Furthering My Musical Endeavors

I've made an excellent discovery today. While wandering a music shop that was conducting a going out of business sale (and after pulling myself away from playing the pianos, testing a bass, and getting caught in the glare of shiny metal instruments) I came upon a couple dwindling shelves of music. The selection was already fairly slim so there wasn't much there I wanted, and most of what I did want I wasn't willing to spend the money for. But somewhere in there I uncovered a small music book titled Broadway Blockbusters. I know less than half of the sixteen songs, but the ones I do know, I will now be able to play. The book is intentionally aimed at beginners, my level. Much better than the fake book of Broadway music I have (though I love the music enough to keep attempting that anyway) and most of the other music I have which is just a bit more complicated than I can yet handle. Granted, I had Disney music before.. and still do.. but it's exciting to have something else to add to my "playable" collection.

If I'm playing them all the time, that means I get to sing them, too. Someday I am going to make it into a musical, and happily claim my chance to sing (and act!) on stage. Despite the fact that my only current accompaniment is myself and the noise made by extra books suddenly falling off the piano, and my only current audience consists of people aged five and three. I want more! But you'll see. I'll have my chance. And when I do.. well, I probably won't be playing piano for it.

Nevertheless, I am extremely pleased with my new book.

For Dog Owners

Xylitol is potentially harmful to dogs. The sweetener might (it hasn't been beyond a doubt proven yet) drop blood sugar levels and cause liver failure in animals.

Somewhere In My Dreams

I want to go off planet on spaceship Orion.

On Missed Opportunities

I just today discovered that a theater in this area will be performing a set of three one act plays in November. Two of them I would be interested in seeing, and even more interested in acting in: one is an Agatha Christie, the other, Sepulchre of Songs, an adaptain of a short story (same name) by my all time favorite author ever. It's a brilliant story about a girl with no arms or legs who wants to escape from the life she has. To not only act again, but to have a even a chance at playing that particular part, I would gladly take the chance of humiliating myself at whatever type of audition they decided to do, and love the opportunity to spend every moment of my free in rehersals until the performances end.

Of course, I discovered this series of plays was being performed through the discovery of an old online audition notice... and the auditions were two days ago.

So instead of give up every second of free time (and I did have things I wanted to do in October, after all), I'm going to keep an eye on the dates and times of the performances, and make sure to get in my reservations long before they are sold out. If I can't act in this particular play, I intend to at least see it performed; after all, I've read both the story and the script. And they were both very, very good.

On All Things Poetical

I have recently, since mid-summer, been trying to re-find a poetry site that I once came across. I found it while looking for a poem to memorize for a class just over two years ago. It was a rather extensive site, given that anyone could add poems to it if they discovered one missing, and covered everything from a few Roman (in Latin!) poems up through many of the more modern works. I have no idea what it was called, except that I think "poetry" or similar might have been somewhere in the title. I think, at the time, the color scheme involved purple. And you could search by author, by title, or by keywords within the poems. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about? And if you do, please, please let me know the site's address!

I've found this one, from which I took the following poem:

Love and Friendship - a poem by Emily Bronte

Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly's sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green.

But that isn't the right site; it doesn't carry half so many poems, nor, in particular, the ones I am looking for. (If I could remember either the title or poet I'm looking for, or even any particular lines of the poem, I'd give them to you, but I can't.) It doesn't even carry many of Chesterton's poems. Though it does have this one:

Gold Leaves - a poem by G.K.Chesterton

Lo! I am come to autumn,
When all the leaves are gold;
Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out
The year and I are old.

In youth I sought the prince of men,
Captain in cosmic wars,
Our Titan, even the weeds would show
Defiant, to the stars.

But now a great thing in the street
Seems any human nod,
Where shift in strange democracy
The million masks of God.

In youth I sought the golden flower
Hidden in wood or wold,
But I am come to autumn,
When all the leaves are gold.

Then there's this site, but that's also not what I'm looking for. Nor is this one, though they seem to have an extensive collection (but no Chesterton at all!).

And simply because of where I am, I will also mention this site of cowboy poetry.

