October 2007
Monthly Archive
i’ve just discovered a blog called damn interesting. i’m completely in love!
just now i’ve been reading a report on some mysterious event which the us gov’t really wanted to believe was not a nuclear explosion (back in 1979). the best line so far:
The panel declined to address the Aricebo and SOSUS observations, executing a nimble leap of logic whose subtlety and elegance was second only to sticking one’s fingers in one’s ears and going “la la la la.”
as if you don’t all have enough reading to do already, i know, but i highly recommend spending some time there.
last thursday at the end of the work day my dad called. i could tell from his voice right away that something was wrong.
dad: did your mom tell you uncle dick was going into the hospital?
me: yes. some test something about his heart, right? is he ok?
dad: your uncle dick died today.
i was shocked. it was just a test. he had a heart flutter or murmur or something and they took him in to check stuff out. when they looked at his chest, they found a cloudy area in his lungs.
it was when they were taking a closer look at the lungs that things took a turn. he wasn’t very stable on the table, though it was a commonly performed procedure. when it was over they took him to an ICU sort of room and gave him an assisted breathing mask (the sort that push air into your lungs as you inhale). his oldest son was there when the doctor told the family they would have to make a decision.
it was certainly lung cancer. if they intubated, it would be the first step in several months of uncomfortablness before he died. his son said uncle dick had talked with him about it several dozen times and he didn’t want to that. they let him go.
uncle dick was my grandma rose’s closest brother. mom and i both felt he was the last link to that generation. we lost AJ in dec of 2005, grandpa in april of 06, grandma in late june of 06, and now uncle dick.
i didn’t go to ohio for this funeral. there wasn’t really the time. i had things to do when grandma and grandpa died. things to sort through. but with uncle dick, that will all be left to his children, plus aunt gloria and laddy are still living in the house. things don’t need to be sorted through the same way as with mom’s parents.
i was pretty grumpy all weekend. any little request to do anything, any little thing that didn’t go as planned, and i was irritated. i tried to acknowledge what i would have done normally, and go ahead and do that instead of telling everyone how i didn’t want to do anything for anyone. i remember feeling this way when grandma rose died, too. i guess it’s just part of my experience of grief.
uncle dick was a navy guy. he was happy almost all the time. and italian. there’s not another way to describe it for me. he and aunt gloria took a vacation to hawaii something like 20 years ago now, he never stopped talking about it. he loved his wife gloria, his brother in law laddie and his sister (my grandma) and her children and hated his mother (grandma great) and his aunt (aj). uncle dick had a huge heart.
i’ll miss him. he’s buried near grandma rose, grandfeathers, grandma great, grandpa pete (grandpa great), and aj.
Richard T. Adante
BARBERTON — Richard T. Adante, of Barberton, Ohio, went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, October 25, 2007.
Born on January 18, 1923 in Akron, Ohio, to Lena (Johns) and Peter Adante, Richard went on to graduate from Akron St. Vincent High School in 1941. Richard then went on to proudly serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Atlantic Theater and with Halsey’s Third Fleet in the Pacific Theater; he was honorably discharged in June 1945.
Richard retired from B.F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio with 40 years of service. He and his wife, Gloria are parishioners of St. Augustine Catholic Church, Barberton, Ohio since 1976.
Preceded in death by his parents; sister, Helen, and sister, Rosemary (Adante) Werner and her husband; and dear brother-in-law, Robert Werner; Richard is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Gloria (Davis), married on St. Patrick’s Day 1945. He is also survived by his dedicated brother-in-law, Laddie Davis; his brother, William (Norma) Adante; sons, Richard (Maria) of Copley, David (Laura) of Massillon, and Thomas (Judy) of Twinsburg; grandchildren, Richard, Courtney, Nicole and Kristen; great-grandchildren, Natalie and Isabella. Many special nieces and a nephew, along with many friends and neighbors in the Barberton Community.
