I count to 4

serviceable

2009-06-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

My old best friend/sister is getting married this weekend.

Strangely enough...

So over the past few months i've been working on a wedding gift for her and her guy. I started by buying a large quantity of fimo, primo and sculpey clay, in many colors, and two sets of pigment (12 jars each set), and a cheapass wooden jewelry box. And two kinds of grout.

I've never done anything that needed grout, so I just bought two bags of dry stuff.

Then, I made a big ol' margarine bucket full of tiles that I made with the clay, all about 2 x 2 or smaller, and some in odd shapes. Into the clay I stamped little designs, some from stamps, some from jewelry, some from traveling around friends' houses and squishing it onto things with interesting textures. Then I cut them all into neat little shapes. Glued them onto the box (ok I know now that I should have actually used mastic), then grouted the whole bugger up. Fabulously messy. The grouting was the best part.

I don't know how durable this is going to be, but it's a custom deal with their names on it and stuff I made all myself, and it is signed, but they will have to find the signature. It's encoded on its own tile. I will try to remember to get some pics of it and add it to flickr. I still have to paint the inside though.

just thinkin

2009-06-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

that I hate people who sign their posts, emails, comments, etc with "Just a thought".

More passive-aggressive "I know more than you do" bullshit, attempts at snide superiority and all that.

Finals are over, I have a week free before school begins this summer. Grade update: Took a W in math earlier in the term.
A in writing (from a teacher who "doesn't give anyone As", from what my fellow students say).
A in the Health class.
B in Excel class.
A in the GPS & Mapping class.

Also was recommended for the tutoring center to tutor the writing students in the class I just finished, as well as the three under it, and am wanted two days a week in class by the teacher who doesn't give anyone As but gave me one.

bwahahah.

Seriously, though, math has been the only class that's challenging. I got the low grade in Excel for a few reasons- total chaos during the class, a teacher that was like sandpaper on a sunburn and sheer frustration with a program that just makes little sense to me. I can see where it's useful, but don't give a crap about learning it.

And so ends year one at Klamath Community College.

good stuff, maynard

2009-05-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

The more I listen to middle eastern dance music, the more i love it. It's so free sounding. I think that's the polyrhythms but man, if there's something that makes me want to dance, this stuff is it. A ended up with a promo from a few years ago put out by Putumayo Records called Turkish Dance Groove. It doesn't have any artist info, but it says "A musical mix of Balkan, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern flavors mixed with sophisticated global pop and dance music". Whatever. It's good shit. I'm especially enamored by Gulseren and Bendeniz. I think both of these are Turkish..

I dig the different scales and vocal styles (different compared to western music), how the instruments are used differently than we would, and how seamlessly it meshes with techno stylings.

nuthin no how

2009-05-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

I don't live in a "community", if one defines "community" as a group of disparate people working to make life better. Every effort to make it a better place is stonewalled, plastered with blame- every step a battle with city and county government, neighbors and economic interests. This is a town full of bitter, angry people who hate each other. "Stupid" is a cloud that hangs over it. Bush 1's "thousand points of light" are so dim and weak and browbeaten they can barely be seen or heard anymore. Everything is someone else's fault, someone else's problem, someone else's mess, drug problem, poverty or hungry kid. This is the "me" generation as it begins its daily regimen of Geritol.

just gross

2009-05-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

will somebody do something about all the tooth-whitening ads online? They're really gross and I'm really sick of looking at other people's gross teeth.

Limpin' ain't easy

2009-04-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, while trying to do my part for the environment by hanging blankets out on the line (ok and also because i'm cheap and it cuts the power bill a lot) I fell down the back porch stairs and sprained an ankle. At least the blanket hit the ground before I did and the landing for most of me was pretty soft. But damp.

holy cow

2009-03-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

there's a happy cow commercial with two cows that have my first and middle names. how weird.

a neat lady

2009-02-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

I have, over the past few months, become friends with a really neat old lady. She's about 70 and has a very active and inquisitive mind. I started teaching her to play the guitar a couple of months ago, and she's kicking ass at it. She is playing "House of the Rising Sun", and she figured out how to transpose it to other keys on her own. When she first started, I played my fingerstyle arrangement for her and she swore she'd never be able to do it. Ok she's got the chords and is real close to being able to pick through it. She gets a fistbump and a hellyeah. She memorized the string names to "Every Awesome Dude Goes Bonkers Early". And we sing "House of the Rising Sun" with the Gilligan's Island theme song words. And then we just laugh til we cry because we're crackin ourselves up.

"Mama Weer All Crazy Now" is a scream when you play it all fingerpickin/folky style.

I had left a damaged but still totally playable Spanish classical guitar at her house for her grandson to goof off on and then she brought it out one day and started asking me about it. Her grandson has a mean rhythm hand. He is on it. He's 8.

hmm

2009-02-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

all the noise about decriminalization is very interesting. I just want the grows out of the forests. How can we do that? Hmm. Maybe someone will figure it out soon.

