merrypersies and I went to the Whole Foods in Alewife yesterday. Walking back to the Alewife T stop, we watched the rain clouds coming in. We had no idea what was in store for us.

A few drips preceded what was to come. They brought little warning. merryperseis was still unsure if it was even worth it to take out her umbrella. She decided to take it out, but it really wasn't any help.

The storm lashed out with what essentially was a wall of water. Our umbrellas snapped instantly and we were soaked. Not the kind of soaked where you run through the rain hoping to get out before you become "too wet". This was an instant soaking. We were immersed. The sheets of rain and then the hail pelted us as we ran towards the nearest building. The nearest building wasn't nearly near enough, but we ran towards it anyway.

It was very disorientating, everything moved so fast. The hail was pea-sized and we were never in any real danger, but it did get the adrenaline going. We sat under the awning of the Alewife Towers until the storm subsided a bit and sloshed our way back to Arlington.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. merryperseis came over to join purpleglitter and I in the livingroom. She had never seen our new place before and she arrived with perfect timing – just 10 minutes before dinner

I cooked portobello and artichoke stuffing, corn on the cob, baked homemade macaroni and cheese, edamame, and a pumpkin and carrot pie that turned out to be more of a pumpkin and carrot pudding — but still quite good, if I do say so myself. We all stuffed ourselves silly and had a good and mellow evening. Good company and too much food is how Thanksgiving is meant to be.

Prince Henry's test results came back yesterday, and he got a clean bill of health. He got to fly with everyone else for the first time. Sir Dubbins freaked out and had to go back to his cage, but the budgies didn't seem mind him much. None of the budgies approached him too closely, but it was evident Skye wanted to. We're not going to have Prince Henry and Sir Dubbins out at the same time until they get a little more used to the idea of each other.

I went to a equinox dinner yesterday at lady_babalon's and sophiaserpentia's. I must say that sophiaserpentia makes the most excellent apple crisps. I was happy to see that x_bluerose_x was there to. We sat around the table and discussed what we viewed as our "harvests" this year, however I'm more planning for the spring then harvesting now. Of course, there were other topics, but that was the planned topic. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had fun while I was there.

After leaving the equinox dinner, I went over to merryperseis's place, where I ate again. I knew that we would be having roasted cauliflower, so I intentionally ate sparingly at the early dinner. I brought her my serpent staff. I've known that my bird staff is what I'm meant to use at this point, and merryperseis told me she needed something that symbolized a serpent: so the transfer seemed right. I wanted to do it on the equinox for balance. There wasn't really any ceremony about the transfer, it was just done.

Haven't given much of an update lately on what I've been up to.

The weekend before last my sister, Madeline, and Christian came up to visit. I met them downtown on Saturday and my sister took me to get my first ever professional manicure. I had a lot of fun and Maddie is a joy. She is so huge, though! I'd swear she was 10 or 11 if I didn't know she was 7.

Last weekend, invalid_userid came down for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release. purpleglitter, invalid_userid waited in the long line in Harvard Square. Usually waiting in lines is boring, but with the crowd I had a great time. There were a couple profiteers who got in the front of the line and walked down it trying to sell their books for $50. I didn't see anyone buying, but I'm sure they found someone when they got near the end (which rumor had it was somewhere in Watertown). I was very excited to get merryperseis's register when I finally got my books, I had thought the odds of that rather slim.

zarthon took purpleglitter, invalid_userid and me out to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the next day. Inevitably a lot of the book was left out, but I think enough critical stuff was missing that someone who hadn't read the books probably wouldn't be able to make much sense of it.

Sunday, we all went to the Museum of Science. The exhibits there have enough range to appeal to any level of scientific knowledge. We saw a demonstration of the still very functional original Van de Graaff generator built by Robert J. Van de Graaff in 1933, but my favorite part of the Museum of Science visit was the butterfly exhibit, where a large owl butterfly landed on my shoulder and sat there for a very long time just looking at me and occasionally stretching its wings. Looking into the butterfly's eyes made me regret all the nasty rhetoric I've spouted about exotherms.

