Blather, rinse, repeat

Updates, updates, where to begin. First thing's first: Sano's surgery went well and the biopsy showed no cancer. Which, I'm so glad, but part of me can't help wishing that I had never seen the stupid skin lesion and saved all the money. Either way, I'm glad it's all over with and he's all stitched up.

Thursday, Mom and I were outside all day doing yardwork. Like, the real big cleaning, gutting kind of stuff, and we're still not done. It's such a tremendous job and it just made me think of Dad all day. He loved yardwork. He would have been out there clearing everything out, for hours. Obviously it made me miss him very much – and Mom too, of course. Aside from that, it's still a big, huge job for the both of us. Yet we got it done with no help. That's really what it comes down to: you just have to do things yourself. Time to get used to that, just suck it up. It's actually better that way, this way you never end up relying on anyone.

It seems like such a small thing, yardwork. But after this last year, there are no "small things" anymore.

I got another fish today; an albino plecostomus. They don't get huge like most others, and so I have him in my ten gallon tank with Leon, Lucrezia, Kyarotto and Onion. They are a nice group. I'd love to post pics, but my camera up and died. :/

Did I talk yet about last weekend? I don't think I did. It was awesome. Jo-chan came over and I was off from work both days. We watched Johnny Dangerously because she'd never seen it, then we watched Tropic Thunder again. I love that movie. Both of them really; either movie can still make me laugh out loud. On Sunday, Jo-chan and I went out shopping for bargain costume-bits because she was going to cosplay the Vocaloid Len Kagamine. We got some amazing finds, and once home, we set about cutting, sewing, hot-gluing, and frigging duct-taping this costume. We got it done in two hours, which I think, for the results, is quite impressive. :)

( The result! )

I can't believe we did all that! Unfortunately, her anime con got canceled at the last minute. Le Suck! Still. That's my beautiful girl who is now officially a college student. WTF people, words don't even.

This past week, with no school or anything, I started sketching again. It's been almost a year, and I'm finally starting to pick up some tricks from my Corel program that I got superfly cheap. But the tablet is still mad awkward for me to use. Anyway, I can only really sketch people, and only ever sketch my own silly characters—frivolous author that I am—and managed to come up with something that pleased me.

( Sort of pleasing. )
I fail at drawing hands, and clothes, and I fail at coloring. Still, something about this drawing kind of works for me. This is the person I see when I'm writing. I know, most writers aren't so self indulgent, but I am. I like to be visual. And the thing is, honestly if I could draw, I'd do a graphic novel instead. I wrote the book because I wanted to read it, but I also wish I could see it. I know that getting published doesn't guarantee a pay-check, and I'm not relying on it. But if you're lucky, you get fanart. People draw what's in your head, because they feel inspired. Can anything be better than that? :) Especially to a person who can't draw what's in her head? ^_^

Oh, the writing on the backpack reads, "If lost, please return to..."

If I get ambitious, then next week maybe I'll throw in his dog and make a lame attempt at background.

I also want to mention that I feel like my story is really coming along in ways that I never imagined. I'm so pleased with it that it keeps me awake on some nights. I have a good feeling. When I began it (years ago) and even up to a few months ago, it frustrated me, worried me – even when I enjoyed writing and reading it. But now it's on effing fire like never before. I don't know. Feels sort of right, I guess.0, `

What else. So, yeah, I got the new fish and I need a name for him. It's got to be a good one. Hmm.

While at work today, I approached this man in a really awesome Chinese coat and long red hair, and discovered that it was the husband of the lady I used to work for years ago, at the wildlife rehab clinic. He told me they now have a cow, and a steer. I was so envious! I had cow envy. I really want to go and see their cow and steer. I love to pet cows. I'm a simple creature. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him a bit of what the last year has been. He said he'd lost his Mom last week, but that it had been a long time coming. (I remember her being ill even when I worked there.) He also said, "You're still very beautiful." I never know what to say on the rare occasions that I hear something like that. A murmured "thanks" and a subject change is all I can manage.

