  *giddily resumes reading*

posted by: juuitsu at July 22, 2007 18:46 | link | comments (3) |

i give you SOCK CREATURES!



these are the ones i made.  :)

posted by: juuitsu at July 18, 2007 01:35 | link | comments (5) |

wow.  so apparently i committed a dating site faux pas.  i blogged too much.  can you believe it?  ;)  i'm having trouble tearing myself away from the computer tonight because i have so damn much going on in my head (nothing of consequence, really, just, you know a need to keep typing things), so i decided to delete all of my answers to questions i'd previously answered on said dating site, and resolved to answer them anew.  one of my gripes is that the questioners never take into account the nuances of response.  if they're meant to be taken seriously, the only way TO answer some of them accurately is to write an essay.  so i started doing that.  for every question that annoyed me.  and 13 questions later Some Dude emailed me and said, "um, if you keep doing that people are totally going to black list you."  huh wha?  i messaged him back for an explanation.  how is it that *my* blogging is irritating anyone else?  because i'm just minding my own business.  because i never blog on that site and i have no idea what he's talking about.  it's just one more place, one more commitment...you know how that goes.  yeah.  well, when you blog - anything - it starts showing up on people's pages as "recently updated blog!" and then knocks off everyone else's recently updated blogs and just says, according to Some Dude, that you don't care about anyone else's, what, thoughts?  feelings?. 

[psst...secretly, i don't care about anyone else's thoughts or feelings.  *wink*]

yeah.  i didn't realize that having a lot to say/write was a crime and would be construed as a battle for...primacy?  because i don't monitor the blogs portion of that site like a hawk.  i'm just writing to write.  i don't even care if anyone there reads it.  and, if someone's the sort to block my entries/whathaveyou because there were too many and i showed disrespect for my fellow online community...isn't that their problem/decision to make?  *shrug* 

after i clarified what the problem was, we both signed off amicably.  i still think it's stupid.  if you want to encourage people to blog stuff, you shouldn't make their manyposts an irritation and a pestilence/plague foisted upon the unsuspecting.

i have spoken.

sorry if it showed up multiple times on the "Recently Updated" list here.  don't hate me because i can't shut up.

posted by: juuitsu at July 17, 2007 06:25 | link | comments (7) |

i realized that i wasn't due into work this morning until after 11, so i decided i would throw together a grocery list and pick up some things from the store.  i was going to go to that Joseph's Market in nearby CL, and i thought, 'hm, i'd better check my margarine supply,' because that's the only nearby place that sells the kind i like.  i checked the fridge - 1 margarine in the refrigerator, and 1 in the freezer.  and that is when the trouble began...i mused, "but WAIT.  is 2 margarines enough?  do I need a THIRD margarine as a backup to my backup margarine?  because i might buy more bagels than i currently have margarine FOR and then what will i DO?  and i might not go to that particular store again any time soon and then i would be margarineless.  bereft of margarine.  and that would be bad."  so i decided that i would most likely probably get another thing of margarine.  except then i remembered that my grandma always bought way too much margarine - like a new tub every time she went to the store.  and at one point she had 20 tubs of margarine in her refrigerator, which as anyone knows, is WAY too much margarine.  but maybe 3 margarines are excessive, too.  i obviously needed another opinion, so i sent a text message to oberon and asked him if 3 margarines were excessive.  and he texted back, "YOU ARE SUCH A DORK!"  which i know to be true.  and then i decided that i didn't need that much margarine - but, BUT, i would still go to the margarine part of the store and, um, you know, visit the margarine that i absolutely positively was not going to buy any more of.  and then, THEN, when i looked in the margarine section at the store they no longer had ANY of that particular brand.  NO MORE CANOLA MARGARINE.  gah.  NOW WHAT DO I DO??  i mean, I should have bought a bunch LAST time, obviously, because now there is no more and i'm going to have a hell of a time finding a new supplier.  who says 20 is too many?
 
*sob*

posted by: juuitsu at July 17, 2007 03:51 | link | comments |

welcome to hormone week, where hormones will take over your body and make you run the gamut of emotion every hour on the hour (with occasional surges!). 

well, it's either that or not enough sleep...i'm going to blame hormones, tho. 

this is why i cried at that song on the radio, screamed at the car that cut me off, seethed when we had two uninvited visitors to our Harry Potter meeting today (really, this is still irritating me - WHY were they there if they aren't even involved in the event?  do we NEED more staff to populate meetings just for the hell of it?  can *i* also drop in on meetings that i think might benefit from my presence?  say, departmental meetings?), laughed a lot with my junior volunteers, and then choked on my own rage when i got a visit from whatsherbutt right in the middle of something i was doing (it was after 5 and i just wanted to scream, 'don't you people EVER go home on time?').  i'm finished now.  i'm in that emotional abyss where one must go after one has used up all of one's emotional energy.  i am, as they say, "beat." 

