Throwing Poems and Seeing What Sticks

Hi, y'all.
I'm glad to report that for the moment I look normal. And I'm wearing a bit of lipstick for the third day in a row, over some cooling lip balm. Let us just say that the situation is being monitored closely, especially as I also had the worst face breakout I think I've ever had on Sunday/Monday. That, too, is diminishing, however, and I am guardedly optimistic.
I am also wet, because it is raining. Hard. Don't you hate that feeling when the bottoms of your pantlegs and the top of your socks get wet and you just have to deal with it? Fortunately I have some slippers in the office that are like booties, and they will help me be cozy. I think I might drink a hot chai today, too.

Currently, I am preparing to be productive and send poems to magazines. I figured out what is going where, and all I need is to get packets together...and attachments. Since I last sent work out, a bunch of magazines have gone to online submission systems and email. No doubt they think this is easier, but to be frank it's frustrating, because all of them are different. Some want all poems in one attachment. Some are okay with multiple attachments. Some want poems pasted into the message (which is begging for trouble). Some have their own submission systems. And then you have the ones who still take snail mail. I am a little disappointed in all of this; it shows disorganization and, in an attempt to get more "tech-savvy" it is actually more difficult for submitters. And what about poets who don't have access to the internet on a regular basis, or at all? I like to think of poetry as a democratic institution, but some of these places have become too restrictive simply by their submission process. The best are the ones who will take snail mail or online stuff...that seems more understanding to me.
So, I'll be toeing all of their individual lines, but with more than my usual deflation at how complicated it is when you are uber-detail-oriented and finding it more difficult to make sure records and packets are just so.
The good news is that getting packets together encouraged me to "finish" up a few new pieces so I could send them out. We'll see what happens.

Attack!

For the last month or so, I've felt a little sensitivity around my lips. Couldn't figure it out, and just applied more topcoat or gloss or chapstick to soothe the area, thinking it was too dry. The area particularly under my bottom lip would get red and a little swollen. This happened off and on for a few days at a time. Sometimes the lips would also look chapped, or felt sunburnt. The Whitestrips I was wearing aggravated the feeling, So I quit using them. I worried a little about the wedding I was in, but when I wore chapstick to bed and lipstick the next day you couldn't really tell anything was going on.
This changed dramatically Monday night. That curious itchy, tingly feeling was back, and by the evening I had tiny blisters, of which I will spare you the icky details. My lips were sore and I looked awful.
Fortunately, I got into the doctor the next morning, because my lips were now cracked in the corners and looking like I'd been punched in the mouth. My doctor has a tendency to be sold on one thing, which can be both comforting and disconcerting. He decided within a minute that it was an allergic reaction to something, possibly parabens, because his friend had the exact same appearance once, and that's what she had. He gave me a scrip for oral steroids and a referral to the dermatologist across the hall...only it transpires that they couldn't get me in until August...and the second doctor I tried couldn't until September. They didn't even look at my referral form. I cried most of Tuesday, which was not helped by the two Lifetime movies I watched while I was hiding my hideous face from the world (I know---my melodramatic side was kicking in).
Wednesday, I was angry, sore, and still looked like a victim of violence. When I called the dermatologist (when I was calmer) to ask some questions, and to establish a better appointment time (July 25) she said, "Oh, well the doctor will take a look at the symptoms, and then if he thinks it's called for he'll do the test right away, with a followup Monday or Tuesday.
Excuse me? A-baking powder? You honestly expect me to look like this still in July? I'm so glad I decided to take pictures of this whole process (again, which I will spare you...they're gross) because I do not plan to look like this for another month.
To make a long story short (Too late) it's been a depressing week, and I've spent not a little time frustrated with the medical establishment. The good news is, my lips seem to be healing up, only this involves pretty much all of the skin on them flaking off little by little, and was told not to put anything on them at all. Not even chapstick. It's infuriating. I've stopped jogging because the wind aggravates them. I have to eat little bites of food. I am currently being proactive, printing off lists of ingredients and doing skin tests of a few lipsticks and topcoats for lipsticks on the inside of my arms. It looks silly but I honestly don't care. If this does turn out to be my favorite lipstick I'm going to pitch a fit, so I'm rooting for a reaction in the one I got recently, which has a different formula. When my lips have healed, I'll cautiously try a product or two. Hopefully, I'll have the answer in July. Through all of this, my mother has been a champ, fielding phone calls and emails and looking stuff up for me.
All of this is just to say that I am kind of embarassed about my appearance right now and might not see you for some time over the next month or so, but I'm hoping to look normal next week.

Culinary Adventures: A Terrine Story

I am now quite convinced that my oven needs to have its jets cleaned, which my landlady does for me, but due to circumstances I can't officially relate yet, that is going to have to wait, so this will probably be my last oven-related adventure for a while.

