These are old archived entries from my journal, Ornamental Illness. I have eliminated all graphics (except those in context of an entry) to save on my bandwidth usage.


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Friday, September 5, 2003

DREAM: New House

This was a fun dream! Stan and I bought a different house, basically sight unseen. It was quite a bit newer and larger than our house, possibly built in the 50s, 60s, 70s. I was on the first floor and we were getting it set up. We were building an area in the front, sort of like a greenhouse area with lots of drawers where I could keep art supplies. This was separated off from the living room, making the living room space smaller. I was asking Stan where we were going to have our TV....there wasn't much room. Our bed was also down there, right next to the living room. I questioned why we weren't putting the bed on the 2nd floor. Stan said, "well, let's check it out and see where we can put it." At some time, Tim appeared, and it was as if we were going to meet him at this house, buy we weren't *there* yet, and he didn't have a key so, he had to wait for us outside for quite a while. I guess he was sort of miffed, but glad when we appeared. When we went upstairs, we realized how huge this house actually was. There were big bathrooms with big tubs, and about 4 bedrooms. All the bedrooms were big, and they all had beds in them, as if the previous owners left without taking their furniture. Some of the beds were really comfortable, and some of the bedrooms also had couches and daybeds for "sleepovers." I remember the colors maroon and a dark salmon as the major color schemes. It was quite luxurious and decadent. The windows on some of the bedrooms were small, modern windows, but there were so many that it gave lots of light. It was just a really fun dream, and a neat house!

Posted by Ann on 09/05/03@08:14 AM CST ..::Link::..

Thursday, September 4, 2003

DREAMs: Monsters, jobs and immigrants

This is very hard to describe because I can't remember the sequence of events or much of the context.

I was sitting in a car with Stan, I think, and some friends from high school. We were driving at night, and Stan was falling out of the driver's seat, somehow. We stopped, and my door was open, and there was some sort of scary monster outside, so I quickly closed my door so it couldn't get in.

I was in some building sitting on some high bar chair (very modern-looking) and some guy was talking to me about employment. He was pretty average, tall, average weight, light brown short hair and beard, glasses...typical computer high tech worker type. He was telling me that they had an entry-level position available, but he was saying it in such a way that he didn't think I'd be interested. I was thinking it would be very low-paying too, so I asked him about it and he said it was $13/hour and all it involved was downloading files from the internet. I though it would be a good deal and wanted to take the job!

Then I was was watching something on TV, but it was like I was there. Someone was interviewing some manufacturer in Britain or Europe and taking a behind-the-scenes look at the working environment. There were a bunch of people in the back room who were the workers, but they were standing in front of other people, short illegal immigrants that they were hiding there. These immigrants had no place to go, so their only way to spend the day was to be hidden in some factory. What a horrible way to live.

Posted by Ann on 09/04/03@09:07 AM CST ..::Link::..

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

I look all black, but my dad was white

This morning Stan and I went to look at the garden. When we came back inside, Stan's wallet was out on the futon, dollar bills were spread around on it, and his driver's license was on the floor. Also on the futon was a naughty little black pug. We figured Lucifer Sam needed a fake ID and some cash to take to the pub (pug pub) tonight.

Posted by Ann on 09/02/03@08:58 AM CST ..::Link::..

Monday, September 1, 2003

"More Stuff to Scare the Girl" (as Stan would phrase it)

More overpriced Fort Collins properties

Creepy Little Law Office on the Prairie (stuff like this creeps me out so bad). Actually, this is a very thorough and comprehensive site on the history of Fort Collins. Well worth the thorough perusal....click the various years on the right and scroll down the entire page for more picture links, like The Auntie Stone Cabin--doesn't look like a lot (accidentally typed "log"...oh what a funny slip) of fun, does it? I hate the romanticisation of that time ala Little House on the Prairie. Whenever we had to read those books in school, I was totally petrified of having to live in that time. I did not find it a joyful romp through the memories of yesteryear at all. Ah, and here's the Avery House, probably the most famous old historical properties of the city. Very unique sandstone-based architecture. That photo looks like it's off the set of Dracula or The Wizard of Oz or something. What incredible memories! This house always freaked me out a a kid...I would make up stories of creepy people living there, but as I got older, I sort of fell in love with the house. I don't think this house exists anymore. It's at 202 Remington, but I don't remember seeing it the last few times I visited. Pity. This photo is entitled "Annie's Gravesite and Memorial Headstone." Begs the question, "Who's Annie?" Now Here's a house that didn't even exist when I lived there; it was demolished in 1962. But you can take a virtual tour of it. Pretty neat.

Posted by Ann on 09/01/03@11:09 AM CST ..::Link::..

Memory Jog

Just checking my statistics...early this morning someone did a search on "bungalow" "fort collins" and ended up at my site, ironic, since I just mentioned those exact words in my previous entry. It always amazes me how people end up here when it's obvious by the context of the text quoted on the search engine page that this personal journal will not help them in their search to find a house or the rental property they are looking for.

I was compelled to click on one of the links that was also on the search page, and ended up here. It was a reminder of how ugly I find Fort Collins...tiny, overpriced homes. Stark, unembellished, plain.

