I'm working in a fog this morning. I have my multitude of tasks vying for attention in my brain.
"Me next!"
"No, me first!"
"Don't do that!"
"I'm the priority"
And I have a headache.
I haven't read any blogs in weeks. Bloglines is showing that I have 1549 unread posts.
I have two 800-word articles to write that are past due. I was given a short deadline; they're not for my magazine, I'm not getting paid for them, and I haven't written anything that substantial in a long time. Yes, I'm procrastinating.
On Sunday kcprogrammer came with me to help my paternal grandmother move into her new place. We began at 7a.m. and had moved two loads in an hour and a half. But the work wasn't over. We then went to my maternal grandmother's house to assist my mom in sorting through the last of the items and putting them into a U-Haul truck bound for a storage unit. Kcprogrammer got an excellent chance to see how the two sides of my family operate very differently.
I don't know how it happened but the sale of both houses is today.
That's it from me for now. Toodles.
- theCallowQueen
- In the down-hill tumble of life, I'm okay with the scratches and bruises; it's the broken bones that I'm trying to avoid.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
back and busy
I'm back from the Windy City. Had a great time. And most of my favorite magazine friends were there in all of their award-winning glory.
My bed was ridiculously hard. I mean really hard. So hard that it wasn't just me complaining. One person was moved to a different room and wasn't charged for his uncomfortable night. Others just complained. For me in the end, they put a thick feather bed down, and with six pillows around me, I was able to sleep just fine.
On Saturday night I got an amazing chance to see Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. It was one of the best performances that I have ever seen. It had a story line that I think I almost was able to understand. And that's only because they threw in a bit of English. OK, I just read a little more about the story line for Corteo. I need to downgrade my estimation of how much I understood. I got the funeral part and the procession. But I completely didn't catch on that he was a clown!
My bed was ridiculously hard. I mean really hard. So hard that it wasn't just me complaining. One person was moved to a different room and wasn't charged for his uncomfortable night. Others just complained. For me in the end, they put a thick feather bed down, and with six pillows around me, I was able to sleep just fine.
On Saturday night I got an amazing chance to see Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. It was one of the best performances that I have ever seen. It had a story line that I think I almost was able to understand. And that's only because they threw in a bit of English. OK, I just read a little more about the story line for Corteo. I need to downgrade my estimation of how much I understood. I got the funeral part and the procession. But I completely didn't catch on that he was a clown!
Monday, July 17, 2006
time flies
I leave for Chicago in two days. There is so much to get done before then. I have a running mental list (and am sure to forget half of its contents).
One thing I didn't forget this morning was finding my flight itinerary so that I could send it to kcprogrammer. He had kindly volunteered to take his girlfriend to the airport for her flight on Wednesday morning. Except when I looked to check the exact time, this is what I saw: 7:05PM. Shite.
kcprogrammer even had to read it a second time before he notice the error. Now what?
My choices:
So, I'm feeling understandably brilliant this morning.
One thing I didn't forget this morning was finding my flight itinerary so that I could send it to kcprogrammer. He had kindly volunteered to take his girlfriend to the airport for her flight on Wednesday morning. Except when I looked to check the exact time, this is what I saw: 7:05PM. Shite.
kcprogrammer even had to read it a second time before he notice the error. Now what?
My choices:
- Fly out at 7:05pm and miss out on a reception where I'd meet the other scholarship winners, the organizations board members and staff, and conference speakers. There was even a chance that I could go to the national board meeting and talk about my chapter's blog. And I was going to try to fit in a wee bit of sightseeing.
- Pay $151 to change my flight to 7:40am. Um, no.
- Fly standby and risk the boredom of a day spent at KCI and the chance that my butt could still be on that 7pm flight.
- Call three hours in advance of the flight I want to get advance standby. Confirmation price: $25. First flight out (and probably the most likely to have open seats): 6:20am. Three hour call ahead time: 3:20am. Ugh.
So, I'm feeling understandably brilliant this morning.
Monday, July 10, 2006
a day's difference
OK, so Thursday kinda sucked. Friday in contrast was great.
The family stuff calmed down a bit.
At work, we met with a new hire who's going to be taking over a nice chunk of our web duties. I am so happy. I was about to drown with rolling out three newsletters a week along with my regular duties. And then I found out that it was my day to take summer hours (and leave work at 1pm). I owe my thanks to the editor who took care of a task for me that afternoon. And before I left, our company fed us free pizza.
And it was my nine-month anniversary with kcprogrammer. Cheesy, maybe, but it makes me happy. He brought me some gorgeous roses and treated me to a lovely dinner. And the weather was good, so we walked to Blockbuster.
The family stuff calmed down a bit.
At work, we met with a new hire who's going to be taking over a nice chunk of our web duties. I am so happy. I was about to drown with rolling out three newsletters a week along with my regular duties. And then I found out that it was my day to take summer hours (and leave work at 1pm). I owe my thanks to the editor who took care of a task for me that afternoon. And before I left, our company fed us free pizza.
