Krazy Kestra Goes to UK
Off to the UK Friday, returning Wed. or perhaps later if things allow. I'll be on the South Coast mostly. Can't wait! Woo hoo!
March 12, 2008
September 30, 2007
My Short Theatrical Stint
I have just finished my first play in 25 years, and I had SO much fun! I'm going to have to do it again. Most of our performances of Coriolanus were in Laurel's Sellers Theater. Our final shows were held at DC's Warehouse Theater.
Got to the theater way early last night. Final nights of a run have a feeling all their own, and this one was no exception, people remarking that it would be the last time they wore that costume, or said this line. The audience began arriving relatively early as well, and just KEPT arriving. When the citizens took the stage for the first scene, we were rather surprised that it just seemed there were lots more people than had attended the other nights. When we exited through the audience, we could hardly believe that the place was PACKED FULL and people were still arriving, causing our intrepid director, to scramble to find them chairs.
The show went exceedingly well, and I must say that applause from a large group sure beats applause from a few stragglers and a few echos. Striking the set went relatively quickly, and the cast party was a much needed time to bid adieu to all the wonderful people with whom I was privileged to perform in this show, as well as the great technical crew who kept us in the right place at the right time with the right light and sound. I won't be able to audition for the next Rudes play, as we will be in Bonaire (which totally sucks because I live right around the corner from where rehearsals will take place...), but I'm hoping to maintain the contacts and the friendships established by the months of work for this show. I am planning to audition for Julius Caesar and the Tempest as they come up, and perhaps will be able to do my second and maybe third play in 25 years of acting only in the occasional courtroom :-).
This has been a wonderful experience with a group of people who were exceedingly welcoming to the newbie and gave me a true sense of home. Heartfelt thanks to all of you, and please keep in touch.
September 07, 2007
Coriolanus Opening Night
www.rudemechanicals.com. Be there or the barbarians win! SEE Coriolanus vs. the Volsces. SEE the Volsces vs. Coriolanus. SEE the Citizens. SEE the Tribunes. SEE the Soldiers. SEE the marvelous high tech effects. You will laugh and you will cry. You will feel light and heavy. You must attend, or all will fall in broil!
July 25, 2007
The Hobbit to Arrive in Great Falls
Relatively late last night, I got a phone call from the elusive Boston Hobbit, insane Prius owner/tinkerer/advocate and uber geek. He will be in the DC area sometime possibly Thursday and staying for as long as I force him to by chaining his leg to the wall. Anyone interested in viewing this difficult to capture creature is welcome to, just let me know and I will attempt to make it available. It will keep him from frobbing my Prius.
Of course, Hobbit visits bring back some rather fond memories of days of old. There were the UNIX vs. VMS wars, the "you are gonna get in trouble" elevator riding sojourns, the "you must wear shoes in this hotel" admonishments, the "you're going to put an eye out with that laser" pronouncements, the wacky trip to St. Thomas including intercepting ship to shore transmissions, the "this is the air duct I slept on for 2 years" etc. etc.
The flood of memories....ah, how sweet. I wonder if I'll still be able to keep up with the boy....
June 24, 2007
Enough was Enough
I had enough of 12-14 mpg of my lovely AMG ML55 SUV. It was a great truck, except for the palpable pain I experienced with each fill up. The other significant annoyances with the truck included brake replacements ever 15K miles or so (not the way we drive... this is "normal" according to the techs), and the use of proprietary crap telephone technology, essentially locking me into a vintage 2000 motorola StarTac, that could not be upgraded without using the functionality of dialing through the center console.
I kinda went to the other end of the spectrum and bought myself a green Prius named Booger. I've had Booger for almost 1000 miles thusfar and it's been great. We're getting approximately 47 mpg (could be more if I drove it less like a regular car), it has bluetooth connectivity that pairs with most cell phones, allowing me to sync my address book with the car and use hands free. I can pair up to 6 phones with this set up. It also have DVD navigation, upgraded sound system, etc. One of the most hilarious things it has is a 'backup camera" that activates when I put the car into reverse, showing up a fisheye picture of what's behind, along with the "beep beep" backup sound like I was driving a garbage truck :-)
Now, the car DID have its flaws. The ones that drove me most insane were the nanny features, where someone at Toyota decided to force me to conform with their definition of safety. If the car was in motion, certain important features are "greyed out" of the touch screen display, including not allowing you to use your phone book to dial out, or to dial out using the pseudo keypad. You CAN, however, dial out on your speed dial numbers, or 911. The other major disabled feature is changing your destination or programming a destination in your GPS.
The idea that someone else decided for me what I could do and could not do in my own car that I paid for, and they would make my safety decisions for me, really ticks me off. If my passenger wants to reprogram the GPS, who are they to tell me I can't do that? If I'm lost in SE DC at 2 am, and I want to call a friend to help me figure out how to get out of the area, I shouldn't have to pull over to do that.
Luckily, enough engineers own the Toyota Prius so that there are detailed instructions along with lovely pictures on how to disable these ridiculous lock outs. Between their instructions and Wes' expert installation, the mission has been accomplished and Booger is now damn near perfect :-).
June 20, 2007
I have become LAME
I've been very very busy of late with many insane things, which has caused posting here to be not as regular as I'd like. My dad has quintuple bypass surgery and a carotid artery roto rootering, a very good friend had his quad bypass fail and needed stents (damn glad they could even DO the stents given what happened). Other friends have had other weird things happen to them, and I was cast in a play that is eating my life but is great fun.
I have also created the Form Apology Generator which will help me generate all of the apologies I will need for this absence :-). Have at it.
June 06, 2007
It Blinded Me With Science
This was it... enough was enough. I loved my ML55 but it was time to go. 12 mpg was just no longer acceptable, and I had filled it with gas for the last time. Bah, and again humbug I say....
I had been looking at cars and researching cars for the past few months, and finally decided that it was time. They had the car I wanted in Springfield, so off we went to get it, and to trade in ye ole 55. So I got me a nice green (in more ways than one) Prius with the Star Trek console. And verily thus, we brought it home and named it Booger. Perhaps I'll think of a better name later.
Anyway, while we were at the dealership, the sales critter attempted to show me his brilliance by pairing my phone with Booger's on board bluetooth. DENIED! Hmmm...how could this be? Bluetooth is a standard, and should be implemented as such, carrying data blissfully through the air and into the innards of the Booger. But no... Upon further investigation I found that I must update my Treo to a more peachy version of Bluetooth in order to partake of the Booger's lovely touch screen. I thought, "how tough can an update be?" I learned.
