nothing to report-just cant sleep

Once again, nothing really new to post. We haven't really worked on the house while we are dealing with more tax issues. So instead of real issues I am fluffing with a survey from Dismas on Facebook.
Enjoy.
Z

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Damn I cut the hell out of myself. I need to get a buzz shaver
2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
43$
3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
Bore, core, fore, four, gore,hoar, lore, more, pore, roar,sore, snore,spore,store,tore,wore,yore...and how could I forget, as a Winnie the Pooh fan...Eeyore?!
4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Duda
5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Funki Porcini playing The Great Drive By from Love, Pussycats & Carwrecks
6. What are you wearing right now?
Old grey sweater and comfortable jeans
7. Do you label yourself?
All the time. But the labels change every few hours or so.
8. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
Dockers,Reeboks, Red Wings, and Wellco
9. Bright or Dark Room?
Dark
10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
She is a fire cracker when the fuse burns in and you are waiting for the explosion
11. What does your watch look like?
mid 1950's gold and silver mens everyday watch
12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
asleep on the couch with Dracula on the TV
13.What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
"I love you"
14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
Rude!!! (Its from the out of the hood program)
15. Who told you he/she loved you last?(please exclude spouse , family, children)
Since we are excluding spouse, family and children.
I would have to go with Buffy the dog. She was just curled up in my lap with her head over my shoulder before I started this.
16. Last furry thing you touched?
See above.
17. Favorite age you have been so far?
teens
18. What was the last thing you said to someone?
Good night. I love you
19. The last song you listened to?
Bah Samba - So Tired Of Waiting
20. Where did you live in 1987?
Commerce
21. Are you jealous of anyone?
Not any more.
22. Is anyone jealous of you?
Don't know, don't care, either.
23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Phone(might not be charged), keys, ipod
24. What’s your favorite town/city?
Sitia, Crete
25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
In February
26. Can you change the oil on a car?
No, why bother when that's what service stations exist for.
27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
First? 1st grade Charity Holdridge. She came out of the closet and is now a Youth Pastor in Minnesota
28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
My left leg always hurts lately
29. What is your current desktop picture?
Eiffel tower in the fall of last year
30. Have you been burnt by love?
Burnt, cooked, charred, toasted, scortched.....

I want THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Purchase a Piece of "Ferris Bueller" History


Now's your chance to own a priceless piece of real estate, made famous in the 1986 classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The Highland Park, Ill., home belonged to the parents of Ferris' notoriously uptight sidekick, Cameron. For a cool $2.3 million, the 5,300-square-foot, mostly glass house can be yours. Rambunctious sidekick and 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California not included.


What's your favorite Bueller quote?

Cameron: "I'm dying"
Ferris: "Your not dying, you just can't think of anything good to do!"

Insomnia is a pain

Anyone who has known me for a while, or who reads my facebook status updates, knows I am an insomniac to the core.It has come and gone throughout my life. My first memorable insomnia experience was in high school, when I learned that USA Up all night with Rhonda Shear was on at 3am. Not sure why I didn't seek help then. I was regularly falling asleep in class.

Throughout my adult life, it has come and gone in spurts, a night here, a few weeks there. That was until February when it reached an apex. Can I explain what brings it on? Not really. What I do know is that I have "pervasive thoughts." The brain, it just doesn't turn off..like, ever. And while I have heard of people up at night with worry, I'm really just up with my head spinning around dumb stuff. "I wonder if I should buy a new hammock this winter while they are on sell", "What is whoever doing tomorrow?" "What will be the next project on the house" Seriously! It's annoying. Here is what insomnia, at it's worse, looks like for me: Lying in bed till 5ish before falling asleep or awakening at the early hours and either not being able to fall back asleep or waking about once an hour until it's time to get up. Either way, in the last three months I have been looking at my alarm when it turns on at least 4 times a week. Total suckage.

I have tried a bunch of things to address this issue:

* -tried taking a herbal sleep blend. Impact: nothing
* -tried taking melatonin. Impact: weird dreams and waking up angry
* -no caffeine after 2 PM. Impact: some improvement in falling asleep but woke up at 4am just to see the sunrise
* -no alcohol. Impact: no change at all. I knew I wouldn't keep that one long
* -experimenting with TV/sleep timer. Impact: hard to tell. I don't really watch TV
* -stopped taking vitamins at night. Impact: none nut I could eat breakfast in the morning
* -focus on breathing. Impact: annoyance
* -reducing the temperature in the house. Impact: nothing just got cold in the night
* -cannot do the warm milk thing...just can't do it. I don't like dairy
* -taking an anti-anxiety medication for the racing mind. Impact: made me a zombie, a walking dead zombie, but not asleep
* -taking sleeping pills. Impact: they made me zoned out, slow thinking, and made me generally irritable the next day
* -taking pain pills. Impact: I took these but found out that with a good drink at the end of the night I slipped into a drunken stupor that would let me relax and fall asleep. BUT the opiates in them made me have some of the worst dreams of my life. They might not of all been scary but they were all disturbing to some extent.

