Caterwauling

“And I said we are interdependent
And the effects on each other neverending
And that the air has no boundaries
I think this water that surrounds me
Is the same water soaking through to you
So what comes floating to me
Eventually
Will come floating back to you.”

1. I wanted to write a poem today, but I’ve started leaving my journal at home, and it was like I was too lost to bother. But, this song sums up what I wanted to say anyway. Download away. 🙂 See above for part of the song; full lyrics are here. And I may post something original, if I can just get it right.

2. I was doing an artsy project tonight while I watched “American Idol.” It involved cellophane and ribbons, and as I was using some scissors to curl the cobalt-blue ribbon, I had a vivid memory of my grandmother. She used to make the most gorgeous bows. She taught me how to properly wrap a gift — from picking the most exquisitely beautiful wrapping to getting all the coordinating ribbons to make lovely bows. And she taught me how to curl ribbons with extra-sharp scissors. Even though I was a wee lass, she trusted me to not land myself in the hospital with the blades. 🙂 And I never felt like I could do it as well as she could. I still don’t. But I’m left to carry on her legacy, and I do what I can. I know she’d be proud that I still remember.

3. I finally got to talk to my best friend tonight (damn time zone difference). We laughed and philosophized and caught up and laughed a whole lot more. She did a dozen television, radio and newspaper interviews today in her community, and I am so proud of her. It also reminds me in a big way, though, that I wish I could be helping her. But, as I told her, we have to be on separate coasts right now because the universe is simply not ready for us and all the things we can achieve when we’re working alongside each other. And, I will get back to her neighborhood soon enough. I just don’t know that I will be able to stop hugging her once I see her again.

4. My apartment complex was sold off yesterday. My rent is cheap (by Northern Virginia standards — not by sane people everywhere else, however), and I am nervous. See, we’re all on month-to-month leases now — when our leases came up for renewal, we were thrilled to not be locked in for a year. Heh. Yeah, let’s watch to see how long our current rates last.

5. From my journal: “I look forward to what my days will bring. And, even if they don’t seem to bring too much, well, they have at least brought me one day closer to fulfilling my destiny.” One by one, I’ve been getting rid of the negative people, places and things that used to devastate me. No more. I’ve taken back my life and changed my expectations. And my happy place? Way happier now. 😀

6. The Terry Schiavo case. I’ve kept mum because of how my grandmother was murdered by McKeesport Hospital and its imbecilic personnel — they forced us to sign a DNR, told us to “go take a break” and then shot her up with enough morphine to anesthetize the Washington Redskins … all of them. They didn’t give her a chance to live — they didn’t TELL us that they were going to KILL HER. I’ll spare you the drama, but I am not in favor of killing someone when they have life and vim and vigor within them as the fucktards at McKeesport Hospital keep operating a death chamber.

Whew.

Anyway, I don’t know that it’s *right* to deny Terry food and water as the way to let her die. But, it is in fact time to let her die. Time for everyone who is still living to get on with their lives. What frosts my flakes is how many people in this world lack health care and are unemployed/homeless, yet this person who has ceased to be a productive human being gets more opportunities to eat (theoretically) and live and have a warm bed every night while millions of Americans don’t have such luxury. I’m tired of the partisan politics being dragged into this — suffice it to say, Terry’s husband invited due process into this to help him make the agonizing decision. Justice, were it to prevail, would call for an end the semantics and let the woman die a dignified death. Where is Kevorkian when we need him? I know — send her to the pinnacle of incompetence that is McKeesport Hospital!

On iTunes: Cyndi Lauper, “Eventually”

*Swiped from my beloved Swirly Girl.

1. Do you wear a watch?
I have 25 watches, and they all need batteries (and all I have lying around the house are Double As). I’ve all but given up on wrist-wear thanks to a mild case of carpal tunnel, so I rely on my cell phone for the time. In fact, a woman asked me the time the other day, and I pulled out my phone. She said, “Oh, I guess I could have done that.” And we marveled how watches are heading the way of the dinosaurs.

2. What’s your favorite pizza topping(s)?
In order: Extra Cheese, Ranch Dressing. Chicken, Pepperoni. Preferably, a combination thereof.

3. What’s your blood type?
*scratches head* I think it’s O. But I do know it has the Rh Factor.

4. Lunch/supper/dinner…what do you call your mid-day meal and your evening meal?
Lunch and dinner. Or, “Chocolate”!

5. Men: do you prefer women to have long or short hair? Ladies: do you prefer men to be clean-shaven or to have facial hair?
Mom and I were discussing this yesterday, how we will always have a weakness for scruffy, long-haired, rocker-type dudes (see Constantine and Bo, who always get my votes on “American Idol”).

But, I go the opposite way, too — there’s something about the clean-shaven professional types that makes you wonder if they are really animals underneath the tidy exterior. Rowr. 😉 There are many uses for a tie collection, I say. And I know how to sew buttons back onto dress shirts. 😉

6. If forced to choose, would you rather lose your sense of smell and taste or your sense of hearing?
I’d rather lose my sense of smell and taste. It would make public restrooms so much more pleasant.

7. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?
Shopping. Like, I hate to be in the house and will spend a whole day driving all over creation to shop. I give myself little adventures — like a new denim miniskirt or a green hair clip or whatever — and go nuts finding everything BUT. 🙂

8. What color underwear are you wearing right now?
Black boyshorts with a hot pink trim around the waist. On the front, in tiny letters on my left side, it says “I Love Me” and, on the right-side cheek, it says “Who Doesn’t?”

9. Are you allergic to anything?
Mold, dust, fresh-cut grass. Pet dander (says she who has two puds). Lactose (although I will gladly suffer for ice cream!).

10. What are your thoughts on abstinence-focused sex education?
Y’all are screwing yourselves if you think THAT will work!