Diplomacy
It has been a glorious and eventful week, and although I find myself unaffected by a considerable portion of its content, I still find myself in a more fulfilled space, so I qualify it as a win.
Luci and D arrived in California on Saturday evening, and in order to facilitate people visiting from out of town, everyone collected at my place for a Sunday dinner and celebration. That is, everyone accept J, who was still tragically sick; I suppose my disease cleansing totems have a radius insufficient to reach him at his home. It was phenomenal reconnecting with them and seeing everyone once again. Unsurprisingly, Thai food was the cuisine of choice from D, and a delectable dinner was had at Sophia's, and without the usual agonizing wait to be seated. Then again, having dinner as early as we did on a three-day weekend probably did mitigate our run-ins with limited seating. As an aside, I'm highly entertained by what appears to be a bare chested woman in the background of the Thai iced tea picture on the wiki page. Plus, I noticed that this restaurant also has a Myspace page... that's so trendy it almost makes me want to vomit in terror.
Anyway, we returned back to my place for more wacky shenanigans and whimsical socialization. Athena and Saffron joined in on the fun, being passed around to interested parties for petting like a hirsute gnome prostitute. As both of them are woefully overdue for a nail trimming as I lack the dexterity and constitution to do myself without the fear of blood, Luci generously offered to try to trim their nails. She was successful with the first two nails on Athena, but not so much on the third, which resulted in a disturbing amount of blood. What was even more unfortunate about the experience is that Luci didn't have a towel underneath Athena, and so the blood quickly made its way to her pants. Although most people prefer Luci without pants, I still felt exceptionally guilty for the event, especially since she was so generous in offering to cut the nails. Hopefully the blood stains can be removed, but if not, I recommend taking an objectifying photo of Luci's crotch while wearing these pants and using it for the It Was Blood! album cover, which hopefully will also include a revamped Goldfish cracker song and a goth remake of Jizz In My Pants.
Fortunately, I had Monday off of work, and I had requested Tuesday offer in anticipation of recovering from the Deathguild event scheduled for Monday night. Sadly, maladies spread to virtually everyone on Monday, whether it be illness, revisiting injuries, or other obstacles, as I think only D, Lilly, and I were healthy enough to go to Deathguild that evening. As such, it was understandably canceled. Although disappointing because it meant one less experience with Luci and D while they visit, at least it meant that I could attend to some disgustingly neglected errands with relative ease. Plus, I could also indulge in more relaxation time and quality guinea pig time without any hindrances. Still, all these unrelenting illnesses are poorly timed... if anything, I'd prefer to be sick when either nothing pleasant was happening or when I would be forced to be around people to whom I would feel indifferent if they were infected. Perhaps it's because I'm slightly sadistic, but I would be tempted to lick all the doorknobs of my campus coworkers and roll around on their desks spreading the germs everywhere. Excluding Kaliri of course, as I'd be more inclined to lick her than her doorknob, though I doubt that would really decrease the likelihood for infection.
Anyway, I watched the majority of the Obama inauguration events on the internet, and while I realize the profound historical gravity of the situation, and while I find his words encouraging, I noticed that I wasn't emotionally affected at all by the entire experience. I find identity politics to be superficial and cringe-worthy at times, as I'm more inclined to appreciate someone based on what they will do rather than who they are, but even so, I'm sure his presidency will bring about far more palatable changes than the Bush administration did. This is already demonstrated by the scheduled closing of terrorist prison camps and the actual banning of torture interrogation methods. Really, I don't think it's an accumulation of layers of filthy residue from the last eight years of a substandard executive branch, but rather the fact that I'm an extremely rational person not easily drawn into the emotional upheaval of things. It was at this time that my appreciation for Data increased even more; however, if I ever created a daughter, I'd give her much better hair. Lal's hair really was unforgivable -- I'd self-destruct too after seeing myself in the mirror. Furthermore, Tasha Yar isn't really my type, not that I necessarily have a type, but I digress.
Otherwise, events have been pleasant. I'm certainly looking forward to the fancy feast Potluck Friday, which, despite its name, should not contain any upper-class cat food. Interestingly, word of the research project made its way to a church group in Sacramento somewhere, and as such, I was contacted by the church group to ask if they would be permitted to put some pamphlets in the office promoting their church and salvation from the evils of carnal embrace. As they were more interested in proselytizing than engaging in a dialogue, it took me at least twenty minutes to explain that doing so would not only create a hostile or judgmental environment for prospective research subjects, but the aim of the research project is to acquire information about the effects of their work rather than to change their behaviors. Becoming increasingly detached from the conversation as it prolonged, I told the church group, that placing fundamentalist anti-sex propaganda in a location with a heavy population of sex workers would be like having a steak house in Thunder Bluff. I figured that I might as well entertain myself, as my diplomatic methods weren't effective. Well, on that note, I think I'll end this entry.
