For my fellow hat lovers...

White House Black Market (one of my favorite places to stimulate the economy) has a lovely collection of spring and summer hats.

Click here for the goodness.

Different Kinds of Pain

Different medical conditions have different types of pain associated with them. When you have more than one pain condition (as I do) then you get more than one kind of pain. This sucks for people who are dealing with me in pain because they have to work out which kind I'm in before they can help in any way.

My joints hurt because of the weather (arthritis) pain - This is pretty self explanatory. Thankfully, aspirin or any anti-inflammatory helps with this.

My uterus hates me (endometriosis) pain - For the ladies, imagine your cramps on steroids. Like a knife to the girly bits. Not much helps with this except percocet and heat.

My entire body hurts and is slightly numb (fibromyalgia) pain - This is actually really hard to describe, but I think I worked it out. You know when you leg goes numb and you rub it? That feeling, all over. It's miserable. Nothing much to do but stay in bed, stay warm and try to walk as little as possible since that is the definition of hell. My doc and I are working on the preventative level to try to keep things under control, but it's hit and miss.

All of these can happen at lesser levels and I usually experience at least one of them a day. Unfortunately, they can also happen in concert, which is highly annoying. The fibro one is especially annoying because my brain is fully active and aware, it's just my body that refuses to do what it's told.

The good news is that after a really bad day, the next day is usually better (can't be much worse) so today is a better day. And because I slept on and off all day yesterday, I am actually feeling rested. Huzzah!

Dollhouse

Since Karina hooked me up and showed me how to make Netflix happen on my TV. It's awesome. I have since stumbled on the series Dollhouse, by Joss Whedon, the genius behind Buffy and Firefly, among others. Dollhouse, like many a fascinating series, only lasted for 2 seasons. But the entire thing is available on Instant Queue from Netflix.

The premise is that an organization, referred to as the Dollhouse, is able to wipe the mind of people so that they can then be imprinted with other personalities at the request of high price clients. These personalities can range from negotiator to assassin to girlfriend or boyfriend for hire. Between jobs, or engagements, the "dolls" are in a childlike state. It's described as being reborn each time. They live in a utopia where they are constantly catered to.

The show focused on the growing awareness of Echo (Eliza Dushku), one of the Dolls, as well as the people around her and the FBI agent trying to crack the myth of the Dollhouse.

Psychologically, it's really fascinating. I'm just about done with the first season and I like it a lot. It helps that there are several fantastic actors on the show that I like. I recommend it for anyone who either has Netflix Instant Queue or can rent it.

Spring Cleaning

I am a cleaner. I love to clean because I like the process and the finished product. In the Spring, the desire to purge also comes into play. I've gone through my books and other entertainment to ensure that I don't have repeats or anything that's no longer of interest to me. I go through my clothes every season, so that I'm not so worried out.

However, in this house, I have more than my own things. My former roommate (2 ago) has just taken the last of his things from the house, though the garage still has quite a lot. And it's made me want to clean more of it out. The problem when it's not all yours is that you can't just be rid of it. Consensus and process has to be observed.

I've moved several times as an adult, and each time I've moved I've done a very strict inventory of my things. In a year, I'll move again and I'll be moving out of the house I've been in the longest and that is the largest, so I have the most stuff I've ever had. I'm starting to prepare now. For example, most of my photos which sit in boxes are getting digitally scanned and disposed of. They're just sitting in boxes anyway, but this way they're stored and I don't need space for them. Document which I no longer need originals of are getting similar treatment. Slowly yet surely, I'm clearing out things I no longer want or need, or don't want to take into the next iteration of my life. This should make it easier to move next summer. And it fulfills my need to clean and organize.

The Sad State of Progress

In addition to spending a great deal of time at Disneyland in my childhood, my family also visited Knotts' Berry Farm. I distinctly remember one such visit when my father and I went alone (I think my sister was still very small). Specifically, we rode the Soap Box Racers more than once. Dad used the ride to demonstrate how weight distribution can influence speed when going around corners. The lesson has never left me. Also, it helped that we won every race.

Tonight, while avoiding writing a research paper, I did a little research on the current rides and status of Knotts'. Most of the history I was already familiar with, but I was heartbroken to realize that the Soap Box Racers were removed in the late 90's and replaced with yet another roller coaster that is nearly identical to several others.

So sad. Completely heartbroken. When Disney replaced the traditional submarines with a Finding Nemo ride, at least the subs are still there - you can point to them and say what they once were. But the Soap Box Racers are just gone. This is what happens when something owned by a family for decades is moved into corporate hands. All the soul has been leaked out in the name of money, which is exactly why the Knotts family didn't sell to Disney. Makes me sad to see.

However, we shall never forget that Walter Knotts invented the term boysenberry to name and market the hybrids of his friend, Boysen. Knotts and his family ran a road side berry and jam stand way back at the beginning and our modern knowledge and use of boysenberries is the result of his developing and marketing. In the summer, Knotts' Berry Farm still does boysenberry pie eating contests.

Why can't I adsorb information on Seljuq Empire as easily?

The Evening Tea

Surprise surprise, I have more Calculus to do. It never ends.

To make my evening more enjoyable while doing trigonometric integrals, I made myself a nice tea. Isn't it pretty? The teapot is my new one while the milk and sugar are from my guest set (the one I use when I have a ton of people over because it holds a ton of tea). The cup and saucer are a beautiful china set I got when I toured Canada with the All State Choir my senior year of high school - it's marked with the British Columbia Tartan. Finally, the macaroons are from my birthday - they're such high quality that they're still good months later. They're so rich I've been eating them slowly. For the record, I got them from Isaac (along with a bottle of ice wine) and they come from the Macaron Cafe in NYC. Utterly decadent.

That said, back to Calculus!

Family Ties

I have a gigantic family. Part of this is because my parents took a lot of effort to make sure that we actually knew our family, so none of it gets lost. This, plus large birthrates in my grandparents' generation, has produced a large family that spreads across the nation, though manages to miss out on the north east.

When I was young, I got to see what I call the "southern family" about once a year at the family reunion, which was centered around my great-grandfather's (Pap-Pap) birthday. Considering the distance from California to Alabama, this was quite a journey and always a treat. I had three cousins in particular who were right around my age and with whom I spent those trips. When I think of that part of my family, those are the first people I think of.

During the course of life happening, we went less and less. Pap-Pap died, as old men do, and our driving need to go to spend time with him fell off. My time got busy in high school and I didn't go all the time. My parents worked and couldn't always take the time off. Years went by.

Faceboook turned out to be a beautiful thing for my connection with my southern family and I reacquainted with those special cousins through that. The girls both have children, which I remembered my mom telling me about (she's the keeper of information in our family) but whom I'd never seen. And by lucky happenstance, one of those cousins lives in Va Beach and I've had a chance to meet her husband and beautiful little girl. The other two live in Gainesville and I'm hoping to see them when we visit. It will have been about 15 years since I last saw them.

Tonight, my cousin and her little girl in Va Beach were hit by drunk driver. Of course, I heard this from my mother. My cousins are alright - the mom came out of her car fighting mad, like any mother would. What amazed me is my own reaction. My heart stopped while I was reading mom's note until I got to the line "they're both alright". Logically, if someone had really happened, my mom would have called, so I didn't have much to fear, but there was that moment.

I've seen them twice and before that it had been nearly 15 years. I guess some family ties never fade.