Archive for ◊ November, 2004 ◊

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• Tuesday, November 30th, 2004

So Erich and I dragged every last piece of dirty laundry over to the laundromat last night– we had to put the seats down in the back of the Jeep to get it to fit. Laundry of Biblical proportions, I tell ya. Seriously. The only people who should have this much laundry to do at once are people with umpteen children.

It came to sixteen loads. Thank Goddess for the Uber washer. :) Five loads at once? Yeah… all the colored clothes? Get yer azzes in there.

We also had two sets of king sized sheets and the plethora of towels for the house. By the time I finished folding towels, Erich was vastly amused. Granted, they were on a table– but the stack was taller than my head.

Total quarter cost for this little adventure ran somewhere in the high $20.00 range. Gah.

But it’s DONE. Thank Goddess.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Rejoice, Florida, for today is the last official day of hurricane season…

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Colley’s checkup went okay. He gained two pounds in the last year (he’s at 12.5 pounds– pretty small for a Norwegian, but still perfectly healthy weight for a male cat), and has a healthier heartrate than he did last year. I’m guessing both of these are due to romping with Gus, now that he’s got a similarly-sized and strengthed buddy.

He DOES have serious inflamation on his teeth from gingivitis and the starting signs of periodontal (sp?) disease. This was no surprise to me– they warned me of this possibility last year, so I was mentally preparing for it. So in the next few months, we have to bring him back to get his teeth cleaned and possibly get a tooth or two extracted if it’s really bad. Poor baby. He was blessed with good looks, but he lost three milk teeth before age two. He wasn’t blessed with good teeth. It’s not a cheap procedure, however– somewhere between $275 and $550. *sigh*

(I’m seeing this happen around April when I get my bonus from work).

Otherwise, he was just fine.

And I’ll see them for Round Two (aka Gus) in late December.

Yay for me. Can I skip work today? *whimpers*

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• Monday, November 29th, 2004

Hope everyone else had a nice Thanksgiving. Mine was nice and quiet– Erich and I visited his dad up in New Hampshire for the day and had a quiet three-person dinner. With a 14 pound turkey. Heh. Needless to say, lotsa leftovers. I’m going to be getting creative with turkey salad this week. What I couldn’t believe was how WARM it was on Thanksgiving. It was in the low 60′s in New Hampshire. In late November. Really. WTF?

On Friday I got up bright and early with Erich and went into the city. I had a relaxing morning sitting at the Red Cross with an IV in my arm for platelet donation, getting a free movie pass, t-shirt, and got to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the first time. It was surprisingly good. I’m not a Carrey fan at all, but found it a great movie. Funny and touching just where it should have been, with a very true (albeit painful) message behind it. It also was the first time I perfectly timed my pay-per-view movie there. Usually I pick a movie that’s either too short or too long and grumble a bit at missing the end of something (or have nothing to watch… ’cause you can’t move your arms while you’re in the chair). If you want to know how long it takes to literally be in the chair for donation of platelets? Exactly the length of that movie. Very weird. But the donation went fine. My blood pressure was the highest I’ve ever seen it, however… so I’m going to keep an eye on that when I go again next month. If it’s still high, I’ll call my doctor to get checked out. I’m well aware, being in the obese category of body weight, that I need to be really careful about the high blood pressure thing. Also well aware that with no family medical history available to me, if I have concerns, I should get them checked.

After the donation, I met up with Erich since his office is only a short walk across Chinatown. We grabbed sushi at Ginza for lunch (yummy!) and I headed home, hoping to have a quiet afternoon at the apartment by myself to putter. But as I got off the highway in Randolph, Jason called– and was only about five minutes behind me on Rt. 24. He’d driven back up from Staten Island to be home for Erich’s game on Saturday. So no quiet time. But I was oddly tired (not related to the donation) and really didn’t get anything done anyway. Played lots and lots of Sims 2. I have families with three generations now. I feel proud. Heh.

On Saturday, we headed to Tone’s for Erich’s D&D game. Our poor group got transported to the Barrens of Doom and Despair. But we managed to survive (yay!) and now owe the God of Vengeance some time as indentured servants. I wasn’t in the mood to play on the way over, but by the evening I got into it a bit.