Anyway, the terrine. There was quite a lot of prep involved with this recipe, like cutting and cooking the asparagus (Michigan asparagus, which I get as often as possible, purchased at Meijer on sale) and getting all the ingredients together. I did something I should probably always do with fussy recipes, but which I don't do all the way generally, and got nearly all my chopping and gathering done in advance. For instance, while the asparagus was cooking I had time to chop the dill and chives, separate the eggs, and portion out flour, cream cheese, and the other dairy items. Especially with a gas stove like mine this is a good idea, because when you have butter that pretty much melts on its own from a warm pan, then add flour over a low heat, it's going to turn into "a thick paste" pretty darn quickly. Like, immediately. I think, really for the first time, I appreciated the role of a sous chef in the kitchen. It also gave me a festive cooking show feeling to have my little cups and bowls all arranged with stuff in them.

Things came together fairly well after that. The egg mixture, when completed, was maybe a little thicker than it ought to be, before the egg whites were added, but I think in the end this worked in my favor.

Also as an experiment in willpower, I beat the egg whites by hand. There were only two, and it made me very tired...it took forever, but they came out all right. I still favor my mixer for this job, but I was glad I did it myself this once.

Anyway, the terrine process (you can also use a loaf pan, but I heart my terrine) involves layering asparagus, then egg mixture, asparagus, egg, and asparagus. Then, foil over the top, put the terrine in a roasting pan half full of hot water (mistake 1--water not hot but merely lukewarm), and put in the oven at 350 degrees ("mistake" 2--I actually bumped the temp up to 355, but I'm still pretty sure it didn't keep that temperature long during the ensuing time) for 45 minutes, then ten more, then ten more...because, you see, the terrine wasn't quite done. It's supposed to stay in until it's just firm to the touch. Eventually, the edges seemed firm enough, and it had really been in the oven for a long time, so I took it out.

You're supposed to let the terrine cool, then chill it. I did this and then made the sauce...it's an "orange sauce" which weirded me out, but actually there is very little orange and mostly butter. I'm really bad at making hollandaise sauces usually, or sauces of any kind, but this one went pretty well. I used white cooking wine instead of white wine vinegar because I really do not have that much kitchen room and you have to choose what you keep on hand wisely. The best part about the sauce is that it used up the two extra egg yolks left over from the souffles, which I had under cold water in the fridge.

I wasn't patient enough to chill the terrine all the way, because I wanted to taste it. You're supposed to turn the terrine out and slice it from there, but my terrine dish is very pretty and also convenient for the fridge. I also have my doubts as to whether it would stay in terrine form, because while the first slice never comes out easily, the terrine ended up being almost mousselike around the asparagus. Not as firm as a terrine should be. You can see the messy "slice" I made:

Fortunately, it tastes good. Today, I tried again with the slicing and had little more success. It simply isn't firm enough. But that's okay. As I said, it's a bit like egg mousse, and it's for me to eat, and I know what to improve for next time: Firmer cream cheese (I used tub cheese because the recipe calls for herbed cream cheese and it only comes in tubs), a hotter and less temperamental oven, a tiny bit more egg white whisking, and warmer water in the hot water bath.

Culinary Adventures: Crab Souffle

I've had some cream in my fridge that is a few days shy of going off probably, and have been trying to figure out what to do with it. Likewise, I have a new terrine dish that I got for Christmas and have wanted to play with. So, I pulled a cookbook my aunt gave me off the shelf--it's the one with fancy meal elements that might work particularly for guests, like several types of deviled eggs, a beautiful potato and leek pie with phyllo dough, a whole chapter on brunches and fork lunches...you get the idea.
My notion was that I wanted to do the egg and asparagus terrine, so I looked it up and copied out the ingredients I didn't have onto my shopping list. I'll do it as soon as I have the asparagus and fresh herbs. But, flipping around, I ran straight into crab souffles. And I think for the first time with this book I had every ingredient already in the house, including the cream and crab meat (canned).
So, this afternoon I made some souffles. I only had four ramekins rather than six, but I found two small cake tins and used those for the extra. The mixing and cooking went okay. There was quite a lot of prep involved, but not terrible. I had trouble with burning the scallions, but simply picked them out again. I don't think I put quite enough curry powder in, either. I also think I did not quite whip the egg whites up enough. I used my hand mixer since I suck at whisking eggs (and cream. I use a whisk only for things that won't matter if I don't whisk properly). I got them pretty near, but I suspect maybe not quite, and I overfolded the whites into the sauce a bit. However, it looked all right and smelled awesome.
My oven has been kind of temperamental again lately, not keeping the proper temperature, and after the eight minutes baking time, the souffle tops were not brown. I had to leave them in longer, so the souffles got a bit overdone, I'm sure. Nevertheless, I pulled them out when they were golden and poofy, and they looked exactly like the picture. I know they were overcooked because they fell faster than they ought to have done...my sources tell me that 3-5 minutes is all you can expect from a hot souffle, and I think we made it about 2, maybe 2 and a half. Anyway, the picture above is post-fall. The good news is, I had one for my lunch and it tasted very nice. Obviously you're supposed to eat souffles right away, but the rest had to go in the fridge.
All in all, it was a noble experiment and for my first time making a proper souffle, I think it went rather well. I shall need to practice, but I was pretty pleased. It's sort of like the first time I made crepes...possibly it will never go so well again, but at least I had a good go.
Tomorrow I shall probably do the terrine.

