wabisabi

we're not out of the woods just yet

So, I mentioned Mercury turning retrograde.  That happened October 12th.  Mercury turns direct tomorrow, November 1st, but it won't be until the 17th of November that Mercury reaches the point where it was when it went retrograde.  Which means we could still be feeling some of the aftershocks for the next three weeks or so (it's referred to as a "shadow period").

I know all this might seem kind of airy fairy, frooty loopy, and maybe it's just the power of suggestion, but I do find these periods of Mercury retrograde challenging on a number of fronts.  Not the least of which are the obvious things going awry -- computer snafus, snarl-ups, and whatnots.

Last week, the ISP that provides our wireless internet was down.  Today, it's the ISP that provides the email service.  Well, some of my email is still getting through -- just not my personal email address.  The ones linked to my various Domain Names, they seem to be fine.  And I can send mail from my dominant address.  I just can't receive it.  (And since the last time Mercury went retrograde, my washing machine broke, I'll happily live without email for a couple of days, to be honest.)

But since Mercury also governs thinking, perception, and communication, I often find these retrograde periods very difficult.  I haven't turned out a podcast since the 9th of October.  I was working on a bunch of different pieces, and everything has sat there.  I suddenly felt uninspired, unable to write.  I was ready to pack it all in until a friend suggested I just try to ride it out, and see if I had something to say in a couple of weeks time.  I figured it wouldn't hurt -- Mercury retrograde periods are also not the best time to take a decision.

I've also been trying to coordinate a project, and frankly, the last couple of weeks, I've felt that wrangling ferrets would be an easier occupation.  I finally pushed the deadline for everyone to the middle of November, and I'm fully expecting things to suddenly, magically come together then.

I do think, though, that my thought about revisiting old issues, such as my back problem, was bang on.  I had an assessment with the physiotherapist (and thank the stars that I had the presence of mind to get myself booked in through the local University sports medicine clinic, they are fabulous) on Monday, and she noted that there's a point on my spine where the vertebrae are jammed together and not moving.  It's exactly the point where your spine transitions from being able to twist side to side, to where it's more stable with little side-to-side movement to keep your lower back stable.

I can't twist side to side.  I've known that since I fell, since that is exactly the spot I hit on the edge of the sidewalk when I went down.  And that's where I'm feeling the pain, and that's where the problems radiate from.

The problem, thus far, has been that Nothing has shown up on any x-rays or scans.  Which it wouldn't, because nothing was broken (thank goodness).  But I was still having problems, and now I know why.  Up 'til now, I was kind of thinking that since nothing was showing up, maybe it was all in my head.  I should have trusted my own judgement before now.  But at least I'll be able to see about getting it looked after now, and for that, I'm grateful.

just one recent example of why i'm really keen on ravelry

When you are working, say, on Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and you realize that somehow you are seven rows short on the garter rib pattern, and you re-read the pattern and realize what you've done, and feel kind of stupid?

Well, that's the moment when you can search on "tangled yoke cardigan" in the Ravelry forums and discover that it's not just you.  A whole lot of other folks made the Very Same mistake.

Which means, I'm sorry to say, that although there isn't a mistake in the pattern, there's a small section that's poorly worded enough to bamboozle a whole lot of knitters.

Some of whom ripped it back.

I don't think I'd have the heart to do that, but so far I've not turned up someone who decided to fudge.

Yet.

so, mercury is retrograde.

Did you all notice?

I did.  The computer problems were just the cherry on top of the mercury retrograde pie, so to speak.

I've also decided that this period of mercury retrograde (remember, not only when stuff, particularly mechanical, goes awry, but also a period to go back and revisit issues) is behind my current spate of back problems.

No, not the cause of them -- that's squarely the fall I had in January of 2006.  But suddenly the back issues are, er, back, and with a vengeance. 

I've decided that mercury retrograde is forcing me to deal with back stuff that wasn't resolved the first time around, but it's honestly tiring and discouraging, as some of you might know from your own first-hand experiences of such things.

Fortunately, however, this has coincided nicely with The Other finally being awarded a permanent contract (or as permanent as we know these things to be these days), which, of course, means:  Benefits!

So I've started a round of visits to various health professionals to try to get my back to stop making me feel like I'm 104 years old. 

But the one thing I do know, is that I'm going to have to go back to the gym and start doing weight training again.  I used the start of all these problems, last June, as an excuse to stop it, because I found it boring.  But sometimes, in life, you just have to do stuff because you have to do stuff.  So as soon as my back stops causing me to have the bends, I'll be back to the weights.  Because all the physiotherapy in the world won't make up for neglecting my health.

Oh, yeah -- computer problem's solved, for now at least.  And one more week to go 'til mercury turns direct...

Internet Woes

Hi everyone,

This is The Other, posting for k -- we are internetless at home due a "major network problem" with our ISP (Rogers Portable Internet).  Their tech support person wasn't able to give me a timeline for getting us back on line when I called this morning, but it could be a day or two.

