Chosen Families

My sister, D,  and I have been talking about the idea of "chosen families" lately.  It started with the death of our grandmother and our mother's reaction to her mother's death vs. the death of her former mother-in-law.  There are obvious differences, of course, like how my father's mother died suddenly and unexpectedly while my mother's mother held on for 5 days and was only unconscious for 1 of those.  But the one thing my sister and I never realized was the difference in the relationships our mother had with each of those women.  Even in the healthiest of families nothing is ever perfect and relationships are complicated at best.  

We compared it to the close friendships our father has with other members of the LGBT community.  How they would often opt to gather at a friend's house for traditional family holiday celebrations.  My mother certainly did this with our father's family and I have often felt that the genuine care and concern was mutual.  Sometimes we bend under the weight of parental expectations and fall into old family roles long after we've grown out of them.  Returning home for a visit is so very frequently a struggle between who we were and who we've become.  I have no doubt that this was a serious problem for my mother when she returned to take care of my grandmother seven years ago and I think there was a certain amount of relief felt.

Most recently, though, we've discussed the Intentional Family idea because of a situation she and her fiancée, A,  are facing with their upcoming Wedding.  One of  A's grandparents has already told her they do not want an invitation to the wedding because they do not support their decision to marry, citing religious reasons.  It's disappointing and upsetting.  It was even worse when, after a relative's death, her mother and brother were invited to stay at her grandparent's house but she was denied the hospitality because they didn't support her "lifestyle."  Regardless of your personal beliefs, especially at a time when family is grieving the loss of a loved one, there is still a human being at the core and they should be treated with the same level of compassion.  Most recently, A suffered another disappointment when her brother declined the invitation to be a attendant at the wedding.  Again, citing religious beliefs.  This came as a major blow because, until that moment, she had no idea that her brother was not supportive.

My sister and I are very close.  I've never taken that relationship for granted, but I've also never realized how truly rare that is.  I can't even begin to fathom what it is like to hear that your sibling does not accept you for who you truly are.  From almost the very beginning of their relationship, I have felt that A has been a member of our family.  My mother has also been very welcoming, calling A her "third daughter" well before they were officially engaged.  And I think this is because my mother knows what it is like to have a difficult relationship with one's birth family and she recognized a kind of kindred spirit in need of reassurance, acceptance, and love.  My father and step-father have also felt that she's family.  We've planned vacations together as a family and when our grandmother died, A was there. She was there not because she had to be or just to support D, but because she wanted to be there for our mother at a time when it was most needed.

And this is the point of family.  Whether it is chosen, intentional, or birth, a family is meant to be supportive through the difficult times.  They are a calm place where we can go and be loved for just being ourselves and sometimes in spite of being ourselves.  From here we draw the strength to face the challenges of the outside world.  We don't always have to agree on things but we have to always respect one another as individuals and as human beings.

Healthy Living - Again

I'm trying to get back on the wagon with taking care of myself.  This means, eating properly and exercising regularly.  Not to mention getting enough sleep, wearing sunscreen, and using sulfate free shampoos on my hair.  It's not easy to do on a regular basis while keeping up with the other demands of life, aka work and school.

6 years ago I lost over 40 pounds on weight watchers, in the last 3 years I've gained it all back.  2 years ago, I didn't lose any weight but I converted the fat into muscle and dropped several inches from my waistline.  The problems that led to ending up back where I started haven't gone away.  I have one year left of school and work is still a stressful environment.  But with only a year left of school and several special events coming up after that, I want to get back into my healthy habits.  Life only gets more difficult from here on out and I need to actually nail this down now so I can carry it through.

As you may have read, I lost my grandmother last month.  She had diabetes and other health problems that could have been avoided with simple steps in her youth.  I want to make sure that I am doing those things now and not taking my health for granted.  I'm already noticing parts of me deteriorating and I need to halt as much as I can for as long as I can.  This takes discipline and hard work.

I want to create healthy habits that will be passed down to my children, eventually, and I don't want them to struggle with this the way that I have.  I want to be a good example for them and show them how life can be lived to the fullest while not indulging in every single impulse that comes along.

Thryn - MVN - Official Chapter 1

She woke with a start, back in her bunk at SA-159.  The hum of the engines reassuring to her ears as her brain slowly came back into focus.  She wasn't used to dreaming much these days and this was the third time in the last six months.  The sweat on her skin was already starting to chill and the dampness made her sheets almost icy to the touch.  She shifted until her body was on something drier and tried to go back to sleep.  Even without a clock, she knew there were only a few more hours until Earth moon-rise.  Through the thickest walls on the farthest ship, it would whisper her name and call her from sleep; an unrequited love that neither of them could forget.  

