the fourth year

December 2, 2007

Wizard's First Rule

This isn't new news, but I'm just finding out about it. Sam Raimi is going to be directing a tv mini-series of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, starting with the first book, Wizard's First Rule. This makes me almost as happy as finding out about The Dark is Rising. All my favorite fantasy stories are being translated to film!

Posted by oracle at 8:29 PM | Comments (5)

horror night - December '07

Last night was our monthly horror movie night. We started off with Audition, a Japanese horror flick Fantm had been talking about for a couple of months, and finished with Skinwalkers, a werewolf movie Mike wanted to see.

*** SPOILERS ***


Audition is about a widower who is trying to find a new wife by holding auditions. I guess I was expecting it to be something along the lines of Ringu or Ju-on, which it wasn't. The ending was pretty horrific, but, with a few exceptions, most of the movie was build-up to that point. Predictably, I couldn't watch the torture part. Turning my head away from the tv didn't help much, though, because the sound effects were just as horrible. The sound of the wire cutting through his ankle was AWFUL. Like Bug, the ending to Audition was confusing. I couldn't tell if it was all real and he was just having flashbacks because of the pain he was in or if it was all a weird dream.

Skinwalkers was pretty predictable but not bad, even though the werewolves were Hollywood werewolves. I think werewolves in movies should be actual wolves with paws and all, not people made up to look like wolf-creatures. Similarly, I am not thrilled with the way Hollywood vampires seem to be moving away from normal fangs and shifting to the shark-teeth fangs we saw in 30 Days of Night. Werewolves should be actual wolves, and vampires should have four fangs - two on top, two on the bottom. Period. So let it be written, so let it be done, amen. But I digress. As I was saying, Skinwalkers wasn't bad. Some of the acting could've been better, and I would've been happier if more of the good werewolves had lived, but overall it was pretty decent. A lot of the actors looked familiar, but the only one I could place was Jason Behr, but Maddy and D said that the guy who played Casey Jones in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies was also in Skinwalkers. My TMNT knowledge is non-existent these days, so I'll take their word for it. Maddy and I talked about crocheting while we watch the movies, so it might turn into a crochet/horror movie night. We shall see.

Posted by oracle at 7:57 PM | Comments (0)

December 1, 2007

The Thing

Mike and I watched John Carpenter's The Thing last night, and it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

*** SPOILERS ***

The movie didn't scare me at all, although there were a couple parts that made me jump. I hated the part with the dogs, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me, but at least it answered my "Why are they trying to shoot the dog?" question from the beginning of the movie. I was totally wrong about who the imposter was, and the scene where the head drips off the table then sprouts spider legs and tries to escape made me queasy. Ick.

Posted by oracle at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2007

an evening of smells, tastes, snuggles, and toasts ... because we can

I'm sitting at our table, typing on the beautiful laptop my husband gave me, listening to him play his guitar while I sip champagne (Dom = <3), watch the doxies sleep all curled up into a tri-colored ball in their bed, and occasionally get up to check on my dinner. I'm making cooking pasta in white wine (pinot grigio, if you care), chicken broth, and a bit of turkey drippings. It smells HEAVENLY. When the pasta is cooked, I'm going to mix it with some Gouda, and there you have it. This evening is the epitomy of contentment. I'm not deliriously happy, all giddy and giggly, but every fiber of my being is content right now. I'm in my nice, warm, pretty house with my husband and my wiener babies. I have a glass of my favorite champagne to go with my simple, but tasty, dinner, and nothing that I have to be doing. Sure, I could catch up on the mountain of laundry or clean a bathroom or two, but I don't have to if I don't want to, and what I want to do right now is exactly what I am doing. Sitting, listening, watching, and sniffing.

Posted by oracle at 6:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2007

PSA #36

36) If you have to take a test over four-chapters-worth of material in a subject you are shaky on, to say the least, waiting until two hours before you leave to take the test is not recommended. If you don't know where your textbook is and have to hunt for it so you can commence the last-minute studying, you need to get better organized. IMMEDIATELY.

PS: Waiting until the second-to-last day to take the test is also not recommended.

Posted by oracle at 5:28 PM | Comments (0)

The Return

Mike and I got The Return with Sarah Michelle Gellar from Netflix on Tuesday, and we watched it last night after we got home from my physical therapy appointment. I first saw the trailer for this when we went to see Saw 3, and it really caught my attention. The trailer looked creepy enough that I wanted see the movie in a theater, but for some reason or another, it didn't work out that way. After watching it last night, I don't mind telling you that I'm glad we didn't pay money to see it. I don't count The Return as one of the suckiest movies evar (Deep Impact, I'm looking at YOU), but I don't think it came anywhere close to achieving its potential, either.

*** SPOILERS ***

The acting didn't click and seemed half-hearted in parts. The movie built up the murderer, but the scene where SMG learned his identity was anti-climatic, as were the scenes where he was chasing her. I felt like I was supposed to feel connected to the characters, but I just didn't; they didn't seem real enough for me to empathize with them. I didn't mind the way all the loose ends were tied up in the last few minutes of the movie - in fact, I liked the way the accident explained why SMG had seen the accident earlier and why those things were happening to her - but the "I'll come back to you some day" line (or whatever it was exactly - I don't remember it verbatim) was a bit much for me. As I mentioned earlier, I got the impression from the trailer that this was a very scary movie, but I wasn't scared at all while watching the movie, not even the eensiest bit. That disappoints me greatly.

Posted by oracle at 7:34 AM | Comments (2)

November 28, 2007

Everything's Eventual

Stephen King's done it again. I finished Everything's Eventual this morning. I didn't like all of the stories as much as I did the ones from the other two short story books, but there were some good ones. I particularly liked "Everything's Eventual", "Autopsy Room Four", "In the Deathroom", "The Little Sisters of Eluria", "L. T.'s Theory of Pets",
"The Road Virus Heads North", "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French", and
"Riding the Bullet".

"The Little Sisters of Eluria" is part of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. I've heard about that series several times, but nothing about it piqued my interest until I read that short story. I'm fairly confident I'll be poking through Mike's Stephen King collection over the weekend to see if I can find the first book.

Posted by oracle at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2007

"1408" on paper

Everything's Eventual was waiting for me in the mail when I got home yesterday, and, even though "1408" was near the end of the book, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I zipped my way through it before the night was over. It was a pretty good story, but I was a little let-down. I wish I'd read "1408" before I saw the movie, especially since I enjoyed the movie as much as I did. I think I would have been better able to appreciate the story on its own merits without my expectations from the movie adaptation coloring my opinion of the short story.

*** SPOILERS ***

As with "The Mist", the movie adaptation of "1408" added to the story, which I didn't mind because I feel the additions didn't take away from the story. I thought both versions of "The Mist" were equally good, but I didn't feel that was the case with "1408", maybe because I saw the movie first. Whatever the reason, I was expecting the story to be even better than the movie, which it wasn't. It didn't have the detail or the suspense I liked so much about the movie adaptation, and one of the parts I liked the best (the part where John Cusack's character thinks he's escaped from the room) wasn't in it either.

Posted by oracle at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2007

what's my age again?

Right now I'm at a point where my age doesn't matter to me anymore. More often than not, if someone asks my age, I can't answer them until after I've done the math (year - my birthday = x). I'm turning 27 in a couple of weeks, but the fact that I am less than five years away from being thirty does not make me feel old. However, my little brother turned twenty today, and that made me stop and think; the fact that my little brother is no longer a little kid or a teenager makes me feel older. The problem is my mindset - I do adultish things (go to work, own a house, pay bills, drink alcohol legally, etc.), but I don't feel like I'm any more of an adult than I did when I was twenty. Oh, I've matured - I can see that in the different choices I make now - but when it comes down to it, I still have myself mentally pegged at twenty or twenty-one. At twenty-six, almost twenty-seven, it's high time to change that.

Posted by oracle at 4:26 PM | Comments (1)

it's not a rain of toads, people

To my fellow commuters and the other drivers sharing the road with me this afternoon, particularly the driver two cars in front of me:

It's not snow or sleet or hail. It's not raining toads, fire, or blood, just plain old boring water. It was enough to justify turning on the windshield wipers, to be sure, but certainly not enough to necessitate slamming on the brakes to avoid the droplets falling from the sky, or whatever the hell it is you were doing.

Sincerely,
Kate

Posted by oracle at 3:56 PM | Comments (0)

The Mist

After much anticipation, Mike and I went to see The Mist at an early show Saturday morning, and I liked it just as much as did 1408.

