Mari Ness's Blog, page 37

Ohio State marching band

Still not really in much of a blogging mood, but I did think this was cool:



Wait for the horse. You'll know what I mean.

mariness @ 2012-10-06T13:32:00

Too exhausted to blog much.

But in just a few hours, Emily Jiang is going to be performing some of her original choral compositions, one of which includes a song based on my poem Transformation, so I wanted to urge you all to send her all the good vibes that you can :)

And with that I go zonk out.

Quick TV update

The new fall TV season is upon us, and...er, I haven't been keeping up. I can say that Castle is still ridiculous and needs to avoid conspiracy theories, but, you know, Stana Katic in a bra, not a bad look; Revenge is still unexpectedly, marvelously over the top and awesome (I mean, really. This season started with Exploded Boat, Dead Floating Arm, and Scuba Divers in its first minute and a half, in but the first of many, many over the top moments, with bonus Mysterious Dude With British Accent); for all of my praise of Revenge's over the top moments, 666 Park Avenue needs to learn that less is more, and that violins are very very expensive and should not be gratuitously smashed just because you think a demon isn't going to let you leave your apartment, and, sure, I realize New York City has housing issues but let's be realistic for a moment, so I probably won't be bothering with the rest of the show; enough people have asked me to snark Revolution (which, no, I haven't seen yet) that I am genuinely concerned; and Allo! Allo! is still hilarious and David Suchet is a great Poirot.

(What?)

So, still forthcoming on the blog, possibly: comments on season two of Game of Thrones, comments on Grimm, and Mari Gets Annoyed at Once Upon a Time again without even seeing this season yet. (I caught the last minute while turning on the TV for Revenge. And, oh, yes, if I can brave it, snark on Revolution. It can't be as bad as you are all saying, can it?

(I'm holding off on Elementary for a bit as well.)

And this is why women are afraid:

Woman gets restraining order against violent ex; he kills her and a coworker and injures her friend the following day.

This is getting a large amount of local press primarily because it happened in a tourist area, and both the local news and all businesses on International Drive are eager to assure everyone that no, no, this doesn't usually happen to tourists and this is a domestic violence issue only. (If you watch the video you will see the obligatory shot of a typical tourist assuring visitors she didn't see anything.) But the family of the victim is quite right. This woman was trying to do everything right: she got a job, she made plans to get more education and become a nurse, and, yes, she informed the police that her ex was violent and dangerous, and yet even in one of the most heavily policed local areas (Orlando: keeping International Drive safe for you!) she was still murdered.

What a horrible, horrible thing for those kids to live with. I do hope they'll be able to heal.

#

In other news I got an excessively annoying bill from Florida Hospital today which has me raging. I don't understand why they can't set up a NORMAL billing process that keeps track of, just at random, THE AMOUNTS PATIENTS HAVE ALREADY PAID. While they are at it it would be helpful not to change prices AFTER billing for the same procedure. I checked my receipt and checked with my online account just in case this was a Chase Bank screwup, and it isn't. I foresee annoying telephone calls ahead.

But, before that, a friend I haven't seen in more than a year is stopping by, so, friendship first. Better than any hospital for blood pressure issues.

Through the Gate: Rahab

The inaugural issue of Through the Gate has just been published, led off by my poem, Rahab. It also contains poems by several other marvelous poets, including Rose Lemberg, Sonya Taaffe, Michele Bannister, Adrienne Odasso and many more.

I'm extremely pleased to be part of the launch of this (and kinda stunned that my poem started things off...that I wasn't expecting.) If you need some myth and magic in your day today, given in words dripping with beauty, this would be where to start.

Now, they are attacking drunk drivers and then having some chocolate:

Two alerts from the squirrel wars:

1. First, from alert reader fizzgig_bites we learn that squirrels are now attacking perfectly innocent drunk drivers.

2. On a considerably more alarming note, warns us that SOME PEOPLE are actually feeding chocolate and nuts to squirrels and then allowing the squirrels to rest SUSPICIOUSLY NEAR the steering wheels of taxis, which as we all know can be easily turned into weapons. Everyone! Kindly remember what side we are on here!

October is coming. Really. October is coming.

I opened the door last evening, and breathed. I moved out, and breathed some more.

Cool.

Not cold yet, even by Florida standards, although I hope that's coming – the few days of genuine Florida chill and even occasional frost are just enough to remind me that winter still arrives in the rest of the world and that my cats need to stay warm, like, right now, please, but not enough to linger to the point of I'm sick of the cold, either. (This is of course in part because it really doesn't get that cold.) I opened windows and allowed the house to breathe. Cool, which means one thing:

October is coming.

Really, genuinely coming.

It's hard to explain what the summers have done to me in the last few years. My world narrows even as the days lengthen and more light pierces the world; I become dependent on others again, trapped behind the walls, only able to escape with someone's help or for brief periods early in the morning until the heat arrives, and with it, dizziness, fatigue, falling. And inside, the sudden start then drone of the AC, meaning that I don't even have real, true, quiet. I become depressed, cranky, irritable, with my limited freedom to go places limited still further.

The one thing I like is the rain, this heavy spectacular Florida rain that comes down in a flash flood with lightning and thunder and allows water, for a moment, to take over the world. I can watch that for hours (not that these storms ever last for hours – the rain, sometimes, yes, but the spectacular rain I'm talking about not so much). But we can also get these rains in the fall and winter and spring, and I think, I don't need the heat for this.

It's not quite completely cool yet. I can see more AC in the future, see more days when I will still not be able to leave the house after 11 am. But October is coming, and with it, my time. A touch of just a bit more freedom. The knowledge that I can have afternoons sometimes too. And evenings.

Hi, fall and the following winter. Linger as long as you like.

Armoring up and cats versus dogs

First, from alert reader gargoylerose we see that the squirrels are, gasp, ARMORING UP. People! Do not increase their access to weapons technology!

Second, from alert reader wyldemusick , this explains the superiority of cats:

Tinkering, tinkering

So after some tinkering by my brother, the mobility scooter works, just, veeeerrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy ssssssssssslllllllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwllllllllllllllllly. More tinkering and new parts to come!

Sigh

I just had to ban 25 people for posting links to Russian porn on my Lj.

What I don't get is why they are resorting to spamming my not-exactly top ten internet site with this. Surely it shouldn't be that difficult to find customers for porn?