Crash and Burn

I feel special hearts toward this video, and as it's on the mix tape I'm currently rocking out to in the car...

Why TV Sometimes Depresses Me Regarding Our Culture

American Gladiators and Circus of the Stars.

You may remember old-school American Gladiators--big, tan people in red, white, and blue costumes, with fabulously feathered hair and big smiles. They sometimes answered viewer mail and always did so with compassion and encouraging voices. The contenders were generally very earnest people, strong and fast and forever giving messages of love to their families. They had steady jobs and smiled almost as much as the gladiators. The announcers were dressed like ESPN guys, in suits and neat haircuts. They were nice people, and the theme of the show was to do your best, and stay positive. You got the feeling that you should stay in school and work hard, and be nice to people. You should be a good sport.

I find the current American Gladiators completely unwatchable.

Everyone looks so angry. It's all about power and performance, about winning and looking mean. These people look scary, not like people I'd want to hang out with at my local public house. On the old AG, if someone lost his or her temper, that person would take a minute, shake it off, and then shake someone's hand. I get the feeling that if anyone now lost his or her temper, a joke would be made and no effort would erase hard feelings. I could be wrong about that--as I said, I find it unwatchable, but it's just a feeling, and that is more important to me that what actually happens. It's the attitude of meanness and punishment over clean fun that bothers me the most, and I find that change both epidemic in our culture and disheartening. I don't want to watch a show where I'm just being yelled at for an hour.

Then there's Circus of the Stars. I don't know if anyone else will remember this. In the past, it was a two-hour circus made up of celebrities past and present, all learning interesting and artistic or funny circus acts. The fun of it was watching these actors and musicians learn the type of thing you'd see at Barnum and Bailey, watching them adapt and put their own spin on it. The show would often show clips of the stars learning their act, with all the spills and chills and injuries resulting from the process, but they would always work hard and put forth an optimistic effort. And they were glamorous and excited in the show, much like a kid at a dance recital. I will never forget the "listo" (ready) call of Mario Lopez and Jennie Garth on the trapeze, or Karen Black's dynamic elephant act. It was good TV, and I looked forward to it every year.

So, I was excited when I saw ads for what looked like a resurgence of the show. Imagine my irritation and frustration when I found out that it's actually a reality competition. Why must there be judgment involved?Why can't it just be fun to watch people do something fun? I hate the idea of competition leaking into everything we do or enjoy. This is part of the reason I don't watch dance reality shows, and certainly not these God-awful pick-a-Broadway-star competitions. I want to enjoy an art, not have that gnawing feeling of "who will win?" and "someone will feel like less of a person after this" lurking in my gut. There is enough angst and worry in the world without trying to prove you're better than someone else. And I say that as a competitive person, but one who is tired--tired of watching everyone have to get mean or antagonistic before anything gets done.

The Wedding: How it happened version

I haven't posted in a while, and it's unfortunate that I'm having a day full of aggravations and concerns, but I wanted to do a write up of the wedding I was in this weekend.

As many of you know, I'd been worried about the dress fitting. Fortunately, my "diet" leading up to the weekend worked and the dress was fine. Snug during dinner, but fine for dancing. I did unzip it for the drive back to the bride's house after, and changed before eating again. Also, the hemming issue became a non-issue...our dresses all ended up pretty close in length, and I didn't do mine at all, so that worry was gone.

Anyway. Rehearsal was on Friday at the Henry Ford Museum's Lovett Hall Ginger Meyer Sculpture Garden. I was there first, and was able to answer a few questions and names for the coordinator, Carol, and officiant, Fred while we waited for the party to come from the tux place, where the fitting ran late. The rehearsal went really well, though, and we ran through things twice in the hot sun. I got to know my fellow wedding party members, and they are all exceedingly nice people. I was looking forward to hanging out at dinner with them.

