Aww; "Hi Monkey". Who better to show you what a trip to the dentist is like or how to make rice krispie bars than a teeny white monkey? He's like a small, fuzzy Mr. Rogers.

This woman makes some of the most gorgeous and tasteful beaded jewelry I've ever seen.

Yum. *growling tummy*

While doing some quick research on Jodie Foster's sexual orientation in the heat of a discussion I ran across this. All I can say is hmmm... and why don't they have a better shot on the webcam?

Note to self - movies to see:

The Ring... scariest movie ever... *shudder*
Red Dragon
Tuck Everlasting
White Oleander
Road to Perdition
Kockaround Guys
Ghost Ship
Punch-Drunk Love
The Rules of Attraction (?)
The Transporter (?)
Lilo & Stitch
Amelie
Monsters Inc.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Curly kitties! I've never seen these guys before. This one almost looks like a rabbit. I'm digging around for general info on the care of cats. I haven't had one since we had them for about a month when I was 13 or 14 and we adopted one at the House of Skark this week. The Cat Fancier's Association site looks pretty good. Anyone know of others?

There's definitely a feeling of fall in the air. The high was about 48 degrees today and it felt like midnight around 9pm thanks to the sun going to sleep earlier and earlier every night. I'm starting to get the crafty bug again lately, and I think I shall celebrate it by making pumpkin favors soon just for the heck of it. I'm already getting ideas in my head for Christmas gifts too, which blows my mind, as I so often am clammoring at the last minute for good gifts.

Well, I guess this is one way to waste a little time... HorrorDrunx. Any excuse for a road trip and a little alcohol. ;o)

It's probably a GOOD thing that the $130 shoes I want from a UK store aren't in stock in my size and color.

The top 88799 names in the United States according to the 1990 US census. I've always been a little fascinated by this because my last name is the 6th most common, but yet I've only known a handful of Davises in my life that weren't related to me in some form. They also have listings of male and female first names, where, oddly enough, my name isn't even listed. ;P Where does your fall?

Pictures from our weekend in Ely. It's so gorgeous up there.

I closed my Hotmail account. Too much garbage mail. Send to corryn @ corryn.org or corryn @ five-elements.com.

Light Rail is being pushed back yet again. I'm so anxious for this to start up. I'm not even entirely sure that it will be something I will use on a regular basis, but I do know that it is something this city needs pretty badly. Although we have the glorious MNDOT on our side keeping the outstate roads in good condition, our metro road system still falls far behind other metro areas in the country. They simply can't keep up with the number of cars on the road, usually due to funding issues (or just slow planning). How ironic that light rail is being delayed for funding issues, but at least they had to set an opening date. I find this portion of the article humorous: "Citing uncertain funding from the next Legislature, Metro Transit officials delayed the opening so they could work with a new administration and lawmakers." (In other words, they're waiting for Mr. Ventura to be out of office and to get their funding back.)

Cannabis legalized in the state of New York?

(harharhar) (via terje)

Extreme ironing? Of course it's a British thing....
(via Jester)

Holy shite, the things one can learn through indirect means... Chank is based in Minneapolis. Chank is huge. I don't know if I even have to explain it, but it's probably the most referenced font website that I've seen on the internet and here I come to find out several years later that it's local. How did I find out? My roomie got a call from them in reference to something he's working on for a theatre and I read it on caller ID. In the future I shall read a little further into the Info pages on such websites. Funkay.

PETA's list of Animal Ingredients and Their Alternatives. I'm not exactly an animal activist, but it's an eye opener to find out how many ingredients we see in everyday products come from inhumane practices. This issue seems so far off (although, I realize that doesn't make it non-existent), but I'm finding it's eerily close to home. (via not martha)

To keep me sane until I have a pet of my own, I've adopted a sheep. Isn't he cute? So is this.

Damn, if this ain't the truth! I'm glad Plush is getting the recognition it deserves. I don't have any experience with the scene outside of our sweet little twin cities, but they sure have been the best club events Minneapolis has seen in the past few years, since the crackdown raves. Lots of big names, good sound, fairly well priced entry, playing often times an hour or two farther into the night than they should be legally. JT and everyone else involved (excuse me for being out of the loop and bad with names) can put on quite a show.