Thryn tossed and turned in her bunk but sleep had completely receded from her and left her mind wondering along the shores of reality.  Humans could normally adjust their sleeping schedules to fit wherever they happened to be; they would fall into harmony with the nearest system and rely on those foreign stars to govern their days and nights.  The space stations were a little trickier, though,  with the humans experiencing about 15 sunrises on average in a single day, depending on the system and the station’s proximity to the central star, of course. Regardless, she'd never been able to break free of the Earth’s dictations and the moon continued to push and pull at her.

She leaned over to check the time and realized she was back on schedule with the ship’s clocks.   There was no point in trying to sleep any longer, so she finally crawled out of bed.  It immediately retracted back into the wall of her cramped room and the overhead lights came on.

“Good Evening, Thryn,” the computer’s voice greeted her.  “Would you like to hear the evening news?”

“Can you just give me the highlights, computer?”

“There is one item pertaining to the taxation of liquor, that might be of interest to you.”  In this incarnation she had taken up the role of bar owner at one of the pubs in the lower sector.  It allowed her to work when she wanted and still keep the appearance of having to make a living. 

“Save that item for me to review later.  Anything else?”  Thryn started the water in the shower.  It would be a few minutes before she stepped into the glass enclosure, the showers were never warm enough on this station and started out practically ice cold.  The humans complained about it every morning, but she mourned this inconvenience even more.  It wasn't that the cold bothered her, in fact her body let her live in conditions most humans could never bare, but she longed to feel warmth coursing through her.  A hot shower was the closest she ever came to replicating the sensation for herself without the aid of blood.    

“Joshua Monoceros, has arrived on board this afternoon for a benefit performance this Friday.”  Thryn stopped deader than usual.

“What benefit?”  

“The Red and Magenta Cross joint benefit concert tour.  The performance will be at the SA-159 Amphitheater.  Should I reserve tickets for you, Thryn?”  

“No, computer, thank you. That’s all for now.”  

Here was a prime example of the vampire living his life out loud.  Joshua Monoceros had been on the fame circuit for the last ten years.  He’d reached super stardom with his passion for helping charities, specifically those with a large supply of blood in their vaults, and was often depicted as an angel of mercy in the media.  They’d met once about a century ago and it had left a bad taste in Thryn’s mouth.  If it was coincidence, she just had to stay out of his way.  She weighed her odds, she'd never really been that lucky, and determined it was better to find him first.  She opened the door to the shower and waited for the steam to greet her, but the water had already run back to cold.  

******

Out in the thoroughfare the humans brushed past her; they were preoccupied with their minuscule lives and did not notice the monster within their midst.  Really they saw what they wanted to see and nothing more.  Thryn felt intoxicated with the scent of them and the warm caresses as they flowed around her.  

“Which one, which one?” she thought to herself as they skittered here and there.  It had to be someone healthy, someone strong enough to lose a pint or two and not draw medical attention to her habits.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tall specimen staring her down.  He was muscular and rugged, probably a freighter worker stopping over.  He looked older, but she guessed he was about 35.  It was a decent length of time for the body to mature and gave a richness to the blood provided they made an effort to take care of themselves.  There was no need to open up a psychic link between them, his intentions were painted across his face and the hunger in his eyes mirrored her own.  It really was not polite to play with one’s food, but he radiated arrogance and that made it all the more irresistible.  He sauntered over to the post she had taken up against the corner of a shop and leaned into her, resting his forearm above her head against building.  

“Hey,” he started, “my name is Kyle.”   Kyle played with the collar on her shirt before finally asking, “What is your name?”  

“Does it really matter?”  

“No, I guess it really doesn't,” he agreed letting his hand roam lower to graze her breast.  Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alley.  He pushed her up against the wall and began to fumble at her clothing, “come on, I don't bite.”

“I do, ” she purred as she pulled him closer to her.  Their eyes met and she opened the part of herself that let her control the humans.  Some called it glamour, some called it mind control, the result was still the same.  All the tension in his muscles released and she could feel his mind open to her. There was so much floating around in there.  He had come in this afternoon, as she had suspected, though not on a freighter.  A transport ship was a little fancier than she had expected but what surprised her was that Joshua Monoceros had been on the same transport.  Kyle was not part of the entourage, but his memories were offering a huge head start for her.   She stroked the side of his face with the back of her hand and he tilted his head to reveal his neck.  “That's a good boy”

Writing Idea - Milady De Winter

The oars cut through the water as the executioner pushed and pulled them closer to the small island in the middle of the lake.  Milady shivered in her thin, white chemise and the early october morning wasn't entirely to blame.  Four men were vanishing into the mists behind them; her jury and executioners but hardly her peers.  Not one of them was qualified to judge her guilt.  Only the silent man in the boat could accuse her lawfully, but even he didn't know the full story.  In her short 25 years, she'd wracked up quite a debt and if there was a God she would have much to answer for.  But, then, if there had been a God she would never have gone so far.