despite the rage, i had a good day.

i had my sock creatures program this evening and 5 teen/tweens came and made sock puppets, sock bunnies, and random sock THINGS/creatures with me.  we worked on them for 2 hours (an hour past the time the program was supposed to end), and we made an enormous mess.  messes, however, are gratifying, especially when the sock creatures are so good!  plus?  every one of them said they'd had a great time and that we have to do it again - SOON.  i managed to make one sock bunny and made a little progress on a sock demon thingie (actually, i'm not sure what it is, but it'll be really cool when i *do* finish it), but got involved with a lot of their projects - "can you sew this on for me?  can you tie this in a knot?  can you hold this while i glue it?"  yeah.  if i do this again (soon!) then i'm going to have to have another staff person there (one who can sew and tie knots) to help me out.  it was a lot of fun.  i should have some pictures to post later on - i took a bunch.

posted by: juuitsu at July 17, 2007 03:22 | link | comments (3) |

k, so i'm reading teen reviews of books right now...and i must be getting cross-eyed or something because i had to do a double-take when i saw this:

"this is an awesome book, full of magic, suspense, and...FERRETS!"

i'm sorry...what?

[rereads] "magic, suspense, and...secrets." 

ah.  that's more like it.  cuz i totally don't remember any ferrets in that story.  :)

posted by: juuitsu at July 16, 2007 21:27 | link | comments (2) |

aw...  InMyLife awarded me this:

thanks!  :)

posted by: juuitsu at July 16, 2007 14:04 | link | comments (1) |

"if i were a human/demon hybrid i'd want cute ears and great hair, too."

~me

posted by: juuitsu at July 13, 2007 22:21 | link | comments (4) |

Microthrills: True Stories from a Life of Small Highs
Wendy Spero

There’s a picture of two ladybugs – mating (?) - on the front cover of this book.  I’m not sure why this spoke to me, or even, indeed, what it said when it spoke, but I picked it up and it shared my weekly commute with me.  Wendy Spero, the author, reads the work herself, and she’s got a great performance presence and the voice of “A Character,” as my grandmother would say.  She’s funny.  But she also mumbles, occasionally, into her collar, so you can’t drive around with the windows open (as I’m wont to do).  So, listen to her in the winter, or with your air-conditioning on, or with headphones, so you can catch every preciously funny moment.  And there are many.

From her descriptions of her mother (a tiny sex-therapist armored in shoulder pads with a penchant for glazed Cornish hens) to the bout of indecision that led to the purchase of the most hideous bulbous down jacket ever, Wendy is a scream.  She reminds me of Haven Kimmel, but with poorer dentition and some less wholesome extracurricular activities – there’s a similar quirkiness about them.  I’m definitely looking forward to more from Wendy Spero.  She rocks my socks.

posted by: juuitsu at July 13, 2007 17:11 | link | comments |

what the heck.  i am just now choking on my own saliva because i swallowed wrong.  remind me not to DO that again.  stupid throat. 

so, this is the 2nd, or perhaps 3rd week of pottery class where i've expected to get something back from the kiln, you know in its FINAL stage (which is to say, DONE),  and it hasn't happened.  things have actually made it INto the kiln for the final firing, but they have not yet emerged.  i'm sure next week i will arrive to find that everything i made has either been broken, cemented to a kiln shelf, or abducted by pottery stealing aliens.  fuckers.  i'm not so much irritated as i am...ok, strike that.  i AM sort of irritated.  i underSTAND why it's taking so long, but i really wish "theya coulda speed things up."  *sigh*  i'm dying to know how stuff turned out.  *shrug*  so i glazed and trimmed and threw more stuff this week.  some of the things i'd kept in the damp room were almost bone dry (not so much DAMP), which made for a lot of dust while i was trimming them.  i actually kind of like that - it's preferable to the too damp, which was what i kept finding the last few weeks. 

i was all ready to sign up for the next session, but discovered that classes are going to be offered on wednesday nights - the same night, coincidentally, that i'm supposed to work at the library.  dammit!  they *may* open a monday night class, assuming that the wednesday one fills up, AND there are at least 8 people who want in.  i'm not sure i want to bet on that.  monkeybaby can't do either one of those, so i'm considering taking a class at the community college out here...i know they have one.  i just can't remember what reason i came up with for not doing it when i researched it last time...probably cost (which, i guess at the time, seemed like an extravagant expense).  i am quite indecisive until i decide.  it's a funny thing. 