Buy local! Know your grower!

Dewd!

2009-02-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

I have an A in my math class right now, with like three weeks left to go. A solid 91%! I can hardly BELIEVE it! You are reading the writings of someone who failed basic math over and over and over until the first quarter of her sophomore year in high school (when she was shuffled off to "business math" so I could get my math quota to graduate).

For me to have an A in a math class, well, it just about makes me want to cry, squeal, laugh, holler, shout, etc.

On the other hand, I am not feeling very challenged by my cultural geography class. :(

Plus, my dad said he was going to come back to the states for my graduation from KCC. He said he's been waiting 20 years for it. heh.

zip zowie

2009-02-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hell yeah aced all three of my midterms including the math one. I was so shocked to get that I even had to ask the teacher if my grade sheet was actually mine and not someone else's.

Next week is the final class in the Historic Land Management community education class I signed up for. It's been a great class so far.

I'm looking at U of Idaho at Moscow for my Bachelor's. It's the only college that offers what I want to take.

Had a great show on KTEC yesterday. Friday, there was an information panel offered in town here on the Israel-Palestine conflict. I had the two organizers come on the show and talk about the panel, and it went really smoothly. I was surprised that the phone wasn't clanging away, but it wasn't really presented in a way that was confrontational. So either no one was listening or no one felt offended enough to call and tell me how offended they were.

And to top off a pretty sweet month, I learned to play "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" on the guitar. I play it acoustic, having learned the Slade one and then filtering it through the Runaways version rather than the Quiet Riot one. I even sing it.

In December I was given a stack of promo stuff from a local Alliance sales rep. Some good shit in there. Heavy Trash, anyone?

not what it was

2009-02-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

A new Michael's store opened up here in town. So I went, because I'm hoping to finally have a local outlet to buy my Rapidograph ink. I loved the store when I lived in places that had it before.

Nope. No Rapidograph anything there. In fact, 80% of the store is dedicated to scrapbooking. Pft.

waiting

2009-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

man what the fuck is up with the postal service lately?!

catchin up

2008-12-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

i have just been enjoying my fuckoff time, even though i am not fucking off as much as i would like to.

School- slam dunk. A's in the CIS and Art History class. Passed math with a C. (sigh) I have to figure out how to make math interesting to me.

Fambly- I am the proud owner of a new stepmother! Dad's wife #4 joined our family about three weeks ago. Dad's happy, so I guess that's what is important.

Music- our Christmas benefit went really well. We presented a fairly large check to the local foodbank and a big can of food for them.

Weather- (points at Portland and laughs, then apologizes). Currently about 15 inches of snow on our ground, but melting fast with a warmer wind and rain the last couple of days. More snow on the way. It's currently a balmy 48.3 degrees on our front porch.

Goofin- New bottle of rapidograph ink on its way courtesy of my fabulous mom. And more drawing paper. And who knows what else.

General wa-hoo- Since 5th grade, I have been in love with this book. After that many years of trying to hunt it down in stores, check it out at libraries (it's always out, and never coming back) I bought myself a copy for my birthday. I am jumping out of my skin waiting for it. I wish it was here RIGHT NOW!

Holiday Lewt- new stepmom, Norman McClean's "Young Men and Fire". A Fidji's munchie setup, homemade coconut biscotti, inflatable toast, homemade fudge, various cards and letters, a day spent with just my smart half, an idea that struck like lightning, good friends, the news that one of my nutty aunts is doing okay with chemo for breast cancer, blue sky and fresh snow on christmas day, a cozy solstice with friends, two travelin coffee mugs, homemade zucchini, banana and pumpkin breads, some dollah bills... created another rabid Chris Cornell fan (now I have someone to squeal with).

Fall '08

2008-12-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yay the term is over and I'm done with my finals. weee! Already got my grade back for the computer class, an A. Think I did well on the art history test. Probably totally floundered in the damn math class. ouch. Must. Try. Harder.

fail

2008-11-28T07:26:00.001-08:00

heh. I got an F on a math test the other day. I knew the day would come. I tried, I studied (on my own, since the smart half was busy, tired and a little grouchy for a while there) and see how far that got me. It was polynomials. Too many rules for exponents. All the rules got crammed into my head in two days, and most of them fell out before the test.

On the other hand, still an obnoxious teacher's pet A student in Art History. I don't even have the text book for the class, and my mom just sent up the old one she had (sixth edition, 1975 print date), which is the one I read over and over when I was a kid. There are some architecture plans in it that aren't in the new edition and that the teacher doesn't have so I spent some time making them digital for him. Scanning didn't work because the book was too thick so I hope the pictures I took of it will work out.