And it was my nine-month anniversary with kcprogrammer. Cheesy, maybe, but it makes me happy. He brought me some gorgeous roses and treated me to a lovely dinner. And the weather was good, so we walked to Blockbuster.
Friday, July 07, 2006
family wear and tear
It's been a busy week.
I worked 11 straight hours yesterday. My very empty stomach was grateful for the Maui Express my roomie and YellowDancer picked up for me.
I also got a troubling email from my uncle and a call from my mom. It's stuff about my grandma and the sale of her house. But what I think it's really about is power. There's a tug of war for control right now in my family. And I'm sad. Everyone is acting how each thinks is best. But the ideas of "best" counter each other and create friction.
I've been thinking about family a lot lately.
One of the morning shows on the radio was talking about a dating website that is targeted at married people. The host was basically talking about how cool of an idea it was and how he'd love to get with a rich, married woman. And my heart hurt.
My roomie and I watched an episode of Bridezillas the other night. The show followed two brides as they prepared for their weddings. Now the show works hard to cherry pick the craziest of the crazy for the best emotional explosions, but I think these women offer magnified views of our culture's warped sense of weddings and married life. And I'm including both Christians and secularists into this culture, so don't think you're exempt for some reason. We're all warped.
Even if we try not to be, we're still affected by consumer culture. We're hungry for more, for what's different than what we currently have, for what's more expensive than what the person next to you has, for what "better," for more power, for power over others.
And it subtly seeps in to our decisions. We may be able to explain or support our positions without reference to our inner greed, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. And the more we ignore it, the more we hide the true source of our actions, the more difficult we make it to align our goals with others.
I worked 11 straight hours yesterday. My very empty stomach was grateful for the Maui Express my roomie and YellowDancer picked up for me.
I also got a troubling email from my uncle and a call from my mom. It's stuff about my grandma and the sale of her house. But what I think it's really about is power. There's a tug of war for control right now in my family. And I'm sad. Everyone is acting how each thinks is best. But the ideas of "best" counter each other and create friction.
I've been thinking about family a lot lately.
One of the morning shows on the radio was talking about a dating website that is targeted at married people. The host was basically talking about how cool of an idea it was and how he'd love to get with a rich, married woman. And my heart hurt.
My roomie and I watched an episode of Bridezillas the other night. The show followed two brides as they prepared for their weddings. Now the show works hard to cherry pick the craziest of the crazy for the best emotional explosions, but I think these women offer magnified views of our culture's warped sense of weddings and married life. And I'm including both Christians and secularists into this culture, so don't think you're exempt for some reason. We're all warped.
Even if we try not to be, we're still affected by consumer culture. We're hungry for more, for what's different than what we currently have, for what's more expensive than what the person next to you has, for what "better," for more power, for power over others.
And it subtly seeps in to our decisions. We may be able to explain or support our positions without reference to our inner greed, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. And the more we ignore it, the more we hide the true source of our actions, the more difficult we make it to align our goals with others.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
i smell swimmingly
Things may not be going swimmingly right now, as I am about to drown in the work before me. But I do smell like chlorine. It's amazing how that can linger on the skin and in hair.
Anyway, if someone with CPR certification would please stand by...
Anyway, if someone with CPR certification would please stand by...
bashing fox 4 news
Not that it's hard to find reason to criticize WDAF-TV, but I really didn't understand just how horrible the reporting is. Two recent Fox 4 stories were riddled with errors. I have two people close to me who knew the real facts involved. The inaccuracies in both these stories are so numerous that there is no element of news left. It's storytelling. It's filling news space—of which Fox 4 has a lot to fill.
And I know that the Fox 4 team is working on a tight budget. And I know that they have to spit out news lightning fast. But really, people, you need to actually check your facts. Just because one kid tells you something doesn't make it news. Did you ask anyone else what happened? Did you contact the company for an official response? Did you actually see the police report or talk to the government official? Did you bother to recheck your facts before running an update news piece. No? No. And it's the viewers who are being misled.
This morning I caught a piece where a Fox 4 reporter was standing outside some education building in Kansas City, Mo. Now this "on location" shoot gives the report an air of more credibility to the TV audience, it has nothing to do with her gathering the facts of the story. She had no actual reason to be standing there. She hadn't interviewed anyone on the school board about the new superintendent. She hadn't gone there to receive any information first hand. The news she reported came from no work on her part, or on the part of Fox 4. She merely reported "according to The Kansas City Star."
On the TV show, "How I Met Your Mother," there's a scene where two of the characters make fun of a morning show host who actually reads the morning paper to his audience. Maybe Fox 4 should actually think of doing this. Doing so may put their audience to sleep, but at least the fiction can return to its proper home: the stuff of dreams and nightmares.
