古崇賢的学报

A 5.9 The star on the map is the epicenter. Click the link and tell them about what you experienced in the quake.

That was by far the strongest quake i've experienced here by far. We had a 3.6 last July, that barely woke me and i thought was a very large truck. This one, the walls were moving, and a few things fell down/out of cupboards.

My mother keeps speaking of not being long for this world, or of hoping not to be long for this world, while expressing concern about the direction of the world and concern about me, my sister, and the grandkids.

Mom's 61 -- birthday in December -- in generally good health, should exercise more (would it kill her to upstairs once a day to get the mail and newspaper). Her mom died at 64, and her mom at 82. Mom's dad died at 83, and his mom at 85, his dad at 65ish.

I'm not upset by the idea of my mom dying. She has my blessing to pass as she sees fit -- it's her life after all. I like having her around, if a bit less so since Fox News and Glenn Beck, but the cycle of life dictates that she, as all of us, shall pass beyond at some point.

1. I posses a copy of Naomi Novik's The Throne of Jade, which i know is neither mine nor not_the_pope's - is it yours?

2. For those of you who helped me pack for my move out of Ben's place, i'm missing my iron, which was in the linen closet upstairs. Any of you have any memory whatsoever of where it may have been packed or packed with? I've not found it with any of the bathroom nor towel/sheet stuff so far.

My weekend was pleasant, on the whole.

Saturday i slept late, got some laundry in, gathered the recycling, and headed to the Reston South Recycling Center, intending to go for a hike along the Potomac after dumping the metal and plastic and paper. Just as i was opening the back of the CR-V, my phone rang. Twas L with the news that The Evil - her grandmother - had died an hour before. So instead of a hike, i went to Springfield via a still-scenic, if not as scenic as it once was, route, to pay call on Ms Brown, L's mother and The Evil's daughter.

As always, it was nice to see Ms Brown, despite the circumstances. Ms Allen's passing has freed Ms Brown of a huge burden - that of five years of caring for and responsibility for her mother. So many mixed emotions in the house that day, though that too shall pass.

Sunday was the Great Day of Laundry. At one point, i opened the sliding glass door enough to stick my arm out to see if i felt like getting dressed to leave the house. The door started shaking in a familiar way. I released the door and watched. It shook just so three times more before i opened it a smidge more. The door behaved as expected. Jasper has left the building.

It is common, among humans, to hear/see the departed briefly some days to a week or so after their passing or memorial service, whatever form that may take. I've had many, many reports from people of similar sounds/sights through many moons now.

A week after my father died, on one evening, as my sister and i were going to bed, mom heard the distinctive sound that Dad's belt buckles made - i wonder if she still has any of them, many vintage Secret Service ones - i heard the distinct squeak the top stair made when he came up the stairs after his right leg began to go due to the nerve damage from late 1973 or early 1974, and my sister heard the particular squeak the floor outside her bedroom door made when he stood there briefly to look in on her as we were going off to sleep.

When i opened a sliding door, Jasper would run up, stick his head through and ram it with his shoulders, knowing that many will slide open enough for him to pass, which meant the door vibrated as he went through, as he would go through the smallest opening he could fit through. Coming in, however, usually required widening the opening a few centimetres for him. The feel/sigh/sound of the door is very familiar. I'm sure that he has moved on now, and i wish him only the best. The way the door behaved, he was anxious to go out and be truly free, for the anxiety of his brain chemistry kept him from being as free as he might have been in the flesh, though i suppose his bon with me may have played some role in that too. He'll be well missed, but he had a long life for his species.

Feldspar has been cuddlier and a bit clingier at me since Thursday last. Alabaster is 11 months now, and doing well, and behaving like the kitten he is, and shall be yet for a while more. I look forward to seeing how his personality changes in the coming months and years.

