In the meantime, poor Hugo feels my stresses. I think I was a bit more aggressive than usual last night at dance. I went with a chip on my shoulder and, unlike the week before, was unable to Hustle it off. We are Finally moving beyong swing to ballroom moves, just in time for me to be gone. But, the partner in groove has sworn to attend class and learn and teach me many a move when I return.
Until next time...
It's been Bjorkapalooza here on the island. (yes, it IS an island!!) They swarmed in and made themselves at home- which is good, cause this family doesn't cater. But, man! They can be LOUD and talk a LOT and, whooo, you better keep close tabs on the wine bottles... I'm tellin' ya.
Damn good times though. Thursday night the first 3 arrived, so we had 2 bottles of wine in honor. Friday, we got another, so there went a bottle. Saturday was the party and... yea. wow. Half !surprise! and half 'this is your life'. Add in the bottle of wine that was consumed in the preparations... All night long we partied. Sunday.. there was more.
Oh, yes, and with half the folks coming from southern states and being afraid of weather below 60*, of course we got snow. What's that? Snow? Yes. SNOW. And it STUCK. The baseball game got snowed out (darn). Just rain since the weekend, so the snow is gone and the blossoms and flowers have recovered.
They'll hate me for saying this, but... why do old people luv to talk about their butts?? I haven't had this much butt talk since I lived with Arlene. My god...
AND! I am leaving for Italy on Saturday, so I have to spend the rest of the week packing. Yipes!! A lot to do in a little bit of time. (I don't handle packing well, btw) But I am so so so so so so so so so so excited to go!
Once again, the Northern Neighbors have shown themselves smarter than U.S. They've gone ahead and allowed emergency contraception (EC) to be given by a pharmacist without a prescription.
One lady in the article is upset there will be no counseling to the moral side of using EC, but, I wonder... How many doctors take the time to counsel a woman who has come in for a prescription? Doctors all seem so overworked anymore; so rushed to get through the patient list. It is a bit sad, though. I met a woman who told me about her 5 abortions and how sad she is now about them. She feels she kept going back because of the way the nurses would take care of her, so motherly, making up for her own distant mother. She, too, feels there should be counseling for women, especially when they keep returning.
I really forsee better access to EC reducing the abortion rate. And that, really, is the deeper issue here. Prevention first, of course, but Plan B when prevention fails. We just can't keep letting the conservatives teach our children about "the evils of" sex with their 'abstinence only' campaign. Good, thorough, accurate information at the age-appropriate time.
Today I had a job interview at Walden Books. It was alright. The fellow interviewing didn't seem to think I have enough customer service experience. I tried my best to convince him otherwise. When asked why I applied to Waldens, I mention sales exp. and wanting to work in a quiet environment. He makes a face and explains the impending Border Express transition, where the bookstore will become brightly colored, louder and more enthusiastic. Uniforms will be required. *sigh* I must be one of a small number who prefer my bookstores to resemble libraries -quiet, peaceful, help available, but leave me alone unless I ask for assistance, let me just *be* with the books. He says they have tested out this new thing, and it must have worked. He didn't seem to Wow-zered at the end, so my hiring will more likely depend on the rest of the people sucking.
But, it is 80* and gorgeous out. That should make me happy, right?
I was so upset when I first heard, several months ago, that pharmacists were refusing BC and EC, because they 'morally' opposed it. The first story I read was about a woman in the rural south who was refused EC. While most of us could go next door to a different pharmacist, she didn't have one for some obscene amount of miles.
Aren't pharmacists supposed to be well-educated? I thought so. My disgust at the situation only doubled when I found out states were creating laws to protect those pharmacist. Backed by 'right to life' groups, most of these laws have passed.
So now the pro-choice side has gotten a bill way up at the top, the kind of bill that could be the Rock to those states' Scissors.
My favorite line in the whole article? "Brauer told Reuters she believes doctors will eventually begin ordering women to abort disabled children [...] They'll force women to kill their children... it will be like China. It's the next logical step."
Logical?? What kind of logic are you working with, lady?? 'Cause that is no type of logic to me! First, that whole 'choice' issue... if laws are protected a Dr cannot 'order' a woman to abort. A Dr can strongly advise one, generally on the grounds that the dead fetus inside you will rot and kill you, but not on GP. Secondly, why is it wrong to hypothetically abort disabled fetuses, but it isn't wrong to hypothetically abort a homosexual fetus? I mean, that's why we are hunting the 'gay' gene, isn't it? So we can better discriminate? Third, How kind of the radical right to use scare tactics to achieve their goals. The whole point of 'Choice' and our so-called 'Freedom' is the ability to make our own decisions about our own bodies. Drs are there to help guide us, but are by no means infallible. Just like, uh . . . you know.