*** SPOILERS ***

The plot was a fantastic adaption from the story. While there were changes here and there (the most major change is the way the movie ends), I don't feel those changes detracted from the story at all. In fact, I think they added to it in such a way that I like both versions equally. I thought the acting was excellent as well. As you may or may not recall, I loved Thomas Jane in The Punisher, and I wasn't disappointed by his performance in this movie, either. Marcia Gay Haden was perfect for the role of Mrs. Carmody. She did such an excellent job of playing a zealot that I was ready to cheer when she got beaned with a can of peas, and when she finally died, I was elated. I spent the entire movie trying to figure out what else I had seen Laurie Holden in. It wasn't until Mike and I were talking about the movie on the way home and one of us mentioned Silent Hill that it clicked for me. There were a lot of other familiar faces in the movie (William Sadler from Roswell, Andre Braugher from Glory, Chris Owen from Van Wilder, Can't Hardly Wait, She's All That, and American Pie), and I think they did a very good job with the casting. The cinematography was perfect for the atmosphere of the movie, and the music really added to the atmosphere as well.

(Note: In the movie, Thomas Jane's character is an artist, and as the movie starts we see him working on a painting that looks very much like a gunslinger from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I thought that was a nice touch.)

There were only two changes to the story that I thought detracted a little bit, although they certainly didn't ruin the movie for me. The first was the scene where the Army guy explained what might have happened, where the creatures were coming from. I liked the way the story originally had it - the people thought the mist might have something to do with Camp Arrowhead, but they didn't have any proof either way. The other change I didn't like was when Thomas Jane's character went back to his house to check on his wife. In the original version, they just got the hell out of the town without wasting gas or time to go check on people, and I think that was more in keeping with the uncertain nature of the story.

Posted by oracle at 4:37 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2007

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

Shortly after I started reading The Dirt, I knew I wanted to read this book too. I liked the way Nikki wrote his parts, and, as I mentioned, I have a huge crush on Nikki Sixx, so I was eagerly looking forward to reading more of what he had to say. I wasn't disappointed. Even though he wasn't through with it yet, Mike let me read this one after I finished with The Dirt, and, like The Dirt, it didn't take me long to read. Since I had only heard it referred to as The Heroin Diaries, I was a little disappointed when I realized it only covered a year. Also, I was surprised to see the pages done the way they were. I was expecting regular text and paper, not the colorful glossy pages that I found when I opened the book up.

*** SPOILERS ***

I was happy to see that Nikki did a wrap-up at the end of the book so we didn't just leave off in 1987, but I have to confess, I was bummed to read that his wife Donna had asked for a divorce. Because of my crush on him, I want him to live happily ever after, dammit.

Posted by oracle at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2007

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Until today I would not have said I was a fan of Mötley Crüe, but I am after reading The Dirt. The first I heard of this book was when Mike bought it and started reading it. He read me a couple of parts from it as he went through, and eventually his enthusiasm infected me too. It got to the point where I was agitated because he wasn't done with the book yet, and I wanted to read it already. When he finished it yesterday, I started in on it immediately and finished it this afternoon. I really liked the book. My favorite parts are the ones written by Nikki Sixx or Mick Mars. I have a HUGE crush on Nikki, I think Mick is hilarious, I'm meh about Vince Neil, and I really don't think much of Tommy Lee. There were several parts that made me snort with laughter and one that made me burst into tears. Reading The Dirt has sparked my interest in the band - I want to listen to their music and learn more about them, as a band and as individuals (especially Nikki and Mick).

Posted by oracle at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2007

Hostel 2

I watched maybe half of the first Hostel (the rest I squinted at as I occasionally peeked through my fingers), so I expected this one to be just as brutal, although it really wasn't as bad. I only covered my eyes a couple of times, none of which were for very long, either. The beginning was surprising and gross, as were a couple of parts throughout the rest of the movie, but overall it seemed to be more plot-driven than it was gory.

*** SPOILERS ***

Mike and I pegged the girl who would be the survivor a few minutes into her first scene. We also pegged the first victim, but that wasn't hard. By the time they finally got around to killing her, I was ready to cut her throat myself. The ending kind of surprised me: I didn't think they'd let her buy her way out of the warehouse, nor did I expect her to lop off that guy's cock and balls. I would have tried to talk them into making the bloodhound tattoo into a dachshund, though.

Posted by oracle at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

When we got this movie from Netflix, I didn't know anything about it other than Mike wanted to see it because he'd read about it in Fangoria and it had Alan Rickman in it. As it turned out, the only other actor I recognized was Dustin Hoffman, who played a perfumer past his prime.

*** SPOILERS ***

I thought this was supposed to be a horror movie because it was featured in Fangoria, but in spite of the title, the murders themselves didn't seem to be the main focus of the movie. They seemed more like an undercurrent in the main character's quest to capture a person's scent, which was more interesting than I would have thought it could be.

Posted by oracle at 4:17 PM | Comments (1)

Thanksgiving - 2007

Original Thanksgiving plans:
just me and Mike eating turkey, being lazy, and ignoring the dogs' attempts to look pitiful enough to convince us (me) to give them some turkey

Actual Thanksgiving plans:
me and Mike eating turkey with our oldest son, my mother, my sister and her husband, and my brother and his girlfriend, playing Guitar Hero 3, and futilely trying to keep the dogs in their bed

What I was planning to make:
turkey
stuffing
cranberry sauce
cornbread
yeast rolls
buttermilk biscuits
green beans
peas
pumpkin pie with freshly whipped cream
apple pie

What I actually made:
turkey
stuffing
cranberry sauce
cornbread
green beans
peas
apple pie

What my sister and brother-in-law were going to bring:
sparkling cider

What my sister and brother-in-law did bring:
sparkling cider and pumpkin pie, thus saving me from having to make that AND the apple pie while everyone was eating seconds.

What my mother brought that was supposed to be used for the pumpkin pie:
two pints of heavy whipping cream

What my mother brought that is still sitting unopened in our fridge:
two pints of heavy whipping cream

When we were supposed to eat:
4:30(ish)

When we actually sat down to eat:
5:30(ish) - because of this delay, my brother and his girlfriend arrived just in time to eat with us

What the weather is supposed to be like on Thanksgiving in Virginia:
cold

What the weather was like this Thanksgiving:
not cold. Not even chilly until a cool windy front blew in later that evening

Posted by oracle at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

Smokin' Aces

Mike and I Netflixed Smokin' Aces and watched it over the weekend, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I mean, I knew I was going to like seeing Ryan Reynolds in it, but I didn't expect to enjoy the movie itself as much as I did.

*** SPOILERS ***

I did figure out part of the twist at the end (that Primo Sparazza was Freeman Heller), but there were still plenty of surprises in the movie. I had no clue that Buddy Israel was Primo Sparazza's son, I thought Lazlo Soot was killing Buddy's entourage so he could get to Buddy for the reward, I didn't expect Ben Affleck's character to be killed off as soon as he was, and until Ray Liotta's charcter realized that the security guy he was in the elevator with was a hit man, I didn't think he was going to be killed off.

Posted by oracle at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2007

moar about Thanksgiving

I am still insanely excited about Thanksgiving this year. I want to do more things from scratch than I did for last year's Thanksgiving meal, which means I've been pouring over recipes, both online and in my magazines. (Note: Everyday Food is possible my favorite magazine evar. I am still pondering this) I've found a couple different gravy recipes that sound good, a stuffing recipe I cannot wait to make, and a recipe for cranberry sauce that makes it sound much more simple than I thought it would be. I can't decided if I'd rather make buttermilk biscuits or yeast rolls, so I think I'm going to do both (I'll have some cornbread mix in the pantry for Plan B if necessary).

Posted by oracle at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2007

Stephen King is slowly reeling me in

I read a few of his books a while ago, but his writing style was hard for me to appreciate; with the exception of Rose Madder, it wore on me and grated as the stories progressed. Lately I've found myself appreciating his stories more, though. It began when Mike and I saw 1408. I liked the movie so much that I wanted to read the story it was based on. Mike didn't have that particular short story book, but shortly after that he picked up two of Stephen King's other short story books, Skeleton Crew and Night Shift. I pounced on them, thinking one of them was the book "1408" was in. I realized that wasn't the case after a quick glance through the each table of contents (and a conversation with Mike, just to make sure I hadn't missed it), but, in spite of that, I decided to read Skeleton Crew because "The Mist" is the first story in the book. (Mike and I saw the trailer for that recently, and I really want to see the movie when it comes out, partly because it looks interesting, and partly because Thomas Jane is in it.) "The Mist" hooked me after the first few pages, and I took Skeleton Crew with me everywhere, cracking it open whenever I had a few minutes to spare. After I had burned through Skeleton Crew, I started on Night Shift and went through that book just as quickly. The short story of "'Salem's Lot" motivated me to pick up the novel, which was an interesting story, although, since I initially expected it to be along the same lines as the short story, I wasn't expecting vampires. After finishing that, I ordered Everything's Eventual, the short story collection that "1408" is in, and it cannot get here soon enough.

Posted by oracle at 7:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

I'm blaming it all on TMJ

Well, most of it, anyways. Seriously, I think that over half (probably 75%) of the health problems I've had this year have been TMJ-related. As I've worked with my physical therapist, I've been learning to differentiate the TMJ-related problems from the other ones, and now I can tell that the pain in my ears is not an ear infection - it's because my jaw muscles are too tight. The headaches I used to get so frequently? I don't get them as often now that I'm doing the stretches and exercises my physical therapist showed me. I'm still getting migraines, but it's easier to tell those from regular headaches now, so I know when to take my Relpax and when to take something else. While I'm not completely cured, I am more aware, and that's helping more than I thought it would.

