BlogFerret

In the past, I’ve posted about focus, and then promptly and thoroughly failed to get some.

This is ok. Well, at least, I’m in a good place with that right now. Actually, I just wanted to let you guys know a few little things about my life, and sort of rev everyone (including myself) up for a few changes.

As some of you know, my life as taken a turn for the geek again recently. Now, while this turn really just involves an entry-level job at an engineering firm, it has forced me to re-examine a lot of my goals and my life overall. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 3:

Having karmatically been struck down with the cootie-virus of death, I remain confined to this dwelling indefinitely. Note to self: whining, while it may be satisfying at the time, is annoying and will surely have consequences. Fracture of right metatarsal is improved, but remains an inconvenience. Feline companion seems sympathetic and condescends to give me her time in between stalking and killing plastic lizards. Male companion, who seems to have been the point of origin for the disease, is somewhat improved. He is also solicitous and has provided me with clear fluids and treats as necessary.

I leave this account in hopes that in the case of our demise we may be remembered. We leave no progeny, and perhaps it is a blessing that they do not suffer the same terrible fate. Should we survive, these pages will serve as an account of our trials and a reminder to take nothing for granted. Good night, and God save us all.

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*laughs and laughs and laughs*
I couldn’t even type the entire piece with a straight face! And I’m full of cough medicine and nearly immobile! I think there’s something wrong with me, and it ain’t this cootie.

Sometimes all you need is to throw a good tantrum and get a few hours sleep. Well, I threw a verbal tantrum, which is sort of like a tantrum. But maybe those screaming little kids in department stores know something we don’t. And maybe those proverbial monkeys will fly out of my posterior.

In any case, life ain’t so bad. The hubby is feeling a bit better, and if I don’t end up getting to the store, I have bratwurst, pumpernickel, and beer. We could have German food night!

My husband and my kitty both love me and are sitting on the couch with me as I write this. I have more than four-and-a-half friends, who all rock hardcore and who take time to comfort me AND make fun of me. I know how to make delicious beer, even by experienced beermaker’s standards. I figured out that if I toss the laundry down the stairs, it allows me to hang on to the banister while descending and then pick up the clothes again! I have somewhat of an excuse to sit on the couch, which was one of my favorite spots until I was confined to it. I’m gonna brew beer and make spent grain bread tomorrow or the next day! I might actually get my house totally deep cleaned if I keep doing bits of it at a time, and face it, cleaning house wasn’t on the top of my priority list before I had to sit in it all the time. So yeah, I got reasons to be cheerful.

My pity party was awesome, though. Everyone who was anyone was there.

Oh yeah, we’re kind of on a roll here.

So what’s the big idea, Christine? Why the self-pity party?

Well, Non-specific Writing-Persona Addressee, we haven’t really had a pity party like this since Katrina.

Does that mean you’re gonna wig out completely in a year like you did after Katrina?

Um, no, Non-specific Writing-Persona Addressee, that was post-traumatic stress. This is just a normal pity party. Have some perspective. Sheesh. You’re such an alarmist.

Yes, I am whiny. Yes, I am pissed off for no reason. Yes, I am overreacting, and I don’t give a good goddamn. I have been mostly stranded in the house since we got back from X-mas. My husband, aside from telling me what I am going to do and what I am not going to do (I am proving him right by not going to bed, by the way) also has the cootie-virus of death and could die any minute now. Ok, he said finally that he was feeling better, and I am a worse patient than he is, so I can’t really say anything, can I?

But yeah, he’s out of commission, so basically, it’s me, in a giant weird Frankenstein contraption trying to figure out how to bring soup and drinks up the stairs at the same time without busting my ass or tripping over the cat or something. Last time I had a major broken bone (high school) I had people to take me to the movies and call me and stuff. Now, judging by responses, I have about, oh, probably four friends. Maybe.  Ok, Joe, four and a half. Heh heh heh. Hey, you do spend time poking the bear. That’s worth some points. Oh, can I say that on the internet? It sounds questionable.

But yeah, mostly people make fun of me. I mean, I have a sense of humor, sort of. And honestly, I would make fun of me, too. Except that I would also call or stop by or something. Ok, I would call, because most of my friends don’t live within driving distance. And maybe I wouldn’t stop by somewhere if the injured person’s husband had the cootie-virus of death. So maybe people are giving me perfectly rational responses?

