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Saturday, August 28, 2004

Another One


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Posted by Ann on 08/28/04@03:49 PM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

Bug Spray DREAM

I dreamt that we were in some wooden fenced yard with our dogs, and Lucifer Sam escaped through one of the spaces. I tried to call him back, and the only way to get him inside the house was to walk toward the house. Fortunately, he came back to us.

We were standing in our alley talking to neighbors and a dirty white car (80s era?) came through the alley very fast. I was rather angry that someone would go so fast through our alley (there's kids, pets and wildlife back here) so I yelled "fuck you!" or something at them as they passed. They heard me yell, so they stopped the car and backed up. Stan, and probably the neighbors said something like "Uh oh, Ann, you're on your own with this." I got into our car to excape them, and grabbed some bug spray. They somehow got into our car and had bug spray with them as well. We started spraying eachother with bug spray...it was awful, me against 5 or so dumbass mulletish guys. I couldn't hold the bug spray properly and I kept spraying my own hand, but the guys were equally defective. I was able to get them up the nose quite well with the bug spray, and I was actually more worried that I would kill them rather than them harming me.

Then after they went away, I was looking between our neighbors' houses (between Ann and Lyle's, and Ryan and Margie's) and there was a locomotive pulling up in the space between the two houses. I thought that odd. I went over to take a closer look and the bug spray guys were all hanging out in a car parked there. They see me, and start to chase me. They're all wearing surgical masks. I can't remember how it ended.

Posted by Ann on 08/28/04@12:53 PM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

Heh heh


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Posted by Ann on 08/28/04@11:44 AM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

Friday, August 27, 2004

Ha ha.

I don't even know if this will work. Click Me!

I made it myself!

(no, it's not my voice...just a speech thingie)

Posted by Ann on 08/27/04@05:51 PM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

The Right Rust

One of the U.S. Senators that is running in our Republican Primary this September is Russ Darrow, owner of a car dealership of the same name. The winner of the Republican Primary will go on to face our beloved (in my books) Senator Russ Feingold in the November elections. Supposedly, a local entrepreneur/artist has created some bumper stickers that 'retrofit' cars purchased through Darrow's dealership so that instead of your car's label saying 'Russ Darrow' it will say 'Russ Feingold'. (An article about it from a local paper can be found here.) Clever idea, I thought, when I heard about it. But I also received a link to the creator of the stickers' website via an art group I subscribe to (no, I'm not giving that link) and much to my disappointment, it says (emphasis mine):

"While you may not have noticed deterioration in your car's performance, the psychic weight of the sticker may deteriorate the quality of your driving due to unexplained feelings that something is 'just not right' with your car. Further, other drivers, seeing the name of a preposterously unqualified candidate for the Senate on the car in front of them, could fall into a dangerously inattentive state, potentially causing rear-end collisions, 'road rage,' or worse. If you wish to correct this condition, there is a solution more dignified than scraping the offending sticker off with a razor blade. A simple modification kit will be available to convert your car to the right 'Russ' from the far-too-right 'Russ.'

I don't know, maybe it's the fact that up until last year, all my life I've been driving cars over 10-years-old, cars that have been modified with paint not-intended-for-use-on-automobiles, and cars with an interesting visual appeal via a unique patina called "rust." But I think whacking off the offending "Darrow" with a razor blade, chisel, axe, or any non-blunt instrument is infinitely dignified! It shows angst and passion, not to mention an "it's only a fleshwound" (to be said in a Bullwinkle voice) attitude toward an object that we hold in such ridiculously high esteem, the car.

I say, get out there and massacre the hell out of the damn "Darrow" sticker!

Posted by Ann on 08/27/04@04:20 PM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

I should've just stayed in bed

Cable's down (well, obviously it was up at some point if you are now reading this, right?). What's so frustrating is that you call in and on Charter's message line they state these communities that are experiencing internet problems, but they don't say YOUR community, even though you have no cable! And the digital TV is effed-up too. But at least with the internet, they have a message so you don't have to wait to talk to a person, and you can surmise from the fact that there is indeed a message acknowledging a problem somewhere that yes, the problem is coming from them and not from you. But no, with the digital TV you have to wait who knows how long to talk to someone and I can't afford the minutes, not just from what Cingular charges as overage on your day plan, but from a time perspective either. Of course if you tell Charter that you need the internet for the work you do, they say you need to get the business package and I can't afford that because it is an OUTRAGEOUS cost (men in suits and panneled-pants type cost...not women in ratty slippers), and who's to say that won't leave you in the lurch when they're effed-up at HQ either?

Stan and I aways say that 'Kevin is on the shift' when Charter goes down, Kevin being the doofus dumbass employee, taken from the Kevin character in Repo Man.

I'm having the sensation that the world's not moving fast enough for me. Usually I don't get that this time of year...maybe it's the hormone level change in my BC pills...who knows.