Posted by oracle at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2007

things that make me happy right now

Posted by oracle at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2007

you are getting sleeeeeepy

I don't know if it's the Paxil, the walks Mike and I have been taking in the afternoons recently, the fact that it is full dark by 7pm, d) all of the above, or e) something else completely, but I have been exhausted and ready to go to sleep by 7:30 for the past few nights. Believe me, I love the idea of just being able to crawl into bed, sadly, it's not an option. I have to much to do for that to happen before 8.

Posted by oracle at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2007

I'm a married woman again!

I guess I should say I'm a visibly married woman again. My ring is back on my finger, where it belongs! I had to run home on my lunch break to pick up a few things I forgot to pack yesterday. While I was there I noticed that the jewelery store had called earlier this morning and left a message letting me know my ring was in, so I stopped by to pick it up on my way back to work. The jeweler replaced the diamond and refinished the white gold on the bands, and my ring looks brand new again. It looks beautiful.

Posted by oracle at 1:32 PM | Comments (0)

in which our heroine is on a vacation

It's the type of vacation where I'm still going to work and all, but I don't have to do laundry, make the bed, cook, do any dishes, or clean anything. Mike is attending a training class up north this week, and his clients are paying for him to stay in a hotel on-site, so I get to stay up there with him. That means clean towels every day! A king-size bed! With a feather mattress topper! And a fuckton of pillows! (I love the bed.) Room service! (Mike ordered me tomato juice this morning. He's so thoughtful. This is the first time in my life that I've ever ordered room service. It's quite an experience.) A cd-player alarm clock! (Mike asked me to set the alarm last night, and I am ashamed to tell you that I couldn't figure out how to change the wake-up time on that damn thing. He figured it out in no time, though. I HATE being outsmarted by something that plugs in.) A concierge lounge! (I didn't realize there was such a thing until yesterday. We didn't do anything but peek into it last night, but we plan to check it out more thoroughly this evening.) A parking garage! Two in-hotel restaurants! And when I drive to and from work, I'm driving against traffic, so even though I'm farther away, it doesn't take any longer for me to get to work than it would if I were staying at home.

Originally Mike was going to come home after work before heading back up to the hotel, but he had to work late, so I went home and packed for both of us last night after physical therapy. That took longer than I thought, and I didn't get on the road until after 6, at which point it was already dark. I was a little nervous about driving up north in the dark, especially since I didn't know where I was going, but the trip went smoothly, and I got to the hotel without any major incidents. (I did have to turn around once because I went north on the road to get to the hotel instead of south, but that was a) not my fault [the directions didn't mention that I had to turn at that point] and b) not a big deal - a phone call to Mike cleared up that little mix-up, and I was back on my way in no time.)

It would have been awesome if we could have gotten room 1408, but sadly, that was not the case. The hotel has 16 floors, and we're on the top one. While that was a pain in the ass last night when Mike and I were schlepping all of our bags in from the garage (he said it looked like Brittany Spears was going away for the weekend), when I'm not weighted down with bags I think it's neat to be up that high.

Posted by oracle at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2007

DST + Kate = BFF

Yesterday was fantastic. I love the part of DST where we get an extra hour. More time to sleep? Yes, please! As I told Mike last night, the day felt deliciously long. I forgot about the time change until I noticed that one of the clocks was earlier than the others, and when I remembered the DST change I was delighted. We had some friends over Saturday night and watched movies till 2am (Bug and Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon). By the time Mike and I went to bed (two episodes of CSI: NY later), it was well after 3, so for me the extra hour was more than welcome. All day I felt like it was much later than it really was only to find out that I had plenty of time left to get stuff done. That was downright luxurious after a month of feeling like I was always running behind. I finished reading one of Stephen King's book of short stories, got a start on my homework for this week, made a dent in the mountain of laundry, and started tackling the sea of clutter the floor by my side of the bed has turned into.

Posted by oracle at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

PSA #35

The night before a big multi-component meeting is not the best time to get a tattoo worked on, especially not if you will be escorting the personnel from the other components. It's hard to be professional and keep your ass from hanging out at the same time.

Posted by oracle at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2007

Bug

We watched Bug with some friends last night, and it was a weird, weird movie.

*** SPOILERS ***

I didn't really think too much of this movie. It started off so slow, and then somewhere around the middle of the movie it picked up speed, but there wasn't much of a transition. It went from painfully slow to flying along without much acceleration in between, which made it hard for me to adjust to. Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr. were the only two actors I remember having seen before, but the guy who played Peter did a great job in his role. He started off all quiet and hesitant, and as the movie progressed he got louder and crazier. The scene where he was pulling out his teeth was almost impossible for me to watch.

I can't decide if the bugs were real or if Peter was just crazy and dragged Agnes (Ashely Judd's character) into madness too. There are some things that give me the impression that they were crazy, but then other things (mainly the fact that the doctor knew about Agnes' missing son) point towards them NOT being crazy. Mike thinks they weren't crazy, that there really was a conspiracy of some sort, but I'm not convinced.

Posted by oracle at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2007

a waste of energy

Ugh. I've barely done enough today to make getting out of bed worthwhile. Yesterday I was a ball of fire, and all that productivity felt FANTASTIC. Today I was going to lather, rinse, and repeat, except I didn't. I feel so much better when I'm productive, but I never remember to include that at the top of my "why I need to stop slacking already" list when I'm trying to justify being lazy. And while being lazy feels good sometimes, today it feels like a large, gelatinous blob.

Posted by oracle at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2007

better living through modern chemistry

I am back on the Paxil again. It's taken me a while to decide whether or not I want to write about it on here. There are some things I prefer not to share, which is why I didn't write about either of the times I was on it before, but this time feels a little different. I'm not happy about going back on it because I feel like I wouldn't need it if I was taking better care of myself (eating better, going to the gym regularly again, getting more sleep, managing stress better, etc.), but I was at a point where I felt like everything was falling down around me and I couldn't take a breath to get myself together, much less make effective changes so I could get in a routine that was better for me. At this point I don't know if this is just situational depression, or if I'm one of those people that just needs some extra help chemically. I have a pretty strong family history of depression, so that's not a possibility to be dismissed lightly either. I'm not sure I belong in that category, though, and until I am certain I do, I'm treating this course of anti-depressants as a temporary plan - a stepping stone to get me to a place where I'm better able to take care of myself so I don't need help in the form of a prescription. And if I never get to that point, if I find out that I do much better with the medicine no matter how well I'm taking care of myself, well, I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it.

Posted by oracle at 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2007

my finger feels naked

Until recently, I thought the only thing that could make a mark on a diamond was another diamond, but, as it turns out, this is not the case at all: diamonds can be chipped or scratched if they are hit "just right," and it would seem that I did just that at some point after getting my ring checked last April. In September I noticed a mark on the stone, but I dismissed it because I was certain that a diamond could only be marked by another diamond, and I certainly don't have many of those lying around. When I took my ring in to the jewelers to get it checked out a couple of weeks ago, I pointed the mark out, and they told me it was a scratch. Then they pointed out a chip in the stone that I hadn't noticed before. The end result is that they're sending it up to their headquarters to get the stone replaced (if they can't match the stone's color, clarity, etc., exactly, I will supposedly get a better one), and I am without my ring for somewhere between two to four weeks. They did let us use the microscope to see the number that was engraved on my diamond before packaging it up, though. That was pretty interesting, although it's hard to imagine symbols being put on a spot that's so tiny I didn't even realize was a flat surface until the jeweler showed it to me. Anywho, for the next few weeks, my finger is bare, and I hate it. My hand feels weird without my ring.

Posted by oracle at 1:05 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2007

physical therapy should not involve a finger in my mouth

And yet it does. Who knew? I also did not know that, in addition to being used to see shit inside your body, ultrasounds are also used for therapeutical purposes as well. I started physical therapy last week for my TMJ problems, and it is not quite what I expected. The massage part is great until my therapist amps up the pressure, then it moves from feeling good to "holyfuckingshit, I will cry if this does not stop NOW!" After what feels like an eternity of fighting off tears, the pressure starts loosening up whatever muscle is being targeted, and I start feeling some relief. Then she puts a finger in my mouth to do some fishhook move that hurts even worse, but also feels good after the pain recedes. After all the poking and prodding and pain is over, an aide comes in to start using the ultrasound machine on my jaw and neck, and, let me tell you, THAT is an uncomfortable feeling. Not the ultrasound itself, but the cool anti-inflammatory cream + the cold cold ultrasound gel is ick x 1000. As the initial burst of cold wears off, the ultrasound wand starts to heat up and feel good, which usually happens right before it's time to switch sides. Once we've gotten all that out of the way, we move on to the exercises, which mainly consist of stretches and jaw movements to expand my range of motion. So far the most uncomfortable one is the stretch where I have to open my mouth, put the knuckles of my middle and index fingers between my teeth, and hold that for thirty seconds. It starts feeling uncomfortable after five seconds; after ten it starts hurting. Most people without TMJ problems can do that comfortably with three fingers/knuckles, but I can't even imagine how that would feel. I'm doing this twice a week for the next few weeks, and then we'll re-evaluate and see how I'm doing at that point.

