what?

I had to change to Blogger Beta to log in, but then I'm not qualified for the upgrade? Excuse me? WTF? OK, I'm not going to try to wrap my brain around that one anymore. It hurts too much.

friday catblogging

Callie has decided to make good on her challenge to Mars on who is more popular on the web.


I can appreciate that he's a shelter rescue, but please...he's a dog. Really.


That's right. I'm gorgeous, and I know it. Eat your heart out, Mars.

Sorry, H0rrid, but I only type what the cats tell me to. And yes, I'm fully aware I'm staff.

because i'm bored

100 Things About Me, updated. Let's see what's changed in the past 2 years... Original post here. Italics denote changes.

1. I live in the general vicinity of Huntsville, in Northern Alabama
2. I was born in Seymour, Indiana, John Cougar Mellencamp's "Small Town"
3. I'm 6 feet 1 inch tall, and weigh, well, a little more than I should, but not much
4. I have greenish-hazel eyes
5. My hair is shoulder length, wavy, and light brown/red/blonde, depending on the light and how much it's bleached out by the sun
6. I have a wonderful husband, who is more understanding of me than anyone in this world, including myself
7. We were separated for 18 months when we stopped being friends, and I didn't think he was so wonderful
8. I didn't think I was so wonderful during that time, either
9. I have a little sister, 2 1/2 years younger than I, who lives in Indiana, with her husband and their two boys
10. My parents live on the family farm, in Indiana
11. My closest relatives, aside from my husband, are 300 miles away, in Indiana
12. I have only a few close friends, who mean more to me than they know
13. I have 3 cats living in my house - Make that 4 cats that own me, Callie had joined the mix
    
14. My parents have my other cat
15. There is also a squirrel and a fish living here - Catbait, the squirrel is free. His ultimate fate is not known. The number of fish have increased, however.
    
16. And my brother-in-law (husband's brother), and his 2 cats
17. I have a degree in studio art - Forgot the minor in Art History
    
18. Graphic design is the best way to have an art degree and still be able to eat
19. I taught myself everything I know about HTML and JavaScript
20. I tend to hand-code websites, rather than let a WYSIWYG editor screw up the code
21. I'm not happy unless the code looks good, too
22. I've had my degree for 4 years now - Make that 6 years
    
23. I've been an EMT for 10 years - Coming up on 12 years. Damn, I feel old.
    
24. I'm specially trained in vehicle extrication - using the "Jaws of Life"^TM
25. I've been doing that for 9 years - Make that 11 years
    
26. I can't remember how many people I've seen die
27. The one that haunts me to this day is the 14 year old boy who looked into my eyes and then died on the stretcher in front of me, and there was nothing I could do. That was 7 years ago
28. There really wasn't anything anyone could have done for him. His injuries from the vehicle wreck were too severe
29. Insomnia sucks - I've learned to deal with it, and ignore it for the most part. I sleep when I'm tired. Simple solution.
    
30. I love the rain
31. Storms are one of nature's most beautiful and powerful events, which I respect for their destructive, but not fear
32. I am a National Weather Service trained storm spotter, which gives me an excuse to admire the beauty of a storm, while serving the greater good, should it turn severe
33. I believe in helping people for the sake of helping
34. I don't do it because The Church tells me I have to
35. I believe that everyone perceives the Divine differently, and cultures give him/her/it different names - God, Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Budda, The Great Spirit. All beliefs are valid, and everyone should be allowed to worship in his or her own way, with certain restrictions, without fear of repercussion
36. Those restrictions include no cruelty to animals or humans; nothing that endangers a minor (handling of dangerous animals, consumption of drugs); displays of public lewdness; other things that are currently covered by U.S. law
37. I believe civil unions between homosexuals should be allowed - In other words, a legal, secular marriage. If three people want to get married, then that should be allowed, too. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening in this country for a very long time.
    