Yesterday was penpal haven for me– getting tons of letters and cards done. I got a few swaps caught up and need to do some more this week so I don’t have people on yahoogroups shooting me. They probably already are. *shrug* The weather was sucktastic all day yesterday, I have to say. I made kielbasa and sauerkraut (babci recipe… yummy!) over mashed potatoes for dinner. I rarely cook, so it’s noteworthy. :)

Tonight’s laundry night from hell– we’re loading up the Jeep and taking it all to the mat. Between the LAN party and busy weekends, plus sheets and towels, there’s easily 12 loads here between Erich and I. Quite possibly more, if you factor in towel and king-sized sheet bulk. This is why I love our neighborhood Pakistani laundromat. Because they have five-load washers for six bucks. :) AND even with all of that laundry to do, we’ll have it done in 2.5 hours. Gotta love it. :) After that, I’ll probably be online, so anyone who wants to drop an IM, feel free. I’m going to be cleaning out my vat of email and getting some stuff sent off that I need to do.

Off to work, since I need to leave at two to take Colley for his checkup.

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• Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004

One of my good friends recently quit swapping FB’s due to being unemployed and gave them all to me to pass on. When I offered to take them, I didn’t realize that she’d been swapping so heavily by box, so I literally have over 3,000 to get moving and they’re taking over my apartment. There might be other things in the box to swap, too, but for now I need to work on the fb’s due to the volume. :)

If you swap fb’s and would like to get some (either as an excess swap or to become swapping buddies with me), let me know. If you can take friendship sheets as well, please let me know– I have been finding a lot of those, too, and if you don’t mind a mix, I’ll be thrilled. I will give a disclaimer: my friend’s family smokes, and while I’ve had cedar chips and perfumed dryer sheets in the boxes to try to drag out the smell, some of the books may still have some stale smoke smell on them. :(

Unless you specify a specific amount, I’ll send you 20 of them. I can send worldwide.

Email me at measiswaps@measi.net ** with your mailing address **, and I’ll get an envelope together for you on Friday. :)

Best,
Melissa

cc: measi, friendshipbooks, madeforandby, slammit

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Author:
• Monday, November 22nd, 2004

LAST PERSON WHO…
x. Slept in your bed: Erich (does every night)
x. Saw you cry: Erich
x. Made you cry: Jason, probably
x. You shared a drink with: shared a full drink? It’s been ages. Don’t remember
x. You went to the movies with: Erich (the Incredibles a couple weeks ago)
x. You went to the mall with: Last time I went, I went by myself
x. Yelled at you: one of my co-workers
x. Sent you an e-mail: My boss
HAVE YOU EVER…
x. Said “I love you” and meant it?: yes. I never say it unless I mean it.
x. Gotten in a fight with your pet: LOL. Play or real? (answers– yes and no)
x. Been to California: yes
x. Been to Hawaii : yes
x. Been to Mexico: no
x. Been to China: no
x. Been to Canada: yes
x. Danced naked: no
x. Dreamed something really crazy and then it happened the next day: Not something crazy, but I have had premonitions.
x. Wish you were the opposite sex: on occasion
x. Had an imaginary friend: when I was little, yeah.

RANDOM TID BITS…
x. Do you have a crush on someone: It’s beyond a crush, I think.
x. What book are you reading now: “Reaper Man” by Terry Pratchett and Book One of the Forgotten Realms Archmage series
x. Worst feeling(s) in the world: Absolute despair when something horrible happens to you that you cannot do anything to change. It just makes you sick to your stomach.
x. Future son’s name: I doubt I’ll have children, so I don’t think about it.
x. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal: As more than one person has described my eldest cat as a living Tribble, I believe the answer is yes.
x. What’s under your bed: a storage bin, a few shoes, random stuff that the cats knocked under there.
x. Favorite sports to watch: (live) hockey. (on TV) football.
x. Siblings: One brother (Scott), two step-sibs gained in my mid-20′s thanks to my dad.
x. Location: Home Sweet Cubicle
x. College plans: Finished my B.S. in journalism (’97). Would like to get my masters, but have no idea in what.
x. Piercing/tattoos: I’m boring– one in each ear.