So here is where I am at right now. Yesterday, I ordered some noise canceling headphones to see if its the constant droning of the ceiling fans that are almost necessary for a big house like ours.
I talked to a holistic healer that suggested that I try mediating while living in Hawaii. So far it is just a time in the afternoons that I can relax without the constant barrage of requests and irritations.
There will come a time when I go back to the modern day doctor but I want to exhaust all options first. At this point, I have found something that kinda helps but it is not something I can do every night. As much as I wish I could.
If you think I am making too much of this, I am. I sat up last night and watched the sun come above the horizon and could still feel myself internally trying to fight the urge to go to sleep.


Zach

DragonCon 2009

Well I had not planned on going to DC this year but Zach surprised me with a one-day pass for Sunday. I did not get to any panels (tried the SteamPunk Costume panel at 7pm but again they put the track in TOO SMALL A ROOM!!!!). Registration seemed fine in the Sheraton but I was disoriented as they moved the comic artist alley. Thanks to my friend Gail though I was able to find things. I ran into her as I was leaving the art show and she helped me find Sanford (coolest comic artist ever!!) and everything else. BTW, Gail had an AWESOME Deputy Jo Lupo costume!!!! She graciously allowed me to watch the masquerade in her room at the Hyatt but I do not know why I still torture myself with doing so other than tradition (Duck Dogers and the 24 1/2 Century!!!!). DC really needs to revamp the Masquerade. We stayed Sunday night to see costumes and while the pickings were again slim (has been for several years) there were some really good ones especially the 9 costume, the SteamPunk Star Wars and the Willie from Indiana Jones. Actually there were a lot of SteamPunk and all of it seemed good to me so I am glad to see that there is still good costuming going on at DC. While my favorite fungus artist was not in attendance at the art show, I did come across a surprising new artist with a print that I bought for my office. The drawing accurately depicted several species of mushroom in a slightly fantastical setting (yes there was a fairy, no she was not naked) done in colored pencil but done very nicely. I even scored some nice swag (pen and cup!) from the Firefly costuming group and I hope to maybe join! Very nice people and I learned a few things about Stargate that I did not know! Thanks guys! Before DC though, Zach and I were visiting my grandmother and we took her to eat at Rusan's again but this time she actually had some real raw fish (Tuna) and she liked it! She also managed to eat some of her dinner with chopsticks. Every time we visit, she surprises me. I also managed to finish the Mary Poppins scarf that I started over a year ago and even though I still have to block it, the hard part is done! Now I need to see if I can knit Zach a scarf with the pattern he wants. I will prevail! Lastly, I have started reading for fun again (grad school, postdoc and the ensuing early years of teaching prevented me from really picking anything up) and I've been racking up the fiction and non-fiction. Books I've read lately include Magical Mushrooms, Mischevious Mold by George Hudler (actually this was for school as I am going to use it as a text for my fungus course but still fun to read), The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson on the London Cholera epidemic of 1854, Fool Moon, Turn Coat and Summer Knight of the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (hat to the Swensons). Zach also turned me onto a book that I have just requested from the PINES library system here in Georgia called Pump Six by Paolo Bacigalupi and I plan to see if I can get his new book called The Windup Girl (read the review on io9.com). I also plan to read "The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators" by Gordon Gice which is a non-fiction essay collection on natural predators and how they compare to human society (Thanks Daxton!).
Sharon

P.S. I am also trying to finish that miserable alien shirt from way too long ago. All I have to do is the buttons but I am dragging my feet. I hate buttons! At least on my current machine. Then I can get to my witch costume that I started last year in October. Here's hoping I'll have it ready for Halloween this year. :D

Busy Weekend (Sunday)

All week I have been fighting with the backdoor by having to slam so hard the wall would shake to properly close. This morning, a little hungover, I finally snapped. Unfortunately waking up Sharon by fussing with an inanimate object at the top of my lungs got her attention a little too early in the morning. (insert fight) We took off to the Home depot and picked up a new door, ceiling fan for the kitchen and a working flood light.
Now I had no idea that we would be doing this today! I promise. But here is is 10:30 at night and I have ripped the old door out and installed a new one better than before, Replaced the mid 70's model fan, and finally got a motion sensor that actually senses motion!
Anyway, everything makes the house a little more homey and a little more toward my goal. Time to take a hot bath and get ready for the work week ahead.