i'm listening to this audio book by wendy spero - she's a comedian - and she's talking about the most hideous bulbous down jacket ever (which she owns), and all of the indecision she went through before she purchased it.  she decided to do some research.  this involved buying several down jackets and then bringing them home to try on multiple times over the course of a weekend.  this was supposed to help her decide which one she liked best.  yeah.  so it was sort of narrowed down to two choices and then she got hot and exhausted and only wanted something soft and pillowy - which ended up being the most hideous bulbous down jacket ever, which was not even among the ones in the running due to its *being* the most hideous bulbous down jacket ever.  the others went back, and now she's stuck with it.  i know exactly how this happens.  so, in my case, i tend to research stuff until i'm at that information overload point and then i decide not to decide - whatever it is is too expensive, not something i need right away, totally unnecessary, and not meant to be.  now.  and then later i run across a thing that reminds me i was looking for just such a thing.  and i read a little bit about it and decide, THIS IS THE ONE!  and it is so fast and so very whimmy it almost takes my breath away.  in fact, i hyperventilate a bit as i enter in my credit card number.  but then it's done.  and the thing?  is mine.  and i don't have to worry about upgrading/dating it for at least a few years.  bliss.

posted by: juuitsu at July 13, 2007 05:12 | link | comments (7) |

dream.

at a car auction superstore.  it's like sam's club or costco - huge warehouse of bargains, but all automobiles (and even larger because they need space for all of those cars...so maybe more like an indoor parking garage).  we're there for a friend of mine.  she needs a car.  she is beth.  hi beth.  hi.  k.  so we arrive in separate cars, and she's going to be trading hers in, so that's all fine and good.  i need to know where it's safe to park mine.  i ask this woman with long dirty blonde hair if the spot i've chosen is ok.  she works there and she's completely frazzled.  this happens every time they open their doors.  people start lining up hours before they actually open.  there are fist fights and they need bouncers and enforcement agents to keep people from killing one another.  this woman doesn't look like she'd last long in any serious squabble.  her eyes are wide and colorless and exhausted, she has no discernible skin tone, and she's so thin it wouldn't take much effort (or imagination) to break her in half.  she rushes off with caffeinated adrenalized energy (the only kind she *could* have) to find out whether my parking space is ok and we don't see her for at least half an hour.  i figure no one will mess with my old crappy car and we join the throngs of people outside the auction superstore.

the last time i was here, i was with my dad.  he's one of those lovers of bargains - he likes them where he can investigate them himself and doesn't have to *deal* with any sales people.  sales people piss him off.  and, i think, they probably scare him a bit, too.  he doesn't like to ask for directions, he doesn't like to ask for help, and as a result he will drive around for hours - determined that he WILL eventually stumble onto what he's looking for because he KNOWS where he is - and will search for similarly long periods of time for products advertised at a severe discount (when, you know, a simple sales person query would locate said products much more quickly).  maybe it's a man thing.  probably it's a "my dad" thing.  all i know is that it drives the rest of us crazy, but we handle it by asking for directions and finding those pain-in-the-ass sales associates ourselves.  we do the necessary human-human interactions and dad gets us there or hands over his credit card.  the system works.  god forbid he should be left on his own.  this kind of auction superstore is dad's dreamland paradise...except for all of the people, who, like him, are out to get a good deal.  you run around until you find a car that you like and then you stand there, press a button and wait for someone to come to you and let you test drive it.  all of the information about the car is there - price, warranties, specs, previous owner history (if you're buying a used car), etc.  you can read it at your leisure...unless some other person is harassing you because THEY want it.

that's why we've got this big group with us.  the car is for beth, and really only she needs to be here, but there are 6 others of us just in case things get rough.  this place totally warrants gangs, so you can protect your territory and intimidate others away from the best deal.  it offers a more ancient consumer experience. 

they've installed a pool since the last time i've been there, and there are quite a few people hanging out by the pool.  we decide to join them.  as i'm settling down on the side to put my feet in, i notice a tiny blue crab swimming toward me.  i think, aw, how very cute!  and then it latches onto my big toe.  OW.  and then something latches onto *its* other claw and starts pulling.  i'm sure the crab is getting the worst of it, but my toe feels like it's being pulled right off my foot.  a huge walrus erupts out of the water and eats both crab and other thing and lunges for my foot.  why it isn't bothering the plump (read: delicious-looking morsel) woman standing IN the water RIGHT next to it, i don't know.  it's teeth don't seem to be capable of doing much damage.  from what i can see, they are round and peg-like - like dinosaur teeth, maybe.  when it can't get a good grip on my foot, or tear the flesh from my body, it gets...angry, or frustrated, or something.  what it definitely does do - all emotions aside - is vomit copiously on ALL of us.  and it appears to have an endless supply of this.  it turns its head and vomits on some swimmers - who scream (bad idea).  then it turns back and and an arc of vomit flies over our heads.  then it sprays some people on its other side.  they scream (still a bad idea).  after it's vomited on nearly everyone, it seems satisfied and it disappears back under the water.