I'm messing around over at LiveJournal for a little while until I get this all incorporated. The community there seems neat, although I would hate to completely give up Blogger. It's a very kickass site/program and it has been oh-so-good to me. I think the blog may become what it was actually intended to be - a weblog, and my livejournal, just that - a journal. Concept! So anyway, go here for now.

Can't figure out for the life of me where today went. Sleep was almost non-existent last night due to sticky heat, weird semi-frightening dreams, and anxiety which kept waking me up thinking I was late for work, which hasn't happened to me in quite some time. To top it off, around 8am a city crew decided it was time to chainsaw down some trees and such, in several locations on our street, that had apparantly been wind blown and broken in last night's doozy of a storm. Lack of sleep always makes for a very long day at work, but for some reason made my evening just fly by. Got the kitchen cleaned up a little and unpacked a little bit more. We finally have a working microwave on the premises. There is some semblence of organization in the cupboards and on the counter, which makes me a happy camper. Our tasks are far from over. I should be documenting this craziness in photos. Time to crash me thinks. zzzzzzz

First post from the new place! It's been a craaaaazy week. The only downtime I've really had was yesterday out of pure exhaustion from the party the night prior. Sean's bday gig was a blast; met a lot of new snazzy people, got waaaay too drunk, and reestablished myself as a social human being and not a lameass recluse. :o)

Back in a while when we get a little bit more settled. The countdown begins to dsl. Wish we had an actual number to be counting from. Stupid Qwest.

Busy, busy, busy. Moving this week and next. Donno how much I'll be able to be online until we get the dsl hooked up at the new place, but I am excited to start getting things in order and finally get something up on this domain! See ya soon.

The move has officially gotten underway. We lugged a few essentials over to the new house tonight so we could have a few drinks and play some card games. It's now 4:30am and I'm still wide awake and not sure how tomorrow is going to pan out.

A friend asked me tonight, in a very talkative drunk moment, what super power I would want if I could choose one. I hesitated for only a brief moment and said telepathy. Oh, what I would give to know what people are truly feeling and not just what they convey to keep the world content. I can only imagine what it would be like to know exactly when I'm being lied to and learn who to trust and who is not actually worthy. I like to think I am a pretty good judge of character, but I fear at times that I may be fooling myself to keep from losing my mind. How do I really know if you are only being dishonest about the measly things to keep me off your back? That I can deal with, although I dream of endless open communication. I've seen you do it with others. I know it's possible for both of us individually, perhaps just not with eachother? Just one more hurdle to overcome. The back of my neck itches ever so slightly from the prickly grass I was lying on an hour ago. The clouds were drifting peacefully overhead and I contemplated you, and our triumphs, and our problems, and our future. I am fearful of what our often-times minimalist communication will create, but at the same I can't wait to see what's in store for us. There is an undeniable magic.

I feel a strange sense of indepence running through my veins at the moment. I hope this is not only temporary.

By the way, what superpower would you choose?

My head is spinning. I think I managed to pack up at least a third of the stuff in my room, and most of the rest of it will go as is, in the drawers, and on the hangers. I have a mountain of boxes and storage bins sitting out in the living room and it's all a little strange. It's probably a good thing I'm not sorting through all of my papers and books and stuff before I start unpacking at the new place because I can tell there are a few more trips down memory lane buried in here than I could handle right now. I'm in a weirdass sentimental mood and feeling a little cruddy. I know a few of the reasons behind it. Matt's in a poopy ass mood today, or at least seems like he is to me, which hurts a little and makes me worry a lot, and I'm stressed about money and moving soon (excited as I am), and other emotions that I don't even like to admit I have (jealousy, envy, fear) kick in. I'm a freak for even letting those peak into my head in even the slightest now, two days before moving and all of the other shit going on right now. God, I hope it's horomones. They affect me more now than ever before, but at least I am aware of it. Hopefully I can keep myself from becoming the complete bitch I know they've turned me into before. *sigh*. :(