To balance out the misery of getting an F on a test (o yeah, did I mention cried my wittle lump of coal heart out when I got it back) I went and got a grown-up haircut. I had a hippy mop that was totally out of control, half way down my back, unmanageable mess of curls (where the hell did these come from?!). Had about six inches cut off. She did me up just fine for color and a great style. FIRST EVER time I walked out of a salon with a style I really liked. Put a big hole in the bank account. Smart Half ok with it because DAMN i look alright! Dyn-o-mite, even. Which just goes with the other fantastic thing- I got new pants that are four sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing 18 months ago. And they are even just a weeee bit big.

under

2008-11-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

Awesome. Gas finally dropped below $2 here on Wednesday. I hope the Saudis like it. Maybe they should diversify their economy. They should focus on tourism.

(typed with a straight face, of course)

aar matey

2008-11-19T05:40:00.001-08:00

So, for next year's "Talk Like a Pirate Day", should we be speaking Somalian?

a pondering

2008-11-12T06:39:00.001-08:00

HEading into my second full-time term (well, 11 credits, so 1 short of full-time), and basing what I'm going to say on what I've taken so far, it seems like it would be hard to get anything less than a really good grade at this community college.

When I first started I knew some other people who already had a couple of terms under their belts, and I asked to see their writing so I could judge where I was in relation to the college writing classes. What I saw was something I found a little shocking.

What they showed me were the equivalents to what I was writing in middle school English classes, and they were getting As on these papers.

So, either the schooling has been dumbed down immensely, and I don't know if this is a reflection of the community or what, or my secondary school district had very high standards that we lived up to. I only saw papers from the WRI121 class, which is English Comp, but really, what's the deal here? I thought college classes were supposed to be hard- and when I can turn in a 3 page paper on Neolithic art that took me all of an hour to research and 10 minutes to type and proofread and I get an A+ on it, I have to wonder.

Math is math no matter when or where you take it. Some of us will forever struggle with it and some of us cut through every math class like a hot knife in cool whip. I'll never be a hot knife at math, but I'm better at it than I used to be. The fact that I'm halfway through the term and still passing the class says something.

and speaking of school

2008-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

My friend the Warthogger was the one that nudged me back to school. She graduated with a BS in Business Management- Marketing at 48. She nudged someone else into it, too, so we've been happily busting our brains for a few months. I nudged my Smart Half back into it. The other person who was nudged by the Warthogger nudged Screamin' Nat into it. And our professional country star in disguise is registering this term. I just talked to Djeef, and his smart half has been nudging him, and we had a good discussion about that. I nudged, too.

No matter what, it can't hurt. And if you aren't working, you might as well do something useful with yourself, right?

Because researching whether or not one gets more loaded by using a bong full of cold water, ice or snow vs regular water is not really all that useful.

set up for next term

2008-11-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yay I got all registered today.
Next class in my Math sequence (check)
Next class in my Art History sequence (check)
Geology and the associated lab (check)

and... and I was surprised to see this, and totally pleased, but bummed out that it isn't a credit class, but figured it would be cool to take it and even though it isn't a credit class, it'll show up on my transcript I think.

Historic Land Management -"This course will discuss and define an historic Native American land management regime within Oregon. Oregon regions will be separated by elevation and move from West to East. Lectures will discuss how Native Americans over generations of living within a given ecosystem developed land management regimes that were not only sustainable but in many cases increased biodiversity levels. Lectures will also help in defining the ethics that were incorporated into Native American management and how these ethics helped guide Native Americans in their daily lives. We will discuss how these theories and techniques can be utilized into todays land management. Topics to be discussed will include but not be limited to defining a Native American land ethic, fire ecology, fishing, hunting, and gathering techniques."

Just got the news

2008-11-04T20:06:00.001-08:00

And I gotta say it's pretty damn good news.

sick of part stores

2008-11-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

had to get a part for the 4runner. got the usual runaround, was handed the wrong part a couple of times and was laughed at when I said it was the wrong one, only to find out from the dealership that HEY not only was I right, it WAS the wrong part, but the part isn't available unless you buy an idler pulley for $60. I made do with gasket goo, because i'm not paying $60 for a friggin rubber o-ring.

then finally managed to hunt down the culprit for the continuing warm-stall problem in the scootypuff (20 years, entire cooling and interior heating system tear down and rebuild later). Coolant temp sensor. Went to parts store again. Get sensor. Get home. Go to install sensor. Notice it's also not the correct part. At least i didn't take the old one out already.

It's fucking bullshit, i tell you.

confused vapidity

2008-10-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

something vaguely interesting happened today.

Not necessarily to anyone else. Just to me.

But I've forgotten what it was.

Have I mentioned how much I like to say "Wadjet?

wow

2008-10-28T21:02:00.001-07:00

gas has been dropping here by about 20 cents a day. from yesterday to today, it fell 40 cents- from $2.79/gallon to $2.39. I wonder if it'll be under $2 by the end of the week.

It takes a little pressure off, which is nice.

At least I'm not spending $80/week for work anymore. That was two tanks full every week over the summer when I was doing the merchandising. We were really fucked for a while there because of that job.