Next weekend, our new landlord is coming to visit from California. She has not seen the building in over a year. I'm excited to meet her, she sounds awesome over the phone. She's trying to rent the unit next door, so if anyone is interested in a two-bedroom in Arlington, let me know.

At the end of next month, I will be heading down to see my sister in the Washington, D.C. area. My mom will be visiting there at the same time, so it should be a great trip.

I received a response to my question post shortly after I had answered the rest of the questions.

81781.1
Ever since my journal was quoted on computerworld.com, I have been more mindful of what I write in terms of content, grammar, and accuracy. This was a major factor in my decision to create my rough draft filter.

81781.2
Yes, we are. No, I'm not.

I've introduced purpleglitter to Firefly. We've watched the first three episodes, and she loves it. I myself have yet to see the whole series, but I'd previously seen the episodes purpleglitter and I watched together.

Before, I've watched firefly with dicotomygrrl and merryperseis, and lady_babalon and sophiaserpentia. However, the viewings have been sporadic, especially since most of them are simply rewatching the series with me. purpleglitter likes to dive into a good series, marathon-style. Now that I've suckered her in, I'll probably get through the series in short order.

The internet has been out at the house_of_clocks all week. Comcast was supposed to be over today "sometime between 7am and 7pm" to fix it. However, Comcast decided the problem was with the utility box on the poll and not with our cable modem which they had earlier concluded was the problem. They didn't call. After we waited for them all day, recoiling called them a half hour before 7pm and they then told her that they had rescheduled. Now they will be coming by Monday some time between 7am and 7pm.

I'm going to talk to merryperseis (who handles the cable bill) about switching to RCN when she gets home. From what I've heard, RCN has changed a lot since I had the billing problems with them many years ago. I think it's a good time to try them again.

I've been having falling/dizzy spells/seizure/whatever the fuck it is issues again. I've had felt a bit more wobbly over the last week, but it's really spiked the last couple days. According to merryperseis, my eyes dilated at the beginning of the episode on the bus coming home from the North End on Friday. This does not surprise me, as one of the major symptoms of the episodes is muscle weakness and poor coordination which often makes eye focus difficult, so eye dilation would make sense. However, as this is only time eye dilation has been noted in conjunction with one of these episodes, and I would prefer it to be noted again to designate it as a symptom instead of as a coincidence.

Yesterday was much worse than Friday. My morning walk an with taiaselene was without incident. I was fine until the afternoon, which went horribly. An incident that while waxing and waning lasted for well over an hour. There was in addition another significant episode in the evening, though shorter and less severe than the afternoon one.

Of course, there is no way of really knowing where this is going and when the cycle will wane again. I am using a cane/staff again when I go out and will until this bares itself out. I will not let these episodes keep me from going for my walks and other outdoor activities. I refuse to let this control my life. Sure, that increases the chance that I might be sent to the emergency room by the unduly worried — but that just means I'll have an opportunity for a cathartic release of anger at whatever asshole doctor I get. Works for me.

I had a pretty good birthday yesterday. Mellow, laid back, and nice.

purpleglitter woke me up with coffee and breakfast. I heard frying and was very confused, as she usually doesn't cook. The faux sausage was very good, and it was a wonderful way to begin my birthday.

Later in the morning, I went with merryperseis to South Station, where she departed for kitsunekaboom's and spaglet's wedding (which is today, and I wish them a happy longtime together). On my way home, I ran into iamacliche in the pit talking to some guy named Bat. Me and iamacliche headed back to my place together where we listened to music and chatted. He left when my mom (myenergy) called.

zarthon took purpleglitter and me out to Grasshopper for my birthday dinner. I had never been there before. There are very few places where as a vegetarian I can order anything on the menu. The food was so impressive that even zarthon, a die-hard meat eater, left raving about it. The three of us headed back to purpleglitter's place and had Peachy Keens (peach juice & Southern Comfort).

Yesterday, while I was out with merryperseis, while walking past a group of teenagers, one of them yelled "Nice hat!". I walked quickly on as a couple more of them repeated the yell. I ducked into a local shop, and three of them followed me in. One of the girls came up to me and asked "Where did you get that hat?". I responded that I didn't know, that it was a gift. She said "Okay." and left. As she went out the door, I heard someone from the group yell to her "Did you find out where they got the hat?". It was then that I realized they really liked the hat and simply wanted to know where I had gotten it.

