Wonderous Wildlife

I both love and dread animal news. So much of the news tends to be terrible. We do some awful things to animals. And so many of these stories make me angry. But these past two days have been great for animal stories. Particularly water-based animals.

In Thailand a 770 pound stingray was caught. This amazing animal was brought up using a fishing pole and required the strength of 13 men. I would have stopped reading there, thinking this was a commercial fisherman and that the animal had been killed but I kept going. This angler was part of a tagging program. This huge (7ft by 7ft) female was tagged and returned to the wild which is a wonderful thing since she was pregnant. Imagine a whole family of these beautiful creatures gliding soundlessly over the bottom of the ocean. I've been diving with rays and they are unbelievable beautiful in their element. As one gliding below me I held my breath and watched it for as long as I could. I could have reached down and easily touched it. It was a magical moment. And to see an animal like this brought in and then returned is wonderful.

The octopus was not nearly as nice but still an interesting story. An octopus at the Santa Monica Aquarium decided that it was tired of the water pipe that fed water into its tank. It used one of its powerful tenticles to push the tube out of the cage, slowly flooding the aquarium floor with water. Unfortunately it was a brand new floor and it might not be salvagable. But think of how incredible this story is. This tiny little creature (only a pound or two) was smart enough to figure out how to solve its own problem. In high school I helped out in a marine biology lab here in town and there was an ongoing mystery. Fish kept disappearing from the tanks. At night they would count the fish and the next morning some would be gone. We had no idea what was happening. So one night they finally caught the culpret. The octopus in one of the rows was sneaking out of its tank, into nearby ones, and eating the fish. Then returning to its own tank. Yeah they are that smart!!

And of course my favorite animal story of the last two weeks has to be Sam the koala. This image above completely reaffirmed my faith in humanity. The video does it even more as firefighter David Tree scrambles to find water for the koala. This random act of kindness fills me with joy and hope that we sometimes remember that these creatures are our neighbors. I hope to see more stories like these three. Although perhaps with a little less flooding.

Cripes Those are Good Crepes

I'm a foodie. I like food and I particularly like good food. So as Des Moines continues to put up amazingly good new restaurants I am in seventh heaven. Today I ended up at Django (pronounced Jaing-go) a newish French restaurant in town. I hadn't been avoiding the place but I put off going for a while. As a vegetarian, French food is tough. Most dishes tend to be heavily meat based. Or so I thought.

Months ago, while we were on our cruise, I read Kathleen Flinn's very tasty "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry". The author spent one year in France attending the very competitive Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. The school is designed to make people into master chefs and walking out with an advanced degree at Le Cordon Bleu will guarantee most people a highly sought chef position. Flinn's book was fantastic. All of the dishes seemed so beautiful and tasty. Even all the hard work that went into making them seemed to make them that much better. I found myself wanting to learn to cut vegetables the proper way. I wanted to learn to make dough and create my own stocks. Although the meat portions kind of disgusted me (not through her fault, just my sensitive stomach) I came back from the trip with a desire to cook and bake. And with a new appreciation for French cuisine.

And one of the dishes she made constantly was bechamel sauce. Bechamel is considered one of the five mother sauces in France. It is a simple concoction, mixing milk with roux (butter and flour) and is one of the bases for many different types of sauces. Cream sauces and cheese sauces simply wouldn't exist without bechamel. So when I saw a pretty dish with roasted red pepper bechamel sauce I knew I had to have it. It certainly didn't hurt that it was drizzled over wild mushroom crepes with spinach and goat's cheese. I can't even imagine a better combination. And it was heavenly. For those of you out there who are too afraid to try savory crepes, you are really missing out.

So I ate what is considered the ultimate comfort food in France, while watching the rain pour down and the lightning crack across the sky. I had lunch with a friend who offered me pieces of her tart and we talked and enjoyed being inside and eating amazing food. And I got over my worry about French food. There were at least four other vegetarian options on the menu for me to come back and try. And I will definately be back.

