Monday, January 28, 2008

Mr. Brooks- movie review


Mr. Brooks is some of the best work we've seen from Kevin Costner in a while. It's a psychological thriller, becoming one of my favorite genres, with enough unreality to make it interesting. We're going to watch it again tomorrow.
Bonus: It's set in our soon-to-be new city, Portland.
rc

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Particulars- dream journal

I went to some kind of fair with many of my family members. They promised to save me a seat in the small auditorium while I went to check something else out. When I got back, they had given my seat to Rodney Fisher. I turned around and left, and Rodney followed, offering me my seat back. I refused, instead finding a place to nap in the shade. Rodney sat nearby talking to an old man and then singing a beautiful prayer.

Later we were in the airport. We wanted to catch an earlier flight to Las Vegas than the one we had booked, and I went to all the airlines asking, but none were available for the same price. Finally we went to the boarding area to wait.

Sronnoc Esor

Friday, January 25, 2008

Friends

We ran errands today and then went to Coney Station with Ki'il for dinner. After we ate, we sat around drinking beer and smoking clove cigarettes and Swisher Sweets, listening to music and talking about everything from art to suicide.
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Good times.
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Rose

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Planning

Port Orford

~

We made a trip to Gold Beach for work last night. It's a beautiful drive, and I always enjoy getting in a twelve-hour shift.

~

We're in the planning stages of a move to the city. More to come on that, but I can't wait to have the delights of civilization at my doorstep.

~

Rose

Monday, January 21, 2008

Wonky in the Conk


Due to The Heiress's duplicitous ways and inability to compromise and Dahlia Man's complicity, it has been agreed that I will end my association with Dahlia Man, effective immediately. I can't say that I'm not sad about it, but I agree that it has to happen.
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rc

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Beautiful

Beauty and joy and laughter surround me today. Sunshine streams brilliantly over the landscape, which is already budding with the new life of a promised spring. The love of family near and far buttresses me. Today I soar on the wings of hope.

Rose

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Comfort

Grandma Comfort came to visit with me in my dreams last night. We sat at her kitchen table and talked. She couldn't have come when I needed it more. Her visits are always so tangible and credible to me. It was like a warm hug.

Rose

Friday, January 18, 2008

Giving up on Words


The pictures do a pretty good job of conveying how everything irritates me and I just want to stay in bed and cry, don't they?
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rc

Thursday, January 17, 2008

More Frustration


The Heiress, Dahlia Man's niece, is at it again. Sending me a 10-99 for what was originally supposed to be a cash only arrangement. Well, I finally told her what I should have long ago: "I'll do it for nothing. What you were paying me was laughably small anyway."
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rc

Dentist


I had my regularly scheduled, uneventful, dentist visit today. I've come to really hate the dentist, but for no good reason. Anyway it was no big deal.
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Off to work in a few hours.
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rc

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Frustration


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I foolishly accepted a one-hour home interview this week. The interview was fairly simple and straightforward. It was faxing the documents that turned into a huge frustration.
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I sent them yesterday. I got two calls today asking for corrections and re-faxing. By the time it was (hopefully) over I was ready to spit bullets.
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rc

Monday, January 14, 2008

Wave- dream journal

I was walking on the beach when the tide started to come in. It came in fast and soon there was no room to walk before the dune. I started to scramble up over the dune when a wave overtook me and knocked me down. Waves were washing over me repeatedly. I was terrified and screaming, but somehow I finally reached safety.

Mother and Father stopped to visit on their way to San Francisco to travel on the Green Tortoise. They said I could come along. I told them I would have to wait until I left Dahlia Man's at seven to leave. Later I realized that it is a ten hour drive to SF, and we could never make it by eleven if we only left at seven. I told Mother and Father and they were very disappointed.

Sronnoc Esor

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Sun


The sun finally came out today. It was a welcome change after the recent rain. This appears to be a writing slump for me. Better days will come.
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rc
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(Confidential to Robin: We'll talk soon. I miss you. Kisses to A.E.)

Friday, January 11, 2008

Relax


We watched the movie Once with Ki'il and the Scholar tonight. The music is amazingly beautiful; an excellent recommendation. It continues to rain.
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rc

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Bad Food

I've never sent food back at a restaurant before. I'm generally the kind of understanding diner who will even overlook an occasional hair. But tonight I ordered top sirloin, medium rare and got coarsely grained chuck, cooked through. It was the kind of thing I would chop up and put in a stew to simmer for hours. There was a big, mangled hole in the middle of the piece of meat. I considered eating it, but instead sent it back after one bite. The waiter was completely befuddled by my explanation of why it wasn't acceptable, but I did get half off my dinner.
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On a brighter note, I got called in to work last night and tonight, so I'm pleased.
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rc