I'm still in the mode where I assume shouts from random groups people mean they are trying to harass me, as that used to be the case more often than not. Groups of teenagers especially freak me out, as they were often (though not always) perpetrators of the harassment.

I'm not used to passing on the street, and I feel strange not being a regular target. It's almost eerie when I think about it. I like it, I just wonder how long it will take to get used to it and put my guard down a little.

merryperseis and I got a significant amount of cleaning done in my room. Still a lot to do, but the cleaning has began. Hopefully I can keep up the room-cleaning momentum merryperseis has helped create.

Project Schedule didn't happen today. merryperseis and I did accomplished much cleaning of the downstairs today and yesterday. While that wasn't part of Project Schedule, I do not feel completely unaccomplished. I will see if tomorrow I can actually complete a proper day of Project Schedule, it seems like forever since I've actually done that.

Upon leaving purpleglitter's apartment, I noticed another interesting set of tracks at the bottom of the step. Bunny tracks! I haven't seen a bunny in Arlington as long as I have lived here. I always figured there was too little open area available for them to move in. I guess there is at least one bunny living in our little section of Arlington (not counting merryperseis, of course).

When I arrived home from the asylum, I found a letter stating that I had yet another overdraft charge. I seem to be utterly incapable of keeping track of my balance and the $25 fees add up. I decided that I should just cash my SSDI check instead of depositing it and handle things in cash. I headed out to Arlington center, and only fell once on my way there and was able to get up quickly. I did end up sitting on a bench for 15 minutes shortly thereafter waiting to regain my coordination.

My first stop was Leader Bank. There I was told that since they are not publicly traded they are exempt from being required to cash treasury department checks for non-customers. No luck. I went on to Bank of America. There I was told as a non-customer I had to have two forms of identification for them to cash the check. I only had my licence with me. Strike two.

I decided to try my luck at Cambridge Savings Bank. I knew my account was negative there, but I hoped they would cash my with just one form of identification anyway. The teller told me the system wouldn't let her do it because my account was overdrawn. I asked by how much, and it was only $3.76. Aparently I had a little over $20 in the account when the overdraft fee hit. Seeing as the amount was so small, I told her to take the $3.76 out of the check, cash my check as a customer with one form of identification, then close my account. She did, and I'm now done with banks (except what will be my monthly trip to cash my check).

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purpleglitter drove me to my therapy appointment at 5:15. I signed in at the front desk and waited. 5:30, no therapist. The receptionist paged her. 5:45, no therapist. The receptionist paged her again, then noted that my appointment time was actually at 6:00 and not my normal time, and that's probably why my therapist wasn't responding. I had things to do, so I just left.

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purpleglitter dropped me off at the corner and went up to her house to bake merryperseis's birthday cake. I fell heading from the corner to my house, spilling my Monster. Several people asked if I was okay, but no one called anyone on me. I got back in the house and ended up lying in bed for some stupid reason and fell asleep. I drifted in and out of sleep and seizure for a couple hours, having nasty dreams that everything was getting worse and that I was being locked away forever. Finally, merryperseis came into my room and helped me out of bed. I ended up falling on the floor in the hall and sat there until I felt balanced enough to go down the stairs.

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recoiling, purpleglitter, and iamacliche were downstairs and we had quite a wonderful time celebrating the anniversary of merryperseis's birth. Towards 1:00 I started feeling very twitchy again, and couldn't really get up from the couch. All the non-residents of the house_of_clocks had left, and merryperseis had to go to purpleglitter's apartment and pick up my meds, my Metamucil cookies, and mazzycat's tuna for me. I was planning on just crashing on the couch, but did eventually make it up to my room and to sleep.

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Everyday is an adventure nowadays. Some moments I feel so elated I could fly, others I feel suicidal hopelessness, and others I'm simply on the ground. I have some very difficult moral choices to make. The kind where there is no good choice and I must find the one that is least wrong.

Another day today. Another day again. Days just seem to come one after another these days.