Wouldn't you know, even after a crummy day and getting home really late at night, I feel better.

The panacea?  Administered in three parts:

1.  Cuddly blanket, pillow, and couch
2.  Rewatching an episode of TrueBlood (season 1) and Kiki's Delivery Service
3.  Treating myself to grilled polenta & cheese, served w/ a strawberry-ginger-lemon fizz.*

*This ( Read more... )

This morning my boss came into work holding what looked like a brightly colored stuffed chew-toy for a dog.  Except, seconds after I made that assessment, the chew toy shook out its feathers...and I realized that it was a bird.  Specifically, this kind of bird:


( Read more... )

Every now and then I get one of my coworkers asking me for advice on English grammar or spelling.  Everyone here knows I have a degree in English (I think the part where the emphasis was Creative Writing got lost somewhere in the rumor mill), and, comparatively speaking, I'm the in-house expert.  I don't really mind this sort of thing -- it gives ( Read more... )

Pandemic 2, the Game

http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Pandemic-2.html

You can get a better score than swine flu.  I know you can.

This is actually a pretty fun game.  I was playing it some time last year or the year before... I always was a little put out, though, that everyone always freaked out so quickly about my  pandemics which caused dementia and ( Read more... )

CDC Warning

****DO NOT DO THIS!!!!****


( Read more... )

I just reached the end of my stamina. Since Tuesday I've spent every day working full time, then spending another four hours (minimum) doing unpacking, and dishes, and laundry. I've also been helping Allan and my mother move boxes to and from cars. During this time I've been trying to schedule moving days; have been trying to manage to subsist ( Read more... )

The house below me is yellow as the sun.
The house above me, suspended from the stars.
In Valparaiso,
I spent my mornings in the sky,
cradled in fog.
My feet and heart ache at the thought of
concrete.Today we walked to Pablo Neruda's house, which is now a museum, and toured it. From there, we walked through the city -- first cerro Bellavista, then ( Read more... )

Valparaiso, in the morning, she is a city that tosses in her sheets. She raises the covers, fends away the morning light for a little while longer, and lets the sheets rest against her wet lips. Her breath is moist. Her tongue slides against her teeth. She closes her eyelids for just a few more moments ( Read more... )

I am about to disembark the ship. Thirty minutes to go. In the meantime, I have just eaten breakfast perched high above the docks, watching the funiculars slowly edge their way down and up the hill above the docks. This city reminds me of San Francisco in the morning -- gray fog, tucked tight around a patchwork of different color houses ( Read more... )

Can anyone tell me where I am? I'm a bit confused. On the one hand, there's Argentina. On the other, there's Chile. And there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between the two. On the other other hand, there may be a bit of middle water. And I'm in it. But I seem to have forgotten the name of the place. It's a canal, I'm pretty sure ( Read more... )