at this point, the blonde woman returns and tells me that my car is fine where it is.  we all stand up, brush off the vomit, and get back in line.  the doors will be opening any minute now.

posted by: juuitsu at July 11, 2007 15:05 | link | comments (6) |

i've been too busy (of late) doing to bother chronicling all the doings (by now, the 'dids').  last week felt like it was the longest week ever, and yet, sitting here on monday night i'm realizing that the summer is just flying by.  i'm sad just thinking about the days getting progressively shorter.  i should move closer to the equator to ameliorate that kind of disappointment.

i saw the fireworks in grant park on tuesday night.  they were fantastic.  i can't remember any time in recent history/memory that i've seen such a long show or such lovely explosions.  there were even some that made actual STAR shapes.  it could only have been improved by the complete and utter annihilation of the ridiculous women sitting behind us whose ululations of amazement sounded vaguely orgasmic (and were, thus, completely wrong and inappropriate), but which did give us something to comment snidely upon in the midst of our own wonder and enjoyment.  we also played a really long game of uno, which made *me* really happy.  i love uno - even when i suck at it.  getting home took forever, as roughly a million people were all trying to squeeze on the same train.  most of us were good-natured about the discomfort.  when i had nothing to hold onto to keep from banging into other people as we stopped and started, an understanding woman let me hold onto her shoulder.  under other circumstances, i believe such familiarity could get one killed.  i finally got to see millenium park, too - the bean, the fountains with the faces that spit.  very cool.  o. seemed to be having a good time, too.  he likes fireworks a lot.  took myself home very late that night and slept much of wednesday away.  i considered it time well-spent.

went to see sage francis on friday night.  o. said we'd leave early from his place, so i made it there by 5.  we found the venue without too much trouble - and realized we were about an hour and a half early.  doh.  we then concocted this crazy plan to find the fabled tots joint (we had these amazing tater tots a few weeks ago and we can't STOP thinking about them...tho, o. might be remembering our lovely server, who was quite stacked.  was it the tots or the tits, then?).  neither one of us could remember what the place was called...all we knew was that it was within walking distance of second city...and neither one of us could remember where that was.  so.  first we tried calling information.  and information was useless.  the library was closed, so i couldn't call them (dammit), and when we tried the stupid browser on my phone...well, it was less than helpful, and when i get my bill this month i'll probably freak out at how much it cost (stupid cell phone provider).  so i went into a nearby grocery store and asked for a phone book WHICH DID NOT LIST THE ADDRESS!  argh.  i ended up calling and confirming that they were, indeed, the second city of reknowned improv fame.  they were.  and i made them cough up a street address.  which, upon consulting a map, we realized was much too far away.  we were to remain...TOTLESS.  fortunately, the abbey pub had some decent food and the concert was taking place right next door, so we drove back there, found a GREAT parking space, got dinner (yum, meatloaf), and then got tickets and found a place to stand where we could see everything.  perfection.  it opened with a spoken word poet/artist - buddy wakefield - who was quite good (except that he talked a lot about dying.  i get that we're ephemeral and should live our lives to the fullest, but i don't know that dying is something that needs to be dwelled on), and another rap artist - buck 65 - who had some really unique sounds.  quite enjoyed them.  sage francis was good, too, except that physically, he reminded me of this guy i went out with a couple of times.  at least he didn't run on interminably about buca di beppo (nice place, but doesn't warrant the lengthy explication to which i was subjected on not one, but TWO occasions - but while i've got you here, let me recommend the garlic bread and the salad - get it with the cheese and prosciutto).

k, and now that i've linked everything like a wikipedia article...i think i'll quit.

posted by: juuitsu at July 10, 2007 04:53 | link | comments (2) |

found on the floor in the children's room - a list:

ayctosaurus (check)
microraptor (check)
phorusrhacos
trogdon
eudimorphodon
placerias
achaeopteryx
ichthyosaurus
liopleurodon

is this like a bird checklist?  dinosaurs i've seen...hmm.  or, be sure to pick these up from the corner store on your way home (increasingly this would appear to be Walgreens - are these ubiquitous or what?)?

posted by: juuitsu at July 10, 2007 04:23 | link | comments |

there's a whole thread on one of my listservs entitled: boogers.

and after that wrapped up, there was: boogers revisited.

in case, you know, you were wondering what librarians get up to in the course of a normal workday.  :)

posted by: juuitsu at July 10, 2007 04:20 | link | comments |

woman comes up to the reference desk...