Inspirational Reading

For a week or two after I come back from Mondo I am always inspired. I tend to juggle more, write more, read more, and generally live better. Things work easier for me and I tend to be more relaxed. In short, Mondo makes me into a slightly better person. The kind I want to be daily but sometimes fall short of. 

So I decided this year to help that inspiration along so I headed out to the library yesterday to pick up some books. I picked up a self-help title that I've been thinking about for a while and finally decided to read. And then I stopped into the drawing section to see if they had anything good for teaching my poor hand to obey my brain. (There appears to be some sort of disconnect between the two. I can clearly see the idealized image in my mind but the hand can't produce). So I sorted through a ton of books on techniques but didn't find anything that was jumping out at me. 

Now I know they say that you should never choose books based on their cover, but they never say anything about weight. The first thing I remember when picking up Maira Kalman's The Principle of Uncertainty was how heavy it was. It felt like there were full oil paintings on each page. The book is hefty. It is no bigger than a standard hardcover but the pages feel like lead. I flipped through the first couple pages and was hooked. Kalman creates a visual and textual story by simply asking and answering questions (some shallow but most deep) and creating images to go along. She jumps from Spinoza to Einstein to Nietzsche to her family in the pages and somehow it seems to all tie together. 

The book represents a years worth of columns that Kalman did. The images and text blend beautifully to tell a very personal story. Kalman does not shock us with things she reveals about herself but the images she presents of herself is incredibly personal. She offers the reader a view of her idioscyncrasies. She tell us the deep questions and problems of her life. She challenges us to think about answers to the unanswerable. And for me she makes me want to open up. I tend to be a closed person, almost secretive. This book makes me want to take my drawings, which are no where near as good as hers, and offer them to world. She inspires me to open myself and be a more creative and thought-filled person. And for that I'm thankful. 

Light and Heavy Reading

When I say that I am always reading, please understand that it may not necessarily be what you consider good reading. I love a good classic but sometimes I just want to read something light. A friend of mine recently mentioned that he gets "long book melancholy" and we started talking about what the means to each of us. For me, when I am finished with some sort of long heavy book I have to read something light. Normally for me that means comics. 

So I'm in a bit of reading funk. I haven't been reading anything serious lately. I'm lucky I can even read my work stuff. So I've been devouring comics. This works perfectly because my mother just bought Jeff a number of books of Pearls Before Swine. So I have stolen them and am working my way rapidly through. I'm not sure why I love this strip by Stephan Pastis but I do. Perhaps it is the mix of the cynical and mean Rat with the wonderfully good-natured but dumb Pig. (Yes those are their names). Goat is a incredibly bright friend who puts up with the two and Zebra attempts to outsmart the Crocodiles living next door who wants to eat him. The strip is zany and sometimes thought provoking. The humor is really dark (lots of death jokes) or puns, both of which I enjoy. With a combination like that, I'm hooked. Both Jeff and I have been through four books in the last couple days. If nothing else, they simply make me smile. 

As for Heavy reading, that's not even all that heavy. Tonight I'm going to read through the Elitist Jerks section on Warlocks. Last night I ran Utgarde Keep and only managed to pull in an average dps of 860. Not nearly high enough. My goal is to be over 1200 dps on any instance. So I will be doing some studying tonight. And spending some time at the training dummies. And then when I'm tired and ready for a laugh, I'll pull out some comics. 

Finding my Balance

So I'm back home. I'm a day later than I expected and I'm exhausted but it was a fantastic weekend. Friday was a tough day and I had not time to write anything. In fact, I took a half day of work so we could get up north before the snow hit. My plan was to leave at noon....but as they say life is what happens while you're making other plans. I didn't get out of the office until 1:30. We got on the road and only the last fifty minutes of our drive was snowy and slow. It worked out well. 

