Saturday, October 01, 2005

Breathing Space

Marmosets... Sneaky Little Buggers!

Finally! I have a weekend off! A glorious space of days in which I am obligated to do absolutely nothing!!

Yesterday, I had an appointment which excused me from work, and once that had been taken care of, I had a few hours in which to relax and decompress. This, my friends, was marvellous!

I went out and got some fresh air and sunshine, read, listened to music, ate some food, cuddled with my wife, and just generally relaxed.

I have been working a great deal, and just knowing that I have a couple of days off is doing wonders for my kibun (Korean word: (No english equivelant) - mood, spirit, karma, well-being, peace of mind, attitude ... I could go on and on here... but this conveys what I'm essentially trying to say).

The weather is unbelievably gorgeous! I woke up to sunshine streaming through the east facing windows... a cool early-autumn breeze was stirring the leaves and tickling the wind chimes into light strains of morning music. The birds, not wanting to be left out, naturally, added their considerable talent to the mix, and beside me was a warm, soft, snuggly female body, one cat on my legs, and the other one wrapped around the top of my head, purring his ass off!

I woke up early, around 7AM, and got up so that I could enjoy the morning, and do something that I generally am unable to do due to work constraints; Listen to the Gaelic language programming on WFUV on Saturday mornings here... of course, I ended up forgetting to ever turn the radio on, because I'm a clod, but, you can't have everything your way all the time, now, can you??

I spent the morning dicking around with my Blogger template, having fun learning what makes it tick, and changing, deleting, and adding things... (I felt like Eyore in the Winnie the Pooh story where Pooh and Piglet bring birthday gifts to Eyore at his gloomy place... Pooh brings a pot of 'Hunny', which he completely consumes during the journey, and Piglet brings a balloon, which he trips and falls on, popping it in the process. When they finally arrive at Eyore's gloomy place, they present him with an empty Hunny-pot, and a broken balloon.. but he absolutely loves them, and spends the day putting the balloon into the pot, and taking it back out again!! Eyeore, gloomy and negative as he is portrayed, apparently has a zen-sense of enjoying the small pleasures that life presents him with... He and I have this in common, I think... I missed out on my radio show, but I had a blast playing with my wee computer bits, have yet the entire day, and all day tommorrow to enjoy... I'm in heaven!!

I think I may have been blessed by a serendipitous discovery, by the way; Apparently (apparently.. and I SO hope that this is so...) the antibiotics that I am currently taking to treat the epididymitis have also done something magickal to help cure the plantar fasciitis that has been plaguing me for these past months... it is unbelievably wonderful to be able to stand in the morning without being in agony. If in fact the foot pain is gone for good, I am a very, very thankful Bear!

Is é an Lá go breá é!! (It's a great day!)

Sneaky Little Buggers, Marmosets!

I just came back with a huge steaming cup of coffee, and my mind is starting to turn over the possibilities for the day... what do do?? What to do??

We've been designing tattoos, the two of us, and whereas mine is not yet complete.. Elysia seems to have a final design set to go... perhaps we'll nip over to the tattoo parlor and see about having it done for her.. who knows?? The day is still full of possibilities!! Is there anything better than the first hours of a completely free weekend??

Thanks to Waiter over at 'http://www.waiterrant.net', who was gracious enough to put a link to this blog on his page. This has resulted a host of new readers popping by to read my nonsense. This makes Bear very happy! So, I want to say "Thanx, Waiter!" That was a very cool thing to do. Welcome to all of you who are new here. I hope you enjoy my writing and stick around! Some of you are from nearby, and some from very far away indeed! The beauty of the internet, however, is that we can all be community, regardless of where we physically are. For those of you who stop by from time to time, I would love to hear from you, either in comments, or, if you have an aversion to this, drop me an email. I am very curious to know who reads this blog, where you are from, what you do (for a living), what you do (for fun), what you think of what you are reading here, whether or not you like marmosets... you know, important stuff! So, if you can spare a moment, please, drop me a line and tell me a litte about yourselves.. It's mildly spooky to think that there are so many people reading my blog who I have no sense of whatsoever... I want to get to know you... at least to some degree. (I promise I won't try to sell you anything!)

Okay... some of you may be wondering just what the hell I'm on about with the Marmoset thing. Blandwagon left me a comment that had me literally crying with laughter. (I also have a very warped and dry sense of humor, you see...) and I have been wringing every giggle that I can out of it... Here is the comment:

Just remember to take your FULL COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS. Half of the world's problems are caused by people deciding that they're better and stopping their medication before they're fully healed.

The other half are caused by marmosets. They're sneaky buggers.


For whatever reason, this tickled the shit out of me, and I've been traipsing around announcing that Marmosets are 'sneaky little buggers' to anyone who will listen, (or to whomsoever I can manage to run down, tackle, and pin long enough to rattle off my silly comment to...), and laughing insanely to myself!