I am so glad I do not live there anymore. It always gives me a creepy feeling to visit. But it's a good kind of scare, because I know the fright won't last--I have a nice place to go home to.

Posted by Ann on 09/01/03@10:07 AM CST ..::Link::..

DREAM: Pastry with beard hair

I was watching something on TV about a woman with mental illness whose name began with "P." Suddenly I was there with her, sitting in her kitchen. She served me some bakery that was like the Czech bakery my mom sometimes makes. I'm not sure if Stan was with me or not; I think he was, but there was a man in the kitchen with us who bore an incredible resemblance to Stan's biodad. He was also spouting off a bunch of crazy topics, that the "P" woman seemed to fall in line with, so I assume it *was* Stan's biodad. As I was eating the bakery, I noticed there was a hair in it. As to not appear the bad guest, I tried to bite around the hair, but it eventually ended up in my mouth. I discreetly removed it, but it stuck to my fingers. I looked at it and noticed it looked just like the man's beard hair. I wiped it against the chairback I was sitting against, and the man saw me do that, but he kept on talking. I wondered what he thought when he saw me remove his beard hair from my mouth. The house reminded me a lot of "Bohler's Hole" from Fort Collins, except it was a small single-unit bungalow as opposed to an apartment. It had that neat rounded doorway architecture like many houses did in that era, as well as some stucco on the walls, similar to our Ft. Collins Grant Street house. It was decorated mostly in dark colors. There was more detail to the dream, but hard to describe it in context. I do remember she had some chair that had two Ps embroidered on the back, like "PP" as if it were her initials, except that the first P was reversed horizontally, so the two stems of the Ps were adjacent. I have no idea what this means.

Posted by Ann on 09/01/03@06:46 AM CST ..::Link::..

Sunday, August 31, 2003

Bug Stories

Friday morning I was outside releasing Monarch butterflies. I caught sight of something in the Bridal Wreath bush, flapping, dark, winged. It was large...I thought it was a bat, but in the morning? I looked closer and saw that it was a Tiger Swallowtail female, which is black, unlike the male of the species which is yellow with black "tiger" stripes. It was caught in a spider's web. I quickly grabbed a shovel and beat the spiderweb, freeing the butterfly. As it flew away, I could tell its wings were old and it didn't have long to live, but I was giving it a few more days or hours of freedom. Not nice to see a butterfly caught in a spiderweb; the spider can eat other things instead.

Friday afternoon Stan, Tim and I went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Two men came in; they were Mexican themselves and were speaking Spanish to the waiter. One of them was holding something in his hand--it looked like a bug or small mouse. Of course that didn't make sense to me, why would he bring that into a restaurant? He showed it off to the waiter and they all seemed fascinated/amused by it. They sat down behind Tim. Later in the meal, Tim excused himself to go get a smoke. A few moments later, a large, I mean HUGE bumble bee flew from their table and landed in Stan's hair. Stan, thinking it was a wasp, freaked out and started flapping his hands at his hair, jumping up and down. The bee landed on the floor. One of the Mexican men got up and grabbed it. Evidentally it was his pet bee. Or something. "Aren't you afraid it would sting you?" I laughed in amazement. He just shrugged and smiled; he didn't speak English. He then went outside with his bee. I don't know if he released it or put away in his car, but I've never seen a bumble bee that big in Wisconsin. I do wonder if it was his pet? The whole event was very funny. I wish Tim was there to see it.

Please, no "I'd never eat there again" comments. It was a bee someone *brought in*, not a cockroach that was found there.

Posted by Ann on 08/31/03@12:08 PM CST ..::Link::..

Scare

I had quite the heart-stopping moment this morning. Stan couldn't get the gold van (the old one) started, so he had to take our new red one. Yesterday I was planning on doing some shopping today, but due to an extremely bad allergy attack last night which forced me to take Claritin (which makes me feel weird and freaked out so that I can't drive), that was put on hold. Since I couldn't drive today anyway, I wasn't extremely put out that Stan had to take the red van, but he was thinking that maybe he should call in sick because he hates leaving me without transportation in case there's an emergency.

After Stan left and I went back in the house, I couldn't find Lucifer Sam. I called his name and looked everywhere...he was nowhere to be found. I suddenly panicked. He must have gotten out at some point when I was helping Stan try and start the car, even though we're always extremely careful and conscientious about not letting the dogs out accidentally. And certainly, even if that happened, we would be aware of their escaping, wouldn't we? I thought that maybe he'd wandered off in the neighborhood, so I started to take off down the alley. Of all the times to have a dog go missing, and I have no transportation in case something has gone wrong!

As soon as I head out back, I see Stan coming back down the alley in the van...I guess he'd forgoitten something. I told him in a stressed out voice that I couldn't find Lucifer Sam! He just smiles and says "I put him in his carrier this morning after he was bad and pooped in the house."

I was so relieved.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, however, and things do tend to go wrong then.

Posted by Ann on 08/31/03@09:24 AM CST ..::Link::..
By Ann @ 20:55 AM CST:09:20:03 ..::Link::..