I seriously think I'm starting to freak out right now. I feel rushed and worried and anxious. I don't know where to direct all of the nervous energy without producing too many decibels for 11:53pm in a condo. So here I sit, click clacking away... to no one. I need more boxes to finish up what packing is left and all I have is two tiny ones and a bunch of shoe boxes (mostly already filled with shoes that I don't really wear, but wear once in a rare while to warrant holding on to them). I also can't do a lot of it without first consulting with my parents about what goes to my new place and what gets sold, as most of it, the furniture, the electronics, the kitchen things, is theirs. I can just see it, I'll be in a snazzy new place, a brand new to me room, with a desk, a computer, a stereo, and a dresser. This could get interesting. Okay, time for a cider and some music. I wish I knew yoga. It would come in handy right now.

7UP cake sounds yummmyyyy... I'm definitely trying this soon. (via not martha)

Two days til the move! Tonight is packing; tomorrow, more of the same, a weekend of lugging Matt's and Ben's things to the new place, then another week of insanity packing and moving the rest of my own stuff. I really need to simplify and get rid of some crap. *looks around room*.... This is bad. :P Wish me luck!!

Ozzfest is looking pretty rockin this year; Ozzy, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, POD, etc. I think it may make up for Xfest, which seems to be becoming a little more corporate and annoying every year. We didn't even end up going as it was only Friday/Saturday and outrageously expensive. We probably should have gone out to the campground and partied a little, but instead spent Saturday evening at Alex's parents' new home south of the cities. They had a huge bonfire and bbq'd some food. Mix in a few drinks and some pukeins and it made for an extremely cool evening. Thanks again, Alex. Sorry if we freaked out your other friends. :P

Saw "Insomnia" last night, which was quite good. It starts off like any other murder movie, but gets more and more complex and twisted as the plot forms. Robin Williams is a quite convincing bad guy and Al Pacino, an excellent fucked up, sleep deprived good cop.

They previewed "Signs," which should be fantastic if it does the trailer justice. Can't go wrong with both Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix! *drool*

Rock. Things are falling into perfect place. My roomie just arrived home and shared some news with me. He just found out he got a job that requires training in Japan. He is moving in about three weeks, shortly before I was planning to be moving out of the condo anyway. Hopefully this will be a good venture for him, as it is in his chosen field, although not necessarily a step up. My parents pretty much freaked out when I told them what my plans are for the near future, but hopefully this will soften things as they need not worry about where Darin will go if they sell this place. I am overjoyed right now!

"Better stay inside, at least until the squirrels stop melting." - Marge Simpson

XFest is approaching rapidly, although this year may be a little different than years past. The camping crowd has shrunk tremendously and may not include us either. Money all too often seems to be a deciding factor in what happens lately, but this time I don't mind all that much. In two weeks Ben and matt are moving into their new home, half of a duplex (double bungalow?) in the middle of Richfield. One or two months after I will be moving out of the living situation that I've grown so tired of, and in with them! We've been waiting so long to finally live together as we spend so much of our time together anyway. The situation at the condo keeps growing worse and I don't like feeling uncomfortable in a place I've lived in and paid rent on for years. It will be so nice to wander down the hall, doing my own thing, and run into my sweetheart watching a movie or working on music or his computer. It will be so wonderful to not have to worry about having the things I need at the place that I am staying for the night and oh soooo many other things.

It's been a pretty good weekend considering I went into it in a really bad mood with a yucky, but extremely short-lived, cold. Matt and I mellowed out Friday night watching "Final Fantasy" and slept very late the next morning. We went out to St. Anthony Falls with his family Saturday afternoon for a little fishing and playing on the rocks. It's a lovely sunny day, not too cold yet just chilly enough to wear a sweatshirt, my favorite weather! This makes me want to wander out into the woods with Matty and a few friends and sit around a campfire all night. It must be that time of year. We tried to take advantage of the breeze this afternoon out in the park, but we couldn't get the kite up for more than a couple minutes at a time. I am relaxed and feeling really good about life right now. Who wouldn't after an afternoon of kite flying? :o)

Just found out a little more info about the 70's comedy "Soap," from whence my first name came from. The character Corrine Flotsky was a beautiful brunette whom my father was most enamoured with. After looking up her picture, I feel most honored.

