Random Ramblings

It occurred to me today as I sat at a table in the parish hall by myself, that a common childhood game has become a bit of a reality.  When I was a child, like many children, I had imaginary friends.  I could see them, communicate with them, but nobody around me could.  It came to me today, as I sat at the table with nobody nearby, that I was not alone. I had friends with me that the people in the room couldn't see.  Now, they aren't imaginary friends, they are quite real.  They weren't physically present, but I was communicating with them all the same, and nobody around me could see them, or talk to them.  They were on my smart phone.  On my Twitter feed. 
I have some pretty cool "imaginary" friends.  Some of them are even famous.  (And yes, they do converse with me once in a while.)  Best thing is that they are friends.  Fun to talk to, they tell great stories, they tell great jokes, they are there to listen and offer support when needed, too.  All of my "imaginary" friends are pretty cool, and I feel very lucky to have them in my life.  I have even met a few of them in real life, and a few are people I knew in real life before I found them on Twitter.
(More of my Facebook friends are friends in real life.)

Even though it has been a few months since my friends and I went to Dallas and met Ron Perlman at the Comic Con, it still seems surreal that it ever happened.  Still hard to believe that he recognized us, knew exactly who we were, and who was who among the three of us, even though he'd only ever "seen" us on Twitter. Still blows me away when I think about it.  Part of me is afraid it was a dream, and I am so very grateful for Kelly and Mary who were also there and can assure me it was real. 

Still wondering what the heck is going on with the weather.  Warm and sunny the last two days, and they are saying extremely cold windchills will greet us in the morning.  It's not weather, it's a freakin' meteorological yo-yo!  I wonder if ANY of my plants will survive.

Random poetry attack!! The words have shown up, and they demand to be let out NOW!!


The Winter's Return
By C.K. Armistead
Jan 26, 2014

And again it is coming
Out of the North
Cold and clawing,
Biting and chilling,
The wind of change.

Gone are the balmy airs
Sultry and Southern,
Gentle and warm,
Soothing and lulling
The calm before the storm.

Howling Down the plain
Not even bringing rain
Cold- hearted and savage
This wind comes
Bringing Winter back again.


Since I am supposed to shop tomorrow, I guess I better go fuss the budget and write the grocery list.
Ta-ta for now!

Scone Recipe

Just because I know some of the #Perlgirls and other Twitter pals will ask, here ya go:
From the Cookbook From Celtic Hearths by Deborah Kranser

Basic recipe: Sweet Milk Scones
2 to 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Salt to taste
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.
Sift together the flour, soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Using a pastry bender or you hands, cut in the butter (or pulse in the food processor) until the mixture looks grainy, like coarse crumbs.
(I use the pastry blender.  Food processor makes it too easy to make the dough tough.)
Pour the milk in a well in the center, and mix until a soft elastic dough is formed.
Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface until smooth, and press with the hands or roll the dough into a pad about 3/4 inch thick.  (If you roll it out too thin, the scones won't rise properly.
Cut inot 2 1/2 or 3 - inch rounds using a glass or a cookie cutter, and bake on prepared sheet for about 10 minutes, or until they rise and are golden.


Cream Scones:  Substitute 3/4 cup fresh heavy cream or sour cream for the milk in the basic recipe.  Add 2 eggs to the dough at the same time as the cream.  This rich scone tastes quite different from the basic recipe, and can be used as a base for individual strawberry shortcakes.

(To make my special variation:  Add about 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate morsels and about 1/12 Tablespoons lavender vanilla bean sugar to the dough before you add the cream and eggs. (Or after, if you make a partial batch of each type, as I did this evening.  Even the extra kneading to mix in the sugar and morsels did not make the scones tough.  I was amazed.)

The Music List - Another Update

I have added some new stuff to the cloud player lately, and I am sure I have not gotten it all listed here.
First, the group I mentioned in my last post, Pink Martini
I not only have their Christmas Album Joy To the World,
But Also:
Get Happy
Hang On Little Tomato
Splendor In The Grass
and
Hey Eugene!

