and now...

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

a fun time was had by all

My son, his grandma and I went to the Art Deco exhibit at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco. We also went to the San Francisco Zoo, which was fun. The coolest thing for me was being able to experience first-hand the things I've been studying in my summer classes. I was absolutely amazed at the art deco exhibit! It was wonderful. I also enjoyed seeing the lemurs and chimpanzees at the zoo. It was like a field trip!

atticus

Kirsten Dunst was on Ellen Degeneres' show and she said that she named her dog Atticus. I tried to find a reference to it on her website but was unsuccessful!

There's no such thing as 'race'

A lot of times people ask me if I am Irish because I have red hair and fair skin. Whatever. So the assumption is that all Irish people have red hair and fair skin? It's tough to wrap our minds around the idea that there is no scientific way to say that there are different races of humans. It's a myth-- a folk-tale. It's hard to understand because it has been so ingrained in our minds that you can tell where someone comes from by the color of their skin, the type of hair they have or any other aspect of their physical appearance. It is not biologically, scientifically possible to tell someone's race. It isn't real. I have heard people say that someone has Irish hands. Or, what about being hot-tempered as an Irish trait? Or Asians are conservative intellectuals. You know? It is a social construct. My maternal great-grandmother was from the Azores. My paternal grandmother's family came from England. However: humans have been 'inter-breeding' for millenia. Just because they came from a particular location doesn't mean that their 'ancestry' was 'pure'. Life is so confusing, I swear! We love to put labels on things. We love 'final answers', but I'm here to tell ya: there are none. Also: my weblog is meant to be a free-for-all journal of my thoughts. I can't put too much pressure on myself to make it perfect! K? So if it's not "HOT" that's just TOO BAD! I do the best I can. This is just me letting of steam in a variety of ways.

Stepford Wives

I saw The Stepford Wives last night and I thought it was great! Terrific cast. How can you go wrong with Christopher Walken? It was great to see Matthew Broderick in something. He doesn't seem much at all like Ferris Bueller anymore-- except that he'll always seem like a little boy you want to take care of. Nicole Kidman was very good. Her facial expressions perfectly conveyed the character's emotions! It was amazing to me. It was a funny movie.

Art

Sometimes, I think I am an artist. I have some artistic talent, I think. This class I am taking though, in 20th Century Art, makes me feel like I could never be an artist. Sometimes I think it is all very interesting and then other times I just think it's totally crazy and pointless! I get it; but, I don't get it. One thing I can say for sure is that I am confused.

instant insanity

Last night I had a now-rare burst of temper! I was so angry at my cat! It seems hilariously absurd in the light of day. The reason I was mad at her is complex, but not at all her fault! I think, in part, it has to do with the fact that I hardly ever allow myself to express anger anymore. I've become afraid of my own anger because it has led me to trouble in the past. Of course, this segues into the fact that I am probably mildly depressed as a result of such repression-- but that's a different story. Anyway... the long story is that I never wanted the cat in the first place. My son brought her home one day and I told him we couldn't keep her. We left her outside, but the following morning she was still around so I caved! Of course, I ended up being the one who takes care of her, and she has been something of a financial burden. I've spent hundreds of dollars on her in the past five months just getting her spayed and having her immunizations and some other small things. Vets are spendy! So, anyway... I haven't wanted her to be in my room at my new place, because I thought she could just be an outside cat. However, she recently had some kind of allergic reaction to something and I felt really guilty about having left her outside so much; so I've been letting her sleep in my room at night. At first, she was not used to it so she would just curl right up and go to sleep until morning. Now that she has become accustomed to this however, she's been wandering around in my room and getting all feisty. This leaves me feeling unsettled because I am not keeping a litter box in my bedroom and I'm worried that she will pee under my bed. So, we got into a power struggle last night. I could swear that she knew that I wanted her to stay put and so she obstinately refused to do so just on principle. If I'd've been smarter about it, I'd've just taken her outside and said 'To heck with it.' Only because of the guilt I feel, I kept insanely trying to force her to stay put on my bed and she was having none of it! I was totally enraged. This is one of my longest entries ever because it bothers me so much that I was so immature about it. I think that there is more to it than just the surface circumstance. It has something to do with my being unwilling to be an adult? Unwilling to work from my 'adult mindset'. I age-regressed to a time I recall with a different cat that I had. I used to try and force her to look into my eyes, which she absolutely hated. It was truly sadistic of me. I have never actually hurt an animal; I would feel way too horrible to do something like that. I don't even like to kill spiders, ants or even flies. Anyway, anger can be very subtle and it can creep out at the oddest of times. It's something that I should not forget. I think that all humans have the capacity for both good and evil. It's good to remember that.

