(no subject)

Daniel Barenboim continues to speak out against Israel's militarism

Several things moderately linked with each other

Thing 1:

So I spent most of today housecleaning with polyfrog.

I'm hoping this refills the Karma Piggy Bank, 'cause it appears mine has been running on fumes for some time now.


No, nothing went as planned this weekend, except for several hours yesterday, when we headed down to celebrate the first birthday of The Mistress of Chaos the daughter of some friends. It also enabled me to consume the requisite grilled Encased Meat Products one is required to eat on holiday weekends.

But other than that.... pffffttt...

And that's just one reason why I'm here at work, at 6:20 p.m., on a day off. Granted, I've only been here an hour and a half, but I predict I'll be here at least two more hours.

Its also why I never made it to the beach this weekend.

Thing 2:

I've been tired and cranky lately. Trying to save the world* can be a little draining, especially if all of a sudden you're at a loss on your next move. Every time I'd read a headline on my BBC feed, I'd feel like crying, like "oh dear god, what's next"?

Also, the fact that there is really no such thing as "down time" in a job like this is getting frustrating; we're always kicked into overdrive, and sometimes its without warning. Although sometimes that overdrive is caused by someone not planning ahead- sometimes me, I'll admit, but only sometimes- properly, and then I need to bear the brunt of making up for the lost time. I'm getting sterner about those things, but there are some things I can't escape, mostly because I'm the only one who knows how to do some things.

I have to be fair, though, because a lot of this is caused by the fact that we can be stretched really thin. Its the nature of the work, really- I've never known an organization like this to not be stretched thin, in any sense of the word.

I'm looking forward to going to this Peace Congress in Indianapolis this week, but I'm not looking forward to the time that will be lost doing it.


I'm also bothered that this tiredness and frustration are mingled with anger. That's not an emotion I'm used to dealing with, and I have to find appropriate ways to let it out. Sometimes its really easy to understand how revolutionaries get their start.

Thing 3:

I changed my icon and user info and stuff to reflect how I'm seeing myself these days. The name violachic will always stay- that's an integral part of who I am, that's for sure. But its not the only part, and I'm trying to figure out how other parts are sneaking in.

But I'm feeling a little cynical these days about how I don't seem to have any Regular Life Skills. I'm a little uncertain about how I'm going to go about things- and by "things" I mean "life"- when I'm done with CPT. With the way things stand, I doubt I'd make anyone a good Life Partner, and this whole taking care of myself thing doesn't work well, either. I absolutely suck at finances, I can't really cook, I hate cleaning (yes, I contradict myself with the first line of this very post, but...), I don't have any job skills that will actually get me anywhere, I don't even have a freaking degree.

The funny thing is, -I- don't really care about those things. Its just that those are what seem to be required in order to, well, live. There's got to be a way of making it work without all those things- or with maybe only some of those things- and I'm sure some of them can be learned, given enough time, patience and brain power.

But that's where I stand now. If all goes well, I do have almost another two years to decide how I'm going to do Life After CPT, but I'd like to get a little bit of a jump on it now.

But for now, I'm going to get pizza, and continue working here.





*please note facetiousness- I'm not actually arrogant enough to think I'm actually "saving the world"

(no subject)

So I consider myself a minor news hound.

I like to know what is happening around the world. Part of the job description, I guess. Or maybe its an unofficial prerequisite? Dunno.

Anyway.

I don't read eighty thousand newspapers, though. I mostly stick to the Chicago Tribune, which we get at work mostly for headlines, and the BBC. Very occasionally I'll watch network news, but that's usually by accident.

I've had BBC on rss feed for my flist for some time now. And when I switched over to using Firefox for my web browser, I found there was an extension that put BBC headline links in my browser toolbar. These are the headlines I'm usually reading when I'm sitting here hating reading the news.

But tonight, I was amused by a headline.

The first six were Bush Vows Massive Relief Effort, Annan Ready For Oil-for-Food Flak, Iran Nuclear Arms 'Years Away', Chernobyl 'Likely to Kill 4000, Egypt Fire Kills 30, and Alps Cable Car Crash Kills Nine*.


And then there was the seventh headline.



Saturn Ring Particles 'Fluffy'

And what was brought to mind was this little dog-like thing orbiting in the sky all widdle and cute and fwuffy, tawl wagging and bawking and...

awwwwwwww....


But maybe this is just another indicator of my current state of mind. Who knows? At any rate, I got a chuckle out of it.


*Is it any wonder people get exhausted just reading the news?