Thoughts on the Journey

This morning I was again woken by a hopeful phone call from a school, this time on the east coast. I will find something. Also moving is proceeding forward as my bank account goes down due to bills but I'll figure it out. The heat finally broke here as a major thunderstorm swept through and then left the sky looking beautiful.

( Clouds )

Its raining outside and more bad news is coming out of Boston. Following along with what Ashie did, I'm sharing some cute as I open myself up to prompts. Big images under the cut of cute animals from the Detroit Zoo.

( Lazy lioness and an arctic fox )

Leave me prompts here and I'll do my best to answer them with some one or two sentence fics.

Also I'd like to offer up a suggestion of a theme for fic today of comfort or togetherness, because damn it, the world may be awful but people are wonderful.

Today I went to the Detroit Zoo and had what felt like a true day off for the first time in a long time. I don't know why it made such a difference to go someplace versus spending my time in cafes, but it did. This was the second day of the Fall Festival at the zoo, which meant some more children's activities and a hayride passing by at times. What I enjoyed far more was wandering along the zoo paths, pointing out to parents and kids where animals were and just being for a little while.

I took a few pictures but I think some of my favorite moments were when I gave up on pictures. There's a huge butterfly garden and I kept trying to get a picture of blue morphos but they'd go around me and whenever they alit would hide their blue. I have pictures with these pieces of blue in them but no clear one and I don't care. Watching them fly made me incredibly happy. There's a habitat with just penguins and I kept trying to get a picture of a swimming penguin and I have its profile as it zooms by, but again I don't mind. Since the weather's been going grey and rainy, there were points when I got rained on, but again I didn't really mind. By about three thirty my feet hurt a lot, but it was a great day. I think there's something about going to a place that's set apart, a zoo, a museum, a botanical garden that provides a different sort of rest. I'm so glad that I did it.

I've also been doing more writing, I just posted a little fic that I wrote and I have many ideas. I just finished watching the latest episode of Once Upon a Time and they seem to be following through with a lot of what they set up. It makes me hopeful, because its a world with a lot of possibility. Tomorrow when I go to school, I'll be bringing with me a sandwich and a banana, a far more proper lunch than what I've been eating before. Life is feeling more hopeful. I know I have time before I move into my own space but it exists and where I am now feels more like mine.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Let's turn our attention to the word "mortar." I
propose that we use it to point out three influences you could benefit
from calling on. Here are the definitions of "mortar": 1. a kind of cannon;
2. the plaster employed for binding bricks together; 3. a bowl where
healing herbs are ground into powder. Now please meditate, Gemini, on
anything you could do that might: 1. deflect your adversaries; 2. cement
new unions; 3. make a container -- in other words, create a specific time
and place -- where you will work on a cure for your suffering.

This feels apt for me at the moment as I'm trying to make sense of where I go from where I came and where I'm going. Mortar and building are strong ways of moving ahead, while keeping myself solid and sure. I don't know what the shape of that will be, but I'll figure it out.

The moving stuff yesterday worked out. I plan on doing a longer picture post of my boxes at the stages of their journey. One thing I did yesterday was upload many pictures from my camera, the earliest were from this spring. Those will be shared in posts as I have the energy for them. Also my car needs to get its oil changed, not a big deal but something to be done.

My list has changed in good ways as I discovered that I don't have to pay comcast any money, I know where my stuff is and I can start being more serious in my volunteer stuff at the local library. Yet other things are there, my ineedmyfics story is going slowly and I need to find a time to just write it for a couple of hours.

Also while roleplaying is full of wonderful stuff, there are also various things that just aren't as fun. I've been doing so many things for moving that have left me tired that I think now stuff is more settled, I'll find my groove again, at the moment though I'm around just quiet. There are some great OOMs and threads and ideas happening, but I've also learned for myself that I need to play to have fun. That's the entire idea. So that's why I'm not in chat as much or doing as many EPs, I'm trying to do what fills my days happily. This is rather rambly but I want everyone to know that I'm reading and hope to do more in games, but if I seem quiet or tired or jumpy, its not you, just lots of life for me. Another edit as listening and talking has made this issue seem less of an issue. Milliways has good people in it and I'm lucky to have them all in my life. Thank you all for being so generous to me.

One other good thing I forgot is connected to RP and creativity. Yesterday after all the stuff shifting, and a nice lunch with my parents, I wandered into a wonderful newish used bookstore in Lewes. There I found for 10 dollars, a 1958 edition of The Once and Future King, this is one of my favorite books, I love his incredibly human take on Arthur and his story.