Obsessive as I am, I printed out scads of directions for the whole weekend, so I was followed by several cars to Musashi in Southfield. Now, it transpires that in addition to doing the flowers for the wedding, since she has floral experience, the groom's mother also owns a popular restaurant, and since she is Japanese, she knows a heck of a lot about food. Having looked at the menu I wasn't sure if we were having a served dinner or picking stuff ourselves. Then plates started coming. This is what we had, though not completely in order and I might be forgetting some...really, I had no idea what I was eating much of the time:
Asparagus "amuse bouche," with cream and roe
Sashimi, with two slices each of three fish
A tuna cube in a fish broth
Salad of greens and lobster or crab pieces in raspberry vinaigrette
Several pieces of sushi--two lobster/avocado rolls, and two other pieces I couldn't identify
Tenpura--giant shrimp, a slice each of sweet potato, Japanese pumpkin, and Spanish onion (my favorite dish)
A slice of Sable fish wrapped in a banana leaf or something (my least favorite dish, but also one of the prettiest)
A giant cake each...seriously, only three people of thirty-some finished theirs.
There were also a few leftover non-sushi plates that were spread around, like chicken on a stick and some steak, which we shared. There was also sake and beer, though I stuck with water.
Needless to say I was pretty full, and I didn't eat everything in the later part of the meal but did taste everything. Then I drove home to BG.
Saturday, I drove back up, dropped my stuff off at Mila's (Mila is a cousin of the bride's, and all three of us went to Italy in 2001...she invited me to stay with her and her fiance, and better hosts you couldn't find. They are amazing), and headed up to Rochester Hills to a luncheon party/open house that some aunts/cousins were giving. I had some food and hung out with the bridesmaids, groomsman's wife, and bridesmaid's sister for a bit, and then we six went to see Sex & the City. I'll save my commentary about that for another time. After that we went to the bride's parents' house in Sterling Heights area, hung out for a bit, and then snuck upstairs to look at the dress. It was the first time I'd seen it, and it was exactly the kind of gown I thought Jelena would like...strapless satin, no beading or lace, but lots of pickups in the big skirt. It was HEAVY. We girls consulted about jewellry and hair and shoes, just like you'd expect. Then, I left to get back to Mila's, and we stayed up chatting for quite a while, and I finally met her finace.
Sunday, I was running late. I was alone in the house, which is probably good, because I was tearing around in hot rollers and had to do my foundation twice. By the time I got to the venue, I was definitely on time, but later than I wanted to me...and I was still in rollers. I'm afraid a lot of the prep time was me finishing my hair and makeup. Not good for the Maid of Honor. I never did get my hair to where I wanted it, but at least it was acceptable. Fortunately, the lengthy list of things we had to make sure were done were already being done by the excellent staff at the venue, and Dina the aforementioned groomsman's wife was amazing at checking up on things.
At last, we were all ready. And I lost my phone. Show must go on, though, so I put it out of my mind and the wedding began.
It was a short service, but the officiant did a great job, I read a poem, another bridesmaid sang Ave Maria, and it was a beautiful day in the garden. The bride and groom looked perfect. As we proceeded out after the ceremony, the Best Man informed me that we were not required in the receiving line, so he loaned me his phone and I went out to my car to call myself...sure enough, it had fallen under the passenger seat. At that point, I felt amazingly relaxed. Everything was finished! We did pictures, which was fun, especially since I think my smile during the ceremony was ridiculous. I hope the pics turn out and I can get some prints, especially of the "high fashion" one we did...the Best Man and I were clowning around and the photographer said, "When we take the shot in a few minutes, I want you to do that exactly." I don't know if anyone else did it, but the photographers were trying to get them to copy us. It was hilarious. Can't wait to see it.
The pictures took place during the cocktail hour (I had root beer). Then we went up to the ballroom for dinner--a lovely salad, a duet plate of chicken and beef with rolls, and of course some wedding cake, all served. During dinner, the band played, but then some Serbian dancers came out and danced for, like, fifteen minutes. They were all teenagers, and were very fun to watch. Then we had the real dancing, and of course as a member of the wedding party I danced and tried to get others involved. Not too many people danced, but as half the guests were Japanese, and the Best Man informed me that most wouldn't dance, I think we did pretty well.
We closed up the reception early and headed over to the bride's parents' house...I fulfilled my last MOH duty by helping the bride change and zipping her voluminous dress into its bag. Jel's parents had a tent set up in their yard and at the open house offered roast pig and lamb, a groaning table of salads and bread, and another groaning table of desserts, all handmade by the aunts. There was also a Serbian quartet (which Mila's dad is in) playing and singing in blue vests and red bow ties. It was peaceful to sit with the wedding party, chatting to them and the cousins, and when it got dark they turned golden lights on in the tent. It was a beautiful night and, even though I felt like I'd never eat again, I felt really good about life and the state of love.
I ended up back at Mila's sometime between midnight and one, I think. The next day, I had the morning to slowly wake up, again alone in the house, get ready to go, and then head to Somerset mall to go to Lush. I walked the whole mall, bought some fun stuff, and decided to end the adventure.
It was a pretty great weekend. My least favorite part was probably driving around Detroit, especially since there are some parts of 75 closed, but I managed with my directions, and kind of got the hang of it.
Hopefully I'll have some time to post pictures soon, but if you're on Facebook, you can also go there.