i was on the phone with hamster_grrl last night. since she lives so far away we frequently have hour to hour and a half phone conversations about once a week. we invariably are doing other things in addition to talking on the phone, cause sitting on the couch for an hour an a half isn’t our style. i’m not talking about reading a novel, but we muck about on the interweb or put away groceries; last night hamster_grrl was buying her ticket to come visit. (hoo rah!)
however, when doing something other than just talking on the phone, sometimes the phone tends to slip and the person on the other end might miss a syllable or two.
last night i heard, “he just looks so b@y area… hippy gay.”
me, “… ? did you say hippy gay?”
hamster_grrl, “what? no: could. be. gay.”
me, “hippy gay certainly makes sense here.”
- marching drum corps
- thoughtful, beautiful birthday gifts
- flo helped clean up after
- flo and ham helped set up, clean the place, and make the food
- the plumbing is not stopped up
- yummy kisses
- fondue!
- champagne!
- great conversations
- snorgling mr. pants
- mid party wheelbarrow
- reading amusing post party reflections
- easy sunday morning
- sh took photos during the shindig
- surprise candles and singing
- the electricity did NOT go out in the middle of the party… *blush*
- dancy dancy
- free bluegrass in the park
- warm days
- good book
- matcha chai
- soft warm green sheets
- yummy sidecar
- spins on the dance floor
- catching up with friends, however brief
- hugs
- kisses
- unprompted agreement
- leftover faux duck sammich
- new friend
i had a bit of insomnia last night. my sleep was all out of whack due to a wonky sleep and food schedule (loved the dancy dancy, didn’t love being paged). i lay in bed reading a bonus book when i was buying a collection of short stories that had been recommended on one of the blogs i read.
‘the perks of being a wallflower’ is written as a collection of letters from charlie to someone we don’t know, who doesn’t know charlie. i loved this format. the reader really gets a chance to see inside the character’s mind in a way i’m not used to. not only do we see what he figures out and what he’s thinking, but we see *as* he figures it out sometimes. what he discovers about himself, about his past and the way he relates to the world, about ‘participating’… the story completely sucked me in.
usually i picture high school stories as taking place in my high school, and this one was pretty easy to do since it takes place during what was my senior year. it reminded me of what it felt like back then. the airiness of being in high school. everything felt different, somehow, than it feels now.
and as i lay in bed considering that feeling of high school i also felt the nagging guilt of not having cleaned the house in a long time. and it seemed strange, but i began to wonder if there was a connection there. the empty (even though that’s not quite the right word), big, airy feeling of being that age. was it really just high school? was it not having real responsibilities like a mortgage or even rent? sometimes i wonder if i just didn’t believe that decisions i made then, day to day what class to take and who to date sort of decision, could make a lasting impact on my life.
but when i think of it more, the big airiness of it all seems to center around my house. sure, we lived literally on the edge of the neighbourhood so that all i saw from my window were empty fields. really empty fields cut through with alleys and streets. ‘they’ had prepared the lots for housing already so it was mostly all dirt until you got to the next town north. i could see the next town from my window, and the border was marked by a row of trees along a street where my now current, then future boyfriend would race cars on the weekends. but i’ll keep the story of falling asleep to the sound of his squealing tires for another day.
i started to wonder if it wasn’t the big, empty, airiness of my parent’s house that helped set the tone for my high school years. our house had high ceilings, 24 ft ceilings in some places, and rooms we almost never used, sofas no one ever sat on. it was a lot of empty. my friends didn’t always like to come to my house and it was hard to explain to my parents why we didn’t ever want to hang out there. it wasn’t comfortable. my friends called it ‘the museum’ and it reminded us of the showrooms in furniture stores where you’re afraid to touch anything.
this is not what i want for my home. i want a cozy, warm, easy, yet clean, home. i need to learn how to strike that balance. i need to remember that not all empty space feels white and intimidating. i need to clear out a bunch of stuff and feng shui more people into my living room. i want to ‘participate’ more and be less of a wallflower.
all this time i thought a lot of my social difficulties came from not being feminine enough. at least, that’s how i took it when that guy told me ‘the man’ was supposed to do whatever it was i’d been doing in the relationship, and that’s why he was uncomfortable.
now, however, it’s all been cleared up. today i received this email.