We hung out and had dinner with a friend of Friday night (Thanks Josh!) and then woke up early for Mondo the next day. Juggling was fantastic. The festival is so much fun mostly because everyone just brings their toys and tries out new techniques. It is all about just making an attempt at things. I dropped regularly and no one even batted an eye. If you do something badly for long enough someone will walk by and try to teach you. It is just one of those festivals where you can publicly fail over and over and everything thinks it is great. We have a great group this year and everyone seemed to have a great time. 

The main toy this year was Jeff's Rola Bola. For those non jugglers out there, a Rola Bola is a thin piece of wood that balances on a PVC pipe. You stand on the board and try to balance. Almost everyone there tried it out. Here is one of our friends attempting to juggle clubs on the board. (Now you're going to have to buy one Lon) We saw a couple people take a tumble off it but mostly everyone tried. I actually got to the point where I was doing pretty well. I'm not at juggling on the board stage but I can stay up almost as long as I want. Sorry no pictures of me on the board. There is a video at the end of Jeff playing on someone else's board. It is made out of a door. (it was massive)

On Sunday we went over to our friends house for breakfast and ended up staying all day. The plan originally had been to leave after lunch and head home but we were having too good a time. We stayed and had dinner with them, and then played some WoW at their house. We finally left around midnight and drove about two hours south. We finished the drive this morning and made it home by noon. All in all, a great trip. Lots of juggling, lots of hanging out. 

Disconnected

I find it interesting that I'm constantly disconnected from someone. This past week I have been incredibly social. I'm sure Jeff is getting frustrated that I'm gone every evening. I've gotten to see a ton of people and have had a very nice week...except for one thing. I've been completely disconnected from my WoW friends. It has been almost a week since I last played which is the longest stretch I have had. Part of that was my lack of sleep. I've been heading to bed by 10 at the latest with the hope of sneaking in an extra hour. And then there is the fact that I just haven't been home to play. I went out last night with my older sister. On Tuesday it was knitting and then talking to a friend long distance. Monday was shopping for my little sister's birthday and then another long phone conversation with a friend.

So here I am, connecting with all sorts of friends and family members but losing track of guild mates. Then two weeks ago, when I was spending all my time playing, I was losing track of everyone else. For any non-WoW players you may not understand how guildmates can be like an extended family. We hang out together and talk. We laugh at silly jokes and tell stories. The same things that my face-to-face friends do. We just do it online. And I've missed them this week, the same way I missed my friends and family two weeks ago.

I'm sure Jeff would rather have me home and playing but I feel bad either way. So tonight my plan is to play for a little while. I have dailies that need to be done, and instances that need to be run. And I won't be able to play this weekend. Jeff and I will be up north, in the frozen tundra called Minneapolis for MONDO. Yay juggling and dropping and spending time with friends. It will be a good weekend. That will mean no posting for the next couple days. I'll try to write something tomorrow but I can't promise anything. And when I get back, I'll try to balance my time a little better.

A Picture is Worth....

The first real graphic novel I ever read was Maus by Art Speigelman. For those who tell me that graphic novels are kids stuff, I point to these books. Maus handles the holocaust in ways that are hard to describe. Even though the characters are animals there is no mistaking what is going on. The images are disturbing and sometimes truly gut-wrenching. It would be a hard hearted person who read these and didn't swept up in the emotions of the story. And I still claim that this story needed to be told in this format. Somehow the visual portrayal of these actions are so much worse then they would be through words alone. They are powerful stories.

But starting with Maus was interesting because when people would tell me that graphic novels are just oversized comic books (which I've read my share of) I couldn't believe them. Comic books have their own purpose but the beauty of a graphic novel is the depth it can take people. And since that time I have sought out graphic novels that educate just as much as I have the ones that entertain. There is far more to graphic novels than superheros. (although those are fun too.)

A friend of mine recently lent me Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This starkly black and white graphic novel tells the true story of a young girl growing up in a very turbulant Iran. She lives through a dictatorship, a quick democracy, and the Islamic Revolution, until she is finally forced to leave the country. The story is brutal in parts and sweet in others. This is story of childhood told from the safer viewpoint of adulthood. The author mixes tales of relatives going to prisons, families fleeing, and the constant fear of discovery (her parents are revolutionaries). There are silly parts in the book but it left a vivid impression of darkness for me. The book has recently been turned into a film. A powerful story.