The Rules of Life:

"1. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.
2. You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't,use the tape.
3. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship "I apologize" and "You are right."
4. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
5. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.
6. The only really good advice that your mother ever gave you was, "Go! You might meet somebody!"
7. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her--believe them.
8. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, 'Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?'
9. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.
10.If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!
11.Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.
12.Work is good, but it's not that important.
13.And finally... Be really nice to your friends and family. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan."

(via an email forward)

The guys got the house! Moving begins June 1st or the night before! It's going to be so nice for them to be back in their own place and for me to move in hopefully within a couple of months after. I talked to my parents about it the other night, and as expected, they weren't too happy about the idea, but I think after things cool down a bit they will accept that I am an adult and capable of making my own decisions as to where I want my life to go. There are too many reasons for me not to continue living where I am now and too many reasons for me to want to move up to Richfield. I'm somewhat anxious to talk to them again to figure out sale plans on the condo, even if it's going to be a pretty difficult discussion.

I have web galleries made for the pictures from California and a couple of parties at the House of Skark, but I think I'm going to either wait until I'm not on someone else's dialup while they're using it, or until I have access to dsl to upload them.

I'm fighting a cold and it's knocking me out far more than any cold I can remember having in recent past. I just started feeling it yesterday or the day before and today I called in sick to work and have been sitting around doing absolutely nothing alllll day and feeling extremely hazy. I thought it might just be the cold medicine, but I've never had it do this to me before. I really hope it's not the flu. I've been lucky and haven't been sick since January. Maybe it's because of those full nights of sleep that I've been managing to aquire lately. :o)

We saw "Attack of the Clones" last night at midnight thanks to a little online ticket hunting by Tony. I was actually somewhat more impressed with this episode than the first, although there wasn't quite as much plot to it. It's almost entirely a love story and a setup for the next episode, which for god's sake better not be another three years away! Some of the costumes designed for Padme are absolutely incredible and the cg sets were well done and beautiful (though still no comparison to the incredibly realistic cg used in "Lord of the Rings").

I'm in Willmar for the night and am taking advantage of this boring evening to scan four rolls of recently developed photos from the last party at the House of Skark and our trip out to California. I will need to do a little quick cropping and editing when I get back to the cities, but will most likely have them up by the close of the weekend, provided we don't end up going to see Richie Hawtin tomorrow night(!!!).

I really really need to get an f'in scanner... and soon. There are way too many random times (far apart, but oh so important!) that I kick myself for not already having one. Looks like there's a lot out there for fairly cheap right now. Any ideas? I'm so anxious to scan my pictures from the trip, and from the last party at the original House of Skark. Lots of drunken people lying on the floor and trying to eat sandwiches. They shall be quite entertaining to those who attended. Perhaps another late night run to Kinko's is necessary.

blah

Thankfully Dad was in the cities yesterday so he picked me up after work and drove me to Willmar to buy my "new" Taurus. It's taking a little getting used to as it's so much bigger than my little Honda, but I think it's going to be nice to have for a while. No more stuffing four people in a car built to comfortably seat two. I cleaned out most of my car tonight to get it ready to be towed, which was really hard to do. I can't believe how attached I've become to a car. This is crazy. :P

I'm really worn out and so glad that tomorrow's Friday. I have to go in to work early a couple of days next week as well, but it won't be consistent nights of seven or less hours of sleep. The Sasha/Digweed show is this weekend, too! We've been waiting to see these guys for so long.

Well, the car hunt was looking dreary, but after speaking to Dad this afternoon I feel a lot better about it. If I can ever get ahold of this guy to look at a Honda Civic, I'm going to tomorrow or Thursday, but otherwise, there is a Ford Taurus with my name written on it waiting in Willmar. Not my absolute first choice for a car, exactly, but it will be roomy and sounds like it has several good features. Most importantly, it runs well and will be cheap to maintain (so I can theoretically save up for a down payment in a year or two). Hopefully I'll know more tomorrow.