sometimes i'll get a question that makes me want to cringe and shout, "for the love of god, WHY?"  and i have to squelch that initial gut reaction down hard so that it doesn't somehow make it out of my mouth.  because, you know, that would cause problems.  someone's sure to take offense if they ask their *innocuous* question and you say, "oh, jesus christ...how the fuck should *i* know??"  it doesn't happen too often.  it helps to remain calm.  it also helps if you get some information from the person, have them go away for awhile, give yourself a chance to do some initial research on it (so you can wrap your mind around the impossible), and then - even if the exact answer doesn't exist - develop a plan of attack.  even a little progress makes you feel better about the impossible.  i can't tell you how much of a difference it makes NOT to have said person hanging over your shoulder all the while you're trying to come up with a solution. 

wow.  i totally want to explain how we're not all-knowing...and it's really hard to admit that...because i'll be dispelling the great librarian myth...and i don't really want to.  the truth is that we know how to find shit.  we may not know the answer immediately, but we are tenacious as hell, and we will FIND it, or die trying.  which, i guess, is pretty hardcore in itself. 

so.  if you have any insight into what industries primarily use direct mail marketing (i recommended a direct mail marketing website, which i felt might be able to better answer the question), and what are the current growth industries (hoover's has a book of emerging "growth" companies i pointed her to), i'd be happy to listen.  i'm always grateful when people expect assistance, but not outright reference bitchery.  i'm happy to suggest directions that their inquiries might take, but i don't appreciate the expectation that i am there to do ALL THE WORK.  this is not my primary function.  i do like to help, though.

i am often perplexed by people's understanding of public libraries.  i've had two people ask me (in the same day) if they can buy library materials.  one man was reading a dictionary and noticed that we had typed the price on the pocket that holds the date due card.  was that the price he had to pay if he wanted to buy the book, he asked?  i explained about how we used that information for informational purposes and record-keeping.  and then pointed out the ISBN - another useful piece of information - which might enable him to purchase the same book (!!!) online at a dealer such as amazon.com.  he was favorably impressed.  another person wanted to know if he could purchase our collection of beatles cds.  i explained how he could get a library card.  some libraries *do* link their catalog records to amazon.com, or barnesandnoble.com and people can go directly from the library's holdings to those places and order the things that they want in their own personal libraries.  while we do sell some things in an ongoing "corner" booksale, it seems like a library/bookstore hybrid might be an interesting way to go. 

there was a very angry message on the voicemail today.  a gentleman called the reference desk for assistance on sunday (when we were closed) because he had an emergency...[oh, this is so good!]  he and his wife were having a party and they needed a recipe for the BEST sangria (not sure what definition of 'best' we were working with).  anyway, he was disappointed and APPALLED that we were closed.  and he went on for several minutes about that.  blah blah blah.  my first reaction (probably because i wasn't the one who listened to the message) was amusement.  it's funny what some people consider a "crisis" situation.  oh NO, no sangria!  the exquisite horror!  anyone who gets that worked up over something so...inconsequential is just..., you know, silly.  not to cheapen the crisis.  i think it's actually a really positive thing that the first place that man thought to turn to was the local public library.  SOMEONE's thinking about us.  that's not a bad thing.  it actually kind of sucks that we weren't there to give him a hand.  berating the voicemail for several minutes about our duty to the community is a bit out of bounds and crazy, but otherwise...awesome!  last reaction - "dude, and WHY didn't you just use the internet?"  but ok, maybe he doesn't have internet access.  still.  funny.

posted by: juuitsu at July 10, 2007 04:18 | link | comments |

more and more frequently, the times i *feel* like writing are happening at work - which is bad, because i have to fight off the urge - as the blogging from work is much frowned upon - and it does not want to return when i get home and can do what i wish.  if there were two of me, we could get so much more accomplished...tho, i bet i'd still be the one stuck doing the dishes while my other me happily sketches cicadas in the other room.  wench. 

i thought i'd help cool my rabbits off this morning by leaving ice packs wrapped in towels in their cages.  that lasted all of 4 minutes.  pyong immediately attacked the towel and scarfed down some enormously long thread, which then got stuck in her throat, which then had to be painstakingly removed by (you guessed it!) me!  powder seemed to be making himself comfortable on his ice pack (he had a squishy one), but moments later he, too, was attacking his ice pack and i feared i'd return home at the end of the day and find one poisoned rabbit and a defeated gel pack.  k.  so that didn't go as planned...or rather, it went exactly as i suspected it would.  nobun would shatter any expectations today.

