this makes me sick

This makes me so upset. I cannot communicate how ill, repulsed & irate this makes me. I can't imagine how anyone can justify something like this.

Fox News gets okay to misinform public, court ruling | Media Reform | CeaseSPIN.org

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ships ahoy!

I am so lame. For my birthday last year, my folks got me tickets to the Tall Ships Festival in Tacoma, but it's taken me 11 months to get my album finished! I only completed it yesterday... so in the spirit of that, I'll link you all to some of the photos that I posted on my facebook, too. I can't believe it's taken me almost a friggin year.

Here's a teaser of the epic adventure:

random awesomeness

Did you know that the stinging box jellyfish is the most deadly animal on the planet? It's venom is so strong, that it can kill a person in three minutes. Also, jellyfish have been around for over 500 million years. They found a fossil in Utah dating jellies 205 million years older than previously thought.

& I have discovered the wonder of the History Chanel, in hi-def. MonsterQuest, anyone? Life After People? The mind boggles.

the sea 101

I have no idea why I've started this blog.. I already have one at LiveJournal, but I guess since I'm pretty protective about that one, no one else really gets a chance to snoop on me the way I do my friends. So this blog is for them. I'll cross-post between the two, & hopefully make this one a little more highbrow then the other (which is sometimes all about fan squealing & nerdiness, I won't lie).

stormie mcrainsalot

Dude, it rained so hard today. It was amazing! Thunderstorms rolled into town one after another all evening long. I laid down on the floor by the back door & stared out into the darkness, waiting for the floor to shake one more time, to feel my chest rumble w/ the voice of nature. I must have looked like a silly little girl, laying there on my stomach, feet up in the air & grinning like a fool. There's just something about the way lightening shocks my body into amazement that I love. The feeling deep in your body, before you hear it, of the coming thunder. It's all so violent, & so beautiful. I love the contradiction of nature.

phone interviews & pains in the ass

I had my phone interview for the Peace Corps today. I think it went pretty well. I'm trying not to think about it too much, since past experience has taught me that the more confident I feel about something, the harder I tanked it. (& vica versa.)

Anyway, Melissa--my recruiter--& I talked about general interview stuff, & then moved on to things like "how do you feel changing your personal appearance to align more closely w/ a different culture?" & then came the language training questions. Good thing I love languages. I think that might be one of the things I'm looking forward to the most: learning a new language. She also asked questions about whether I'm a vegetarian (no), & would I feel comfortable eating different cuisines. Now, I know she has to ask these questions, but basically, if it's not American, I'm down w/ it. I'll pretty much try anything once. What the hell is the point of experiencing new things if you're gonna crap all over the way someone else does them?

So, other than that, things have been slow. My surgery, which I promised I would talk a little more about goes something like this: pilonidal disease. It sucks, alot. It's not life-threatening, but a major pain in the ass, literally, if you're like me & have to deal w/ a chronic acute abscess. Basically, it's a cyst that becomes infected. That's not the troubling part. It's the location that sucks. It's tucked down at the base of your spine. Yeah. So I've had surgery on my ass three times now, w/ an incision of 4-5 inches each time. The real issue is w/ healing & giving the area the proper wound care. All of these things are debated by different surgeons, all of whom are arrogant bastards who I cannot wait to have no further dealings w/.

Well, to wrap this up (cause sitting in this chair is really not possible for me): my stitches itch, they look ugly, I feel ugly, my ass hurts, my hips hurt & I'm pretty bored. I'd take a pain pill, but I haven't even eaten yet today. I guess that's something can do next...

surgeries & pain meds

So, I've been feeling a little sorry for myself tonight... I got to take the bandage off & take a shower, finally. Anyway, I took a close look at the stitches & the incision, & I started to cry. I know it's not a huge deal, & that the crap I'm dealing w/ isn't life-threatening, but I'm still tired of it. Five years & three surgeries is enough for me. (I'll post more later about what the hell I'm talking about.)

But here's what happened tonight. Sara called from work, because a client of ours has been asking about me all day. So, Laura gets on the phone & is asking me when I'll be back at work & how I'm doing. It was really nice to hear that someone gave a shit about how I was... & then came the kicker at the end. She said, "you no more hurt, okay?" I guess all it takes is for a 40-year old woman w/ cerebral palsy & a mental age of about eight to put things in perspective.

family makes me crazy

It's one of those hopeful days, continuing on from the scheduling of my PC interview yesterday. Thank god, because the irritation that I left California w/ has been driving me batty. Here's the lowdown:

Went to SoCal for my grandmother's surprise 80th birthday party. That part was great. Sara Spink came down from LA for the party, & we later hit the beach in Oceanside. I haven't been down there since my grandfather died four years ago, so I was happy to take the time off from work for the occasion. The thing that nearly killed me, however, was my aunt.

Shit. I love my family, mostly because I'm supposed to, I guess, but this was a big stretch for me. Imagine the worst micro-manager you have ever known, & there's somewhat of what my aunt is. The most nausating part of her intense need to be up in everyone's shit is that she has two teenage sons, 14 & 17. They have to call & check in w/ her every two hours or so. The younger one, he isn't allowed to dish out his own dinner. She freaking spoons it out for him, & practically feeds it to him herself.

Whatever, if you want to treat your kids like infants, I guess that's your business, but don't get all mommy on my 26 year old ass. I never fucking lived w/ you, I never went to you for mommy advice, & I never want you questioning me about where I'm going, what I'll be doing & how long I'll be doing it for in front of all my adult family. Everyone just stood there, uncomfortable, looking to me like I was absolutely out of my mind for responding, "I don't know, & I don't answer to you. I'll be back later."

Anyway, end of rant. There were numerous other examples of her being crazy, like my washing my laundry w/ towels, supervising how much detergent I put into the load, etc. For fuck's sake! I didn't live on my own, study abroad or travel to Australia at 13 or anything. God.

But all that's passed, because I am having surgery on Friday, my interview is on Tuesday, & hopefully I'll be an example to her kids that you can do whatever the fuck you want when you grow up. All you gotta do is get away from her.

peace corps!

I know it's been a few weeks since last posted.. family trips to SoCal & the like.. BUT I just scheduled my Peace Corps interview for the 16th! That's next week already! WHAT UP. It sounds like I qualify for maybe three different programs! Take that, world. I am effing awesome.