The weather here is absolutely nuts for the middle of April. I stepped off the plane last night to find it had been 90 degrees here in the afternoon and was still pretty close to that. So much for those long sleeves and the sweater I had with me in preparation to return to cold and rain like I had left on Thursday. :P Today was similar, 85 or so, and kind of hazy. It feels like the middle of July. One saving grace is that it's windy as can be and looks like we're going to get hit with a decent storm tonight. Ahhhh, Minnesota weather.

Reality was painful to face at 6am this morning when the alarm clock started beeping, but I only have three days more to this week and can see the light at the end of the tunnel of insanity I'm in for the moment.

Do I really have to go back to reality at 7am tomorrow morning?! Just got back from CA and what a fun weekend! Friday was pretty uneventful, Saturday was a jam packed adventure to San Francisco, and Sunday was spent lounging around in the sunny 80 degree weather, playing games and out and out relaxing. I took a couple rolls of pictures and will post them and probably a longer entry about the trip later this week. For now, I need to rest up to begin another busy week of work and car hunting. G'nite. :o)

I left Matt and Ben this morning at the airport security check and began a pretty crazy day. Had an appointment to get my car appraised after getting the back end smucked in an accident last week. The other girl's insurance company wants to total it so as of next week it will no longer be mine and in the meantime I need to frantically search for something good for $1500. If anyone knows anyone that's selling something cheap and reliable, please lemme know! I will miss my cute little green Honda. It's the only car I've owned and I've been driving it since I was 15. It's been very good to me and is fun to drive. I think I've been reading too many car ads today; I'm starting to sound like them.

In 48 hours I will be a couple thousand miles away and back in my baby's arms. I have to get through a long day tomorrow at work, do some packing, and hopefully get to bed early, get up for another early work day and leave at second break to head to the airport and off to Stockton, CA. I'm so anxious to step off that plane and into Matt's arms and a FUN weekend in Stockton and San Francisco! I'm hoping to see Alcatraz, THE bridge, the ocean again, and so many of the other neat aspects of the area that I've heard about.

I'm a very happy camper. I have a few hurdles to jump in the near future with my car and finances, but things at work are going so smoothly and I am deeply and happily in love. Five months ago I had no idea I'd be in such a wonderful place now.

Russell Crowe gets cooler and cooler by the day! Apparantly he really does knit. Sweet.

It's Easter Eve so I'm in Willmar for the evening and tomorrow morning for church. I hadn't been home since Christmas nor seen much of my family since Thanksgiving so it's a mixed blessing and curse. I miss everyone, and it's nice to be reminded of the freely given love and encouragement that can be found here, but I am also reminded just how different some of my views have become from theirs. I see so much of myself in my father in the things I think and what I choose to say. He is probably one of the most liberal in our family, although he has chosen to teach his children to be a little more conservative for Mom and the rest of the family. At least I know where much of what I do comes from and it's nice to know that I'm not the just a complete freak of the family.

We've been munching on a full turkey dinner and snacks all day. Now I hear people lining up to get plates of leftovers and soup for supper so I think I shall join them. We are definitely a family of consumers (food and otherwise).

Gone, but apparantly not entirely forgotten. I've been absent from the internet for three weeks or so now... since the house of skark was shut down and the dsl went kaput, and it's nice to randomly be hearing from a few people I've been losing touch with (like I tend to do when things start actually happening in my life).

We've been bouncing back and forth between his Mom and Dad's place and my apartment and so far it's been going even better than I had hoped. Although the house situation has been on hold for a while and things are just chugging along at their usual pace, I feel great amounts of promise welling up underneath the garbage moods I've been rolling in and out of. Maybe it's just pms subisiding. Who knows... I'm happy.

Found this a few weeks back on someone's blog (sorry I can't remember who it was to credit them).

We went to check out a rental place in south-eastern Minneapolis today and I'm giddy about it. It's the upper floor of a duplex (which means we would be the noisy upstairs neighbors instead of waking up to them at 7am), and has teeny bedrooms but a huge common area that makes us wonder what we could possibly do with all of the space. The three bathrooms to four bedrooms ratio brings me back to the wonderful childhood days of never having to wait for a sibling or a parent to stop hogging the bathroom when you're trying to get ready in the morning or just gotta go. :P I really think this place could be a kickass location for this bunch. I'm hoping things go smoothly in the near future for the boys getting a new place (this one?) and me getting out of my current place and going through whatever may come in dealing with my family on the issue.

