wow

i went to the detective's office this morning and ended up giving an Official Statement (yet again). he was very professional and kind. i hope we get this creep. he told me that the forensic lab is backed up some eight to nine months, which was a real jaw-dropper. what the heck?!? anyway, it's good to know, so that i have my expectations in line with reality.

having lunch with anj today at the wildflour and looking forward to it. weirdly enough, i don't think i'll ever be comfortable having lunch out alone again.

happy thursday.

one pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small

and the ones that mother gives you don't do any thing at all.

Roofie sucks. People who use roofie, or Rohypnol, to get what they want are jerks. If you have experienced a weird black out and find yourself under the influence of this drug or its relatives, with someone treating you badly, please understand that it is not your fault and you haven’t done anything wrong. Take yourself to the emergency room immediately, call your counseler and set up an appoinment. Don’t shower or change your clothes, even though you want nothing more to do than scrub off every trace of that experience while the clothes burn in the background. get all the information on these creeps that you can. Consent to all the tests, data collection procedures and medications that the hospital has available. Usually, the people who use these drugs to get what they want have a string of victims behind you and will keep doing this until they are thrown in jail.

Creeps.

Many thanks to jackie, my therapist, and jeri, my doctor, for being so wonderful. Tom earned the Bronze Star for holding my hand through the twelve hours of data recovery, and kn0w1 is great to let me hang out as his house and feel safe. i have the utmost sympathy and compassion for anyone who is roofie'd that doesn't have such a wonderful network.

a glorious, artful day

the art festival today was quite a grand affair. Dragon's group went first, and the children were delightful. tiger's class was impressive and interpretive and informative and fun and even got the director and her assistant involved. by the time the seminar students took the stage, i was totally blown away by the creativity and spirit. and the self-portrait work by the students was equally impressive, hanging in the art annex gallery, looking as much as a show as anything has. i was impressed, and can't wait to hang their latest creations on the wall.

we refreshed ourselves at the wildflour cafe before heading back to campus for the groundbreaking ceremony. cake was dished up just as the first drops fell, and we were all weary and happy. i'm looking forward to seeing the new classroom buildings next year, and the boys are just tickled to be part of the whole project.

progress on the house continues, even by small steps. the first coat of yellow is on the walls of the bathroom, and after having spent weeks deliberating over paint chips, i'm happy to report that it is Just The Right Shade. the mugginess has finally broken, lightening streaking the dark sky and thunder releasing my soul as i sip iced tea and read Eyes of Prey.

it's a great day.

media review

last night Irk brought over A Love Song for Bobby Long. Not only is it well-written and well-performed piece about love, belonging and redemption, it is set in New Orleans and has a most magnificent soundtrack. my cravings to head to the Deep South are blooming once again.

today i finished A Long and Fatal Love Chase, the only recently-published thriller by Louisa May Alcott. i enjoyed it, and was nearly done when my mom surprised me with three of the john sandford Prey murder mysteries which we haven't read yet. i'm looking forward to a long hot bath, with rose petals even, while i begin the first of them.

altogether, the movie and book selections are ever so much better than my recent netflix queue offerings: Warriors was only good for pulling an evening of MST3K^[?] with Phillip, and while the acting and directing and cinematography in The Astronaut's Wife, the story sucked and was delivered so badly that Irk & i were three-quarters of the way through the movie before we realized that this film not only had a genre, but which one it was (science fiction, not that we are ordinarily opposed). after that, Wonderland was a downright refreshing return to our standard drug-dealing-times-gone-wrong films. i honestly don't know what possessed me to add those three into the queue; there must have been something odd in the air.

happy wednesday

this morning we all slept in a bit, but despite the slower pace we got everywhere on time anyway. after dropping the boys, i was talking with Wizard about the arts festival tomorrow, and we got to talking about Community School in general. while we love the place, the atmosphere, and the outlook there, we are a bit disappointed in the lack of science and math emphasis. we're not taking the boys out of the program or anything, but, as Wizard said, "When is the science festival?"

exactly. so i've been thinking about volunteering to coordinate a science fair next year. the kids are certainly creative enough and have a go-to attitude, so i'm certain that with a little coaching, they would take the topics and run with them. what topics you ask? off the top of my head:

1. take a beach ball: it's jupiter. what size of ball would be required to represent earth in scale?
2. what is nanotechnology? use boards to make an introductory explanation.
3. what is an earthship? design one and explain what makes it neat.
4. what would it take to make a self-sustained, orbiting world? (see Tiger's fascination with his Space Colony One designs)
5. why are rainbows an arc?

you get the idea. anyone out there want to be a coach for a few really cool kids? and you just know i'll be submitting pictures to slashdot.

resetting my soul

this weekend was a wonderful retreat away from the hustle and bustle. Dragon and i met the plastering guys and sallied forth to fetch Tiger from his sleepover. afterward, we drove down the parkway until we reached Callaway, enjoying the summer blooms and the birdsong and the gentle breeze. Once at Deborah's, with our homemadde chili simmering on the stove, the boys stripped off their clothes and played about in the creek. Deborah and i chatted and caught up while she cut out more circle skirts to fulfill the orders which seem to be coming in waves these days.

we watched as the boys were truly little boys, splashing and dashing and romping about, getting dirty and then getting hosed off so they could get dirty again. at one point Tiger exclaimed proudly, his arms thrown back and his chest arched in display, "Look mom: my wiener is all muddy!" Looking over, i saw his torso coverd in mud at least an inch thick, dribbling down his thighs to stain his calves. My brow wrinkled in concern at his pronouncement; i called back to him "When did you start calling your penis a wiener?"

we had a glorious two days.

rainy day friday

this morning, well before dawn, i felt the breeze blowing a gentle rain through the window and onto my sleeping body. it only just entered my dreaming awareness, and it was as though i could hear the flowers echo my sigh of relief. i woke up refreshed, if a bit introverted.

last night i went to the baronial business meeting and got reacquainted with ever so many folks that i haven't seen in forever. it was in a new location, one which allows for food, and the pot luck was amazing. afterward, several of us went to the tavern downtown for drinks and conversation, and it felt like old times, really, with the gentle and easy talk, the smiles, the summer night air.

the plastering and remodeling are now nearly done, and frankly i'm about worn out of living in a destruction zone, productive though it might be. once this is finished, the next work will only be a spring throwing out, since i the boys and i have grown out of much of the random stuff we have accumulated over the past few years.

a mouse ran by me this morning as i was making tea, ducking under the stove at just the last moment. i swear he startled me more than anything, since i haven't seen a mouse around here in ever so long. i nether eeeked nor jumped. i raised an eyebrow, looked sternly at the stove and told him "you're mighty brave to be scuttling through here with a big human in the room. but i warn you, you'll probably want to go outside when it dries up a bit. there's poison about."

Tiger has his first sleepover tonight. i'm pretending that i'm not nervous about it At All.

first post

well here i am, trying to get the hang of blogger, inspired by jaime. i have much that i have wanted to post recently, from house repairs (the O My God Where Is All That Water Coming From??) to the pictures of my recently planted rose bushes to the Mother's Day Murders. I am also dealing with my firefly addiction the only way i know how: watching it repeatedly and joining the Browncoats. Why does everyone think I'm a Companion?

it's good to be back.