Sleepless in NYC

Too much grape soda yesterday while watching the MST of “Wild Riders” with M. Couldn’t sleep until 5am what with the sugar high. But, O, I love grape soda.

But going jogging on Saturday helped a little. I’m not quite as fat as I was on Thursday. Ran to the train station today as it wasn’t too hot. Need a haircut. Can’t afford one, really. Can I cut my own hair?

Conversations from ago

I remember Laura saying that soy sauce was Asian for “ketchup.”

It’s amazing how school politics can get so lots of people you kind of like actually hate each other. Why does it give some girls so much glee when a guy doesn’t like another girl?

Hmm. I would like very much to buy a new shirt or two for summer, but can’t really afford it. Need a new job that pays better. Sadly, I lack any actual skills.

too much caffeine, and still I want to sleep

Watched “‘Salem’s Lot” (the remake) 2.5 times yesterday night, as I was too dizzy and ill to get up or even change the channel with the remote for most of the early evening. Rob Lowe plays a Pultizer-prize winning author, but I noted that he has trouble pronouncing “irrevocable.” It’s very hard believing him as a smart person, even though I have seen him on “The West Wing.” The poor man’s features are just too delicate.

Finished reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I actually liked it better than Wicked. No “magic,” but interesting perceptions about history and folklore and economics. Kind of serious. Kind of wistful.

Today, I don’t feel like taking 2 martial arts classes and then running 3 miles on a treadmill. And yet I know that’s what has to happen.

I don’t know if I want to teach TaeKwon-Do to children. I resent being put on the kids-teaching schedule, even though of course I have an obligation to do what I’m told and to train as hard as I possibly can to change my fundamental nature. To pray for a cleaner heart and a better personality as fervently as I pray to be thinner and prettier. Too bad I’m an atheist. The only way out now would be, possibly, to move to California, or else kill myself.

Or the ghost of a witch…

Salem…

Hallucinogenic fungus – ergot – Claviceps purpurea – in rye grain? (Ergot is the precursor to LSD.)

Prior to development of the sclerotia bodies, the fungus develops a stage in the open floret called “honey dew.” The “honey dew” consists of sticky, yellowish, sugary excretion of the fungus which form droplets on the infected flower parts.

“Honeysuckle/She’s full of poison/She obliterated everything she kissed” – Hole, “Celebrity Skin”

Convulsive ergotism :”A convulsive disorder characterized by violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin” (Source: pbs.org)

Victims were sometimes hanged, or burned at the stake.

Gangrenous ergotism: In extreme cases, victims would feel unbearable burning sensations in the limbs, the limbs would then become gangrenous and the affected tissue would slough.

They call the affliction Holy Fire, Hell’s Fire, or Saint Anthony’s Fire.

Saint Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of (among other things) lost articles, amputees, and pregnant women. (Source: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/)

Midwives used ergot to increase the speed and intensity of muscle contractions during prolonged labor.

Hallucinogenic drugs on broom handle applied vaginally may have induced sensations of weightlessness or flying.

Dulcinea and her ponies.

“Did you bring your broomstick with you?”

Epilepsy causes beatific visions, seizures giving rise to auras (sights, sounds, and smells) along with the convulsing of the limbs. Suspected epileptics include St. Paul (formerly Saul) and Vincent Van Gogh.

Saint Paul the Apostle is the patron saint of (among other things) authors, hailstorms, and tent makers (he was one). He is against snakes and for Las Vegas, Nevada. (Source: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/)

Religious ecstasy and demonic possession reveal themselves through similar mechanisms.

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

Remember this

Camping, and a ghost story. Squeak.

I am a scientist, or used to be, so I don’t believe in ghosts. Neither does Jin. Kevin is not so sure, because he wants his life to be interesting. He should know the old Chinese curse about that.

Remember how in “Nightmare on Elm Street 3,” Sr. Mary Helena/Freddy’s mother tells Dr. Gordon that his choice of science as a faith is “sad” and may be the cause of his death? I felt like she was talking to me. Not good.

I’m scared that NYC will be blown off the face of the Earth sometime during the Replublican National convention. I know security will be tighter than ever, and no doubt that LA is a more deserving target, but still…

I don’t want to die. There is nothing to do about this but live my life. I won’t have too many regrets.

Let me laugh about this in September.

yawn

Turnips make me sleepy too. Might as well just order cheeseburgers, really…

Monkey see…

Well, I finally finished writing the story about the monkey, vegetarian ninja, and some guy named Kevin. Also, someone very like Vassar’s Fuzzy Dan makes a cameo appearance. Hmm… I wonder where Fuzzy Dan is now? Wandering the road less taken with nothing but a walkman and a dream?

It’s the most cheerful thing I’ve ever written. Nobody dies, even though plenty of lethal weapons are thrown about. It’s… you know. For kids.

Monkey see…

Well, I finally finished writing the story about the monkey, vegetarian ninja, and some guy named Kevin. Also, someone very like Vassar’s Fuzzy Dan makes a cameo appearance. Hmm… I wonder where Fuzzy Dan is now? Wandering the road less taken with nothing but a walkman and a dream?

It’s the most cheerful thing I’ve ever written. Nobody dies, even though plenty of lethal weapons are thrown about. It’s… you know. For kids.

It’s sweet

isn’t it, when you’re in a bar and someone you know calls a mutual acquaintance an “empty-headed airhead,” when you’re quite sure the person in question would say the same thing about her.

Diet, shmiet

Wow, I so want a brownie right now. Or a piece of chocolate cake.

I’ve incorporated the 2nd character’s POV into the monkey story, which I am tentatively titling “Tea and Monkeys.” This will eventually be changed, as there is no actual tea. I might also add the POV of Steve the Ninja, but the jury’s still out on that one.

Must remember to chamber the knee before I kick. Basics, basics, basics.