Sure the idea of her and what she does are a little nuts, but I have been finding myself more and more fascinated by some of the ideas Martha Stewart kicks out of her fanatically organized, ever-so-crafty and original brain. Then there is Not Martha for those that are slightly less inclined to dole out a spotless product every time, and who don't necessarily need to have their silverware coordinate with their chair cushions. I may need to find some holiday in the near future as an excuse to make these. A substitute for Easter eggs perhaps (since all they ever do is sit all beautifully colored getting rotten over the course of a month or two in a grey paper carton in the fridge)?

I want one.

Matt installed Greymatter on my site a few days ago and I finally have the motivation to start setting it up. Now I can't figure out HOW and he's off working somewhere. That'll teach me to be lazy for days on end when he's urging me to work on it. :P [/sarcasm]

I should make mention to the kickass Wiki he also put up on Magnificentwheat a few days ago. The concept is fabulous. The reader can edit ANYthing on the site and it turns into a big mess of links and a whole lot of wacky content. RussellFreedom for president in 2004!

I was paid quite a compliment at work today by one of the few people that I converse with on a fairly regular basis. He mentioned that I do what needs to be done around there; that I "keep a low profile and run under the radar," which allows me to get away with a little bit more than the average person. I was just starting to think it was exactly what was holding me back, as some of the loud brash folks seem to have the supervisors wrapped around their fingers, but I think he's right. I'm flying low, getting my work done and doing it well, and in the long run, I hopefully come out on top.

"How to bury a drunk." (via memepool)

[rina] bbc's olympics site is cool
[rina] lots of stats
[porked] who one the womens curling event?
[rina] hah
[rina] you seriously wanna know?
[porked] unfortunatley.
[rina] Women's Preliminaries Draw 7
[rina] Britain 7 Switzerland 4
[rina] Canada 8 Germany 4
[rina] Norway 5 Russia 4
[rina] Sweden8 Japan 7
[rina] whatever that means
[HighElf] go canada go?
[porked] i some how got stuck watching that last night and never got to wee how it turned out.
[rina] what do those scores mean?
[HighElf] don't have any idea how curling works.
[rina] i know nothing about that .."sport"
[rina] heh
[porked] i have no idea either
[rina] hahahaha
[HighElf] heh
[HighElf] but the disc thingys move around and hit each other. :P

.....Does anyone have any insight into this?

What an excessively cool site for an exsessively strange car. It's growing on me.... I think I need the Mini Cooper S in British Racing Green with a black roof.

Grr, I was so looking forward to the weekend, to staying up late, to playing games til all hours of the night. Got out of work and all was well for a couple of hours, got some supper, ran an errand, then found out that I can't play the game I wanted to play because of some bullshit with my computer and rampant stubornness. And now it's not even 10:00 and I'm out of gas for the night. I don't want to give in and go to bed. It seems like such a waste of good weekend. So here I sit, wasting away, staring at webpages I don't even care about, and wishing someone would talk to me. So, so pathetic.

Well said.

"A chocolate husband. Oh, how darling!"
~ Majula, The Simpsons

"There's a nut in my eye."
~ Apu, The Simpsons

Things I miss about cable television:
. Cirque du Soleil broadcasted every so often on Bravo... I miss this the most.
. Junkyard Wars (and everything else on TLC). Yes, even a random "Wedding Story" mush fest once in a while.
. The Travel Channel. This channel is great on lazy weekend afternoons.
. VH1
. The Weather Channel. The web is a great substitute, but not on a dialup, and I miss a few of the specials.
. seeing The Simpsons static-less without having to stand next to the television holding onto the antenna.
. The Discovery Channel

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you with all of my heart, Matty.

"They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them."

"The dance of fear and desire, the duel of friction and gravity, the deadlock of speed and security. This is skiing. Your fingers so cold you can hardly grip your poles, your eyelashes stuck together. Your skis carving a graffiti message of perfect arcs into winter's white indifference, winter's pale skin, the language of linked arcs, circle talk, S-curve whispers in the wind, spindrift flying off cornices, frost feathers in the snow shooting back darts of light, that first light in the first moments of the first run in the first morning of the world, diamond sparkles, angel dust in the air..."

