Author: Allegra

Born when atmospheric carbon was 316 PPM. Settled on MST country since 1997. Parent, grandparent.

And I’m not already anxious???

“Believing that we just reached the peak of our personal evolution makes us feel good,” Dr. Quoidbach said. “The ‘I wish that I knew then what I know now’ experience might give us a sense of satisfaction and meaning, whereas realizing how transient our preferences and values are might lead us to doubt every decision and generate anxiety.”

In other words, I am going to change just as much in the next ten years as I did transitioning from my 20s to my 30s.  So will my parents.  So will everybody else I know.

I don’t really feel like my preferences and values are transient though.

Thanks a pantload, science.

Anybody reading this who’s familiar with the concept of spoons… I have one left.  When I’m at the center working on things I feel all upbeat, and when I’m home, I’m not, so I guess I’m going out today.

 

Yesterday, missionaries

crossposted from facebutt
Missionaries came to my door. They were nice, they were young, they were male, they were white.  They asked me if I was having a good New Years Day and I said yes, but if this was of the nature of a religious call, I could not entertain them. They asked why and I said because everybody in our household including the cats was atheist and I wished them a good day. Jeff snickering in the background added a soupçon of just so to the scene. I didn’t bother telling them I’m Unitarian; in that I’m outnumbered 3 to 1 by household members, unless one of my co-congregants can adduce a decent argument that Margot is Unitarian. I don’t think she reads enough, candidly.
It’s too bad most of you aren’t on facebook, the conversation we got into subsequent to this post was pretty funny.
Lois says the fastest way to make them go away is to pray with them because they are only supposed to pray with believers.  I always thought the fastest way to get rid of them was putting a lit cherry bomb in their bible and handing it back to them, but I don’t advocate violence for them hasn’t offered it to me first.  There’s always the classic answer the door naked draped in a snake routine, my personal favourite.

la musica

Music for cleaning out the hellholes of plastic containers and spare crap which seems to be a feature of modern kitchens…. Right Now Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris; Fear is Never Boring The Bears; Lotus Flower Radiohead; I might be wrong Radiohead; Renaissance Jean Luc Ponty (I ADORE THE PIANO SOLO ON THIS SONG ERM); Goodbye Porkpie Hat Jeff Beck; Birdland Weather Report; Breaking in my heart Tom Verlaine. Mission accomplished, hellholes are organized…..

very foggy

It’s a spooky foggy morning out here in east Burnaby.

Jeff’s coming home from Victoria today.  The cats sure make a lot of noise when they go up and down the stairs; I keep thinking it’s something that weighs 200 pounds, but it’s just a cat.  Not nice when you’re in the house alone.

I was in bed by nine last night and slept through the ball drop.

I called the minister to wish her a happy new year.  She was going to be ordained from our church this year but her dad’s coming to the end of his life and she’s helping her mother.  Sounds like they are doing everything right and bringing him home.

Margot really really hates firecrackers.  She was sitting next to me breathing hard and wincing every time something went off.

I suspect 2013 will be the weirdest year ever.

 

 

 

 

2012 in review

Love each other while you can. If you can’t manage that, move back far enough so that you aren’t hurting yourself or other people.

The road to failure is lack of effort on a day to day basis, so figure out how much effort is required to keep some momentum, and then you’ll have success to look forward to. Don’t let a day go by without working towards a goal.  Or a goat, if you’re dyslexic.

Honesty is the best policy with yourself; it varies in usefulness as a policy with other people.

Heroes feel terrible the next day.  After the daring rescue, the paperwork.

Irony is a lousy trade for compassion.

The first person to a location usually leaves trash.  This is just as true on the internet as it is in a national park.

Aging gracefully is one third helping others, one third suiting yourself, and one third keeping your mouth shut.

If there is a worse event than the loss of a child or grandchild, I don’t want to experience that either.  I hope anybody who suffers the loss of a child comes to terms with their grief.

My life got better when I stopped believing I had a perfect memory.  Blogging / journal keeping helped.

When I think of the millions of people who grew up without the love and support of a family like mine, I’m filled with gratitude to my parents as well as the people who didn’t have those advantages and still didn’t turn out like jerks.

Asking why there are scumbags is like asking why there are mosquitoes.  They are part of the human ecosystem.  That said, don’t leave the things that attract scumbags into your life lying around your psychic yard.

retail therapy

I was having a crappy day. Then I thought, you know….. and I called and left a message for Ian and Lucile and my former mother in law; I spoke to Lois and Terry and Jan and my mostest favorite writing partner Dave, and I left a message for my oldest friend (46 years and counting) Bonnie. Then I went out and bought hair dye (as suggested by a friend to help with the job hunt, since yes I am facing age related discrimination, thanks for asking, and thank you Garnier Hair Colour Number 60 for a) still being available and b) being on deep discount so got TWO ya!) Then I bought long beans and garlic and I’m going to make a massive stir fry for dinner. Then I bought a new laptop because screw it I’m leaving Apple and going back to Windows and Simply Accounting for two seats (re church) and some resume software and got free antivirus. Having called many friends and having had a lovely chat and having taken action instead of sitting in my house and being a mook, the sun has come out. So there.

Eric Idle has put new words to the Galaxy song

Herewith transcribed from the Beeb home site

 

Just remember you’re a tiny little person on a planet
In a universe expanding and immense
But life began evolving and resolving and dissolving
in the deep primordial oceans by the hydrothermal vents
Our earth which had its birth almost 5 billion years ago
from out of a collapsing cloud of gas
through life which is quite new and eventually led to you
in only 3.5 billion years or less
Deoxyribonucleic acid helps us replicate
and randomly mutate from day to day
we left the seas and climbed the trees
and our biology’s
continued to evolve through DNA
We’re 98.9 percent the same as chimpanzees
whose trees we left three million years ago
to wander swapping genes out of Africa which means
we’re related to everyone we know ( spoken: “o ‘ello luv!”)
Life is quite strange
Life is quite weird
Life is really quite odd
Life from a star is far more bizarre
than an old bearded bloke they call God
So gaze at the sky and start asking why
you’re even here on this ball
for though life is fraught, the odds are so short
You’re lucky to be here at all!

be careful, you!

Preventable, regrettable.

Helped Katie get a live mouse for Izzy’s dinner yesterday.  The last frozen one she fed him ‘exploded’ upon being warmed up (you thaw them in warm water, NOT the microwave, what were you thinking).

I very much enjoyed the ‘Transferrable skills’ workshop at WorkBC yesterday.

I watched “American Primetime” a documentary about four fundamental character types in contemporary tv.  Also, Gonzo, which was amazing, and Johnny Depp’s narration is choice, and the archival footage is awesome and freaky, as are the soundtrack choices.