T Squared

Today, this homeless artist gave me a few of his sculptures/found objects. Soon, I will get a picture of them and post it here. I talked to my art teacher about it and showed them to her. She said it was interesting and I intend to look into it a little bit more to see if this guy will be of any interest to the art world.

Crash Test Dummies

If you want to know what my two academic classes are like this summer session... read the lyrics to a couple of Crash Test Dummies songs: 20th Century Art, Human Biology and Evolution. They sum it up quite nicely.

arcata oyster festival

Well, this is supposed to be a really huge event. I went to it and was not particularly impressed. It was just your typical festival. A place to people-watch or spend money. I was in the mood to do neither... So, here I am at my favorite place: The Library! I'm such a nerd! Anti-social bookworm; that's me. Rebel without a cause!

Ginger Altoids!

Yummy! (The add for them is on the last page of ads)

Violet Crumble

Honeycomb is my favorite candy! I definitely prefer it from an old fashioned candy store, but Violet Crumble will do in a pinch! Apparently, you can make it yourself! Imagine that! I've never even considered trying to make it, but since it is my favorite candy and not always easy to find: Voila!

Hmmmm.... To Shave or not To Shave, That is the question.

This has recently become a question for me because here in Arcata, a lot of women do not shave. The idea has been of interest to me before, but I chickened out. Am I brave enough to not shave? Here are an article and a website dedicated to this topic. Why Women Shave

Six hours of Yoga per Week

So much Yoga is very good. Today, however, my teacher helped me to 'melt my heart' and it made me cry. I'm so sensitive. I think that I have a thick wall around my heart. It felt good to go into it as much as I did, but I guess it released some pent-up emotion.

Compost

Well, finally I get to compost! This new place in which I now reside... has a compost pile that is fully active. My old roommate thought that it was bad to compost. She was strange.

spelling bee

I won a spelling bee when I was in fourth grade. Coolio. I like spelling. Here is a link to a mini spelling test. I missed two! Whoopsie.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You!

Today it's my birthday... Is it your birthday too... yeah? I might take myself to go see the new Harry Potter! Gary Oldman! Yeah baby!

Penny

This is a first. Someone told me I remind them of Penny from Inspector Gadget! I've been told Allyson Hannigan and Bridget Fonda, but never a cartoon character! I took it as a compliment. I used to love Inspector Gadget.

here i am!

I have moved into a new living situation and am quite pleased. It is very relaxing and mellow. There is a terrific yard and garden and greenhouses. My cat gets to live outside and play around all day. There's a cool dog named Zelda. My cat is not pleased with Zelda, but Zelda thinks my cat is a wonderful new toy! My roommates are cool. There are: Orion, Hollie, Tofu and Rob. Also, next-door is a woman named Ida who made me a nice, welcoming bouquet of flowers which were on my doorstep when I arrived. It's a 10-minute walk from the HSU campus, which is quite convenient. Plus, I really enjoy living in Arcata. It's 'my kinda town.' :-) It's all good! I just started summer school, which is lots of fun. I have six hours of yoga a week... plus I'm taking 20th Century Art and Biological Anthropology-- both very interesting classes. My 31st birthday is on Monday! YeeHaw! Next weekend I'm going camping and the following weekend, my son and I are going to my friend's wedding in Ensenada. It's definitely a full month!