U2, Until the End of the World.
The crates from whence iDJ sprang. ( That makes very little sense but it was fun to write. If I had any poetry skilz, I’d come up with a next line. Cést la vie. )
Nov4
Nov3
I apparently have new technology
iDJ got the new iPhone so he’s setting up his old one to be my new phone. I’m not terribly interested in the technical aspects, but I’m getting to hear the step by step process as he does everything out loud. I also have to provide passwords on occasion. I got nuttin to hide, but he’s a good man and respects my privacy. I am a bit surprised that he’d rather set my new (old, I suppose: it is the 3GS) phone up for me than play with his truly new one. Aww. I will miss my old iPhone (first generation, and one of the first dozen ever used, ahem, illegally in Ireland). I never wanted it but it became an essential. Damn you, smart technology!
Yuck, I’ve seen the word ‘phone’ too many times now, it has become gibberish. Also, I can’t see or type phone without mentally making it ‘phone – because it is an abbreviation. Thanks, mom!
Nov3
10cc, I’m Not in Love.
I actually prefer the Tori Amos version of this song, but I think this is the original that is playing in my brain this morning. No clue why, not heard any version in weeks or longer.
Earworm OTD
Nov2
Job hunting in the wild, wild whest of Ireland
Wow, total panic there for a bit! My WordPress app crashed on opening my blog. Restart the iPad, no. Check for updates, yes there was one, update, crash. Update a lot of other shite since I’d already entered my iTunes password, restart, WordPress crash. Check forums, nothing. Panic. Will I lose all my crap if I delete the app and reinstall? Bite the bullet and delete and reinstall, restart.
Working! All my crap is still smelling as rosy as it ever did. Whew. An iPad shouldn’t need restarting so much, but I live with an IT manager so I’ve learned good habits. Hell, I need a nap every now and again, too. I drive this thing hard, poor Shiny Happy (from the engraving iDJ had put on the back).
Interesting, though, to find myself actually worried and jonesing for my writing fix. Am I showing my age and slightly dodgy history with the term ‘jonesing?’ I can explain it. Really. Anyhoo, I’m pleased to learn that when I want to write, nothing else will do. I considered giving up and doing a Brushes painting instead, but I’ve not had a good subject since Usyaka, so I’m less than inspired. Despite doing a post earlier today, I really felt a need to blurt out my random thoughts and the schtuff that happened today.
So! Job interview! It went really well, I think. I liked yer man, and I think he took me seriously. When I said things that might come off ‘wrong,’ he understood and agreed with me. He wasn’t up his own hole, he was a real person and even cursed a few times. He mentioned doing so later, so an ‘oh yes, I’ve a potty-mouth, too’ bonding occasion was born. I think I’m in – but I felt that about the last job and was way wrong. That interview was about 10 minutes long and felt like 20, this one was 45 and felt like 10. I do take the length of the interview as a good sign, too.
Unfortunately, I won’t know for a while if I’m hired. Fortunately, he explained why it will take time, and it is a valid reason.
I also did another interview, of a sort, today. Go, me! This one is for a call centre customer support job at a company that makes computer and platform games. A possible nightmare for me, as I’m not good at bending over and taking one for the team. At least the customers are all nerds and I totally speak nerd. I decided to apply because I’m a Yank, and we Yanks know the customer service rules, don’t we? I might hate myself at the end of every shift, but I’d give good CS nonetheless.
The fun part about the application process is that it has been entirely on-line so far. I registered, uploaded my CV (résumé), and my ‘first interview’ was also online, in the form of a questionnaire.
Not so much fun. I could tell they are US-based when The Dreaded Question popped up: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years?
Really?
Really?
I’d even joked in my ‘real’ interview about that very question, and the one where they ask If You Were A Vegetable, What Would You Be? So, I might have been a little sarcastic in my response. But not nearly as sarcastic as I’d have liked to be. I did say “I’m not as young as I was yesterday” which is a thickly-veiled hint that I’m too fucking old to answer stupid questions. Or perhaps they are too up their own arses to see that?
Maybe I was just trying to say that I’d kiss the customer’s arse, but not theirs. I donno. The pay starts higher than the ‘real’ interview, but it is much further away (if you think gas in the US is expensive, I’ll tell you what we pay) and would be nights and weekends, oh joy. I’m also too old for that shit, and have been for a while. I’ll suck it up, though, to not lose my house.
Sheeeeit, I feel like I’m on a downer note now! I’m not, really. I’m over the moon to have had not one but two chances at employment today, after so long without a response or even anything I could apply for. Yay!
Right, I should wrap this up as dinner is almost ready. I still feel like I’m leaving on a low note, so here is my dawg being adorable:
That’s my foot she’s holding on to, and still is:
What I like best about this is that she lay down, then reached out and grabbed me. It reminds me of my Bengal, Spot, who has to, has to, touch my face if he can reach it. I have successfully created a dog-cat. Or a cat-dog… Love my furry kids.