Men I Have TV Crushes On

George Stroumboulopoulos
Jesse Spencer
The Winchesters
Andy Hillstrand

Things that turn 30 this year

1. Several friends, and of course myself.
2. Garfield the Cat
3. Arby's Beef n Cheddar (coincidentally my favorite sandwich there, and the thing that inspired this post, since I got a coupon in the mail)
4. Louise Brown, the first IVF, or "test tube" baby

Oh, Indy!

For some reason, this makes me happy. I guess it's that, even though this is a marketing opportunity, it's a marketing opportunity that calls attention to the power of fans, no matter where those fans are or how much money they have in their pockets.

In which she returns from the Badger State.

Well, I'm back in BG after a most successful trip to Wisconsin. The occasion was a celebration of the first birthday of my niece, and since I hadn't seen her or my sister and brother-in-law since December, it was, to say the least, kind of a big deal.

I decided to speed things up this trip by getting an I-Pass for the tolls; I got Illinois' I-Pass rather than an I-Zoom (Indiana's version) because the I-Zoom wouldn't work in Illinois for three days after getting it supposedly, and I'd much rather zip through Illinois tolls than the one in Indiana anyway (although Indiana's toll is huge now, at $6.75 on 80/90). It would have been speedier going out to Wisconsin except that the guy who sold it to me talked to me about poetry for about ten-fifteen minutes, as a result of me saying I was a poet after he complimented my name. Anyway, I made it.

The party was Fairy Princess themed, and on Friday evening and Saturday morning we spent some time getting everything ready and taking pictures. There were festive silver strings hanging from the big pine tree, which sits right over the awesome sandbox my brother-in-law had finished the day before. There were stars hanging from the patio table. There was princessy music playing from a hidden stereo, bouncy balls and bubbles and sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with, and a whole line of party bags along the stone wall. My bro would be at the grill cooking brats, and there were lots of sandwiches, salads, and cookies indoors. And Baby Ruths scattered over the tables, in honor of the Baby's name.

The Baby, I think, had a wonderful time, greeting her guests, smiling, and playing with the kids who helped her open her presents. She also had a great time smashing her piece of cake to crumbs and getting frosting all over herself and her sippy cup, with of course the requisite chorus of flashbulbs from the adults.

As for me, well, I ate too much and enjoyed the merriment.

For the remainder of my stay, I hung out with my family, played with the baby a lot, particularly her new set of musical instruments, and also had the chance to go shopping with my sister a few times, at the mall and at Kohl's. This was particularly enjoyable because we don't get to hang out much as sisters, and it kind of reminded me of when we used to go to the mall ages ago, in high school. We had trouble with jeans, but found some nice tops and skirts in Kohl's, on sale. It was awesome to get that chance to chat and laugh, and thanks to my big brother for supervising the baby's naps so we could slip out.

On the baby's actual birthday, I went with sis, bro, and baby to the NEW Zoo north of Green Bay, and had fun showing her the animals and watching her stare at them. She particularly liked the emus, and waved to the giraffes as they came just feet away from where we stood. My sister even got to pet a giraffe. The zoo is small, but the perfect size for a family with small children, with big animals like lions and a bear and more unusual zoo animals like bobcats and some truly massive bison.

It was hard to leave, especially with my niece smiling away with her four teeth, and crinkling her nose when she laughs. Even Poe, the cat who is my archnemesis, was friendly to me, since I bribed him and Topaz (who loves me) with Pounce treats whenever he was feeling prickly. It was a great trip!

Updates!

Update 1: The dog.
So, here is the plan I formulated, after reading everyone's input (and thanks, by the way. I needed your indignation and facts to spur me on!):
At Meijer the other day, I was intrigued by a sale on an item called Poop Patrol. Poop Patrol is a black and purple plastic pooper scooper, and it was on sale for 9 dollars. After consulting with my neighbors during a lasagna dinner (Laura and Ashley, it was awesome), I purchased said item, dolled it up with a bow (white ribbon with gold trim and purple butterflies, naturally), typed up a letter and put it in a card envelope, and on Sunday placed the gift on my neighbors' porch addressed "M's owner, roommates, and residents of 334." The letter touched on the issue of poop in the yard, this being illegal, and our desire simply to have this cleaned up, rather than getting the law or landlords involved (though I did email my landlady and tell her what I did). I peeped at the porch periodically, and by yesterday it had been taken in. The poop is still in our yard (and fortunately, no fresh piles, only decaying old ones), but I feel that I have done my best, in a classy fashion, to help get our yard cleaned up. I thought it was pretty clever, actually. Fingers crossed. Beyond this, I think the landlady is simply going to have to clean it up, or get Greenbriar to do it.