38. I think there are abilities that some people have that cannot be explained by science. Call it psychic powers, magick, or whatever you want, it does exist.
39. My favorite colors are green and purple
40. I love to bum around the house in my pajamas
41. I've worn my pajamas to the store
42. Memory foam matress toppers are wonderful
43. I have Crohn's Disease and Ankylosing Spondylitis, both of which are autoimmune disorders
44. I've learned to adapt to both, since I've had the CD for 19 years and the AS probably for about 14 years - AS is harder to diagnose, so it was misdiagnosed for several years as simple arthritis
45. I take a metric assload of drugs to keep both under control. In EMS we refer to folks like me as taking the WFP
46. I have a twisted sense of humor - Twisted doesn't even begin to describe it. Morbid is maybe a little more accurate
    
47. It's taken me about 17 years to accept that I can't do everything I want, that I have limits, and to allow myself to be taken care of when I need to be
48. I'm a better patient for the doctors and nurses at the office or hospital than I am to my family or friends who are healthcare workers
49. My regular physician is also a part-time ER doc, so he tells me to stop being a patient, and to stop bringing him patients
50. I am an INTP
51. I am a genius, and could join MENSA, if I really wanted to
52. I do know some rocket science - Hell, I know rocket scientists. Comes with living in Huntsville
    
53. I often get so involved in what I'm doing that I forget about my own physical needs - eating, drinking, sleeping
54. I'm glad breathing is automatic because of that
55. I do loose track of time, not just hours but days at a time - The meds don't help with that in the slightest
    
56. I grew up on a 80+ acre farm
57. I can knit, crochet, cross-stitch, embroider, sew, spin, and weave
58. I also can grow a sucessful vegetable garden, and I am able to can, dehydrate, and pickle foods I grow
59. I can milk a cow, sheep, or goat, make butter, butcher meat, make sausages, bake bread, make pasta, and do about anything else in the kitchen, completely from scratch
60. I choose not to usually, because it's so much faster to use partially prepared foods
61. Unless I'm bored, then baking is a great way to pass a few hours, and exercise my arms
62. I'm mostly of German descent, with some Swiss and Scotch-Irish thrown in for good measure - Did some research, and more Scottish than Scotch-Irish. Hell, I have two tartans to choose from, Buchanan and Clark/Clerk/Clerke
    
63. One of my ultimate comfort foods is chicken and spatzle
64. Latkes and sour cream is another, which I don't make often enough, from scratch
65. My other ultimate comfort food is mac and cheese
66. I'm addicted to sushi
67. I will try almost anything once
68. I thoroughly enjoy a cup of fresh brewed coffee made from just-ground beans, with just a touch of cream
69. Coffee gives me migraines - I've figured out how to make coffee that doesn't usually give me migraines. Mmmmm...coffee
    
70. I can't speak or write German, and can read only a little bit of it
71. Ditto with Latin, Italian, and Greek - Actually, I can read, write, and speak some Latin now. Been active learning it since I joined Nova Roma
    
72. I do read, write, and speak French
73. If I try to speak Spanish, it comes out this weird concoction of French-Italian-Latin-Spanglish
74. I learned to read Latin, Italian, and Greek from studying Art History - That's how I learned Latin before actually studying it
    
75. I speak feline fluently, and cats know this
76. Dogs aren't my favorite animal, but I won't turn away one in need of help either
77. I really don't like heights
78. I can grit my teeth and work at heights, if necessary, and have had to do so as an EMT
79. Painting is something that helps me stay focused on what is important in life
80. I don't paint nearly often enough
81. You're still reading this? You must be more bored than I am
82. My favorite place in the entire world is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - I now know that Shiva lives only a few miles away. Gotta love how the world works
    
83. That is the one place where I can always feel at peace, regardless of what is going on in my life
84. I came very close to saying "fuck it all" one weekend, quitting my job, and staying in Tennessee, just so I could be in the mountains every day. It didn't matter that it meant I would have been living out of my tent in the campground for a few weeks until I got another job, apartment, etc.
85. I had actually looked for places that would hire me in the area that weekend, including the National Park Service
86. I get destructive when I get depressed, which is why I love vehicle rescue - I can tear a car to pieces and still help a patient
87. I really need to get back to the mountains, 6 months is too long to be away - Besides, I need to Shiva's new apartment :)
    