I'm getting the bug in me again. It's the time of year where I either need to start thinking about getting out there on the slopes or just call it another year. I think we may finally have some decent snow around here, and we're supposed to get another eight inches or so over the weekend. Yeah, I think Wild Mountain or maybe even Afton Alps are in my near future.

The fuse is shortening and I'm scared it's about to
BLOW.

I found this amongst some text files I've written and kept on my computer. It's apparantly from September 12th, 2001.

'I drove near downtown Minneapolis tonight on a freeway interchange that I have always loved because it gives such a beautiful and unadulterated view of the downtown skyline, which is especially gorgeous at night. I know that I find so much comfort in the beauty of this familiar sight. The New York skyline was dramatically changed yesterday, and it will be a while before we know if it will ever be the same again. To see such a dramatic change will be an ever present reminder for the New York people of the tragedy that occured. The numbers of estimated deaths keep fluctuating, but already they are unimaginable. There will be a gaping hole in their city, which represents a much larger gaping hole in the survivors' lives.'

And from September 26th:

'I have a sticker that says, "Not all who wander are lost." That does not apply. I am wandering and confused and don't know what to do with myself. I've lost him. I've lost my connection with the most wonderful man I've ever met. I'm trying to figure out where to go next, what to do to make the pain a little more bearable. The thing that is killing me is that I think things could have been better. One more shot. And that is too much to ask now. I have had an awakening. My heart has spent the last two weeks in a strange solitude and during that time has come to revelations. Unfortunately, much too late. I am a mess of anger (at myself), frustration, promise, and pain.'

My mind was jumbled up muck then. Not that I'm any less jumbled up now, but I'm definitely not so mucky. "Hello sunsine," he said this afternoon. Not only was it there drying the roads, but it has found it's way back into my life as well.

*deep breath* What's the exchange rate for British pounds to US dollars??

The Industrious Clock (via EvHead)

I couldn't be happier for you, Eric. It seems just right this time.

*ACHOO!*... And on that note, I'm off. Left work after being there for a half hour, and need to take this time to sleep and ditch this horrible nasty bug.

How did I get so lucky to have you to love me? How did your paths cross at just the right time in our lives, causing some pain and heartache, but in the end, turning into a love more grand than I could have ever imagined. You make me warm inside. I love you, Matt.

Happy Loni Anderson Day! (um?!?!) (via Highelf)

I've hardly had a spare moment to stop and think lately, and when I do, I usually end up falling asleep. Been spending a ton of time with my Matty and Ben and more recently, Evan, who was home for a couple of weeks on break from school at UOP. It's been hectic, but nice. The negatives aren't so negative anymore. And the positives, well, they're incredible.

I don't get email anymore. Haven't had anything more than one or two mails a day from mailing lists for about a week. I'm losing touch again, but with things and people that were nothing but detrimental. I just miss those few that have kept me going when I needed a little nudge, or even to be completely held up.

I need a new roomie. Or I need to get out of my current place. Problem is, I've lived here for four and a half years and I'm paying cheap rent because we have a mortgage. Long story. Boring details. But anyway, my roomie is my cousin. Not exactly easy to discuss problems with nor to kick out on a whim. I'm frusterated over little issues that have stacked up over time to become big issues. I brought them up and discussed them to the best of my abilities long ago. Nothing has happened to resolve them. Here I sit getting pissed off and slowly growing more animosity towards a family member. This is not cool.

My life has been taking huge turns for the better, then got a little confusing again, and resumed a path of some familiarity, but better. The last few days I've just been poopy though. I usually blame it on lack of sleep, but I've been getting 7-9 hrs every night for a couple of weeks now. I don't think it's horomones. I don't think it's what I've been eating - been munching much healthier than usual for a couple of months. Perhaps it's post-holiday let-down or something of the sort. Or just utter blahs over my living situation plus fears about friend's situations. Whatever it is, I need to figure something out to cure it fast. I was enjoying my bliss way too much to let it go so easily.