Update 2: The Mist
So, I wrote a while ago about how I was disappointed by The Mist. I read the trivia on imdb about it, and learned that the ending was made up by the director, and that Stephen King wished he had thought of it. I checked out the ending in an anthology entitled Dark Forces today, and I will say (particularly to Mrs. White) that it is worth reading the last six to ten pages or so to see the original ending, the ambiguity of which I enjoyed much better than the pointlessness of the current ending.

Dog Poop Dilemma

I've been puzzling this over in my mind for a bit, and I've decided I'd like some input.
I mentioned in the Fire post that I had a chance to speak to my neighbors about their dog pooping in our yard. These are the neighbors who have friends in the house on the other side of us, so they are often traipsing through our driveway/yard, are responsible for the demise of the back fence, and are loud from time to time, though not as bad as others who have been next door.
My house's yard is not big, and especially when the grass was not growing it was glaringly obvious that the dog (Maui, I think) NEVER went in her own yard, always in ours. I've seen people waiting on their front porch for her to do our business in our yard, and they see me and don't seem to care a whit that our yard is now the one with little piles all over (for of course they would never think to pick up their dog's poop). I know this has happened to the others that live in my house, too. It's like they think our yard is also theirs, when it clearly is not, and they also do not care that they have essentially destroyed the yard.
Last night, it happened again, around 11 - midnight. Dude in a bathrobe was standing on the front porch, and Maui was squatting in our yard. I went out and called to him and asked him not to let her go in our yard. He said it was his roommate's dog and he would let the guy know (which is exactly what the other guys said last time I asked, at the scene of the Fire). I really have no idea how many people live in that building, but find it annoying that so many people take the dog out so I don't know who the owner is, and that the message has not seemed to filtrate through their collective brain stems.
So...what do I do? Our yard really has too much poop in it. I am afraid to walk out there, which is irritating because come outside season, I like to sit in my skychair, which hangs from a tree on the front lawn. Even if they finally make Maui poop in her own yard, we still have her collective poop from before to deal with. I was going to content myself with the idea that the next time they traipse through our yard, someone is going to step in poop, but I don't think that's enough. If I catch the dog out there yet again, what recourse do I have? And would it be reasonable for me to ask them to clean up the poop that is there? How?
As an addition problem, it would be nice if I could just ask my landlady to talk to their landlord about it, but I'm pretty sure the dog is not supposed to be there at all. I have nothing against the dog, but I am sick of this problem.
I need some suggestions on how to handle this. The hot season is fast approaching, and I cannot deal with a stench in my own yard. I refuse.
Help.

Friday Night Movie

So, I made a mistake last night.
I was tired, and looking to relax, but I also wanted to rent a dvd. Unfortunately, all the movies I have wanted to see recently but haven't yet are depressing or dark: The Mist, Sweeny Todd, and I Am Legend are examples.
I went with The Mist in keeping with my tradition of Friday-night horror. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.
I thought, hey, it's a supernatural flick with critters in it. I knew it was a smarter-than-average horror flick, but hoped it wouldn't bum me out. Anyone seen it? Yeah, well you know where I'm going with this.
Imagine my distress when it turns out actually to be intellectual in nature; crittery, certainly, but with the character sketches including a hyper-religious nut (and those terms are mutually exclusive, please don't get me wrong) and the "shocking ending" being hopelessness, well...I wasn't best pleased. Every time Marcia Gay Harden's character was talking, I kept coming up with reasonble and Christian responses to her, like "Why doesn't somebody point out how satanic she's being, with all of her self-pride?" Fight zeal with counter-zeal, you know? Or, "First pull the plank out of your own eye, before you try to help your brother with the speck in his eye," which is a paraphrase of Luke 6. No one even tried that approach.
I was also left sort of wondering what the point was, and after a moment early on in the movie when I said to myself, "There was a transition just now where I was supposed to suspend my disbelief and I didn't" I hoped for a bigger payoff. I don't even remember that moment clearly, just that this is what I thought. I found the crucible compelling, and if I were in the mood for this kind of film I might have been all over it (Crash comes to mind as another example of story-of-human-condition that leaves me deflated, except that it's also offering redemption, which The Mist doesn't. Schindler's List is another example.). I think, anyway--I don't know if "look how awful we all are" is really sufficient justification for a movie. But still, I label this my mistake. Combine that with the fact that I didn't watch it until LATE, after a whole string of Comedy Central Presents and Whose Line Is It Anyway? and you know I went to bed annoyed.
So, The Mist, I was hoping for something else from you, and I'm not sure how I feel about you, but I do know I won't buy you, no matter how cool your creatures were, because I just don't see myself watching you again.

5 Random Friday thoughts

I bought some Moonflower and Morning Glory seeds and a Clematis a week ago. I can't wait to get them in the boxes on my porch, but it's possibly going to be 43 degrees at some point next week and I am thus nervous.