EXTRA STUFF…
x. Do you do drugs: I experimented in college, but haven’t in years.
x. Do you drink: occasionally
x. Who is your best friend(s): Erich.
x. What are you most scared of: I have a weird phobia of heights where my brain is sure that if I am to get too close to the edge of a balcony or other high place… that my legs will betray me and leap. (and I’ve heard of three others who have this really weird fear). the other VERY close second is abandonment.
x. What clothes do you sleep in: t-shirt and undies
x. Where do you want to get married: Honestly? No real idea. Somewhere quiet and laid back.
x. Who do you really hate: No one in particular is on my shit list right now.
x. Do you drive: yes
x. Do you have a job: yes
x. Do you like being around people: Sometimes. I’m group-phobic, though. After a while, I’m ready for alone time.
x. Are you for world peace: I am, but I’m pessimistic about it actually ever happening (unless everyone gets a lobotomy)

STUFF…
x. Have you ever liked someone you had no chance with: Oh yeah.
x. Have you ever cried over something someone of the opposite sex did: Yes.
x. Do you have a “type” of person you always go after: I don’t do it intentionally, but I go after guys who are over 6 feet tall. I’ve never had a shorter boyfriend.
x. Want someone you don’t have right now: no.
x. Are you lonely right now: no.
x. Song thats stuck in your head a lot: there’s a mass of five or six of them that are in constant replay these days. Vertigo being one of them, since it’s on the radio ALL THE TIME
x. Do you want to get married: Some day, yes.

FAVORITE…
x. Room in house: Bedroom– it’s a retreat
x. Type(s) of music: 80′s. Because for the most part, it’s upbeat or amusing. 90′s music just was so damn depressing.
x. Band(s): U2, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Billy Joel, Lorenna McKennitt
x. Color: purple
x. Month: October in New England. You really can’t beat it.
x. Stone: Sapphires and Garnets

IN THE LAST 72 HOURS, HAVE YOU…
x. Cried: no
x. Bought something: yes
x. Gotten sick: no
x. Sang: no
x. Wanted to tell someone you loved them: yes, and did so.
x. Met someone new: no
x. Missed someone: yes
x. Hugged someone: yes
x. Kissed someone: yes

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Author:
• Monday, November 22nd, 2004

Heh.

I am a member of 1 clique of size 15

meadowbird, whishastar, evilcrayon, urbanfairie, myownwench, tbs_eta_gamma, spacejgirl, donnie148, watcher154, jgulner, bound4bway, ariestar, sisterretard, measi, slywinkle

Find the largest clique containing:
(Enter your livejournal username here).

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Author:
• Monday, November 22nd, 2004

I’m back from LANning… had a good time and will talk about it tonight after I dig out at work. :) Until then…

20 Questions to a Better Relationship

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• Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

meow

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Author:
• Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

Yay!

I think I actually have everything working. Maybe… possibly. :)

The page doesn’t work in Internet Explorer for Mac, but it does on Safari, and I’m sure it’ll work better on the PC, where IE and other browsers are still supported.

Perhaps I can scoot stuff over here faster than I expected. Hmm…

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• Monday, November 15th, 2004

I am now officially 10,000 words behind on my NaNo novel. grrrrr…. the reality of 50,000 this year is slipping away, and I’m annoyed as hell, but as Erich discussed with me last night, the living situation right now doesn’t exactly give me options to find quiet time to write. Plus I was so broke until this morning (yay for getting paid) that I didn’t have the money to escape to Borders for quiet time, or to $tarbuck$ during my lunch hour.

And my schedule has been so busy that I really haven’t had the energy to pursue the writing much in the last week. *sigh* Perhaps if my plot hadn’t completely unwound itself, I’d be in better shape.

I’ll keep plugging, though. The novel’s going to take turns that I didn’t expect– hopefully one of these turns will get me back into a groove. A couple of really good writing days and some inspiration, and I still could make up that 10K this weekend during the LAN.

It frustrates me, though. And because I’m stubborn as hell, I’ll fight to the end of November, and probably clunk this novel attempt with the two before it.

~~~~~~~~~

I went up to campus yesterday afternoon to spend time with the Sisters and celebrate the First Degree for the new membership class. It’s odd, because I honestly barely remember my first degree. I remember being confused and overwhelmed by the idea of becoming a pledge membership candidate. I never thought I’d be sorority material.

I have to wonder if any of the Alpha Beta class members will relate ten years from now…

Anyway, had a great time chatting before Degree and during lunch. Looking forward to Second next month. And according to slywinkle and ariestar, I’m now “Aunty Klutz” since I’m not in any of the current membership lines, but am related to all of them. I mock protest, but actually am very amused by it. I really didn’t intend to become THAT aunt… but life takes those turns, eh? :)

In other sorority-related news…. I finally got rid of the big ol’ composite photo from 1994-1995, plus history stuff that’s been in my storage area since 1996 (yay!). They’re in the history room where they belong, and not sitting in the shed in Stoughton.