And speaking of poetry, why is it that it is so hard to write? I won a contest for writing the best bad poetry once, carefully copying the style of I forgot who it was, and won a book. That was purposefully bad, and so it was good. But now - I keep trying, now and then, and the words come easily at times, but when I go back and read them later they always sound horrible. When they're decent I can't manage to stick with a style. I'll have one line of seven syllables in iambic pentameter, then two twice as long but each switching to a separate meter, then the next only four syllables and an entirely different style all together. And the next verse may start out long, alternate differently from the first, and contain twenty lines instead of four. When I can get that down, as I managed to do for a poem I began this past summer, then inevitably the words I require will never quite fit.

I can appreciate good, steady, non-modern poetry. I prefer it. Yet my own falls so far short as to be incomprehensible even to most teenagers at today's high school poetry slams. Which, by the way, I never attended, having professed a deep hate for all poetry until sometime through college. Perhaps, after all, I will now have to stick to just reading... And yet sometimes poetry expresses things so much better than words ever could.

And far, far more succinctly. Which we all know I need.

Sometimes Laughter IS the Best Medicine

I was introduced to a brilliant website tonight. It was all about old Weight Watchers diet cards, complete with captions and new titles. Anyone seriously interested will have to contact me for the link, because enough of the caption-content was too inappropriate for me to feel happy linking it here. Besides which, I might look again tomorrow and find they aren't nearly so funny when not viewed after a margarita, something involving tequilla and red sugar, and a sad yet extremely amusing movie watched late (late? when did I redefine that term to mean 9:30-11?) at night with friends.

So instead, I am going to write about this movie. We watched My Date With Drew, a documentary about a man who spent an insane amount of time, effort, and money trying to get a date with Drew Barrymore. (If I didn't spell that name right, it's because I really do pay that little attention to celebrities. I'm amazed I even know who she is.) I highly doubt this is a movie I will ever own or, unless with a different group of friends eager to watch it, ever see again, yet I don't have that feeling of having wasted my time that most such movies would leave me. Perhaps because of the company while watching it, since this was a particularly amusing movie to sit and watch with a handful of other people who were ready and willing to be amused. The man attempting to get a date is aware of the strangeness of his own situation and makes it funny; he's out to get a laugh as much as to get his dream of this date fulfilled. If you've got a good crowd and are looking for a movie involving comedy and no actual thinking on your part, go ahead and pick it up. I did enjoy the evening. Just don't expect to find the premise (or anything thereafter) extremely smart, important, or inspiring.

Home Again

Catching up on a bit of yesterday's news: Atlantis made a safe landing. And except for a brief period needed to readjust to gravity, everything seems to be fine. Yay!

Gift of God

God of mercy, you chose

a tax collector, Saint Matthew, to share the dignity of the apostles.

By his example and prayers help us to follow Christ and remain faitherful in

your service. We ask this through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you for ever and ever. Amen.

I celebrated the feast of St Matthew the Apostle by sleeping in. As un-celebration-like as this may sound, sleeping in has suddenly become a true treat and something I don't expect to do very often. Besides, I had more of a proper celebration later in the evening; after getting the kids to bed, I was treated to an extremely chocolatey and delicious dessert. Judging by the past two houses I've stayed at, I think I have exactly no grounds by which to hold my previous (while in MI) position as dessert-maker when attending any sort of out-of-home gathering. This is particularly sad as it gives me fewer opportunities to lick the sugary goodness off the baking utensils and finish off the leftovers, and even worse when considering that my family's Christmas chocolates were famous all over the Ann Arbor area and parts of Grand Rapids. However, it is not so sad when considering that I will be surrounded with excellent desserts in TX as well as at home (for I will always hold that my mom is one of the best cooks ever born, and she loves making chocolates, cookies, cakes, and all types of treats).

I have accomplished many firsts in the past couple weeks. First time ever doing anyone else's hair, first time brushing anyone's teeth but my own, first time chopping lettuce and mushrooms. I realized once more how grateful I am that I learned to read music - and I realized it most clearly after making it into chamber choir the next semester - but realized it once more when requested to sing vaguely recognized songs as lullabies with only a piano book and a tiny bit of light as an aid. My particular favorite: first time lying in bed with a small child who wants to snuggle while falling asleep. Had I been in my own bed, and not had the remains of dinner scattered over the counters and table downstairs to clean up still, I would have gladly fallen asleep there and counted it among the sweetest nights ever spent. And can someone remind me, now, why I will be forced to find a real job, rather than remain in this bliss?

