wispfox

Via the_xtina, 6 year old sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" absolutely beautifully. I am awed. Also charmed.

She needs some voice training, though, as her breathing is sometimes in weird places.

Pretty cat & dragon prints. I saw them at Arisia's art show, but limited time and others being in the way made me unable to get close enough to them to see who made them (saw that both I wanted were already sold, though). jasra managed to find the artist for me, and I have great joy. :)

Random stars thoughts.

I now know constellations in the south better than I do in the north. Go figure. 'Course, I hardly knew them here, so it wasn't that difficult to do. :)

I need to remember to go outside and try to find orion (since that constellation is visible in both hemispheres).

The Southern Cross, if including the stars which help locate it, makes me think of a kite, not a cross. And the milky way is lovely; I don't think I've ever seen it that well (possibly - based on the Southern Cross being in it, and only visible in that hemisphere - because I can't see most of it here). Not sure I've ever seen the stars as clearly as I did ~1.5 hours away from Melbourne, but that may actually only seem to be the case because there are just _more_ stars visible there (I've heard that that is true, but don't know how accurate that actually is).

I really should brave the cold some night and star gaze. They are generally much, _much_ clearer in winter than in summer, here, IIRC (probably because the cold prevents much in the way of cloud cover, although I think there might just be better availability in winter, as well). I'm just not really entirely sure where to _go_ to see reasonable amounts (as vs. an easily countable number) of stars, at least not within a reasonable distance from where I live.

Pretty day, and it _started_ that way. So I'm wearing silk and velvet. My clothing makes my skin happy. :) (no, I have no idea why nice days make me want to wear fun clothing. Perhaps because it gives me enough energy in the morning to _care_ about my clothing? And my idea of 'nice' includes weather warm enough for my fun clothing...)

I like getting introduced to other people's music. Mostly because there's no possible way for me to sift through all music, ever. So getting stuff other people have sifted through is pleasing, especially when I have at least some reason to believe that I will probably agree with their taste in music.

I continue to be intensely pleased to have met brynndragon.

I wait, hoping for a positive reply to my rental application.

Packing, packing, packing. I'm even packing around people visiting me (usually not while they're there, but both before and after their visits). Sheesh, I'm obsessive. :)

It's difficult to have a sense of how much stuff one has, until one packs it. I'm definitely going to have to reduce my stuff quotient when I do my year of US wandering, 'cause only some will be able to go _with_ me, and storage and shipping is expensive.

I really want the futon/couch that redjo and jirikido have. It's a couch and a bed, and it's a nice, firm mattress, which I don't usually associate with futons. But it'd be silly to buy it when I'm not going to want to bring it with me. So I won't!

Two days until Mirena!

I'm liking hearing birds when I'm outside. I always miss that in winter. Seeing them is good, too, of course. But hearing them is better. :) (ok, perhaps not better than seeing birds which are obviously having major amounts of fun in flight)

My love for you is komodo dragon love, by cadhla

Does it bug anyone else when companies put 'our neighbor' in place of 'resident' on bulk mailings? I seriously doubt that you're actually my neighbor, Comcast.


I realized on the drive home that at my previous two full-time jobs, I tended to have at least one person, if not more, who I actively sought out on a regular basis for random nattering. Generally when I needed a break from my work, but sometimes just because I wanted that interaction. I don't really have that here. I have people I _could_ do that with, but I don't have anyone I feel a strong enough pull to that I actually _do_.

I was going to say that I don't have people who I ping for socialization outside of work, except that I sort of do. There are some people I knew from when I lived in Nashua, and who - now that I work with them again - I sometimes remember to ping to hang out. But, again, no one that I tend to regularly feel a desire to try to hang out with, even though I tend to immensely enjoy myself when we _do_ hang out. Not enough pull (now if only I could define that pull!).

I have to wonder how much that affects my enjoyment of the job. Except... even if, as I suspect, it has a huge impact on it, I don't think I have any way to judge that ahead of time. Indeed, at my last job, the two people who I tended to do that with (who, oddly, didn't overlap much, if at all, in terms of when they worked there) started working there _after_ I did.


Seeing birds in flight always makes me think of a well-worn memory I have of some birds whose type I cannot remember swooping around - presumably catching insects for meals - in a most playful seeming fashion. As I said then, they looked like they were teasing me and the person I was on a walk with at the time, demonstrating just how much fun it would be to be able to fly under our own power. "See?", they seem say, "It's so effortless, these loops and twists and spins we do. Sure, it's to catch our food. But it's fun, too!" There seemed to be so very much joy in their flight. It was wonderful, and this is probably part of why it's such a well-worn memory.


I like going for walks. Especially when it's pretty outside. I especially like going for walks if there's at least some amount of variety involved. This is a lot of why I really like Lowell's river walk that I used to walk regularly at my last job (and somewhat less regularly at the previous one, as I got into walking after lunch fairly late into that job). It was along the river (and sometimes - although not as part of the official walk - along canals), so there were generally lots of birds and fish to watch for, and be amused by.

The problem with taking walks where I am now is that it's boring. It's all buildings and very tall trees, too tall to see anything in. I still take them, when it's nice out, but not _nearly_ as regularly as I should, or even as I would want to. It's not a strong enough pull. And I'm much less likely to go for a walk if I have to drive somewhere to do it.

by Terry Brodsky

make yourself comfortable, wherever you are
ask for what you need and want
express your displeasure with what you don't want
not care what others think
relax
take your time
meditate
enjoy the warmth of the sun
run from danger
look for challenges
listen to your body
lick yourself clean
(lick someone else clean)
know when you need to be alone
konw when you want affection
know when you need to heal
play
sleep
purr when content
rub on someone's leg when you're happy to see them
greet a loved one with a nose kiss
stay clear of threatening people
love and be loved unconditionally
just be


[seen in roaming's journal]

Sometimes I let myself get distracted, and forget to listen to myself. This results in stress, and being tired, but sleep not being enough to resolve the problem.

Sometimes it's work, sometimes it's being really social, sometimes it's trying to do too much all at once. Sometimes it's all of them, like lately.

Then I remember to listen to myself. And I take a walk alone, just wandering, or lying in the grass looking at the sky and the fluffy clouds, or the stars. And I find my calm again.

There was a time, when I was younger, when I was almost always calm. Perhaps because I avoided people, so there were fewer external distractions. Perhaps because people did not make sense, what with always rushing around, always having things to do. Sometimes, as I knew then and often forget now, one needs to have nothing at all to do. To wander, to simply be, to remember calm. I sometimes wonder if the tradeoff of interacting with people is really worth the loss of my calm. Most of the time, I don't have to wonder, as I know it is.

I think, or hope, that work will calm down now. At least as compared to the last week or so. And I hope that my coming Saturday will continue to be free. To relax, to wander around outdoors. To just be. It's not a vacation I need, because I tend to want to _do_ stuff on vacation, or to visit people. It's time with nothing I have to do. No plans, no responsibilites. So, perhaps, a vacation even from myself.

Lately, I've felt an awful lot like I tended to feel during finals week in college. Except that, unlike college, I don't get a few weeks off afterwards. I must remember to not burn myself out. Not just with work, but with people, with doing too much stuff. With trying to get to know the many people I find interesting.

There is time. I frequently need to remind myself of this, as I get impatient when I lose my calm. But there is time. There is always time, up until the day it runs out.

Even when people's physical selves decide to remind them and those around them that they are mortal, there is still time. I _have_ to believe that, because I am too prone to rushing, and to impatience.

There is time. Remember to breathe. And to listen to yourself. And be patient. Not just with those around you, but yourself, as well.