THIS! Christine

So I read, 'The Da Vinci Code' last week and spent most of today watching National Geographic channel exploring all kinds of grail myths, and supposed Bible cover ups.

Sadly the book doesn't live up to its hype. Under other circumstances (ie no hype) I think I would have loved it. Perhaps that's the way new comers to JK Rowlins feel, that, 'what's with all the big whoop?' sentiment. But I was lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of that elevator. I appreciated the scope of the imaginary world she created, and delighted in reading it to the Spawn. Now however, I hesitate to even mention my liking for the books because there is such a literary backlash surrounding her [the books] success.

Back to the Da Vinci Code. The ancient 'secret' really appealed to my anti-catholic church sentiments, and the oppression of my feminine self. (well females in general, but it IS all about me.) Then there was the whole, modern day, cloak and dagger aspect of it. Two poor schmos on the run, not knowing who they can trust. The well crafted scenario that the very people one would normally turn to for help, people in power, with the knowledge to help, being the very place they can't turn, even suspects themselves.

Juicy stuff.

But there was all that hype and, well, I expected more. I'm not sure what exactly. More of an attack against the church. More finger pointing at the church in the present day murder. Just more to justify all the outrage surrounding the story. Unless of course the outrage is to do with the fictional secret, (no I don't believe it.)

My advice? If you like well crafted conspiracy mysteries, wait five years, I'm sure you'll really enjoy it then, when all the hoopla is but a dim memory.

As for the shows I watched, well some had merit, some were simply lurid sensationalism. Okay, I'm predisposed to look upon the teachings of Christianity with a very jaundiced eye. I was blessed with a questioning mind, and as a child questioned everything that didn't 'make sense', which is basically the whole Bible LOL. Sadly, for my immortal soul, the answers given by mostly ill prepared and condescending adults were unsatisfactory. And so they lost me, as, over the years, I supplied my own answers. So watching programs about the gnosis writings, disregarded gospels, and investigations on the truth of the da vinci code secret, really leant credence to all my deep rooted mistrust of everything 'churchified'. And church representatives do nothing to further their arguments--their rightness (at least not to me). When will they learn to just shut up. Don't they understand yet that their denials have less credibility than the CIAs? And like the CIA have in fact become big flaming admissions.

So that's how I spent my weekend, what did you do?

X

Do the Ipod Shuffle

I stole this from Mel, who stole from Shannon etc, but dang it's fun and ironic and at times weirdly apropos

Put your iTunes/iPod on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. Next question, next song. NO CHEATING.


1. How does the world see you? You're In My Heart by Rod Stewart (I kid you not!)

2. Will I have a happy life? I'd Rather Be In Love by Michelle Branch (Apparently we can't have both.)

3. What do my friends think of me? An Innocent Man by Billy Joel (No, really? I think my friends are smoking the happy weed again)

4. Do people secretly lust after me? Runaway by Del Shannon (Them? Me? what? This is very ambiguous.)

5. How can I make myself happy? Full Force Gale by Van Morrison (er, I have nothing to say to this.)

6. What should I do with my life? Foolish Games by Jewel (AAAHAHAHAHAAAAA Because what I'm doing now makes so much sense... oh that was a lung loser, that one.)

7. Will I ever have children? Alison by Elvis Costello (perhaps there's a sex change op in our future???)

8. What is some good advice for me? Wild Horses by Rolling Stones (In a full force gale perhaps?)

9. How will I be remembered? Oh My by Big Wreck (AAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA again! The only way this could be funnier... Big Wreck by Oh My.)

10. What’s my signature dancing song? Haunted by Evanescence (No.)

11. What’s my current theme song? X & Y Coldplay (Again, no.)

12. What do others think is my current theme song? But Not For Me by Rod Stewart (Me either.)

13. What shall they play at my funeral? Mystify by INXS (ROFLMAO.)

14. What type of men do I like? Embraceable You by Rod Stewart (Aww, that's sweet.)

15. How’s my love life? Dazed and Confused by Led Zeppelin (This week, you bet.)

Who else wants to play? Leave a note in comments, I'd love to read them.

