Strangers rock

Snow!!  It started yesterday and hasn't stopped yet.  They closed the highway at least twice when it got really bad.

Tonight we held the first meeting of our unnamed writing group.  This time we all just brought in some stuff we'd written in the past, but we all agreed we'd write something new for next week.  It went well, and we all got an idea where our strengths were and where we needed improvement.

Afterward, I got turned around in the dark and snow and started heading home in the wrong direction.  Okay, it probably would have happened even without the dark and snow.  I get turned around pretty easily.  In any case, when I realized I was driving the wrong way I tried to use a driveway to turn around, but over-estimated the width of the driveway and got stuck in the two foot deep ditch that had been hidden by the snow.

As I was trying to pull out with no success, a passing truck stopped and the driver offered to help.  Neither he nor I had any tow cables, so we tried using the truck to push me out.  No good, there was just too much frickin' snow hanging on to the wheels.  After another minute the owner of the house came out with a couple of snow shovels and helped us try to dig some of the snow out from under the wheels.  We worked at it for a few minutes, but it was becoming clear that the ditch was too steep and the car wasn't going to get out under its own power.  That was about the time the second truck stopped, and this guy had a pretty heavy tow cable in his trunk.  He was even willing to get on his back in the snow and wriggle under my car to connect it.  Two minutes later, my car was back on the road again.

Overall, I was probably stuck for less than a half hour.  It's because of people like them that I always try to stop if I see someone else stuck or having trouble.  Granted there's not much I can do with my little sedan, but I could at the very least give them a ride to the nearest gas station or let them use my cell to call a truck or something.

The only logical thing

Last night while cleaning theatres, we found a CD on the floor under one of the seats.  It was a set of audio lessons for how to make elk mating calls.  We were all baffled; why the heck someone would take this into a theatre with them?  In the end, we did the only logical thing we could under those circumstances: we stuck it in the CD player in the back room and played it over the PA system.  Customers were equally baffled, but it was fun to watch.

New dreamscape

I've discovered a new dreamscape.  One of those places that don't really exist, but that I visit often in my dreams.  It's a small block of flats, with a communal park in the center.  Located somewhere in San Francisco I think, although it's been in New Orleans a couple of times and even in Paris once.  Living in these flats are all the people whom I respect and admire.  Creative artists and writers who are constantly producing amazing stuff.  Maybe it's the realm of my super-ego, composed of everything I aspire toward.  When I find myself there, I always learn something important.
This time I'd been invited to visit by M (of course he'd have a place there).  He and I and a bunch of other people just hung out drinking and watching movies and eventually we all crashed on the couches and floor.  The next morning I 'woke up', fully clothed on the couch, next to a girl named Julie.  I vaguely remembered talking to her the night before.  Although I was absolutely sure nothing had happened the night before, we hit it off immediately that morning.  There was a general unease among everyone else about the situation; apparently Julie was a little... odd.  When they advised against my pursuing it though, it only encouraged me.  To be honest, I like girls who are kind of strange.
As usual, it was right about the time I was just starting to get to know Julie that Kira showed up.  She was all snuggly and friendly all of a sudden, despite having done her best in the past year to avoid seeing me, talking to me, or texting me more than six letters at a time.  Eventually she somehow managed to tear me away from Julie to go shopping with her at some kind of french curiosity shop.  Then, her mission accomplished, Kira promptly wandered off and ditched me there.
I struck up a conversation with the owner, who spoke a garbled mix of French and English.  He somehow knew about the whole story and told me not to worry about Julie.  Then he started talking about how monogamy was boring and that he was in a polyamorous relationship with two girls right now.  It was about the time he started talking about manage a trois that I decided it was time for me to go find Julie before K did.  I woke up soon after, never having found Julie.

So, what was the epiphany?  I'm not sure.  Maybe the next time I meet someone who's really interesting, I should try to avoid introducing her to Kira.  Or maybe I should just keep an eye out for Julie.  I suck at remembering names, so most people in my dreams don't have them.  But I'm not big on the precognitive dream idea.  This may take some more thought.

Odin was a jerk

I've been reading up on Norse mythology in vaguely research-like pursuits.  It's only vaguely research, because I frequently get too into it and probe much farther than my project really demands.  A good recent example is the Runic Calander, or primestaff.  It had symbols that represented days of the year, coupled with a second set that represented what year it was in a 19yr metonic cycle based on the phases of the moon.  They used it as a perpetual calendar, which is to say that after 19 years had passed they started over at the beginning.  It was sophisticated enough that it took 214 years or so before it was so far off that they needed to have a leap-day (compare that to ours, which needs a leap-day every 4 years).

In all the various books and web-pages, there were plenty of partial pictures of various primestaves and other runic calendars.  But they were all visual examples, no real calendars that said what meant what.  After a few unsuccessful hours in the library and several online, I decided that if I wanted a complete calander I'd just have to make one myself!  This is about the point where the term 'research' no longer applies.  Understanding the concept, I probably could have just made up my own calendar.  There was no need for me to collect all those partial calendars, decipher the terminology of their runes, look up the statistical data on phases of the moon, then build my own calendar from day 1 of the 19year cycle.  On the other hand, this way is much more fun!

