My rainy day craft box

The project at work that was supposed to take three weeks actually finished this past Wednesday. So my nightmare of day shifts is over and my normal schedule will resume immediately. To keep anyone from working seven days in a row they gave me and a few others today off. I joked that most workplaces, if you finish a three week project in a week-and-a-half they give you a bonus. Here they give you an unpaid day off. My co-workers got a kick out of that.

We've been dealing with a massive flea infestation. They literally zerg rush your feet and legs the moment you sit down in the basement. Really disturbing to look down at your feet and see a dozen fleas feeding on it. The cats have been absolutely miserable. We went and got some medicine for them and some flea powder for the carpet. Of course when I put the powder down they just moved to the area where the powder wasn't. But I vacuumed today and that seemed to really throw them off their game. We haven't "won" yet by any means but I think the tiny armored monsters are on the retreat for the time being.

I have been relaxing today. Played some WoW. I've got some new music to add to the Media Player library which I still need to do. Did some more reading on A Storm of Swords. Also did my fair share of practicing on band-related material. It is a pretty good feeling to find yourself humming a melody and then realize it's part of a song that your band is writing. We finally decided on a Judas Priest song. It's "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" from the Painkiller album. It was hard to choose but I think this is going to be a lot of fun. I really cannot wait for the next time we get together and practice.

I had some kind of point I wanted to make with this entry but I've completely forgotten what it was. I hope everyone has had a nice and relaxing Friday.

I've just had three days off in a row. This leaves me very ill-prepared for my upcoming three morning shifts in a row. I am not a morning person. I would never be up before 11 am if it were up to me. So now through Saturday I work at 10am, 11am, and 7am. It's going to be a long weekend. And not the good kind. Oh, plus it's tax free weekend at the store where I work so we're going to be insanely busy. I just don't see it all ending well. I'll get lots of time to work on writing during breaks at work but little time to work on music at home. Growl.

This week is one of the busier ones I've had in a while. I'm working weird hours (what else is new?) yesterday and today which makes getting done what I need to get done rather difficult. My car is at the shop right now for an oil change and I'm hoping it will be ready by the time I go to work.

This weekend the acting troupe I'm a part of is putting on a mini-show at an SCA event in Springfield, MO so I'll be leaving for there tomorrow, camping overnight, and coming back Sunday morning. I don't ever have much success with camping but I'll give it another try. Have to buy some supplies today after work. Thankfully I work where they sell a lot of it. At least I'll be riding with one of our troupe members which is good because I was not looking forward to driving someplace I've never been to by myself.

After this weekend I'll get a little bit of a breather since we don't perform again until Lilies War in June. Next week I can get back to job hunting which is what I'd really like to focus on. I'm just not making enough where I am. Plus they're cutting everyone's hours so it's not going to get better any time soon.

Writing on Seasons in the Abyss continues its slow yet steady pace. I will be glad to be done with this novel. Not that I don't like it because I do. I'm consistently pleased with everything I'm doing in it and I think it's going to be a great read. But writing it just doesn't have the same "fun" factor that Apocalypse Woman had. It's definitely a different kind of novel despite being set in the same world and featuring Abryax as an important character.

I haven't felt much like working on music the last few days. Next week when I have less to think about I'd like to get back into it. I've practiced everything I've written enough that I'm in no danger of forgetting it, but my fingers are going to be mighty sore once I give those bass lines their next run.

Well nevermind what I said in my last entry about having one day off this week! Our store is doing its annual inventory in a few weeks and I got offered extra hours this week. So my one day off is now no days off and one of the days where I was only to work four hours will now be a full eight. I feel good about this for the extra money. But, yeah... I'm probably going to be cranky by the end of this week. Please post lots of humorous and/or tastefully pornographic images to cheer me up.

-Sent in a resume for a job last night. Got a phone call from them today. They must have liked my answers because the woman said she'd forward it on to the hiring manager to schedule an interview. Last week I had an interview for a promotion at my current work. Since I was the first interview the manager said it would be a while before I heard anything. As someone who rarely gets offered an interview and has worked a lifetime of crummy jobs because of it, I'm starting to feel kind of good about myself. I feel very motivated now to go out and keep applying for jobs rather than procrastinating against the inevitable humiliation of interviews and the disappointment to follow.

-I had training for a standardized patient gig yesterday and will be performing the gig Monday and Tuesday of next week. Since I have a feeling I'm going to owe on taxes again this year, the little boost of money will be nice.

-I feel like a creative dynamo. I have been faithfully writing and/or practicing bass guitar every day for a month now. The bass is really taking a toll on my left shoulder though. Why does B.C. Rich have to build their Warlocks so damn neck heavy? It's a complaint I've seen repeatedly about the Warlock model but I didn't listen. There's got to be a way to rebalance it so I'm not in agony after twenty minutes of practice. Meanwhile, my latest Apocalypse Woman story is finally doing what it needs to do after three false starts. I no longer dread trying to write on it, at least.

-Unfortunately, it appears I will not be able to afford the Emilie Autumn concert on March 10th. I'm disappointed, but actually feeling very relieved not to have to come up with the money. I can only hope she'll come through here again sometime in the future when I'm more financially viable. In the meantime I will count the days until my Opheliac cd that I ordered from Amazon.com arrives in my mailbox. It will have to satisfy me in the meantime.

-There is no way I will win Dragon Age: Origins before the release date of its sequel on March 6th but I'm still valiantly trying. And I've decided I really do want to play Awakenings anyway. *sigh* So much Ferelden, so little time.

Now I am off to a short shift at work. I hope everyone is having a decent week so far.

Scientist pursuing theory that gravity is an illusion.