When she'd been a child, her faith was unflinching.  Her father had told her there was a God and that he would protect them always.  This was more than enough reason for her and she'd spent many hours in prayer for her family and neighbors.  But her Father's God had not protected him in the King's war and he'd not tilled the fields in his absence and he hadn't heard her prayers when her mother's new husband had forced his way into her room.

Au Revoir Hallmark

After 14 years at the Hallmark Store, I've finally hung up my apron.  I started out of high school, to help pay for college and my first car.  When I graduated it became my part-time job to help supplement the income from my full-time job and pay down student loans.  When my company folded unexpectedly, it was there to offer full-time hours while searching for a new job.  Once I was on steadier feet, it helped me get my credit in order so I could buy my house.  Then, it was a security blanket - something stashed in my back pocket to protect me from the dark. 

The women that I have known through the years have taught me so much about life and friendship.  They helped me grow up and were a substitute family when my own was unwelcoming.  My first realization of my own mortality happened with the death of my manager's daughter (I was 21, the girl was 18).  With the passing of a co-worker in our main office, I've seen the new generation of Hallmark girls experience the same realization (Our co-worker was 32, the next gens are 18-21).  I know that I have contributed to their maturation as much as those that helped me.  We've seen marriages, divorces, and pregnancies over the years.  We've welcomed people back when they were down on their luck and then wished them all the best when they find a better opportunity.  We've developed bonds with customers and looked for them at our major events year after year.

My chapter in this story has come to an end, but the book is not yet finished.  There will be so many other women to pass through those doors and life will continue to go on inside those walls.  The cramped back room with minimal storage space for product, larger than expected shipments, late night stocking and display changes while management is cursed.  Friendships will flourish, secrets will be shared and kept, confidence will be gained.  People will be stretched to their limits, pick up extra hours to makes ends meet, and some will move on.

Writing

The guy I've been seeing has been incredibly supportive on a number of levels, but has mentioned on more than one occasion that I should focus more on writing.  I let him read my story about my character, Ianthe, and he found it to be very entertaining.  Apparently, it has the benefit of being easy to read and engages the reader in the story. 

I have a lot of my story up on Live Journal, though my privacy settings are set so only my friends can see what's posted. When I first started writing the story, I would let the girls at Hallmark read pieces of it.  Their enthusiasm helped spur me onwards with the work and I wonder if I should start posting on this blog.  If I'm getting feedback from people genuinely interested in the characters/story it would keep it fresh in my brain and encourage me to write more often.  My concern, however, is plagiarism.  I've read through more than one entry of Cleolinda Jones' journal where she has had to battle people claiming her movies in 15 minutes as her own.

Not to say that my writing would be nearly as clever as hers or incite that level of plagiarism.  I just would hate to have someone unknown take my characters and accomplish what I have been thus far unable to do with them.  I think I am also afraid of having the negative feedback that inevitably comes with posting anything creative or personal on the Internet.  Even though the story, itself,  would not be a personal account of anything, it's still very much a part of me that would be exposed to the general public and people can be cruel.

I've attempted to read some of the recent fiction that's on the bestseller list and I realize that writing doesn't have to be the crafted artistry I appreciate in novels, but I don't know if I would be personally satisfied with writing something less than perfect.  Of course, nothing is perfect and that's a ridiculous statement.  But I do have a certain level  to which I hold my writing and I would not want to put out something half-baked.  But I also know that I have the talent within myself to write something better than what I've seen on the shelves recently.  Unfortunately, in order to prove that, one must actually write and produce something for comparison.

So I'm back to wondering if I should risk writing unfinished works here in an attempt to complete something for an actual publication.

First Day of Grad School

I've been taking classes at CCBC this summer, as part of my prerequisites for Grad School, but there was something altogether different about traveling to Towson University for my very first Fall Semester class.  It's as if I finally believed I was doing this.  Not when I filled out the paperwork for school, not when I paid the semester tuition, not when I purchased the books for class.  But walking across campus with my bag slung across my shoulder, catching snatches of undergraduate conversation, and searching for my classroom finally made it real to me.

