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April 29, 2006
Remember WENN
There used to be a TV show set in the thirties or forties about a radio station. I can't, for the life of me, remember what it was called.
Remember WENN - from 1996-1998 on AMC. Cast:
Tom Beckett
C.J. Byrnes
Carolee Carmello
George Hall
Margaret Hall
John Bedford Lloyd
Melinda Mullins
Christopher Murney (as Mackie Bloom)
Amanda Naughton
Hugh O'Gorman
Kevin O'Rourke
Dina Spybey
Mary Stout
Posted by Da Goddess at 09:54 AM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2006
Eye Spy
Little Dude loves being the center of attention. To a point. When the butterfly was about to walk across his eye, it was time to remove the critter. We carefully and slowly encouraged the Blue Morpho to hang out on my finger, while LD giggled breathlessly.
"I can't believe how close he got, Mom! That was so cool!"
Shortly thereafter, another butterfly landed on him, this time on his hand. I was also the recipient of butterfly love and had several lounge away on my shirt, my pants, my head, and my finger. Obviously we'd found the sweet spot for butterfly encounters.
The most interesting aspect of the day, at least on a sociological level, was the ratio of boys to girls who were thrilled at the prospect of interacting with the butterflies. Most girls didn't have the patience to wait for the fluttering creatures to find them. On the other hand, the boys would become very still, eyes darting about, and whispering, "did one land on my head?" More often than not, the parents of the boys were overheard saying "son, can we go now?" The boys would always answer, "not yet! The butterflies haven't come to see me. I want to hold a butterfly!"
I don't believe it was a boy/bug thing that I witnessed as much as it was a bunch of young men realizing the wonder of connecting with creatures so delicate and lovely. I've seen this happen for years now and it never ceases to amaze me. Of course, the moment my daughter had a butterfly settle upon her shoulder last year, she was mesmerized. Until that point, though, she had done her best "I'm almost a teenager and I'm bored" impression. Sadly, she wasn't with us this year.
As I was editing photos over the last couple days, my son repeatedly asked to see the images of the butterflies. More than once, he proclaimed his encounter with the butterflies "the greatest time of my whole life!" Of course, that will likely be forgotten the moment he meets a Clone Trooper or some ace pilot. But for now, I'm treasuring his delight in butterflies.
Posted by Da Goddess at 01:14 AM | Comments (8)
April 23, 2006
Christos Anesti!
Orthodox Easter has come again and we find ourselves celebrating the resurrection of Christ from death.
One of the aspects I've always enjoyed most is the part of the day when the story of Christ's resurrection is related in many languages. To hear the many voices and different words all sharing the same news is quite powerful and moving. (Acts 2:4,6,8,11: "They begun to speak other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak", "and the crowd was excited because each heard them speaking in his own native language.")
To those who aren't familiar with the Orthodox Holy Pascha, there is a wealth of information available at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.
Or...
"The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox" is identical for both Western and Orthodox Easters, but the churches base the dates on different calendars: Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar.That much is straightforward. But actually calculating these dates involves a bewildering array of ecclesiastical moons and paschal full moons, the astronomical equinox, and the fixed equinox — and that's in addition to the two different calendar systems.
The two churches vary on the definition of the vernal equinox and the full moon. The Eastern Church sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The Eastern Orthodox Church also applies the formula so that Easter always falls after Passover, since the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
Regardless of which Easter you recognize, I will leave you with this:
Christos anesti ek nekron,
Thanato thanaton patisas,
Kai tis en tis mnimasi
Zo-in charisamenos!
(Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!)
Christos anesti!
Posted by Da Goddess at 06:53 PM | Comments (1)
April 21, 2006
Scribble Scrabble
Like Scrabble? There's a fun version of it online called Scribble.
You play against the entire Internet - or those who KNOW about the game. You can only play one word before you have to leave the game and move on to the next game. Hopefully someone else is playing, too, and enters new words behind you. If that happens, you get to go back to a previous game and enter a new one.
Sound confusing? It's really not. Go see for yourself.
Posted by Da Goddess at 01:54 AM | Comments (3)
April 19, 2006
Koza No More
Last November, the Wild Animal Park had exciting news for Zoological Society members: a lion cub was welcomed into the world. Not just any cub - an African lion cub born in captivity. African lions are considered vulnerable and aren't really able to live outside of preserves or parks in Africa.
Fewer than 100 African lions live in an aging population of zoo animals throughout the nation. Koza, one of only 15 born in a United States zoo or animal park this past year...
Little Koza's birth in November signaled a milestone for lions. And he became a familiar face as folks watched him grow.
On Monday, Koza was mauled by one of the adult female lions. The lioness, Mina, was not Koza's mother.
There were three significant injuries sustained by the cub, at least one of which damaged Koza's spinal cord. After hours of post-injury treatment, the decision was made to euthanize the young lion.
Human error was reported as the reason the cub and the lioness made contact.
RIP, Koza. You will be missed.
Posted by Da Goddess at 10:51 PM | Comments (1)
April 17, 2006
Be Very, Very Proud of Me - Or Something
I did my own taxes this year. Sadly, it cost me more money to do it that way than it did to have my tax guy do them, but his office was closed today and I missed my appointment back in March. I had to do this all on my own.
Okay, so maybe I had a little help from Greg Z., Super Accountant and Attorney to Da Goddess. Ironically, my state refund will just about cover my phone bill on that one.
The Federal refund? Oh, holy moly! Because I earned so very little -having worked only three weeks last year before my injury - and I get to claim Little Dude this time around, I get a very nice refund. And that's a good thing. I need it to fix my ailing car.