Sneaky Little Buggers!

Now you know the sordid truth about Marmosets, Blandwagon, and myself. (How DARE you judge me!! :-) )

I'm going to have to come up with a T-Shirt design with the Marmosets. So, on second thought, perhaps I may try to sell you something after all... naturally, I would only do such a thing with Blandwagon's blessings.

Watch Out for These Marmosets... They can be sneaky little buggers!

The day is still young, but time's a wastin'!! So, I'm off in search of adventure, mischief, and Jubblies.

I really mean it about all the lurkers (or at least a healthy portion of the lurkers.. this includes any of you who happen to be marmosets, by the way..) dropping me a line. No pressure (much!), but, I honestly would like to know who you are (don't get all freaked out here... you can actually make up a screen name... I don't actually know who any of you are.. well, except for my wife, though she could be a marmoset in disguise...

Who is this, disguised as a sneaky wee marmoset??

Enough of this dribble... I'm off like a prom dress!

Slán go Fóill!!

9 comments:

SVN, prn said...

Yipeee!!! I get to be first *smirk*

I'd love to tell you where I am from but the privacy laws (HIPPA if you want to look it up) don't allow me to because I blog about real life instances in the medical environment.... for now let's just say I am in the near backyard of Cally's Govenator.

JUST THE FACTS: I am a white, female, 40 y/o, divorced with two beautiful girls, bonde, blue eyes, 5'7"...size 7 shoe.

Currently I do not work but I am a full-time student in a Nursing program. Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) with future aspirations for an RN.

I don't do much for fun right now except study (inc. read text books) ...but that will all change when I graduate in June. If I had the time I love to snow ski, swim, read for pleasure, go to local events, enjoy the Sierra's - www.wrightslake.net

RE: marmosets...cute BUT.. I prefer marmots.

Did I get it all in? oh ya and I'm a crappy speeler too or Queeen of Typo's :o)

Anonymous said...

ok, delurking. married mother of 3, professional artist, mid-40s, found you via waiter. live in SE michigan.

definitely prefer marmosets - marmots steal down clothing! ringtails are the coolest - boy can they jump. don't blog myself but enjoy your writing.

Anonymous said...

Eighteen year old aspiring film student. Uhm. Female. I don't remember how I found your blog. Either from Waiter...or because you link to Clublife. Or maybe both.

I'm from Alabama. I'm homeschooled. I'm not a redneck.

And I really like your writing. =)

Dr. Iron TriFeist :) said...

So, glad you enjoyed the time off. What's with the whole tamarin, lemur, marmoset thing as a manifestation of blame? Sure, blandwagon suggested it but you've really embraced it. Not that they aren't sneaky but really, marmosets?

Bear said...

SVN,PRN - You are the first! Size 7 shoe, huh?! (Who would've thought!!), Your Speelin's not too bad!! Thanks for taking the plunge! Good luck with your studies.

In case you may be interested, Nurse in Gaeilge (Irish) is Bánaltra and in Korean it is Kyo No Won. You can add'em to your collection.

Marmots are definitely alright by me, as are wolverines and meerkats!

==================================

Leslie,

Professional artist? Very cool! Have you checked out www.deviantart.com by any chance?? Its a sight where folks can display their artwork if they so desire.

Thought you might be interested.

I have a page there - http://beartracks.deviantart.com/gallery/ if you wanted to take a peek at some of my artwork. (I'm not a pro.. I just like to play now and then...)

I wouldn't classify myself as a professional artist, but I enjoy trying my hand. Do you have a page where your work is displayed by any chance??

Don't knock marmots stealing down one's clothing until you've tried it!! It may just be the most fun one can have with one's clothes on!!

Thanx for the intro! Nice meeting ya!

===================================

Jessica,

What sorts of films are you intersted in making?? Any particular genres or do you just like film and that's that??

If I were a film maker, I would want to make either horror/fantasy/sci-fi films, or some type of animation.. of the 'Nightmare before Christmas' variety. It seems like it would be a blast. If I were to make serious films.. I think I would want to make historically accurate period films.. this also strikes me as being fun and challenging.

What was it like being homeschooled?? Do you think it was easier or harder than going to school with a bunch of other kids??

The closest I ever came to that was when I was a kid, I was working on a summer stock production of 'Sound of Music' which travelled to dinner theatres all throughout New England (many years ago...). I played one of the Von Trapp children (Kurt). All of us kids in the cast (One was Jeanine Matthews, and another was Donna Sands, both of whom went on to parts in 'The Electric Company' TV show, by the way... Anyway, we were all taught by a tutor who had been hired for the purpose by the producers. We were told that if we did shabby schoolwork, got low marks on tests and quizzes, etc., we would be sent packing. When I went back to regular school the following year, I was *way* ahead of the other kids... we had really soared ahead. I presume because we had a small group who was already used to working well together. I'm not actually sure.