88. I enjoy camping, being close to nature
89. I will camp during any season, in a tent
90. I have camped anytime from late February through late October, and ridden out severe and tornadic thunderstorms in my tent
91. The one time I left the campground, my tent was blown over during the storm. Everything inside remained dry. I really like that tent.
92. I love reading sci-fi and fantasy stories, including J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert's Dune series, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Dune prequels (based on Frank Herbert's unfinished works), Anne McCaffery's Pern series and The Ship Who... series, Sharon Shinn, Stephen Lawhead, and Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker (it's set in magical frontier Indiana, describing places I grew up near) to name a few
93. Some of my favorite movies include the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hannibal Lecter trilogy, Moulin Rouge, Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, Labrynth, The Dark Crystal - See Grace Fly, Nothing, Dune, Children of Dune, Thoughtcrimes, Elizabeth, Serenity, and Century Hotel. I've developed a thing for independent films. So help me, there are two Sci-Fi Channel Original Films on the new list, and they didn't suck ass. They may be the only two Sci-Fi Channel Original Films that haven't sucked.
    
94. CSI, CSI Miami, CSI NY, MI-5, Rescue Me, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Farscape are the only TV shows I watch. Well, and the Weather Channel. - Add the new Battlestar Galactica, the new Doctor Who, Da Vinci's Inquest, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly. Strike MI-5 since it's not being shown right now in the US, I'll have to buy the DVDs.
    
95. Have I mentioned insomnia sucks? - Yeah, I have. Back on the topic of films, I can't stand film gore. I can hold a human brain in my hands, but still watch horror films through my fingers. Cube is the most recent example. I saw the deaths coming, and could barely watch that film once.
    
96. Some of my favorite singers/songwriters are Peter Gabriel, Billy Joel, Elton John, Evanescence, U2, Queen, and Sisters of Mercy
97. I like to write poetry, and sometimes I even think it's pretty good, so it gets posted here, where I inflict it upon the world at large
98. I am my worst critic
99. I need to not over-analyize my artwork as much, and just create it, accept not everything will be a masterpiece
100. My email signature, which has been one of my favorite quotes for quite a long time.
     
     All that is gold does not glitter
     Not all those who wander are lost;
     The old that is strong does not wither
     Deep roots are not reached by the frost
     
     - Gandalf the Grey
     Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien
101. I really should be asleep right now, but of course, the insomnia has kicked in again.

a dog's breakfast

(See, H0rrid, I do make good on my threats, er, promises.)

Go check out this blog - A Dog's Breakfast. The site promotes an upcoming independent film of the same name. One of the stars of the film is Mars, a shelter-rescue Rottweiler mix. Yay for shelter rescues! Although I think Caliadne Gwenhyfar Bellatrix (Callie) is now challenging Mars to an online popularity contest. She isn't intimidated by who owns Mars, either. :)

A clip from the film has been released, and I recommend watching it. Hilarious. It's also time to play "Name that set". Hint, it's stolen, er, borrowed, from a pair current TV series. Hint #2, one of the series is the longest running sci-fi show in American TV history. (Nothing can beat Doctor Who, which I think makes it the second longest running sci-fi series in the world.)

For those of you who don't know what the phrase "a dog's breakfast" means, it's UK slang (thank you, Google) - noun, a mess - This accident scene is a real dog's breakfast. Ok, so when I made a similar comment, I said something more like "This accident scene is pretty f***ed up." Get the idea? I first heard the phrase on an episode of Da Vinci's Inquest, and figured out the general meaning. Had to look it up to be certain on the meaning, though.

tux returns!

Schrödinger is back. That's Tux for those of you who missed my last post on him.
He's not looking so hot, I think he may have parasites. OK, he probably does have parasites. The local no-kill shelter that Noah came from is giving me some medication to take care of that, although they can't take in any more cats. The Oubliette Cat Shelter is also full to capacity, which means Callie was the lucky one, the last one in. (Yes, Lair, I'll take some new pics of her, as soon as she emerges from wherever the in the 100 Hells she's hiding this week.)