But I promise you, not all my reading selection is that dark. As I have mentioned in the blog before, The Arrival is a wonderful story of immigration, told entirely through pictures. The setting is strange enough to not be an identified place, but the emotions are very real. We follow one man as he leaves his family to travel to a foreign land. The reader gets to try to figure out the new society along with the protagonist. Until eventually he is able to welcome his family to the country and show them how to navigate. This is a wonderful story with a much happier ending then either of the previous two. If nothing else check the book out for Shaun Tan's amazing illustrations.

And for sheer humor (but also education) I'm reading Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe, parts 1-7. This light and often silly graphic story starts at the big bang and looks at human history from early fish life through the Ancient Greek civilization. There is a long section on the Egyptians that was just fascinating and the stories of early Canaan and Persia are wonderful. For the first time I was able to keep track of at least some of the ancient rulers. Gonick mixes just enough silliness with just enough facts to make for a very entertaining and informative read. Jeff had recommended the book and I have to say I've learned a ton about ancient history and laughed out loud a couple times in the process. There are more books following that bring history up to the modern time.

Keeping it Civilized

For those of you that are interested, I finally got a decent night's sleep last night. Earplugs are my new best friends. They are surprisingly comfortable and good at keeping out noise. I'll be picking some more up this evening.

I got to thinking about manners while I was lying in bed these last couple of days. This whole insomnia thing began because of inconsiderate neighbors. I'm a big believer in manners and definitely don't think that we are always that good about showing them in this country. Yeah I sound old and cranky, I know. But I guess some places are more mannered than others.

Part of my job is looking for rankings and statistics, so I was excited when I ran into this list. Annually, up until 2005, Marjabelle Young Stewart would make an unofficial list of America's Best Mannered Cities. Charleston, SC always lead the list. In 2005 San Diego came in second, followed by Seattle. The Quad Cities (here in Iowa) even showed up on there. Marjabelle was an etiquette guru who used testimonials, personal experience, letters, and reviews to create this list. Now I'm suddenly interested in visiting Charleston. I want to know what a truly well-mannered city looks like.

On the same note, one of my favorite lists is America's Most Literate Cities. As a reader and a writer, I want to associate with people who also read a lot. I'm drawn to writers and libraries and bookstores like a moth. The ranking uses newspaper circulation, library resources, number of bookstores, educational attainment, access to internet, and number of periodicals to compile. I think it's interesting which cities were chosen. Minneapolis-St. Paul is close, and truly two of my favorite cities in the country. If only they weren't so cold. Seattle is beautiful and if it wasn't so expensive, I'd already be there. For the southern climes, I could gladly move to Atlanta. I have family in St. Louis which would make a move easier. Strangely these are all cities that I have at one point thought about moving to. I have been drawn to them. And now I realize why.

Uncle!!!

Okay, I'm crying uncle. Tonight I'm going out and buying myself some earplugs. It's not that my place is loud, actually far from it. A good majority of the time my housing complex is silent. But that doesn't stop my anxiety which creates sounds of its own. I have been lying in bed listening for loud radios and nighttime disturbances that probably won't come. That's the big problem with anxiety. It's not what's going on but what could go on. And my sleep is suffering. I've tried changing sides of the bed, white noise, hot baths, sleepy tea, NyQuil, and sleeping on the couch. Last night I got three hours of sleep. I'm literally falling asleep at my desk at work.

I've been putting off posting because I've been in rotten mood. Insomnia is a terrible thing for the anxious. The more anxious I am, the more I can't sleep. The more I can't sleep, the more anxious I become about sleeping. Vicious cycle. So earplugs tonight, and tomorrow I'm calling a therapist. I've always encouraged others to talk to therapists but now that I need one I find myself resistant to calling. I keep thinking that I should be able to handle this on my own. But the more sleepless nights I have and the more anxiety attacks I have, the more I realize that this requires some professional help. I hope to start improving soon. I miss having thoughts that aren't sleep related. I miss reading without the intention of making myself drowsy. And I miss not worrying. So Uncle!!! I'm ready to get well.

