The Woo Woo Teacup Journal

I was driving behind a maroon Dodge Caravan yesterday and noticed it had a bumper sticker.  The bumper sticker said, “Not all who wander are lost,” which I thought was an incredibly cool saying.  I wander, but I sure as heck don’t feel lost.  When I see a bumper sticker that I’m attracted to (like the Darwin fish), I sometimes have the desire to meet whoever owns the vehicle.  Do you ever feel this way?

As for putting bumper stickers on my own car, I don’t do it.  I’m not sure why.  I always say it’s because I don’t want to devalue the car, or think that if someone who disagrees with my bumper sticker slogan buys my car, they’re going to have a tough time removing the sticker.  Both of these are pretty bogus reasons for not plastering bumper stickers on my car because when I buy a car, I operate it until it’s ready for the scrap heap.

Because I complained about it months ago in my Website Architecture post, I thought I’d reanalyze Nine Inch Nails’ website. They’ve quietly been upgrading it and the look changed within the past week.

The first thing that’s obvious is that the color hasn’t changed. It’s still black, black, and black, with a hint of gray. The black has a little texture to it. I suppose I couldn’t expect the band to go all pink on me, although with Trent Reznor’s habit of overturning the status quo, I’m sure he’d be able to make pink one tough, kick-your-ass color.

I can live with the color because there have been improvements. For one, there is no official you-have-to-pay-for-it fan club, which means there’s no need to tell people what the fans get versus what everyone else gets. The home page is uncluttered and the links are easy to read. When you click on a link, you get what you expect. It also appears that when you leave the home page, most of the other pages have an obvious link back to home, so you can do that whole click your ruby slippers thing I mentioned before.

The biggest improvement to the site, as far as I’m concerned, is that there is now an easy way to read past blog posts. They won’t look like the post on the front page, but the main text of most past posts is available through NIN’s news feed. There are a variety of NIN feeds (list found here), so between the lot of them, you should be able to keep reasonably informed, even if you’re a n00b, like I was.

As for the availability of music, NIN has links within the site for the past four albums. The last three have dedicated pages. The one prior to these, “With Teeth,” can be found under Merchandise. This is a good start as far as building a discography, but it’s still a little lacking. What I’d like to see, even if the NIN website can’t hawk past albums, is a full list of all the band has produced. Yeah, I know, I can get this elsewhere on the web, but I’d really like to see it with the NIN website. To make the official NIN discography stand apart from those already available, I’d like to see Trent Reznor write some history on each album, what he was thinking when he wrote the songs, what interesting things happened during recording, what his inspiration was for particular songs, why he organized the songs the way he did on the albums, etc. etc.

All in all, the NIN website is moving in the right direction and that’s a good thing.

I’ve got nothing terribly specific to say, so I’m treating you to a rambling post.

This weekend, we cleaned a bunch of debris out of the yard, along with brush, plus recycling. My husband took one trip to the landfill by himself and I went with for the second trip. We managed to finish this task before it really started raining. By the time we stopped at Wal-Mart to do Mother’s Day shopping, it was pouring. We bought plants and chocolate for all the mothers on our list, then headed home.

I was chilled from the rain and tired from the exertion, so after lunch I tucked myself into bed with Jodi Picoult’s “Second Glance.” If you’re looking for something to read, it’s fabulous. I’m over half-way through and having trouble pulling myself out of it to do other things. It’s a ghost story. I’ve always been attracted to the paranormal, ever since elementary school. One of the first books I remember checking out of our city library was a book on ESP. Though I now consider myself an agnostic and am pretty sure most “paranormal” events can be explained rationally once we have enough information, the whole subject resonates with my core and I can’t explain that. I can ignore the paranormal for a while, but then it comes right back to me.

So, I’m loving “Second Glance.” I started listening to it as an audiobook when the library called and told me I had a book in. Turns out I had ordered it and forgotten. I picked it up anyway. I’ve discovered that it’s difficult for me to listen to an audiobook because I tend to miss things and want to go back, but don’t want to fuss with my iPod to “rewind” it. When I’ve got a book in hand, it’s easy to flip back a page or several and reread. I have also found that I read faster than I can listen to an audiobook. This is no small matter when a book grabs hold of you and demands you snarf through it as fast as you can. Gotta know what happens next! Right now! Obviously, I need more practice with audiobooks. Either that or I have to stick with short stories in audiobook form because I had a great time listening to Neil Gaiman read a collection of his short stories.