Looks like Tux/Schrödinger/Here, Kitty, Kitty will be more or less an outdoor cat hanging around the fringes of The Oubliette area. I'll be doing what I can to obtain minimal health care for him, but unless you want your own kitty, looks like he'll be staying outdoors for now.

Now if the damn opossums didn't eat all of his food each night, things would be great. Shiny, even.

stargazing photos

This is what I'm looking at, and the type of objects I'm looking for when I spend half my night in the Evil Chair of Doom.

First Pegasus. (I'll post Cassiopeia separately when I'm done labeling everything, since it's a much more crowded region of the sky.)


Click on the image for larger versions, up to 2856 x 2142, about 2Mb.

Now that the sci-fi geek in me is getting a chance to type, thanks to being in Vicodin Land, I start to wonder. Which of the two galaxies in Pegasus, Pegasus Dwarf Irregular (Peg DIG) or Pegasus Dwarf Spheroidal (Peg dSph) is Atlantis located in?

rain

There is actual, genuine rain falling right now. Oh, sweet rain. I'd forgotten what it sounded and felt like, it's been so friggin long since we had rain around here. Of course, this being the South, lightning was a part of it, but that's fine with me. It made for a lovlely light show. At least this time I didn't have to go running to the house to avoid being hit.

Let it be known that I do eventually learn. When you can hear the lightning coming down from the clouds, you really shouldn't be outside in the storm. No matter how pretty it is.

friday catblogging

Callie has decided to take the day off, so Eep is taking her place.





Eep defends HER place on the back of the couch. Mostly using her Death-Glare, which causes most cats (and some humans) to tremble in fear.

mira's (mis)adventures

Vicodin Land is back again (details of how I got here in a minute) so anything I produce for the next few days will be either crap or crack. Possibly both. I'm hoping I don't screw up posting some kitty pics here in a minute.

Yep, I managed to hurt myself. Again. This time it was the Evil Attack Lawn Chair. You know those folding camp chairs, the ones that come with a nice carrying case and fold up to about 8"x8"x3'? I have one of the super-deluxe models, it has a footrest and reclines. Well, a word of advice to everyone out there, make sure when setting up your chair (unfolding it), that you don't put one of the legs in or over a hole in the yard. This is vitally important. Remember this, it could save your life.

I learned this was Vitally Important when I leaned ever-so-slightly to the right and fell right the fuck over on my side. The Evil Attack Lawn Chair took this opportunity to try to eat me. Even my beloved dogwood tree got in on the action and took a chunk out of (OK, scraped) my wrist.

Let me paint a mental picture. Mira is laying on her side, this damn chair folded up AROUND her, right wrist, shoulder and back hurting like a mother-fucker, and can't get free from the Evil Chair of Doom. The Chair of Doom has her pinned next to previously mentioned dogwood tree, which did nothing to help me escape. Did I mention this is at 1AM, so nobody can see me and I don't have my cell on me?

Yeah. Loads of fun. So I slowly self-extricate from the Evil Woman-eating Chair, and I don't use the word "extricate" lightly. I seriously was trapped when it folded up around me. Considering calling for help kind of trapped. I manage to drag my sorry ass out of the chair and make it to my feet. I ended up using some sort of ninja-roll/kick to free my legs so I could get out of the Evil Chair and make it to my feet.

This was at 1AM Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon I had to work (model) and couldn't get an appointment with my doctor until yesterday. The Evil Chair of Doom was a new one for him, and Dr. F is a part-time ER doc, in addition to his family practice. He ordered X-rays of my wrist (which looks like I botched a suicide attempt with the bandage over the scrape), shoulder, and ribs. Fortunately, I bend, but I do not break. Still hurts like a son-of-a-bitch, though.

So now I'm lazily making my way through Vicodin/Skelaxin Land. It is such a beautiful place, full of pretty colors and funny things.

Evil Attack Lawn Chair: $20
Co-pay for office visit: $15
Prescriptions: Let's not go there.
Being able to tell this story: Priceless.

(Bill Engval, please do not sue me over the use of Vicodin Land(TM). If you haven't seen him do his Vicodin Land bit, you need to. Hilarious. Even while not on Vicodin.)

whee, work!