Today was also my last day working with Nice Competition Lady. Apparently a Less Nice Competition Lady is going to take her place next week. Ah, but I'm a mellow kind of gal. I don't let Not Nice people get to me, usually. Well, umm, sometimes I do. ;) Anyway. So as it was her last day, she brought in delicious brownies (I ATE THREE) and a recipe for making orange-blossom water, which I'm so totally going to do. Then she gave me the address of a fantastic nursery with hard-to-find and unusual plants, as well as all kinds of exotic herbs. Oh, wow, I don't know if I should go there this very second as if my ass was on fire and my head was catching, or if I should stay as far the hell away as I possibly can. I just don't have the money (and with a broken camera which I'm eventually going to have to replace?)

I haven't bought a single plant this year. Which is very responsible of me, but I do have a jonze for them. What a strange urge.

One of these days I'll get up pics of my blooming flowers, and my cool new fish (as well as the usual ones... come on, no one's tired of pet pictures, right? Of course not! ;D )

Oh, and, two nights ago I had a dream that I had to marry Elvis. Seriously, brain? WTH?

Okay. Dinner.

It's the end of an era. :( The closing of Seattle's Crocodile Cafe, where I spent many a night, had many an adventure (some not so good,) and ate many a meals during the day. Goodbye, Croc. I loved ya.

So here's how yesterday went. I went to the orthopedist and got my leg poked and prodded by an assistant (who was cute.) I barely saw the doctor at all. As it happens, I can't schedule the MRI until they get authorization from my insurance company. >_> That could take a few weeks and he told me not to go back to any "activities" before then. EFF THAT HARD. I'm going back to Kung Fu, because I'm wasting away here. And I'll continue to work too, because I feel fine.

Oh, they re-did the x rays, remember that thing about them finding that "spot" on the x ray? So they re-did them and found that it was a mistake on the film. ^_^ So that's pretty cool. That's what I thought it was, but it was nice of them to re-do them anyway and let me know.

That's the story!

Here is why I'm a beast. I've decided to leave the sanctuary and take more hours at the hospital. lots of reasons why. I know, I know, how much in love with the sanctuary I was. It such a beautiful place and I'm so sorry to leave it. It's so hard for me to tell Bosslady. I semi hinted about it, and planted the seed in her head that I might not be coming back. She left me a long message about how sorry she was that things had been going badly, that I lost my dog, that I injured myself. That she hoped I would come back someday or at least visit sometimes. Then she left me a detailed message about alternate treatments for cartilage problems. There just isn't anyone sweeter or kinder than this lady and I feel awful leaving. It's so hard for me to say. And I love the animals there, that's going to be very hard for me.

I just need the extra hours at the hospital, and all the kneeling and crawling around on the floor at the sanctuary wasn't helping, either. I just feel really bad about it.

That aside, I got most of my holiday giftie shopping done. MOST. There are still one or two crucial gifts I need to get. Shopping has felt so soul-sucking this year. And I've fallen way behind this month. Ahh, this month has sucked, let's not deny. But here's to it getting better, huh? For sure. ^_^

Man, last night was so spooky. It was the first time I'd worked at SITF at night, and alone in the building. Armando was somewhere on the property, but I have no idea where. It's on this huge, epic farm-field. Just an empty field for miles in the back, and a field of wheat or something to the side. (Or actually, wheat in the back and empty in the side field. It's confusing because the building faces West, away fromthe highway. Anyway.) So of course it gets dark really early and Bosslady calls me up and asks me to go and check if all the birds are locked up for the night. So I go outside expecting there to be, I don't know, some lights on perhaps?! Only it's dark except for the lights from the windows. So I'm trying to walk around the building to look for birds, but of course I can't see anything. I do hear a few things rustling around here and there, but they don't sound like birds, exactly.

Then I see something pop up out of the wheat field and go running. I'm like, "...Armando? Uhh... Is that you?" Then it turns to me for a second, makes a hissing noise, and ducks back down into the wheat and goes running.

I made as graceful a retreat as I could manage. Once inside, I grabbed a pair of scissors and kept them in my pocket. Armando came in about a half an hour later and I asked him if that was him out in the wheatfield, and he said it wasn't. He said, "Maybe it was a deer. They're always around."

Well, maybe. But it did seem to stand up on hind legs and then go back down. Which only made me think of one thing, of course: Deerman.

Well, my kitchen renovation type-thingie is almost done. I need some new lights, I need to move one light fixture, a new sink, and to get my dishwasher. Then of course to install it. Then it'll be done! There's so much space there now, it looks awesome.