Apologies

I apologize for the lack of posting. I've been in a insomnia based coma since Thursday night. I only got two hours of sleep on Thursday night so I didn't go to work on Friday. And it has been a pretty constant lack of sleep since then. I did very little yesterday which was actually perfect for Jeff. He and I spent Valentine's Day just hanging out, playing WoW, and relaxing. I ran Utgarde Pinnacle last night in a coma. I promise to get something out there that is semi-decent tonight. Until then, I'll try to get some sleep. 

Temptation Wears White Frosting

I'm not much of a girly girl. My poor husband rarely gets to see me in a skirt and heels. I don't buy or wear a lot of dresses and I own approximately 7 pairs of shoes. (two of which are sandals) So when a good friend of mine from work held a Silpada party, I told her I would go but don't expect much. I don't normally attend sales parties and I refuse to hold any of my own. I'm not a salesman and I have even less interest in selling to my friends.

But I went and had a nice time. I even ended up buying something. My friend really appreciated me being willing to go. And to show her appreciation, she did the worst thing she could possibly do. She introduced me to a cupcake.

Not just any cupcake, but Starbucks' Vanilla Bean Cupcake. Now I don't normally like Starbucks. I tend to go with independents or with Caribou. (A Minnesota based chain). But since I've had my first taste of this crack disguised as pastry, I've been stalking Starbucks stores. I've found all the ones around my house and around work. I'm scrimping on calories in other places to be able to afford one. (I'm faithfully counting calories these days) I actually told myself today that I could just have celery for dinner if it would allow me a second one. They are seriously like crack.

It's a standard vanilla cupcake, topped with generous amounts of buttercream frosting with vanilla bean pieces, and sprinkled on the edges with sugar. And they are completely addictive. The barista today told me that they are his favorite pastry in the store. They melt in your mouth with their soft cake and perfect frosting. I would have licked the wrapper clean if there hadn't been so many people in the store. So as they say, no good deed goes unpunished. But this is a sweet kind of torture.

Calling on the Carnegies

Every profession has its heroes. Those people who have done more for the profession than others. Strangely librarians have an odd hero to thank. The profession, particularly public librarianship, was changed more than anything by a man who wasn't a librarian. Nor was he really that interested in libraries. And we, both librarians and American citizens, owe him a debt of gratitude. 

Andrew Carnegie didn't start out to build libraries. In fact the idea of a public library, which was city funded and free for the community, was still something of a novel idea. But Carnegie was asked to do something for one of his towns. (a town populated mostly by his workers) So he built them a community center. And then he built them a library. I'm not sure where the idea started that Carnegie was handing out money for libraries but people started writing him letters. Hundreds of letters. Letters from Mayors and rotary clubs and private citizens and investors. 

And Carnegie started handing out funds. His institution built more than 1600 libraries across the country. Mostly because people asked for money. He personally spent $40 million dollars for these buildings, not a small sum in the early 1900s. For many small towns this was the only way they could get a library. There were stipulations to the money though. The town would have to maintain the library and provide upkeep. The town would also have to match a certain amount of funds. It was one of the first times that libraries were designed to be financed by the city. Carnegie built the building, but the city had to do the rest. 

I love libraries. I've been in tiny libraries and massive multi-story libraries and haven't found one yet that I didn't love. For library lovers out there, or even book lovers, check out this page from Curious Expeditions. It includes some of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Some of them can be found in Cynthia Hofer's stunning book entitled Libraries (pictured below) but many of them are simply photos gathered from many different sources that showcase just how incredible libraries can be. I mean it, check it out. You won't be disappointed. 