3 cans of black semi-gloss spray paint later... It is basically done. There are sneaky places that refused color, and entire bottoms of shelves, but, it is basically done.
So, you know how people on TV always wear face masks while spray painting? For safety or whatever? 24 hours later, I'm wondering if I should have done that... My finger, the Master Commander of the Spray Paint Can (formerly known as "pointer" or "index"), is still numb. Uncomfortably so. Well, the tip of it anyway; the last joint, or, more specifically, the distal portion of said joint.
Not cool.
I also am feeling more stupid than usual. I'd say we should be having a funeral for all those brain cells that were massacred yesterday. I'm hoping for some regeneration, but, I'll admit there's some trepidation there. In the meantime I'm abstaining from Alcohol & Other Drugs while upping my consumption of h2o. That's good, right?
My toes are a deep, irridescent blue.
Nine of my fingers are hot pink. One is baby blue.
I threw away three bottles of gunky polish, so I feel that counts as cleaning. Which means I cleaned my room 2x today.
Do I get a prize?
On my way out the front door I spotted a mourning dove in the hanging flower pot. "Odd place," I thought. Upon closer inspection (aided by her flying away in panic) I notice 2 perfect little eggs. Eggs! Baby birds!!
I am quite pleased.
We got to the city, parked in a free (scary) lot, walked through an (scary) alley, and arrived on a sunny, cloudless, warm springin' campus. I'm sure I looked like a twit with such a big grin on my face, but, I don't think I've ever been so pleased to see spring arrive! After some loitering, I interviewed with Ms. J.T. of the Peace Corps. I was nervous until I met her -what a fabulous woman! We talked for an hour, and she said, if I keep at the pace I'm at, I could be departing by fall. Yowza! We discussed where and what until our hour was up, and agreed to talk again soon...
I had to scoot back over to the 13th to get a signature. What a bunch of quacks. They all stare at me, as though I don't know what I am doing. But, in the end, all was well.
And, Huguito took a photo of the baby crocuses (crocii?) that were popping up on campus. Fabulous little things, they are!
After all of this excitement, it was time to head off on another adventure -travelling north to hunt the great white civic. Dear Hugo got some new wheels! No more of this silly 12 mpg bullshit. No sir! He has moved into the modern age, the age of global warming, fuel emmission standards and alternative energy sources! I wish I could say he was so enlightened as to buy a hybrid, but, do to Plan M.O., he had to conserve the finances. The good news? He has declared the money saved on gas will be put aside, to be saved up for a plane ticket to visit dear me in some far-away land. Ain't that the sweetest thing?
Top it all off with traffic disaster caused by a bridge that won't close (coupled with a second bridge closed for repairs), trapping it's residents on and off the island, and I had myself one hell of a day.
Whew! Naptime, indeed.
I saw that dude, again, the one I SWEAR is from NMU. If only I had the ability to walk up and ask him, 'hey, dude, did you go to NMU just a lil' while ago?' Except, where does it go from there? He says 'yes' and I say, 'yea, thought you looked familiar. Thanks for clearing that up. See ya' ? I mean... I didn't actually know him. I just knew of him, as he stands out a bit in the crowd. Okay, he's tall. I notice tall guys. Really tall, about 6'2"? So... yea.
I got fingerprinted at the 13th precinct. This was fabulous for 2 reasons: a.) the 13th precinct is apparently the setting/inspiration for . . . ? some movie, I believe. I don't remember. Hugo, fill this one in, would ya? and b.) it's really fun to walk into a cop shop and ask to be printed. They all just stared at me like I was a nutter, then looked around at one another, clueless. That stuff is seriously sticky and messy though... the copper (who was shorter than me) lets me into the bathroom to wash my paws and I had the choice of boiling or freezing water. Naturally, the boiling is better for removing fingerprinting goo. And, naturally, I spent a good part of the rest of the day with fingerprinting goo on my hands.
Hugo and I went to the DIA to get cultured. Good stuff there. Going with the Detroit theme, the DIA has remixed their art. It's more stimulating that way, and I daresay I like it. Mostly, though, I liked the new exhibit in the back, "Big". That's not the title, it was a two-worder, but that's the summary of it. Yea, the summary. It was quiet in there, with only 3 other viewers, one reporter gal, a worker gal and a cute dude that seemed to be a blend of both. There were some really impressive pieces in there. To any of my devoted readers in the Detroit area, I highly advise you get on down and groove to the art.
Groove on, my friend.