All of my classes are in Stephen's Hall on the Towson campus.  It's one of the original buildings on campus and the set-up makes me feel like Professor Indiana Jones should come sweeping through the door to lecture at the podium.  I am incredibly excited to be in this place at this time in my life.

Time Out

I have been very remiss of late.  Attending classes this summer and a shake-up at work have taken up the bulk of my time and updating my blog has taken a back seat.  My apologies.  But I have two full weeks to catch up on reading/writing/etc.

First, I have successfully completed Intro Accounting II and Intro Macroeconomics with an "A" in both subjects.  Finishing the accounting class was difficult because I think the teacher lost interest before the students did.  But it was the Macroeconomics class that proved the most difficult.  I've never taken an online class before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, and I can honestly say that I need the reinforcement of classroom lectures to actually learn a subject.  Thankfully, my sister is an economist by nature, and education, so I was able to talk a lot of things out with her.

Second, I'm not 100% my job is secure right now.  As of July 1st, I was transferred over to the commercial side of my company, from the government side, and given new programs to work on.  There is a lot of up-in-the-air-transition-type-stuff going on right now, but I am basically still doing my old job along pieces of my new job.  I have not yet had a formal discussion with my new boss, she's out on medical leave, or been given an understanding of what exactly they expect me to do in this new job.  I can already see that it's going to be a lot less involved than my old job and my old boss is trying to beef up my skill set in the interim so I have the best possible chance at growth.  But overall, I don't get the feeling that the commercial side of the company is all that interested in what I can do for the company.

Third, everything seems to be in transition right now.  It's like I'm stuck in between worlds.  I'm transitioning into being a graduate student, but I have undergraduate prerequisites to complete first.  I'm transitioning into being a commercial employee, but I don't have a clear understanding of what that means.  I'm exclusively dating someone, but it's not yet recognized as a relationship by either of us.  I live in Baltimore but every time I visit my sister I want to move to Atlanta.  There is all this potential energy building and it's going to propel me down different paths, but I'm not certain of what all those paths are or whether they're good or bad for me yet.

My sister and I keep talking about good drama vs. bad drama.  There's always stress in your life that can cause drama, some of that will positively effect your life and some of it will have a negative impact.  The school stress, is definitely the good kind.  It's something I am doing to make my life better down the road.  The job stress, has the potential to be negative depending on how I respond to it.  I could be active and push for more information about this new position, I could be proactive and find new work, or I could do nothing and wait for someone to tell me what direction they've chosen for me.  I'm really not good with that last one, but the longer I hesitate on whether to be active or proactive the better chance I will let someone else make that decision for me.

Chick-fil-A

There has been a lot of conversation about Chick-fil-A recently and my Facebook news feed is full of diverging opinions on the issue.  One of my very dear, childhood friends has even posted in support of the corporation.  On one hand, I completely support freedom of speech and will defend Chick-fil-A's right to say whatever they believe without fear of repercussions from the government, Mayor of Boston I'm looking at you.  On the other,  I have every right not to patronize that establishment and support those views or help fund those organizations that Chick-fil-A finances.  But those aren't even the issues anymore.  We're not fighting about freedom of speech, we're fighting about religion and who is more right than whom.
My friend's reasons are that Chick-fil-A supports the "biblical" definition of marriage and isn't afraid to stand up for its beliefs.  She sees it as Daniel in the lion's den, being persecuted for the same Christian beliefs she has.  This makes me sadder than Chick-fil-A Dan Cathy's announcement that they're "guilty as charged." It means that she also subscribes to the belief that homosexuality is against God and doesn't support same-sex marriage rights at all; that all of the conversations we've had are for naught.  When my dad first came out to me, she was the first friend I told and it was never a big deal or a problem.  It's only been after her marriage that we've started to disagree on these issues.  I would say it's the influence of her husband, but her mother shared the exact same posts on Facebook.  So perhaps I didn't really know her as well as I thought I did.

Part of the Dan Cathy announcement was that they believed in the "biblical" definition and all of Chick-fil-A's executives were married to their first wives.  The implication is that the "biblical" definition of marriage doesn't include divorced/remarried and when they support Families, they don't include single parent households.  When we start setting up these definitions of what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to love and family, where do we draw the line?  Now, it is the LGBT community but it could just as easily be divorcees or interracial couples.

Then we come to the organizations that are actually being funded by a Chick-fil-A purchase.  I don't want to support organizations that hate my family or would have rather seen me grow up in foster care than in the environment I did.  (To be fair, my step-parent from age 14-24 was like a villain in a fairy tale but that had little to do with my dad being gay and everything to do with his partner being an asshole.  If the step-parent had been married to my mother I'd have endured the same trauma.)  I don't want to give money so that kids can be tortured into acting straight.  I have a friend, who had first hand experience with Exodus International and it breaks my heart to know he, or any child, had to endure that.