And, speaking of Neil Gaiman - he gave some great advice recently about what to do with the second draft of whatever fiction you happen to be writing. It’s at the end of this post.

Tomorrow I won’t be at work. We’ll be heading to the Twin Cities for an important meeting related to Eldest Son. The way I’ve stated it makes it sound like bad news, but it isn’t. It’s all good, but for the sake of his privacy, I’m not going to mention precisely what the meeting is about.

We recycle a lot at home, as much as we possibly can.  Thankfully, our county takes a wide selection of recyclable items - green glass, blue glass, brown glass, clear glass, cardboard - both corrugated & paperboard, newspapers, magazines, office paper & junk mail, scrap metal, used oil, cans, plastic neck bottles.

This last item bugs the bejesus out of me, not because they take plastic neck bottles, but because they ONLY take plastic neck bottles, which means I’m not supposed to put my yogurt containers in the bin because they don’t have a neck.  I sneak a few in anyway and shake my head at the silliness of this.  The plastics are the same, after all, but if it doesn’t have a neck, they’re not willing to take it.  I suppose it’s got something to do with the sorting machinery they use somewhere along the line.  The necks make the containers easier to grab.  Well, for heaven’s sake.  Why not design the process to accept all plastic containers?  Then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about throwing my non-neck plastic containers in the trash and the next producer down the line would have more material available for use.

This got me to thinking about the kinds of things that should be recycled that we currently throw in the trash.  What can we add to the list of things we already recycle?  Here are my recycling priorities:

1.  Plastic containers other than neck bottles and those with numbers 1 and 2 of plastic content

2.  Styrofoam

3.  Fabric of all kinds (clothing, scrap fabric, etc.)

4.  Disposable batteries

5.  Credit cards/gift cards

6.  CDs

7.  Twist ties

8.  Shoes

What would you add to the list?

The irises are poking up through the ground, as are the day lilies.  The violets are greening, as is the grass.  Buds are forming on the trees.  The chives are going great guns.  I planted two varieties of onions a couple of days ago.  I was going to plant them in one bed, but when I dug down, I discovered some shoots trying to make their way to the surface.  I moved to a different bed and made short work of the planting task.  All I can tell you about the onions is that one variety was in bulb form and the other was already sprouted.  (Some gardener I am!)  I bought them at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday, when it was blustery and cold.  Whoosh!  There goes Piglet!

I haven’t planted the sage and rosemary plants I bought because the weather has been so iffy, meaning it hasn’t stayed consistently warm.  Temperatures this spring in Minnesota have been running below average.  The weatherman said that this is because of La Niña.  I’m old enough to remember a time before we explained weather patterns by calling upon La Niña and its counterpart, El Niño.  When I first heard the term El Niño, during the weather report on the news of course, it was this big deal, something that was supposed to be rare and only happen every so many years.  Now we hear about the effects of one or the other constantly.  What gives?

Here’s a nice explanation of the two from NOAA.

Hubby handed in his last essay of the semester last night.  It was a bugger of an essay and Hubby was panicked about it.  The professor had asked for too much analysis within too short a time and too few pages. Every time Hubby tried to think about what to write, his thoughts froze.  When he has a troublesome paper like this, he needs to talk through it with me in order to move through the writer’s block.   We went at it for a couple of days and anyone who tries to tell you that thinking isn’t work should have borrowed our brains after this exercise.  They hurt from exhaustion.

After writing a portion of the paper, Hubby sent it to his professor, who likes to critique student essays ahead of time.  As if this isn’t the warning sign of a control freak, the few comments the prof sent back should cement the label.  Basically, the prof told Hubby that he shouldn’t EVER use the word “say,” or its derivatives, “said,” “saying,” “says.”  He indicated that Hubby was too intelligent for that.  While I agree that Hubby is incredibly intelligent, what the hell is wrong with using a perfectly serviceable word like “say”?  And why does using “say” make someone unintelligent?  Does this prof want to try and tell Stephen King that he can’t use a particular word?

