North-northwest of Reality

It was going to be a sunny day, the sky proclaimed though the sun was still not fully overhead yet... and I was at the beach with the Munsters and I was commenting on how much pollution had upset the lake this year, so much so that it had dried up some of the water and left other parts full of algae so that people couldn't swim very well... The Munsters hadn't really noticed because they were too busy picking dead fish off the shore line... they were going to be having the Addams family over later and they wanted to make sure they felt at home... Then Herman, the dad, found a large stretch of clay and decided to build a gazebo out of it right next to a public bathroom that was near the shore... It actually turned out to be quite gorgeous, full of latticed celtic knotwork and tiles of intricate medieval gothic design... but he never fired the clay, so that when he went to show us what he had created, his big franken-head knocked through the ornate ceiling he had made and then he got a bit frustrated and punched through a wall or two clumsily... the man who played Vizzini in the movie The Princess Bride (Wallace Shawn) was there when this happened and he starting berating the Munsters for everything that they had done since they set foot on the beach... I wandered away from them a bit because something in the dappled shadows of some shrubbery (junipers, ferns, and some Labrador tea plants) caught my eye... it was a card that looked like one from a Collectible Card Game like Magic: the Gathering or the one that's currently out for Marvel comics... but this was not a normal game card though... this one was a CCG of the gods, something that I knew instantly upon seeing it, as though I was on a mission and had to 'catch them all,' to borrow a term from Pokemon... this card had the picture of a divine brown cow who had recently declared to the realms that no other cow may be sent to market except for herself for she was a goddess now and would spring back to life after dying, thus solving all the issues that mankind had with diseased beef and world hunger... she offered the choicest cuts at the most divine prices and would offer discounts to poorer populations... the noble mortal cow should be sacred to all and milked by hand as needed... she further threatened that any farmer/butcher/whomever who disobeyed her decree (such as by slaying one of these "chosen moo" or by milking them with those terrible mass-milk harvesting machines) would face her wrath and promised it wouldn't be pretty... I picked up the card then and it radiated softly with magical power...

And that's when I woke up and thought I would share what I just saw... I'm good like that... ^_~

Riots and Tacos and Magic... oh my!

Last night was our regular gaming night wherein we play tabletop roleplaying games and hang out as friends... I look forward to Saturday nights every week because I adore the socialization and it's just plain fun to pretend that you are someone you can never be...

This week we played our superhero campaign, "filmed in HERO-vision" as I wrote in my game notes... which basically means we're using the HERO system to play rather than Mutants & Masterminds (aka M&M)... this will mean nothing to non-gamers I am sure and really makes no nevermind anyways since if you are a good roleplayer you can play any system and still have a lot of fun... I just think saying our game was "filmed in HERO-vision" is funny... it's like we're making an old serialized TV show wherein we are all stars... and just like a good TV show, this week's episode was jam packed with fun, excitement, and suspense... we started and ended a huge gang riot in the oldest part of town, my mage-girl had a tussle with our mentalist which ended with my mage thrown into a wall and the mentalist thrown through a table full of Mexican food, and then we were all attacked by some shadowy girl who bore some resemblances to my character and ended up being teleported to another dimension by my mage-girl's magical flying panther... only to be left in a cliffhanger after finding my character's long lost daddy standing right there amidst the perfect scenery of the magical realm.... mega-kudos to my hubby for making it all happen... my man is a genius... no, no... super-genius when it comes to running a game! I can hardly wait until we play again so I can find out what's going to happen next!! ^_^

Oh, and for the record, if you soak small shrimp bits in soya sauce and some spices, and then cook them in some butter, the resulting colour is very much like the beans in a can of pork-n-beans... or at least it was when I did it... but the shrimp tastes a lot better mixed with onions, broccoli, and rice than the pork-n-beans mixed into the same concoction would I wager... ^_~

Something Is Missing... YAY!

I was just about to start some housework that I missed out on because of a severe thunderstorm that ripped through town yesterday... I went upstairs to change out of the skirt I was wearing as a muu muu (any skirt I own needs to be versatile like that since it's often more comfy to wear skirts as a muu muu than as skirts, plus this skirt has a really neato tribal motif that reminds me of tropical places)... I wanted to wear shorts (not the underwear shorts, the overwear ones) since it is warm out and I am going to be doing housework which makes me feel even warmer... just one problem... I only own one pair of shorts that fit me right now and that pair needs laundering badly... sadly, my other shorts have all met timely/untimely ends such as zippers skipping their tracks and just plain wearing out... but then I had a wacky idea... my mother in law got me a pair of dark blue denim shorts at a garage sale a while back but they were too small for me and I had had to put them in my box of "things I want to wear someday"... in my wackiness I dug them out, thinking if anything the cat would get a good laugh at how chubby I am... to my shock and surprise, they actually cleared my hips without me sucking anything in! A miracle of miracles!! Now if only I could maybe get them zippered up... I thought, no way... they'll be too tight to even bother... but then I remembered the cat laughing and went for it anyway... and lo! they zippered up... sure, I had to suck my belly in and it was a very tight fit... I could barely sit down in them and still breathe when I tried... but it gave me a newfound knowledge that I am actually losing weigh for sure... proper portion sizes and drinking a lot of water has actually been paying off... it truly boggles the mind!... just think of what would happen if I exercised regularily... wow!... I might be able to fit in some of my clothes from high school... okay, so that's not so much of an incentive but you get the picture... and to top it all off, when I reached this epiphany of weightloss, what should pop onto my mp3 playlist but good ol' Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World... I've got a musical playlist that's responding to how I'm feeling today... how cool is that?!

