This 'n That...

It rained yesterday. The weather folks said it was going to. I’ve been sleeping short nights still, so when I slept until 1:00PM, I knew it had to be raining. Or extremely overcast...one or the other. At any rate, it was a nice dark grey out and I rolled out of bed later than usual. Ventured out for a coffee and the paper...a usual daily activity. (Yeah, the sky was definitely ‘miffed’, and obviously headed toward ‘angry’.) Listened to NPR in the truck. A head scientific honcho for the ‘Collider’ was being interviewed and a layman’s guide to quantum physics, proton smashing, magnetic fields, etc. was being laid out. He did a fairly good job at going over the basics, but there are still elements of it all that would just go over people’s heads because ‘simplified’ articulation would be difficult. The fact that it’s an hour show (minus break times) also figured in. I know the basic workings of the underground apparatus and that’s enough for me. I find it all very interesting, but a sleep fogged brain that hadn’t had its first dose of caffeine prevented me from wanting to listen in a more cerebral fashion. They accepted a couple of callers and, of course, one of them queried the ‘honcho’ about the rumor of possible small black holes being created by the...guess I’ll call it a ‘machine’. I know the possibility of that happening are very minuscule, but he (the honcho) started in with a lot of technical jargon without really addressing the question, and “OH LOOK...we’ve run out of time.” I’m all for the advancement of science...as long as it doesn’t create anomalies that start eating away at the planet...

Today? I haven't been to bed. Yawning, but not tired. No, it doesn't make sense, but...well...there you go. Was still pretty grey as morning dawned, but it appears to be gradually clearing. The glare of impending sun. Hope the gloom fights back to domination. It's so peaceful when its gloomy outside. Not quite sure what today will hold. It's almost 1:00PM now. There is another quiche to be made. Pork butt to be roasted. Kitchen detail. Plus, this over due blog entry. I had made a pact with myself that I would keep up with my blog. Brain chatter, although a wonderful and productive thing for me (usually), has been keeping me in a rather disjointed state. Unable to focus completely. 'Stream of consciousness' writing has always served me well, so I'm going to try and take that approach.

The holidays are here. I grew out of the whole ‘Christmas Spirit’ deal a number of years ago. I have gotten the occassional tree (really dig the smell), but in terms of big celebrations and gift giving? PFFFFTTT!!!! (I’ve got a Facebook friend in Belgium...she utilizes that as her online declaration of apathy or disgust, so I’m borrowing it.) Not to say that I am disgusted with this time of year, but exchanging ‘material objects’ just doesn’t hold the same weight that it did when I was little. Boy, when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to see the loot I would get on Christmas morning. Think I was usually the first person awake. To me, in many ways...no, in MOST ways, Christmas was designed for kids. I know a lot of adults who self admittedly ‘become kids again’ at Christmas time. However, I think it’s pretty universal that when kids age up they cease to believe in Santa Claus who is at the heart of the season for a lot of people. Yeah, there’s the whole ‘religious’ side of the season (wise men, stable, baby Jesus...that stuff), but Saint Nick is the universal face. Personally, Santa Claus always creeped me out as a kid. Santa Claus and clowns. Yeesh...I just felt a wave of the heebie jeebies. As a kid, you couldn’t get me to go near one of the mall Santas. “Lisa, d’you want to get your picture taken with Santa?” Uhhhh, that would be a big fat NO! I’d quicken my pace whenever I saw one of those guys. Would just want to breeze on past. It became a running joke with my dad. Any Christmas we were at the mall together, he would put a hand on my arm and say, “Hey look, Lisa! It’s Santa. Let’s go get a picture with him.” I, of course, would go the other way...ha ha ha...very &$%#!* funny. I bet if he and I went to a mall right now, he’d do the same thing. I’m in my forties now and I still find the whole idea repugnant. Hehehe...

2009 went by fast. Well, I take that back. Sort of. In some ways it sped by, but in others...not so much. During this past year, I had some really great things happen. On the other side of the coin, it’s been very stressful and that’s been tough. I've been making a major effort to think about the positives. Not just the positives over the last year, but the ones that exist in the current day. The current moment. Health issues? Yeah, I got some...Hyperthyroidism (Graves) and RA being the chief ones. They both suck, but I manage. Hey, it could be worse. It could always be worse. There are other things that I won't go into, but I've dealt with more than my fair share of suckage over the last bit. There is an end to all of it, but its just been the void I've been bobbing around in that hasn't been fun. Moving out of Los Angeles was huge. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of good times and some great experiences out there. I was able to do some things that I seriously doubt I would have done if I had stayed in Georgia. I worked in the entertainment industry for fourteen years. I got involved with a theater company where I became a produced playwrite, directed, produced, designed lights. Made some really great friends there, some of which I will have for the rest of my life. But the shine dimmed. It just became heavy...stressful. It was draining the life out of me for the last few years I lived there. Had decided that I wanted to move to Savannah some time ago. Then I got back in touch with Glenn after 20+ years; he lives in Savannah; things just kind of unfolded...and here I am. Still stressed, but not nearly as much as I was. Things are good. I'm happier than I've been in a loooong time. Things are about to get better, my stress will be relieved, and hopefully the severe writers block I've been experiencing will subside. I've got several projects in the works, and they're not going to write themselves.

Hmmmmm...ah! Movies. Rented a couple of movies the other day. The first one I really wanted to see. "Coraline". I have the book, and read it well before it was even announced that they were making a movie version. Was kind of relieved to hear that it would be a fully animated piece since the book is a bit abstract. I know moveis have come a long way in the effects department, but animation and clay-mation have, too. Tim Burton really brought the impressiveness of 'stop motion' film making back into vogue with 'Nightmare Before Christmas', and 'Corpse Bride'...so I was hopeful for 'Coraline'. (Another Gaiman film that is just spectacular is 'Mirror Mask'. A beautiful combination of live action/animation/stop motion...an artist Gaiman has worked with on his books directs and conceptualizes this one. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.) Glenn and I collected our provisions and started watching the 3D version on one side of the DVD. It said it was best to watch in a dark room and that it would take about five minutes for our eyes to adjust to the 3D aspect. Well, there were 3D moments that were just not viewable, so we popped the disc out and flipped it to the other non-3D version. Much better. Glenn hadn't read the book, so he didn't have any reference point for how the movie compared. I must say that the movie was pretty true to the book. Over all, I'd say it was well done. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Think Glenn thought it was cute. He seemed to enjoy it. So, do I recommend 'Coraline'? Yes. Yes, I do.

The other movie was the new 'Star Trek'...(sigh)...I had many issues with this one. Yes, alternate time line...blah, blah, woof, woof. There were just so many things that didn't jive for me. The only characterization I liked was Karl Urban as McCoy. Personally, I thought it was pretty to look at, but I wasn't really wowed by the 'interpretation'. I could go into greater detail about what I didn't care for, but I shall stay reticent. Moving right along...

Well, I've rattled on for a bit here, so I think caffeine and solid food stuffs are in order. Then...quiche creation...