First you wipe out ALL of the data on your phone, resync it to your computer, create a new user, download a bunch of files, upload the files to the phone, have the phone install the files, delete the new user, re-pair your phone with the computer, re-upload all your information, etc. etc. This process took a LONG time.
When I finally got through all of that and took the Treo out to Booger, I was hopeful that all the cool touch screen stuff would work and I could transfer my phone contacts from the Treo to the Booger and all would be well. Uh, no. One must "fool" the Treo into doing the right thing so that the bluetooth is even recognized by the Prius (making a phone call while the Prius is 'looking' for the Treo seems to work). Once that part is done, somehow the Prius then doesn't see the contact files you're trying to send from the Treo.
So how come Palm can't fix their damn phones so that you don't have these ridiculous issues? This be annoying! So I started doing a hunt to find out which phones are supposed to be completely compatible with Booger. Then I found they also had to be compatible with iSync, AND usable on Verizon. This part is no fun whatsoever. I finally found a phone that might work, so I ordered it to try to find out. We shall see.
For my next trick, I'll post about how the car won't allow you to dial or use most features of the navigation console while the car is moving..... There is a work around.
Despite Palm's inability to do the right thing, Booger is still pretty cool. Gas mileage on the way home, driving it just like a regular ole gas car critter thing = 42 mpg. w00t!
May 15, 2007
Why I Haven't Written in a While
I'm going through a period of changing my definitions of self. I have had several medical issues of late that will cause a lot of significant life changes. I have been trying to take all of this in, and process what these changes will mean in practical terms. So please bear with me and I will get back into the swing of things presently.
January 04, 2007
Living with a Psychotic Cockatoo
Little did I know what I was in for when that little egg hatched in the garage back in 1992. I already knew that cockatoos are loud, take a lot of work, and demand lots of attention. I was already aware of all of that, having dealt with cockatoos for years. I'm also aware of plucking issues, having had that beautiful little Shiro who plucked. But what I was NOT prepared for was the self mutilation that happens with some of these creatures.
C2 the crazy cockatoo, who had so much stimulation at InterCon always in someone's office, running up and down the hallways looking for people to climb on, etc. has not made a smooth transition to the more sedate life at home. We thought C2 was a boy, until last year when she started laying eggs. Also last year, around breeding season, C2 not only plucked her chest bare, but then began ripping a large disgusting hole in her chest that needed surgery to close.
This year it's become even worse. The bird has an E collar on to prevent her from picking, after the chest wound was again closed. However, now she's throwing temper tantrums where she throws herself onto the floor of the cage, and wraps her wings around the collar, twisting herself so that she rips up under her wings, leaving blood everywhere, and attacking everywhere as I'm trying to clean her up. This is truly quite scary.
So what does one do with a psychotic self mutilating cockatoo? Each "expert" you ask gives you at least one different opinion, sometimes more than one. The suggestions range from the logical to the surreal, and even the avian vets have completely different opinions. I am doing what my avian vet suggests, along with some other things that I consider logical, so now is the long "wait and see" in hopes that something works.
This type of illness is utterly frustrating as you watch a beloved pet continue to hurt herself for unknown reasons. Rushing a bleeding bird to the hospital on New Year's Eve when she'd just been there 2 weeks before is painful, especially with the bird screaming at the top of her lungs for the first 20 minutes (anyone who has heard a Moluccan scream would agree). You go from compassion to anger and back through sadness and frustration, being unable to understand why a creature that you do your best with, would be so upset as to self mutilate. This might be what some parents feel when their children have "gone wrong" despite best efforts.
So what are we doing to try to deal with C2 in hopes that she stops ripping gaping wounds in herself? Step 1 is a mechanical barrier, an E collar to try to keep her stapled chest closed for healing. The E collar has been modified with airline tubing around the rim covered with elastic stretch tape to make it more difficult for her to use to cut herself under the wings. Step 2 is to attempt to give the bird more mental stimulation. To that end I have ordered many puzzle toys that we can put treats in that she has to work to get out. As she is showing signs of being OCD, perhaps she will take her compulsion out on the toys rather than on herself. The vets also suggest rotating toys on a daily basis. That gets really strange, so I think I'll compromise and do as much as I can. I'll get new toys and change them out as often as possible. They also suggest putting small amounts of food in different bowls all over the cage so the bird has to "forage" to find them, covering the bowls with paper or something similar to give the bird something to punch through in order to get at the food. Her cage has also been moved out of the "bird room" with her amazon and macaw friends and put in the kitchen where it's a lot more "busy." We're also varying her food choices.
Step 3 is a bit more controversial. There's a lot of varying opinions regarding whether it is beneficial to begin drug therapy on birds. As with humans, there is a hit or miss aspect to choosing appropriate psycho active medication. The problem with birds, of course, is that they are SO tiny mass wise compared to us that it would be very easy to overdose and have toxic effects. Instead of medication, we're trying "Pluck No More" which is a homeopathic medication which means that it uses tiny amounts of substances that are meant to mimic the "bad" reactions of the body, only in miniscule amounts, similar to how vaccines work, and how allergy therapy works. The hope is that the body then reacts using its own natural defenses in order to reverse the bad reactions. There is quite a bit of controversy in the bird community regarding use of "Pluck no More" because some of the ingredients, over time, can be toxic. However, I feel that if this works, the effect of the compounds are far less than the detrimental effect of a psychotic cockatoo who needs constant surgeries to repair her. The dangers of anesthesia, parmacological interventions, severe injury from throwing herself on the floor, and loss of blood with possible infection are greater, to me, than the possibility of toxic effect from Pluck no More.
So we will see how this all works out. Kind happy thoughts for C2 are always appreciated, as are attempts to come visit the bird and entertain her. I'll keep you updated.
September 25, 2006
We reached home, only a bit late
Just a few hours late, we were rushed home on Air Jamaica. They held the flight for us. It was relatively painless. We are most pleased. Hooray hooray.
Impressions of Bonaire
Once again this year, Bonaire was a fantastic vacation. Poor Wessiepooh destressed a little bit, making it possible for him to breathe that little bit easier. I had a great time diving, and learning more about how to shoot video from Hendrik Wyuts, a Dutch videographer I met 10 years ago when he taped our crazy little group during my first real dive trip. Two classes with him and I was ready to take over the world. We'll see whether the videos improve when I get a new camera.