~~~~~~~~~

Tonight starts the battle of The World’s Largest Dungeon. We’re one of four groups being put through the dungeon by the owner of our neighborhood gaming store. Four hour sessions (timed). We accomplish what we accomplish, and then get pulled out of the dungeon and put in limbo until we go in again next month.

I’ve seen this book (didn’t look through it, since I knew I’d be playing it). It’s farking HUGE.

Yes, I’m a geek. *grins proudly*

Okay… gotta get work done… more later.

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• Friday, November 12th, 2004

Snow is falling. Winter’s here.

Gah.

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• Wednesday, November 10th, 2004

Originally posted at Diary-X when I decided to move my journal… which is why it sounds weird here.

Yes, I’m moving. I WILL be eventually going here: Measi (dot) Net, which I’ve had for a year and haven’t really developed.

There’s no reason for me to pay for the HUGE amount of space and friggin 60 GIGS of bandwidth if I don’t use it– and quite honestly, I’d rather be in control of my own space and have a party over there. It was a dream for years to get my own domain and get my own website off of the free servers and into a responsible (aka paying my way) site.

Everyone is welcome to come over and read, respond, have a party… whatever. I’m not doing the “if you want the address, email me” thing. I’m not dropping anyone from my reading list, nor am I doing the bullshit “I’m going to stop journaling online” thing, disappear, and start another journal in a week on another server.

THAT is where I’m going. Y’all know. Come on over. Feel free to link Measi (dot) net now if you wish, because it’s active… just not all that active… yet.

And yes, when I actually do the official move, it will be linked here and left here for as long as Stephen provides free space to unused journals.

To get said new blog up and running, though, I need to learn how to set up my own template with either Blogger or Moveable Type. That’ll take me a bit. I’ve started on a new template over there, using Blogger as the attempt (and got it working with a blogger layout, but I want my own). Other than basic HTML, I’m beyond rusty. I need to give myself the time to do this.

I’m currently doing NaNoWriMo, and DO want to focus this month on writing my novel, as god-awful as it’s already turning out. Also known as “I have too much I’m doing this month– so this will go on the next month backburner.” So for now, I’m here.

No, I’m not going back to the forums.

Nor am I going to play the “I should be grateful for the service that is provided to me here on D-X” bullshit game that comes up when arguments strike out. I PAY for my service here. It is a business, not a charity organization. The only thing I owe Stephen is the money for the bandwidth and server space that I use here. He works hard on it and is frustrated with it, and therefore I should be kow-towing? Folks, tell me something that isn’t a common complaint with 75% of working Americans these days. It’s called WORK. It sucks sometimes. And from the business owner to the person at the bottom of the shit pile (read: me as an admin assistant), there’s a lot of crap that has to go on with work that’s not fun. And no, appreciation is few and far between for the vast majority of people who work their asses off. It’s called life.

The only people who get gratitude in my life are my family, my boyfriend, and my very close friends who help me out with true life problems. My journal service is not something that I need to express gratitude for. It completely devalues the depth of emotion that “gratitude” describes.

The good thing is that avoiding the forums will give me time to read other journals. If you respond to entries, I know you’re interested. I will answer responses and also pop over to your journal to do some reading if you leave a link. (but not the “I’ll add your link if you add mine crap”).

So for the time being, I’m writing here. I will be stopping by my 30th birthday on January 11th, which is when my Diary-X subscription runs out. That gives me time to move archives, get comfortable on the new platform, etc. and still write what I want to write.

Because I do want to write, and I do want to discuss… but the DX forums aren’t the place. I have better things to do than waste my time having discussions with people who really couldn’t give a crap to interact with me outside of the forums anyway and learn who I am outside of the passionate beliefs I hold about anything.