There were over a hundred Carnegie libraries in Iowa and although some have been torn down, I am vowing to go visit (and photograph) all the remaining ones. This will give me a chance to get into some of the smaller Iowa towns and the excuse to visit some interesting libraries. And maybe even preserve some history before it gets torn down. So although you may not care, expect to start seeing library pictures, hopefully soon.  

Got Your Goat

This is just for the heck of it. And really because it makes me smile. Enjoy.

A New Look at Karazhan

So this afternoon, the guild decided to do something fun. A group of us (mostly 80s and a few 70s) did Karazhan. We started at 2 o'clock this afternoon and went in with the idea that we would see how far we got. Our guild leader was time crunched and we only had three hours. A "finishing run" was scheduled for tomorrow. I'm happy to say we won't need it. 

The ten of us started downstairs in the stables and took Attumen down in seconds. We figured that was a rare victory. We might have a little more trouble with Moroes. It took us 33 seconds to bring him and his four companions down. And we fought all of them at the same time. Maiden actually gave us the most difficulty but we used it as a grudge match for our often killed Paladin. He has been killed multiple times on Maiden before. This time, he got to walk in like he owned the room and do some damage before we all joined in. 

Curator, Netherspite, and Nightbane offered no real challenge. Nightbane was probably the longest fight but we only went through three aerial phases. Chess gave us fits for some reason. Most of our figures died at least once. It was frustrating but we managed to bring the king down eventually. Illhoof was fun for me. I get to just spam Seed of Corruption on Illhoof and watch everything go boom. For Opera we again got Romeo and Juliet. This time there were no issues. We killed each in seconds and brought the pair down together. Aran died quickly although he did manage to flame wreath right as we brought him down. The flame wreath remained and our hunter moved...almost killing the 70s after the battle was won. 

Prince went down in less than 45 seconds. We actually spent four times more time discussing the fight with the new people. After bringing down Prince we headed to the basement to kill the rest of the trash. Our priest cast Levitate and we got to jump down most of the castle. That of course created our only two deaths. Two of our people didn't wait for the spell and had to be rezzed. We ended up finding a Rare down in the basement but it didn't take us long to clear. All in all, we finished Karazhan in 2 hours. It was so amazing to go through without having to worry about anything. We were so overpowered we would gather whole rooms of trash mobs and AOE them down. It was ego boosting...and just plain fun. A great afternoon. 

A Lion In Winter

I love going to the zoo in the winter and particularly with our zoo (Blank Park Zoo). A couple years ago the zoo opened an indoor section which is very nice. Since then it has started staying open on nice days in the winter. So yesterday was beautiful here so Jeff and I went out for breakfast and then went down to the zoo. It was pretty busy but still not summer busy. And as always visiting the zoo in winter was magical. 

This trip I didn't have my camera but I figured it wasn't a big deal. I was wrong. The new red pandas stuck their tongues out at us. The birds were close enough to let them eat out of our hands. (we didn't feed them but we were close enough to) And the lions were pressed up against the visitors glass (mostly to avoid the snow). We watched an adorable gibbon grab leaves through her bars and eat them. And I found a bizarre little lizard that I spent at least 20 minutes just watching breathe. (Axolotl for those interested) 

The great thing about the zoo in the winter is that the animals are bored so they look forward to the few visitors they get. One year we went for my birthday (November) and my mother was able to play with the tigers. It was so cute to watch her run on her side of the fence and this big beautiful tiger to run on his side of the fence. The indoor tiger would put its paws up on the glass to greet us. A llama nearly followed us around the zoo. It was amazing. Here's Jeff with our new friend.

Over the years we have almost always made a trip to the zoo in the winter. And we have taken some beautiful pictures. And video. This is a video from last year's trip where the otters were amazingly active. Too much fun. Ignore the commentary...not my most eloquent moments. :-) 

Unexpected Puppets

I'm always amazed how the internet leads you deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. I find a blog that leads me to another blog which leads me to another. And each step I find more beautiful and interesting things. Although perhaps I should leave some bread crumbs to find my way out.