Last night's Supernatural: Hilarious. Ghost--FACERS!
My two favorite shows right now smashed into one. How I love the spooftacular vision of Supernatural.

I went to Beckett's last night post-show. Good times were had by all. I had a beer and a cherry coke, because that's how I roll.

I just bought a plant from the Society of Entrepreneurs. I asked what they entrepreneur and no one answered. I decided against asking them if they knew how to spell entrepreneur. The plant has a butterfly in it.

My niece is going to turn 1 in just over two weeks. I can't wait to see her and give her a big auntie hug. I had lipstick on my teeth today, so I am well on my way to being her crazy aunt Avacious.

Putting out Fires

I'm double-posting this here and on facebook. Enjoy.

As I mentioned the other day, we had a fire next door Friday night/Saturday morning. First, a digression. Last week, this happened:

You can tell we're close to the end of the year when people do dumb things like this; if you can't tell what's happening, it's a car parked straight in front of our driveway. My theory is drunkenness--you'd have to be drunk to be so dumb as to leave your car parked where it is obviously blocking a driveway. As someone pointed out, it's a good thing it got towed, because the owner was not likely to return in a better state than when he left.This weekend, our neighbors were having a party. They are sometimes loud, but at least their parties usually end around 2 or 2:30. It does still irritate me, because there are children living across the street and in other near areas, and a once quietish residential section is kind of ruined, but they're not the worst neighbors I've ever had so I deal as best I can, even with them traipsing across our lawn, knocking down our fence, and smoking in our driveway.

Then, about 5:30 am, I woke up to some strange noises. I thought it was someone who lived in my house at first, then figured out it was outside. Given my paranoia for my car, I got up to investigate, and found this scene in the street:

I came out on my front steps and craned around the side of the house to see this:

The excitement, evidently, was ending with firemen hacking off the siding from the neighbors' outbuilding. I didn't wake up to the trucks, the men, or the hoses. It took the axes. Given that I am a light sleeper, that was pretty stupefying, and when the police and head fireman came to talk to me, I told them the must have been pretty sneaky.

"It's a new program, to get involved with the community," said one. "We were in stealth mode."

They were kidding of course, but I complimented the fire department on its quiet work. The head man asked if I'd seen anyone around in that area, and of course I'd seen guys out smoking around 3 (I woke up to that, but not fire trucks), but then all was quiet. Evidently, the idea of arson was being bandied around.The next morning, I went out to survey the damage, as did my neighbors both in my own house and the houses on either side. A very focused line of charred earth under the fence which held our trumpet vine was the most obvious evidence of the fire:

As you can see, any further one way and it probably would have set their house on fire. Any further the other way and our garage would have been touched. The guys mentioned the i-beam cross (a common formation for vine growth), as being a potential dumbass magnet to set on fire, except the fire was mostly away from the cross. One also said the fire department had mentioned gasoline. In any case, we're all a little baffled and hopeful that nothing else weird is going to happen.

The experience did give me the chance to ask the neighbor guys to quit letting their dog poop in our yard, which was positive, and I met a few of my own house-neighbors I didn't yet know (which seems weird, but there are a bunch of different entrances to our house, so we don't have much interaction). I'm also hoping it gives these guys more reason to monitor their parties more closely and take things more seriously. No one got hurt and the damage was minimal, but it's still pretty scary...and I didn't get much sleep.

Word, Y'all

So, I just gave my workshop on rhythm in poetry, which means there is now one less thing on my plate. It went pretty well; I did that thing where what you're saying is important but you don't treat it quite like that, at first, but I kind of got into my rhythm (ha ha) and started tying loose ends together, and it went better. I worked Rudolf Laban's effort principles in and that always makes me feel better about stuff.
I have to admit, I've been kind of angry this week, and also unfocused. During the faculty meeting yesterday afternoon, while we were being asked how everything was going and (I think) sympathized with that there was so much to do right now and this really is a bad time of the semester, I really almost lost it and walked out. I'm behind. I have a lot to do. And I was sitting in a faculty meeting that repeatedly got off track or that went over things that were really very concisely and completely written up on the agenda. I appreciate the sympathy, I really do, but as Eliza Doolittle says so eloquently, please don't exPLAIN, SHOW me. At literally the busiest point in the semester, let me have my time to do my work. My sense of duty helped me keep it together, but it was really sort of dodgy there for a while.

Anyway, this is just a note to let you know that I'm thinking about you all, that my health is improved quite a bit, and even though it is spitting rain right now, the sun will be out before too long. Hopefully my mood will brighten in direct relation.