Gosh, I'm in such a quandary about finishing up that movie. One of the actors totally backed out. Casse is moving really far away and I won't be able to do the last scene with her before she does. But more than that, my heart just isn't in it anymore. That sucks, because I listened to "Three Cheers" all the way through yesterday and I still see all those things I wanted to film for it, and didn't. It is such a fantastic album. The story is so awesome. But eh, I just don't have the love I had, it all feels so icky now. That's kinda depressing!

I wonder if I could still do something with all that footage we filmed. All those people who worked with me, I have to give them something. I wonder if I could put it all to something else? I don't know, I guess I'll have to think about it. We shall see.

I have all these chores I should be doing before Kung Fu tonight and I just don't even have the impetus to get up and go. Man, I don't even feel like firing up PS2 and playing my video game. That would involve moving. Ugh.

S'up, ten and a half hour workday? Dude, I know that lots of people do like 12 or more, but I'm just not cut out for that crap, seriously. I'm the laziest cow to begin with, and when I end up covering for someone who randomly quit the sanctuary, doing the work of two people without stopping to eat or sit down, I'm just like, yo.

To top it off, my friend the cormorant bit the everloving christ out of my hand. Both hands, actually, but my left one he nailed so hard that it broke like three of the blood vessels on the back of my hand, and it hurts all the way up to my shoulder and down to my fingers. He hit a nerve; I have a spot on my knuckles that doesn't seem to feel anything. And it's the tiniest little hole, that's all you can see aside from the massive hematoma. Dirty little fish-beak.

On the upside, the premier of House is on tonight. That's really my only TV show, so I'm looking forward to it big time.

Oh, in even better news, I saw my wonderful and excellent friend today who had been so seriously ill in the last few years with an aggressive cancer. It's been so back and forth over the years and we only get to see each other every few months but today she looked amazing. All her hair grew back (curly!) and she's biking all over town, working at her new high-paying job where she is very happy, and she's cancer free. (*knock on wood!*) We talked for a long time and then I ended up telling her about my sprained ankle and she showed me this pressure point which fixed it in like a minute. Anyway we're trying to thik of plans for all of us to get together to practice some Tai Chi and stuff like that. I can't wait. Anyway, that was such a high point of my day I had to rave about it, and about her.

I might post again later with some stills from the movie thingie, ones that I will post specifically to send to one of my old actor pals to see if he's interested. That in mind, those of you who are sick of seeing stills and hearing me babble about the thing can just skip it. ^_^

I get to sleep late tomorrow, squee!

On, and I repeat: does anyone know which programs will remove Purityscan, Outerinfo, Downloader and Clickspring for good? And don't say to use Hijack This! and post a log somewhere, because I will punch you in the vagina. I want something that will remove it automatically. I'll pay, but I have to be sure it will work, and will work for good, and then block any re-infections. Also, I have tried the Outerinfo uninstall thing and it didn't work. Thanks!

Okay, ETA: I know this is schmoopy as all get-out but I need to say it once in a while. I have absolutely the loveliest and most awesome and beautiful friends ever. Where the hell were these people when I was in high school, college and beyond? Why did it take me so long to find these people? Not that I have any regrets, because they're with me now, so. ^_^

Hmm, the good: well just that it's a nice day and tomorrow is Friday when I get to work with a good crew of people and with any luck there will be a typical Friday nuclear LOLocaust. Oh, and work at SITF today was pretty cool, the wild crows are starting to fancy me. That came as a shock, I was just around by their pen, and no one can really get near them 'cause, well they're wild and they freak out. But I was talking to Tucker and I hear this noise over my shoulder like "Coo! Coo!" and I turn around and there is the biggest wild crow on the perch nearest to me, bowing and going, "S'up, girl?" only not in so many words, you see. Now everytime I go by he bows to me and makes the "s'up girl" noises. It's really weird.