Posted by oracle at 7:26 PM | Comments (0)

1408

This is my favorite type of horror movie. I consider this every bit as good as Skeleton Key, and I think that was one of the best horror movies I've seen so far. The build-up in this was excellent - by the time the creepy stuff started happening, I was ready to jump out of my skin.

***SPOILERS***

Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack were both fantastic in their roles, and it was neat to watch as John Cusack's character transitioned from being a complete non-believer to someone who's obviously creeped out but trying to stay rational to someone who is 100% freaked the fuck out and wants to leave NOW. The scene near the end with his daughter made me tear up (of course), and I was completely taken by surprise when the room pulled him back after it seemed like he'd gotten away. Because of that, I didn't believe that he really had gotten out until the credits started rolling. I kept expecting the scene to shift suddenly as we found out that it was another trick. After seeing this, I'm really impatient to read the Stephen King story it's based on.

Posted by oracle at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2007

disappointment with wings

I just got an e-mail about my bat water bottle - they've run out of stock and won't be making any more at this time. I'm so disappointed.

Posted by oracle at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

unexpected flowers

I came home Tuesday night to find those flowers waiting for me. My sister had stopped by after work and left them on the doorstep as a pleasant surprise. It was a thoughtful, sweet gesture and a much-welcomed bright spot in my day.

Posted by oracle at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2007

winged things

I love Halloween. While I really like the history, superstitions, and candy, a good chunk of my Halloween love is because this is the time of year for bat merchandise. Behold my newest treasured purchases:

A bat water bottle! How awesome is that? Srsly, it doesn't get much better.

Until we add in a bat storage container! Then it becomes awesome x 1000. Bring on the bats!

Posted by oracle at 8:08 PM | Comments (0)

a listy list list

Things I have been meaning to write about but lack the motivation to do so (read: am lazy):

Posted by oracle at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)

30 Days of Night

Mike is a HUGE fan of the 30 Days of Night comic books, written by Steve Niles, and he was thrilled when he found out it was being made into a movie. We went to see it on Saturday with Maddy and D, but unlike Mike and D, neither Maddy or I had read any of the comic books beforehand.

*** SPOILERS ***

I really liked the movie. The story was great, and the effects were done well. It never occurred to me that Alaska would be vamp heaven in the winter, but that makes a lot of sense. Why wouldn't they want to go somewhere they didn't have to worry about sleeping for a month?

Josh Hartnett played the main character, Eben. He's very pretty to look at, but I don't think he has much of a character range. It took me at least 1/3 of the movie to figure out where I recognized the actress who played his wife, Stella, from, and once I had it, I mentally kicked myself for not getting it sooner: Melissa George was Molly on Roar. Ugh. There goes my fangrrl status. I wish the ending had been different, but that wasn't the way the story went in the comics, and I'm glad they stuck so close to the original plot. The only thing I was disappointed in was the vampires' fangs. I like vampires to have the regular vampire fangs, like in Underworld, but the 30 Days of Night vamps had a mouthful of shark teeth. That will change when I am in charge, you know.

As soon as we got home, I tracked down all of Mike's trade paperbacks and settled down to read the original stories. I was pleasantly surprised to see how close the movie had stuck to the comic books, and I'm hoping they make the second series, Dark Days, into a movie too.

Posted by oracle at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

stage fright

I have to talk to a group of supervisors in a meeting today and update them on a new program our division is implementing. I am EXTREMELY nervous about this. Upset-stomach nervous. I am not comfortable with public speaking, even if it's just talking to my co-workers in a formal setting; simply put, I don't have the confidence to be able to do that easily. And it doesn't help that the new program is a fairly controversial one. I have 2.75 hours to positive-think myself into a windfall of self-confidence.

Posted by oracle at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

snips and snails and puppy dog tails

Jordan got a clean bill of health at his follow-up appointment Monday, and, in spite of the feedbag of treats I brought with us, he still does not think much of going to the vet's office. He had to be coaxed into taking treats from the vet and the ladies in the front office. Let me repeat that: Jordan, my little scavenger boy, had to be talked into taking treats. It wasn't all bad though. There was no poking or prodding or needles this time - all he had to do was give them a urine sample to check and we were done.

Posted by oracle at 7:01 AM | Comments (1)

October 13, 2007

strong enough for a man, my ass

Dear deodorant,

WTF? Your only function is to keep my armpits from smelling like the asscrack of hell. Do your damn job.

love,
Kate

Posted by oracle at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2007

PSA #34

If you have to give one of your dogs an antibiotic twice a day for ten days, it would behoove you to not throw away the package with the remainder of his pills after day six, particularly if you're not keen on the idea of rummaging through the trash (this idea is even less appealing after your husband has dumped a heap of chicken-wing bones in there with a container of ranch dressing).

Posted by oracle at 5:38 PM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2007

in which our heroine needs to pay closer attention to track listing info

I saw Better Than Ezra with Karinne and her husband in 2000 when they came to the Warner Theater in DC with The Calling. The Calling was the reason I wanted to go to the show, but after seeing BTE play I was a fan. The energy was contagious, the crowd was very into them, and the music was extremely catchy. The only disappointment was that they played a lot of songs from Closer, their new album at the time, so I had to wait until it was released to be able to hear those songs again. "Porcelain," "Misunderstood," and "Good" are my favorite BTE songs, but until yesterday I didn't realize that "Good" is on one of the albums I have (Deluxe and Closer). While I may have known that at one point, for at least the past four years I have been under the impression it was on an album I didn't have. I finally figured it out last night when I tried to find out the name of the album it was on, and, boy, do I feel stupid.

Posted by oracle at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2007

Jordan + the vet != bff

Poor little Jordan. He has a bladder infection of some sort (one that involves lots of bacteria and blood in his urine), and has to be on antibiotics for the next ten days, after which I need to bring him back to the vet for a re-check. And if he doesn't officially hate going to the vet yet, he will soon. The vet had to check his bladder during the exam yesterday, and the second she was through he climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder and then tried to climb on top of my head. He had to have an x-ray after I peeled him off of me so they could make sure he didn't have any kidney stones. When they brought him back to me the vet told me that he'd peed on the x-ray table. (If the way he smelled was any indication, he probably expressed his anal glands too.) Jordan wanted nothing to do with anyone there after that, and he kept trying to head for the door while I was waiting to check out. The dogs' trainer (they have a trainer now, but that is not a story for today) was there during part of our visit (not because of Jordan's appointment - she was going to give me a spray to use when I work with the dogs on their separation anxiety, and it was more convenient for her to meet me at the vet's office) said that I need to bring a small bag of treats when I take any of the dogs to the vet so they won't associate it only with getting poked and prodded. Maybe that will help make his follow-up visit a little better for everyone.

Posted by oracle at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2007

you're so cold, keep your hand in mine

Things are not good here this week, so I don't have much to say right now. I'm cold and heartsick. My stomach's upset, and both it and my heart feel like they have anchors on them. At any given moment I am seconds away from bursting into tears or throwing up. I'm glad it's overcast today - the dark skies are far more fitting for me than a sunny day would be.

Posted by oracle at 8:21 AM | Comments (1)

beep beep beep

I had my appointment with the ENT doctor ysterday. I had my first-ever hearing test and passed with flying colors, so at least my hearing is okay. I also had a tympanogram to check the pressure in my ears. The results were normal, which means there's no fluid in my ears and no blockage that will lead to fluid buildup. The doctor checked my throat, ears, and nose and determined that everything looks fine, although he did find red dachshund hairs in both of my ears (thank you, Maddy and/or Max), which he removed with a microscope and some long tweezers - not a painful experience, but definitely an uncomfortable one. He thinks my problems are primarily due to TMJ problems, so he's referring me for physical therapy to work on that.

Posted by oracle at 7:54 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2007

not the kind of curve I want

This week I've been noticing how horrible my posture is. Seriously, it's bad. I sit down at my desk, and five minutes later, I'm hunched down over my keyboard. When I type I tilt my head to one side (usually the right), and hunch down even more. At home, at work, it makes no difference. How fucking hard is it to sit up straight?

Posted by oracle at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2007

PSA #33

Mascara cannot help define your eyelashes if it's in your husband's truck (where you left it yesterday) and you are not.

