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!