The thing that really frightens me, though, is the rhetoric that is being used.  It is far more damaging and dangerous than people realize.  In this argument about whether or not people should boycott Chick-fil-A, the religious conservatives are using language that attempts to dehumanize homosexuals.  When an organization or government succeeds in convincing the public that this or that group is less than human, there is no end to the atrocities that will be committed against those people.  I think about Nazi Germany at times like these.  It wasn't as if the entire country woke up one morning and thought let's put Jewish people in camps.  It started with the little things in society and worked its way up to political campaigns.  An entire nation allowed a group of human beings to be beaten, tested on, and murdered because they were convinced, over time, that those people were subhuman. 

I would like to think that couldn't possibly happen again, especially on that kind of scale and especially in this country.  But the hatred that is brewing in our borders (not just against the LGBT community but also the anger at foreign nationals and immigrants, as well as the animosity between the races, political parties, social classes, and even religious organizations) it feels like that cycle could start again.  The economy isn't great, it's getting better, but it's still a long road.  People are frustrated with the speed of recovery, but we're not the only country that's suffering.   All of these things could be ingredients for that level of violence if we're not conscious of it.

Alternate Futures

I received an e-mail from one of my dad's old church friends last week.  Apparently my father had seen his post about wanting to hire an accounting position at Johns Hopkins so Dad gave him my information.  I don't know a lot of the details about the job as yet, but it would be doing actual accounting for a business and I think it's worth the effort to at least apply.  This would actually be something in my field of study and would be mutually beneficial in pursuing my degree.

I keep asking the universe for direction, so when something is presented to me I have to at least see where it goes.  Maybe this is the opportunity for me and a chance I need to take.  If it doesn't work out at least I have updated my resume and practiced for an interview.  It's easy to get complacent in your job and not strive for anything better so long as you're getting a steady paycheck and you don't hate the people you work with.  As disloyal as I feel sending off my resume to another job, I know that I have to keep my options open for my own well-being.

It is easy to forget that, while your company (or more specifically, your manager) may have a certain loyalty to you, if they needed to cut the workforce to re-align their company spending goals it wouldn't be personal, it would be business.    We've had three rounds of lay-offs since I started work here and each time my manager has been able to make a good case for everyone on our team.  At some point, she may not be able to.  It also means that there isn't a lot of room for my personal growth within the company and that's something I need to consider as well.

Five, or ten, years down the road, what kind of position do I envision myself having at this company?  I will have a Masters degree in Accounting and, as of right now, I would have to go work in our Harford County or California office.  And it seems that they are pulling all accounting to the Harford County office with the introduction of our new accounting system.  Harford County would be more agreeable to me than a move to California, but it's still not where I want to go every day.

Ten Years...



littlesam @ the WTC

 My father took this picture on a trip to NYC more than a decade ago.  I always thought it was a cool picture but, now, it's chilling to think about how important it's become in my father's photo albums because of the 9/11 Attacks.  It makes me think of how temporary life can be.  I don't just mean the lives of individuals, though none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, but the transience of everything around us. 

My family typically vacations on Hatteras Island in North Carolina the week after Labor Day, in the off season.  We have a routine, places we visit, and restaurants we know.  This year, we had to move a little bit to the north and rent a place on Bodie Island because of the most recent hurricane.  (Irene opened up a new inlet on Hatteras Island and destroyed the highway in about four places.)  The photos of the aftermath are sad.  Our familiar places are boarded up and the residents are completely cut-off from the mainland.  I am not trying to compare this to the World Trade Center or even New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  The residents of the Outer Banks will certainly feel the effects of Hurricane Irene for a while, but there is no comparison in terms of loss of life and devastation.  My point is that we build these lives and there is nothing permanent about them.

It brings me back to my favorite quote in A Passage to India:

It matters so little to the majority of living creatures what the minority, that calls itself human, desires or decides. Most of the inhabitants of India do not mind how India is governed. Nor are the lower animals of England concerned about England, but in the tropics the indifference is more prominent, the inarticulate world is closer at hand and readier to resume control as soon as men are tired. ~ A Passage to India, E.M. Forester.

I've also been watching Life After People on the History Channel, so I am sure that is influencing a lot of this entry.  The one I've recently seen was about the crumbling of buildings in cities without human maintenance.  They looked specifically at the abandoned buildings in Detroit and how they are weathering the elements without constant upkeep.  It was both interesting and frightening to watch how much effort goes into maintaining the ordered structure of our lives.  We take so many things for granted in this society, globally and nationally.