Posted by oracle at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park

I did indeed receive my Nancy Drew game before yesterday, so there will be no beheadings this week. I also FINISHED it before yesterday. The game was sitting on the doorstep waiting for me when I got home Monday afternoon (along with a box from Amazon containing two books and a CSI game for my pretty, pretty laptop, but those are stories for another day), so I tore into it like an impatient consumer and started playing right away. I put in about 45 minutes or so of gameplay before bedtime, but, like a nitwit, I forgot to, you know, SAVE the game before I turned off the DS, so I had to start from the beginning again on Tuesday when I picked it back up. In spite of that, I managed to finish the game before Mike got home from class Tuesday night.

The game itself was pretty fun, and Bess, George, and Nancy's dad interacted with her at some points in the game while Ned chauffeured Nancy around River Heights. While I enjoyed playing it, I think it's safe to say that this game was not made with 26-year-old women in mind as its target audience. It was a little too easy. Everyone I needed to talk to had an exclamation point over their head, everything I needed to look at had a magnifying glass hovering above it, and everywhere I needed to go was marked with a stick figure. Now, I appreciate my fair share of handholding, but this didn't feel like it left much of a challenge for me, and that was a little disappointing. I'm hoping that the upcoming CSI DS game proves to be more challenging.

Posted by oracle at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

not fit for company

I am a bundle of contradictions lately - one moment I am energized, happy, enthusiastic, and motivated, while the next I am lethargic, grouchy, and snappish. This is a week of daily migraines so I suppose that's par for the course, although I am not happy about it, Sam-I-Am. Not at all. I am oversensitive to the nth degree, reading into everything, and, sweet mother of Moses, am I out of patience with everyone and everything...even my wiener-babies. When they start irritating me, I know I am in full Grinch mode. It is not good.

Part of it is the hormones and migraines, yes, but I also think my respiratory/sinus problems are contributing, too, particularly in their impact on my sleep, as in, I'm not sleeping well these days. I am looking at next week's appointment as a magic bullet. I hope the specialist has a magic wand, 'cause at this point I want a miracle.

Posted by oracle at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2007

sunny daze

Normally I like seeing the morning sunlight while I'm sitting at my desk, but today I have a migraine, and the sun that's pouring in through the blinds is not doing anything to improve things.

Posted by oracle at 7:57 AM | Comments (2)

PSA #32

House keys and car keys are not interchangeable, no matter how many times you try to use one in place of the other.

Posted by oracle at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2007

homework is my nemsis

I have GOT to stop putting off my homework till the last minute. It is killing me, y'all. Last night I stayed up until after 11 working on my web design assignment. I would've been done before then but some time around 10:30 the program I was using to create a storyboard crashed, and I had to start over from scratch. (Note to self: Remember to save your work periodically so this does not happen again.)

Posted by oracle at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

I can has CSI too?

As if the news of a Nancy Drew DS game wasn't exciting enough, I just found out that a CSI DS game (CSI: Dark Motives) is in the works. I'll have to wait for it though, because it's not scheduled for release until November 27.

Posted by oracle at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

Nancy Drew? In the palm of my hand? Make it so.

There is a Nancy Drew DS game, and soon it will be mine! Not as soon as I would've liked, though. Mike and I went into EB Games on Tuesday so he could pick up Eternal Sonata. While I was waiting for him, I browsed through the printout of new and upcoming releases for DS games and saw the Nancy Drew game on the list. According to that printout, it was supposed to be released that day, but when I asked about it, the elfin-looking guy behind the counter said that the release date on that list is actually the day it ships, so they wouldn't have it in until Wednesday. With that in mind, I stopped Best Buy on my way home on Wednesday to pick up Nancy Drew, but they told me the game wouldn't be released until next Tuesday. My next stop was EB Games, where they told me that, yes, they had said the game would be in stock that day, but, well, it wasn't. And even though my little elfin friend from the previous day looked in the computer and called one of the other local EB Games stores, they couldn't tell me why. So I pouted, ate the ice cream Mike bought me at Maggie Moos (he knows how to make everything better), then went home and ordered it online. I even paid extra to have it delivered by the weekend so I could play my new game instead of studying for my networking test. In spite of that, the UPS site says it's going to be delivered on Monday. This does not please me at all. There is a Nancy Drew game that can be played on my pretty, pretty DS, but I CAN'T PLAY IT YET BECAUSE I CAN'T GET IT ANY SOONER THAN MONDAY. Good thing I'll be able to spend most of Wednesday getting acquainted with Ms. Drew while I sit in waiting rooms.

If I do not have my game by Wednesday, HEADS WILL ROLL. Trufax.

Posted by oracle at 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2007

a week without complaints? hmm

I just read this short article about a woman's experience when she tried to stop complaining for a week. While I would've liked to see the article go into a little more detail, it's a thought-provoking idea for me. I know I complain a lot. I also know how unpleasant it is to be around people who are negative all the time, and I like the idea of taking a break from complaining for a set amount of time. Sometimes complaining helps me feel better, but more often than not I find myself getting more upset about whatever it is I'm venting about.

Posted by oracle at 8:01 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2007

I am a sucker for little travel notebooks

I've heard people mention Moleskine notebooks for a few years now, but for some reason I had mentally pegged (and dismissed) them as a notebook for overzealous fans of something or another. Mike ordered a Moleskine watercolor pad last week, and when it arrived today it came with a sheet showing some of Moleskine's new products - city notebooks. Of all the cities Moleskine makes notebooks for, the ones I want to visit are Boston, Chicago, LA, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Montreal, Prague, Rome, and Venice. I think it would be neat to use those books as the backbone for a scrapbook of our trip when Mike and I go to a city from that list. I ordered the books for DC (we live in the area, but we're talking about making more trips into DC to take pictures and see the different sights/attractions, and I would like to document those trips) and Boston to begin with, but I would like to eventually get all of them to keep on hand for when we start travelling more and can visit places in Europe.

Posted by oracle at 9:08 PM | Comments (0)

PSA # 31

If you have glasses with screws that have a tendency to pop out, leaving nothing to hold your lenses in place, get one of those tiny screwdrivers to keep in your car so you don't ever again have to use your fingernail to screw one of those miniscule screws back in.

Posted by oracle at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)

random things from today (and possibly yesterday, or maybe even last weekend)

Posted by oracle at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2007

they are family members

I saw a link to this money confession photo essay on Fabulously Broke in the City, and this one caught my attention:


"I had to place my dog into the pound due to lack of money. I wish I hadn't. I wonder if someone adopted him?"

I view the puppies as part of our family, and I do not EVER want to be in a position where money keeps me from taking care of them as they need it, nor do I want to have to give them up because of financial reasons. I can't stand the mindset that pets are disposable.

Posted by oracle at 8:11 PM | Comments (1)

it's a cookie batter morning

I am wide awake, but I don't have the energy (well, motivation, really) to do anything more than crawl back in bed and eat cookie dough. Unfortunately, the work situation from Friday (it sucks) means that I have to go in, at least for a little bit, and it will be better if I do not go in late. No cookie batter till later. I will, however, be thankful that the superbeautifulaweseome weather from the weekend is still with us because I don't think I could possibly love it any more. I love the cool, almost cold even, mornings, the way the day warms up to beautiful, but not hot, and the way the evening cools off again. It is perfect weather to throw open as many windows as possible, which is exactly what I did over the weekend and will do again when I get home early to mope and eat raw oatmeal cookies.

Posted by oracle at 4:55 AM | Comments (2)

September 16, 2007

sad for us, good for her

Grandwitch died this morning.

Posted by oracle at 9:27 PM | Comments (2)

September 15, 2007

bring on the leaf piles

This weather is fantastic. I love it more than I can put into words. I've had the windows open since we got home yesterday afternoon to let the fresh air waft throughout the house, and this is exactly what I think the beginning of fall should feel like. To help get into the right mindset I made some bean soup for dinner last night, using a ham bone and the recipe from How To Cook Everything (thank you again, Karinne - it's my favorite cookbook), and it fit my mood perfectly. I'm sure I'll be grumbling about the cold sometime around December, but for right now I'm looking forward to the cooler weather.

Posted by oracle at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2007

I can't tell if this counts as improving or not

Yesterday, it was my zipper; today as I was sorting through some mail, my hand brushed against something cold and wet on the sweatshirt I was huddled in to keep warm (they're doing some sort of work to the AC in my builiding this week, and it is FREEZING). It might have even been a bit slimy. I don't know about you, but I prefer to keep my emergency-warmth sweatshirts dry and non-slimy, so this freaked me out a tiny bit, until I looked down and realized that I had spilled some yogurt on my shirt.

Posted by oracle at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2007

xyz

Thank God I spend the majority of my workday sitting down behind a computer. My zipper has apparently been down for some undetermined amount of time, but the first I knewof this was when I went into the bathroom and noticed that I didn't have to unzip my zipper because IT WAS ALREADY DOWN. Good thing I'm wearing underwear today.