At first glance you might think you won't be able to understand all the science stuff. But I'm not keen on science stuff and I found this article fascinating. This Verlinde guy thinks in compelling ways. And he's right about one thing: even if he's proven wrong then something has still been learned and that makes it worth it. If you have an aversion to science talk, put it aside and read this article. It's worth it.

In other news, you do not have the right to photograph me based on my occupation for part of your scavenger hunt. Even if it wasn't against the policy of where I work to allow guests there to start photographing things I'd still say no. I am not a trained monkey there for your amusement. I am trying to make a living. And in this day and age the last thing I want is to show up under the "Photos" tabs on the Facebooks of fifty dumbass teenagers I don't know. It was nice telling the lot of them to piss off, even if it was in the most courteous way possible.

Dentist tomorrow. Fun. I am saving a piece of my mom's chicken fried steak to eat before I go. I want the last thing I ever chew with this tooth to be something good.

It seems every holiday these days comes with at least one type of asshole that's out to ruin it.

At Christmas you have to put up with right-wingers bitching about the "war on Christmas." There are other sorts you have to put up with then 'cause it's the biggest holiday of the year, but they're probably the loudest and easiest to spot.

No one can go through the month of February without hearing at least one lecture about how Valentine's Day is just a conspiracy made up by candy companies.

Nowadays Easter can't come and go without at least one cutesy little jackhole who thinks he/she is funny saying "Happy Zombie Jesus Day!"

And here in the States we can't enjoy Independence Day (and to some extent, Memorial Day,) without someone wanting to lecture us about how evil and bad our country is. Which is fine. We have freedom of speech here for a reason. And while I too find irony in us celebrating our revolution for democracy - the final straw of which was outrageous import fees - by detonating explosives imported from a communist state I see no need to go out of my way to ruin peoples' good time.

Yesterday at work, my pot smoking, beat poet-obsessed co-worker decided to tell me how he just can't see the point in, as he put it, nationalism. "Instead of putting an American flag in your yard why not put a flag of the Planet Earth in your yard. Know what I mean? Right?"

And I like the guy and I appreciate the sentiment. But something about it just really pissed me off. Hippies... And they wonder why no one listens to them.

So I'm making the curtain aisle look nice like I've been told when around the corner come what can only be a pair of frat boys. They both wore sweat shorts and shoes without socks like you only do when beer money > laundry money. Both had the sleeves cut off from their shirts, forming impromptu tank tops that revealed fresh ink snaking up their arms in patterns that only a frat boy would think were cool. Spying me, one's eyes grew wide and he exclaimed

"CUPS!"

Me: What?
Frat Boy 1: Where'r yo' CUPS?
Me: (Because we have many different kinds of cups.) What do you mean?
Frat Boy 1: You know, CUPS! Plastic CUPS!
Frat Boy 2: Like for BEER PONG!
Me: Oh. You'll find those up by the pharmacy.
Frat Boy 1: The PHARMACY? That's some BULLSHIT. Keep CUPS by the PHARMACY.
Frat Boy2: Thanks bro!
Frat Boy1: (As they're walking off.) Keep cups by the PHARMACY. That's BULLSHIT.

Personally, I found it appropriate that they had to walk over to the pharmacy. Because that's where douche bags belong.

It has been a couple of busy weeks for me. I've kept meaning to get on LJ and talk about it but have either been too tired or too preoccupied to bother. Two weeks ago my team at work unexpectedly got moved to day shift. We go back to evenings today. But the change in schedules let me enjoy raiding in the evenings with my World of Warcraft guild - something I've really missed since I started this job. And I also got to go to rehearsal with the theatre group I'm involved in. The downside was the harsh reminder that I really am a night person and that as much as I like having my evenings free, I'm always going to hate getting up in the morning to go to work. I always feel very tired, sluggish, and almost ill at work in the daytime even when I've gotten plenty of sleep the night before. I hate not having my evenings free now, but am very glad to be back on a sleep schedule that fits my circadean rhythm.

( At the dentist... )

( At the bank... )

( My long and crazy weekend... )

I really enjoy all the music I acquired this weekend, but The Dresden Dolls are getting the heaviest play right now. I'm definitely on an Amanda Palmer kick at the moment. I've got to say I like The Dresden Dolls better than her solo work. Her solo work's not bad, just different and the DD's fit my tastes a bit more squarely. It's too bad she killed the other Dresden Doll and used his sinews for ukulele strings. He joins a long and tragic musical graveyard whose cadavers include but are not limited to:

-Art Garfunkle
-DJ Jazzy Jeff
-The male members of No Doubt.
-The two Black Eyed Peas who aren't Fergie or will.i.am.
-Anyone from Destiny's Child who isn't named Beyonce
-Any Stray Cat who is not Brian Setzer
-That guy who founded Evanescence, then left because Amy Lee is a bitch.
-The guy from Wham! who wasn't George Michael... and later, George Michael.

RIP

Monday and Tuesday I actually worked two days in a row at two different jobs. I actually had to get up early and everything. It made being off yesterday strange and I didn't quite know what to do with myself. A few months ago I signed up to be a standardized patient at a local medical school. It's a roleplaying-type thing where you do a doctor/patient scenario with a medical student and they get graded on how well they figured out your illness, dealt with the patient's idiosyncrasies, etc. Anyway they finally called me in for training this week for a scenario they're going to be running next month. I'm excited to be doing it and it's very good money. The guy running the program seems to like me so hopefully it lead to getting called for more work.

I work again at my "main" part time job tonight, making for the busiest week I've had in months. It feels good to be contributing, good to be doing something. And every now and then I have to remind myself that doing the standardized patient thing means I'm technically acting for a living, so I'm finally putting my "useless" theatre degree to use.