Also this edition looks quite a lot like the one used in X2 and is according to Marvel, one of Charles' favorite books. I've been wanting to reread it and my paperback copy is in a box somewhere. I love those odd moments when fandom and normal life intersect.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Santa Cruz there used to be a nightclub that
featured live rock bands on a big stage but enforced a strict policy
forbidding its patrons from dancing. The one time I went there, the music
was loud and infectious, and I naturally felt the urge to move in vigorous
rhythm. Moments after I launched into my groove, a bouncer accosted me
and forced me to stop. I think this situation has certain resemblances to
the one you're in now, Gemini. Some natural response mechanism in you is
being unduly inhibited; some organic inclination is being unreasonably
restrained or dampened. Why should you continue to accept this?

Once again Unce Rob is incredibly on the nose. I feel like I spent most of yesterday having to find ways to say things, so people wouldn't be angry while I was worn out and a mess.

Other than the job stuff, most of what's been going on with me is working to make lots of things fall into line. I was woken this morning with a question about my healthcare that I'm signing up for and I don't know the best way to contact the government to say, I can't afford to pay back my loans yet. And my well meaning parents are poking me about it which makes me fret. If we were RPing or anything yesterday especially after about 5:30 pm, I was so quiet because I was working to find my balance again. Today I've been working on healing myself and giving myself permission to go, the interaction I had was horrible. My supervisor looked over the transcript and said I did the right thing and she's sorry I had to go through it.

I spent a huge part of today wandering around Barnes and Noble and finally ended up buying The Goat Rodeo Sessions by some of my favorite artists. For dinner I'll have another tasty night of leftover tamale pie. Next time I make it, I think I'll use tomato paste or sauce instead of just diced tomatoes, it will stick together better.

In other things I'm proud of, I made a gorgeous collage of Flat Stanley pictures for my niece that I'm going to send. It's more than a month later and I hope that's okay. Things are getting better and by this time next week, I'll be on the East Coast with my family and for that I'm incredibly grateful. Soon I'll be putting up a post to collect addresses as I'll be making and sending out holiday cards and maybe writing some fic gifts. I haven't decided on the second one yet, but I probably will as I love writing gifts.

I just got off the phone and finally have my wireless connection set up, which is a relief. I had to call Linksys since apparently I have to do clone thing for my Mac and had to pay them some money, but its set. Also it was that weird feeling of I've set up a lot of wifis and fixed my parents so I know a lot of the basic steps and I think the tech lady appreciated that she didn't have to explain a lot. I wouldn't have known to do that but I think my mother mentioned having to do the same when she got her new laptop as well. Honestly calling Apple probably would have been simpler as I have AppleCare but I'm not used to thinking about the fact that I have a computer company that will help. Either way, my apartment is now wifi ready again.

Oh and I found out that one of my debit cards' numbers has been stolen again. It sounds like from the fraud guy that there has been an uptick in this happening in general as thieves are stealing from merchants which is hard to protect against. Its annoying but the banks I work with have been very good at getting me reimbursed and a new card, which is good as I had a scare of thinking I'd overdrafted today.

Today I also started reading a book that so many other people on my flist will love-historical cross dressing, world exploration, botany, science, gender roles and tall ships. Its called The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe and the writing is fantastic which is a nice bonus as the history itself is fascinating. bookelfe, this is right around your sweet spot and one reason I have it is because I'm trying to read more nonfiction as inspired by you. So at the Borders' going out of business' sale I got myself a pile of interesting nonfiction, this is one of them.

Since this is all rather serious and I'm feeling a little jittery, I think I'm going to finish this post with some beautiful pictures that I've taken lately.



This was the beautiful place where the reception of my brother's wedding was held.

( Grapes and Butterflies )

This morning I woke up and walked through the rain to figure how I'll be helping at a book festival, the Show Me a Story part. I ended up volunteering to help organize when I was expecting to just be there, which is exciting and slightly terrifying all at once.

Apparently when I'm talking about storytelling, I sound quite knowledgeable and competent, I need to remember this for interviews. Also it got me thinking about the Wall Street Journal article and the role books and reading play in growing up and understanding the world. I'm working on finding my way to connect my frustration at the article's view to my own desire to create safe and open spaces for young people to flourish and hopefully learn to love reading.

After that I came home and spent most of the day not feeling awake until I ventured out again to peer at the Green Festival in town, Ann Arbor has many hippies. Then I just read Cleopatra for almost an hour, I love this book, it reminds me why I love the Classics. Everything connects together, if you know about Alexander then you understand more about Cleopatra while if know you about Rome, you can see why certain things happened. I think I might need to go and wander around the Kelsey Museum again so I can be close to some ancient Greek and Latin.

On my way home I decided to take pictures, mainly art shots as rain on leaves is pretty. Those pictures aren't uploaded, but I have some art shots that I haven't already posted so I will share them. Fair warning as always that there are lots of big pictures under the cut.


This is the interior of the Michigan theater and I love how this shot turned out. It doesn't do the building justice but its close.