Also good was going out to the movies tonight with Nancy F. Jenn W., and Jenny and Dan. the movie sucked REALLY hard (it was the remake of Halloween) but I swear I'd go see pretty much anything with nancy and Jenn W just for the giggles. The entire audience seemed to be in agreement that it was perfectly fine to not only laugh at the film, but to MST3K it pretty much all the way through. As for the movie itself, like I said, it was BAD. I didn't have sympathy for any of the characters, (in fact I couldn't wait for most of them to up and die,) it wasn't scary or tense or suspensful in the least, and parts of it were just plain dumb. Like having Mike Meyers be like 8 effing feet tall. Especially at that one part where he comes back with the sheet over his head pretending to be the boyfriend. I'm like, does she not wonder why the dude has GROWN DRAMATICALLY since he went to get a beer? Jesus. The best part was actually this woman a few rows ahead of us who jumped out of her seat everytime a loud noise would happen, but still laughed and commented through the whole thing. I have to say, though, the kid playing young Mike Meyers was pretty good. I mean, it must be hard for a little kid to go that nutty. Looked like fun, though. The worst part of the whole thing was that he original Halloween DID scare me (the part with the sheet and the glasses scared me the most,) in fact it scared the christ out of me when I was a kid, and it seriously did not need to be "remade."

The bad. I think, well, scratch the "I think." I'm still in denial. I have to get over it. I DO need a new car. After all the money and time this summer getting it fixed repeatedly for the same effing thing, and this is the FIFTH TIME, on my way home tonight the same exact thing started to happen. The dashboard lights came on, everything was disabled. It was right around the corner (it usually is,) and I made it to my house. I had a feeling it was going to start again when I was coming home from Kung Fu last night and it felt, very briefly, like my power steering was going out again. I guess now, looking back, it was.

Yeah, and I cried as I was going into my house. I kissed my car's steering wheel when I parked it and walked in crying. It's ridiculous.

I'd really love to have a hybrid, but it's a matter of, can I afford one and still be able to do the stuff I like (need) to do? Like travel at will etc.? I don't know. Plus, hybrids are small and they don't come with 8 cylinders and I will not be able to race people around the bend and win So yeah, not sure if I can afford one.

Oh, here's the hilarious. I sent this gif to my Mom:


Yes, Frank Iero is humping Gerard Way's head. When I first saw that on youtube it was from a closer angle and all you could see what him grabbing his face. Here you can see that he is HUMPING THE BEJESUS OUT OF HIS HEAD prompting many thoughts of UR DOING IT WRONG and other LOLs. But what it really reminds me of is Haku and Sano. Because Haku does the same thing to Sano, sometimes to his head, and he has the exact same look when he does it. Anyway so I sent that to my Mom and her answer cracked me up, she said, Nothing wrong with a "tete a tete" once in a while. ...I think Haku & Sano do it better. Is it still a dominance thing? LOL@ MY MOM.

And LOL@ Frank, ILU Frankles, y u so cracked, bb? Cracked in a good, fun way, not cracked in a "HO-MI-GOD I'm 30 and must marry first female human within a five foot radius of me and scribble on myself with magic markers all summer, randomly attack my guitarist and vomit on stage! Does anyone have a sofa for me to leap on, or perhaps a pop culture icon talk show host for me to nearly throttle?" Oh, G-Way, what has become of you, lad?

Ahh, fandom.

As an aside, I feel I must mention that my current song obsession is "The Ballad Of Sal Villanueva" by Taking Back Sunday. It's gotten so bad that just listen to it on repeat like five times in a row. I'm ridiculous like that.

Guys, my CAR. My SHINIGAMI.

And don't bother wondering if there is significance to the icon; I just like it and wanted to use it again.

Kung Fu tonight was fantastic, I was joint-locking and throwing with the new chick. I actually had decided to work with her because they say that the most dangerous students are new students because they don't know how to fight safely, and when it comes to joint-locks, I'm almost impossible to hurt. One of the guys had stepped out feeling light-headed so I ended up pairing with Chris for a few minutes, but the missing student came back and Sifu put me with the new chick for exactly that reason. After basics, we did our billion sit-ups and leg-lifts (not as many as last week, when Raquel and I did ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY situps, 80 of them weighted!) then we went outside for staff. I think I've got the whole thing and now I'm just working on making it correct.