i've been phenomenally stupid.  i woke up thinking of all of the things i had to accomplish today - planning some stuff for my teen board meeting this evening - and forgot *completely* that i was scheduled to come in late.  so i went in 2 hours early.  and didn't notice until it was well past 11 that i'd screwed up.  so, i'll be taking it off some other time this week.  i think my supervisor is amused.  she said, "well, at least you didn't come in on your day off."  that's happened to some other people.

i've been working on my review today.  we get a list of questions to answer and goals to talk about and write lots of stuff, then meet after everyone's read it (i have two supervisors, so i have two readers/responders) and they say nice things and tell me not to type in paragraphs and i say ok and we move on (typing in paragraphs being a metaphor for whatever things it is that none of us are supposed to be doing - like blogging from work - which i'm not doing, go me).  so, two of the questions are: what do you enjoy most about your work, and what do you least enjoy about your work.  i was thinking rather deeply about that when our very gung-ho webguy came in to talk to me.

webguy: can i ask you something personal?
me: mmm.  ok, sure.
webguy: are you happy here?
me: um.  sometimes.  and...sometimes not.
webguy: you seem happy most of the time.  you're a cheerful person.  but...sometimes i notice that you look really sad.
me: [i can't believe that anyone notices that] hm.  you're perceptive.  there are some things that i really like about working here.  and some things, well, some people (ok, person) have made it really difficult.
webguy: yeah.  i can understand that.  it's not me, is it?
me: HA.  no.  you're fine.  if i were unhappy with you i'd take you out.
webguy: [laughs] ok.  good.

i'm curious about this "sad" thing that he's noticed.  i think before i was angry and frustrated, but i don't remember manifesting "sad" (at least not where anyone could see me).  i'm occasionally bored and antsy, or concentrating hard on something, or distracted, or vacant.  this "sad" perplexes me.  but, i'm willing to believe that he's noticed something.  i'm just not sure i want to be particularly forthcoming about how i really feel.  and i'm also not sure how much he wants to hear...or if he just wants to be reassured that i'm not upset with him.  *shrug*

anyway, it's been much on my mind today, as i consider aspects of my work that i love and aspects of my work that i hate.  i've been musing on this job description i saw the other day...it would put me in an area (geographically) that's more appealing/desireable, and it would give me other/more/different responsibility...but i'm not sure i'd get to do some of the more creative (read: fun) stuff that i can throw together anytime i want to in my current position...so i weigh the pros and cons in my head and think, ok, what would i put in my cover letter, how much do i really want this, will it solve the problem or will it only postpone some kind of inevitable exodus on my part.  i wish there were a better formula for working these things out.  :)  but it doesn't seem like something that will ever be truly "done" - even though i'd like the security of "done."  it doesn't exist.  so, maybe a change would be good, maybe this is the flux i'm looking for (these are definitely NOT the droids i'm looking for).  and...i think a lot about atmosphere.  what kind of environment would i be entering?  this is all premature, of course.  i'd have to first be interesting enough to them to consider, make my way through some kind of interview, be offered the position, decide whether or not it was right for me.  so.  i'm looking at things because i'm enough dissatisfied to know that a change could be good; i just don't know if this is the one i want.

i spent saturday at the reference desk - answering questions and designing a sock puppet to advertise the sock creatures program that i'm doing for teens at the library next week.  it's amazing.  i'll get a picture so y'all can enjoy it as much as i am.  sometimes i make things and can't believe how well they turn out.  and then i think, damn, i should be doing THIS for a living.  but really, THIS is part of a lot of things that i like doing...and having the variety is part of what makes me happy.  i don't like doing the same thing over and over again and i get bored really easily (despite all the time i spent writing sentences for saying that when i was a kid - writing sentences doesn't make one *less* bored, it only takes away your desire to express your boredom in words). 

random thought:

there should be mandatory cafe time built into everyone's schedule... 

i really like being able to go somewhere and get a cup of something and an individual dessert (that i don't have to make myself) and sit and chill with a book or some art or correspondence that i'm working on.  more time, more time! 

posted by: juuitsu at July 10, 2007 03:43 | link | comments (3) |

Lilith’s Brood
(collects the Xenogenesis trilogy: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago)
Octavia Butler

People have been telling me to read Octavia Butler for years.  I’m not sure why it took me this long to get around to her.  Possibly the only reason I did was because a friend of mine passed me this collection and said, “read it.”  He tends to make good recommendations.

When we meet Lilith, she’s just been “awakened” again.  She’s being held in some kind of room and her inquisitors are people she’s never seen before.  She’s nearly insane with loneliness and inactivity.  She begins talking with her captors, and eventually learns that “they” are the Oankali – a race of aliens.  The Oankali found the remnants of humankind on their war-torn earth just after a final battle decimated its population and poisoned its atmosphere.  They took whoever they could find back to their ships and sampled their DNA - tasted them - learned what they could, and found themselves fascinated by them.  They reveal all of this to Lilith, who is skeptical until she actually *sees* them.  Then she’s horrified by their alienness.