Posted by oracle at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2007

Rob Zombie's Halloween - (the remake)

Mike and I went to see this last night, and it was pretty good. I am paranoid about not getting to the theater with enough time to get our tickets, any snacks we might want, and get seated before the previews start (I love watching the previews, Mike hates them), but in spite of my certainty that leaving the house with 15 minutes was not going to give us enough time, it did. (I did miss the first part of the previews, but that's because I was wishy-washy about getting a snack until after we'd given the usher our tickets and were on our way to sit down. And even with the long line at the concession stand, I still made it back in time to catch the previews for The Mist and 30 Days of Night, both of which look very interesting. Also in upcoming movie news - I saw the poster for The Dark is Rising, and staring at it was the highlight of my time spent waiting in various lines.) As far as the actual movie went, I liked it. I haven't seen any of the original Halloween movies, so I don't have any baseline or reference point to compare it to, however, the movie effectively creeped me out to the point that I scurried up the stairs as fast as I could after turning off the lights before bed because I am no fool - I just spent two+ hours watching Michael Meyers detach himself from shadows and noiselessly go after his next unsuspecting vicitm. Hell if it's going to be me.

Posted by oracle at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2007

PSA #30

If your phone rings during a movie, do not answer it in the theater - take it out to the hall to have your conversation, especially if you are going to inquire about the caller's baby, ask about halftime of a game that's on tv, and tell the caller about your plans to leave at 7:30 the next morning. If you DO take such a call and have a similar, non-emergency-related, conversation, do not spend the next fifteen minutes after you hang up asking your spouse what's going on in the movie because you missed it while you were chatting on the phone. ("How many years later is it?" "Fifteen." "Oh, I thought it was ten or something.") I guarantee you your fellow movie-goers will wish they had laser eyes with which to turn your inconsiderate ass into bacon. Or maybe that's just me.

Posted by oracle at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2007

even sadder than before

The teeth cleaning results: Jordan had to have two teeth extracted. Well, technically they only extracted one - the other tooth FELL OUT when they started scraping off the tarter, which was apparently the only thing holding it in. My poor little man. He was so happy to see me when I picked him up, and on the way home he curled up in my lap and mooshed his nose to the window for the entire trip, only moving when the truck jolted or went around a turn. Now that we've been home for a bit he seems to be doing okay, just very sleepy, which I think is probably from a) the anesthesia and b) the pain pills the vet sent him home with, but that won't keep me from fretting over him every few minutes until I know for sure he's feeling better. In other news, he has to have soft food until the sockets heal from the extractions, so he'll be eating a mix of canned food and his regular kibble (softened in hot water) for the next week. This means I need to give the other two a smidgen of canned food too so we don't have any squabbles. They're like toddlers, minus the diapers.

Posted by oracle at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)

the saddest little man

I dropped Jordan off at the vet this morning so he could have his teeth cleaned, and he was the most pitiful thing you have ever seen. After he got through sniffing everything within reach in the vestibule he wanted to be picked up, so while I was filling out the paperwork (of which there was more than I anticipated, btw. I naively thought I would just walk in and drop him off, which, no) I held him while he looked around and quivered. Then the vet tech came out to take him back, and he wanted nothing to do with her. He tucked his tail between his legs, crouched as low to the ground as he could get, and pressed himself against my legs. When I stepped away so the tech could get him, he hid between, then behind, my legs, trying to stay as close to me as possible. I ended up holding him while she put their leash on him, but he still didn't want to go with her. He dug his little paws into the floor and wouldn't budge, and since it was a leash/slip-collar combined, she could only pull so much before it would start choking him, so she was trying to get him to go with her without strangling him. That's the picture I saw as I left him there - my little rescue puppy who took so long to completely warm up to us, not wanting me to leave him there with the nice, but strange (to him), people who're going to do bloodwork, give him anesthesia, clip his nails while he's asleep and can't fight about it, and then clean the hell out of his teeth. I'm sure I was more upset about it than he was, but I'm still going to give him extra snuggles and fuss over him more than usual this evening. Hopefully he'll have much nicer breath when we pick him up.

Posted by oracle at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

more on the cancer front

Grandpa seems to be doing well with the chemo, but Grandwitch is not doing well at all. Things are at the point where she needs to have someone with her all the time (partly because she's so sick and partly because of the mental illness, which is apparently making her a real peach to deal with), and she's not eating hardly anything. The doctor said that if she doesn't start eating more, she's going to starve before the cancer does her in, although I'm sure he said it much nicer than that. Mom's flying out again today to see if she and her brothers can work with Grandwitch to get her stuff in order before things go even further downhill.

I'll be glad when this ends because she's in so much pain and my mom and uncles are going through so much to try to help her, but I'll be heartbroken too. This is the grandmother who used to put on magic shows locally for birthday parties, hospitals, and other occasions (which is why she was dubbed "Grandwitch"). Because we moved around so much, we didn't get to visit them often, but when we did, she would put on spectacular magic shows for us, complete with a dove and colored smoke. She would also hide little trinkets (quarter-machine rings and the like) in her garden for us to find, and for the longest time I believed that she did indeed have a magic garden, complete with fairies that hide those treats for us.

Posted by oracle at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

September 1, 2007

in which our heroine doesn't mention dying OR her sinuses!

This is all about the frivolous, my friends. I got a haircut on Thursday, and I'm just now deciding that I kinda like it. It's shorter than I had in mind, but it's not as horrible and face-fat emphasizing as I first thought it was, so, yay. I also got it colored FINALLY (no more chunks of light-colored roots, also yay!), and, as always, I berated myself for waiting so long in between colorings. My hair looks much better red than it does in its naturally strawberry-blond state, but after about five weeks, I start procrastinating on my next visit to my stylist. Why? Because I am lazy, I think, and when it gets to a certain point, I forget how much I love my hair when it's red.

Posted by oracle at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

more on the dead heroine front

My body has decided to systematically shut down* (or at least misfire) over the past few days. In addition to my sinusy woes, my stomach is killing me too. All because I ate a little mac 'n cheese (homemade, otherwise the tummy pains would be understandable) with some ham. I am SUCH a joy to live with.

Posted by oracle at 11:31 PM | Comments (2)

PSA #29

When washing your face, it's a good idea to take your fucking glasses off first - if you don't, expect to meet resistance when you try to rub your wet hands over your face.

Posted by oracle at 10:51 PM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2007

in which our heroine is dying

Or possibly just miserable. Remember how I told you I went to see my allergist, and it just so happened that I had a long-term sinus infection? Well, it's still around, making me miserable (see the entry title for confirmation), and since she said to come back and see her if it didn't get any better, that's just what I did. (Side note: I LOVE my allergist. With the exception of the long-ass wait to initially see her, every time I've called they've been able to fit me into the schedule either that day or the next. This impresses me. Greatly.) What I thought would be short visit turned into something a bit more involved than that, something resulted in a breathing test (which was a piece of cake compared to what I'd been imagining it would be) and a trip to a nearby imaging center to get a CAT scan of my sinuses (I had to take out my earrings and eyebrow ring for the test, but while I was in the car on the way home I realized that I'd forgotten to take out my cartilage earring and proceeded to fret about that for the next 5 - 7 minutes). They were super-speedy with my results (another reason to love my allergist? She wanted to get the results ASAP so she could figure out a treatment for me today so I wouldn't be miserable [and untreated] over the holiday weekend. <3), but when the nurse called to find out which pharmacy I'd like my prescription called into, I stupidly forgot to ask about my results. I presume it's still a sinus infection, because why else would I be taking another round of the super-duper antibiotic (that can't be THAT super since it didn't kill my sinus problems the first time around)? I just hope it works this time around because my sinus headaches are painful to the point that they're consistantly making me queasy (not just a little "erp, I don't feel too swell," oh ho no, we're talking full-blown "holy shit, I wonder if I could make it to the side of the road and throw up") and my ears are so puffy and achy I feel like they should be bleeding (or oozing something equally painful). N says that my head feels this way because I know too much and I should've stopped packing facts into my head before things got to this point. It must be my brain that's dripping out my ears.

Note: Mike was very sweet and patient with me this afternoon, and while I was getting my CAT scan done, he was in Borders picking up surprises (Jimmy Norton's "Happy Endings" and Joy Bauer's "Natural Food Cures") for me to help brighten my day.

Posted by oracle at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)

Cleaning Armaggedon - day seven

Refilled the q-tip jar in our bathroom, did laundry (can't remember what, specifically, though, which is not a good sign), cleared up the dirty dishes, and that's it. I felt like crap again today, so that's all I had the energy for.

Posted by oracle at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2007

Cleaning Armaggedon - day six

Today was much more productive than yesterday. To wit: I loaded and ran the dishwasher, did laundry (washed a "delicate" rug, folded the new beach towels, started lights - part one, put away darks - part two), scrubbed more tile/grout in our shower, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dirty dishes (still need to wash those wineglasses, blah), cleaned my small stoneware pan, cleaned the tub in H's bathroom (the scene of the oven rack scouring), maintained the puppies' litter box and cleaned up the front yard, wiped down the laundry room floor, put the newspaper in the recycling bag, brought my new stamps upstairs (they're not put away yet, but at least they're not downstairs creating an eyesore anymore), refilled the napkin holder on the table, and cleaned out some of the old items in the fridge.