At home tonight, there were two planets on either side of the moon which looked very stunning. (As some of you know, I go out every night to look at the stars.) While I was standing there staring, a meteor came across from just south of the Big Dipper. I decided to see what those planets were and I got out my telescope. Had a nice clear view of a half-full Venus, and then I took about fifteen minutes training it on the smaller looking one, which ended up being fracking Saturn. S'up, Saturn! Had a good few minutes of a perfect view of its rings, too. Saturn is my favorite to look at, so rare to find and then manage keep the telescope steady. It looks so quiet up there, and I could even see one of the moons. Then it starts to move out of view really quickly, and it's like watching time passing somewhere other than Earth. Very weird feeling. I would totally go into space if I could.

Well, so I'm working straight through the next few days, and on Thursday I offered to cover someone at SITF so that Bosslady can go on vacation, so I will be working almost thirteen hours on Thursday. WTF, people. That's not even right.

ANd I still can't afford that Blackberry. Well, I can afford the Blackberry, but not the plan that goes along with it. That costs more than my car insurance, yo. I'm looking at something cheaper that does the same things, though, so maybe by tomorrow I'll have a neat little gadget to keep me company during my thirteen hour work day; I deserve junk like that sometimes, yes? Of course.

Everyone go out and look at Saturn tonight!

A BLOG OMG!

Yeah, I guess I've been kinda ignoring Ye Olde LJ, wtf is that about? Well, it's about being wildly busy in some ways, but it's also about being preoccupied. I guess I've been writing a lot. Strangely enough (or perhaps not so strangely,) have not been writing on my novel. Huh, how 'bout that? I went backwards and forwards through "manuscript" (you see how that is always in quotes) and today I even bought a square metal plate to put it in as I print it. But since I "corrected" it, I haven't even touched it.

But I have been writing. Actually, I've been writing under a *GASP!* nom de plume, where no one knows or cares who the eff I am, and I"m going fully crazy and writing just messy, crazy, angsty, nutty stuff. I'm indulging in all the terrible writerisms I try to avoid in my "real" writing, I've been making a huge mess, being careless, making up stupid, implausible plots, doing pages of dialogue and verbose, gosh, full-on florid visual descriptions of superhot characters. Basically I'm rolling around in the mud of writing and getting filthy in it, and I've been having a fantastic time. And the people who are reading it are having a fantastic time, too.

No, you can't read it. None of you can. No one who knows me or my writing or any of my endeavors can even look at it. Believe me, you don't want to.

Aside from that? Lots of Hula stuff going on. We had a dress rehearsal on Tuesday that ran sorta late, for a show we're doing on the 16th. We're just doing the Tahitian section, though. (Note to self: cut the stray 'otea bark from the inside of the costume before the next show, it is giving you a rash on your butt. That 'otea bark gets freaking everywhere.) And my dear friend Olivia threw us a show tomorrow. *does a Gerard Way voice* "SURPRISE!" OH, HAY, COMPLETELY UNPREPARED! Well, not really. But it is a long distance and I've got to get my costumes and implements together, holy crap, I think I left my 'uli 'uli in the car, wtf.

I've only got two birds so far, a grackle named Tim and a starling named Truffles. I almost had a crow the other day, this one would have been for keeps, as he was totally tame, non-releasable, imprinted liek whoa. But the people backed out. I don't know what ended up happening to the crow. That sucks, though, because I want one. I'm ready for one. Hey, universe? Ready for that companion crow.

Speaking of, dude, Tucker is totally in love with me. He freaks out when he hears my voice, he throws himself against the cage bars when I'm leaving (he knows what the words "Goodnight, Tucker" mean now and they set him off.) He starts fluttering his tail like a baby when I go by. If I say, "Tucker, give me a kiss!" he sticks his beak out of the bars, puts it on my lips and makes a kissing noise. SRYSLY.


THAT BIRD IS KISSING ME. That's a huge WTF. Even weirder? He's got this toy, a gold, plastic ring a few inches in diameter, that he keeps putting in my hand everytime I reach in there. O_o

Oh, and also, we have a sick baby penguin at work. The little darling is so adorable, soft and sweet, I can hardly take it. He loves to be cuddled (they are very tactile and need a lot of contact,) and he also needs to be forece-fed, unfortunately. Here is a pic of me with the little dude:



Sorry for my big ugly mug being in two pics in a row. No more, promise.