Lilith is selected from among her people to lead them back to a repaired earth.  In exchange for the Oankali’s assistance (which, you’ll note, humans never asked for), the humans must merge with them.  Oankali call this a “trade.”  Genetic information for genetic information.  To Lilith, and to other humans, this is genocide about which they have no choice.  Despite humans’ negative reaction, the Oankali insist.  The humans are then returned to earth – sterile, unless they breed with Oankali mates.  (Note: Oankali come in three different genders – male, female, and ooloi.)  Under the new Oankali breeding arrangement, families would consist of paired humans, paired male and female Oankali, and an ooloi parent.  Only the ooloi can mix the genes properly. 

Many humans leave the Oankali settlements once they return to earth.  These “resisters” form their own communities – and then wage war on one another.  Even the ones that try to remain peaceful find that they have little purpose without being able to reproduce and raise children of their own, so they take to stealing children from one another – either those that were children when they came back to earth, or those that are born to the human-Oankali families.  One of these children is Lilith’s “son,” Akin.  It is he who truly begins to understand the humans and is ultimately able to express their dilemma to the Oankali in a way that they can understand.  He becomes a spokesperson for humans and sees to it that they are offered an alternative to Oankali.  An entirely human colony on Mars is born.

Back on earth, the first Oankali-human cross-bred ooloi begins its transformation (ooloi undergo two of these before they care considered full adults).  Oankali have great misgivings about this – it’s too early, they believe, for an ooloi.  And their concerns have some merit, for as Jodahs matures, it has no control over its power.  It changes itself and others in its family without knowing what it has done – alterations that could easily hurt them.  The only way it is able to control itself is through relationships with humans.  Because Jodahs’ control is so poor, its family elects to take it and its sibling (who is also becoming ooloi) to the Oankali ship in order to help it stabilize.  Jodahs does not want to go.  It takes to making long journeys by itself and on one of these it discovers two humans who aren’t sterile.  They become close while they travel together and when Jodahs enters his second transformation, their bond is cemented.  Jodahs’ sibling, however, has no humans of its own, and its control is even poorer.  Jodahs’ human mates agree to lead it and Jodahs back to their village, so that they can attempt to convince another human pair to bond with it.  After some initial violence, the new ooloi-humans are able to subdue the villagers’ fears.  And when other Oankali arrive on the scene the humans are ready either to go to the Mars colony, or to find Oankali-human mates.

This trilogy was absolutely riveting.  It had science (genetics and space travel far beyond our abilities), philosophy, ethics, a not-too-far-off dystopic future, aliens, hope.  As a human, you’ll immediately understand what takes the Oankali years to know – humans are notoriously stubborn (and proud) – wanting to do things their own way, however stupid and headstrong that way may be.  It’s something we value and despise about ourselves.  Octavia Butler has absolutely nailed that conflict.  The Oankali may have the ability to fix everything that’s wrong with humans, but unless we are able to correct it ourselves by conscious decision – not just gene manipulation and a cross-breeding program, we can’t be satisfied with the results.  We’ll have lost something in the process.

I suppose the despair the humans feel has something to do with being the only ones left in a population that can’t increase its numbers – knowing that your people (as you know them) will end, and what is left behind – the new species - will barely, barely resemble you.  There’s no immortality in that, no racial security.  I’m not sure if that’s something we feel on some deep animal level or if that’s part of our evolved self-consciousness.

But I wonder what the human-Oankali mixes think.  Do they feel human?  Oankali?  Something altogether new and different?  Once you have a bunch of different intelligent species sharing space together, does your definition of “people” change?  Are you all able to somehow identify with one another as a group?  Is there a lessening of that feeling that you are all alone in the world/universe?  Perhaps as there are more human-Oankali mixes there will be more understanding between the two groups – they will be the facilitators as Akin showed they could be.  Still, the idea of being consumed by a group, almost like the Borg (you WILL be assimilated) is rather horrible.

The Oankali are fascinating as a species.  One can speculate boundlessly as to what all of the different Oankali look like/are, as they are homeless and different bands/brands of them are sailing the stars searching for new species with who they can trade genetic information.  Their fluidity is part and parcel of their nature, but they never lose control of who they are in the process.  That, too, may be part of the difference in their feelings.  They choose, they initiate, they manipulate.  Humans can only accept what the Oankali offer or die.  And we honor the individual who would stand alone and cry out, “give me liberty or give me death!” 