Continuing on about Alabaster for a bit, let me tell you about his hair. He's rabbit-furred, which means incredibly soft. He has a thin, very fine coat of 3-5 cm long hair on his body and tail, slightly shorter on his legs and face. Hair that sticks to everything, and i mean everything. Hair that floats on the least wind. Hair that forms visually interesting self-macrame in the dryer filter. In the end, his hair, which is much of his beauty, is his least endearing feature. I groom him often to reduce shedding. His tail produces huge quantities. New pictures before too long, i promise, if you're interested.

And coming back round to Jasper, i called CRK after i took the body to the vet for disposal. CRK then kindly sent these three pictures of Jasper from 2004, when he was 13, and i had just moved into my 1st Reston apartment. The first two, especially the second, captures the beautiful yellow eyes which earned him his name.









Goodbye, Little Fucker*, as above, you shall be remembered. Peace unto you.

---

*a)Jasper sired a litter at age 9 months. b)He annoyed the bejeezus out of me when he was young, though his most annoying traits disappeared after Feldspar came into our life. c)Due to the part of me that resembles my mother, he responded to Fucker as readily as he did to Jasper, and long before the end, Fucker had come to be a term of endearment at him. :)

As many of you are aware, i had to appear at the courthouse, aka the town council chambers, in Herndon, VA, to present my driver license to the officer for a charge of driving on suspended license without notice. I experienced a thing i've not knowingly experienced before, and made an observation.

The Herndon Town Council Chamber is underground, topped by a very nice green glass and red brick pavilion containing stairs and an elevator. For court, we processed down the stairs, around the stairs and through security. Herndon is heavily Hispanic; about half the people present spoke Spanish exclusively, or almost exclusively. I was about the 6th person in the line. Everyone ahead of me was of a darker complexion than i am.

A couple people set of the magnetometer, and were wanded. I set off the magnetometer to the same degree as a couple of them and they waved me through. I know that this is because i am 'white'. This equally angered, disgusted and saddened me. On the other hand, it wasn't worth the hassle of confronting the people waving me through security, lest i encounter legal problems. Sigh. :/ That should not have been, and it saddens me that it is yet so. For though things here in the US have improved in terms of ethnic relations in the last 40 years, we still have a ways to go. 350 years is not undone in one generation, or in two. Alas.


This was my 4th appearance before a particular judge of the Virginia 19th Judicial Circuit, General District Court in 3 years. Many people were appearing for suspended license, as was i. More than a few had not gotten a new license due to documentation issues - likely inability to prove legal presence as is required to get a driver license in Virginia. For the non-English speakers, he would ask if it were documentation issue. If they said yes, he worked to reduce fine if possible and/or connect them with help to legalize their presence. It was refreshing seeing someone on the bench trying to help the immigrants who keep the economy - especially on the low-end - humming functioning.

I've told you a tad about the Bachmans. I shared the Summer of 1986 with you. I wrote a three-page essay about my father's death from my point of view - a page a year as it turned out. So, for a little greater context, a bit more of my growing-up years.

I met B when i was four, as told before. We recently reconnected thanks to Facebook. Through B, i've also reconnected with N, M, L, E, K, H, R, and others. Once i started school, i met M and L, who are twins. As the years progressed, the three of them remained core to my life, socially and emotionally. I met K in Elementary school, when her mother arrived at our school to replace my teacher, who was leaving for an other position with the county schools. K, her sisters, and mother, have been important to me through many years now. E, with whom i had a lengthy IM chat the other night, commented that she remembers almost endless walking in our teenage years.

I have a long history of walking - through the woods, along creeks, to the local mall, three miles each way to work, Dupont Circle, DC to Lee Heights, Arlington, twenty miles through the mountains, and more. In the Summers of Middle School and High School, back when we had no jobs, commitments and what, i'd walk down the hill, up the hill, around the corner down the hill, up the hill, around the corner up the hill, around the corner down the hill, around the corner down the hill to E's house. We'd mix tonic and sugar and flavourings to make sodas, after i quaffed ample water - it's hot and humid here in the Summertime.