Nov2
Inspirational writers
I’m finally following up on an idea I apparently foisted upon a fellow blogger. I asked him in a comment about writers that inspired him, and his response was prompt and impressive. Being as I am someone with very little formal education – I just read a lot – I won’t be sharing some of his choices that are traditionally considered literature. I will read just about anything that is fiction, with the non-negotiable stipulation that romance novels are totally out of the question. (I found a Barbara Cartland novel in the trash when I was about eight. I was shocked that anyone could treat a book that way, and rescued it. I did read it, and that was enough for me to put it back into a bin.)
I’m also an American, so some of my choices might be considered too popular to be taken seriously. I am sorry if anyone does feel that way, however. Especially for my number one influence:
1. Stephen King. I love this man, I love nearly everything he has written, and I’m a collector of his work. A little history, bear with me; my parents were avid readers and did not censor what my sister and I read. Thank you, thank you. Mom volunteered at our library, and one of her jobs was picking new books for the shelves. She would consult with us girls, and we would know what would be coming in and when, and we would put our names on the reserved list. I clearly remember when King’s new books Firestarter and Cujo were bought as I was so excited to read them. They were released in 1980 and 1981 respectively – I was nine when Firestarter came out.
So, I have a love of Mr King’s work that is over 30 years old. He does inspire me, especially his book On Writing. I could go on and on, but I’ll shut up now. He will get a whole post one day, I do have a few criticisms as well as accolades.
2. C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia, obviously. I wrote a lot of rubbish when I was a kid because of him. His religious undertone failed with me utterly, I just wanted talking animals to be real.
3. Dean Koontz. I’ve gone off him a bit now, he’s way too Christian for my tastes and it is getting annoying. But he’s on the list for sheer perserverance, meticulous editing of every sentence, and the staggering volume of his work. Lightning, Midnight and Watchers were the first three books of his I read, and I still think they are the best of his enormous bibliography.
4. Madeline l’Engle. She wrote for what would now be considered ‘tween-age’ girls, but she wrote about science, time travel, and history. Another one whose religious undertone failed to affect me – now I can’t even imagine how or why she could link god to a book that explains, quite well, the first through sixth dimensions. Sigh. On the list as she taught me you don’t have to write about romance and rainbows when you are a woman writing for girls.
5. Dr Seuss. I don’t know if I would love words as much without him having so damn much fun with them.
6. Charles Bukowski. Wow, what a drunken, hateful, misogynistic loser. Wow, what a mind that allowed him to spill everything on paper. An inspiration because I learned that nothing is too horrible to write about. I’ll even read his poetry. Not for everyone, but if you like my next entry, you’ll like Bukowski.
7. Chuck Palahniuk. He’s disgusting and creative with it. A quick and bizarre mind, he taught me that nothing is too strange or sickening to write about – very liberating.
8. John Irving. I read The World According to Garp when I was about 13, and despite being shocked by the infamous car accident scene, I didn’t really appreciate the novel. Much later in life I read A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules, and fell in love. I’ve not read all of his works yet, but will. I love how he is so adept at immersing me in the world he has created. A kind of ‘I’m not worthy’ feeling hits me when I finish one of his books.
9. Kurt Vonnegut. If Irving makes me feel not worthy, Vonnegut makes me feel as if I shouldn’t even bother. Not exactly inspirational, is it? He just blows my socks off: style, language, humour, story, technique. I am a latecomer to Vonnegut, and I am sorry we lost him recently because once I read everything, there will be no more. I parcel his works out to myself like rare expensive chocolates, savouring each one.
I’m sure there are tons more, but I’ve run out of playtime and need to get ready for my job interview!
Nov2
Brenda Lee’s version of The Crying Game.
Once again, because I heard a snippet of it when iDJ was ‘crate digging’ last night. Ooo, that sounds a bit dirty. It’s DJ talk for looking through the music collection! Since his collection is digital, it’s more listening through rather than looking.
I also woke up right after someone in a dream said to me, “Carrot is rebelling against something.” I think he meant the dog’s stuffed toy Carrot. Can’t say as the damn song drove the dream away. Grrr.
Earworm OTD
Nov1
Cucurbita maximas in flight!
My hands are all smelly and prune-y from cooking two massive pumpkins this afternoon. I have a lot of pumpkin now. I also have very little freezer space. Dammit. Because they weren’t pie pumpkins, they are really watery. I’m letting the massive clump of mush drain, but I have no idea where to put it all. If I have time tomorrow, I’ll blitz it in the food processor in the hopes of reducing the sheer volume of gourd guts.
I might not have time because, drum roll please, I have a job interview tomorrow! Woot! It sounds like a good one, too – in other words, not retail. Although I’m not turning down retail at this point, uh-uh. However, I’ll take the higher pay that (hopefully) comes with an office job.
I used to have a doctor appointment tomorrow, finally, for my back. When the potential employer rang I said ‘yes I am free’ without even thinking about the damn orthopaedist. So I had to ring the hospital today and reschedule (they were closed yesterday for the holiday). I’ve been waiting for this appointment since June 2010, yes. But I’ve been unemployed since February 2010, so the bad back has to wait until the 16th now. They were very nice on the phone at least – I was totally honest and maybe that’s why it is only another 2 weeks instead of months. I know damn well not to call up and reschedule a job interview because I made a stupid mistake.