Old beat up back door
.

New leaded glass beauty

BernerCam

I thought I would retask one of the house cameras as a webcam to watch the dogs while on road trips. If anyone notices a problem please let me know.

Ramblings of an over caffinated insomniac

Davinci's pizza – we knew that it had shut down a while ago but gone totally like wiped off the face of the Earth?????
New Tate center – Geez, we students of the modest Tate gone past are blown away and completely jealous. This is what happens when you graduate and start working. Your tax dollars help build a better student center that you do not get to use. This sucks, I had to share the study/quiet rooms with idiots making out in the corner.
The Women's studies/Old police station gone – why? I liked that building.
Two new buildings downtown near First Baptist Church – one is very modern looking but the other just looks like the church is remodeling
Hodgons moved! - blasphemy
Lunch Paper now a freaking martini bar!!! – the ever revolving door of bar/food businesses that keeps everyone guessing and coming to downtown Athens swings again.
All you can eat Ihop pamcakes. Who is this pam and how does she get turned into cakes that we should all hop for?
Old Mellow Mushroom downtown was turned into a Tokyo sushi bar. I would love to know what Murphy thinks about that.
I am still irritated about the loss of Blue Sky. I just don't care that Starbucks is supposed to be the better replacement. I liked the anti-chain Blue Sky coffee. I miss the funky art and affected holier than thou waitstaff who always served drinks exactly the way you wanted without charging you for the extra cup. And why is it so hard to study in the upper loft? I think its cursed

Memories

One of my favorite places in the world has been destroyed! I thought I would share some memories of the Georgia Theater in hopes that typing and sharing them would take the sting away...It was more than a club to me. The whole ambiance from the smells of stale spilled beer and cigarette ash on the floor to the torn and broken ceiling tiles falling from the roof. It was just dirty enough to be unimposing yet had enough history to demand the respect it gathered by all of us.
Unfortunately, due to its age it was grandfathered into not needing sprinklers for safety which ultimately led to its untimely demise.

My favorite memories
1.I got to see David Byrne in concert there, afterward talking and having drinks with him at the GA Bar next door. (One of my favorite memories)
2.I met my one famous girlfriend there. She has a smile that will always cheer me up.
3.80's dance nights in the late 90's with Laura. She looked so happy to be on that stage dancing her heart out and with the lights flashing above us.
4.Walking past the box office every morning on the way to my Jittery Joe's coffee breakfast and saying HI to Jennifer as she left for the night.
5.The REM shows with only 100ish people in the crowd. How could you not love that!

Garden is coming along

Yeah! We have tomatoes! Lots of tomatoes. So many tomatoes they're threatening to take over the garden and force us to eat salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner so the tomatoes do not go to waste. We're giving them away we have so many tomatoes. As for the kind of tomatoes we are growing, I wanted to try some heirloom tomatoes mixed in with the roma and BetterBoy varieties. Well at present we are inundated with the small roma and pear-shaped heirlooms but only a few medium sized brandywine tomatoes and one or two BetterBoys. Today we picked the first yellow heirloom tomato which is about the size of two large grapes squished together. Not forgetting the two decent sized yellow squash we are waiting to try. The vines are not producing like I am used to so I am going to have to research growing squash in south Georgia a little more for next year's crop. This year was totally experimental anyway so anything we get is a bonus! Especially all the tomatoes. Now all I have to do is keep Zach from eating them all before we can have them on our salads (he'll eat them whole right out of the garden and bowl!).

Sharon

Just had to share a random picture

Sharon's Grandmother stole/spilled most of my Mojito in her ice water glass to give it the right kick at CPK last Sunday night.

Parents

I was looking at picture of my Aunt, my mother and I(The kind you get out of the vending photo booths) that we took when I was around 2 or 3 the other day. It stays in my wallet where I can see their smiling faces when I need a pick me up. I looked at her fondly and thought of my childhood and how we played together. She would watch me as I would play in the tree house/fort my Great Uncle and Father built in the back yard.
It also reminded me of the walks she would take me on through the family property. She once told me that spruce gum resin tasted exactly like honey and if I gathered up enough she would make me candy form it. So she smiled as I went to the trees that make up a fence line behind the old cedar house. I pulled a long resin drop off and whole heartedly stuck it in my mouth. Belch! Oh god that was the most awful taste. It seemed as if my mouth turned completely inside out. She sat there on the stump of an old oak laughing and told me that someone (probably Papa Jack) had done the same to her when she was a young woman. So she had passed on the tradition to me. She took me back to the house and to cheer me up we ate frozen blackberries out of the freezer in the carport.