I really enjoy their music.  I love having it for background when I'm doing stuff around the house, or when driving, or on my walk.  It's a nice change of pace.

Also have added Volume 3 of the Songs of Anarchy  Enjoying all of these as well.

Songs of the Cat by Garrison Keillor has also joined the collection.  SO funny.

An album of Gaelic music based on the Carmina Gaedelica has also joined the collection
Gach La agus Oidhche - Each Day And Night
By Distant Oaks
As usual, an eclectic bunch of stuff. 

Thursday Night Thoughts

Another Thursday night, another long shift (for me) at the library.  Got a lot accomplished, and always enjoy my coworkers and our customers, but it's a LONG day for me when I start before 8 am with errands and appointments like I did today.  Surprised I still feel human. 
Maybe the respiratory goodness I had last week is finally completely gone.  (Or the cedar pollen has dropped way off...)
Have found a group I really enjoy listening to.  Pink Martini.  LOTS of good stuff, and not all the same.  Their music makes me feel good!
Here's a recording of What'll I Do made live in 2012.

Here's Get Happy recorded live in NYC

Ich Dich Liebe

Here's a gorgeous one: Yo Te Quiero Siempre


I just love listening to this group, as I said, the music makes me feel good.  They have some pieces that make you want to dance, too.
Una Notte A Napoli


In other news, there is a plot afoot, hatched by my oldest brother, to get all four of us kids together in Andalusia for Mom's 90th birthday in April.  That should be fun, I hope.  Haven't seen my brothers in forever, and only get to my sister and my Mom once a year when my sister and I go to do Mom's yard work.  This trip should be less work and more visit, I hope.

Got some random poem thoughts rambling around in my brain.  I may see if they'll come out to play.
Song Of Hope
By CK Armistead
January 23, 2014

The winter wind
Is trying to bite again
The cold has sharp fingers
To tug at our coats and scarves
It's bitterness lingers
And leaves us with scars.

Yet there is warmth to beguile
In the sweetness of your smile
Drives the dark away
Gives me a smile of my own
Makes the world less grey
Keeps my heart warm.

Your friendship is a gift
That helps the balance shift
From cold and lonely sadness
To warm and happy sharing
With laughter and gladness
Generosity and caring.

So though the wind is sere
And winter is still here
In my heart the song
Is reminiscent of Spring
And the warmth goes on
As long as we sing.



That's as polished as it gets tonight.  Mayhap I'll work on it another time. 
Thanks for staying around this long!

A Feeling of Accomplishment!

This was written on Tuesday, January 14, 2014


Today I finished this round of Nerdy Dozen training for my job. It's a chance to investigate various web 2.0 applications and see how they might be  useful to us in our jobs, or to recommend to customers. We have to blog about each topic on the training website, and it has taken me longer to do so this time around than it did the first time out.  I was one of the first to complete the first round of Nerdy Dozen.  That's when I actually did something with my Twitter account, and boy, that has certainly snowballed.  (As has my continued use of Facebook, Pinterest, and my fitness sites.)

I felt like I got a lot done at work, as I finished the last two Nerdy Dozen posts from work for once.  I usually have to complete them at home because there's too much actual work to do at work. ( I find myself writing in comments on people's posts who DO have off-desk time "What is this "off-desk time" you speak of?  I do not know of it.")

...This bit is being added on Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Monday, the plumbers finally got the go ahead from the service line insurance company to do the water leak repair.  My next water bill ought to be considerably lower!  It had been leaking for AWHILE, they said.  I feel like I accomplished something there by being smart enough to buy the coverage when the city informed us that such was available, and for remembering I had when this happened! 