Anyway, yesterday Rob asked me to force-feed him some fishes. In order to do that, you have to get your entire finger down into the crop and shove those fishes down. It's very disturbing. More disturbing was that as soon as I had got about seven fishes in him, he vomited them back up all over me, along with some fishes that had been in there for about an hour. When I asked Rob what to do, he told me to stuff them back in him, because if he doesn't eat he will starve to death; he's got to start holding stuff down. So I took all the regurgitated fish and I stuffed them back into his crop. And then he re-vomited the vomited fishes back onto me, and one went into my pocket. I kid you not.

The things I do.

In other news, I am totally obssessed with whatever tree it is that is blooming like mad out here. It looks like a huge, towering, white wisteria, though it can't be because I've never seen wisteria get so huge. They're everywhere, lining every street from the LIE to backroads. I've never smelled these before, never noticed them blooming like this, but I can't imagine how I missed it because they smell like sweet candy. The whole entire island smells like these trees and the ocean. It's unbelievable. I think maybe I'm only noticing now because I've been driving with the windows down while they're blooming, and I probably never did that before. I have to find out what they are because I want like eighty of them in my yard.

WELP! Huge show tomorrow! Will try to update again soon! Meantime, back to making a mess of my MAD WRITIN SKILLZ YO.

Mom and I drove out to pick up hyenarave yesterday; that's always a fun ride but already the citiots are out en masse. (Which is nothing compared to how it will be next week. I swear we need a person standing at the end of Long Island with a clicker. "Nope, Long Island is full, go the hell home please!") On the way there, I showed my Mom some songs by Takign Back Sunday. (Not as good as MCR in her opinion ... and MCR is not as good as 30STM. I concur on both counts.)

Anyway, we pick up Jo-chan and she shows us her adorable baby chickens, I mean, too cute. Also, SB was there and I see him so rarely that it's like a gift everytime I get to. He got accepted into a good college and he'll be going away in August. Uhh, let's not think about this right now. It's too soon.

I figured on the drive home I would see if Jo-chan wanted to go to Projekt Rev with me in August. (This just in: Jess from Kung Fu is going, too, I'll probably pick her up. Raq is probably going, and hopefully we can meet up this time. Raq and I are often at the same concerts and we never see each other there.)

We stopped at the store for ice cream and cookie dough. At home, we had dinner with Ma and Da, then Jo-chan and I went out to see Shrek the Third. Parts of it were pretty funny (the Snow White part where the birds attack was hilarious to me, for reasons you can imagine,) but I didn't like it as much as I liked the first two. We drove home at 65 MPH with the windows down and music blasting from the speakers. Superfun. We went back to my folks' where they were watching Casablanca. Jo-chan and I ate most of the cookie dough, though I baked some of it, and we watched youtube clips (The Balls Are Inert, Stuart bloopers [from Mad TV], Family Guy clips, that one scene from the Carol Burnett show that I love where she slaps the guy up the steps.

Then today Mom, Jo and I went out shopping last minute for gifts for my cousin's kid Zack as today is his birthday. We spent some time in Target (that's pronounced tar-jay,) and I also picked up a DVD for SB (The Life of Brian) and The Black Parade CD for Jo-chan. Then we stopped off at STIF so I could show Jo-chan all the lovelies there, like Bruce the rooster, Chet the squirrel, Tucker, Pam, and 50 Cent. And of course all the bunnies and pidges and doves and etc on and on forever.

Back home, we wrapped the gifts and headed over to Chrissie's (across the street) for Zack's 3rd birthday party. It was a gorgeous day and a really nice and mellow party. I cracked Zack up by singing The Beatle's birthday song, and Jo and I both cracked Branden up with the whole "power level's over nine-thousaaaaand!" nonsense. Lots of food, cake, pics and stuff like that. Then it was time for Jo to go home (blah!)

I fed the dogs, had a sammich, wrote a bit, then decided to take the dogs out. I'd just been wondering where all the freaking baby birds are that I'm supposed to have when I hear one peeping like mad. There is Haku, chasing down a fledgling robin. Haku is thinking "PLAY!" and he chases it right into Trisky's waiting jaws. Trisky doesn't think PLAY, she thinks KILL, and that's exactly what she did. I tackled her, I mean fully tackled her and pried her mouth open so she would drop the baby. I startled her and I hurt her feelings too, and she yiped to let me know, and she eventually dropped the baby robin. It lived for about twenty seconds, gasping in my hand and then it just gave up.