Totally Miniscule

Despite Rumors, Black Hole Factory Will Not Destroy Earth

So don't start building your own personal escape vessel any time soon. There was a great story I read once about one of those things being suspended as a power source until something went wrong, then falling...

Faking a Full Season

While looking for entertainment this evening, I came across an item I feel I will need multiple containers of in order to survive the traditional winter months in Texas. Reusable fake snow! Though part of that reuse necessitates keeping the powder together, something I can't imagine doing when it would be so handy to throw at people. There are lots of poor Texans who, I'm sure, rarely experience the joy of having snowballs thrown at them, and I'm now in a position to fix that for them. Or would be, if I had snow.

While I'm highlighting this site, let me note that it also includes many other fun items, such as lightsabers, model war vehicles, carnivorous plants, a killer rabbit, and an ant farm (catching fire ants should be a truly interesting experience). If I ever hang dice from my car window, they'll be fuzzy d20. I know a few people who might have fun with Star Wars potatoes, and there are multiple books I would like to own that I still haven't gotten around to purchasing. There's even a t-shirt for those days when you're feeling really, really lost.

(Just in case, I will note there is occasionally, though not often, bad language, and a couple shirts I would never buy anyone. Fair warning. Most of the items are quite entertaining.)

Beware the Green Stuff

I knew there was a reason I didn't like salad. Bring on the meat and potatos!

Well, that is a somewhat ridiculous statement. But just in case anyone else follows the news as well as I do and isn't aware of the suddenly dangerous spinach, that's actually the link to the FDA's statement on the matter.

As long as chocolate is still safe I won't have to worry about my meals.

And It's Got Fur

Astronomers Find Distant, Fluffy Planet

Perhaps we should name it Bugs? It sounds so cute. Just this huge, bouncy, floaty, fluffy planet speeding around out there, like a big soft bunny rabbit.

This is where ghosts come from. They're actually ETs that arrived on all those UFOs people have been seeing, showing up now and then after extremely long trips from these fluffy planets, where the only possible creature is extremely light and floaty and effectively weightless and insubstantial like a ghost. Because of this, they don't have their own form to hold on to, so they try to adapt to arrival on Earth and help us feel comfortable around them by taking our shape. They had no way of knowing this idea would fail and make us terrified of them.

Granted, they would have had difficulty making the UFOs themselves, which is why I propose the further theory that the UFOs were actually made by a seperate group of aliens from a different planet who passed through these fluffy planets while on their way to Earth. Either the trip was too long or something en route killed them off, but these ghost aliens floated in through the walls and hitched a ride (they need some sort of atmosphere or other pressure to keep from falling apart) and wound up here when the UFOs crash landed in hidden rural areas.

One of Sixteen

After another day delay, Atlantis has made it into space. There was foam falling off again, but like last time, it doesn't look like there was any damage.. though this will be verified before attempting a return trip.

This particular mission is carrying up solar panels to increase the amount of power to the space station.

1..2..3.. ..102!

I've passed the 100 post mark! I feel so special, with so many posts! And yes, I am being a little bit sarcastic, as I didn't really intend to make a big deal until I got to a nice number like 1000. However, I found the place I want to go in celebration, and had to have something to celebrate.

It's not that I've only just discovered the Yucatan Peninsula - I've been desperate to see some of the Mayan ruins ever since studying their number system as a special math project in 6th grade (I think we learned a little bit about their culture somewhere in there as well), and after having come across a number of different articles about the Yucatan while trying to research the amount of crime in and interesting facts about Guatemala (in exactly that order), decided that was the place I had to go. While somehow avoiding the really touristy areas.

I know other sources would be likely to give a much better listing and summary than this article, but it's always nice to have a few different popular sources to start from and see where the other sources match. And with the supposition that by the time I actually make it to that part of the world I will actually remember this post and the article will still be available, it seemed entirely prudent to put it up.

Also, I couldn't leave all my readers in the dark about this beautiful piece of land and history. You're coming with me to celebrate! Right?

Mommy, I Want a Pet!