This points to a larger problem caused by college professors.  Many of them demand that students write in a way that promotes a purposeful complexity, so much so that college graduates forget how to write to be understood by the masses.  Apparently professors don’t want students to communicate in plain English.  Once a student becomes indoctrinated in the use of gobs of multisyllabic words, field-related jargon, and convoluted grammatical constructions, it becomes difficult to break the habit.  I dare say that it can also cause students to lose their personal writing voices.  Some of them may never find their voices again because they’ve been told that if they use words like “say,” they won’t be considered intelligent, or some such other veiled insult.

When Hubby received this comment, he said, “Why am I going to school?  What’s the point?  I’m a blue-collar guy and I use words like “say,” but apparently that’s not good enough.”  Meanwhile, I was spitting and sputtering on his behalf.  I told him that there is no way I could return to college now.  If a prof said something like this to me, he’d get it back with both barrels.  I’d probably turn in a Dick and Jane paper out of anger.  It might look something like this:

See Dick.  Look. Look. Look.  Dick is a capitalist.  Dick has lots of money.  He is happy.  See Jane.  Look. Look. Look.  Jane does not have any money.  She is sad.  Look again.  Here is Karl Marx.  He says that Dick is part of the bourgeoisie.  (That’s a big word, boys and girls.)  Karl says that Jane is part of the proletariat.  (That’s another big word, boys and girls.)  Karl thinks that Jane should rise up against Dick and make him share his money.  Karl calls this communism.

Okay, college profs (those of you guilty of promulgating purposeful but unneeded complexity), if you don’t want a raging wife scolding you on her blog, how ’bout you get off your literary high horses and stop this brand of discouragement.

And students, don’t take to heart all the stuff your college profs say.  They don’t know everything.

[Look.  Look. Look.  It's a grain of salt.]

Hang onto your writing voice!

I’ve got my earplugs at the ready - hunter orange, no less.  Nine Inch Nails is playing at the Target Center on August 2, 2008, and I just purchased tickets online for Hubby and me.  I bought them during the pre-sale time (within minutes of the pre-sale time starting) and could choose between the lower level and the floor.  I chose the lower level.  The total for two tickets, including service fees, was $114.60.  Obviously, I made the snap decision that the tickets were a reasonable price, although I hemmed a bit.  Hubby said, “Go ahead.  Consider it a Mother’s Day gift.”  How’s that for sweet?

Nine Inch Nails is moving so fast with news I can hardly keep up.  I was assisting my Hubby with a particularly tough paper yesterday (when he’s under pressure, he can’t type as fast as his thoughts are flowing) and I missed an exciting piece of news from NIN.  At the end of the day, I checked my email and had a message from Rob at Bittersweet Being.  It was an announcement that NIN had just released ANOTHER album, this one completely free.  Trent said the following in his post:  “(thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me)”.  Wow and holy mackerel.  I downloaded it immediately, of course, and haven’t had a chance to listen to it.

The new album is called The Slip (link to NIN Blog Archive).  NIN released the song Discipline from it a few days ago.  The album title makes me think of a person giving another the slip, as in slipping away from them, and Trent Reznor has done this.  He’s given the recording industry the slip now that he’s out from under a record company contract.  We all thought Prince was crazy when he used a symbol as his name and appeared in concert with the word “Slave” written on his forehead, but Trent must have felt this way, too.  Now that he’s free, he hardly seems able to contain his creativity and he almost appears to be . . . dare I say it?  Happy.  How much of his earlier depression was related to being a kept man?

Along with news of The Slip, NIN has been announcing concert dates.  The band is due to play at the Target Center in Minneapolis on August 2.  NIN is pre-releasing tickets through its website to fans a couple of days before they go on sale to the general public.  Fans have to register (a painless process) at NIN’s website for this feature.  In order to keep ticket scalpers from getting in on this deal, registered NIN fans have to provide their full names (first and last) as seen on their legal identification and can only order two tickets.  Pre-sale tickets will be available on-call at the venue and will have each ordering fan’s name on them, which means you have to pick them up with an ID handy.  You also have to immediately enter the venue, so you can’t sell the tickets on the street.  The tickets will be worthless if you try because of the names on them.