MY DOGS ARE BAD. I told Trisky I wasn't talking to her tonight, and not to even look at me I was so mad at her. Trisky looked at me like, "Hey, that's what I do. Cope." I yelled at her, "BIRDKILLER!" and she was like, "Hey, thanks." I buried the baby bird by the fence in the back, under the mural I painted last month (that Trisky ripped to shreds trying to fight with the dog on the other side of the fence, a pit bull named Buddy.) As I was digging the grave, Buddy was digging his way under the fence, sticking his black nose and pink paws through the hole.

*Sigh* It was sad and I'm in need of cuteness. Mind you, I was going to make this post anyway, for Jo-chan because she'd wanted pics of some of those animals, and because we are going to see a concert in a few months, but now it's because I need some cuteness.

( Chet the squirrel: )

( Bruce the rooster: )

( Handsome Tucker: )

( Some adorable baby bunnies. BUNNIES!! )

( Me and Haku, self portrait: )

( Me and Jo-chan and Trisky and Sano: )


I feel better.

Thanks, everyone, for your input on that manuscript question. The response got the most was to go for Daw, which, yeah. I've waited this long, so why not just go for it and then wait a bit more?

Anyway, so today was another one of these typically fine May days. It started out warm and humid, all hazy when I pulled up to SITF. The hills and the woods beyond them were just vivid with springtime, really bright, but with this mellow softness that I tried to capture with my digital, but didn't manage. Either I need to go back to traditional photography, or I need one hell of an incredible digital camera that I can't afford. I just carry this one around 'cause it's little and easy. Frank said, "Hey, Dove" when I came in, Bruce the rooster followed me pulling on the leg of my jeans. Outside in the aviary, you could smell the water from a few miles away and the lilacs from everywhere.

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Friday, SITF took our pigeon, Fifty Cent, from th hospital. He'd been basically our pet pidge, our house pidge for about two years. You guys all probably have seen pics of him, he's perfectly tame and he had a little yellow sex toy that he'd always hump. She'd said that 50 could have the run of the main room (or the fly of it, I guess,) and I did send his toy along with him. But I was bummed out when I got there today and he was in a little cage and his toy was gone. 50 was freaking out, totally not himself. So once I was done with the pigeon room, I closed the screen door on the bottom floor and took him out into the main room with me. He was so freaked out that he was pretty much stapled to my shoulder for the first twenty minutes, just adjusting himself around whenever I would move this way or that. (Which, there is a lot of moving in this job, I'm never still for more than a minute or so.) When I'd have to bend or crouch down, he'd walk down to my back. Stand back up, and he'd walk back to my shoulder. Eventually he got a little more comfortable and he started flying around the room. He even landed on Hilda's head once or twice. By the end of the day, I could not get that little botch back into his cage. Usually I get him back in my throwing his sex toy on the floor and then grabbing him when he goes to hump it, but with no sex toy, there was no way for me to distract him. He eluded me for about five minutes. >_>

And I think Tucker fancies me. He bows and coos and talks to me all day. He also makes this little noise that sounds like he's saying, "crow, crow," almost in a human voice. I wish he could come out and fly around, too.

As I was leaving work and heading to Kung Fu, this huge purple cloud came in from the West and everything went blue and yellow. WHen I got to Green Cloud, the sky ripped it up. It went on and off until around 7, and then it was just on. I led blackbelt club warmups (80 situps and lots of leglifts and stuff like that,) and we kept it short because we wanted to go outside and do the staff form again. Sife was like, "Aww, it's raining. Should we ... I mean, do you guys still want to..." and we were all basically, "YES, WE WANT TO GO OUTSIDE, PLEASE LET US GO OUTSIDE, SIFU!" So out we went into the pouring rain. It was very Yimou Zhang, I have to say, with the group of us doing the staff form in lines outside, soaked to the marrow and sliding all over the parking lot. It was almost Matrix-y, actually. I had one of the kids videotape some of it, but it was a little too dark and hazy, and kind of distant, so it didn't come out as well as I wanted it to. Still, what fun.