X

Lyn is responsible for this inspirational post.

20 years ago:
1986, Ah... I was young and thin. I may even have been wrinkle free. Does it matter what else happened? Oh all right... I was planning my wedding around that time. We would be married the following June. I didn't plan much as I recall. It was going to be a quasi elopement without actually leaving town, an outside civil ceremony with no bells or whistles, no guests except witnesses--much to the chagrin of DHM's family... friends arranged things slightly differently (as our friends are wont to do). Good times, good times.

10 years ago:
1996, This one reawakened a few dormant brain cells. DHM and I were touring around California after the big NCTA conference. We drove up from LA along the coast road. Stopped in San Luis Obisbo(sp?). DHM lived there for a while, long before he met me, But I think it was a good time in his life as he speaks often of his exploits there. It was a rediscovery trip on may levels as I remember. We'd left the Spawn with his grandma, and DHM and I got to act like we were a couple again instead of Mummy, and Daddy. It was my first trip to San Fransisco. DHM was eager to show me all the sights, but I much preferred Sausalito.

Things went all to hell when we got back, but that trip was a success.

5 years ago:
April 2001, would have been about the time I began writing. It was still pretty much a lark, a determination to see if I could be in the 1% who actually finished a book. Well I did, and I'm still writing, and it doesn't seem so damn funny anymore.. so you. the person who dared me in the first place, thank you very bloody much for beginning an obsession that won't let me go.

1 year ago:
April 2005, Homeschooling was in full swing. Raised the Spawn's reading level by two grades. Trying to figure out a strategy for more independent study on his part. (still working on that btw)

1 Month ago:
er.. let's see, that would be March 26th, pretty sure I was doing what I usually do. Might have had guests, might not. Who can remember?

Yesterday:
See previous post.

Wow, it's been a week already.

I've been wandering around the house rather at loose ends wondering what to do with myself, and always with the vague feeling that I'm not doing something I SHOULD! and I just realised today that I don't have any guests at the moment, nor any expected. My time has been my own and I had no idea what to do with it. Seriously, I've been reduced to doing housework (Horrors!)

That said, it has taken the Spawn and I a while to get back to pre-vacation hours, so my day's have been going to hell from the time I wake up; lessons spill over into the afternoon, and then I'm pretty much going flat out until supper time. Then there's friends popping over randomly (cause they missed me... aw shucks), not every night, but often enough that solid me time has been unattainable... and, well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Then there's DHM, who seems to be under the impression I'm superwoman (or simply that I'm not busy enough), and every lunch hour comes home and heaps a few more things on my list of things to do. Now I rarely criticise him, he's a keeper for sure. But today he would have looked lovely wearing my cast iron pan as a head adornment. Suggestions for today included, (and please keep in mind we had yet to finish lessons), that I print out and take care of the insurance forms and send them out to our agent, get the deck shoveled of snow, (so he could take care of the leaky roof, before it begins to leak in earnest), pop on down to the office and help the payroll clerk with the new payroll software, oh yeah, and if I could, get the rest of the screws and nails out of the exposed beams/studs in the spare bedroom so we can put up the new walls. Some how I was to manage all this between 1-5, have the house tidy, and supper ready by 6 (these last two are not his dictates but my own)... now I'm good, at times, dare I say, exceptional. But even I can't manage all that in 4 hours. Sigh, I managed one of his little tasks, and all of mine.

Some good news on the writing front however, I have been writing. I wrote while I was on vacation, and even since I got back. I'm using a note book for most of this story. Because the beginning is hugely narrative/descriptive world building, the scenes don't flow as I'm used to and I pause often to mull things over. I find the notebook allows my eyes the freedom to ignore crap that's staring right at me, unlike the computer screen (if you could see my appalling hand writing you'd understand, I could have been a doctor with my scrawl (Sorry, Doug.)). The challenge now is to transcribe everything while it's still fresh; before I forget what I was trying to convey, and I can no longer decipher my squiggly scratchings.