"'This worm is the stuff that legends and fairy tales are made of,' worm supporter Steve Paulson declared. 'What kid wouldn't want to play with a 3 foot-long, lily smelling, soft pink worm that spits?'"

I give you the article here: Group Says Giant Worm Must be Protected

I mean, I'd want one. Llamas spit too, and I have those, so that part doesn't worry me. And if you pick them up a lot, automatic air freshener for your house!

Did Hand-Washing Come Before God?

There's an article I'd very much like to re-write, discussing the psychological comparision between unethical acts and becoming physically clean. It's not that I have a problem with the study itself as that I want to present the results from a completely different angle. Such as something I could easily have turned in as an assignment for one of my theology classes. Or perhaps a psychology class, though I imagine any of the psychology professors I ever had (no, not true; I audited a class at the International Theological Institute for most of a semester) would have thrown it straight out the window and me along with it. That's what I get for spending three years taking multiple theology classes every semester; the desire to take an article about a hand-washing study and re-write it to point out all the hand-washing rituals in the Old Testament, complete with a discussion about why we had and still have certain means of "cleaning up" before God, whether physically or spiritually, why that's needed, and why it makes complete sense that a person would feel spiritually clean after physically washing up. And include a discussion of the Sacraments (such as, maybe, baptism) to show a very definite way in which God uses human things to show higher things.

Since I'm all out of classes and not likely to take another formal theology course (I'll have to keep the psychology classes in mind though), instead I'm writing down the "notes" that would otherwise have been in my head and from which I would have written the article, though by the time I'm done rewritting all this, it's actually a short paper unless I do a lot of editing. Such is life. Perhaps someone else will need to write this paper for class some day, and if so, the article mentions a nice study you can go look up and reference. Because this post doesn't warrent looking up the actual study myself.

Mutant Vancouver Eggplants Made Jam Somewhere Under Norway (w/ Peanuts?)

Old news by now, but in case anyone was particularly worried about Pluto (or deathly afraid that this would actually be settled within the next twenty years), never fear; Pluto's friends are fighting back for their dearly beloved.

If they come up with a better definition of a planet, good for them. As long as that definition doesn't go along the lines of "having all of the currently named conditions, or else being called Pluto."

Just as well, however, since my car wouldn't let me attend the bookstore. I wouldn't want my only chance for cheap astronomy books to have been so quickly passed over.

Also, rather than writing an entirely new post for this exciting tidbit, let me just note that the Space Shuttle Atlantis' launch has been delayed again, this time until Friday, possibly the last chance until late October.

(Hey, hey, anyone in my area.. drive me to FL to see a shuttle launch for my birthday? Pleeeaase?)

Somewhere in There I Missed the White Rabbit

It's the beginning of September. Officially, unremarkably, unavoidably, illogically. Illogically? I'm sure there was supposed to be another month in there somewhere. It's the time when I promised to be back and posting brilliantly, having settled into a lovely two-story home somewhere in the northern part of Texas, making good use of the free time given to relax after a full day with the children and before actually going to bed. The specific time when all of my world would suddenly congeal into the buildings and streets of Fort Worth, complete with cattle ranches and cowgirl museums.

I've never argued that Texas isn't strange. But that isn't the only problem with this senario. See, these Fort Worth buildings and roads look strangely similar to the houses and streets I was familiar with in the outskirts of Austin. That two story home - it's there, but it keeps changing shape and color, something I was previously completely unaware a house was able to do. And that full day with the children? It's even fuller than I imagined, and more wonderful, and more enjoyable, and the kids are more beautiful. For that matter, they look just like these other kids I met once. Actually, I'm failing to see where the problem is at all, unless it's in trying to remember how to spell Pflugerville, something I'll soon not be doing anyway as I move another five minutes away to Round Rock.

For those curious about what I have been doing if not moving into a new job, never fear; I have in fact found a job. I've been in training for a couple weeks now, and will soon receive certification as a professional jungle gym. I've also been told I sing well.

Aside from all the other perks of where I've found myself, Austin is closer to everything except Dallas. And it's closer to Dallas than MI is, though some scientists are still debating that. Either way I will post updates about an actual job (beyond what I've found, which is in fact a temporary sort of babysitting thing) when and if the mood strikes me - and in the meantime, will do my best to return to more regular installments of Whatever Strikes My Fancy.