I will say one thing, though. My friend Amy always calls or contacts me when I’m bummed out.  I’m not even talking about ready-to-play-in-traffic bummed out, I’m talking about normal every day bummed out. It’s awesome. AND SHE DOESN’T LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY. It costs her like three million billion dollars to call me on the phone, but she does it when I freaking burn the dinner or simply wish I was somewhere else. Because she is awesome.

That is not to say everyone else is not awesome. You are all beautiful and unique snowflakes and I am privileged to know each and every one of you. Even you, creepy stranger on the internet who somehow came upon my site and is internet stalking me now. Even you. (HAH, I should be so famous.) I am just feeling sorry for myself (AND I ADMIT IT)  because I’m pissy and I can’t do stuff and my leg muscle is getting smaller after only the first week and my ass is surely getting bigger, and I like to be the center of attention or something. OK, scratch the last part — I like attention but maybe not being the center of it. But I admit it, this is Christine’s pity party. Welcome. I have h’ors d’oeuvres and champagne. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, I will certainly have to diet.

As some of you may know already (because I emailed you) I have messed up a lot of the contacts on my phone. My phone contained many of your phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses. If you think you are one of the contacts I lost, please contact me via email, Facebook, IM, the contact page on my website (www.midnightferret.com for anyone who’s reading a crossposted version of this entry), or telephone and help me replace what I lost. Thanks!

Hey y’all. I would love it if you would try this  game, called Vikings, Pirates, Ninjas!

You can join with me as your referral by clicking this link:

http://www.vpnwars.com/meteor/vpn/redir/signup/?ra=51641

When you do a quest, and gain levels in certain increments, it gives me a certain amount of fame.

I suppose this is the latest game I’m interested in.  It’s a browser game that’s good for playing while you wait for other things to happen. (You know, that life stuff everyone keeps talking about.)  You can choose a faction: Viking, Pirate, or Ninja.  Of course, you get three toons, so you can actually be one of each, if you so desire. The game works with Flash and other apps, and you can do quests, buy stuff with the money you earn, or play mini games.  It’s only been live since April 27 or so, but it’s got a pretty good following. It was made by the creators of Neopets, which became hugely successful. This is a tiny bit more adult that Neopets, though. OK, in all honesty, I’m pretty experienced with Neopets, and it’s a lot more appealing to an adult audience than Neo is.  Apparently they know what they are doing. Also, this would be a good time to join, since you can “get in on the ground floor,” as it were. If you’re into that kind of thing. I’m totally digging it. It’s a bit more robust than many of the Facebook app games where you only have so many “moves,” but it’s still light enough that you don’t feel like you have to devote hours just to get anywhere. Many games are based on “time spent” type rewards, but I think this one is going to end up pretty balanced — if you make good decisions about where you need to use your energy, I think you can do pretty well.

If you join, be sure and friend my characters so that I can give you an “energy boost” when I see you on – energy lets you do more quests. My characters’ names are “Flintybones” (pirate) and “Kisi Wartooth” (Viking).  Facebook has this game as an app, but I don’t know how to get Facebook to do the referrals yet. But yeah, if you are even remotely interested, join through the link above and do a quest. That would rock. I don’t uusally ask for this sort of thing outright, but I thought this would be fun. I may even hit some of you up on Gtalk.  Sorry about blatantly trying to get referrals, but I figured that just this once it was worth a shot.

In a few Dickens novels, and also a couple of other 19th Century English novels, the end involves a marriage and also, often, the distribution of a large amount of property. Many times, the heroine is gifted with her very own cottage (or even full-blown manor).

I deserve such a cottage! I am the heroine of my own story, aren’t I? So where’s my benfactor? I know, I know, this is the 21st Century. I suppose I have to be my own benefactor.

My Dickensian cottage sits on a decently sized plot of land. I also think that one should be able to bike into the nearest town, so it can’t be more than 5-10 miles away. The kitchen is on the ground floor, and opens, typically enough, onto a kitchen garden with all kinds of herbs and things that don’t grow well in Texas. Because, you know, it’s in England. It’s made of stone or brick, and has a high peaky roof and at least two chimneys.  Upstairs would be home to the bedroom (with a fireplace in it) and the bath and a small sitting room, while downstairs would house the large kitchen ( complete with huge tables, coutertops, and an honest-to-god cooking fireplace, not to mention a complete stainless brewing setup and a stone oven), library (again with fireplace) and dining area. I suppose there’d have to be a laundry/utility room and some storage.  Guest quarters would be nice, too. Maybe those could go upstairs.

