pathweaverdana

The pic says it all.

Ms. Tankard.  Estelle Tankard, to be precise.  She taught the Senior AP English classes in my high school, and I was fortunate enough to get her the year before as well, in the one period of junior English that she taught.  She was unconventional--the first day of class, the first class in the room set the desks in a circle, where they remained for the rest of the year.  There was no lecturing; we talked to each other.  She focused us hard on really thinking about the things we read, including novels, poetry, and more.  And we even analyzed art and music at times.  She, more than anyone, taught me to think and make arguments.  And before her classes, I was quiet in school--hard as that may be to believe now.  :)  In my junior year, I went from considering my words carefully and only speaking up when I thought I had something of significance to say, to joining the discussion nearly every day, and arguing with my classmates (and sometimes her) about the meanings of things.  I had a blast.

Wow--reading that, I think I could use a little Ms. Tankard in my world today.

"On the other hand, please tell us some of your best memories from this experience. What are the things that you liked about the toilet tissue you received from us, what made you smile or just feel good?"

Well, for one specific item, if you happen to run across it in your travels.  I'm doing the Chocolate Ritual at FSG this year, and I just realized that I still haven't spotted one of the extra-long Tootsie Rolls.  If anyone who's going to be there by lunchtime on Thursday happens to see one, I'd very much appreciate it if you grabbed it and posted here.  I'll do more looking beforehand as well, and worst case, I'm sure I can find some other chocolate implement of destruction to serve as an athame.  But the Tootsie Roll would be ever so traditional....

Update:  One chocolate Charleston Chew has been obtained. 

Just saying.


Edited to update:

If you saw the comments, then you saw not only what happened but the fact that I was contacted by someone from Comcast about the issue.  I got a call from Mike Casem at about 5:30 this evening to discuss the problem, and just a few minutes later, got another call from a local support person, who rescheduled my connection window back to the original Friday 5-8 pm. 

I don't believe that this situation should ever have come up, and I was certainly more than a little frustrated by my call to Comcast to resolve it.  However, I do have to say that the good things I've heard about the ComcastCares team seem to be true, and I wanted to make sure that got recognized as well.  So thanks to Mike and his team!

First matter:  I'm moving at the end of the month, to another apartment in the same complex I'm in now.  I've decided that I have no interest in hauling everything myself, and would like to hire people.  Regular movers probably don't make any sense, since no truck would be needed--it'll be straight out my back door, across the grass, and up the stairs (to the 4th floor).  What I'm looking for is ideas as to where to go to hire these people.  Craigslist is a possibility, but if someone has any known reliable resources, I'd be really interested in those.  Note that this is NOT a request to help me move--I'm not asking my friends to help me carry stuff up 4 flights of stairs, especially if I'm not doing it myself.  An extra pair of eyes or two so that I'm not alone with a bunch of strangers moving my stuff around would be handy, although I believe I have one person lined up already, so it's not critical.  I'll be doing this on either the 29th or 30th.

Second matter:  I need to get set up now with a good, reliable pet sitter who covers the Sterling area.  One of my cats, Apollo, (yes, that's him up there), has just been diagnosed with relatively advanced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.  He's almost certainly going to be on medication twice a day for the rest of his life, which is more than I can expect to ask from my normal help when I'm out of town.  So I need to find someone who can deal with special-needs cats, who can make twice-a-day visits or fill in the gaps.  There are a ton of websites and such out there; what I don't know is who's good.  If anyone has any experience with someone, or can pass this on to someone who does, it'd be hugely helpful.

Sigh.

(source: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2009/03/churchsign.jpeg)

So I'm in a restaurant across the street from where I'm staying, playing trivia games.  And the following multiple-choice question appears on the screen:


"In 16-something-or-other [I forget the year], Peter the Great became czar of:"

A. Kenya
B. Russia
C. Canada
D. Mexico"


Just the fact that someone wrote this question disturbs me. 


"I know, we'll put Canada on the list--that'll throw 'em!"

Oh yeah, Myers-Briggs.   I come up INFP every time, with my 'I' pretty much as close to center as it gets.  It doesn't matter whether it's an online Myers-Briggs clone or by a professional scorer, it's always the same.