( Look sideways at the world. )

My main goal when driving today was to pick up the birthday package that my parents sent me which had been left at the main post office. Usually the postal workers just rest parcels outside but apparently we have a new person so off to the office I went. Now I had never been to this post office before as there's one I can walk to so that meant I got lost in Ann Arbor. Not terribly lost just turned around as it was tricky to see where to turn and the post office wasn't well labeled. I finally found it and now have a package to open next Wednesday on my birthday.

After that I went looking for lunch and pulled into this shopping area parking lot and the Zingerman's Roadhouse where a farmer's market was going on. Today was actually the first day and this was a brand new market, which meant wonderful treats. My lunch was a chili hot dog from Zingerman's, I bought some fresh spearmint to make homemade mint tea with and some local chicken wings to eat soon.

I had an amazing ten minute chair massage that felt much longer and I think I might go back to these people for a proper massage around my birthday, the prices are good and they're within walking distance. The woman who massaged me asked great questions and listened to me, she really picked up on how tense I've been. My favorite part of farmer's markets is the conversations and I kept getting into them at this one. I will definitely be back.

Now I just uploaded so many pictures as I have this habit of not emptying my camera until its got around a hundred pictures in it. I don't know why, I think its a leftover from when I had a film camera and wanting to make it worthwhile when I put things online. What that means is that I have lots of pictures of flowers, animals, buildings and my new haircut to share. In this post, I'm going to just do a few of my favorites and then try and put the others into slightly organized posts.


My summer haircut, I like it but think it will look even better when it grows out a bit. The lighting's odd since I'm in my hallway but this is the best picture for seeing the full effect.

( Spring and Winter and I take too many pictures. )

I think that's enough pictures for now. More will come later.

Things are as done as they're going to be and I've decided to stop twisting myself in knots over this work. I did everything I could think of for the programming homework and then sent an apologetic email with my code. I feel like an idiot but its the first assignment and I'll do better on the next one and I just needed to stop.

In the end, I didn't quite finish all my reading and trying to print all of it out for my seminar made me yell at my printer which wasn't healthy. So I'll set up my big computer in class to reference the reading even though I don't like doing that.

Thus this entry is going to be full of pictures, my art shots as requested by the poll. Thank you all for putting up with me trying to get through this busy weekend here and on Twitter, I just hate feeling like I'm missing something.



This was taken through a window at my parents place, it was cold and snowy outside but the sky amazed me.

( I find solace in beauty. )

Now I'm going to make some tea and toast, maybe add some bourbon to the tea and try and not feel too stressed.

I've finished my first week back, its a half week, which is nice. The only class I've had so far was my database class and I think I'm going to really like it. First off, its taught by a woman who says that she loves to teach and this is her only class she teaches this semester. So I know she's there to really help and this is the second time she's taught the course so some of the kinks have been worked out. We learned about relational algebra and it actually kind of made sense to me.

Then I worked two reference shifts and one day at America Reads where I've done a lot of the non-fiction books. Its odd my week is going to be late days until Thursday then two early mornings at the end of the week.

I know I need to stop mentioning my cards and just send them, but I want to say that I loved all the cards I found. I'm not sure I can list them all off but you will all get cards among others. I'm a fan of mail whenever it arrives.

Now I'm going to do another round of the question meme from in_the_blue and later I might write an entry about steampunk. I won some books from Tor.com and they've been fascinating, but that's another entry.

I love this question meme since every time, I end up thinking about something from a slightly different angle.

→ Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
→ I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
→ Update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
→ Include this explanation.
→ Ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

1. If you had to pick just one of your RP characters and drop all the rest, which would you keep? (I know, it's the Sophie's Choice of RP questions.)
This one is simpler than I expected. It would be Will Scarlett and if I got to keep a canon and original, Will and Tiwa. They're the two characters who I've really filled out their worlds and know even when they're quiet, they make me happy and inspire me.

2. What's one piece of portable electronic equipment you never leave home without?
I'm rather boring, just my plain cellphone, not even a smart one. If I'm driving, I always have my iPod for good music.

3. Makeup: yes or no?
Yes, sometimes. I'll wear lipstick or lip gloss but that's about it. I like an excuse to get dressed up but even then I might just add some eye shadow.

4. All-time favorite band/musical artist?
Now this one is really hard, I love so much stuff. I think I'm going to say The Dubliners, no matter my mood, they always bring me up. I was able to see them live in Dublin and it still is my bar for live music.

5. What kind of non-computer artistic pursuits do you engage in?
I cook and bake. I love taking photographs and lately have been doing more with them. My father's last two presents were pictures I took and printed out. My holiday cards are based around a photo I took. My birthday present this year was a tiny canon powershot that lives in my bag so I can take photographs whenever I'm inspired. That was a habit I got into during my semester abroad in Athens, always have my camera. For a while, my camera was just too big and wasn't able to. I used to do theater and dance and really want to get back into them. Performance is one of those things that just makes me so happy, but I need a community for it. In college, I did LARPs and some theater stuff and I just miss getting on a stage and dancing or learning.