Oh dear. iDJ strikes again. He made a fire for me, and it isn’t staying lit.
Me: “Your fire went out again. The damn thing is useless.”
iDJ: “It loves you!”
Me: “Go away. Go away now.”
Earlier, I had to point out to him that he was talking to the fancy cheese he was nibbling on. I wonder about that man.
I bet I did something today that none of the rest of you did! I am totally willing to put money on it. Because I have none. I’d bet something really valuable, but on the tiny chance I lost, I doubt my cats would like you as much as they like me. I can stake a husband that talks to cheese? No takers? Okay then, you’d lose anyhow.
I watched someone try to start a helicopter while I was stark-ass naked.
Told you I’d win that one! I will, however, offer a consolation prize to the best guess of how I managed to view a failed aviation attempt whilst in the buff.
Oct31
Don’t be scared…
I’m sitting in a house that’s only lit by candlelight, with a scary sound effect track playing. There’s a red lightbulb lit over our door, pumpkin and ghost lights in the windows, and a big scary streamer thing covering our front door. There are two big jack-o-lanterns, four headstones, and skull-bedecked cemetery fencing in our front garden. I’m wearing a wizard hat, and iDJ has on a creepy-as-hell clown mask.
We are ready for trick or treaters!
We’ve had one uncostumed, dare-you, ToT attempt that we rejected, and three real ones so far. Two of the first three were in traditional Samhain masks, really good to see that.
The cats are unimpressed, one has left the downstairs entirely, and one is more interested in the fact we cracked the window a little bit to run the speaker wire outside. Dog is fine until the doorbell rings. In Ireland, they shoot off (illegal) fireworks for Halloween. So far, the dog hasn’t even twitched an ear at the booms, a good thing. Unless that first little barstid comes back and tries to put one in our letterbox…
A friend on FB just pointed out that this is the only time we encourage kids to visit. Damn right, and it is only okay now because we are doing our best to make them scream, cry, or wet their pants.
Oh, here’s how we tortured the dog this week:
She only had to be Spiderman for a few minutes. It didn’t fit right.
Ooo, aren’t we tough in our spikes? As long as Mr Carrot is around to protect us, we are…
We had a good time on Saturday night. The plan was a house party, then to hit as many of the three pubs in town that we could. Of course, we only ever landed in one pub, as you do.
Here’s me and the KIBIS-ers at the house party:
Don’t we look great? I’m the tall one, obviously. I tried to squish my boobage flat (ha) and wear gender-neutral or even masculine clothes. The idea being that as long as I kept my mouth shut, no one would know if I was a girl or boy. It’s nice being tall 🙂 And it worked! In the pub, I scared a good few folks just by walking up and staring at them with my arms crossed. I found it really messed with their heads if I opened my eyes really wide to make crazy-person whites glow out of the mask. Yay!
My Harley jacket gave me away, though, to people who know me – I do wear it quite often, and as I’m the only biker chick in the town, well, they aren’t eejits here. Best response to me trying to fool someone came from the publican himself – “How’s the weather in America this week?”
Now for the piece de resistance! iDJ in his costume, assembled mostly by me and makeup by me.
Any guesses who he is? How about a close up, then?
Yes, he is Dee Snyder from the 80’s metal band, Twisted Sister! I really wanted to utilise his long blonde hair, and came up with Dee. I think he looks great! Even though he’s in my leggings, shirt, jacket, handcuffs, scarf, bandannas… hell, the only clothes that aren’t mine are socks, jocks and boots. Nice when a couple can share their clothing…
Oct31
Socks has a blueberry!
I’m behind on my Baby-Socks update. Halloween got in the way!
We didn’t have our phone call until Friday, and it was short as I needed to get our Halloween costumes together. So, my update will be a bit short this week.
Socks had another ultrasound done, and got to bring home another photo. Due date is confirmed at June 14-15. Currently, the wee one is the size of a blueberry! I love the way her baby books give her fruit similes.
She was shopping for a ‘pregnancy journal’ but they weren’t very good, nothing like what she wanted. So, she bought a new Moleskine and started her own. She works on it when watching TV, until she falls asleep… she did say she’s not as tired as she was, but still much sleepier than pre-Booberry. Nausea isn’t too bad, but she gets grossed out easily – even at cartoons. No cravings, really, but she not very interested in food right now. Except bacon. Mmmm, bacon! That in itself is a bit strange as she doesn’t eat bad things like bacon very often.
Her mom is finally reacting the way she was expected to all along – going bananas! Mr Socks (Bear), who is normally very shy, is telling people about their pregnancy all the time now. He’s even having conversations with male friends about “birthing plans.” I wish I could have eavesdropped on that conversation! Bear is also making sure she gets enough iron, because she can’t take those ginormous iron horse-pills right now.
So, over all – everything is fine, baby is perfect, she feels great, and her boobs have gotten 15 years younger. Yay for perky boobies! Enjoy ’em while they last 🙂
Oct30
Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take it.
You’ll have to wait for the next big blog post to find out why 🙂
heretherebespiders 