We are scrambling around trying to create meaning and order out of chaos and, for the most part, we do a very good job of it.  From our scientific hierarchy of biological classifications to sort and understand the organisms around us to Standard & Poor's financial rating system to help us understand if a country can pay off its debts to the Spectral Classification of Stars to Cosmo's "What Kind of Guy Are You Dating?" Quiz.  We want everything to fit in neat little boxes.  While these classifications and rating systems help us to digest information quickly, aide in a higher retention of knowledge, or help us make decisions about our lives, they also lull us into a false sense of security. 

What I learned on September 11, 2001 was that life isn't predictable.  There are some things you just can't manage or control no matter how much you may try.  Sometimes your family is out of touch in a dangerous area and you just have to wait for news.  Sometimes terrible things happen to very good people and there is no way to justify it.  I also learned that it's not always a question of right and wrong.  Which brings me to my other favorite quote:

How I envy the youg. For them everything is so clear. Things seem to be either one way or another. It is only with a little age that you begin to see life as a series of compromises. But even in compromising one must draw a line. ~Swing Kids (1993)

I am going to wrap up this entry because I can tell that I've touched on a lot of things but haven't really gone in depth with any them.  My brain is thinking much faster than I can type and I am afraid I will stop making sense.

Beach Time with the Fam



At the Lemon Drop - courtesy of Litlesam

 I just spent the last week at the beach with my family.  It was definitely an experience and a break I really needed.

The photo to the right was taken on our last day after we'd packed up the cars and were getting ready to leave for our respective homes.  My dad thinks it looks like a promo shot for a bad family sitcom.  Personally, I think television needs our smiling faces and positive outlook.  Or perhaps that's just me....

Accounting 101 - Mission Accomplished

I received my grades today!  Turns out I am pretty good at accelerated accounting classes at JCC.  Now I just have to study for the GMAT and then apply to Accounting Programs.  I'm headed in a direction and hopefully it's the right one.

First Scotch Tasting!

The Order of the Cask, Leaf, and Thought (a.k.a my Meetup Scotch Group) has their first official tasting last night.  Organized by founder, C.N., and J. at Bad Decisions, we were able to get a guided tasting of a flight of Balvenie.

The line-up was as follows:

The Balvenie, DoubleWood, 12 years
The Balvenie, Caribbean Cask, 14 years
The Balvenie, Single Barrel, 15 years
The Balvenie, Madeira Cask, 17 years
The Balvenie, Peated Cask, 17 years

I am still learning about the subtlety of Scotch and this was definitely a  fantastic event for furthering that education.  J., at Bad Decisions,  led us through each glass and gave a lot of detail about the tasting notes.  (i.e. the nose, the taste, and the finish)  He explained about the Balvenie process and how they create their special limited edition Scotches.

J. explicitly told us not to "fall in love" with the Caribbean Cask as it was very limited.  So, of course, this was dad's favorite of the five.  Dad said it reminded him of the cough syrup he used to get from our old town doctor, Dr. W.  It had a hint of cherry to it and I could definitely taste the Rum influence.  Stepdaddy M.'s favorite was, of course, the Peated Cask. 

Of the five tastings, my favorite was the Madeira Cask.  According to J., and the Balvenie website, this one has a "deep, luxurious aromas translate into an equally rewarding flavour. Initial sweet vanilla oak notes gradually develop into rich spices and dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates)."  I think it was the "sweet vanilla oak notes" that make this my favorite.  Of course, this was pushed to the side when the founding members were presented with a PortWood (21 years). 

JEMCON 2011

I have recently discovered that there is a JemCon in Holland this year.  Next year it will be in St. Louis and, since that is a lot easier for me to attend, I am trying to make my plans now.  As you have already witnessed, I have the Jem Costume all worked out.

The thing is this, I've never understood (your obsessive genre here) conventions.  I enjoy costumes and dressing up, but I just didn't "get" going to a convention with thousands of other people dressed in the same outfits. 

But this, JemCon, speaks to my inner child that always wished for the Jem costume.  The part of me that wanted to be an international superstar that helped charities and outsmarted the Misfits.  And I just might finally understand what all those Star Trek Fans have been doing after all.