I never once thought that you were a redneck, by the way. Not even once!!

I'm very pleased that you like my writing. It sort of shocks the hell out of me, actually, but it pleases me just the same! [big smile!]

Thank you for taking the time, I really appreciate it!

====================================

Linae,

I am *still* enjoying the time off, even up until this very moment!!

(And I will **happily** continue to do so tommorrow too! Wheeeeee!)

Lets not go getting the bloody tamarins involved, though the lemurs snuck in the back door long ago...

As for the marmosets (sneaky little buggers...) I ask you, How could one NOT embrace the wee nippers??! Let's face it, you just can't go wrong with em!! They're fuzzy, have big eyes, aren't any smarter than we are (in most cases), are portable, don't eat much, don't (hopefully) poop much, and if you get peckish, you can eat the little suckers like popcorn!!

There are some things in life which are elusive and difficult to explain to anyone's satisfaction, and I must confess that I harbor suspicions that my infatuation with marmosets just might be such a case... for whatever silly reason, when I read Blandwagon's comment, I spent the next 15 minutes howling like a lunatic.. go figure. Mental illness is a heavy thing.

If you pressed me for a reason, I would have to confess in all honesty that the marmosets put me up to the whole thing. They're trying to take over the world, you know... (sneaky little buggers...!!)

So... enough about me, let's talk about you... what do YOU think of me??

(okay.. that was pretty lame...)

Where are ya from?? What do you do?? What do you think of marmosets??

In all seriousness, though, Linae, thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself. It's nice to be able to put a name, or a face, or some sort of identity to each of you... We are a sort of community, and it's pretty cool to meet you folks..

==============================

Thanx to all of you for stepping forward and letting me know a little about you... you guys are great!

Take Care,


Bear

Anonymous said...

I would absolutely love to do animation like Tim Burton does...or work on a technical crew of any of his movies. But as far as directing or writing any movies, I suppose the genre is drama. Good movies (good plot, cinematography, acting, ideas..etc) are hard to find and my older brother and I are both extremely interesting in trying to bring those movies back to Hollywood. He is much more interested in screenwriting than I am. Directing, editing, and camera work are more up my alley.

Homeschooling, for me, has been awesome. It's also been good for both of my brothers. My older brother and I have always loved learning. All my mom had to do was give us our school books and we would do all the work on our own. My younger brother, however is a slow learner...who hates school. So she's been able to go much more at his pace.

I really enjoy it because it's developed my love for literature greatly. I've never been assigned books to read, so I got to choose whichever I wanted. And for some reason I've always gravitated towards classics and philosophy.

Overall, highschool for me was a wonderful experience, thanks to homeschooling. (Plus, my homeschool group is one of the largest in Alabama with over 250 families. We have classes on Fridays, a choir, a track and cross country team, and a ballroom dance class. We also have three dances a year and a school play. :p )

I think that homeschooling was harder than going to school with a bunch of other kids, at least for me, because my schoolwork has always been tailored to how far along I am in a particular subject. (so by 10th grade I was in trig...) It's been great.

Bear said...

Hi Jessica,

If you should work on any films, (or if you have already...) you have to let me know so that I can see them, okay?

Your homeschooling sounds awesome!!

I had a hard time in school unti they tested me and placed me into a class where I could work at my own pace. I was able to blast through a whole school year in about three months, and they let me move on, it was fantastic, and I had a lot of fun. If I got stuck on anything, the teacher was always right there to help. Otherwise, she basically guided us, depending upon where we were, each at our own pace, and let us take our own lead. I was able to finish school a couple of years early, which was also great (at least from my point of view...).

I didn't know that such a thing as homeschooling groups even existed, that's really cool!!

I get a sense, through your writing, that you are smart and 'with it', so it certainly seems to me that the homeschooling worked out swimmingly well for you!!

It's really nice to get to know you a little, Jessica!

Don't be a stranger, okay?

Take Care,

Bear

Anonymous said...

epididymitis!!! You poor man!! I hope that's better.

The marmoset thing made me giggle - but she's right about those antibiotics!

Enjoy that breathing space - I know I could use some right about now.

Beverly

Bear said...

The epididymitis is slowly getting better, and I have been faithfully taking my antibiotics, Marmosets and all!

I finish with those pesky buggers tonight!! (The antibiotics... *NOT* the marmosets! ((Sneaky little buggers!)) )

No more breathing space for poor Bear... [sniffle, sniffle], I am on full-bore, high-speed, low-drag, wire-guided, fin-stabilized, solid-state, aerodynamic, no-stopping Bear-schedule again. Rats! The bills won't pay themselves, though... so, no choice in the matter.

Take Care,

Bear