So for the rest of the day, as I continue to listen to my mp3 playlist very loudly and do housework, I think I might sing and dance a little bit more than usual and I'm sure I'll be a much lighter spirit because of it! ^_^

Beamed To A Better Place...

I was going to write about how my mood had improved drasticly and that my clothes actually matched my purse but I came home to find this out...

James Doohan died today at 5:30am at his home in Redmond, Washington... the great Canadian actor was best known for his role as the loveable chief engineer of the starship Enterprise, Montgomery Scott... millions of Trek fans globally mourn the loss, as do I... but I'd like to think that he's been beamed to a better place where he no longer has to worry about the Alzheimer's disease that was plaguing him... for someone who brought such joy to millions, he deserves nothing less.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Okay... just so you know, my mood has improved somewhat... not much, but somewhat... I am trying to focus on completely happy thoughts, like emails from my sister and the fact that I now have a Roman coin from AD 337-350... I even decided to create-and-nuture four new towns in my Sim City rather than build-and-destroy them all... I don't know how long that will last, but for now they can rest easy knowing that this Sim deity isn't going to blast them into oblivion...

I wish I knew what was making me so snippy-snappy... I'd say that it's the phase of the moon and would probably be partly correctly, especially since last night, when I threw the garbage out, the moon was quite ominously rust-coloured... maybe it's the compounding of years of homesickness... maybe it's envy of people who can have family vacations and see the world with people they love... maybe it's lack of a decent sleep or the fact that I have a gnawing craving for a kind of food that we don't have in the house and never ever will... maybe I'm just driving myself mad for something to break up the monotony... nah... I went crazy once, didn't like it...

I actually almost wonder if I just need to get outside and become one with the earth again... don't freak out... my idea of 'becoming one with the earth' is getting my drawing gear, a snack & a drink, and a soft tapestry rug to sit on, then heading out into some peopleless part of nature for a while to clear my soul by listening to nature's soundtrack while I make some hobby art... usually this involves sitting near water or a great many trees... historical places also help me out a lot... I used to love going to Fort Walsh and Batoche... still would if the option existed... but alas, I am far away from the places that I used to go to... and I haven't a clue where to find a good where I am now... this needs more pondering methinks... *sigh*

The Panda-fly Effect

I woke up later than I thought I was going to... I rushed around trying to make up for the lost time and missed out on having a shower to feel fresh and clean so that I could eat breakie and fix things so that my wonderfluff feline would be happy while everyone was away... my clothes felt all wet and sticky from the smothering humidity, which only added to the ickiness I felt at not having had a shower... I was away from my hubby (who broke his toe recently and has me all worried and such)... I was away from my stepgirls... I was away from my wonderfluff feline... all so that I could do some forced volunteering at a very nice art gallery run by very nice people - I normally quite enjoy being there, just not today... I kept messing up my alphabeticals... had to read and re-read the projects that I was given to work on because I kept messing up and making more work for myself... I couldn't type today to save my lief... I had an arguement with someone who thought Patrick Swayze was the main character in the movie White Noise when I know for a fact that this isn't so... I've had to repeat and repeat myself over and over and over and over so that someone actually hears my voice... and then I have to say it one more time so that they understand me... I smell like skunkweed... my personal headphones for the computer are all tangly-twistered into my hubby's set which turned my anger button from MILDLY-ANNOYED to URGE-TO-KILL-RISING... the hot dogs that we had for supper are making me feel like I am going to have an alien from Alien rip out of my belly button... and I think I'd like to crawl into a dark sunless corner to be alone for a while and cry my heart out through my skull... but I know I can't since as soon as I even try it, my ever-loving wonderfluff cat will become my shadow and try to cheer me up... and failing, he'll stalk off and I'll feel even more upset and sad... *sigh*... and a link that was sent to me by a good friend didn't work and I really really really wanted to see Suzaku, Seiryuu, Byakko, and Genbu playing poker!!! So I am a living bundle of emotions... I should just give up for the day... but then I see something that brings me a ray of happiness...

"Panda Leads Chinese City on Pursuit

BEIJING (AP) - A wild panda that strayed into a southwestern Chinese city over the weekend scaled a fence, hopped from roof to roof, swam in a river and napped in a tree before it was caught, a news agency reported. The panda led residents of Dujiangyan in Sichuan province on a chase after wandering into the town and spending the day there, the Xinhua News Agency said.