It sounds like a well-thought process, but it leads me to The Prisoner’s Dilemma, only without the prisoner.  I’d really like to attend the NIN concert, however . . . .   After my bad experience at a Dave Matthews Band concert (can’t leave that alone, can I?) and considering my sensitive hearing, I’m trying to decide whether it will be worth it to go or if I would be better off if I used some of the money I’d pay for tickets on purchasing past NIN albums that I don’t yet own.  It’s a tough one.  I think I’ll wait to see how much tickets will cost. Tomorrow at 5 CST tickets to the Target Center concert go on sale.  If they’re outrageously priced, my decision will be made for me.  If not, I’m going to have to think fast.  In any case, I have my foam earplugs at the ready.

I cleaned the microwave today.  I’ve cleaned it many times before, but only today noticed a design detail that made me laugh.  It’s on the rotating glass plate that sits on the bottom of the microwave.  Take a look:

See the design in the middle?  Does it remind you of anything?  I thought it looked suspiciously like the symbol for radiation.  If you check Symbols.com, you’ll see that it does indeed resemble the symbol for radiation, microwave radiation specifically.  Was that the designer’s intent?  Pretty good one, huh?

I swore I was going to cut open an empty toothpaste tube in order to see what was inside.  One false move, buddy, and the toothpaste tube gets it.

Here’s the unsuspecting victim:

Here’s the weapon of choice:

This next photo is not pretty.  The evisceration:

Somebody made a false move.

It’s raining.  A cold, bone-invading rain.  Where is spring, golldarnit?!?  I feel like I’m coming down with something, a sore throat at the bare minimum.

I had an interesting day.  There was a meeting out of town that I had to attend for work.  The main topic of discussion was the Latino experience in the United States and how to gather this growing community’s history.  Three people from the Latino community were at the meeting and discussed their experiences and they were fascinating.  Based on the difficulties they’ve had, we have got to find a sensible way to deal with immigration.

In the evening, Hubby and I took Eldest Son and Young Son #2 to dinner and a Taiko drumming event at Hubby’s college.  Daughter was socializing with friends, so she was already occupied.  The Taiko drumming was hypnotic.  Not only was the repetition of sound mesmerizing, but so, too, the movements of the drummers.  I didn’t realize that they used standard maneuvers, like an outstretched arm or synchronized swaying, between beats, but I can understand how these moves keep them in time with one another.

I’d be interested in adopting Taiko drumming as a hobby (drumming + dance moves= FUN!), except for the noise level.  Mid-way through the first song, I knew I was going to be in serious trouble with my hearing if I didn’t do something to plug my ears.  My  ears started ringing almost instantly.  Thankfully I had a napkin in my pocket and I tore off a couple of pieces and shoved them into my ears.  I also covered my ears with my hands.  Together these actions prevented me from having to deal with several days worth of ear ringing.  I wonder if I’ll ever be able to attend another Dave Matthews Band concert or a first Nine Inch Nails concert.  [Sigh.]

I checked a book of short stories out of the library, primarily because it contains one of Neil Gaiman’s stories, but also because I was attracted to the cover.  The book is called “McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales” and it’s edited by Michael Chabon.  The cover is designed to look like an old-fashioned comic book and features an illustration from the cover of the October 1940 edition of Red Star Mystery Magazine.

“Closing Time” is the name of the story by Neil Gaiman that is contained within the book.  When I got part way into the story, I realized that I had read the story before, probably in one of Neil’s short story collections.  As I read it a second time, I was conscious of the fact that Neil pulls a fast one on the reader.  The story starts in first-person in one scene and then the story shifts to another scene and it’s still in the first person, only it’s a different person than the one from the beginning, which is not immediately obvious.  It’s an interesting effect and the sort of thing I like to try to pull off in my own writing.  It’s a good way to set up a surprise for the reader, but you have to use some careful slight of hand in order to manage it successfully.