I have a number of art blogs that I read but one of my recent favorites is Drawn: The Illustration and Cartooning Blog. This multi-author blog showcases a ton of interesting artists and some incredible video, illustration, and sometimes downright strange art. A bit ago that blog pointed out a different blog which I went to and now I'm hooked on. One1more2time3's blog is written by Hans Bacher, a major film art designer who has worked for companies like Disney, Amblin, and his own MadTParty studio. His blog is filled with the background artwork from all my favorite Disney films along with some of his own images and his favorite artists. I'm already planning to pick up his book Dream Worlds about his time working with Disney.

It is through his blog that I found out about Jiri Trnka. Trnka was a Czech book illustrator who become a film maker. But not just any type of film. Trnka specialized in stop-motion puppet films. His beautiful works include an amazing version of Midsummer Nights Dream (image below), The Czech Years, The Cybernetic Grandmother, and The Hand. These puppet films were unique in that Trnka did not really create them for children. Films like The Hand were a very dark look at the effects of totalitarian governments on free expression and art. Midsummer Nights Dream, no matter what some people say, is not a children's story.

Since first learning about Trnka, I have been reading what I can about him. Referred to as the Walt Disney of the East, Trnka was loved for his work but found it difficult to sell some of his films. Many of his films were banned in his own country and abroad. Trnka was creating these films in the late 40s, 50s and 60s in a Communist country. His puppet work was initially loved by the masses but carefully controlled by the regime. His movie The Hand, which was his last, was banned shortly after its release.

I've been hunting out his films, some of which can be found on the internet. I've linked to them where possible. I also found a beautiful stop motion paper film called the Merry Circus which is incredible. While most of them are not in English the visuals make up for that. These films truly show how beautiful puppets can be. And as is the case with so many of his films how poignant.

Image from The Hand.

Jiri Trnka

Not Sitting Down for It

It has been over five days since I got any good World of Warcraft playing in. Yes, for those interested, I'm going through withdrawl. I had family in all weekend which means I didn't get home until after midnight. Normally if that's the case I can only sneak in two hours before my body decides to shut down. I'm a morning person by nature so by 11:30 I'm normally ready to crash. Pushing myself until 2 or 3 involved lots of caffeine and then some seriously jittery hands.

On Monday I got in an hour of fishing (I'm still at level 150) and some cooking material gathering (I'm not even to 150 on my cooking). But as I was finishing gathering crocolisks (yeah pretty pathetic huh?) a good friend that I hadn't talked to in a while called. I knew that if I continued to play and tried to talk I'd get no where. So I logged off and then talked for over two hours. At 10:30 on a work night I'm not logging back on. Last night was knitting and we ended up hanging out talking until at least 9:45. So tonight I plan to get some play time in. I haven't done dailies in a couple days and if I ever want to hit exalted with Oracles and Ebon Blade I'm going to have to start working on those.

But now I have an issue. In October Jeff's brother is getting married. In Jamaica!!! As told Jeff, of course we have to go. It's family. Can you tell I'm a little excited for this? Then again who wouldn't be excited about this?

And I've decided that it's time to get serious about my weight (again!). I'm not going down there with where I'm at currently. (I've lost and then regained a total of 110 pounds in the last four years. 60 on the loss, 50 on the gain.) So here's where it gets tough. One of my favorite activities (WoW) is sedentary. Add to that the fact that I sit all day at the office. And of course I have the terrible habit of eating in front of the computer.

So I'm writing this down so that all of you are witnesses. No eating in front of the computer. If I want to eat I have to stop playing. That should be a good incentive for me. And then my next thing will be buying a balance ball for home. I know they seem silly but if I can work my stomach muscles (even a little) while playing, it's worth it. Who knows it may even improve my posture. Mixing a bit of exercise with my playtime...sounds like a plan to me.

Current Sacrifices for Future Rewards

The phrase "current sacrifices for future rewards" has been used in my house for a long time now. It reminds me that I need to give up a little with the possibility of a better tomorrow. We used it the first time when Jeff went back to school for pre-med. We were living on one small paycheck and eating a lot of mac and cheese and ramen. 