One thing I can't help but notice while I'm reading these old poems and legends, is that Odin and Thor and the rest of the Norse gods really act like a bunch of assholes sometimes.  I'm finding Neil Gaiman's portrayal of them in American Gods very approprate.  It wasn't a 'what if' story about some old gods that got bitter about being set aside and forgotten, like I originally thought it was.  There's lots of actual myths about Odin and the other Aesir being sneaky and underhanded, sometimes even in dealing with the gods of other pantheons.  Really, it's just more proof that Neil Gaiman is a freaking genius.

Not creepy after all

Last night we were hanging out over at Max's, when my cell started beeping.  It was a text message... of nothing.

Received:>

Hmmm. I don't recognize the number.

Sent:>???
Received:> me
Received:>

'Me' and then another message of nothing.  How odd.  I try calling the number, but it just sends me to a nameless voicemail.  I leave a message asking them to call me, because I have no idea who they are.

Received:> Need me.

Umm... okay.  Getting a little creepy now.  Who the heck is this?

Received:> Tell me something nice.

Really creepy.  Is this someone I should know, or is someone stalking me via text messages?  Is this the next generation of anonymous heavy breathing on phone?  In any case, now I'm irritated.  Fine, they want something nice?  I'll tell 'em something nice!  Mwahahaha!

Sent:> Sunshine lollipops

So I'm not good at being creepy on purpose, sue me.  I'm better at doing it by accident during everyday conversations and realizing it to my mortification several hours later.

Received:>
Received:> what?

Ha! I've boggled their creepy minds!  No more messages for the rest of the night.

Early this morning I was woken up by another text message:

Received:> I'm sorry about last night's texts.  They weren't from me.  I think my daughter got in my phone. I went to sleep at 9:00pm.  I noticed a new number in here this morning.  I'm not sure I even know who you are... doesn't matter. I will hide my phone from now on!  -Kathy

Ah ha, so it wasn't some scary psychopath after all!  It was a little girl.  Suddenly I'm very glad that I'm not good at being creepy.  I'd rather not be responsible for emotionally scarring young children.

maintain a positive outlook

This was nearly yet another rant on something or other, but I caught myself. I'm just feeling snarky today.  I'll have to shake it before we kick off the writing group this week.  It's best to review the good points first, then follow up with criticism second.  It's more encouraging.  I find it extremely discouraging when the first thing out of someone's mouth was what they didn't like.  No matter how many positive comments come after, it's like they're saying, "It sucked overall, but these parts didn't suck quite as much."

I just got the Sandman series (Neil Gaiman) back from Max yesterday.  He absolutely loved them, and with good reason.  It's always fun to introduce someone to something you love and see that they enjoyed it just as much as you did.

The Linguistic Conspirators

Nobody liked it, but I think it's a cool name for a writing group.  I may be influenced by my current steampunk bent though.  There are all these secret groups and conspiracies where they come up with some ambiguous name, like The Beneficially Pragmatic Society for Women.

We met for the first time on Wednesday to plan and, after some shuffling of feet, we all admitted that none of us had any idea how to organize a writing group.  The only thing we had to go on was a vague concept of a group of people writing things.  We figured out our schedule a little better, and suggested other people who might be interested in joining us, but that was about it.

I might have to take charge if we're going to get this thing off the ground.  Normally I hate doing that, what with my fear of authority over others, but I'm really getting into the idea.  It would be fun to be part of a group of writers with mostly similar interests getting together and giving each other useful feedback.  Something better than 'I liked it,' at least.

I've been corresponding with Chelsea via email, and she commented yesterday that my emails frequently cracked her up.  Argh, if only I could just type everything I said in real life!  Words stream directly from my brain to my fingers, but god forbid that I try to send any of them to my mouth.  It always ends in massive traffic accidents and frantic detours that turn everything I say into the equvalent of  "duh..."

2:00am Laundry

The roommates have been out of town since yesterday, so I've been able to get quite a bit done.  When left to my own devices, I start getting really ambitious and industrious at around 1:00am.  I've never known anyone who was as adept at killing time as they are.  Granted, I too have those periods of listlessness where I feel that I've got 'nothing better to do,' and just goof off for an hour or two.  But I'm still usually doing something vaguely constructive like doodling while watching TV, even though I know it's nothing I'd even consider hanging on to when the day is done.

My roommates sit and stare at the TV.  For hours on end, doing nothing else.  Watching things like Nascar and years-old 90210 episodes.  I know, with my own affinity for awful SciFi I've got no room to criticize.  But... three hours of 90210 reruns?  Seriously?

Am I griping again?  Yeah, I am.  Sorry.

Anyway, the point is that I always feel like I'm disturbing them when I'm trying to get stuff done while they're lounging around like that.  It makes me rush to get finished.  In the last two days though, I've done all my laundry and cleaned a lot of minor messes that needed taking care of.  Blaring weird and eccentric indie-rock through most of it.