It was great to see old friends again, even though some had moved to other jobs. Karen who fed the kittys and took care of their medical needs was no longer at Habitat. Ernst the sometimes grumpy German photo shop manager had retired back to his catamaran just off the shore at Habitat. Wilco was still as Wilco as ever. Netto was still finding strange and unique underwater creatures. All else was pretty much as we left it.
Bonaire is still the perfect place for diving. We didn't bring our still cameras this time due to the extra weight and the desire to take a bit of a break. The gear brings our baggage totals to about 120 lbs each. Wes didn't feel much like shooting anyway (although I think he regretted that choice later in the trip). I shot a lot of videos that are now all up happily at http://web.mac.com/mikkibarry and there will be more when I have time to put everything onto Final Cut HD so I can find some more creative ways to edit the 'good stuff." More on that later.
Right now, we're just sitting here in this wonderfully crowded departure lounge in Bonaire, waiting for perhaps some word on our friends from Air Jamaica and wondering when we're actually going to take off for Montego Bay, and whether or not we are actually going to reach home at some point today. Wouldn't it be nice to find out?
When Its Good, it's Very Very Good - When it's Bad it's Horrid
"No problem, mon" is Jamaica's unofficial slogan. Seems that nobody bothered to tell their national carrier, Air Jamaica. You really kinda know when you book Air Jamaica to Bonaire that it is indeed possible that things are not going to go quite right. In the "olden days" AJ would indeed hold flights for later connections coming in from the US to Montego Bay so that they could catch their Bonaire connections. But apparently, that doesn't work the same way anymore. Our friends were stranded the last time they tried that connection, and had to go back to Miami to catch another flight to Bonaire, as AJ flies to Bonaire only once a week these days.
Our connection down here was flawless. They held the Bonaire flight the few minutes it would take to get us on board before we winged off to Bonaire, arriving a few minutes early. Poetry in motion even. We got there early enough to purchase our upgrades, and all was perfect. On our way home, however, things immediately started looking not so wonderful when we found that the island's Internet service was basically not working, then we found that even worse, all of AJ's computers across the Caribbean were out of service. This made it necessary for the poor contractors behind the counter to have to hand write everything including boarding passes. So they decided they were not going to let us buy upgrades, and otherwise caused mass annoyance as we were not allowed into the air conditioned departure lounge until we had real boarding passes, which couldn't be provided until they called Montego Bay and then got what seats were available and blah blah blah. When we finally got into the air conditioning, things were much better, albeit crowded. Our flight was scheduled to board at 2, take off at 3. It is now 3:05 and the inbound has not yet arrived, and nobody seems to have any word on whether it is going to, so there you have it.
So why do we fly Air Jamaica with its spotty service? Because our alternatives are not fantastic. AJ goes BWI to Mobay to Bonaire. We CAN take American, which would go Dulles to Puerto Rico, 9 hour layover, then Eagle to Bonaire, arriving in the evening. Departure back to the US is at some ungodly hour like 6 am, with another 9 hour layover in Puerto Rico. The Dash 8s that Eagle flies are literally painful because the seat pitch is rather crappy. They are also rather expensive, Puerto Rico is really horrible, and 9 hours is a very long time. Other options are Dulles to Newark, Newark to Bonaire on Continental, with an arrival sometime around 4:30 AM. We don't know what the flight back is like. They also have an overnight flight from Houston. Not sure about the layovers, or the connectivity time, but I'm told that the seat pitch of the Continental Jets is not much better than the Eagle Dash 8, and the cabin service apparently is horrible.
As I look up here at 10 past 3, KLM has landed another MD11 and has offload ALL of its passengers into the tiny departure lounge It's starting to get pretty hot and stuffy. Wonder when any updates will come.
September 21, 2006
We are still soaking up the sun in Bonaire
We are scheduled to go home on Saturday. We have been kept busy busy diving several times per day, hanging out on fun dive boats with fun people doing fun things. We also have many more lovely dive videos. They have been placed on a link off of my .mac site which should make it very easy for everyone to find should they so desire. Check out this handy link.
September 17, 2006
Pictures and Videos from Bonaire
Well, we had a bit of wet string upload time on our hands, so we put up some photos taken with a funny point and shoot, and some videos hosted right here at home. Constructive comments are very desired and welcomed. Please feel free to have a look at this handy link
The stuff we put on youtube is getting very strange ratings. If you would like to see all of the almost 30 videos up on youtube, just go there and search for "ooblick" and you can rate them yourself (if you get yourself a free login, which is pretty simple to do).
Constructive criticism is more than welcome.
September 12, 2006
Dive Videos
While on this lovely island of Bonaire, I have been shooting video of cool things I've come across. I put this video on YouTube, which unfortunately pixelates it horribly. Even worse, people are not giving them great ratings, despite their magnificent quality, as they were done by ME!
Trying to upload things to Google to see if they do better, but there's this issue of the wet string connection from Bonaire to the rest of the world. Perhaps it will have to wait til I get home.
September 11, 2006
We are in Bonaire
We are having a wonderful time in Bonaire, after a relatively painless trip via Air Jamaica (when it works, it works well. When it doesn't... well....). We are at Captain Don's which had advertised many innovations. In truth, the only thing new we found were hair dryers and new safes :-). Some of the old dive staff had changes, which was sad because we really liked Karen and Ernst, but Wilco, Netto, Chris, and some of the others are still here. Crazy Sherman had left awhile before.
The diving (the most important part of the trip, of course) has been Bonaire perfect. Today we saw the first shark we had seen in 11 years of trips to Bonaire. Only about 2 feet long, black tip reef shark, which I didn't get on video very well, but really DID see. Woo hoo.
Hopefully the fish tanks, the doggies, the birdies, the kitties, and everything else are fine as we continue to have fun here. Email is spotty here, but we will keep trying. The advertised "wireless access" only works in a few areas, and it's pretty weak when it does work.... so there you go. Party on.
September 05, 2006
Salt Water Fishies
Yes, I'm still having a wonderful time playing with my salt water fishies. During our trials and tribulations, we have noticed that the learning curve is quite steep. Wes has jumped in with both feet, almost literally, playing with the plumbing, installation of UV filtration, building a refugium, drilling the tank with fish still in it, having an interesting time with sumps and floods etc. etc.
You can see the lovely tank and the blog of all the fun involved therewith (had to use at least one silly word in this post, eh?) at this handy link and you can see a real live REEFCAM right here at this fun link. It takes a few minutes for the reefcam to come up since it's a java thing, but it's better than yahoo's really crappy webcam stuff.