This was 28 years ago and I still remember it as if it was yesterday. Miss you mom.
Now I don't have kids of my own to pass this on to yet. But I do have a great nephew!
Look out Braxton.

Flowering Hostas

Zach's hostas on the front porch are flowering! Pretty little purple flowers. I have never seen a hosta flower so this is kinda cool for me!


Sharon

Total demolition of the back hallway

At this point, Zach and I have almost completely demolished the hallway on the back of the house that connects the kitchen/office to the bathrooms/utility room/sewing room. All of the drywall, floor and ceiling molding is gone and now we are left with removing some old wooden beams that need to be replaced. Once we get new beams up, then we can redo the ceiling and walls with new drywall, insulation, paint, and molding. We are also going to put in more lighting so it can no longer be called the "cave" and redo some of the electrical outlets and switches. Then we can pull up the awful black & white checkerboard linoleum (I just don't like it!) and put down some old-fashioned stained hardwood flooring to match the rest of the house. Check out the wonderful crack between the backdoor and the hallway frame!!!


 
 
 
 

Ideas that come from the worst places

I have a great friend that flies UAV's more specifically a "removed". He and I were sitting on the back porch having a few drinks / "chillaxing" the other day. When all of a sudden he had the idea to fly his plane down Peachtree around the Hyatt and under the Marta curve in Atlanta. Now we were just having a good time so I just laughed and went on. So anyway, this morning I just had to see if it was even possible to fly through a tunnel at such speeds, while avoiding traffic, and the rubberneckers. As it turns out, this is not a new idea there are many people that have tried it.

Mark, this is for you.

Puffy Star Wars Pillows

Four summers ago in a town three hours from Cochran, I worked as a sales associate (cashier/stock girl/crafting advice giver) for JoAnn Fabrics in Athens, GA. I loved working there for lots of reasons (people were nice, got a neat discount, loved being around my hobby of sewing & crafting, on the bus route, near a Jittery Joe's, in Athens....) and unfortunately like an alcoholic exposed to alcohol, being too near my favorite hobby materials was like a siren song and so I usually wound up getting something as soon as my shift was done. One of those siren song items was a pair of Star Wars fleece pillow kits where you cut the fleece and tie the ends around a pillow form. I was unable to actually make the pillows though until this last April when I finally procured two pillow forms of around the right size and took the time (2hrs at my sewing table and then my kitchen table due to lighting issues) to make them. I was rather pleased with the result and both my husband and the dogs seem to agree. Zach often uses them to nap on or use as a prop on the floor when he plays video games or watches TV. For now they live on the futon but they will probably very soon live in my hobby room when we get new furniture (crossing fingers) for the living room.

Sharon

Cutting all around

Well today I finally decided to get a much needed haircut but not possessing any hair styling talent and not having a ton of time to devote to hair do-ing, I opted for a simple bob. I looked up donating what was cut off but apparently since I did not braid it and since it is not at least 10in long, my 2lbs of dead keratin cannot be used for a wig. I'll send it anyway to http://www.locksoflove.org/ as they can make money to support what they do off of my hair.

When Zach got home from his trip this evening he and I also started demolishing ("demo" as the lingo goes) the badly dry walled hallway (We will continue in the morning). We are pulling everything out so we can repair the roof, put up insulation, improve the electrical outlet situations, wainscoting, wall sconces, decent overhead lights, paint and put down real hardwood flooring. Then we can tackle all the other projects around the house like the bathrooms, the kitchen, lack of ceiling fans, lack of insulation under the floors & in the ceiling, new tin roof, the yard, etc.....

Strange Facebook surveys

That’s right I was tagged for a Meme. Yes, I’m using it for blog fodder. Besides what else am I supposed to do while waiting on the servers?

Directions: Share ODD Things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 20 something things about your friends, and let them learn 20-something things about you

1. Do you like blue cheese? yes I love Rouquefort from Whole Foods
2. Have you ever smoked? I did for 7ish years. Haven't needed one for 2 years
   
3. Do you own a gun? One
   
4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite? Is red a flavor?
   