Posted by oracle at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

there's a lightning storm each and every night

I've been loving Alkaline Trio's Crimson album lately. I've had it for quite a while, but when I got it I only listened to the one song off of it that I'd fallen in love with (as I'm wont to do), completely ignoring the rest of the album until last week when my iPod shuffled it to my attention. I can't believe I didn't pick up on the fact that the entire fucking album is fantastic before now. The songs that are currently grabbing my attention are "I Was a Prayer," "Smoke," "Mercy Me," and "Burn," but, really, those are just the ones I can easily remember the names of - the other songs on the album are just as good. <3

Posted by oracle at 7:27 AM | Comments (2)

August 29, 2007

Cleaning Armageddon - day five

Did laundry (put towels - part two in the dryer, washed and put away a load of delicates [a crocheted afghan, etc.] and washed the new beach towels [<3 Land's End]), took the trash out for trash day, maintained the puppies' litter box, and wiped the baking soda residue out of the top oven. I wasn't feeling too good today, so that's all I did, even though I had big plans to finish the top oven and wipe out the rest of the laundry. Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow.

Posted by oracle at 9:28 PM | Comments (2)

Brain Age 2

I picked Brain Age 2 up while we were at Best Buy last Thursday. I hadn't realized that a second Brain Age was even in the works, much less on sale, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it on the rack. Out of the different training sessions I've played so far (sign finder, piano player, word scramble, memory sprint, change maker, and word blend), my favorites are change maker, sign finder, word scramble, and piano player. There are still five more training sessions to unlock, though, so I'm looking forward to seeing what those are like.

Posted by oracle at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2007

Cleaning Armageddon - day four

Loaded the dishwasher, threw a load of laundry in the dryer (darks - part two), scrubbed more of the tile/grout in our shower, folded/hung-up and put away laundry from earlier in the morning (darks - part one), put a load of towels in the washer, cleaned out the coffee maker, changed out the puppies' litter box, cleaned up the front yard (such as it is), and did some more work on the oven racks (what a pain in the ass).

Need to: do more laundry (fold and put away darks - part two, put the towels in the dryer, and put lights - part one in the washer), handwash and put away wineglasses, clean and put away my small stoneware pan, and finish up the top oven (the sides are immaculate, but the back has some splatters still, and the bottom has a big black spot that needs to be scoured), and start on the bottom oven (it's nowhere near as bad as the top one, but it is in need of a good cleaning too).

Posted by oracle at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Cleaning Armaggedon - day three

Worked more on the top oven (I am NEVER letting it get that bad again. Cleaning it all out like this is a tremendous [and unnecessary] pain in the ass), scrubbed the tile/grout in our shower, did more laundry (moved towels - part one out of the dryer into a basket, started darks - part one), maintained the puppies' litter box, put away my clutter from the kitchen table, and started on the oven racks (also a huge pain in the ass).

Posted by oracle at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2007

Cleaning Armaggedon - day two

Started working on the top oven (I started off using a toothbrush and a baking soda paste, but Mike pointed out that using one of those green scratchy pads might be quicker, so I put that on hold until we went to Target later in the afternoon and got some - he's right, using them is MUCH easier), made the bed (yes, this is something I had let lapse. My mother would be HORRIFIED to hear that), did laundry, maintained the kitchen, cleaned up the front yard, gathered the newspaper for recycling, and worked more on the top oven.

Posted by oracle at 2:15 PM | Comments (0)

Cleaning Armaggedon - day one

Began cleaning the kitchen: put bowls of ammonia in both ovens (I read that it will help loosen some of the cooked-on gunk, but this is the first time I've tried it...we'll see how it works), put the oven racks in a tub of hot water with some dish detergent (also to help loosen gunk, also previously untried), wiped down the stovetop, wiped down all of the counters, ran the dishwasher THREE TIMES in one day(this is a record for when it's just me and Mike in the house), put away a fuckton of dishes (thank you, Mike and Tyler for helping me dry the last load), and took out the trash a couple of times. Also washed the sheets, made the bed back up, did more laundry (washed, folded, and put away a load of whites and put towels - part one in the washer), cleaned out the puppies' litter box, and tidied up the laundry room a little bit.

Posted by oracle at 2:09 PM | Comments (0)

weekend accomplishments

the results:
go to grocery store on the way home - yes and no. I didn't go on the way home, but Mike and I did go on Saturday after we took the puppykins to the vet

eat a hamburger - yes x 2. Mike and I went to Five Guys a while ago because we'd heard a lot of good things about their food, but we weren't impressed. While I didn't think the food was horrible, I certainly didn't think it lived up to the hype either. At any rate, we decided to give it another try on Friday, and I'm glad we did because their burgers were MUCH better this time. I liked them so much that we ended up going back there on Saturday while we were out running errands, and I liked that burger just as much as I did liked the one from the day before.

go to a wine tasting - no. Friday afternoon was rough, and it quickly became apparent that the wine tasting was not going to happen this weekend, so we're going to try to go to one on the next non-kid weekend.

CSI: NY marathon - no. Mike and I were both too tired for a marathon of anything on Friday night, so we just watched three two eps. And somehow we ended up watching CSI: Miami instead of CSI: New York. I'm still not quite sure how that happened.

take puppykins to vet - done! Maddy and Max are fine and healthy (they were going in for their annual heartworm checkup), Max is about the same weight she was last time we took them in (she gained a pound and some ounces after that so I started reducing her intake, etc., and I'm glad that worked. Now I just need to take her out for more walks so she'll lose a little more weight, and then she won't be at as much of a risk for back problems), and Jordan did much better than I expected. This was his first vet visit for a checkup since we've had him, and I thought he would growl his way through the entire thing, but he only growled twice (his tail was wagging both times). Our vet says that somewhere around 3 - 4 is about right for his age, and that he's at a good weight now (11.something vs the 9.something he was when we got him). She did recommend that we clean his teeth though, since he has a little bit of inflammation around one of his teeth in the front, so we're going to get that taken care of sometime in the next two weeks, and then my little man will be all set until it's time for his next checkup.

clean up kitchen - done (with Mike's help)! Saturday was the beginning of something new for us: my housekeeping standards have been on a slippery slope for a while now, so I'm starting on a 30-day deadline to get the house clean and uncluttered from top to bottom.

watch a Bond movie - no, but not for any particular reason. We just didn't get around to watching one this weekend.

have friends over - done! Amy came over on Saturday and helped me get things ready for a Pampered Chef party while Tyler and Mike drank wine, smoked cigars, and played video games.

smoosh nose to window to see if package from Land's End (that'll be an entry all of its own) has come yet - done, but no, the packages haven't arrived yet. In fact, the tracking information tells me not to expect my stuff until Wednesday. Boo.

hibernate - sort of.

As far as the addendums go, I did get through a lot of the laundry (and put everything away except a load of towels), Mike steam-cleaned the carpet in the living room, and I started on the stuff on my side of the bed, but there is still much left to do there before I can say I am through.

Posted by oracle at 8:37 AM | Comments (2)

August 24, 2007

I'm a prayer, all you see is breath

Weekend plans:
go to grocery store on the way home
eat a hamburger
go to a wine tasting
CSI: NY marathon
take puppykins to vet
clean up kitchen
watch a Bond movie
have friends over
smoosh nose to window to see if package from Land's End (that'll be an entry all of its own) has come yet
hibernate

Somewhere in there I need to do laundry, steam-clean carpets in the living room, clean some bathrooms, and tackle the sea of crap on the floor by my side of the bed. It's worse than bad at this point and possibly getting more hazardous by the minute. TRUFAX.

Posted by oracle at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2007

fucking cancer

My grandmother, she is not doing so well. Apparently, soon the medicine she's on will make it so she's not really aware of much, and things will be going downhill rapidly from there. My mom's flying out tomorrow to spend a week out there, spending time with my grandmother and trying to get as much put in order as she can before things get bad. I'm used to not seeing my grandma much because she's so far away, but I can't wrap my head around the idea of her not being there. It makes my heart hurt to think that my mom won't have her mom around for much longer.

Posted by oracle at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)

is there anything cuter than little baby wiener dogs?

I think not.



Posted by oracle at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

parenting 101 - week four

Good stuff, as usual. This week's class focused primarily on choices and consequences, with a sidebar on treating your kids with respect. I cannot stress enough how glad I am to be taking this class. Also, the instructor brought us Oreos to help emphasize a point from one of the films we watched. I <3 Oreos.

Posted by oracle at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2007

in which I am possibly over my head

I just read through the syllabuses for both of my classes, and I have to confess, I'm more than a little nervous. Like, what the hell was I thinking, signing up for a networking class? I'm not AS nervous about the web design one because I've played with HTML a little bit, but I'm not as confident about it as I would be about, say, an English class, either. I need to stop over-thinking this, get over the "OMG, COMPUTER CLASSES!" mindset, and get started on my classwork already.