Once i'd cooled down, E and I would set off up and down the hills, to the trail off of Birchdale Ave, along the edge of the two houses that aren't like, and predate, the others, over to a branch of Neabsco Creek, where we'd shimmy across a sewer pipe to Anderson Ct, where we'd meet R and H and A and others. We usually met at R's place, cause she had to watch her younger brother S til her mom got home. That, and the Mall did not open until we were 15, so aside from the Giant at Ashdale, there wasn't much of anywhere to go to.

We'd lounge in R's living room, listening to music. If S was up for it, we'd go for a walk; he was young enough, we couldn't just leave him for hours without someone to come to if needed. We'd talk, and listen to music. We'd make a simple lunch - sandwiches or deviled eggs or what. And R's mom would come home to her usual 'living room draped with teenagers' as she'd say as she came in each day.

For variety, we'd lounge at H's or A's house up the block instead. Mostly, it was R's house though. As the years went by, we, well they, started dating. Still we hung out. Then M, L, and i got jobs in the months after Potomac Mills opened. Still we hung out, walking, always walking. There's even sidewalks today on most of the way we walked in the dirt along the road back then.

Growing up in Dale City was a great thing. We made what have turned out to be life-long friendships, though we may go years without talking. We've been together through deaths, marriages, abortions, graduations, divorces, and more. Now many of them have children, and those children that i've met are a joy to be around. One of the best things about growing up in that when and where was the fact that no matter whose house we were at, the rules and expectations were the same. At age 13, our parents ranged in age from 29 to 57, and were of various ethnicities but, the expected behaviour was identical at every house.

That made growing up easier. Constancy helps, as many of you can attest. The colorblindness we grew up with made for some hard lessons for many of us as we got out in the real world and other regions of the country. At the same time, we know that the world we are raising our children in is, on that count, a better world that that in which we grew up. And that, on that count, the world that we grew up in was pretty darn good, not least for that then.

So, having reconnected with childhood friends, who now live here, Chicago, South Carolina, Baltimore, and other places, i find myself joyed and overwhelmed. Yet, i'm not nostalgic. Then was then, and it was good, in spite of everything. Now is now, and through our shared past, our yet-similar todays, we shall forge new relationships similar, yet entirely unlike what was before. For though the past is a base, life, relationships, and the world are not static, and there be only to move forward.

At age 29, i was truly grateful to have in my life people i'd know for a quarter century, knowing that there were people twice my age who could not say that. I pass no judgment at all on those whose relations are of shorter duration. I simply feel truly blessed with the lengths of my relationships, and the opportunity now to renew some that had lapsed for longer than is ideal.

So, It's Official: U.S. in a recession since December 2007 says CNN. And, i think (fear) it's going to get worse yet.

Hello, it's been a while since i done posted. So, what's happening in seain's world, you ask. Well:

• Work - so far so good
• School (Arabic 101 at NOVA):
  • got an 84 on my midterm
  • being slow on vocab acquisition. We start reading this week, which i think will help. I've never done well with memorizing vocab lists
  • i'm expecting a 75-80 on today's quiz.
• Socially:
  • went to Ecumenicon this past weekend, and learned about Hinduism, Vedic Astrology, and Celtic, Irish-centric mostly, beliefs on death and after life, both pre- and post-Xian
  • After class on Thursday, i'm heading to Rehoboth for the weekend with tomhundleyrn. Coincidentally, nosebeepbear will be there also, and we look forward to spending some time with her.
  • I miss going chez_turtle regularly, but that should get back to as-regular-as-work-allows soon.
• Car:
  • put the CR-V in the shop on the 21st to have:
    • the converter heat shields replaced
    • 120k maintenance she has 133.7 k on her
    • VA safety and emissions inspections
    • 4-wheel alignment
    • replacement of the clutch assembly, cylinder, and flywheel - she's a manual with a hydraulic clutch
    • front brakes and rotors
    • 2 new tires
    • a power steering flush
    • a new cabin A/C filter
    • fuel induction service.
  • Total: $4k, half of which was the clutch.
  • picked car up early on the 22nd
  • Took it back 2h later, as the clutch was wrong
  • Lead service manager looked at it, said give it a few days, and he called to give my service manager a heads up
  • Told him i was okay with that, and i would be back on Wednesday if there was a problem still; there was, in spades.
  • dropped car at dealership on Tuesday evening, thanks to benhill
  • used blackfeather's car to go there Wed AM
  • they had to order new parts from corporate, as they had installed the last parts in the region for a manual transmission for a 1997-2001 CR-V - she's a 2001 - on the 21st. Said car would be ready on Monday or Tuesday.
  • Monday it was.
  • today, took the 553 and 427 Fairfax Connector buses to within a few blocks of the dealership, retrieved car, which works again. It was exciting getting a bill for $0, as it was a warranty repair. :D