August 23, 2006
Why I Haven't Written Much Lately
I knew that the saltwater fish hobby would be time consuming, but I never realized it would be THIS time consuming. The good news is that I'm having a LOT of fun. I've been setting up a reefcam and taking care of the monsters. You can read all about it at http://web.mac.com/mikkibarry. There's a link to the reefcam there too. Such fun.
August 08, 2006
Memories.....
Many lifetimes ago, in times far far away, I led another life. My first career was amazingly fun, where I met a number of wonderfully talented people. Of course, I was really too young to realize my good fortune, and the pay was pretty bad, so it didn't last long. I was the first female full time DJ in NH, starting at WFEA in late 1978. I was hired by Rick Ryder for the overnights, and given the name April Love. From there, I went to WMUR-TV with my real name as a reporter and weather caster, and also did brief stints at WKBR and WLNH. Then I went back to college and graduated with a broadcast journalism degree, wanting to go into radio and/or TV news, but gave up on that when I found I could make much more money as a secretary. Oh if I had only stuck with it, I might now be.... program director of a tiny station in Bumfuck Egypt or something.
Why does this come up? Well, it's my sister's fault. She showed me a website about my old station WFEA where I'm actually mentioned as April Love. The memories flooded back. There was the man who called me from the hospital where his wife had just given birth. They named the baby "April Lynn" after me. *sob* Then there was the time when someone tried to break into the station to do naughty things to me late at night. I called the police in Merrimack and they were there immediately to chase the naughty guys away. I remember when the reverb broke, and we all sounded.....boringly flat. There was the time when Jack Diamond called me to compliment me on my show. That was cool since Diamond is currently hosting some big show here in DC that I never listen to. I still have nightmares of "dead air." Some things just don't quickly leave your psyche.
If you're interested, take a look at the Man from Mars.com website.
June 19, 2006
An interesting morning
Today I got to see the inside of Supreme Court of the United States. Although I've lived in the DC area for about 20 years now, and went to law school about 6 blocks away, I never actually went INSIDE the place. This morning a group of alumni from Georgetown Law Center were led through the "Bar Members" entrance, through security, and to a waiting area to eventually be brought before the Justices to be sworn into the Supreme Court Bar.
Like everything else with the law, it's all about the protocol. In order to become a member of any of the state bars and practice law in that state, one must either pass the bar exam or waive in (by passing a reciprocal state's bar exam...and not all states allow for waiving in) then hop through the hoops which usually require appearing in a group to be sworn in. Today makes my third swearing in ceremony, and obviously the most impressive.
The building itself is utterly amazing, and interestingly enough, filled with Pagan symbolism. From the statue of the Three Fates weaving the thread of life outside, to the elementals of earth, air, fire and water on the flagpole bases outside, to the Goddess Liberty over the entrance, there are many interesting sculptures and frescos depicting ancient scenes and semi-religious interpretations. Inside the room where we were waiting hung two enormous chandeliers, each with five pointed stars hanging at the bottom. Ironic that this is the same symbol we would like for the headstones of fallen Wiccan soldiers. The ornamentation of the rooms was rather awesome, with fine woodwork, inlaid beautiful flooring, and beautiful ceilings with gold colored floral medallions and beautifully intricate painted designs all around.
The main courtroom was smaller than I'd expected, with enormous marble pillars, irreplaceable woodwork, and carved marble dental molding. We sat in wooden chairs in front of the gallery, all 150 or so of us from different law schools, and listened to the marshals telling everyone to be silent before the arrival of the Justices. At precisely 10, the Court was in session, and the 9 members ascended the platform to their high backed leather chairs. It was amazing to see how small they looked in relation to the room, and to the office they held.
Chief Justice Roberts announced the opening of the Court's business for the day, and we listened to the Justices read their opinions and dissents in two important cases. The first case read was a splintered court regarding wetlands regulations. Unfortunately, by a 5-4 decision, a plurality decided that the federal government doesn't have the authority to regulate certain wetlands, as Justice Scalia recited through rather twisted reasoning, that the "waters of the United States" aren't really all of the waters of the United States unless they are directly connected to waterways. This basically paves the way for those who want to fill in wetlands to destroy habitats if, for example, it's a pond. We see both of Dubya's appointees joining the majority in this anti-environment opinion. 5 of the 9 Justices wrote opinions on this case.
The next case involved what type of evidence is allowed in cases where the victim does not testify. The Court decided that testimonial evidence from the victim may not be admitted if the victim does not testify, as that violates the defendant's right to confront his/her accuser. However, other testimony, such as a 911 call is not testimonial, as it is what is happening right then, and may be admitted.
After these cases were read, it was time for admissions motions. After some individuals were moved and admitted, our law school Dean stood up to ask for our admission, and we stood as each name was read out to the Justices. The motion was granted, and we sat down. Three more groups were admitted in the same manner, then we all stood and were administered the oath to practice before the Supreme Court.
Pictures will be up soon.
June 09, 2006
At Last, Good News
It is interesting how one's emotions fluctuate in the wake of a loved one going into the unknown world of those affected by cancer. When you receive good news, the elation with just a little bit of fear is so markedly different from the trepidation. And today, we found that mom's lymph nodes were all negative except for the sentinel node. This, of course, is fantastic news. Our road, though still long, is brighter. We are much more hopeful and much less afraid.
June 07, 2006
Reflections from Manchester
My mother has breast cancer. We are only now beginning to realize what that actually means. Of course, other women have gone through this through varying degrees of difficulty and with various outcomes, but that was always someone else, not entirely real or at least quite separated by "distant friend" or "friend of a friend" or "oh, she was old anyway and likely to get something like this." We all know it's an awful disease. We all see the pink ribbons, the walks against breast cancer, the survivors on TV, and we think that it's great that they fought this creature and won, but it likely won't touch ME. MY family won't be sitting in the waiting room listening to the doctor's details of what was taken out and what you do next.
I've been wrong before, but rarely have the consequences been so problematic. Perhaps the most difficult part is that the news comes in stages, with waiting periods in between. The first bad news comes when the surgeon tells you that the sentinel lymph node was positive for tumor. That means that the lymph nodes had to be taken along with the lump. This necessitates another waiting game, to find out if the other lymph nodes are also positive or negative. This will determine the course of further treatment. So the patient (in this case my mother) has to wait about a week wondering what stage the cancer is in, how aggressive, how invasive, and how badly the upcoming treatment is going to poison her body as well as hopefully kill the monster growing inside her.