The Morphinominal Project

My sister has started a project on Blogger.  She is analyzing the episodes of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to discover who the the most important Power Ranger was on the show.  She believes that by tracking who says the first and last lines on the show, who first appears on screen, who says, "It's morphin time."  and who kills the monster of the week in the episodes, she can statistically calculate which Ranger is the most powerful/important member of the team.  I think she is secretly hoping to discover that Kimberly is that Ranger, but I also think it's an interesting concept as well as a way to practice what she's learning in B-School.

So, check out The Morphinominal Project.

Surviving the Hurricane...

I have to say that I was quite disappointed in Hurricane Irene.  I was all ready to be hunkered down in my house with bowls of popcorn and loads of old movies.  But after an hour or so of cleaning my house, something that I've been avoiding for weeks now, I realized how incredibly bored I was and went out for lunch.

It was mostly light rain and wind until about some time after I went to bed.  I was seriously hoping for lightning or something that would make me glad I stayed home most of the day.

The negative aspect of this hurricane was that our vacation place in NC seems to be cut-off from the mainland.  (Every year, the dads rent a place on the Outer Banks for the week after Labor Day.)  I've already had a major vacation this year so I really shouldn't complain.  But I was so looking forward to some relaxing beach time.  It's all up in the air right now, but hopefully it all works out.

Doctor Who: Let's Kill Hitler

Doctor Who returned last night after a mid-season break.  I was concerned about how this returning episode would pick up after the events in "A Good Man Goes to War."

With a title like, "Let's Kill Hitler," I was intrigued but also concerned that we would have a one-off episode before getting back to the River Song/Pond Family story arc.  Thankfully, the title was a red herring and Hitler was locked in a broom cupboard for almost the entirety of the episode.

First, let's talk about the Teselecta.  Clearly Mels is not the only human being to consider using time travel to go back and "Kill Hitler."  The tiny humans, I'm guessing they're humans anyway, inside the Teselecta are already on their way to do the very same deed.  Honestly though, who hasn't thought of using time travel to go back and prevent some of the horrible things we learn about in history. The Justice Department humans, in the Teselecta, assume the form of a Wehrmact officer, in what has to be one of the coolest effects I've seen used for a robot that can change its shape at will, and head off to Hitler's office.  

What interests me about the Justice Department though is that they make a point of finding the "criminal" at the end of his or her timeline.  They aren't going back in time to stop what that individual may or may not have done.  I don't know if it has something to do with changing "fixed points" in history or what.  But I thought it was odd that they have the ability to go back in time and covertly kill an important historical figure yet we don't really talk about preventing the crimes in the first place.  Of course, I suppose it then goes into the ideas presented in "The Minority Report" where they question punishing someone for a crime they could potentially commit.

This brings me back to the Doctor and River.  The Justice Department decides to abandon their Hitler mission, they were too early, and go after Melody Pond instead.  Apparently she was a much bigger fish.  They go after her because ***spoiler alert***she kills the Doctor, as seen in the season opener.  Which makes me wonder, why did River stop Amy and Rory (in the opener) if she knew perfectly well what was going to happen?  Then she encouraged Amy and Rory to hide the news of his death from their current doctor when he showed up.  What does it mean?

I also found it quite disturbing that Mels ***spoiler alert*** is pre-regeneration River Song.  Well not the part where she is going to be River Song, but the part where she was a childhood friend of her parents.  Wikipedia tells me that this is an ontological paradox.  Meaning that by Mels being friends with her parents, she encourages their relationship (thus ensuring that she is born) and then provides a namesake for herself.  Kind of disturbing is thinking about when Melody received her combat/seduction training if she "grows up" with her parents.  Was she already an adult in a child's body?  Where was she living while they were all "growing up?"  Was she living with her Silence Captors and getting mixed messages about the Doctor?  Also disturbing is the way the Doctor dismisses finding baby Melody; telling them that they have too much fore-knowledge.  a) I know that Amy is not going to give up trying to find her baby and b)is the doctor that foolish to think that she would.
What I do love is the way that Alex Kingston plays this newly regenerated Melody Pond/River Song.  Like the Doctors before her, she is amazed by the outcome, checks out her new teeth, etc.  What I thought was funny at the time, but realize is kind of biased now, is that Mels tell them to shush because she's "concentrating on a dress size."  The Doctor is never concerned about his waist size, why is she?  Is this an indication of her age? Or because she's female and therefore more superficial?  To be fair, I would probably do the same thing if I could regenerate into someone new.  But if all you have to do is concentrate during the regeneration process, why is the Doctor never ginger as he always laments not being?  Or is it not a gurantee just a preference?