So, that's that to date. Comments, questions, concerns?

I voted when the polls here in VA opened at 06:00. Go vote if you have not yet. You have until 20:00 in DC & MD, and until 19:00 in VA. Go forth and help you preferred candidate get the nomination she or he deserves!

On an other vote, er note, i can't wait for the optical scan machines to replace the touch-screen ones.

And, joy. I can see that it's snowing lightly, and i can hear that it's raining moderately. Going to class tonight will be fun.

This morning, on my way home from work - i got in the car at 07:10 local time - i happened to hit the button for DC101, and lo and behold, it was then 07:15, and just as the receiver got there what happened, but Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant erupted from the speakers. So, i spent most of my drive home knowing that verily and truly, it be Thanksgiving. Never mind that i was heading home at 07:00, and that i work tonight at 19:00.

Tomorrow after work i head to Darkover, where a dinner will be had in the glorious presence of Saint Ow, canonized a year ago by the Pope herself, whom i hope will allow me to grace her presence for some part of the weekend.

On my flist today are a wide variety of things, ranging from a family gathering at the deathbed, to a year of photographs at milepost 38 of the Washington & Old Dominion trail montaged into a video, to cheer about healthy cats, frustration and exasperation at Life, and musings about authors dealing with negative reviews, kindly linked through the opening of the To be or not to be soliloquy.

I believe we here in the DC-Baltimore area be in store for a Winter like we've not seen in some years. It was ~76ºF at around Noon, right now it's ~66ºF, and it will be ~36ºF by midnight. I need to bake/cook something for to eat at work tonight, as i doubt much will be open tonight.

From the for-now open door here in the living room, i hear a wind such that the trees are dancing that beautiful rhythmic ballet they do so enjoy when there be a stiff breeze. I have heard cats caterwauling children making joyful noises, birds chirping, the odd airplane, and the pitter-patter of the cats playing. I am watching the wind strip most of the last of the frivolously fluttering and twitching yellow leaves from the trees. I imagine i'll see the oranges and reds mostly gone on my way to work, insofar as there will yet be light at that hour. I need must give credit to the Southern Red Oaks for tenaciously clinging to their browned leaves, that the snow, ice, and new growth of the Spring send the leaves to fertilize the ground and become new Dirt.

And so, the trees stand naked, Winter looms, Darkness is well into her reign, which shall last into Spring, and we all continue the Danse Macabre that be Life, as we struggle through the Dead of the year, anticipating the promise of the quickening that bring rebirth in the form of Easter, with her chickens and eggs and rabbits and fecundity. A virtual red candle to the memory of Ostara, that we all come through the Winter well. Blessings hundredfold unto us all!

Least relaxing two days off i've had in ages. Yesterday, i slept late, that is, until 9. Went to DMV and got my driving record, went and got the speedometer calibrated, took 5 phone calls, cancelling 3 sets of plans for the day, and combining 2 others, missed another phone call, for which i must make amends. I've no clue how on earth i overbooked so much for the day, but there it was.

Today, i got up, went to the lawyers office, the courthouse, the lawyer's office, a bank, out to South Riding to have a first meeting with my latest Spanish language student, came back on 50/606, got carry-out at Anita's in Herndon, gave directions to the manager to get to south central PA via US15.