And I know that the Fox 4 team is working on a tight budget. And I know that they have to spit out news lightning fast. But really, people, you need to actually check your facts. Just because one kid tells you something doesn't make it news. Did you ask anyone else what happened? Did you contact the company for an official response? Did you actually see the police report or talk to the government official? Did you bother to recheck your facts before running an update news piece. No? No. And it's the viewers who are being misled.
This morning I caught a piece where a Fox 4 reporter was standing outside some education building in Kansas City, Mo. Now this "on location" shoot gives the report an air of more credibility to the TV audience, it has nothing to do with her gathering the facts of the story. She had no actual reason to be standing there. She hadn't interviewed anyone on the school board about the new superintendent. She hadn't gone there to receive any information first hand. The news she reported came from no work on her part, or on the part of Fox 4. She merely reported "according to The Kansas City Star."
On the TV show, "How I Met Your Mother," there's a scene where two of the characters make fun of a morning show host who actually reads the morning paper to his audience. Maybe Fox 4 should actually think of doing this. Doing so may put their audience to sleep, but at least the fiction can return to its proper home: the stuff of dreams and nightmares.
Monday, June 26, 2006
up, down, all around
I wanted to make a post for you all. I wanted to give you a little glimpse into my busy life and offer an excuse as to my infrequent posting and the lengthening lapse of time between the time I see or talk with many of you.
But when I tried to do so, all my little activities seemed quite boring. Now if one is not busy, one looks lazy. And a lazy person who does nothing should be a boring person. But I think it's really the busy person who's boring because he or she is rushing through a sea of tasks, chores, and have-tos.
There's a saying about keeping always busy so that the devil will find you always engaged. But if the devil can't find an entry point into your life, neither will anyone else. When one becomes busy, the larger world becomes hidden.
I've been thinking about that drive to do more, accomplish more, achieve more lately. This morning I came across the following quote. Maybe this one struck me because kcprogrammer and I watched "Click" last night, bringing out thoughts about the family-work balance.
Side note: At first, I found the moral lesson of putting family first in "Click" kind of odd. This was an Adam Sandler comedy. Then I thought back to some of his other movies. Many of them share a common theme of a guy who's off track or who doesn't understand what his life needs or is missing. I'm still trying to decide if this disturbs me.
And it has me thinking about the "lessons" taught to us through other comedies. Maybe I'll wait to make my decision until I see what Jack Black tries teach me about life in "Nacho Libre."
But when I tried to do so, all my little activities seemed quite boring. Now if one is not busy, one looks lazy. And a lazy person who does nothing should be a boring person. But I think it's really the busy person who's boring because he or she is rushing through a sea of tasks, chores, and have-tos.
There's a saying about keeping always busy so that the devil will find you always engaged. But if the devil can't find an entry point into your life, neither will anyone else. When one becomes busy, the larger world becomes hidden.
I've been thinking about that drive to do more, accomplish more, achieve more lately. This morning I came across the following quote. Maybe this one struck me because kcprogrammer and I watched "Click" last night, bringing out thoughts about the family-work balance.
People are so busy dreaming the American Dream, fantasizing about what they could be or have a right to be, that they’re all asleep at the switch. Consequently we are living in the Age of Human Error.
—Florence King
Side note: At first, I found the moral lesson of putting family first in "Click" kind of odd. This was an Adam Sandler comedy. Then I thought back to some of his other movies. Many of them share a common theme of a guy who's off track or who doesn't understand what his life needs or is missing. I'm still trying to decide if this disturbs me.
And it has me thinking about the "lessons" taught to us through other comedies. Maybe I'll wait to make my decision until I see what Jack Black tries teach me about life in "Nacho Libre."
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
back from beantown
Well after the last post, I realized that some of you might think that something bad happened while I was away. No, the trip to Boston was good. I'm good. Most things in my life are good.
But there is always the thorn. Such a little thing a thorn. But such pain it can cause. Why is it that one flaw can draw one's attention away from the otherwise beautiful state of a thing?
I know my eye is drawn away from the good and to the problem spots. I know I waste my time worrying over the little bad and cheat myself of enjoying all the good.
OK, back to focusing on the good. The weather was fine in Boston last week. I roamed around the city, mostly on foot, and spent two days in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. And I ate lots of yummy food, though kcprogrammer and I agree that the baked beans really aren't deserving of their fame.
I'm working on a freelance project right now. But when I have some time, I'll post pictures from the trip.
But there is always the thorn. Such a little thing a thorn. But such pain it can cause. Why is it that one flaw can draw one's attention away from the otherwise beautiful state of a thing?
I know my eye is drawn away from the good and to the problem spots. I know I waste my time worrying over the little bad and cheat myself of enjoying all the good.
OK, back to focusing on the good. The weather was fine in Boston last week. I roamed around the city, mostly on foot, and spent two days in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. And I ate lots of yummy food, though kcprogrammer and I agree that the baked beans really aren't deserving of their fame.
I'm working on a freelance project right now. But when I have some time, I'll post pictures from the trip.
quote
Life improves slowly and goes wrong fast, and only catastrophe is clearly visible.
—Edward Teller
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