Hi [sparkle]
With the help of our system you could become the man that you have always wanted to be and your partner(s) want you to be.
all this time they just wanted me to become a man! maybe it’s time for a walkabout.
last night was my burning man camp’s decompression. since the hosts live in the hills on the peninsula, i slept in grwster’s guest room in polo alta.
i was woken up by the dulcet tones of the pager. suck. after restarting the offending application, grwster and i went for breakfast on the strip. yum yum yum.
i’ve been thinking of this week as a bit of a turning point and knowing i need to do some things to bring more fun back into my life. and you know, there was something about breakfast that made me think i was right on track with that answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything…
ever really really want something? really really?
i’m on the verge of getting something that could be super good for me.
a friend of mine recently was faced with the possibility of getting something she wanted so much she didn’t even admit it could really happen. she cried.
not that my thing is that kind of scary, but still… i’m nervous i’ll get it and i’m nervous i won’t! i’m scared and happy and excited and afraid to talk about it for about eleventy million reason.
but since today is delurk day, feel free to leave me a comment about the thing you really want and are afraid of all at the same time.
when i took the m-b test way back in high school, i was pretty much on the line between these two.
gfaw! i love this site!
look up your own description here at the REAL myers-briggs.
INTP: The Egghead
The typical INTP is a logical, abstract thinker whose intellect is ideally suited to understanding pure mathematics, linguistics, formal logic theory, and other pursuits unsuited to making a real living. The INTP can often understand even the most subtle nuances of lattice quantum chromodynamics, but cannot perform more concrete tasks such as dressing himself, operating a motor vehicle, or opening a door. An INTP may be able to tell you how to construct a nuclear reactor from a coconut and two pieces of string, but may be completely incapable of fixing a hole in a boat.
The INTP is really only suited to two careers: college professor and game show contestant. Of these career choices, only one offers the financial rewards which allows him to suport himself; for that reason, INTPs often take the other path, and become tenured academics.
RECREATION: Surprisingly, INTPs are often the hit of the party–not for their sometimes annoying habit of turning every discussion into a debate about semantics nor for their fascinating stories about Pierre de Fermat’s habit of writing things in the margins of his books, but for the fact that they often show up with their pants on backwards and that if you put a Post-It note reading “Kick Me” on an INTP’s back, he won’t notice it no matter how many people kick him. That kind of entertainment never gets old.
COMPATIBILITY: INTPs make ideal companions to INTJs, as neither of them notices they’re in a relationship.
Famous INTPs include Pierre de Fermat and almost everyone who knows what Pierre de Fermat wrote in the margins of his book.
INFP: The Idealist
The INFP is a dreamy, imaginitive, idealist, capable of finding the good in anything or anyone, even something as foul as Newark, New Jersey. INFPs are sometimes dangerous to the well-being of society as a whole, as they are prone to adopting subversive and destructive ideologies like “The world should be fair,” “People should treat one another well,” and “You know, ‘Friends’ is a really, really stupid television show.”
These irrational thought patterns may sometimes cause INFPs to run off and join the circus, the Resistance, or the Rebellion, where they tend to do well in any position requiring excellent hand-eye coordination or mastery of the Force.
COMPATIBILITY: INFPs and ISTJs generally exhibit a natural predator/prey relationship, which, though it might appear harsh and cruel from the outside, is all part of the natural cycle of life. In fact, were it not for the predation of the ISTJ, the population of INFPs would soon grow to unsustainable levels, overwhelming the ability of their ecological niche to support them.
Famous idealists include that girl in your sixth-grade homeroom who got the teacher fired for saying that girls aren’t good at math; that guy in the cubicle next to yours who got the manager fired for saying that women don’t make good employees; and Anais Nin.