I never thought I'd be excited about going to work. Of course, since I haven't had a job for 15 months does change one's perspective.

Yesterday was my second day, I'll be at work in about 45 minutes, and tomorrow is my last scheduled day for this term. There's still a chance I may be needed next week, but that's unlikely since the scheduled model is dependable, barring any true emergency.

That's why I'm modeling today. I wasn't originally scheduled to, but the scheduled model couldn't work today. Yay for me, an extra session's pay. I'll also be scheduled for the drawing classes in the fall, but models aren't used until about the second half, so it will likely be October before the Art Department needs me again.

Hey, it's something, which is better than nothing. The instructor is understanding, so he picks poses that don't strain my back. This week, I'm laying on my stomach, arm as a pillow, looking like I'm asleep. Yeah, real difficult pose. Hell, yesterday I almost fell asleep.

The students are a great bunch, and have come a long way since the first day of class, when I was thier model. The first day they all had the same problems with see proportion - how wide my shoulders are compared to my hips, or if the distance from the top of my shoulder to my elbow is the same from elbow to wrist. Yesterday they were having difficulty seeing exactly how my shoulderblade is a different plane than my back or ribcage. And they get two more days to work on their pieces, so they get to start having fun with facial details, toes, fingers, and other little details. Heh. They're going to hate that. Yes, years ago when I was a student myself, I took this class. I understand exactly what they're going through.

Time to go, my ride should be here any minute now.

friday catblogging

Callie makes another appearance.


Callie looks pretty from her window perch.


Callie gives Eep the death-stare.

sitemeter reading

Well, I've been having some fun, going through my sitemeter hits and have had readers from some interesting places.

The most amusing (to me) hit in the log is the visitor from Burnaby, British Columbia. (If you were visiting from Bridge Studios, I swear I'm not the scary, stalker type.) To all of my Canadian readers - Salut! Yes, it never fails to amaze me how many of my readers aren't from the States.

To my Western Australian visitor, welcome! You win the prize for being my most distant visitor, greater than 11,000 miles. Sydney, you come in second at over 9,000 miles away.

Bonjour, mes lecteurs qui lisent français! Oui, j'écris français, mai je pense vous lisez anglais autrement vous ne visitez pas mon blog. Et pardon ma français, je ne pratique pas souvent.

Si alquis legas lingua Latina, salvete!

Yep, that is the extent of my language abilities. I'm not even going to attempt Spanish or German, since it would be embarrassing.

carnival of the cats #120

Yes, this is late, but go forth and look at the kitties at the 120^th Carnival of the Cats, hosted at Music and Cats.

friday catblogging

And now I bow to the demands of my readers...


Callie pretending to be a sphinx.


Callie tripping on some prime 'nip.


Die, you Evil Table Leg. Die!

catblogging!

Maleficent watching Eep walk by.


Look at me, I'm cute!

finally, a job

Today I worked my first paying job in 15 months. Woo-hoo! It's not nearly full time, more like as needed in the University Art Department. The job? Model. Hey, it's something I can do, and I remember my days as a student, being grateful to have a model to work from during both drawing and clay modeling.

Nope, this is one job where there won't be any pics of me at work. There may be some pics of the artwork the students create, depending on how they progress during the class. Today was the first day so the sculptures were amusing, proportions all wrong. My head half the size it should be, impossibly long arms, stick legs. The Venus of Willendorf looking one was one of the better ones. Everything was exaggerated, but hey, it's art, and they're there to learn.

I'm just terminally amused.

as promised, a stargazing report

This makes it official; I'm a geek. This is what happens when I get bored and have a pair of binoculars, a planisphere, a red-filter on a flashlight, and Excel.

Edit - Crap. I forgot how Blogger doesn't like tables. Keep scrolling down, I swear there's more to this post, including a table of all 110 Messier Objects and the ones I've seen. Looks best in Firefox (sorry IE folks). I'll try to fix it later, I just don't have the energy right now. *grumbles about Blogger and what it does with its mother*

Edit 2 - Since Blogger hates tables for some reason, so I made the table as an external HTML page.

Link to my Messier Obect Checklist (Will open in a new window).