Tomorrow is the presale for the Projekt Revolution tickets and I've got my pee in a dazzle over what kind of seats I may or may not get. More nervous because I'm buying Jess's ticket, too, and I want everyone to be together and the best bet would be general admission, but I suck at this kind of thing. Why can't bands I like just come and play in my backyard? They could use the pool afterwards if they wanted. I'd even buy them The Big Sandwich. Geez.

Anyway.

In fun news, this weekend tickets go on sale for Projekt Revolution, in which 2 bands I like and one band I LOVE will be playing. Saosin (like 'em,) Taking Back Sunday (LOVE.) I've seen Saosin and TBS before and I liked both of those live shows. In fact, the TBS show was awesome, and I'm glad to have seen them in a tiny club at least once. Only thing is, since the headliners are so huge (Linkin Park, also,) and there are so many, the sets probably aren't going to be very long. But at least I get to see them! I'm trying to get a decent group of folks to go, and I know a bunch of people who like these same bands. So far Raq is interested, and Jess from Kung Fu. Still waiting on Jo-Chan (if you're reading, call and let me know! Or call Aunt Judy, 'cause, come over the weekend after Mother's Day, 'kay?) I tried to get Britt to fly back home for this one, but that's a superlong shot and we both know it.

So yesterday I was thinking about all of this before work, and listening to TBS, thinking about grabbing those tickets, and off I went to work at SITF. By the time I got there, I was in this weird, euphoric state. It's around 80 degrees, as I'm walking to the car I'm thinking that it's cool that there are so many good bands coming out from Long Island these days. I put my headphones through my ponytail (it's the only way to keep them from falling,) and as I'm on my way in Frank says, "Hi, Angel!" My aviary birds had gotten moved to outside aviaries and are now under the biggest effing white lilac tree I've ever seen which smells completely like paradise. Bruce the rooster walks after me when I'm outdoors and pulls on my pants leg to get me to give him some worms on my way to the aviary. Inside, Tucker starts cooing at me and ducking his head. Trivia: Crows bow to you in greeting if they like you. I'm not making this up. So Tucker is bowing to me when I go by, and I let him hop onto my arm, and he finally lets me pet his wings. Then he starts preening my hair.



Work went by kind of slowly though yesterday, then I was off to Kung Fu where I grappled with Dave most of the night. Class was hilariously funny, as usual. Everyone was still on about last week's duck orgy in the street. Towards the end of the night I was doing throws with Greg and I was having a hard time throwing him because I somehow couldn't manage to hip-check him (and honestly I know the reason why, but we won't get into it.) He had no problem throwing me, though, and he landed me on the mat really hard once and almost twisted my knee; I was completely unaware that he was going to throw me just then. I was like "Holy crap, dude. I get the point." He goes, "You're taller than me." I say, "Yeah, but I'm a measly 135. You still outweigh me." Seriously, you don't have to throw down that hard when we're just practicing. Plus, warn a sister if you're going to do that knee stuff, you know?

But still, all in all it was a great class.

Then today I woke up so tired that I wanted to chew my veins open so that I'd have an excuse to just lie in bed for a while, I was so tired. I dragged all through work today. It was reeeeeally slow, I meant to get more extraneous things done than I did, but honestly there was a chunk of time where I just sat in the lab talking to Jane and eating a donut. Casse went home sick right after lunch, then I went off to split-shift at SITF. Tucker was all about me again, jumped right onto my arm, then onto my shoulder. Then onto the top of his cage, where he refused to get back on my arm to go back in after that. I finally had to towel him, which I did with much guilt. But birds don't have that sense of give and take the way dogs do; they just want what they want when they want it and they live in the moment. No thoughts of, "She won't take me out again if I keep evading her." Actually, I was kind of laughing about it. Some birds just totally dominate the situation when they're out of the cage. I later asked Bosslady if Tucker was actually allowed out to play, and she warned me that he was really mean and liked to bite when people put their hands in his cage. I was like, Dude, he hops righ ton me and he bows his head and makes a funny noise, completely dissimilar to anything you would associate with crow sounds. She said, "Really? That means he likes you! He's saying hello!" Cool and all, but, can he actually come out? She told me she was going to get his wings clipped so that he could at least come out of his cage without flying away and / or getting into things. Work went fast because I had a ton of stuff to do there, and, well, here I am.

Tomorrow is another long day, but it's usually a pretty fun one. ^_^