And yes, I know a couple people have emailed me. I will get back to you. I’m not ignoring you, nor anyone who dropped a comment in my last entry (thank you). I’m about 4,000 words behind in NaNo and owe people geniune business-related emails at the moment (read: already paid-for Reiki attunements) that need to come first.

Plus I’m sleep-deprived, having my period, have a sick boyfriend, am flat broke, and overall just really in dire need of a vacation.

So be patient– you will hear back from me. And I promise it will be a nice letter.

~ Mel.

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• Wednesday, November 10th, 2004

I will get my actual template working one of these days… really. *sigh*

Until then, I’m using ye ol’ basic template provided by Blogger.

If anyone knows Moveable Type or how to configure regular html/css templates with Blogger script, drop me a line…

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Author:
• Tuesday, November 09th, 2004

I’m sitting here in the bedroom trying to recover SOME of my wordcount for NaNo. Struggling a lot tonight… my mind just does not want to settle down and focus. But I’ve still managed to scrape about 1,500 words so far since 8 p.m. Not great. But at least I’m not falling further behind. I should be able to get another 500 words before bed to make it an even 2,000.

And then I hear a familiar — but not attached to roommate or boyfriend — voice coming from the living room. And it sounds like it’s on a speaker phone.

Our cordless phone DOES have a speaker phone capability. I’ve never seen anyone but me bother to use it. And I only do if I’m in the middle of something that requires both hands.

I swear it sounds like… Dan.

But Dan lives in Brighton. And to my knowledge, Dan doesn’t have a car– so there’s no way Dan is in my apartment.

I walk out there– and hear his voice again. FROM THE TV. During Halo.

Apparently not only is it broadband-capable to play live over a network. It now also has microphone modes.

Greaaaaat.

Gosh, I WONDER what my boyfriend’s going to want to go buy tomorrow immediately when I pick him up at the Braintree T stop tomorrow…

Hmmm…

Although I’m very amused by this Halo 2 business. All three cats are curled up in my room with me. They don’t want to deal with the shooting either.

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• Monday, November 08th, 2004

Originally posted over on my Diary-X blog when all of the shit was going down.

For the past four years, I’ve paid my subscription plus extra money for my space here on Diary-X. I paid for the space used for Interviewed, and for my private journal. I have played by the rules, and have been respectful of others with only a few exceptions where I was getting attacked personally.

Quite frankly, I’ve had it.

I regret ever stepping foot into the forums with one exception– I was able to announce a project that helped get two very good people on the other side of the country to meet one another.

THAT I will never regret.

I met some great people through my journal here, and hope to continue reading their experiences and that they’ll want to share mine…

But I just can’t stay here. I can’t put up with the bullshit anymore on the forums, and I don’t feel like my journal here really is able to recover from the lack of attention since going over there.

I’m done here. I’ll be setting up elsewhere. Not on DX, not on DL, not on LJ. You’re looking at the new journal. :)

I’m working on setting up the space now. Will announce once it’s done. Hope to see you there.

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• Monday, November 08th, 2004

I figured out how to path out Blogger to my own website. Whee! :) So sooner rather than later, that will become my main journal area, rather than be the multi-site whore that I am right now.

I will still be using LJ, of course, for the shorter scribblings. But it’s definitely time for me to start moving away from Diary-X, as much as I have felt comfortable there for nearly four years now. It makes no sense for me to be paying for my own domain with 2,000 MB of space, yet not use it for my blog (which is really what I primarly do online). Plus, I’m finding myself getting distracted from actually writing entries, and instead getting pulled into the dreck that are the forums. And the bullshit over on the forums are not simply good for my health.

I just need to get used to working with Blogger and how to create templates using the Blogger-native coding requirements before I make the official change. And I need to figure out whether or not to bring all of my archives over from Diary-X… :)

I probably will slate that for January 1st, just to give myself the time post-NaNo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologies to Sisters for missing the Tea last night. For those who weren’t in the know as of Friday, I got hit with some bug on Friday, and just did not feel good all weekend. I scraped out two hours at a NaNo event Saturday morning, but otherwise spent the rest of the weekend in pjs rotating between the couch and bed.

I *will* be at First degree, however.

From the brief comments I’ve seen here– it sounded like the Tea itself went well. :) I hope the chapter grows stronger with new membership candidates this coming weekend!

Back to work…

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