I felt like some things were thrown in to justify previous things in the series.  i.e. Melody saying that she would slowly try and age younger to throw people off - is this to explain why the actress is getting older even though her first appearce was the character's last timeline-wise.  Or having Melody ***spoiler alert*** give her remaining regenerations to save the Doctor.  I felt like this was to explain why we saw the character die in her first appearance.  But that was explained in the same episode when she knocked the Doctor unconscious and took his place, so why bring it up now?

I have so many questions and I sincerely hope we get them wrapped up before the series ends.  I love the Ponds and River, but I am ready to move on from this arc.














http://fuckyeahgallifrey.tumblr.com/post/9601264737/martinusmiraculorum-show-me-river-song

Earthquake!

I have lived 30 years in Maryland and never has the thought of a possible Earthquake entered my mind.  Now this is the second one I've experienced in the space of a year.  (Last year's I had just started dating my now ex and it woke me up at 5:00am.  I wasn't sure what it was and woke him up, he calmed me down and told me it was probably a dream.  I sort of wonder now if I should have taken this as some sort of sign.)

This year's I was sitting at my desk and the lights started flickering.  My boss came out of her office and yelled at us to get under our desks - she lived on the West Coast for several years.  The nearest thing I can compare it to would be a large truck driving by your house.  Or like when you were little and some asshole kid would grab whatever you were standing on and yell "earthquake!" while shaking it.  Except, this isn't some asshole kid and you can't step off the ladder, or chair, and find stable ground.  It's the whole building and all the ground outside. 

FACTS:
5.9 Earthquake
1:51pm est
Center - Virginia

I called my mother to let her know that I was perfectly fine, just a little shaken.  And she started talking about the end of times and how we'll know because of earthquakes and rumors of wars, etc.  a) there are always rumors of wars.  b) I found this handy article that was written after last year's earthquake that confirms east coast quakes are not as infrequent as we would like to believe.  Honestly, this could always be the end of the world as we know it.  Ten years ago, after the 9/11 attacks, the world as we knew it changed but it wasn't the end of the world.

This is like the Texas Sharp Shooter Fallacy I read about the other day.  Where there are completely unrelated events that are being used to support a single idea.

Riding Airplanes

I have to put this question out there:  Does anyone else take stock of the other passengers on an airplane before boarding?

What I mean is that I tend to look around and gauge how many children will be on my flight, how many elderly people, and how many religious fanatics.  No, it's not what you're thinking.

Unlike most people, if there are a lot of small children and infants on a plane, I feel more confident about my flight.  I'm not concerned about crying children preventing me from sleeping, I am just glad that nothing out of the ordinary will happen.  This is going to sound incredibly morbid, I think, but if there is an unusually large number of elderly people on a plane I tend to get a little nervous.  If a plane full of children crashes and everyone dies, it will be a bigger tragedy than a plane full of octogenarians.  My thinking is that at least they will have lived their lives.  I fall somewhere in the middle; I've had a good life and there is more I could achieve but I've still had a good run.  Children haven't truly had the opportunity to live so my irrational thinking is that the universe won't pluck them out of the air. 

Same thing goes for the overly religious.  If I'm on a plane with people returning from a mission trip, I get nervous.  With so many people, whose souls are "right" with God, it's fruit ripe for the picking.  Of course, in this scenario it's more to do with the state of one's soul and less to do with fate/karma/Murphy's law and therefore children would also bring about my death via plane crash.  Unless you would also think that God would not take a large number of children so soon.  But let's not dwell on that fallacy in my thinking.

For the most part, I am perfectly comfortable with flying.  (Though, I always call my family before I leave on a trip and before I get on the return flight home just in case.)  In my mind, though, no matter how safe something is there is always a chance that something will go wrong.  To be fair, I think less about this when I get in my car than I do an airplane and I am definitely more likely to be killed in a car accident than a plane crash.  The thing that gets me though is that should something go wrong on an airplane you are pretty much screwed.  Maybe you survive the landing/crash but do you really want to go through that?  A car crash, the possibility of help reaching me in time is far more likely.   Recovery would certainly suck just as much, but emergency medical attention is more readily available for car crashes.

To be honest, flying in an airplane is the closest I come to faith these days.  First, I have faith that the pilots are well trained, alert, not overworked, or having a bad day.  Second, I have faith that the airplane has been properly maintained, fueled, packed, and latched. (My return flight home, for the record, had no small children, 1 mission trip group, and something that leaked on me the entire flight.)  Third,  I have faith that the science behind flight is sound even though I don't understand it.  Fourth, I have faith that there is a reason I need to continue living past this point in time.  Some sort of purpose that has yet to be fulfilled. 

I'm not afraid of flying.  But I do have a fear of death and an overactive imagination.