Avacious is...

reeling from one of those middle-of-the-night, wake-you-out-of-a-sound-sleep leg cramps that seemed to go on forever. Does anyone else ever think that they're never going to be able to walk again when that's happening?

about 90 % healthy

glad Supernatural is coming back. It may be a rerun Thursday, but I have sorely missed my Sam and Dean.

looking forward to the rest of Sense and Sensibility, but was surprised that it opened with a love scene featuring ragged breathing. I was kind of glad I wasn't watching it with my parents.

contemplating what she would sing if she ever did karaoke. This will be a facebook note shortly.

really enjoying the Lite Brite's presence in her office. Even if it does stay on for only 3 minutes and then shut itself off to conserve batteries. Times have changed!

out of many important staples of life, like milk, Dr. Pepper, lettuce, and Strawberry mini-wheats. And mustard. Who runs out of mustard?

beginning to catch Spring Fever, but is also suffering from hockey withdrawal. Very confusing.

update

Hi, everyone.
Thanks for your comments about my health situation. I hate being that person who is complaining about health, especially because I am normally really healthy. I guess that makes it even more confusing for a person whose body is normally under her control, when everything is out of it.
I'm responding to some of your comments here, because they relate to a few things that the ReadyCare doctor told me when I went in on Saturday.
SECP: Goodness, it is crazy that you say that about vitamins. When I told the doctor about my stomach, he said I might be getting too much iron. Combine this with the fact that my favorite cereal right now, Strawberry Frosted Mini-Wheats, has 90 % of my day's iron already, and....well, that just seems extremely plausible. So you're totally right! Last time I was in the store, I seriously considered getting some of those gummy vitamins they have now, or Flintstones, and I felt like I shouldn't. Now, I think I will, and I thank you for that advice. Honestly, if I take Triaminic instead of "grown-up" cold medicine, you'd think I would have no problem with kids' vitamins!
Can you imagine what would happen if Poe came to live with me? Poor cat. And poor me, while you're at it (For those who don't know, Poe hates me. As in, he once attacked my mother thinking it was me.). Has he been a problem lately, I wonder?
Carrie, et al.,
I'm not familiar with Airborne, but I do superdose the vitamin C and take my allergy medicine for my nose when I think I'm getting sick. Several medical people seem to feel that my allergies could in fact be playing a large role. They say that if your allergies are constantly piqued, then your immune system is shot. The doctor I saw Saturday also suggested I get allergy testing again in case I need shots like I had when I was a kid, and he said absolutely when I asked if I should be using my asthma inhaler more often, not just in the summer when I run. So at least that gave me a few ideas (even including a CT scan to see if there is anything wrong with my sinuses), and I plan to coordinate with my doctor/nurse practitioner and see if they think I should see an allergist or other specialist. It could be that all of this is just a blip, but if it's systemic I want to know.

In sum, I had a fever spike to 101.9 this weekend, but I think I'm more normal now. It just feels like a cold at this point. And I have the hiccups.

Now tell me how you really feel

I'm depressed.
There, I said it.
I feel like I've hit a wall, with almost everything I can conceivably think of.
This is kind of coming to a head right now because I'm getting sick again. For the fifth time since New Year's, fifth time in three and a half months. I don't know if I can handle this again. Nevertheless, I went to bed with a scratchy throat last night and woke up feeling worse, with a 99.1 degree temp. And as I sit here in my very warm office, wearing a turtleneck sweater, I am feeling chills in that completely irrational way that tells you something is wrong. And I really need to close my eyes for a few minutes before I try to go home. It's like I'm functional, but this could go any way and I'm really hoping it won't be bad, that this is a blip.
I feel like I'd been doing everything right; I was drinking more juice and easing up on the soda a little. I was eating balanced meals and, while my lunch is always highly variable, I've been eating 100-calorie snacks and sandwiches. For a time, I was taking daily vitamins along with my allergy medication, but I had stomachache so I quit doing that, but I am very mindful of my vitamin C in particular. I've even tried to reduce my stress at least partly by letting some things go and getting more rest. I haven't been going out, and only on St. Pat's Day did I spend a little bit of time with some friends. I've even been washing my dishes more regularly.
What is happening to me? Why is my body so incapable of being well? It's so exhausting, and I haven't been able to do things I want to do because I always feel like I should be sleeping if I don't have work to do. And this last time I was really hopeful because the thing went away, it honestly did, for a few days, just a little drippy here and there, but I felt so much better. Why? Why? Why?
I don't even feel like I can make plans, which is very upsetting. I want to see my niece and I want to meet my goddaughter, but you can't go see a baby when you are unhealthy. I wasn't even sure I'd make it home during spring break because my folks were headed to see their granddaughter, and I didn't want to make them sick or carry what I had.
I'm tired, and it's so hard to find things to be happy about when so much doesn't seem to be going well. I'm tired and sick and sad and I just want so badly to be healthy and ready for the warm sunshine when it comes.
I guess what I am saying is that I'm not feeling well again, I don't know what's wrong with me, and I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers to get me properly healed.