Today has been behaving an awful lot like a Monday even though it is, in fact, Wednesday.  First off, I have a stuffy head, I know not whether it's the insane cedar pollen count, or a cold, but the sinuses are unhappy.  So far (knocking on wood) my voice is not effected,  but that could change if it IS a cold, and a cough develops. 
So, this morning, I was a bit sluggish, and it was hard to get moving.  I DID get my walk done, and I got to the store to pick up some things we needed.  Good thing I decided to go to work a bit early to drop off some stuff I bought for the staff snack stash.  It turns out I was supposed to be in Norman by 1 pm for a training on using our fancy new catalog to its fullest, and I had completely forgotten.  I got there only a few minutes late.  (This is what happens when my schedule does not make it to my phone.  Chaos.)  I got back to work by 3:30, and had to go straight out to the Customer Service Desk.  I hadn't eaten breakfast, or lunch, so I scarfed a granola bar and drank some water before I actually went to the desk.  Everything at work went well, but I felt rushed all day. 
By the way, you should check out our enhanced library catalog.  It's great.  You can choose your search variables, you can even get "read alikes" or "similar authors" for any book by clicking on the "Novel list content" bar at the bottom of each item entry.
Our library catalog is Here. Just type your search term in the box and go.

You will then get a page of results which you can further refine with the choices along the left-hand side of the page.  Really cool.  MUCH better than the old catalog for general use.

We made it to choir rehearsal, where I was once again the lone first soprano.  Only a couple of notes all to myself, but a challenge to find them on pieces we were sight-reading.  Hard to counter the years of habit that say "Follow Lou".   Sunday's anthem was fairly easy to stay with my own note, because it was a very familiar piece.

 On Monday, I was also able to get my voice to work better at higher pitches than it has in the past, leading Karen to believe that it is undergoing some stretching and deepening up there.  (As it should, if I keep practicing.)  I hope that the sinus issues do not turn into a cold, because that will set my vocal work back quite a bit.  It is VERY hard to come back from things like that.

I am about to go and give myself another accomplishment.  I'm going to do an elliptical workout.  Because I need to start doing that every day again.  Because my weight is still not all the way back down to what it was before Thanksgiving and Christmas with all their food showed up.

Ah, Procrastination

Ah, procrastination, my old friend.
I've come to waste time with you again.
Before the glow of a computer screen
I surf the backwaters of Facebook memes.
But the To Do list
That is rolling
Through my brain
Won't contain
It's impatience
With my task avoidance.

There are SO many things I SHOULD be doing right now.  Three more little activities to blog about for work, and I'll be done with that training program.  Just can't stick with it.  One last load of clothes to tumble in the dryer and then fold,  but I'm avoiding them.  Maybe seven birthday cards for fellow staffers to make, and one for family, and I'm puttin' it off again.
Just got a bad case of the Lazies these days.  Don't know why.  Not bummed out about anything really, not feeling ill or achy, just  "meh" about a lot of things.

Part of the procrastination is useful, it makes me think about things a bit more before I set off to do them.  My subconscious chews on things and comes up with new ideas when I'm not looking.
I have little chores like copying my last voice lesson off the digital recorder and onto the computer, and charging the recorder, and finding a copy of the piece Karen wants me to look at, and there are books I should be reading, but, boy, if I can just sit here and veg out.  I will.  I read fan fiction.  (Yes, a dirty little secret of fandom, some fans write, and others read.  Some of it is really good, some is abysmal. )  That is my mental chewing gum.  For my Mom, it was romance novels that she called "chewing gum for the brain."  For me, it's fanfics.
There is also Facebook and Twitter.  Facebook for more pictures, funny stories, catching up with family.  Twitter for news of the shows, stars, writers, etc. and some very special friends that I keep up with.

There are some ongoing annoyances as well.  The repair of the slow leak in the water line that continues (and costs us money both on water and on the sewer rate adjustment for the coming year) is still in limbo waiting to hear back about whether the bid from the plumber was accepted, and which plumber will do the work.  Also ongoing annoyance about getting an appointment for a check up at the clinic. Have to call them, NO appointments showing on the online calendar.