Charges of Reckless Driving were reduced to Speeding 15- 19 MPH above speed limit - EX55, and a $200 fine, $262 with court costs, which for some reason was $10 less than the signs said. *shrug* My first plea bargain. Yay for a cooperative Associate Commonwealth's Attorney.

This weekend, i work, and benhill is out of town, so i work and have dog duty. Monday, i take sagesaria to SSA to get a new social security card, and tomhundleyrn will be joining us, then he and i will head into DC so he can get a birth cert, and i can get a new SmartTrip card, as my current one doesn't work.

Here's hoping for a quietish weekend at work. Sigh...

Apologies in advance for my overtired and nearly-addled brain's lack of flow and coherence.

My mood, as benhill observed, has improved since i started working. Structure to life is good.

I worked my first weekend, which was a gentle way to end up on the phones. M, D, and i make up the current Black Team Group II. Both M and D have been great about helping me with things. M works much harder than D, and i've been trying to learn from him, though there's much i may not do until my level 2 clearance comes through, which is some months off.

Monday and Tuesday i plan to, in no particular order: help muzikmaker21 complete his move, get a haircut, see The Simpsons Movie, do 2 loads of laundry, and work 6 hours.

I learned today that IBM's time reporting tool requires me to enter hours in excess of 40 as overtime. I learned this because this is the first week in which i'll work more than 40 - looks like 54.

The cats, and the dog, were all very happy to see me today, and the rabbit did not run away when i gave him more kibble and hay.

Oh, and any of you have why the Spanish-speaking customers are always so much happier, or at least expressive of their happiness, with their dealings with me than the Anglophones and Francophones are?

For those of you who've missed the news, my preliminary clearance came through on the 1st, and i start work tomorrow at 08:00. I have not a clue what my hours/days look like at this point. I will update with more details as i have it. Basic schedule is:

• 12-hour shifts
• Week A:
  • Work MTFSU
  • Off WR
• Week B:
  • Work WR
  • Off: MTFSU

Initially, i'm working days, but in the end will be working nights. Note that i work every other weekend.

I will be going to Baitcon, which i am very much looking forward to. Due to that, i am not working the 19^th-24^th, inclusive, this month.

Due to the work hours in Week A, i expect that i shall not have much time to check LJ that week, as to get as much sleep as i need, i technically have 3 hours a day that i'm neither at work nor asleep. Phone, SMS, and email will be the best ways to reach me. Comment, or otherwise ping me if you need that data.

This month will be interesting as i get into the rhythm of the job, though i expect it will be into Aug before i'm really into the swing of things.

For the first time in many years, Father's Day is big-time on my radar this year. I think i need must take a trip out to the graveyard this month. After 21 years, the loss is still there, and tugging a bit harder than it has in some time. Probably a side effect of being less busy than usual for the time of year.

Tomorrow, i'm going to go help my friend L's mother get her house in order for her convalescence, as she gets here other knee replaced on Tuesday. It'll be nice to see Ms. Brown, even with her being a bit loopy on pain meds. Happily, as i'm not her child, i get my suggestions listened to a bit more, which makes helping her not quite as difficult.

(Uber bonus points to anyone who can identify the subject of this post.)

Today's mail brought a postcard from melted_snowball. I wonder if the delay was on the Israeli Postal Authority or the USPS. *shrug*

Reading it made me realise how very long it's been since i've corresponded with anyone via post whatsoever. My friends in Europe and i switched to email years ago, after 15 years of letter-writing in 2 of those cases.

I have more images of the queen of England and the King of Spain than i ever imagined i would. The British stamps are kinda neat. Sonia, a friend in Spain, and i at one point sent each other letters with matching stamps, if one set denominated in US cents and the other in pesetas. Correos de España and the USPS in the 80s issued identical 4-set of light blue stamps with lace printed on them. They were quite lovely.

The queen of England stamps came courtesy of my friend Claire. She's the daughter of my friend's mother's friend. I contacted her in middle school as part of a research project i was doing. Her sister and a friend of hers stayed in my apartment in Boston one weekend while my partner at the time and i were in Maine, a bit to the confusion of our neighbours.

