Beth's Contradictory Brain

Miserable

Apparently I caught another superbug on the flight home Monday. I went up to work for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to help out with a project. I noticed my throat was starting to hurt - I hate that. Then by 4:00 yesterday I was shivering and couldn't get warm, fun with fevers. I had a fever of about 102 all night and it finally broke about 9 or 10 this morning. I was delirious all night which was really strange. Now I'm just weak and have spent all day dropping just about everything I pick up.

Next time I fly I'll be wearing a facemask!

On Again

The trip was nice. We had a few delays with both flights, but we got where we were going on the day we planned, so it wasn't too terrible. We mostly hung around and ate and got caught up on sleep. Yesterday we took the kid to play putt putt and it was great because no one else was there.

I got to introduce my mother to more of the internet, and set her up with a gmail account. She also has links to LOLCats and dlited and some other tv related websites. And really - isn't that all anyone really needs?

I've got a sore throat today from the plane. Ugh. Nothing worse than lots of recycled air.

Off Again

We're flying out to Dallas in a couple of hours - down to the heat of hell. But at least we'll get some good meals and some time with the nephew.

Back on Monday, will blog Tuesday. Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there!!

Old School Photography

Several years ago I bought a Canon AE 1 camera. Then, on our trip from Seattle back to Austin it ate a couple of rolls of film and I put it away. But I miss the clarity of film photos and don't want to spend the money it would take to get a digital camera that takes photos that clear. I like the idea of enlarging pics I've taken to decorate parts of the house.

The other day I took the camera to a store around here and the older guy working there was really nice and told me it was probably because I was loading the film wrong. So he showed me how to make sure it was in there right and I bought some film to try it out.

I've never taken a photography class or even read up on tips or anything. I should have a much more dummy proof camera, but oh well.

Here's three sets of pics I took of the pets around the house and some at the dog park. I'll eventually get the settings for light right, and you know, learn how to focus! It was really weird not seeing the pics right after I took each one. There not too bad for a first set. They do look better in print than online.

UPDATE: Since my own blog wouldn't let me leave a comment - grrr...

Little Man will sit on the sofa next to me and just stare at me like that until I acknowledge him. If the staring doesn't work he'll start to slightly tap me on the arm with his paw. He's a very special kitty, short bus special!

Heh

Tell me this isn't the funniest thing you've seen in months!

Netflixed

Let's see if I can remember the recent movies. I watched Cloverfield. Not impressed. When I listened to the commentary afterwards, I realized I didn't see the movie they thought they made. The guy spoke about how he and his son took a trip to Japan recently and got into Godzilla and that made him think how's there's no equal American monster. Hmmm, maybe that's because we didn't have nukes dropped on us and then used movies to deal with it. (As I've mentioned, my nephew is very into Godzilla and we've watched a lot of the movies in the past year or so.) But, even if they wanted some kind of "American" monster - that thing they designed was just hideous. Then another guy in the commentary talked about how the creature was just a baby. When I heard that I thought WTF? That didn't come through at all. I mean, if it was a baby then what were all the smaller creatures it shed?? But worst of all, I just didn't buy the whole plotline. Really? Those particular people would stay together and go back and find the girl and risk death? I didn't think so. And lastly, I'm not sure the terror of a monster in Manhattan can compete with the real terror of 9/11 - not that filmmakers can't try, or can't use the idea or the setting, this film just didn't work for me.

I watched Lars and the Real Girl. Cute movie. Ryan Gosling is great in it. Again though, watching the extras, the writer talked about how we should just let crazy people have their craziness and accommodate them more. It's a sweet idea, but I'm not sure it's realistic. It's a nice movie about accepting people and such.

Then there was Martian Child. Another cute movie. Great kid actor.

Today I watched a sci-fi film called Sunshine. Not bad, not fantastic. You can see the ending coming, not that that hurt watching the film. I think they could have fleshed out the bad guy more (no pun intended if you ever see it) and his crazy motivation. Also - why are the outsides of spaceships lit other than for us the movie viewer to be able to see them?

Recent Readings

I'm still really trying to put my library card to good use.

I read Covert about the mob in New Jersey in the 70s and 80s and a man who was undercover and then when all that was over he ended up an NBA ref. It wasn't the best writing, but it was such a good story it was fun to read. I actually learned about the book on the only morning radio show I've ever liked - Elliot In The Morning. He had the author on for an interview one day.

I think I first heard of John Scalzi over on Instapundit and then saw a link to his blog, which is a really good read. (On my short little blogroll I've got 3 authors. I guess it makes sense they've got good blogs.)

I picked up the first and third books in Old Man's War and put the second on reserve. I also picked up Android's Dream which ended up being a really fun read.

I'm not the best at retelling plots or summarizing stories - so check out the links to get good synopsis of the books.

Funny?

I'm sure you've read about the Lesbians vs Lesbians lawsuit by now.

Three islanders from Lesbos ... have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.

One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.

I find it kinda funny.

Work and Not Work

I still have mixed feelings about this working part-time stuff.

The off days problems. I sometimes have a hard time finding useful things to do to fill up my two days a week off - you know, things other than playing online poker and watching movies. Part of that has been due to weather. It's been either cold or rainy or both and that doesn't help my self motivation problems. The organization I thought I might do some volunteering with hasn't worked out yet, maybe it's a slow time for them. Plus, every time they have an orientation I'm either out of town or working. I looked at another website for local volunteer opportunities, and just didn't see anything I'm interested in. You'd think there'd be enough house cleaning to keep my busy. I find I just don't like doing housework much. Or maybe I'm still waiting for it to feel enough like spring to do a good "spring cleaning."

Then there's the work part of life. It's no less stupid around work. I keep thinking if things at work improved I could go back to full time. But in spite of hiring several new people, there are still about four (of ten) doing 80% of the work. One of the new girls only lasted about two weeks - she was kinda nuts. I'm not sure how some of these people get through all the hiring process. We've got one lady at work who talks constantly. Literally. Things are also more chaotic at work, partly due to the new people. They just don't pay enough attention to details and mistakes are being made. This is not a job where mistakes should be tolerated. But they are. That frustrates me to no end. Our boss is on vacation for the next three weeks. Maybe the supervisor can get people better on track and making less mistakes.

I know it should be an enviable position to be in, not having to work all the time. I'm still working on how to make the most of it.

Must Read

Nerdstar wrote a really great entry about her trip to Taiwan for her father's funeral over there.