And i think I've run out of things to say, and the DHM is wanting sex.

Cinderella, Cinderella...

X

Yes, I'm back.

Lots to tell about the trip, many fun adventures. So where to start? Our journey began with a lengthy delay at the airport caused by bad weather in the midwest US (a portent?). Instead of leaving at 2pm we left at 6pm missing our connection in Denver (by 10 lousy minutes and a lung losing dash through the airport)... overnight in Denver. Depart at some unnatural hour and arrive in Las Vegas shortly after 8am--too early to check into any civilized hotel. Fortunately, we weren't booked into a civilized hotel (sidenote: Don't wait until the last minute to book a hotel room for a mega sized conference, you WILL be disappointed). Ah, Somerset House Motel... if you go to hotel websites and travel advisory sites, the phrase, 'affordable and clean' are repeated often. Affordable, yes. Clean? Well the sheets and towels were changed daily, but this place was clean like my house is tidy. Under normal circumstances we wouldn't even have considered this place, but as I already stated, late booking and proximity to the convention centre made this motel appealing. But not for long.

Now this was an impromptu trip, DHM included the spawn and I in part because he'd been travelling so much and in part because we haven't been away together as a family since 2000. The thought was, we could soak up some sun, play in a pool, and at night see the sights together... the best laid plans. The pool at Somerset House was out of service, and any other amenities this motel offered were mean at best, so the spawn and I wandered the streets of Las Vegas by day, and were generally foot sore and very tired by night, not a great start to our 'vacation'. But on a positive note, there is so much to see and do in Vegas, there was no way we could cram it all in.

On the Wednesday, (the day the conference was scheduled to start) I phoned around to some other hotels hoping for last minute cancellations. I scored at the Hilton, but they wouldn't have a room until Thursday, still it was looking up. The spawn and I finally got two days beside a pool, and really, it wasn't nearly long enough, but another positive note, I didn't get burned to a crisp.

On Saturday we rented a car (a red sporty convertable) perfect for touring around the Mohave desert (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Actually this was the really fun part of our trip. We love driving around, getting off the highways and visiting little out of the way places. Our destination was Palm Springs, but we weren't leaving there until Monday, so we had lots of time to putz around. The last time we were in Vegas, we travelled north, up through Utah, then down into Arizona, and back to Vegas... this time we went South. The terrain was different, starker, not as impressive or imposing as going north, but gosh I liked it. The heat, the expanse, it reminded me a lot of where I grew up (South Australia). We drove into Palm Springs around 6pm on Sunday evening and returned to Canada without incident. Okay DHM changed his schedule and went on to whitehorse instead of accomanying us to Edmonton, so a small incident.

Edmonton. LOL, What day was it, the 9th? I intended to spend a few days shopping and return home no later than Friday, which is what I told everyone. But geez, the sun was shining so brightly, the temperature was primed for spring, I'd just spent a week in lovely, lovely dry heat. I knew I'd be returning to 2 more months of winter yet, soooo...

Friday morning I was up. We were packed. The spawn was loading the luggage into the car. My sister-in-law was helping and waiting in the garage while I smoked a last cigarette before we hit the road for the airport when my mother-in-law had a bright idea to tease my SIL/travel agent (yes she's also a very talented travel agent, Somerset house notwithstanding). MIL went into the garage and asked if she could change my tickets because I didn't want to leave just yet. Keep in mind we're 2 hours from flight time. SIL comes rushing out to confirm if this is what I really want to do. Friends, it's 7am. I'm still sucking back my first coffee and my eyes are barely open, of course I said, 'sure.'

So she rushed in to change my tickets again, and I spent a lovely, sunny weekend in Edmonton.

And that was my trip.

X

I'm out of town for a week, I'm not sure if I'll have inet access at my destination. (Vegas)
but a week by a pool while DHM goes conferencing wasn't to be passed up.

Catch ya later, dudes, and hopefully I'll get a bit of sun. My, Tide-ultra-bright-white skin needs some colour.

X