On other topics, I had the opportunity (or should I say I had no choice) to sing the descant on the anthem in church today all by myself.  The other first soprano was absent.  If I may say so, I think I did a pretty good job.  May have gone a little under on the last verse, but overall, not bad.  I don't know why, but singing at church by myself makes me a LOT more nervous than singing all by myself at recital does.  Maybe because most of my fellow choristers are better singers than I , and I feel self- conscious.  At recital, I'm usually one of the more advanced students.

This past week at work, I had to move out of the "shared cubicle" that all of us part-timers use, and back to a work area built in near the door into the department.  One advantage, better display space for the Perlman pictures!  Main disadvantages:  Less actual work surface space, less storage, and MORE TRAFFIC!  (And lookie loos because people leave the door open into the work area as they come and go with carts.) 
Here are a couple of pictures of the "Perlman Gallery" or the "Perlman Shrine" , depending on whom you ask:

 This wall can be seen from the doorway.  Top certificate is my certificate of graduation from the Pioneer Library System Academy, meaning I completed all the required job training set for me at that time.

The picture on the right is next to the computer, only visible from the workspace itself, or the cubicles behind it.

There is also a wall that faces the back door, and it has a copy of the Hellboy picture signed for my young colleague who also uses this work area.  (And I think my Nerdy Dozen certificate for finishing the first round of web 2.0 training is on that wall, too.)

I have a talking Dalek stuffed toy that is on the shelf above the desk soon to be joined by a baby penguin and a mini minion figure.  There will also be a Clay Morrow Pop figure on the desk soon.

Gotta keep the fan love alive!

Here's the final wall of the "Perlman Gallery"  Darrin's HellBoy pic, and my Nerdy Dozen certificate.







This move was in preparation for a third 40-hour person coming to join our department.  I am hopeful that my superiors have chosen well, and that this person will blend well with our little band of crazy circulators.  (Hey, we may be nuts, but we have fun, and boy, do we get a lot of work done!)

Except me, at home, right now.  Not getting a whole lot done except writing this blog post.  Which is one of the things I've been meaning to do, just not one of the ones I really SHOULD be doing at this particular time.

As always, thanks for reading.  If you've made it this far, I salute you!  You are obviously one of the Bored and/or the Brave!

Of New Years, Old Problems, And General Stuff

It was a fond dream of mine that 2014 would be much better than 2013 had been (with at least one shining exception in October.)  Alas, not so far.  So far, old problems are still with us.  Like the drywall in the garage.  Or lack thereof. 
Today, after wasting ALL DAY yesterday waiting for drywall hangers that never showed up, we at last have the guys here putting up the drywall.  That, at least is progress.  God willing, and they don't run into trouble of some unforeseen kind.
I had also hoped to have this round of Nerdy Dozen Web 2.0 training for work done long before this.  Alas, not quite.  Got to get busy and cram about four modules into the next few days. Shouldn't take too long if I can just resist the allure of Twitter, my email, Facebook, the books I'm trying to get read...
This post is one I am going to try and incorporate into the training module for QR codes.  QR codes can be fun.  There is a lot you can do with a little coded square that smart phones can scan.  You can link it to all sorts of things.  Like this poor, neglected blog.  Many companies use them on product packaging or on ads to link to a site with more information about the product and its use.  We can and have used them on program fliers at the library to link to more info about the program we are presenting, or directions to the library, or any number of informative things.  I think a QR code scavenger hunt would be fun.  Clues to other clues just codes you have to find in their semi-hidden locations. Easily doable these days.  Would really only need one person in each group of players with a smart phone, and they are FAR more common these days than they were even a year ago.