...but I needed a break.  And while out wandering the webs, I discovered the following comment posted in reference to an article on the potential abolishment of the "don't ask, don't tell" military policy:

"Schroedinger's Soldier, until observed outside of his service in the army, he exists in a quantum state of being gay, being straight, and being all shades in between at the same time."

I feel much better now and think I can go back to work.

From a box of frozen egg rolls:

"Our Pork Egg Rolls will add plenty of fun to your next party."

Am I going to the wrong parties?

Wheee!

I was one of the estimated 1.5 million people who, with extreme disregard for life, limb, and personal space, made the trip downtown yesterday for the inauguration.  I went along with Whittney.  (Mike, quite sanely, wanted no part of it.)  And what a day it was.

After staying up way too late the night before (for me at least), Whittney came downstairs and woke me up at 6-somethingorother in the morning, and I remember thinking "do I really want to do this?".  (I am SO not a morning person!)  I did, however, eventually get myself up and into my layers.  I was glad of my layers for the rest of the day--I never had more than minor issues with the cold.  I sucked down a lot of cough drops, though.

I'd carefully checked the WMATA website that afternoon, and determined that the best way to get to the Mall would be to go to the L'Enfant Plaza stop.  This would put us on the other side of the Mall from the parade route, so we wouldn't have to cross at one of the three spots available.  Unfortunately, L'Enfant Plaza was opening and closing due to crowded conditions, and it was closed by the time we were urged, strongly, to get off at Gallery Place if we wanted to attend.  This, of course, put the parade route directly between us and the Mall.

So we head down 7th Street towards one of the crossings.  And a little ways away, we stop.  Everyone there was stopped.  No one seemed to quite know what was going on, except that there was a bus parked across the road.  Eventually, word made it back to us that they weren't letting anyone in due to the crowded conditions.  So we decided that our odds were better elsewhere and set off down the road.  The crowds were phenomenal, so whenever I say "we walked,"  it means, "we walked through people, pushed, were pushed, etc."

Around 3rd Street we thought we were in luck--they were letting people in through the tunnel.  But no, it turned out to be a ticketed entrance only.  So on we went, detouring, fighting crowds, our goal at this point to go all the way around the Capitol and get to the Mall from the other side.  Which is a long walk, especially for someone in crappy physical condition like me.  We kept hitting dead ends where streets were blocked off, and had to move outward further and further to continue.  I swear I never thought of the Capitol as so big until then. 

Somewhere during this time I basically wore out and lost track of where we were.  I was getting pretty discouraged by then, convinced I'd miss the whole thing.  I started wondering if it had even been worth it to try.

Ultimately, we landed near the Botanical Garden building.  From there, the crowds were less...crowded, and we could hear ok.  I was pretty content with being to hear and not see, so long as I was with others out there attending, so we decided to stay put.  There was an entrance that was periodically opened and closed, but it was also for ticket holders.  The introductions started, and I could hear just well enough to know who was being introduced.  And I could hear the cheering from the Mall as each person came out.

Then, a minor miracle happened:  For reasons still unknown to me, the security folks decided to open up the ticket gate.  And they weren't checking tickets.  We were close enough to be able to get out onto some section of the Mall.  (I'm still not clear whether we were closer to 3rd or 4th Street, because it's all fuzzy.)  We still couldn't see from there, and there were no Jumbotrons where we were, but we were very close to the Capitol and could hear really well.  And we were THERE.

From then on, it was just awesome.  I can't remember a time when I was surrounded by so many genuinely happy people, all happy for the same reason.  The speech was amazing, the people were amazing, and to be there, in the crowd, when the word "Congratulations" was uttered...wow.

Oh yeah, it was worth it.

Just don't ask me about the trip out.  Google thinks my total day's walk was about five miles.

It's happening again....someone I know from one place knows someone I know from another place.  Which has happened to me way too often for years now.  You'd think I'd be used to it but it freaks me out every time.  Probably it means I'm on the right track starting to be more sociable; that's when these sorts of things tend to happen.  It's not a bad thing; it actually amuses me substantially. 

Boom.

So I've finally given in to peer pressure (you're never too old!) and embarked on my social networking career.

[whine deleted]

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of this journal....