Posted by oracle at 5:29 PM | Comments (2)

August 21, 2007

birthday puppies!

Today is Max and Maddy's third birthday. They are officially not puppies anymore, but that won't keep me from referring to them thusly. Also, I can't believe they're only three years old. It seems like we've had them FOREVER.

pics after the jump

then:



and now:


Posted by oracle at 9:21 AM | Comments (3)

August 15, 2007

why stop with college and parenting classes?

The fall Parks 'n Rec activities catalogue was published today. I didn't realize it in time to grab the copy that came in the paper before I left for work this morning, so I've been using the lists online to map out my plan of attack. Here is my current sign-up wishlist:
a crochet class
a knitting class
a blood type & nutrition class
a natural aromatherapy herbal household cleaners
a local craft fair (!)
some kind of market event
various classes on dogly training (because the barking at EVERYTHING is getting less and less cute by the second)
a variety of cooking classes
a Halloween event
a Gingerbread house event
MAYBE a metal embossing class

Posted by oracle at 1:05 PM | Comments (2)

parenting 101 - week three

I feel like a broken record - last night's class was just as great as the previous two. The material and ideas being covered seem really, really basic [treat your child(ren) with respect, discipline is not the same as punishment, age-appropriate choices are extremely important when it comes to preventing power struggles, etc.], but it seems to be easier for me to absorb the ideas in this setting. This is easily worth two hours a week.

(somewhat related feedback: I called to talk to the kids on my way home from class, and while I was talking to Z I mentioned that I was just getting home from the parenting class, to which he replied, "Do you REALLY need to take that class?" That meant a lot to me.)

Posted by oracle at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2007

it is probably not a Lump of Doom

My allergist declared that she could indeed feel the lump, but she doesn't think it's a cyst. No, she says it's more likely a popped out lymph node, courtesy of the sinus infection she believes I've had for the past few months. All this time what I thought was just my body adjusting to the new allergy medicine was, in fact, a bona fide sinus infection. How did I miss that? Ugh. Since it's been coming and going for the past few months, she put me on a super-strong antibiotic for the infection and Prednisone for my infection-induced asthmatic misery. It's a good thing I'm not a horse.

Posted by oracle at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 10, 2007

I do not like them, Sam I Am

:sigh: The scar from where the cyst was removed from my back hasn't even begun to fade, and now I've found another lump - this one's on my face. I suppose it COULD just be a swollen gland or lymph node or some other sort of blockage, but that won't keep me from fretting about it until I know for sure. I have an appointment with my allergist today so I'll check with her while I'm there and see if it's anything allergy/sinus related. If not, next week will mean a trip to my regular doctor to figure out what the hell is up.

Posted by oracle at 2:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 7, 2007

parenting 101 - week two

Tonight was the second parenting class, and it was even better than last week. The main focus was on the "Think - Feel - Do" cycle and the role parents can play with encouragement and praise. I do not do as well as I could (and should) in either of those areas, so this class was very enlightening for me. It's way too easy to overlook the positive, the progress, and the effort they're putting in.

The instructor also emphasized that pointing out people's mistakes very rarely causes them to learn from that. More often than not, she said it makes them feel criticized and frustrated, and eventually they give up. The better way to approach things is buy point out the areas they excel in or where you see improvement in, help motivate them to live up to a higher standard of doing things. This, again, is an area that I can improve in because I have a tendency to point out the mistakes instead of focusing on the way they are reacting to their mistakes, whether or not they take responsibility for and learning from it.

It's easy to slip into the mindset of "I'm a failure, I don't do this, or this, or this..." but I'm trying to view the areas I could use improvement in as just that - areas where I can do better instead of thinking of them as areas where I am a complete failure.

Posted by oracle at 10:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

$2,500 = a lot of nail polish...unless it's Monopoly money

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

I'm not sure what to think about this. On the one hand, a chance to win $2,500 is totally worth a link, but on the other, who the hell can give away that much just for a blog contest? Especially if they're 18, like Ashwin's "about me" page says. I'd like to believe it's a for-real contest, but I'm not convinced.

Posted by oracle at 2:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

PSA #28

Howevermuch you may love your new Dustbuster, find something else to use to sweep up the pile of Parmesan cheese that spilled onto the floor. If you MUST use the Dustbuster, empty it out IMMEDIATELY so the Parmesan stink will have more time to dissipate before the next time you need to use the Dustbuster.

Posted by oracle at 12:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

high school is not forever (thank God)

While my sister and I were talking about former classmates yesterday, it occurred to me that I think of people as they were in school - I don't take into account that they might have actually grown up in the following years. I suppose it's not fair to hold people to who they were in 8th grade. God knows I wouldn't want people thinking that the person I was then is who I am now.

Posted by oracle at 11:53 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

I don't even like Caesar salad

Mike found a copycat recipe for Outback's Caesar salad dressing yesterday and requested that for last night's dinner. After a trip to the grocery store (no, I do not keep anchovy fillets on hand) and an hour or so assembling the ingredients in the blender, the dressing was ready for consumption. I was skeptical about how everything would come together, but the end result looked and smelled a lot like it was supposed to, and Mike said it tasted fantastic, so I guess my worries were unfounded.

Warning: this recipe makes a fuckton of dressing, so, unless you're anticipating hosting a plague of salad-eating locusts in the near future, be prepared to store quite a bit of it.

Outback's Caesar dressing:
3 cups olive oil
6 large eggs
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt, pepper, dry mustard, and anchovy fillets to taste (I added two chopped-up fillets, a couple dashes each of salt and pepper, and approx. 1/4 tsp of dry mustard)

*combine all ingredients in a blender
*blend on low for 20 seconds to incorporate oil
*blend on high for 20 more seconds to mix thoroughly
*place in covered container and refrigerate

Posted by oracle at 7:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 6, 2007

I am nothing if not predictable

(background: my brother's girlfriend [Alicia] went to the same school as my brother, my sister, and I did, and a couple of weekends ago she attended the wedding of two of her classmates. Apparently there were quite a few alumni on the guest list.)

My sister: Alicia said that Ryan was at the wedding.
Me: Is he still a hottie?
My sister: Yes. I asked Alicia about that because I knew you would ask that when I told you she saw him.

Posted by oracle at 9:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hopalong Cassidy

I slipped while I was walking downstairs yesterday (I didn't fall as much as I skidded down the last few steps before landing with all of my weight on my left leg, my elbow leaving a huge scuff mark on the wall in the process), and my left quad is killing me today. I'm sure my attempts to go up and down stairs with a minimum infliction of pain make me look quite ridiculous,

Posted by oracle at 11:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 5, 2007

ONLY 20?

H : "I only have 20 shirts at this house." (While going through her closet to see which shirts still fit her)

Posted by oracle at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 4, 2007

now with even MORE thunder

It just started storming. At first I thought one of the neighbors was dragging in their trashcan, but then it dawned on me that, no, that is not the sound of a trashcan scraping up a driveway - that's thunder. We've had some great thunderstorms off-and-on for the past couple of weeks, and I love it. I like the rain, I love seeing the lightning, and the sounds of rain and thunder are two of my favorites. I wish I could open up the windows and let the storm put me to sleep.

Posted by oracle at 10:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Dead Room

We went to the library today so I could pick up the books that were on hold for me (only 7 today - I'm slacking), and one of those was ,em>The Dead Room. I started reading it after we got home, planning to get through just a few chapters before I tackled the basket of laundry that needs to be folded and put away, but once I was into the story, I didn't want to stop reading. (Part of that was because the story was pretty good, but I have to be honest, the other part was because I REALLY did not want to start on the laundry just yet.) It's a paranormal adventure story by Heather Graham, and I thought it was pretty good. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, and I really liked that there didn't seem to be anything thrown in as a token (character, scene, etc.). There were a couple of sex scenes that seemed a hair out of place, but, whatever.

*** SPOILERS ***

I hated the ending. HATED. I do not like it when a relationship starts to form throughout a book but then one of the couple dies at the end. I have gotten attached to these people, y'all. I am interested in their future, in the outcome of this relationship. I CARE, DAMMIT. This one was better than some because at least the heroine was reunited with her fiance' in the afterlife (he died in the prologue, and that made me tear up a bit too), but I still would have rather skipped the relationship build-up since it was going to go nowhere seeing as how she DIED AT THE END.

Posted by oracle at 8:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 3, 2007

in which our heroine is fed up with hazmat spill related traffic

Dear Universe,

ENOUGH WITH THE HAZMAT SPILLS, ALREADY. I know there are back ways I can take that will get me home, but COME ON. Twice in less than three weeks is a bit much.

Sincerely,
Kate

Posted by oracle at 4:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

technical things

Because of some site issues going on right now, the internal links in my entries aren't working. Clicking on them will result in a "page not found" message. I apologize for the inconvenience. I'll post when things are back to normal so y'all will know when it's safe to click again.

Posted by oracle at 7:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 2, 2007