My birding camera is still giving me a lot of grief. I'll get it working only to lose power again in less than a minute. I'm more and more convinced the problem is internal, and the prospects of getting it fixed anytime soon are dim. Even so, I was able to get a few shots with it at the Arlington Reservoir today.


( +3 )

I haven't fallen down once since the rapture I experience a little over a week ago. Not once. Something was awakening. The unwinding of the Kundalini. I have noted much symbolic significance in what I have called my cane. It is more than a cane, it is my staff. I realize now that I did not need my staff because I had trouble walking, but that I had trouble walking because I needed my staff. Now I have found it and seen what it is, I do not need it to walk around, but I do need it for my journey. It was meant for me.

I have come to see my staff in the form of a serpent, the handle being the serpent head. The serpent is not an animal I would have picked out to associate myself with. The squirrel, the skunk, the Canadian goose, and the raccoon. Those have been the animals I have felt kinship with. But now I walk a new path. Not really new a new path, as I've always walked my path, it's just I realized before that I was walking.

----

Today is the first day I have been able to take my staff outside since I sealed it with polyurethane 6 days ago. I put the coating on it so that I would not have to worry about taking it outside in the elements. I was worried that snow and rain would take their toll on it, and it would not be long before it crumbled of rot.

Putting the polyurethane on proved to be more adventure than I had anticipated. More accurately: putting the polyurethane on the staff was easy, getting it off myself was difficult. I don't have any paint thinner, and not much else works as a solvent for polyurethane. I tried water and soap. I tried rum. My hands were sticky and the stick was spreading. The brushes I placed in a plastic bowl of soapy water and I hope that they are still able to be fully cleaned when I do get paint thinner. However, my hands and my arms were my more immediate concern and I lacked the correct solvent.

It then occurred to me that there was another approach to solve the problem. I needed the polyurethane would take hold of rather than something that would take hold of the polyurethane: flour. I worked the flour over my hands and arms and between my fingers letting it form a thick paste with the polyurethane. That paste I could then simply scrape off my skin. It worked, and I am now free of the stick of the polyurethane. I will, however, make sure I have paint thinner on hand if I try this again, so that I can do the clean-up the proper way.

Yesterday evening purpleglitter bought me a used computer to use beside her when I'm at her house. FrankenOz has always had a great deal of problems since it was created by combining parts from purpleglitter's dead computer and the then dead Oz. I have yet to give this one a name, but it is just withing the parameters I need to run PhotoShop and ImageReady, so I am happy.

I received an image of me with the geese by Spy Pond from invalid_userid that she took during her last visit in November. In my opinion it looks very serene and peaceful, things that seem to be lacking from my life these days. I want to capture more of that feeling again, as it would do me a world of good even if I was able to find it for only a few minutes a day. Maybe going back to a meditation regime would be a good idea.

Christmas was great. Spent the day with purpleglitter and merryperseis. We sat around our foundling tree in the morning and opened presents while drinking tea and cocoa. I got a bunch of purses purpleglitter made by hand for me. purpleglitter also got me a subscription to Scientific American, soap, and made me a recipe database. merryperseis gave candy and a pre-registration to Anime Boston and candles. From merryperseis's mom I got a small stuffed Canadian goose, which completely my collection of totem animals (my other totem animals are the raccoon, squirrel, and skunk).

For Christmas dinner, merryperseis took purpleglitter and I out to the Chai Café for Indian food. Not traditional, I know, but Indian food is fabulous for any occasion. After dinner we headed over to purpleglitter's apartment to watch Rudolph, during which I fell asleep.

All in all I had a wonderful Christmas.

Just got back from accompanying merryperseis on a job hunting mission. After gathering applications we took a leisurely stroll around Spy Pond. The geese haven't yet left for the season, though the time of their departure surely approaches. I should be tired, but I drank a Rock Star energy drink, so I'm actually quite wired. Still no sign of Jello.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Salvation Army with merryperseis and purpleglitter. I got a ton of new clothes for only $15. I didn't get as much summer stuff as I had planned, but I did get a wonderful knee-length piece of lingerie that will make a very nice summer dress.

-----

After we got back from the Salvation Army, we went and fed the geese at Spy Pond. Even the swans ate out of my hand. Only the ducks are too timid. Or too short. Or are simply afraid getting in front of the geese.

merrryperseis brought bubbles. After she was done making bubbles, she let me make them. The geese didn't quite know what to make of the bubbles. They'd inspect them as they floated by and the scurry away if they got too close.

A woman who had her toddler at the pond brought her to see the bubbles. She loved playing in the bubbles. She stayed for about ten minutes as I blew bubbles at her. It was big fun. She kept reaching his hand out trying to catch one. They always seemed to miss her hand and hit her face. She didn't seem to mind. In fact she laughed every time one hit her face.

I took much time to smell the flowers on the way back. Spy Pond is a little piece of paradise right in Arlington.

-----

After Spy Pond, we sat and talked in the livingroom fo an hour or so, then purpleglitter went home. Rosey joined merryperseis and I on a trip to the Diesel Café. The Diesel's front windows can be raised in a garage door type fashion as they were today. We sat at a table right on the edge of the sidewalk, which was very convenient, as Rosey could smoke and talk to us at the same time.

-----

Back at home, merryperseis and I spent a beautiful romantic evening together. The day would have been perfect if I didn't have a freakout in the closet after merryperseis went to bed. I woke her up and she helped me get back into a good state so I could sleep. Even with that sour note, the day was wonderful, One I wouldn't mind repeating.