So the waiting game begins, along with the often destructive pain of "what if?" Only this time, no longer does one think that it can't happen to them. Reality sets in. Hopes change from best case scenario towards a hope for something down the middle. And you realize somewhere inside that this could indeed be you, your sister, your mother, your aunt going through that week of hell, with a petrie dish determining your fate, asking their husband or daughter or you to empty their surgical drain and go pick up their medications. And then you look at the reflection of yourself in their eyes and you know that you both have changed in ways you have yet to imagine.
May 01, 2006
Just When You Think You Got Rid Of Me....
Naw, I'm not gone. I just had a lot of things to do, places to be, people to annoy, etc. etc. Many important silly things that had to be done. Many emails from my last witchvox article that I must answer. Many dogs to feed, and many more RSS readers to check through to get one that actually WORKS. AIEEEEEE.
Still working...still working. You won't get rid of me that easily.
March 30, 2006
Things look a bit better
Ya know, it's always something. Today was the amazing miscommunication. The doc didn't mean that a feeding tube was going to be inserted, just that if things didn't start happening relatively soon, re: ability to receive nutrition, then there would be a need to find another way of providing nutrition. Thus, the amazing amount of nervousness on our port. If it was dangerous to do surgery to repair any problems now, then it would follow that it could also be dangerous to go poking around with feeding tube placement as well. So, we were quite afraid.
As it is, the doc mixed and matched some anti nausea medication, which seems to have helped markedly. Mom is now drinking those evil "Boost" shakes that taste real bad but are good for you. She had improved to the point today where I went back to VA, and am now in my own little bed, hoping all continues on the upward climb. If it doesn't, I'll just drop everything and go back to NH.
Meantime, I will resume shipping Enchanted Works products in the AM, soon as I wake up. So take heart, loyal customers :-).
Thing Look a Bit Worse
Stomach can't process even clear liquids. They're talking feeding tube. now I'm not sure if I can go home or not at this point, and I can't go see her until after some heart tests. Echo cardiogram looked good, except there were many extra beats they want to check on.
March 29, 2006
Things Look a Bit Better
Tubes are out. Clear liquids are in. There's a lot of nausea, but things appear to be improving. I am definitely hopeful. Hopeful enough, in fact, to try to go home tomorrow.
March 28, 2006
Latest, Still Confused Word
Today we went for a fun and educational barium swallow, which looked pretty good, but the stomach was still too nauseated and annoyed to be able to take the NG tube out. We are hoping that perhaps tomorrow the tube can come out, and then we will start again with the clear fluids, working up to food. Once she can process food, she can go home. Last attempt at food caused another episode, which is NOT much fun at all, so we are trying to avoid it.
March 27, 2006
Latest Confused Word
We've been told that they wish to let the stomach settle down, and wait approximately 3 months for surgery to repair this mess. Obviously, that doesn't sit well with anyone, and we're trying to translate this medical jargon and find out what's really going on. More as we find out.
March 26, 2006
There's good news and bad news...
The good news is that the relapse happened in the hospital. The bad news is that things reversed themselves, and the previously optimistic prognosis is more guarded. I spoke to the doctor this afternoon, and they are hoping for surgery tomorrow to anchor the stomach so it doesn't decide to migrate back north and wedge itself into the diaphragm again. As most can imagine, the pain of this occurring is quite marked, being a 10 out of 10. Within a few hours (even 2 minutes like this is too much, of course, but they did the best they could), the pain was much lower, and they are hoping for the stomach to descend on its own.
Still more watching and waiting.
To the Non Fluffy Family
If you are one who believes in healing energies, candles, etc. for others, I would appreciate any thoughts, etc. you could spare for my mom. She's been in the hospital since last week, and I am up here in NH with she and my sister and dad. She had surgery about 2 months ago and it seems to have reversed itself. Without details, it is very very painful, and relatively serious.
We thought she could go home today or tomorrow, but things took a turn for the worse, and she will not be going home for some time. More surgery is certain, but they have not yet figured out when, etc.
All thoughts, prayers, well wishes, of any persuasion are welcome.
February 13, 2006
Thanks for All the Well Wishes and Prayers for Mom
She is at home and is recovering. The surgery went well. Thanks to everyone who assisted in any way, even if just thinking of her.
December 30, 2005
New Puppy Pictures
For some serious "awwww" factor, you can see the puppies at six months at This Handy Puppy Link.
November 20, 2005
The Sunday Morning Bath Club
Whether they need it or not, Sunday morning is the doggies bath club. Having 10 doggies, this can be a significant problem of logistics, materials, planning, and aftercare. Luckily for us, we have a very large shower that can, in a pinch, accommodate all 10 dogs (including the big black rare Egyptian Chicken Hound) and the human designated to be the washer person.
So here's how it is planned to go. Step one is to ensure that nobody else is running water in the house. We are on well and septic, and our bathroom is at the far end of the chain. Step two, run the water til it gets warm. Step 3, herd the dogs into the bathroom. Step 4, shove the dogs into the shower. Step 5, wash dogs. Step 6, dry dogs. At least this is how it's SUPPOSED to be.
Today, the Psycho Sensei was more Psycho than Sensei, and forgot some important safeguards. One was to close the doors between Step 2 and Step 3. Subsequently, when rounding up dogs, they went immediately into the running shower (quite unlike them) then decided to exit, the temperature not being to their liking, tracking most of the topsoil from the back yard with them. This necessitated a change in plan, complete with "HERE PUPPIES" in many different tones and volumes, which, of course, they ignored. It is amazing how one can begin to read the various dogs' footprints in the mud all over the bathroom. Having finally procured the puppies and penning them in the shower, the washing could begin.
Also luckily for me, our shower has one of those shower heads on a hose that can be easily brought down to doggie level. This is a necessary thing when one is zeroing in on one target dog amidst the chaos of 40 legs attempting to get as far away from the water as possible. Target dog is chosen, water is applied, dog is covered in shampoo (different types for hairless and puffs...must be sure to get these straight or strange looking creatures appear) dog is rinsed, and the process is repeated. Sounds easy, right?
Well, it WOULD be easy if these dogs weren't amateur botanists, collecting samples from everything possible in their fur. Leaves of all sorts, berries, brambles, thorns, brush, etc. all must be expertly removed. Then one must attempt to identify the dogs properly under all that mud and cruft to ensure that one does not wash a dog 3x and allow its little friends to remain crufty. Sounds easy, except that the puffs all look alike when they are wet. Also fun.
