Have you ever heard a song once, loved it - but then lost it? When Kingdom Hospital first aired back in 2004, I saw only the first episode. I can't remember why, work probably, but I never managed to tape the whole series. Thanks to the internet, I was able to download the whole series several months ago. I only started watching it here a few days ago and that was when I rediscovered Red Dragon Tattoo by Fountains of Wayne.
It is such a kick ass song - one that is a blast to sing along with and you can't help but want to sing along. I do ~ but I really shouldn't........ poor Tom. He has to listen to it! I load it into Winamp and listen to it over and over. I played it for Tom but it doesn't do for him what it does for me. It is one of those rare songs that takes you places most music doesn't - it finds a perfect fit within you somehow and it never fails to lift your spirits.
I love those songs. Especially when it's one I rediscovered.
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Above is the purse I made for my sister-in-law- Jonna for her birthday. I probably shouldn't have photographed it in front of the green and white bag holder, but I'm learning.
What shoes are to many women, bags are to me. I have bags whose main purpose is to hold other bags. And since I also love to craft, I'm always looking for cool patterns. This bag was adapted from a simple pattern I found online - http://tinyurl.com/nw7l9l . The finished bag is much smaller than I'd anticipated. I added the front flap and added the straps with buttons on the sides. I also gathered the sides slightly, something the original did not call for. The outer bag is made from different panels, but the interior is lined in a natural cotton.
I was pleased with the end result and so was Jonna! Right now I'm working on a bag for myself. It's still very much in progress and right now I am struggling to come up with the perfect strap....... stay tuned!
Buddy and me
We moved into our apartment in March of this year and soon after, we would find this small black and white cat asleep outside out front door. Our apartment building is one of many in a neighborhood of apartment buildings and I assumed someone had left him behind. Small and extremely skittish, it took several weeks before he would even come close enough to sniff at my hand. As soon as he would let me, I started applying Polysporin to his paws - they were practically raw from the cold, salt and generally living outside. I smoke outside and he started coming up when he saw or heard me.
Whenever I would see him, I'd call out "hey Buddy" and his name became Buddy. The plan, oh the optimism, was to get him needled and fixed and adopt him as my own. Over time, Buddy would hop up on my lap for cuddles and I would always take out food and water for him. I felt like a cat whisperer! Patiently I let Buddy get comfortable with me and he also got used to Tom. Then came the note.
For reasons of health and safety and overall tidiness, the tenants were being asked not to feed stray cats. Driven by concerns about fleas, disease and other critters; the letter informed that people who continued to feed stray animals would be evicted. At this point, Buddy had been in the apartment several times - I'd even given him a bath. I was hoping that my 2 cats would be welcoming but that was not to be....... despite my good intentions, things were going badly for Buddy and me.
Then came the letter that only I got. Seems that several tenants had complained that I was feeding several stray cats and there were complaints about the smell of tom cat in the stairwells. Buddy is male but I have yet to see him spray and our stairwell was fine. There was another older cat that looked like Buddy from afar and I suspect he was the sprayer. I immediately went to the office and informed them it wasn't several stray cats, it was one and I explained my intentions. Seems unfixed cats aren't even allowed in the apartments...oops....... One of the office workers was going to bring in a cat carrier so he could be taken to the shelter. We don't have a car and you need a carrier to take an animal on the bus. Needless to say, the carrier has yet to be brought in. I explained that he was still coming around even though he's not being fed anymore.
So my attempts to adopt Buddy failed. I feel like I failed Buddy. Now he's used to at least 2 people who are friendly to him - opening him to abuse from others who aren't so nice. And he's getting sicker as the days go on. I suspect were he to be taken in now they would just put him down to save costs. His inner eyelids stay half closed and that's not a good sign at all. He has a smell that I know is just infection and sickness. You can feel the heat coming from him when you hold him. His front paw is split open and refuses to heal. His back legs have patches of fragile new skin that open at the slightest touch and he's off food and water. I worry if I don't see him at least once a day. These days his time is spent mostly sleeping on the chair outside. Right now he's curled up on a blanket just inside the door. His breathing is shallow and rapid. I am afraid that soon I'll go outside for a smoke and he'll be curled up on the chair but he'll be gone. At this point I just want him to be as comfortable as possible. Tom and I have discussed it and as much as we both love him, when it seems that he is suffering, Tom will take care of it.
In my heart he's my cat. In his heart I believe that to also be true. Oh Buddy! I really tried dude. I hope the callous asshole who left you behind gets a karmic adustment.