This is definitely a sign of a woman who has too much time on her hands, and can't stand the daytime heat (it's 97 right now). I've seen everything checked off in binoculars (technically I could say I've seen every Messier Object, but somehow I don't think scanning the sky with the naked eye counts). After last night's session, which I added M15, M31, M32, M110, that makes the tally 23 down, 87 to go. Oh, plus I saw 2 satellites. Sadly, I didn't see any part of the June Lyrids that I can be certain about. The neurological damage causes me to see random lights on occasion, so I don't know if what I saw was a neurological hiccup, or a meteor in my peripheral vision. For the past week I've definitely seen about one meteor a night, but then I didn't have binoculars glued to my face then, either.

Here's the source of most of the data for my table/checklist. Complete with pretty pictures.

must. have. coffee.

It is by caffiene alone that I set my mind in motion.

It is by the beans of Java that the thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.

It is by caffiene alone that I set my mind in motion.



Yes, I was up all night stargazing (report to come later), and I'm currently running on 3 hours sleep. Going to be a fun day.

welcome to hurricane season 2006

Say hello to Alberto, the first tropical system to form in the Atlantic hurricane basin in 2006, and it's working on being a hurricane.


National Hurricane Center (NHC) storm track, as of 1000CDT, 6-12-06.


Infrared satellite imagery of Alberto, 2315CDT 6-12-06.

If this is the first thing the Atlantic spawns for the season, it's not looking good for the rest of the season. Here's hoping any Katrinas stay well off-shore.

According to the National Hurricane Center, this season looks like it will be just as active as past seasons. Well, not as active as last year, but well above average. From 1995-2005, 9 of those seasons had above average activity and 7 of those 9 are classified as hyperactive. In other words, we're screwed. Again.

In an average year there are 11 named storms, 6 of those storms become hurricanes, and 2 of those hurricanes are major hurricanes (Category 3 or greater). The prediction for this year is for a total of 13-16 named storms with 8-10 of those storms becoming hurricanes and 4-6 of those hurricanes being major hurricanes. Compare this with 2005 which saw a record 28 storms (27 named and 1 unnamed storm), 15 of those becoming hurricanes (also a record), and 7 major hurricanes (the standing record is 8). (I'd put this in a table, but for some reason Blogger is hating tables right now.) For more statistics of 2005, check out this Wikipedia article.

Hmm, I moved to Alabama from Indiana in 1995... Yes, I'll admit, having grown up in the Midwest, I always wanted to experience a tropical system first-hand, but this is ridiculous.

adventures in spam

I swear by all that is holy, these are true subject lines from my current mountain of spam. This doesn't include the mountain of crap that is in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or any writing system aside from Latin.

• Alcohol and calculus don't mix... Don't drink and derive - I think it would have made more sense if I had been drinking...
• Need cash, pebble-shaped - I know I've been out of the loop a bit, but when did we go back to stones?
• dear russian schoolgirl - Uh, last I checked I'm not Russian...
• test xeg - WTF?
• I burned sixty calories - So did I, deleting all my spam.
• Message subject - Hint: this is where you put the subject. Good guess on what that box is for.
  
• We bring Vegas to you! - Can you imagine the shipping costs?
• Cash out, scale bug - Excuse me?
  
• You don't have the guts to stay away from your refrigerator? - Actually, it's quite easy for me to stay away from the refridgerator. The last time I opened it, whatever is living in there told me to turn out the light.
• Lower payments, hematin crystals - First our currency changes to pebbles, then hematin crystals? What is a hematin crystal, anyway?
• Keep Sweden tidy, shoot a tourist - I'm pretty sure there's a law against that.
• oscillotro 2504 - Sounds like something that's only 4 payments of $29.99, and will fix my dinner for me. Or something like that.
• RE: 25 - I always thought it was 42...
  

Now, that doesn't include all the emails telling me how to get "lowe$t pr1ces on druug$", or links for "hot poorn". Although this week, for some reason the ol' spam folder is full of emails telling me how I can find "young bonnie lasses". Why the rash of Scottish porn? I don't care about the lasses anyway. I plea the Fifth on the sheep...