Today also had its escape. One of the little darlings figured out how to open the shower door, and before I could grab them, 4 sopping wet creatures pushed out the door and into the greater bathroom area, where they proceeded to spray water everywhere, dig up the towels and bathroom rugs, frolic and otherwise cause consternation.
Once everyone was washed, then came the lovely drying attempts. One hand held hair dryer, many towels, and dogs running and shoving each other to get under the dryer, under the towels, under my feet, under my bathrobe, into my slippers, or anywhere else they could wipe themselves. Cresteds seem to love the idea of smearing their wet bodies across anything they can find, moving or otherwise.
Then the second mistake. While herding them out onto the deck where they could become more dry, SOMEONE left the door open to the living room, where several wet doggies ran, leaping onto the poor sick Wessiepooh who was resting on the couch, and covering him with wet doggie and many doggie kisses. I am lucky the neighbors didn't call the police from the sound emitted from the Poofles.
After finally capturing the last of the escapees, closing all the doors properly, and flopping down to rest, the Bath Club concludes. Until next Sunday.
Anyone want to adopt a Crested Puff or 4? :-)
November 07, 2005
Ooops!
I don't get it. After DNA testing, after years spent acting male, and after many nasty plucking incidents, one of which required surgery, we now find that C2 the cockatoo is actually a girl. The egg at the bottom of the cage was the clincher, clearing up any doubt, unless, of course, the cockatoo is a hermaphrodite.
The egg, obviously a cockatoo egg (yes, I've seen them, in fact raised C2 FROM the egg) sat on the bottom of the cage, carefully laid (not dropped from the perch) by the little pink bird known as the "crazy cockatoo." Now we finally know the extent of the bird's insanity.
So, either the testing company mixed up C2's results, the test was in error, or the cockatoo changed genders magickally. In any case, I am most confused. And this is a difficult state for the Psycho Sensei, trust me.
September 15, 2005
Bonaire - September 15, 2005
Today's Underwater pictures are at this happy fun link.
Yet another beautiful day on Bonaire. I don't quite understand how anyone could have a "bad" day on such a fabulous island as this, even if it pours with rain. Today I switched to wide angle while Wes shot macro. We went out on the reef in front of Habitat (which we still think is the finest reef on Bonaire) for a time, then went out to the Salt Pier with Netto. Netto is one of the divemasters who has been here forever, knows everyone and everything about the island, and is kind and open to tourists. Most Bonarians are quite nice to your face, but would rather not deal with you if they don't have to. Rather similar to Americans in that way :-). Netto, however, is an exception, sharing with us all kinds of interesting information on island life, island regulations, laws, etc. One of the Bonarian sayings, "don't hide and throw stones" is quite an interesting one. He explained how when you hide and throw stones, they can still tell where the stones came from and know who did it.
We had a lovely dive at Salt Pier where I had a French Angel who must have been a professional scuba model because she would go to every place I pointed to and pose. At the end of the dive, we became part of a bait ball. That was a truly interesting sight. Thousands upon thousands of anchovies, swimming all together in a circle. As we came up to them, they surrounded us, still swimming in circles. It was truly beautiful. As we climbed out of the water, we found the pelicans were swarming, getting ready for an anchovie feast. It was a lot of fun.
When we got back, we barely had enough time to shower and get ready for our trip to Casablanca, an Argentinean restaurant with a MASSIVE amount of really great food. It was hard to believe the quantity of chicken, steak, ribs, blood sausage, etc. that we had. The meal was great, the company was wonderful (Luv Monkeys, Eli, Dan, and Karen the divemaster and her husband Bud.) and we ate entirely too much and fell into bed for a very nice sleep.
September 14, 2005
Bonaire - 9/14/05
Today's underwater photos are right here
Another happy fun day on Bonaire. I could get use to this. Went out to two dive sites today - Windsock and Small Wall. Both were beautiful. Windsock is by the airport (go figure) and had some interesting cleaning stations, LOTS of juvenile spotted drums, and lots of eels. Small Wall had two frogfish in the same coral head. That was really cool.
We got to see our friend Walt, the tech diving instructor who was our rebreather teacher. Really nice guy and fun. Our other pal, Jason, was not on the island this week, and we missed him. However, we will survive and continue to have fun despite these little stumbling blocks :-)
Silly me got too much sun yet again, so I had to take a long afternoon nap. Nap was broken up by Wessipooh wishing me to get my arse out of bed to go to dinner at Capricios, our favorite restaurant on the island. It is an Italian restaurant that has some of the best wine in the Caribbean, having won the Wine Gourmet award every year since 2002 or something like that. Anyway, the food as always was fabulous, the deserts more so, and the wine, even the "house wine" was yummy.
Reef Management, Global Warming, and Communing with the Sea Goddess
So here we are on the island of Bonaire, located approximately 75 miles off the coast of Venezuela, part of the "ABC" islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, "owned" by the Netherlands. This beautiful island is a diver's paradise, however, although diving is one of the main income sources for the island's economy, the government is highly aware that the future must be preserved. They take a very active role in ensuring that the underwater world is as strong as it can be, constantly patrolling dive sites and looking for signs of stress in the corals, critters, etc. They have no problem closing a dive site that is under stress, and allowing it up to 10 years to recover.
Despite our Bungling Baboon in Chief's stupidity regarding global warming, the effects can be seen SO clearly under water. A few extra degrees in water temperature, and you begin to kill coral. It becomes "bleached," devoid of all color. Dead coral can't support the symbiotic life that is the essence of the underwater world. And, unless we forget, land based life depends on underwater life, and vice versa.
Life is precious, whether it be the mantis shrimp I annoyed by taking pictures, the octopus peeking out at us from his rock, the cats that hang out here at Captain Don's Habitat who get taken care of by Karen the divemaster who buys their food and medical care with her own funds, and has for longer than most people can remember, or even the goofy people on the dive boats, life is still precious.