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I had snagged a black plastic Cd holder - the tower stand alone style. I snagged it from the dumpster a few months ago. We live in a cluster of apartment buildings and have been slowly furnishing our apartment from the dumpsters. Yesterday I got 9 milk crates - shades of university! - and unpacked a lot of my craft supplies. We have been living out of boxes since November of last year and nerves are getting frayed. I haven't been able to craft, work on puzzles - all my non-computer related hobbies.
But today my husband Tom got the computer desk from next door. They told me when we moved in last March that we could have it. Better late than never I guess! Anyway, it's quite large and I'll be using it as a craft table. Much of what I put in the milk crates will actually fit on the desk. I was separating my colored pencils from the colored pens - and there are at least 3 types of colored pens in my crafting inventory! - and I was trying to think of a better way to store all these things in a way that was more space efficient and user friendly. Then I remembered the tower CD holder.
I removed the base of the tower and laid it on it's back. This way, it is 20 inches long, 5 inches high and 5 inches deep. (I forgot to get a before shot). Using empty CD holders as dividers, I have thus far found a home for my colored pencils, 2 types of colored pens, sponge sticks, assorted paint brushes - and still have almost half left to fill. Some of my paintbrushes were a bit short, so I created a false bottom by folding cardboard into a V and inverting it between CD's.
Forgive the quality of the pictures - still learning! I'll be posting pics of the new craft central once it get6s more organized....
In the meantime, this is a perfect solution to a problem that I've had for some time. I've tried, and discarded, various dollar store organizers and thrift store re-inventions and nothing worked until now. The size and weight make it very portable. It fits perfectly on the upper back shelf off my new desk! And I love that I was able to recycle something - saved me money and the holder from the landfill. And I'm good with that.
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Tipping points, memes, and other stuff.
The tipping point is a theory I instantly loved as soon as I heard about it. The tipping point refers to a point where change is manifested in a society. The clearest example I’ve read is the percentage at which a neighbourhood’s Caucasian population moves from the neighbourhood. In some areas, the tipping point was 30%. It was used as a predictor of behavior in similar neighbourhoods to where the study had taken place. Neighbourhoods that were home to a higher socio-economic class had lower tipping points than those of a lower socio-economic class. It’s kind of like reaching the boiling point. Obama’s victory in the US is the work of several tipping points all coinciding brilliantly. Being black was not the negative it would have been 20 years ago. Being young, same deal.
And just recently I’ve been reading about memes. I’m still not sure of the proper pronunciation ~ I’ve seen it phonetically spelled out in every possible way ~ and I see a real connection between tipping points and memes. When I did read about memes, I realized I already knew what they were, I’d noticed them myself, but I didn’t realize that there was a common word for this phenomenon that I’d long been aware of. Memes are virus ideas really. A meme is an idea that spreads rapidly from one person to the next, like a flu virus. Some memes become epidemics, some have mild outbreaks and some are pandemic. For me, I see memes as accelerating tipping points, either by lowering the actual tipping point itself or by rapidly increasing the number of people needed to reach the existing tipping point. This is no doubt not a new notion, but still an interesting one to watch unfold.
And the other stuff? Guess there isn’t any.
Yet.
The tipping point is a theory I instantly loved as soon as I heard about it. The tipping point refers to a point where change is manifested in a society. The clearest example I’ve read is the percentage at which a neighbourhood’s Caucasian population moves from the neighbourhood. In some areas, the tipping point was 30%. It was used as a predictor of behavior in similar neighbourhoods to where the study had taken place. Neighbourhoods that were home to a higher socio-economic class had lower tipping points than those of a lower socio-economic class. It’s kind of like reaching the boiling point. Obama’s victory in the US is the work of several tipping points all coinciding brilliantly. Being black was not the negative it would have been 20 years ago. Being young, same deal.
And just recently I’ve been reading about memes. I’m still not sure of the proper pronunciation ~ I’ve seen it phonetically spelled out in every possible way ~ and I see a real connection between tipping points and memes. When I did read about memes, I realized I already knew what they were, I’d noticed them myself, but I didn’t realize that there was a common word for this phenomenon that I’d long been aware of. Memes are virus ideas really. A meme is an idea that spreads rapidly from one person to the next, like a flu virus. Some memes become epidemics, some have mild outbreaks and some are pandemic. For me, I see memes as accelerating tipping points, either by lowering the actual tipping point itself or by rapidly increasing the number of people needed to reach the existing tipping point. This is no doubt not a new notion, but still an interesting one to watch unfold.
And the other stuff? Guess there isn’t any.
Yet.
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I stumbled upon an article that referenced the broken window theory a few days ago. Two things are really cool about this ~ first, I really liked the theory and found it a profound statement on human nature. Second, I had recently had a personal awareness that was very similar to the broken window theory, an aha moment of sorts.