Until we get our connection back, k won't be posting or e-mailing -- sorry!

The Other

the iceman cometh

Ironically, Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh features a number of marginalized characters who dream about their glory days and tell themselves whatever they need to hear to just get through the day.  Pipe dreams are the order of the day -- fantastic plans or hopes or ideas that are likely impossible to achieve.

The Other and I were beginning to believe that our dream of seeing Finnish racing driver Kimi Räikkönen (AKA "The Iceman") crowned F1 champion was our own personal pipe dream.

Until yesterday, when The Iceman came through in brilliant style.

And we all were rewarded with one of the rarest of rare things -- a brilliant smile from the man himself:

To be sure, this season wouldn't have been what it was without Even More Controversy right at the end, but I think we're feeling pretty confident that things have turned out as they should, and the result will stand.

The Other has more on this over at his blog.  Needless to say, after all these years, he's pretty happy about it all.

(Gentle reminder:  comment moderation is still in place.  If you've left a comment, I will have responded to you privately.  If you are a Lewis Hamilton fan (I am not.  No doubt he has talent, but I'm not keen on his personality.) please respect my right to follow whomsoever I choose.)

public service announcement

Just in case it isn't clear when you click on the comments link:

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.

Why?

Well, because I've had some folks in recent weeks come by and feel they can take over my comments, without actually spending a lot of time reading my blog, or trying to contribute something meaningful to the discussion, or, or, or.

I don't know if this is just my week, or what it is, but I've preferred to turn comment moderation on.  And if you don't see your comment right away?

It likely means I'm in a different time zone from you and might be in bed getting some much needed sleep.  Or that I'm doing something off the internet (crazy, I know, who has a real life apart from all this?)

And quite frankly, I'm not feeling too disposed right now to spend very much time on the internet, so don't look to having anything approved anytime soon.

I'm sorry if I sound snippy, but honestly.  And I apologize to everyone else, I don't know what's in the internet air right now, but I'm quite frankly just a little tired of it all.

i was a girl, i grew up...

This is what Maria Amelia says about herself and her life, but I can assure you, even with my crappy command of Spanish, even I can see that the World's Oldest Blogger has a lot of interesting things to share with the rest of us.

I'm half her age, and I'm not nearly as spritely as Maria Amelia.  But I've discovered her blog just as I'm thinking about closing my own, and now I don't know what to think.  We need to stay informed, she says.  We need to share our stories.

I dunno.  Maybe I should wait until I'm 95 (from my keyboard to God's ear), and take it up again then.  Maybe then I'll have something more interesting to write.

(Personally, I love the bit where she says her blog was a birthday gift from her stingy grandson.  She sounds like a spitfire, Maria Amelia...)

damn, now I can't decide

Maybe I'd rather be Debbie New when I grow up:

(It's a knitted hat kaleidoscope, for those who are wondering...)

in which it is revealed that I adore Tod Maffin

If you listen to the CBC, you'll probably recognize Tod Maffin's name (Ted did when I mentioned him the other day).  Tod is a contract radio producer for the CBC, as well as being a writer and a speaker.  An excellent speaker, BTW -- I heard him at PAB in June, and if I hadn't thought it would look completely dorky, I would have gone to the impromptu session he offered up as well.  I still kind of regret that.  If you ever have the chance to hear him present, jump at it, I can assure you that you won't regret it.

I'm not really into all the technology stuff that's out there, but I'm subscribed to Tod's CBC Technology column, and I really, really enjoy it -- he presents things in a way that's interesting or amusing or thought provoking, even to a luddite like me.

I knew that Tod had struggled with depression, but, you know, it's one of those things that you know and that isn't really something that's talked about, and of course, if someone hasn't really come out of the closet (to appropriate that metaphor), you don't really open the door and grab them by the collar, do you?

However -- and now I know that Tod truly rocks -- Tod has decided to open that door on his own experience with depression, in order, as he writes in his blog, "to chip away at the stereotypes that exist in mental illness and depression".

You can listen to his interview with CBC Calgary on his site.

Damn.  I want to be Tod Maffin when I grow up.

The Existential Gardener: Tomato Angst

So.  I mentioned the tomato plant, that earlier in the summer pushed forth two lovely tomatoes, only to have one of them stolen by some garden creature (I vote for the skunks, but there we are), one broken off and left behind (I mean, really, if you're going to break it off, take it away and eat it already, okay?)

And that was it, I thought, until two more tomatoes burst forth.  They've been sitting there for a month or more, green as green can be, with no sign of them turning red any time soon.

And I figured that was it.  I figured these two would just sit on the plant and stubbornly refuse to redden -- and now that the nights are cooler and the light is dwindling, well, that's as it should be, and all is right in the natural order of things.

So, imagine my surrpise this morning when I went out to look at the plants, and discovered the tomato plant had sprouted two more tomatoes.

Seriously, it's the beginning of October.  What is it thinking?