Ouch that hurts

Do you ever feel there have been some days/weeks/months when you are continuously off balance, not quite able to catch your breath, never quite (or even remotely) able to get on top of things? This week in particular feels like that for me. I realize it's only Tuesday, but I feel my a$$ has already been handed to me on a plate. I have a HUGE list of things to do, and it seems to be inevitable that I'll be disappointing someone, especially myself. I HATE this feeling.

Nothing to do but tough things out and prioritize. And #1 thing now is to get enough sleep.

Good night, friends and Internet vagabonds. I'm sure tomorrow (or the day after, or at least after the next task-oriented weekend) will seem much better. :)

Out of the mouths of babes

I laughed tonight when I read this story at Dooce.com. Too cute. (And her brother's name is Ranger??? And he was born before Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum was published???? Just thinking of that Ranger makes me feel warm and tingly ...)

Ahem. Back to the innocent story about children making mistakes with language. It reminds me of one of my favourite stories about my brother. We were really young (maybe 4 and 3 or something), and we all (my parents, my brother, and me) were riding in the family car somewhere. I was whining about wanting to see my cousins who lived in Wyoming. Joe, not to be outdone, began to whine, "When can we go to MY oming?"

Wistful for kittens

... that's what this video makes me feel. Soooooooo cute!!!

Mini-revelations

I got the results of some food allergy testing yesterday, and the results indicate that I'm highly allergic to flax seed (flax seed????) and cane sugar, which I suppose covers white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and every other permutation of sugar cane.

This totally sucks, as flax is quite prevalent today in many healthy foods, and sugar is EVERYWHERE, but (in the instance of the cane sugar) could be totally good for me in many other ways to eliminate it from my diet. I'm not actually aware of any reaction, but then again I have no idea how good I could possibly feel without cane sugar ...

Possibly the most important thing I learned today ...

I was in another First Aid course today. And our instructor started talking about what to do if you're alone and you start to choke (e.g., full airway obstruction).

As society changes, it seems that more and more of us live alone. To be honest, I don't have the wherewithal tonight to get into THAT discussion, but Bridget Jones' fears of dying alone and being eaten by Alsatians seems to me to be both hilarious and archetypical.

Anyway, getting back to the class ... our instructor discussed how unlikely throwing yourself against a chair or a countertop - or even performing abdominal thrusts to yourself with your own hands - is to work, considering they all require you to override your body's innate mechanisms of protecting itself (which makes sense, right?). So what did she suggest instead?

First, you have to assume that you have no more than 30 seconds before you will pass out, so you have to act fast. So:

1) Call 911 from your phone. Cell phones and VOIP phones, alas, don't count, as they don't currently provide details about your location. And if your airway if fully obstructed, you will not be able to even make a choking sound. But if you have a land line, by all means dial 911, then leave the phone off the hook so they will dispatch someone to help you. (If you don't have a land line, don't waste your precious time, I guess.)

2) Make it your priority to get out of your house or apartment ASAP. You know you may go unconscious due to a lack of oxygen, so pick a place where you are likely to be seen. As my instructor said, hopefully your neighbours aren't used to seeing you passed out in front of your place. :) An awesome suggestion she had for condo- and apartment-dwellers was to PULL THE FIRE ALARM in the hallway. Genius.

3) On your way out, grab an object like a water bottle, TV remote, whatever that, once outside, you can try to thrust into your diaphragm to free whatever is lodged in your throat.

Straightforward and logical, right? And yet none of these occurred to me before. And I'd be very suprised if I were the only one.

You know, the last time I took a First Aid course was only a year ago (this time it's employer-sponsored), but I've learned so much today. I would encourage EVERYONE to take one of these courses - so much priceless, valuable information.

Okay, that's my PSA for today. Feel free to send along to all your family and friends - you never know if you might save a life!

Freebasing cheerios

What are you up to tonight?

Not bad for a 5-year-old!

Song descriptions

On the weekend I went to a type of choirfest. Several traditional folk songs were performed. I found these entries in the program rather amusing:

Blaue Fensterl, greani Gater (Blue windows and green fences)
That's where the pretty girl lives that the young hunter has an eye on. He is mighty proud of his gun and powder and of his hunting hat.

Ei du mei liabe Schwoagrin (My dear alpine maiden)
Another song about a hunter who is wooing an alpine dairy maid. He boasts he has shot a chamois but he is really a little scared of the trip up the mountain to see her. She in turn sings a carefree yodler.

And now for something completely different ...

This photo totally cracked me up!

Polar bears!!!

Soooooo cute! I want to cuddle with them too. Too bad mama'd probably not be so nice to me, no matter how hung over she was from hibernation ... :)

Spring thaw

This is the cutest. The round little belly, the stubby paws waving in the air, the constant faint purr throughout ... I've melted into a puddle here.



The only thing I don't like about this video is the person not only allows but encourages the kitten to bite. This might seem harmless when the kitten's the size of a flea, but as it gets older it's a bad habit and the bites effing hurt.

Shut up and sing

Tonight I collapsed in a heap and finally watched Shut Up and Sing, a documentary about the Dixie Chicks after they were boycotted for saying something anti-Bush at a concert in the U.K. It kind of flips around from one time period to another, but otherwise it's very good. It was inspiring to me to see these smart, independent women believing in themselves and each other and going their own way. They're not perfect, but they don't need to be. They are tough cookies. Two thumbs up.

Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh, ugh, ugh!!!! A sacrilege.

News bloopers

I especially like the last one ...

Confession #1

I have never seen Good Will Hunting. (Gasp! I know.) I don't know why I haven't. There are just lots of movies that I've never seen. But I've rented it this weekend, so I might even watch it tonight.

Your turn ...

Watch this one

Give it several seconds ...



Excess soju or a not-so-secret desire to star in a drag show? You decide.

This is totally for Zen

Political satire based on my favourite video EVER??? Genius. But not for you, Mom. I'm sorry, but it's true.

Recent Conversations

I was having an IM exchange that somehow morphed into him telling me all the weird ways you could die in Australia (spiders, snakes, etc.), then ...

Eclecta: Well, it was a penal colony ... [my point, not well made, was that it was never a picnic]
Him: heh heh
Eclecta: You seriously have the mind of a 12 year old.
Him: What? It's funny!

**********************************************************************************

Him: In [blahblahblah weeks/months because I really don't care] Grand Theft Auto [whatever version] will be released and we'll be able to beat up hookers in high definition!!!!

***********************************************************************************

Eclecta: Surreal moment of the day? When I was washing my hands just now, I realized that my sweater exactly matches the colour of the vein on the inside of my wrist!
Innocent co-worker: Wow. That's carrying colour coordination a little far.

In the morning

It was super-windy here last night, but this morning there was a robin outside my building singing his very own version of "I Will Survive". Hardy birds, robins. :)

Scenes from the forest

Scenes from the forest
Originally uploaded by Rob Millenaar.

Beautiful. I wish I'd been the one to make this photo.