Liralen's Adventures Through Life

"I thought we were in Seattle.  What is that huge bright thing up in the sky?" It's been cool here, but sunny.  Ordinarily, it is sunny here through September and into October, the long Indian summer is almost always a part of Seattle weather, but it's fun to talk about, especially since all the weather reports had been predicting rain for most of the days we were to be here.  60's as a high and clouds all the way down the ten day forecast.  But it's been remarkably clear and sunny here while we've been here, and I've been enjoying it a great deal. I really enjoyed sitting on Isabel's back porch.  I read, I sketched the geraniums, and I waited for these guys to come to the hummingbird feeder.  There were hummingbirds who had staked out the feeder and it was always something of a thrill to hear the thrumming of their wings. Our time with Isabel is something I think I'll just hold private.  It was good and helped me heal from some things I...

I was feeling so sad yesterday and I didn't really figure out why until the evening and seeing all the memorials and pictures people were posting about remembering on all the social media things. Gradually coming to the realization that emotions don't always have to reasons, and it's just something that happens.  Feelings just come and go, and they aren't any particular kind of truth and they don't define me.  I feel sad, it's not that I am  sad, which is a newish distinction for me to make and was made all the more obvious by the language used to deride each other in first person shooters. It's interesting realizing that I learn more from the contrast. John's now off on the road, having to leave early in order to actually meet up with us in California. With the extra day he'll have plenty of time to stop and hike and enjoy himself along the way, while we're touring a studio he'll probably be hiking in Reno. *laughs*  Jet, John and I ar...

Halloween was fun. For the first time, I actually went out with the parents and the kids to go trick-or-treating. I'd always chosen to stay at home, and this time I decided to just leave the bowl of candy on the front doorstep with a sign, and I went with John and Jet through the neighborhood. It was fun. Especially more fun since John was back home from Seattle. We traded off weeks, and I'll write more about the gaming and convention and setup for it in another entry; but the week while John was away made me, as always, really appreciate everything single parents have to go through so much more. Especially when things break down... One thing that happened was that I completely misplaced my fitbit, which seems a small thing except that I've been living with a pedometer for longer than Jet's been alive, so it's really hard on me and my habits. And when I mean completely, I actually mean that I lost it three times in a row while John was away, and the last time wa...

Sometimes, I think that scientists, early on and at a very early age, get an tremendous education through classic Halloween horror stories on the pitfalls and error of disregarding the opinions or feelings or thoughts of the rest of the human race, especially if they're particularly brilliant. That just because you might think they're stupid or slow or whatever doesn't mean that what they think or feel doesn't matter or that they can't hurt you badly if you treat them badly. Everything from Frankenstein to Dracula to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea all tell the same sort of story. Don't put yourself above or beyond humanity, or the mobs with the pitchforks and torches will be coming for you. Not that we all *get* that lesson, but still... I got it pretty early, and I think my time at Caltech made me VERY aware that I'm not really that smart, and certainly not smart enough to act like some idiots with very high IQs. So I en...

The dentist had noticed that I had some significant bone loss around a few teeth, so he scheduled me for an extra-long session with the hygenist. I was not looking forward to that, either... but went in today to get it done. Lucky for me, the bone loss is mostly from my habit of grinding my teeth. Even with a toothguard, the loss has been pretty significant, but it's not periodontal disease, thank goodness. I don't have the inflammation, nor do I have significant plaque buildup, and my gums are healthy as can be. The hygienist was amazingly thorough, delved into places that she was even surprised she was able to get to, and ended up finishing half an hour early. She also cut the bill to just two-thirds the original quote, simply because I didn't need anything more than what she'd done. She also gave me the usual goodie bag of brush, floss, flossers (for my bridge), and toothpaste. Plus, she gave me the added assurance that my bridge was on solid, and no worries there....

I have made the Black Pearl and she is mine. There are these kits made by a company called Metal Works, and this little beauty started out as four sheets of laser-cut metal that I then punched out of the sheets, bent, and put together according to the directions. My near-sightedness made it so that I had to just take my glasses off and do it. I suspect I wouldn't have even tried it if I were still wearing contact lenses. There are times when it's good to know that I'm getting old. Today was a gorgeous Colorado fall day, the foliage all the colors of flame, and the wind stiff and solid enough to lean against. A raven glided (the way I knew it was a raven, as crows can't glide), stock still, above my head. It cocked one beady black eye at me, cawed at me, and then floated off backwards. I got another thousand words toward a short story, answered a query about usage of a photograph of one of my paintings on Flickr , and several hundred more words on the blog about ...