I’m currently taking any offers of cottages any wandering Dickensian benefactor might wish to bestow on me. Anyone who wants to give me a cottage would have an open invitaton there, and I would treat him or her to a full Dickensian meal as outlined by Cedric Dickens in his book Dining With Dickens. Hehehehe.

It’s the Economy, Girlfriend – NYTimes.com

Hi everyone!
I know, another sporadic post from Ferretland. To all of my Monroe friends, I hope I can see some of you this holiday: email, text, or call me. I will be here till Sun morning. AMY – this means YOU, too. The Phillips are also waiting to hear something of you or from you. I hope you and your fam have a great holiday. And Margaret, I am definitely up for getting together and you can see that my husband does indeed exist, if you like.

To all of my other friends: I’m certain you have realized by now, as have I, that it is almost impossible for me to go through an Autumn or Winter without some kind of major depression. I am beginning to learn about how to deal with this so it doesn’t interfere with my life, but I definitely need practice. Translation: if you want to get back in touch with me, the odds are better right now that I will respond.

To all a Merry Christmas, Jolly Yule, and a Happy New Year!

1. My friendship is valuable.

I’m a very loyal, fun, and intelligent person, and one can benefit greatly from my company. If you are my friend I will happily drop everything to come to your aid, burn up a quarter tank of gas just to hang out with you for an hour or two, and I will always be genuinely happy to see you. Recently, a friend of mine found out that I was coming to visit a city vaguely in her vicinity (She lives on Cyprus and I was in Athens) and she actually booked a flight and a hotel room just to hang out with me for a day and a half. Not everyone appreciates my friendship that much. Some people don’t appreciate me enough to return my calls or take two minutes to IM me. That problem made me sad for a while. Now I feel that it’s really too bad that some people can make time for others and not for me, but it’s not my loss.  If someone has dropped me for whatever reason, and he or she can condescend to return my calls one day, even just to chat, I’ll be happy to talk or meet up, but I’m not crying over these people anymore. And I’m giving their X-mas presents to someone else who will appreciate them. Neener.

2.  It may not be apparent from the state of my weblog, but I’m an excellent writer. No, really. I’m that good.

I may be a bit too fond of adverbs, but other than that minor issue, I’m quite the wordsmith. I plan to make my writing public in some way within the next year, come hell or high water. I’ve been talking about making money writing all my life. It’s about time I did something about it instead of just wishing and tap-tap-tapping away at my computer keyboard.

3.  The universe is progressing as it should.

It’s ridiculous to get worked up and shorten one’s life over setbacks. I was under the illusion that after the multitude of setbacks I had experienced in my life, not the least of which included “That Bitch Katrina” (as my Aunt Patsy so eloquently puts it), that I was finally “on track” and would be able to control my life and prevent any future setbacks. I thought that because I finally had a plan that nothing and no one would interrupt that plan.  Well, of course I was wrong. Naturally, I was pissed. I was also tempted to do something insane like find religion or get knocked up or something. Luckily, I came to my senses and realized that I will be okay and I don’t have to keep to some crazy self-imposed “schedule.” True, I won’t live forever, but I’ve still got time: I ain’t dead yet.

4. While one may benefit greatly by having a “mentor” or “peer support,” in one’s field, these assets are not absolutely necessary for success.

I can’t say I don’t look at someone who has had a mentor in his or her field without envy. I also admit that while I was never the student who spent large amounts of time in anyone’s office, I sometimes wished a professor would take that much interest in me. I was lucky to have found my thesis advisor at LA Tech who did take an interest, and about three or four fellow students who (hopefully) would be willing to help me with my articles and other writing, but I can’t say I’ve ever really had a consistent mentor or group of interested peers who I was able to see on a regular basis. Did this put me at a disadvantage? Probably. Am I totally at a loss about continuing my education into the PhD level? Definitely. Is there a possibility that without peer support or someone who can direct me during the application and funding process that I might end up entering a program even later than I set out to do? Of course. Am I going to make it anyway? You can bet your ass I will. Will my work be on a par with those who have had a more contiguous education and more direction and mentoring? It will probably be better in some cases. I am damn smart. Fear my analytical skills.

5. I can climb 509 steps and then eat gelato before dinner, all while severely jet lagged.

I can also utilize various forms of transportation requiring multiple connections even after having been awake for 26 hours. Because that’s just how I roll.