The saga began Saturday when three men drinking beer spotted a figure 'nimbly' climbing over a fence surrounding a housing estate, Xinhua said. The men and residents gave chase, thinking it was a thief trying to break in, but changed tactics when they realized it was a panda. Some people blocked entrances to the housing estate, while others searched for the animal and found it calmly sitting on the roof of a bungalow, Xinhua said. Efforts to reach the animal failed as it began running from roof to roof before hopping off 20 minutes later, climbing another gate and disappearing.

'The panda was amazingly agile and totally different from those at zoos,' Xinhua quoted one woman as saying. Police found the panda again a few hours later after receiving a report that it was taking a dip at a nearby river. It later hunkered down for the night in a tree. Xinhua said the animal was tranquilized the next morning.

Li Desen, a zoologist at the province's Wolong giant panda research center, said the panda suffers from liver and kidney disease and hurt her paws during her escapade. The animal hasn't eaten anything, although the center has prepared fresh bamboo leaves and glucose for her, Li said. The panda is now under 24-hour intensive care..."

Somehow it makes me feel better to know that I might be part of a butterfly effect with a panda... she's having a bad day but will hopefully get better *fingers crossed*... I am having a bad day but will hopefully get better *more fingers crosssed*... now I am going to take a few breaths, try to untangle the headphones for playing computer games, then cheat at Sim City 4... life will improve. -_-

Vacation With The Stars

So I was wandering around on the news sites, as I am wont to do early in the morning and I found an interesting tidbit of information hiding in plain sight...

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - In a scenario out of "Star Wars," astronomers have detected a planet outside our solar system with not one, but three suns, a finding that challenges astronomers' theories of planetary formation.
The planet, a gas giant slightly larger than Jupiter, orbits the main star of a triple-star system known as HD 188753 in the constellation Cygnus ("The Swan"). The stellar trio and its planet are about 149 light-years from Earth and about as close to each other as our sun is to Saturn, U.S. scientists reported on Thursday in the current edition of the journal Nature. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year.
If you stood on the planet's surface, you would see three suns in sky, although its orbit centers around the main yellow star among the trio. The larger of the other two suns would be orange and the smaller would be red, astronomers at California Institute of Technology said in a statement..."

Now this is an awesome thing to find and I'd love to see it with my own eyes... but I pose to you, the intelligent reader, how in all creation would a person stand on the surface of a gas giant planet? Last time I checked, they aren't exactly the most stable sort of place to be hanging out on, what with all that super-heated poisonous gas floating about... plus if I weighed 136 lbs on Earth, I'd weigh around 344.4 lbs on a Jupiter-like planet... I'd be too busy suffering from death or moving my gravity-fattened behind to get out of the fury of a gas storm to admire the pretty colours of the triad of suns!

~O~ ~o~ ~O~

Oh and on a slightly less silly note, I'd like to thank my good friend for the honour of collecting her mail and accidently killing one of her plants while she was in the UK only blocks away from one of the recent terrorist attacks there... I got a sew-on badge/patch with the adorable Welsh dragon on it and might perhaps get a Roman coin out of the deal... and since I didn't really expect to get much more than a postcard and a story about what happened while she was away anyhow, there is much happiness in myself today... I'm just uber-glad that she and her man made it back safely! ^_^

Lawnmowing Man

The fiend from apartment-C across the way from our place decided to mow his lawn at the ungodly hour of 7:30am... I think he actually started earlier than this, but that's what time it was when I shut the window and checked the clock, hoping against hope that I might be able to crawl back into the land of dreams... but alas, it was not to be so... with the loudest mower that was ever summoned from the volcanic pits of the underrealm, the fiend cut down the grass and innocent clover blossoms not only on his yard, but the adjoining yard as well...

*sigh* Being awake before my alarm-cat may make for a long, grumpy day... I might just have to vent my frustrations on a video game or a random Google search for 'happiness'... either that or I'll do laundry...

simple pleasures for a not-so-simple mind

After reading some that my friends and hubby did and telling myself that I should give it a go, I've finally done it... I've finally snagged myself a little plot of blogland to call my very own! As you can see, it's a nice little place, though a bit of a fixer-upper... it should be great once I sow a few seeds of silliness and drop a bit of drivel around... maybe I'll even hang up a few pictures here and there to add some colour once I figure out where to put them.

Tonight's blog shall be short due to lack of time to continue writing and an intense desire to watch some summer television programming, but expect a lot of silly commentary to show up here among the serious... after all, I'm an eccentric RPGing female with a vivid imagination and I'm not afraid to blue-book! Not afraid one bit... though how does one compress 6-10 pages of notes per gaming session into one little blog? I don't know right now, but I'm sure I'll try it at least once a week... our group plays almost every Saturday night and I'd love to be able to share some of the fun happenings that occur when I can.

But alas, I must sign off now... a night of reality TV awaits my attention... along with my cuddly cat, my handsome hubby, and two wonderful step-daughters who should be coming inside from playing in the summer dusk at any minute... g'night! ^_^