We lived in a triple-decker similar to the one at the top of that page in the link, and we all shared a washing machine and clotheslines in the basement. We forgot to tell the people upstairs and downstairs that friends would be there while we were out of town. We told the visitors they could use the laundry, so the neighbours came down to find bras and panties and other girl clothes - everyone in the building was male at that point. Heh. We explained when we got back. That was a great place to live in. I still miss that apartment and that building, if not the city.

I met Sonia at a bar in Madrid in 1984; drinking laws in Spain are rather not at all like those in most of North Ameriaca. I last saw Sonia in New York City in 1993. My mom and i were up there for pride week, and Sonia happened to be in town with a friend. We all had lunch together, though Mom was not able to participate in the conversation much, as we mostly spoke in Spanish. I've yet to meet Claire, though i know where she lives and where sho works, so i am able to do so when i get to England.

All these years later, i clearly remember both their addresses of 20 years ago, including the oddity that Sonia's town in Spain had the same postcode as Manassas, VA at the time - 22110. One of my letters to her got returned once because of that. I learned to write SPAIN very prominently on the envelopes because of that.

Taken from the most fabulous nadyalec

My friends do change my life for the better- in ways they probably don't know.

Wanna know how you changed my life for the better? Comment, and then, if you'd like, copy this to your journal.

Friday, i rode with nosebeepbear and Marc up to dhs's housecooling. We arrived Friday, and persis cooked for us, the aforementioned, plus whc, dmk and aliza250, a very nice dinner, as well as some lovely oatmeal on Saturday morning.

Saturday, in addition to the people above, i got to see nancylebov, netpositive - whom it was a pleasure to meet, scarlettj9, suecochran, stevenjoel, museinred, lionessprite, T, who is the sister of selki, and a bunch of other cool people.

We headed back to DC on Sunday morning. dhs made eggs for all of us who had crashed. :) After we ate, nosebeepbear drove us to my church, where i had to be not later than 11 AM, as i'm teaching the Middle Schoolers this term. I'm really proud of her, while riding with her this weekend, we crossed a railroad track, the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge, and a small drawspan which appeared just as she was calming down from crossing the Key Bridge. Go nosebeepbear!

In summation, i had a rockin' weekend. :D

Eight hours in jazz shoes is hard on the feet. Today, we had a 15:00 and a 19:30 performance. House at the matinee was dead, but had expressive faces that showed they were into it. Evening house rocked! Last show tomorrow at 15:00 at UU Church of Arlington, VA at 4444 George Mason Dr (at Rt 50, SE corner) in Arlington. If you are able to come, do. I can comp you tix if needed.

I had a lovely time during my brief visit chez Turtle this evening. Bun-bun, a boy rabbit, recently of chez_turtle has made it here home with me and benhill. Jasper, the elder cat who spent his first eighteen months with a rabbit, sniffed and ignored him. Feldspar, the younger cat, thinks he'd be fun to play with, and is still trying to figure him out.

I put him on the coffee table so he's dog-eye level. Duke, the dog, with Ben restraining him, was brought near enough to sniff. They sniffed and sniffed at each other. Then Bun-bun thumped, and went to the side of the cage i put a blanket over, to provide him 'safe shelter', and hissed at the dog. So rabbit and dog will take some acclimating.

I got home about 30 minutes ago. Just as i stopped at the light at the end of the off-ramp from the toll road, clicking noises upon the windscreen. Sleet. Enough to have accumulated to the point of seeing wheel tracks and footprints by the time i went into the house. I'm hoping Reston's far enough west to avoid the freezing rain - we'll see. I'm guessing no church in the morning.

( Why i was getting home at 04:00 )

On Thursday, i injured myself playing Wii Sports - i hurt my right shoulder and my left gluteus maximus. I got sports injuries from playing console games. Who'da thunk?

As a result of those injuries, and rehearsal Friday night, i hurt too much to go up the stairs, then slept - sort of - on the sofa. This morning, i ate a small bit, ached a lot, managed to get up the stairs, fall into bed, and slept through today's rehearsal.

