This Weekend...

I have some fun plans for this weekend.

Tonight I'm going to go to the SUU production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." I went last week, and really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see it again.

Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm going to go to the gymnastics meet. Really looking forward to it.

I was going to go to a Superbowl party on Sunday, but that...didn't work out. Probably for the best. It will allow me to get caught up and ahead on some homework.

It's a good thing I have some fun planned, because I've been a little depressed the last two days, and this will help.

I think.

New Poem!

Others will be coming soon. I think. I just wanted to post this one real quick-like. It was a fun poem to dream up.


Gastronomic Tour

I start in Sunnydale, California where I need
to stay in at night, but
I support the local school by buying some fund-raiser chocolate, then
I'm off to Seattle, Washington where I break
my fast eating waffles in Der Waffle House.

I stop for a whiskey in Deadwood, South Dakota,

but the unruly atmosphere quickly
sends me on to Ottumwa, Iowa, where I accept
a Grape Nehi from a young man
who knows what I want, almost before I do.

Food and drink aren't allowed in
the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., but
they're hardly needed, as drinking
the history contained within sates my thirsts.

In New York, I buy a Cosmopolitan
for an attractive woman I meet.

I end up in Crabapple Cove, Maine, drinking
a martini so dry,

it blows away on the wind.

-end poem-

So, what do you think? I like it.

The Sense of Smell...

I've lost my chapstick, and that's probably a good thing. It was your normal, black label, Chapstick brand chapstick. Nothing special about it. However, every time I used this chapstick, I thought of Amanda.

Amanda was the first girl I ever kissed. After that scary, exciting night of the first kiss, whenever she wanted to kiss me, she would ask if I needed any chapstick. She would then proceed to apply said chapstick to her own lips. Then she would share that chapstick with me. It was fun.

When I purchased the chapstick that I just lost, I had no idea that it was the same brand that Amanda used. In fact, I had not thought about Amanda in quite some time, except to refer to her as "my psycho ex." And she was. But that's not the point.

Every time I applied that chapstick to my lips, I could smell Amanda. I don't use chapstick all that often, so it wasn't a constant reminder, but it was irritating all the same.

Stupid smell/memory response.

Defying Gravity, Again...

"I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone says they're so.
Some things I cannot change,
but 'til I try I'll never know."

Just re-watched a scene from an episode of Glee that aired two weeks ago. It features two voices I really enjoy listening to; Rachel, a soprano, and Kurt, a contra-tenor. They both audition for the lead in a group performance of Defying Gravity, from Wicked. As the song plays, it cuts back and forth between both performances, creating one musical number. I hope that makes sense. If not, it's not the important part, so no worries.

I don't know what it is about this song, or even this particular performance of this song, but I just started crying. The kind of crying that is deeply emotional. Cleansing. Cathartic.

Well, at least it would be, if I could figure out why it affected me so strongly this time.

I know that I tend to tether myself, trying to be more practical than dreamer. I try to find the happy mediums, the goals and dreams that I can accomplish; ones I can see the way to achieve.

But I don't think I'm having issues with being able to dream. I'm taking steps to accomplish some things I really want to accomplish. I feel like things are happening for me. I might wish sometimes that they would happen without so much effort on my part, but I don't mind making the effort, either.

So why did I get all emotional listening to Defying Gravity? I have no clue.

Beauty and the Beast...

Friday my computer contracted a virus so bad that I had to do a complete system recovery. It kind of sucked.

Now I have all the work of getting a new computer to where I like it, without actually having a new computer.

On the plus side, even though the system recovery deleted iTunes from my computer, it didn't delete my music files, so I haven't had to do any work as far as recovering my music library. That's nice. Of course, I still have to go through and redo my ratings for songs and find album artwork for many songs. That's kind of a drag. Oh well.

Money has been kind of tight recently, and I've been trying to watch what I spend it on. Of course, when money is tight, this is when Borders sends me 40% off coupons in my email. That's the one coupon I can't ignore. It's just too good a deal. On top of that, I recently earned $5 in Borders Bucks, which I would need to use by the end of the month anyway.

So I went book shopping.

I didn't really expect to find anything I really wanted. I was wrong. At the Borders at the north end of University Avenue I found the Starman omnibus. A very nice hardback collection of 17 issues of the very highly regarded Starman comic book series published by DC Comics. I've wanted to read this for a while, and with my two discounts I managed to save $25 off the cover price.

Now I know what I'm going to be spending my "extra" money on for the next while. I know there are at least 3 volumes out, and a total of six planned.

This is an absolutely beautiful work of literature. And I haven't ever used the word beautiful to describe a comic book before. I don't think I've even used it to describe any sort of book before. It's that amazing.

Normally, when I read a book, I blaze right through. I read really fast, and it annoys me sometimes. With Starman, I find myself slowing down, savoring the words written on the page. Enjoying the emotions. I haven't been moved to tears, but it wouldn't surprise me if that happened a couple times down the line.

How's that for a jump? From something I've never read to being my favorite comic book series.

I can't wait to read more.

Go Figure...

I've got some very fun activities planned for the next couple days.

I'm going to go see the Wizard of Oz in the theater tonight. Ever since I saw the ad, I've been so excited to see this movie I can hardly stand it. It's the 70th anniversary, and they've remastered the movie in high definition. So it'll be Oz like it's never been seen before.

Then, tomorrow, I'm driving to Cedar City. I'm going to talk to the school to see if I can at least get student loans so I can take the classes I need to take in order to feel qualified to apply for the Master's program I want.

Plus, I get to spend a little time with my friend Julie, and that's always fun.

So wouldn't you know it? Yesterday I get a fever. As in, I got home from work and put on sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt. And my lower back and legs were aching horribly. So last night I took a couple Aleve. They seem to have helped. I got some good sleep at least.

But I still don't feel great. Just better.

Go figure.

My Visit Home...

...was very rough on me.

My dad is suffering from dementia. We figure he has, or is developing, Alzheimer's. Hasn't been officially diagnosed, but all the indicators are there.

I went to Kanab to get my car inspected and registered, and to help my mom keep an eye on Dad. During the day, he's usually fairly normal, but once the sun goes down, he starts getting more and more agitated and upset.

You can't convince him to go to bed. Apparently, he's afraid that if he goes to sleep, he will die. At least, that's what he told my brother before. So I didn't get much sleep while I was there, as I would sit up with Dad until he went to bed, then I would lie on the floor in the room next to his, and try to sleep as much as possible. Then I would nap during the day for a couple hours.

Friday was really, really bad. He didn't get normal during the day; he was very agitated all day. He wouldn't go for a ride with one of his friends. In the evening, he said he was going to die because he wasn't breathing. I tried to explain that he WAS breathing, because he was still talking, but he just said we would see. He told my mom to give him a hug goodbye. Then he went to sleep. He woke up about an hour later.

He was up all night. He got me this morning, very agitated. I couldn't handle him, so I got my mom, who called my sister and brother-in-law. They took him to the hospital. The doctor on duty ran tests, then gave him a shot that would supposedly put him out all day, and most of the night as well. That was at 7 or 8 in the morning, but he was awake and agitated by the time I left at noon. I hated to leave Mom and Dad like that, but I wanted to go visit my brother and sister-in-law, and, to be honest, I just couldn't take it anymore.

I think he would do better if he would just sleep. His body is obviously exhausted, but his mind won't let him go to sleep. I don't know what to do.