About the dead man...of course this story has dropped off the face of local media, thank you Madison Press for SHOWING MY HOUSE, SHOWING MY KITCHEN WINDOW, SHOWING MY NEIGHBORS' HOUSES, SHOWING OUR MURAL ON OUR RETAINING WALL when we had nothing to do with it and didn't even know about what the hell happened and why the hell police were descending on our neighborhood like there was a toxic spill ONLY TO FIND OUT that the guy probably was just drunk beyond stupidity and couldn't stand up and fell and hit his head and that's why he died, or at least that's what I heard through the grapevine from someone who knows people in the press, but the press themselves aren't releasing anything. It was so simple...the guy was drunk off his ass, fell down, hit his head, suffered a concussion and died. That's all there was to it. No murder, nothing. Blood was from the rose bushes where he fell. But no, it was a real big deal, neighborhood held hostage by police tape and press hype and all.

In case you couldn't tell, I really hate the press. I can't remember if I've written this before, but how many times have you been watching something on the news and it is on a topic that you know VERY WELL and the news story gets it ALL WRONG? And then you wonder how many things you hear reported that you are not that well-versed in or know nothing about but that are also wrong? You have no way of knowing if it is accurate or wrong, but from my experience, everything I've KNOWN about has been inaccurate, so I'm just assuming with that track record, everything the press touches they mangle really bad with disinformation. I've been interviewed at various times by various papers (art-related) and they distort what I say and report on the minor stupid details and leave out the big picture. I fully support actors and rock stars breaking cameras of the press when they're getting in their face.

The press will use 'the people's right to know' only as long as it can sell advertising. 'The people have a right to know that there was a murder behind my house'. But when it won't sell ads anymore, no one has a right to know, no one has a right to a follow-up. 'No one has a right to know that the man died of natural causes because he was a drunk and he fell into some neighbors' rose bushes.' No, that won't sell ads. That won't get the ratings.

Looks like cable's back...

Posted by Ann on 08/27/04@09:21 AM CST ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Doggie Sandwich

Who says cats and dogs don't get along? Plato and Lucifer Sam were lying together on the futon, and Persephone came along and squeezed herself between them! After the camera went off, Plato naturally had to leave the scene of the crime, embarrassed that I caught him in such a compromising position.
doggiesandwich (33k image)

Posted by Ann on 08/22/04@10:44 AM CST ..::Link::..3 Screamers.

Implicit Suicide

I heard it through the grapevine that the man's death was a suicide.

This explain why the press has been real hush hush for the last few days, as they only report on suicides if it is someone well known. It's just like the man in the house that blew up 4 months ago (gee, my neighborhood has a strong aura of death, doesn't it?) a block and a half away: big news story, and then NOTHING. They suspect that was a suicide too, but of course it is only implicit by what the press says: "The Gas Valve was left in the On Position." Very passive tense. Well, gee, how did the gas valve *get* in the on position? Did it move itself there?

I'd like to know how they can differentiate between suicide and OD. What's the fine dividing line? This man lived 8 blocks away (Wil-Mar neighborhood)...he was not from this neighborhood (Schenks Atwood). He commits suicide 8 blocks away, down an alley, in some rose bushes? What?

Does not compute. And the press isn't saying anything. I don't know, OD still seems more plausible. But it's still sad--the officials are still trying to locate the man's family.

And I'm still trying to deal with the ongoing Tim thing. His blood was dangerously thin the other week...I don't know what these numbers mean, but 1 is thick, 4 is thin, and he was at an 11. The doctors couldn't believe it. And the oddest thing...Tim used to be an avid TV watcher to the point of annoying us. He'd call us with the TV on. (I can't stand that, whenever someone calls me and the TV is on, I always mute it or turn it off). He'd zone on TV. I can't STAND just watching TV....I always have to busy myself with something, my ibook or my jewelry or SOMETHING (unless I'm sick). But now, NOW, is the time if there ever was a time in his life when watching TV would be a good thing. He's not too mobile, he just lies on the couch, and after all, he is recovering from heart surgery, so I say watch away! This is what TV is good for...a comfort for the ill when you can't do much of anything else. That's what I do when I have a bad cold or sore throat. I'm thankful we have cable for times like that. But Tim has stopped watching TV even. I know he's not reading, because whenever we'd go to see him, there are no lights on and the blinds are closed and his eyesight is worse than mine and I can't stand to read small books (because of my eyesight). It's like a funeral parlor in there. If he'd just draw the blinds and let some light in (he needs his vitamin D and I know he's not going outside!) I think he'd feel much better. I don't understand, the first thing I do in the morning is open my blinds in the bedroom. I'd sleep with the blinds open if I lived in the country with no one around. Despite my austere gothic nature (to some) I love sunlight! I love things like plants that love sunlight!

Oh, and someone told Tim that he looks like Michael Phelps the swimmer and he was really offended by that (Tim hates the Olympics). I can think of many worse people to look like, and I'd take it as a compliment if I was really sick and someone said I look like an athlete!

Stan and I call it "Puttying out". It's from the Seinfeld episode when Elaine and Putty are on a plane together and Putty just wants to sit there and stare straight ahead, not look at a magazine or read or sleep or anything. Just stare with vacant thoughts. I feel that's what Tim's doing. Puttying out. He's lost everything it seems...he's just a shell now.

Posted by Ann on 08/22/04@09:47 AM CST ..::Link::..3 Screamers.
By Ann @ 03:49 PM CST:08:28:04 ..::Link::..Whisper or Scream?