I did get some ibuprofen after dinner tonight, which has helped a lot. I expect to be at tomorrow's rehearsal, assuming i'm healed enough for the dance numbers. :| No Wii for me until i'm better, and more carefully, obviously.

It's Mardi Gras! I'm heading down to Clarendon Mardi Gras again this year. Who wants to go with, and maybe dine before or after?

Jasper, my elder cat, showed up a few minutes ago. Not sure if he was upstairs or downstairs - i'm on the middle floor. He came at me from the right, and i found his head wet, mostly on his right side, on the top, over the ear, and a bit down the side. His right ear was very cold, much like human skin when one is a bit numb from the cold. He's dry now, and the ear almost back to normal. Very strange.

I had a fantabulous time at Long Night - it was wonderful getting to know people whom i already know in an intimate, open, loving, and sacred environment. Thank you.

And for those of you who have not experienced it, Accidental Butterscotch [Pudding] Fudge_(tm) is most very delicious

The rest of today, i will read, maybe watch a movie, nap, and do laundry, in some order or another.

Thanksgiving Day, i had a lovely meal with agentxs at Hunan Manor in Columbia. The food was delicious, and the company exquisite. From there, i headed up to the hotel for Darkover, where i happened to meet up with nosebeepbear and supremeherptile for a meal. Went to bed early so that on Friday, i could pick up nancylebov and bring her down to the con, which went well. I've worked with nancylebov at many cons for a couple of years now, this one went easier than most in terms of unloading at the con and packing up after the con; not quite sure why that was.

I spent the weekend at Darkover: hanging with people, dining, swimming, meeting a few new people. Saturday i played several hands of Mah Jongg with nosebeepbear, and two men whose name's i'm not recalling at the moment. I sang the Hallelujah Chorus with lots of others around the pool, and then joined others Christmas carolling in the main program room. And despite my speaking voice, i sing bass, and some bari, for those who've not heard me sing. After the carolling, one of the other carollers had me listen to John Denver song, and then i went back into the hotel to recruit some people to go to the diner. Ended up going there with hawkwind2000 and Charles Butler, and we were joined promptly by nosebeepbear and cptsevern. Nothing like a good meal at 02:00.

Awoke Sunday at 10:30 after not nearly enough sleep, checked out and tossed my things in the car. Then i plopped into a chair outside the pool and endeavoured to nap, but got interrupted by a couple people asking if i were okay. It's nice to know that people care, even though it disturbed my nap. Had brunch with nosebeepbear, scruffycritter, not_the_pope, ottour, and ladysmith and her hubby and child. (And now i know who ladysmith is - one less mystery in my life.) After the dealer's room closed, i packed nancylebov's business into my car and took her home, after pausing for Indian, where we ran into and joined Rik Fire and his wife, and Lady Amber Dawn and her friend D. Got to Charles Butler's place a bit before midnight, then we went chez moi, that i could drop him at IAD for his trip to Brazil.

Monday, i slept most of the day. Today, i'm back at work.

mais je ne t'écris pas une poésie ce soir, au lieu de cela, je t'écris ceci:
(Tu ne sus pas que je pourrais écrire dans le français, eh?)

Well, enough of that. At least i know i've not forgotten it all, even if it's really rusty. I should revisit L'étrange or Le Petit Prince for a basic refresher. Tomorrow, or more likely today when you may actually see this, is Armistice Day, known here in The States as Veterans Day. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany signed an armistice on the Western Front, ending the war with France, Britain, Belgium, Holland, Spain, the US, Canada, and The Commonwealth.

( My great-grandfather fought in that war for Germany, for which he won an Iron Cross. (cut for length) )
The memory of Uncle Fred weighs on me a little bit each Armistice Day; i wish it was still easy to buy poppies like it used to be. This year, with the current administration and the battles over whether people like me are people who deserve full rights or not, his memory and his stories haunt me more than usual this year.

So this year, i fondly, yet a bit melancholically, raise a glass in memory of my great-grandparents Schoenmann.