Nowhere else in the world is as unspoiled and close to nature as the ocean. There are no roads, no human habitats cut from the earth, no vegetation being trampled underfoot. And nowhere on the planet do I feel closer to Goddess than here. Even when the critters try to eat me :-)
September 13, 2005
Bonaire - 9/13/05
Today's underwater photos are at this happy link
As usual, we really don't want to leave the Island, although our time is growing short. I am recovering from the whatever bite, and was actually able to do a bit of diving, which is always a good thing. Did a boat dive and did not die, although I DID jump in without my weight belt. (Gee, why can't I descend.... I wonder what's going on.... ooooops). As always a quick trip back to the boat to ask nicely for one of them to hand my my belt yielded much better results than hanging out on the surface all day :-) I got to be the day's "disaster diver." *snicker*
Today's boat dive was at a site called "Knife" on Klein Bonaire, which had been closed for many years and recently reopened. The Bonarians take preservation of their coral reefs VERY seriously, and periodically close sites that look like they have taken damage through storms, overdiving, boat problems, etc. in order for them to recover. Although there are many dive sites on Bonaire, it is always interesting and fun to see one that we have never seen before.
Every time we come here, we seem to spend time plotting and planning how we can eventually LIVE here. We have all kinds of ideas in the works, and we will see if one day they become more than dreams.
Tuesday night is lobster night at the Lion's Den (the restaurant next door to Habitat where we much prefer to eat :-)) and we had a magnificent dinner with John, Deane, Eli, and Dan. They are all fun people who are good to dive with.
Only 2 1/2 dive days to go :(. Bummer central. You can't dive to close to flying, since the change in pressure can possibly do bad things to any residual nitrogen in your system, and you may get bent on the airplane. Not a fun thing to do, so we will be good and follow all DAN (Divers Alert Network) guidelines like good little people who wish to live a long time :-).
September 12, 2005
Bonaire - 9/12/05
Today's underwater link is right here You may notice that today there are not as many different photos. There is good reason for that. I spent the entire day, except for a short jaunt to town for fluids, either in bed or in the bathroom. You see, I was the victim of some type of bite overnight.
The locals aren't sure if it was a spider, a scorpion, or whatever, but whatever it happened to be, it knocked me for a LOOP. Add to this a certain person's snoring all night, and I had no sleep and was very sick. The bites on my hand were itchy, large, and starting to have icky dead spots in them. I couldn't keep down any food or liquid for most of the day, but I am much better now, thank you.
Hopefully I can find the dive doctor tomorrow to make sure I'm ok before hopping into dah water again. Happy bubbles to all, and to all a good night.
September 11, 2005
Bonaire - 9/11/05
We are in Bonaire, a fabulous island in the Netherlands Antilles, located off the coast of Venezuela. I will post some of our stuff from my mundane blog here to the witchy blog because it's so fabulous being underwater.
Today's underwater pictures are right here
The slow season continues, as we are preparing for our 2pm boat dive. Today was mostly just relaxing, peaked with a moment of uh... almost pissing ourselves :-). Wes' water glass spontaneously exploded, glass and water everywhere. Now I know that my reflexes are not those of James Bond, because I didn't immediately dive under the table in fear that a sniper with a silencer was taking aim. Although I was rather tempted to raise a sign saying "We are really CANADIANS." :-).
It is indeed strange being here on the anniversary of 9/11, since we were actually HERE on 9/11 itself. You can see what happened that day if you are interested at this handy link. Today, on the other hand, our biggest fear was avoiding the "disaster family" who is on our 2pm boat.
As it was, the disaster family stayed away from us, the dive was beautiful, and you can see the pictures on the portal page at Cyberdive.org
After a fabulous dinner at Lion's Den (I had the shrimp and lobster combo) we went off to attempt to collect the Luv Monkeys at the airport. I say attempt because when we arrived, we hung out and hung out and hung out, until a nice taxi driver told us that the flight had not left San Juan yet. When we went back to the hotel to check the information on the Internet, we found that the flight is SCHEDULED to leave at 10 pm, which would get it into Bonaire around 12:13 am. This means that the Luv Monkeys sat in the airport in San Juan from approximately 11 am until 10 pm. American Eagle SUCKS. Just plain SUCKS. *sigh*
August 17, 2005
Slight Clarification to UPG
Contrary to thus far popular belief, I do NOT necessarily believe in "the Fae" or "the Faeries" or that kinda stuff. I *DO* know that something is out there in my woods. Whether that be Goddess, wood sprites, or, as one person put it, J. Random Forest Spirit, I don't know. Maybe they'll tell me. That would be fabulous if they did. I put some stones at the cardinal points around the circle yesterday, and I got some beautiful glass balls in today to put outside as soon as I can figure out how to do it without letting it smash into trees, or use the thin ribbon that came with the witch balls.
So I await enlightenment :-)
October 28, 2004
Yes, I've Been a Slacker
Yes, it's true that I haven't been writing enough of late. I have many excuses, that I will enumerate later, however, some very wonderful things and some very terrible things have happened in the past few weeks. One of the wonderful things was that some of the leadership of the Correllian Nativist Tradition came to DC for initiations, temple blessings, and for a Life Passages Intensive class. They stuck around for sight seeing, and general "hanging out" and I was lucky enough to have kidnapped Don Lewis, Chancellor of the Tradition, and his herald, Jason. It was a fantastic opportunity to get to know them better, have many religious discussions, and gain serious insight into yet more uses of humor as learning experiences :-).
Now I may be back, and attempting to post more often :-)
September 29, 2004
Finally Got Around...
I finally got around to taking some pretty good pictures of the kitties. It's tough to chase the kitties around. and get them to hold still enough for pictures. 
.
The little cuties are rescue cats from a house in Frederick, MD where the poor woman had over 100 cats because breeders talked her into taking more and more. The health department moved in when the poor woman was finally overwhelmed. She thought she was doing a good thing, but the cats weren't in great shape.
The little grey one is a female named Oreo. The other is a crazy male named Qhat (formerly known as Petey :-)). Oreo is 8, Qhat is 6, and both of them are doing ok. They are both crazy Ocicats. Oreo has some gastric issues still, and Qhat has asthma, but they're going to be happy little critters in the crazy home of Kestra, the Peculiar Priestess.
October 12, 2003
Happy to be Home
We are happy to be home after a wonderful vacation in Bonaire. Had a fantastic time with the fishies and critters. Now we are back home in Virginia. Just an FYI.
September 21, 2003
In Case Anyone Was Wondering
It is day four without power here at The House of The Unknown Host. Yesterday, we had some hope when they brought a new power pole and many trucks to fix the transformers that had smashed onto the road when a tree took the original pole down. Alas, it was not to be as many explosions soon followed.
As a side note, Wes was going to get generator fuel when he noticed that a power pole was smoking. He let the power guys know, and they brushed him off. They paid attention when it burst into flame. Har har. I don't think we had the "A" team here.