Another ongoing problem is supposedly on the way to being fixed. The water line leak has been looked at, a bid submitted to the insurance people, and supposedly soon I should get a date and time for repair from the plumber involved.  We'll see.  We'll also see how much of my leave I'll have to waste to get it.  (Matt's wasted two days of his on the drywall project.)

My weight has gone up about 3 pounds.  Holiday bad eating habits!  Time to get back to the serious diet and exercise regimen.  Trying to step up the activity a little to see if I can burn more.  Also trying NOT to buy the tempting stuff.  Hard this time of year.  There's chocolate EVERYWHERE!!! (Valentine's Day is coming, after all!)

Now, in order to keep that resolution to move more, and to keep the one about finishing Nerdy Dozen, I better go get my walk in and then get some work done. 
Here's a picture of our garage drywall in progress.  Staring to look like a garage again!

A New Year, The Same Old Me

Just some random ramblings about how the first week or so of the New Year is going. 
On New Year's Day, we noticed a bit of water standing in the front flower bed by my office window.  Kept an eye on it, and it hasn't gone away.  So, have called upon the Water Service Line insurance folks to send someone to look at it and figure out if it is the water supply line as we fear.  Just hope it's leaking OUTSIDE the slab,  and NOT under it!  I will probably lose a couple of rose bushes because of this. :(  The roses you see in this photo are the ones that may be lost.  They are dormant now, so if we can dig them up safely and cover the roots with dirt until everything is repaired, we should be able to replant them.  They need pruning back anyway.

Also on New Year's Day, I managed to keep a few resolutions.  I wrote in a poetry journal, and in one of my other journals, I exercised, I worked on the Bodhran lessons online, I did voice practice, and in general felt pretty pleased with myself.
Since then, I have failed to do any of those things except exercise. 

Tomorrow I have to go and insure my continued existence.  To do this, I must have my husband with me, and we must go to the Pass and ID  office on Tinker AFB to get my ID card renewed.  If it expires, so do I.  (At least as far as my base privileges and my medical care are concerned.) All this means I must get up the FIRST time the alarm clock goes off, and I must be more or less coherent before 10 am.  A VERY tall order.  I'm a night owl, and rarely fully mentally functional before 10:30 am at the earliest without massive infusions of caffeine. 

The weather in the last day or so has turned incredibly cold.  Bitter arctic air seems to be trying to push it's way all over this country right now.  I do not want to see our natural gas bill next month.  It's going to be ugly.  Very ugly indeed. 

Also hope it isn't too horribly cold on Tuesday.  On Tuesday the people are supposed to come and actually install drywall in our garage.  FINALLY.  (It's only been damaged since MAY.)  (Contractors and workers hard to come by around here in the aftermath of that tornado.  Our garage ceiling fell in the day BEFORE the big tornado.) 

 

This is what the garage looked like right after it happened. All the stuff is now moved out, and all the drywall is down.  The walls have ALL been insulated, new electrical wiring installed, and we're waiting on the drywall crew.

At least I have money put aside for that, and the service line coverage SHOULD cover the water issue.  Thanks be to God, because our budget can't take many unexpected expenses.  

Tomorrow is also the first voice lesson of the New Year.  Hope I can produce a halfway decent sound.  I did all right this morning, in spite of my sinuses.  Our anthem went very well.  

So, the New Year is acting a lot like the old one so far.  Hope things improve.  I am not giving up hope just yet.  

There are still good things to be done, and books to read, and songs to sing, and challenges to meet.  Guess I better get some sleep now so I can handle all that! 

The poem I wrote on New Year's:

Resolved Again 

By C.K. Armistead 1/1/14

To make the right choice

To practice piano, drum, 

And voice

To move my body more

To make it strong and sleek

For my love to adore.

To open my ears and eyes

To write my visions here to share

Hoping they won't be despised.

To love more, care and share

With those who cross my path

And those in need elsewhere.

To be myself, but more refined

More of what is best about me

And leave selfishness behind.

So my life is a light

And a guide to others

And not a blight.