Luci and D arrived in California on Saturday evening, and in order to facilitate people visiting from out of town, everyone collected at my place for a Sunday dinner and celebration. That is, everyone accept J, who was still tragically sick; I suppose my disease cleansing totems have a radius insufficient to reach him at his home. It was phenomenal reconnecting with them and seeing everyone once again. Unsurprisingly, Thai food was the cuisine of choice from D, and a delectable dinner was had at Sophia's, and without the usual agonizing wait to be seated. Then again, having dinner as early as we did on a three-day weekend probably did mitigate our run-ins with limited seating. As an aside, I'm highly entertained by what appears to be a bare chested woman in the background of the Thai iced tea picture on the wiki page. Plus, I noticed that this restaurant also has a Myspace page... that's so trendy it almost makes me want to vomit in terror.
Anyway, we returned back to my place for more wacky shenanigans and whimsical socialization. Athena and Saffron joined in on the fun, being passed around to interested parties for petting like a hirsute gnome prostitute. As both of them are woefully overdue for a nail trimming as I lack the dexterity and constitution to do myself without the fear of blood, Luci generously offered to try to trim their nails. She was successful with the first two nails on Athena, but not so much on the third, which resulted in a disturbing amount of blood. What was even more unfortunate about the experience is that Luci didn't have a towel underneath Athena, and so the blood quickly made its way to her pants. Although most people prefer Luci without pants, I still felt exceptionally guilty for the event, especially since she was so generous in offering to cut the nails. Hopefully the blood stains can be removed, but if not, I recommend taking an objectifying photo of Luci's crotch while wearing these pants and using it for the It Was Blood! album cover, which hopefully will also include a revamped Goldfish cracker song and a goth remake of Jizz In My Pants.
Fortunately, I had Monday off of work, and I had requested Tuesday offer in anticipation of recovering from the Deathguild event scheduled for Monday night. Sadly, maladies spread to virtually everyone on Monday, whether it be illness, revisiting injuries, or other obstacles, as I think only D, Lilly, and I were healthy enough to go to Deathguild that evening. As such, it was understandably canceled. Although disappointing because it meant one less experience with Luci and D while they visit, at least it meant that I could attend to some disgustingly neglected errands with relative ease. Plus, I could also indulge in more relaxation time and quality guinea pig time without any hindrances. Still, all these unrelenting illnesses are poorly timed... if anything, I'd prefer to be sick when either nothing pleasant was happening or when I would be forced to be around people to whom I would feel indifferent if they were infected. Perhaps it's because I'm slightly sadistic, but I would be tempted to lick all the doorknobs of my campus coworkers and roll around on their desks spreading the germs everywhere. Excluding Kaliri of course, as I'd be more inclined to lick her than her doorknob, though I doubt that would really decrease the likelihood for infection.
Anyway, I watched the majority of the Obama inauguration events on the internet, and while I realize the profound historical gravity of the situation, and while I find his words encouraging, I noticed that I wasn't emotionally affected at all by the entire experience. I find identity politics to be superficial and cringe-worthy at times, as I'm more inclined to appreciate someone based on what they will do rather than who they are, but even so, I'm sure his presidency will bring about far more palatable changes than the Bush administration did. This is already demonstrated by the scheduled closing of terrorist prison camps and the actual banning of torture interrogation methods. Really, I don't think it's an accumulation of layers of filthy residue from the last eight years of a substandard executive branch, but rather the fact that I'm an extremely rational person not easily drawn into the emotional upheaval of things. It was at this time that my appreciation for Data increased even more; however, if I ever created a daughter, I'd give her much better hair. Lal's hair really was unforgivable -- I'd self-destruct too after seeing myself in the mirror. Furthermore, Tasha Yar isn't really my type, not that I necessarily have a type, but I digress.
Otherwise, events have been pleasant. I'm certainly looking forward to the fancy feast Potluck Friday, which, despite its name, should not contain any upper-class cat food. Interestingly, word of the research project made its way to a church group in Sacramento somewhere, and as such, I was contacted by the church group to ask if they would be permitted to put some pamphlets in the office promoting their church and salvation from the evils of carnal embrace. As they were more interested in proselytizing than engaging in a dialogue, it took me at least twenty minutes to explain that doing so would not only create a hostile or judgmental environment for prospective research subjects, but the aim of the research project is to acquire information about the effects of their work rather than to change their behaviors. Becoming increasingly detached from the conversation as it prolonged, I told the church group, that placing fundamentalist anti-sex propaganda in a location with a heavy population of sex workers would be like having a steak house in Thunder Bluff. I figured that I might as well entertain myself, as my diplomatic methods weren't effective. Well, on that note, I think I'll end this entry.