When we were both working I went back to school for my masters. I did it in my free time and that was my big sacrifice. For two years I had no real free time except for a two week break between each semester. I graduated finally in December of 2007. And we started saving immediately for a trip. I had wanted to go on a cruise to celebrate finishing school. We cut back on discretionary spending and again invoked the phrase. The trip, as my long term readers remember, was amazing. And for a while we were both working. 

The phrase has been used again this week. Jeff has decided to go back to school for actuarial science. He'll be going full time and again we'll be a one paycheck family. But this time around I'm doing better so there is much less sacrifice that way. Instead the sacrifice is in movement. My sister, last night, pointed me to a fun job that might be interesting. It's a little out of my comfort level but would get me back into the library world. But the problem is I'm doing too good right now. In order to survive this upcoming period (our current sacrifices) I'm going to have to stay where I'm at. And today I'm okay with that. I'm excited for Jeff and excited about the changes his new job will bring to our lives. And I'm excited that we're taking another step towards future rewards.  

MONDO

Of all the winter months, February is my favorite. I love that because it is so short, it feels like spring is just around the corner. March starts to get warmer here and February tends to move quick. I have two family birthdays in February (my little brother and my little sister). In general it's a good winter month which for me is saying a lot. Did I mention that I'm not a huge fan of winter?

But one of my favorite parts of February is Mondo. Every year (normally in February) the Mondo Jugglefest is held in Minneapolis at Concordia University. And snow or sleet we almost always seem to make it up. Jeff and I have been going to the convention for at least six years now. The first trip I managed to almost learn how to juggle. The friends we go with taught me with tennis balls, meaning that I chased them all over the convention floor. I was so sore that night that I couldn't move. By the next convention I could juggle three balls. Now I'm slowly working on club juggling and three ball passing. I don't practice all the time but I love that I'm able to do some basic stuff. 

The convention is pretty informal with a couple scheduled activities. There are jugglers, unicyclists, and yo-yo artists.They always play unicycle hockey and they always do either 7 or 8 ball endurance. There is always an auction. But most of the time we just stand around and learn new tricks from the people around us. If you want to learn there will always be a someone who will teach you. I am constantly amazed by all the tricks I see. The convention can occasionally pull in a big name in juggling like Vova Galchenko or Ivan Pecel. 

No matter what, every year we have a blast and I get incredibly excited about learning. I love that this is a place were failing is not a bad thing. It's just part of the learning process. I've always said that juggling is just learning to drop less. I'm sure I've dropped hundreds of thousands of times trying to learn to juggle. And this year I'll do even more dropping. And I may even learn to unicycle. 

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Okay by the time I'm actually writing this, it is Sunday morning. I've had family in town all weekend and have been busy with them. I figure I can sacrifice some sleep to write. Oh what am I talking about, I'm never in bed before 2 on weekends. 

As I've mentioned a couple times I'm a huge fan of animation. Originally that was simply Disney films but over the years I have developed a love for all types of animation. Perhaps the same part of my brain that adores children's books, is stimulated by a simple animated film. I had started reading Adam Rex's blogs a year ago or so. And Adam Rex led me to Irene Gallo at Tor. Tor is a wonderful fantasy/Sci-Fi publisher and Irene works with the art side of the business. Let me think, fantasy and artwork. A perfect combination for me. 

And then I found the Saturday Morning Cartoon segment of the blog. I spent a couple days watching each of the animated features. Irene adds a new pair either weekly or every other week. Recent addition Al Dente is classic animation telling the very disturbing and sweet story of a little girl outsmarting a giant. One Rat Short, posted back in October 2008, is one of the saddest, most emotionally complex 10 minutes I've ever seen. I has more personality than some full length features I've seen. How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels is disturbing, dark, and oddly hypnotic. Space Alone is very sad but cute. And Wind Along the Coast or When the Day Breaks just make me happy for reasons I can't describe. Any of the films posted is wonderful in their own way.