But first the broken window theory. It's been around for quite awhile. In 1969, Stanford psychologist (school of the infamous Stanford prison experiment) Philip Zimbardo abandoned a car on a street in the Bronx and a street in Palo Alto CA. The car had no plates and the hood was left up. After less than ten minutes the looting began and within 24 it was completely stripped. In Palo Alto, the car was left untouched for a week, but when Zimbardo smashed it with a sledgehammer, the stripping began. Within a few hours, the car was destroyed and upside down. In both cases, the looters were primarily white males. Zimbardo stated that communal barriers like the "the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility" can be lowered significantly by a single action that indicates no one cares about it, like the car.
Currently on disability due to bi-polar, I have fallen into the habit of not really getting dressed unless I was going somewhere or someone was coming over. Sweats, leggings, boxers ~ whatever was appropriate to the weather. Same for tops ~ tee's, sweats...... hair not done just shoved out of my face if grown out or sticking up all over ~ or smushed down if short. But I realized recently that this what does it matter attitude was having a really negative effect. It has gone past my clothes and now influences a great many things. My self image has deteriorated and my self esteem plummetted. And why not? For the past few years, 90-95% of my time has been in the ubercasual slump of sweats and bobby pins. Virtually every time I looked in the mirror, I was not pleased and the feeling snowballed.
And then last week I had to go out. So I did my usual get really dressed thing ~ and I clean up quite nicely ~ and went out to the mall. I spent the afternoon there and came home in a really good mood. It wasn't the shopping ~ I'd hardly bought anything and I malls exhaust me. And then I realized what the difference was ~ I was feeling good about myself because I had taken the time to get really dressed. I spent the afternoon at the mall, constantly seeing myself in store mirrors, and every time I did, I liked what I saw. I realized my good mood came from the positive reinforcement the mirror images of myself had given me.
Now don't misunderstand. I am not a beauty queen, don't wear make up and am actually quite self-concious about a front tooth that has become dangerously loose and protrudes very badly. One bite into an apple will pull it right out of my head I'm sure and I'm terrified about that happening. Dental coverage I wish. But, my hair looked nice, I had my current favorite top on and wearing a bra had me standing taller. A marked improvement over the slouched sweat clad figure at the computer.
I'm not about to start getting up at 5am and doing full make up and all that crap. But I'm taking the extra, oh, no time at all to pull on jeans and my bra. And it's working.
But first the broken window theory. It's been around for quite awhile. In 1969, Stanford psychologist (school of the infamous Stanford prison experiment) Philip Zimbardo abandoned a car on a street in the Bronx and a street in Palo Alto CA. The car had no plates and the hood was left up. After less than ten minutes the looting began and within 24 it was completely stripped. In Palo Alto, the car was left untouched for a week, but when Zimbardo smashed it with a sledgehammer, the stripping began. Within a few hours, the car was destroyed and upside down. In both cases, the looters were primarily white males. Zimbardo stated that communal barriers like the "the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility" can be lowered significantly by a single action that indicates no one cares about it, like the car.
Currently on disability due to bi-polar, I have fallen into the habit of not really getting dressed unless I was going somewhere or someone was coming over. Sweats, leggings, boxers ~ whatever was appropriate to the weather. Same for tops ~ tee's, sweats...... hair not done just shoved out of my face if grown out or sticking up all over ~ or smushed down if short. But I realized recently that this what does it matter attitude was having a really negative effect. It has gone past my clothes and now influences a great many things. My self image has deteriorated and my self esteem plummetted. And why not? For the past few years, 90-95% of my time has been in the ubercasual slump of sweats and bobby pins. Virtually every time I looked in the mirror, I was not pleased and the feeling snowballed.
And then last week I had to go out. So I did my usual get really dressed thing ~ and I clean up quite nicely ~ and went out to the mall. I spent the afternoon there and came home in a really good mood. It wasn't the shopping ~ I'd hardly bought anything and I malls exhaust me. And then I realized what the difference was ~ I was feeling good about myself because I had taken the time to get really dressed. I spent the afternoon at the mall, constantly seeing myself in store mirrors, and every time I did, I liked what I saw. I realized my good mood came from the positive reinforcement the mirror images of myself had given me.
Now don't misunderstand. I am not a beauty queen, don't wear make up and am actually quite self-concious about a front tooth that has become dangerously loose and protrudes very badly. One bite into an apple will pull it right out of my head I'm sure and I'm terrified about that happening. Dental coverage I wish. But, my hair looked nice, I had my current favorite top on and wearing a bra had me standing taller. A marked improvement over the slouched sweat clad figure at the computer.
I'm not about to start getting up at 5am and doing full make up and all that crap. But I'm taking the extra, oh, no time at all to pull on jeans and my bra. And it's working.
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