I was frustrated sometimes by the humanity of the humans.  They built their villages and tried to occupy themselves, but no one seemed to have any initiative to catch up to the Oankali, reverse their sterilization.  It has been pointed out to me that genetics is a pretty advanced science.  This is true.  But they had years, hundreds of years left to them, to make advances.  Perhaps the Oankali would even have helped them learn what they needed to know.  Or it’s wishful thinking on my part.  But no one made any effort.  I wish someone at least had considered it and thought, “ok, here’s what we need to do” instead of the lame penchant for violence against one another that we’re all so accustomed to.  Here is this common threat to our genetic destiny and all we can do is rape women, steal children, and re-create the Bible.  *sigh*  You’d think we have more imagination.

posted by: juuitsu at July 03, 2007 04:00 | link | comments (3) |

the fridge fairies are back...this time they left an opaque container labeled "BROWNIE."  rather delightful!

much that was anticipated has come to pass.  a good friend (not often seen, but often in my thoughts) married someone who seems to suit her well - and who obviously loves her a lot (and she, him) - in the last rays of the evening sunshine on saturday.  i brought kleenex for my date - banana (she said she's gotten more emotional in her old age) - but offered to punch her if she felt like her tears were getting out of control.  i don't generally like weddings.  they make me uncomfortable if they're really religious, and i really hate any big traditional FUSS.  but C&N kept things short and sweet, wrote their own vows/words for one another, spoke them (sincerely) with all of us as witnesses and then had us all come inside to sign their wedding certificate.  i think that part took like 15-20 minutes.  swift!  there was some time to chat with them, and several other people i hadn't seen in several years, so it was a bit of a reunion, too.  quite nice.  they also had a vegan cake that was to die for - apricot almond, i think...as soon as things settle down and i can wrest the recipe out of them i am making my own.  so yummy.  we should have raided the kitchen for more.  mm.

we had to rush away to get to the Nite Ride in time.  banana forgot her shoes at home, which was actually good, because we both had to change and pee (i feel like i spent a good portion of the weekend in the bathroom or looking for bathrooms.  i drank a lot of fluuuuids to keep me hydrated and awake and stuff and they all wanted to come out...CONSTANTLY.  stupid pee).  we got to the thing and i had to pee AGAIN.  argh.  the Nite Ride is 20 miles of biking through indy at night.  they have it every summer (and if you're in the area, i highly recommend it).  you bike 10 miles to a park in city center and stop for cookies and gatorade/water, then bike another 10 back to the velodrome and get pasta and fruit and a chance to sack out with a bunch of other cyclists.  it's awesome.  there was a full moon and fireworks AND good company.  no music this year (last year we were behind someone who had her tunez strapped to the back of her bike, so we were singing along).  banana suggested that next year we rent a tandem bike and decorate it with lots of glowy stuff.  :)  the t-shirts we got for participating had glowy moons on them.  mine scared the shit out of me when i walked down the hall in the dark last night. 

and, i'm going to finish this when i get back from pilates.  until then...
k.  back.  now a bunny nibbles on my shoes as i write this.  stoppit, bunny.  bunny says, "no, thanks."

i slept and slept and slept and slept (and got up about 3 times to pee in between my z's) and when it was good and late (ok, it was 11 am), i got up and banana was busy pretending to be bob villa.  she had some kind of hardware that she was attaching to her screen door so her dogs wouldn't plunge through it (she taught them how to use a doggie door that's on one of the doors in her house and now they think, hey!  every door is a doggie door!).  we feasted on quiche and berry smoothies and i thought, "wow, if this is what it's like to have a wife, i need me one of those."  :P

after breakfast we strolled around with the dogs and then i drove home.  i got off the highway in Hammond, thinking, oh, i'll avoid all of the traffic and the huge mess that happens right around 294.  yeah.  well, here's the thing.  there's just traffic EVERYWHERE.  i had planned on taking 41 N. for a long time and then picking up something westish north of the city, but things happened.  i did take lake shore drive for a long time and the lake was a crazy gorgeous turquoise with little white caps.  it was a beautiful day.  i should have stopped and hung out down there for awhile.  i haven't been over to the beach yet this year (bad, bad me).  i should have stopped...but i had to pee.  *sigh*  what ELSE is new??  so i drove and hit MORE traffic and sat in that for a long time.  and somehow ended up on Devon and in the middle of little india.  it was very festive.  i was stuck there for a long time.  i messaged oberon about my plight and he said (basically), "yeah, that's too bad.  you're screwed."  which meant, "there are no bathrooms i know of nearby."  i made it to niles and found a mcdonald's.  they were happy to serve me.  i was one of BILLIONS.  but not all at that moment.  and hey, that's probably the first time i've wandered/driven casually through the city without a map and without getting lost...(i'm oddly proud of this.)

posted by: juuitsu at July 03, 2007 03:34 | link | comments (3) |

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