5. What do you think of hot dogs? If its real meat then bring it on
   
6. Favorite Christmas movie?Christmas Story
7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Tea or Coffee
   
8. Can you do push ups? As many as you want
   
9. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? St. Christopher (Military Patron) medal
   
10. Favorite hobby? Currently renovating my home
    
11. Do you have A. D. D? Yup, I have come back to this twice already
    
12. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Glasses but I have a few disposable contacts
    
13. Name 3 random thoughts at this exact moment: I have to type a progress report eventually, I wonder what condition my house will be in another 160 years. Are drag queens really just gay men with too much fashion sense? "Sorry folks there was a parade passing today at lunch. "
    
14. Name 3 drinks you regularly? Tea, Coffee, Mt Dew
    
15. Favorite place to be? St Joseph bay
    
16. Where would you like to go? Scotland, to Hawai'i, or back to Perth
    
17. What shirt are you wearing? My "I failed the Turing test" t-shirt
    
18. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Satin pillow cases with regular sheets
19. Can you whistle? Yes I can
    
20. Where are you now? At work in Pensacola. And I probably won't get to see the beach.
    
21. Would you be a pirate? Argghh, Does that mean I have to be a skinny Somali ?
    
22. Do you sing in the shower? The shower faucet is being re-chromed at the moment. So no
    
23. What is in your pocket right now? Keys,RFID tag, cellphone, ipod, wallet, two jump drives, and an Ethernet crossover adapter
    
24. Last thing that made you laugh? Fat guy driving a General Lee on I-10.
    
25. Random odd thing. I have a stupid toe.
    
26. How many TVs do you have in your house? 3

Zach

My mom and I at Broadway at the Beach near Myrtle Beach on Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

My great-aunt Marie and my mom.

Family on Mother's Day

Zach and I went to visit my mom for mother's day and my "Uncle" Dennis (my mother's cousin by her mother's sister) happened to be there helping her make invitations for the Barnes family reunion. I managed to snap a picture of Dennis and my nephew when they were not looking.

MGC 80th Graduation

Well it is official! I've been at MGC 3 years. My third year was punctuated by MGC's 80th May Graduation Ceremony. Zach took the picture from way up in the stands before everyone filed in to fill the seats.

Koryo Spaghetti Dinner May 2009

The MGC anime club, Koryo Fox, that I advise had a last hurrah spaghetti dinner at our house Wednesday night. The kids devoured the spaghetti with meatballs (thanks Zach), cherry vanilla ice cream and the garlic bread. Zach and I were glad to be able to give them a night of fun during finals. We are firm believers in the fact that every college student should have at least one spaghetti dinner (cheap & easy) and a break during finals. Some students watched "Shaun of the Dead" while others played piano and looked up Facebook (I do not have a Facebook account. I guess I'm behind the times. Now I feel old). Some of them will be back next year but some of them are moving on (graduating, transferring, next step of their lives). We'll miss those leaving as this was a good group but we look forward to helping those staying become well rounded indiviuals while maybe watching some good anime!!!

Sharon

Lack of posts

Sorry folks,

Sharon and I are still alive.
My loving wife has been pestering me to add to the blog lately but the house and work have been taking precedence over a growing list of honey do's.

Up-date:
January 1st
I noticed that there was a water spot on the ceiling of the hallway. That led me to the crawlspace above where I discovered that there were in fact TWO ceilings! The previous owners "PO's", in all their wisdom had built a false ceiling over the original. There was a leak above the office door as well as the storage closet. As I inspected the roof above these two spots I realized the tin roof seam had been folded over pooling water beneath. How ever many years ago this happened caused a rust line along the edge. So, I decided to take down the drywall that was ruined by the water and discovered that the PO's had cut studs on a bias to follow the cedar tongue and groove paneled ceiling slope. As I swung my hammer to remove the first stud I heard a low groaning and saw the other studs falling away as the old ceiling started to bow away. Being under the impeding doom I saw the back door calling my name. As I ran debris fell around, in front, ON me. Showered in 130 years of dust, wood, blown cellulose insulation, and owl poo I fell out the back door.
After the roof is fully repaired, we will be reconstructing the hallway roof at the same height as the foyer. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a contractor in the area that has any real experience with new plaster. So Sharon will be helping me redo the electrical, drywall, and put down new hardwood floors this summer. She has been planning what she wants in there since the day after it happened. The silver lining is I now have not been trusting the PO's "renovations" and have found many problems that have now been fixed.


February:
I removed the god awful medicine cabinets in the bathrooms. Since I already had the walls opened up a friend and I rewired the lights on the ceiling and added vanity lights over the sinks. After the hallway is completed we will be adding exhaust vents to both in hopes of one day being somewhat in code.







Sharon got the antique piano she always wanted as a valentines present this year. It started life as a choir piano from the Catholic parish in Macon. She did not know she was getting it till the day of and only then because I could not get in the house alone. The only people available in the area was a professor and an instructor from MGC. Hopefully we will be able to have it restored int he coming year. At a party last night some of our guest played it and it sounded beautifully.



I promise I will post more but actual work calls.

Zach