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Happy


The blog really wasn't meant to be a running log of my psychological condition, or to give my readers the impression that I'm in danger of demonstrating manic depressive tendencies. That just seems to be what it has digressed to in the past few days. (sorry)
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Ki'il and I attended our first rock-climbing class last evening. Our continued participation is dependent on the class becoming less full than it currently is, however.
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Coming up: the new Bourne movie should arrive today via Netflix.
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jc promises a new lense will be arriving for the camera, and quite probably a remote as well. Who knows what wonders are in store?
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rc

Monday, January 07, 2008

Like the Weather

I usually like this weather, but today you could say that I feel like the weather instead: dark and rainy.
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rc

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Still Dark

After another power outage during the night, today dawned windy, dark and rainy with intermittent snow and hail. We have a fire blazing in the pellet stove, and are settled in just like we're waiting for Saint Nicholas.
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"And the cat by the fire where it's warmer and drier has the best winter home of them all."
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Rose

Friday, January 04, 2008

Windy Day

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I was driven out of the house by a brief power outage, so I rode around town looking for birds to start my 2008 list. I got this image while chasing Bonaparte's Gulls on Halfmoon Bay. Home now, and with the power back on, I'm studying my newly arrived Rosetta Stone Korean program.
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Rose

Thursday, January 03, 2008

What's the Gender of my Brain?


You are here: BBC > Science & Nature > Human Body & Mind > Brain sex
(Click the link to take the test.)
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Your personal brain score: 20% male
Average score for MEN who've taken this survey: 50% male
Average score for WOMEN who've taken this survey: 50% female
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The scale below is an indication of where you fall in the male-female brain continuum. The results are based on the angles, spot the difference, 3D shapes and words tasks. Bear in mind that your performance may be affected by many factors in addition to gender, like age and intelligence.
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PART ONE: ANGLES
This task tested your ability to identify the angle of a line by matching it with its twin. This is a spatial task, which looks at how you picture space.
Your score: 17 out of 20
Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20
Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20
What does your result suggest?
If you scored 13 - 17: You found this test neither hard nor easy. This suggests your brain has male and female traits when it comes to spatial ability.
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Spot the difference
This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position.
Your score: 57%
Average score for men: 39%
Average score for women: 46%
If you scored between 34 - 66%: You may have a balanced female-male brain.
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PART TWO: HANDS
You said your right thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together.
Right thumb on top: This suggests the left half of your brain is dominant. Many studies have tried to establish whether there is a relationship between handedness and brain dominance. Some scientists believe that if you are left brain dominant, you would be more verbal and analytical.
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PART THREE: EMOTIONS AND SYSTEMS
This task looked at whether you prefer to empathise or systemise.
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Empathising
Your empathy score is: 14 out of 20
Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20
Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20
Empathisers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathising.
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Systemising
Your systemising score is: 8 out of 20
Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20
Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20
Systemisers prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analysing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemising.
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Eyes
This task tested your ability to judge people's emotions.
Your score: 7 out of 10
Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10
Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10
If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathiser, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category.
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PART FOUR: FINGERS
We asked you to measure your ring and index fingers. Your ratios came to:
Right Hand: 1
Left Hand: 1.01

Average ratio for men: 0.982
Average ratio for women: 0.991
It's thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same. Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length. Studies have found that men and women with lots of brothers generally have more masculine finger ratios.
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PART FIVE: FACES
This task looked at how you rate the attractiveness of a series of faces.
Your choices suggest you prefer more feminine faces.
Highly masculinised male faces possess more extreme testosterone markers such as a long, broad and lower jaw, as well as more pronounced brow ridges and cheekbones. Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, (I am near ovulation now) when conception is most likely. A typical 'attractive' female face possesses features such as a shorter, narrower, lower jaw, fuller lips and larger eyes than an average face.
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PART SIX: 3D SHAPES
This task tested your ability to mentally rotate 3D shapes.
Your score: 12 out of 12
Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12
Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12
If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain. Nearly a third of men who took this test got full marks, whereas less than 10 per cent of women managed the same.
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Words
This task looked at your verbal fluency.
Your score: you associated 10 word(s) with grey and you named 8 word(s) that mean happy. (18 total)
Average score for men: 11.4 words total
Average score for women: 12.4 words total
If you produced 6 - 10 words: Most people in this range have a female-type brain. Women are said to use both sides of the brain when doing verbal tasks while men mainly use their left side. Studies have shown that girls develop vocabulary faster than boys. This difference in brain power is caused by levels of pre-natal testosterone.
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Ultimatum
This task asked you how you would divide money.
If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £25
So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average. Sex differences are small in this task. Demanding less than 60% of the pot (ie £30) is more typically female. Demanding more than 65% of the pot (ie £32.50) is more typically male. Scientists believe that people with lower testosterone levels tend to take fewer risks so they are probably more willing to keep less for themselves. Those with higher testosterone levels tend to drive a harder bargain and are less compromising.
Men's testosterone levels fluctuate over the seasons and are at their lowest levels
during the springtime. This is said to influence their bargaining power.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year


We met Ki'il for dinner this evening and she suggested we go to the dance club. It was my first time at a dance club. Their beer selection consisted of things like Budweiser and Coors, so I settled for a Corona and people-watching.
rc