We are better off than many in that we have a small generator that powers a little bit of the house. We are an all electric house on a well, so when we have no power, we have no water. The generator powers the well pump, the fridge, and a few lights. We have cold water, but not hot, so no showers. Our only damage was the pool equipment enclosure that was destroyed. The fallen trees missed all major structures. Yay.
More as it happens.
August 23, 2003
Why am I a Witch?
Occasionally, I am asked the question, "Why are you a Witch?" The question itself always causes me a bit of disconnect. I find the question to be rather misplaced. I would never ask "Why are you a Jew?" or "Why are you a Christian?" mostly because the answer I would get, in general, is meaningless. In general, I would be told, "I was born that way" probably followed with cursory reasoning as to why the person's religion is correct or true. And frankly, it is in part those attempts to convince me that are one of the reasons I should state when asked why I am a Witch. But "because you felt the need to ask me why" is not the whole reason.
There's much more to choice of belief system than "because people need to think more." By illustration, I offer a rather long and drawn out tale that I will attempt to condense by means of reference to one of my favorite books, "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Robert Anton Wilson. One of the characters in the book is suddenly enlightened, a kind of light switch in his head is toggled, whereby he suddenly saw things for what they were. This was called "seeing the fnords." And to his shock and amazement, there were fnords everywhere he looked that he just hadn't seen before.
I postulate that the question, "Why are you a Witch" is generally asked by those who cannot see the fnords. "Narrow minded" is an unfair characterization, in that being narrow minded is in itself a conscious choice when presented with contrary information. Failure to contemplate other possibilities is a much more passive process, especially when the information that would cause the process of careful contemplation to begin is often simply not available in a form that would trigger the appropriate response. In other words, their reality is a subset of the whole. This reality has labeled as "truth" the religion that they were brought up with, exposed to, and validated externally. Oftentimes, alternatives are not presented in a form that triggers a thoughtful response, and instead is passed off as whimsical or fantasy, likely dreamed up by people who have read too much science fiction as children.
This "reality" is further validated by the people they choose to keep around them, the community they live in, and oftentimes the country as well. For example, their reality is validated by a hunk of rock bearing the Ten Commandments erected in a public courthouse. It is validated by Christmas and Easter being public holidays. It is validated every time a politician intones that America is a "Christian nation."
When these validation mechanisms are questioned, oftentimes those who hold their version of reality as dear, will do some very strange things, sometimes even against the tenets of their own religion, to keep the validation. After all, questioning core beliefs can be quite frightening. While this may seem like throwing the baby out with the bath water, it often happens when the validation becomes more important than the actual message on which the reality is based.
So why am I a Witch? Because I saw the fnords. My core value system was called into question. Alternate information was presented in a form that triggered a deep contemplative response. In my case, the information was presented, unwittingly, by a Sunday School teacher. Once the process was begin, there was no going back. The comfortable little cubbyhole called Christianity no longer worked on most levels. There were too many holes, too many contradictions, my foot outgrew the shoe. But there were some parts that DID work, and I chose to keep those parts as my personal reality, and eschew the rest.
But that still doesn't quite resolve why I am a Witch. It explains why I am not a Christian, but that is not the whole of the story. Once one sees the fnords, they are everywhere. They are in all religions, in the holy teachings, in the books, in the clergy, everywhere. But unlike other religions that call those who see fnords "heretics" or "unbelievers" or burn them at the stake, Wicca EMBRACES them. The religion REQUIRES you to think them through, not to accept discongruity on "faith." It provises a skeletal structure on which you fashion the flesh of your own reality, complete with your own fnords. And so long you accept the skeleton as your foundation, your reality can look almost any way you desire.
Unlike other religions, you must THINK and LEARN and accept or reject pieces before they are grafted to the skeleton of your reality. And if a piece no longer fits, you can refashion it, so long as the skeleton remains whole.
This is not to say that the skeleton itself cannot be changed. It can. It just then is not Wicca, but something else. The point is that to be a Wiccan you must examine your core, do research, create writings, learn lessons, and formulate your OWN ideas of right, wrong, and what's in the middle. Most Wiccans know that shades of grey exist everywhere, and that life cannot be dictated by stone tablets, unchanging books, or because someone else said so. And THAT is why I am a Witch.
August 13, 2003
About Me
I've always had great difficulty when asked to define myself. It's not because there are no words that describe who I am - it's more the case that there are too MANY words. Perhaps I should be the poster child for adult ADD.
In any case, in terms of Wicca, I am a Second Circle member and Third Circle student of the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca, Athames Edge Clan of the Coven of the Far Flung Net. All of that means not very much without context, as like any other "credentials," so I'll leave that part there. I've been a student of alternative religion since my Sunday School teacher told me to stop asking so many questions she couldn't answer. I was 7 years old then. I haven't looked back since.
I began the practice of Wicca in England in an eclectic coven of college students where I went to school. When I returned to the US I became a solitary practitioner, then lapsed into not doing much of anything besides the occasional reading until I decided to become more involved. A search revealed CUEW and CFFN, and since an online coven was perfect for my lifestyle, I applied and was accepted by AE. The rest, as they say, is history.
Of course I have other facets of self besides Wicca. I am the mother of a very interesting young woman named Morgan who turns 12 in October. I am the wife of a young man I met on a diving trip (he turns 53 in October). I have been inhabiting this particular body for 43 years now, and hope I get used to it sometime soon.
In my work life, I am an intellectual property and software licensing attorney, working for various clients when I can. I also do work as a civil libertarian, trying to balance intellectual property rights with speech and expression rights. In my opinion, the tables should be far more skewed in favor of speech and expression, but those with money and funding disagree with me. In my relatively spare, spare time, I teach Tae Kwon Do 4 nights a week, make and sell jewelry made of charged stones, teach scuba diving when possible, act as a flight instructor when I can, am an author, mentor, wannabe geek, macintosh enthusiast, web designer, and practitioner of anything else that looks like fun.
In a former life, I co-founded and ran the first software company to offer commercial Internet applications for the Macintosh (founded in 1988), flew around the world to ridiculous meeting to attempt to shape what became the nightmare of ICANN, have been quoted in various and sundry publications like Scientific American, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, various and sundry television shows like TechTv and MSNBC, and too many radio programs to mention concerning how the little guy is being trashed by big company and govermental power on the Internet (nobody cared), and semi-retired in 1995 after being told I was "unemployable."
I live in Great Falls, VA in a house shared with the aforementioned daughter and husband, three insane parrots, four crazy dogs, and two sickly cats.