That's right, I didn't blog about my car adventures last week, did I? After my third doctor appointment of the week, I was on my way home when the car began to slow. A lot. And then, it started shaking a little. More than usual. After that, lights started coming on all over the place, including the radiator light. And I believed it. I'd been stuck in traffic and watched the thermostat creep up and up and up. I pulled off to the side of the road, called AAA, and waited.
I was going to take the car to a repair shop but there wasn't anyone available to drive me home. Instead, I had the tow truck driver bring me and the One-Eyed One-Horned (get it - one horn?) Rattling Purple People Seater back home. I waited until someone could come look at the thing (someone other than Mr. Handy Dustman, which they did, and the recently flushed and filled cooling system was very much in need of fluid. Sheesh!
There's a ton of work that still needs to be done, cuz I can't afford to keep going through fuel the way I have been, nor can I afford to keep dumping oil in to the extent that I have. My Federal Refund will help to make my car last a little longer, and really, that's all I ask.
Plus, it'll keep my new landlord off my ass for a couple months. Yeah, another secret I've been keeping from you. I have a new landlord. Said landlord just bought the condo from former Awesome Landlord, but is nothing like the former Awesome Landlord. Instead of being able to split my rent up into two payments, new landlord wants everything right. now. damnit.
See? This is why I don't update as much as I could/should. You don't want the never ending sob story, do you? Of course not! I have to sneak it in.
So now that you know of all the latest news, I'm heading off to file my nails and deflea my dinosaur.
Hope your tax day was fun!
Posted by Da Goddess at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
Unfulfilled
I did something today that I haven't done since July of last year, just before I had surgery. I was actually looking forward to it. Eager anticipation and all that. I was so excited about the entire thing that I had even begun to fantasize about it.
Sadly, the end results were not as I had dreamed. The satisfaction I'd been hoping for was utterly absent.
I'm now contemplating fulfulling my needs elsewhere. But I don't look forward to the expense, be it large or small. The expense, that is. And, I worry that I'll end up disappointed again.
A bad haircut can really mess with your head - in more ways than one.
Posted by Da Goddess at 10:19 PM | Comments (7)
April 04, 2006
Sure, I'm Late to the Party, But I'm Here, Right?
From my illustrious leader over at BC:
This coming Wednesday at 2 minutes and 3 seconds after 1 in the morning, it will be:
This will never occur again in our lifetime.
I'm sure everyone's already blogged it but it's freakin' news to me.
Posted by Da Goddess at 09:29 AM | Comments (6)
April 03, 2006
Life is Stranger Than You Think - Reflections on Life and Death
Saturday was a really nice day. Despite my back hurting (and basically flattening me for two weeks), I was very excited about what was a fantastic afternoon and evening.
CalTech Girl and her husband showed up around 1 p.m. and took me out to lunch. What an awesome couple! So enjoyable, so funny, so smart, and just...well, everything I'd imagined them to be and more. I had no idea just how down-to-earth they were.
After lunch, we had to take care of a little shopping. From Target to Best Buy, we got what we needed and headed off to a "We're So Glad You're Not Dead" party for Mikey. That wasn't the official title, but that's what it really was. That, and a "Lucky Duck" extravaganza. (Pics to follow at some point, if I can manage it.)
The evening was fantastic. From Mikey's reaction to the duck theme (ICU psychosis/hallucinations) to the many friends and family who showed up, from the gifts to the laughter, it was truly heartwarming. As many know, my friend has made a remarkable comeback following his coma. He's still dealing with rehab and such, but he's working hard and making wonderful progress.
Following the party, CTG and hub dropped me off at home and I tried to get a little sleep. The Vicodin had kicked in at this point and I dozed off for a few hours. Around 4 a.m., I woke up feeling very strange. Not sick, just strange.
I was supposed to see Mrs. Smash's play yesterday afternoon and take some photos for her, but we rescheduled since the cast had other things happening. That worked out just fine for everyone.
By 2 p.m., I was weepy and feeling completely out of sorts for some reason. Something still wasn't right and I didn't know what it was. I finally went to bed. Upon awakening, I found out via email that one of the local musicians (one with whom I had much wonderful correspondence and occasional contact) had died. Time of death? 2:38 p.m.
Call it a coincidence or whatever you want, that's how it went down.
I've written his obit, made many phone calls, and have shed a tear or two. Mostly, I spent the evening and this morning thinking of the many ways he touched my life.
I began to compare his fate with that of Mikey. For a moment I felt guilty that I'd been celebrating Mikey's recovery while this other dear man was hours from death. But there's no way I could have known. And there's no exchange of life in God's book that I've ever heard tell of. The one thing that I know for certain is that we cannot spend our lives waiting for the other shoe to drop. In doing so, we lose sight of all that brings meaning to our lives. Unable to enjoy the music and the poetry and the breathtaking beauty of all that surrounds us, we fail to fulfill our potential as humans.
I'm grateful that Mikey is alive. And, I'm grateful for my friends and family. I'm saddened by Buddy's death. But, I'm also really grateful for a year of laughter and insight from a man who had thought me worthy of his time. Trust me when I say he didn't expend that sort of energy on everyone. But I was fortunate enough to benefit from my "sort of" mentor. I'll miss him much and I will remember him as I go about the business of living.
Mikey and Buddy - two different medical outcomes - each influencing my life in many ways.
Thank you, guys!
Full obit on Buddy is available here.
Posted by Da Goddess at 06:54 AM | Comments (1)