Thursday - 20071227-0800 - Rain - Blue Night Rain; Styles of Blogging; Winter Solstice; OCD; Home Improvement - inside - living room

Rain -Blue Night Rain Larger Image

A newer image from my vault. I actually have the source for this one. It comes from Wrkshy: September 2006. The photographer says, "More pics for the City Shaded Blue series. Headlights and rain. I think my love for film noir is showing through here."

The site also contains a most interesting reprint of an interview with "The New York Times" Photo Editor Michele McNally about their policies on photos, taking photos, and assorted general questions on photography.

There are two styles of blogging. One may contain all entries for a certain period of time. However, if this leads to an accumulation of lots of photos, especially video references, it may take a LONG time to load even with a fast connection. The Wrkshy blog falls into that category with lots of images, fortunately I have AT&T broadband with a theoretical top speed of 6 Mbps, so it loads fairly quickly. (Note the word "theoretical," at present, it's running at 3.1 Mbps.)

Actually the LOTS OF can apply to even an entry for a single day if there are LOTS OF pics and embedded videos.

Embedded references to YouTube are a royal pain. Once you try to play a YouTube selection, and there's a problem, which frequently there is, it is almost impossible to kill.

The other style is an entry covering a short period of time or a particular topic with a link to an index. This speaks more to the potential of the web - the benefits of linking. (This blog falls into that category.)

And the worst efforts are those that are joined to third-party commercial sources. The sites are designed so that those sources must load first, before the actual site appears. There's a wonderful site of daily updates of gay-related happenings that drives me crazy every time I visit. There are multiple commercial sources that are forced upon you. Usually the body contains several embedded YouTube links. And it is divided into four sections, but the directory for the sections rarely loads because of all the other things trying to push through the web.

The winter solstice has passed. Christmas being but one of the celebrations associated with the event. There's a fascinating article at Wikipedia - Winter solstice that details the varied consequences of the period.

I knew that the mythology of Christmas is an amalgamation of the beliefs and practices of a multitude of cultures. But what this article reveals is staggering. There are literally dozens of festivals associated with the "longest night of the year."

In my Lilliputian world, it was nonexistent. December has been a mess financially, a notch above indigency. (I'm holding my breath waiting for the First.) So the idea of buying gifts or enjoying a special event was out of the question.

One consolation was that the 25th was especially bright and sunny. Sunshine from a special container marked "Extra Fine." Light that penetrates all the foggy corners and shaded venues. A most excellent time to do chores. So while others snoozed by the fire, I washed clothes, vacuumed, raked leaves, and worked on the soffit and fascia on the backside (westside) of the house.

A holiday at a clothing-optional gay resort in Key West is certainly an idea. But I really do not know if I would enjoy it. After a short point, leisure bores me. There are still hints of obsessive compulsive behavior that prevent me from being overly indolent. I'm certain that my OCD is some type of defense mechanism. It gives me some control over my existence. Another option is that it causes me to be unable to be too casual with others, thus preventing abuse or rejection.

OC behaviour is a thousand times better than it was pre-Prozac. And of the various meds I've taken, their greatest impact, by far, has been to ameliorate "the neural itch."

I mention this at this point, because I've noticed OCD sneaks out from time to time. Today at lunch at Golden Corral, it appeared. I could not eat until I had arranged the table. I moved the napkin holder about a dozen times, and it had to be positioned directly behind the salt and pepper shakers. And my eyeglass case had to be above and to the left of my plate. My copied of "Wired" was only readable if it was six inches to the left of my plate.

I was very much aware of what was happening, but I felt like a marionette manipulated by a spectral presence. Fortunately, this only lasted for about five minutes, and then it faded.

In preparation for painting the living room, I've started the lengthy and laborious process of moving out the storage cubes and the books into the empty bedroom. The storage cubes were not really designed as book cases. They are all 18 inches deep; some are 18 inches wide, while others are 36 inches wide.

There are a variety of styles: single cube; double cube; cube with drawers; single cube with middle shelf; double cube with middle shelf; double cube with drawers. In all the open cases, I've stacked books behind books. Although most contain two rows of books; some with paperbacks have three rows.

So as you look at them, you don't really see or realize how many books are actually there. As I'm finding, Brobdingnagian would almost be an understatement. And it's amazing how heavy large "coffee-table" books can be. I'm so glad civilization has moved on from stone tablets.

The second I open the bedroom door, all the felines want to come explore. Within minutes Tiger, Tiger had spayed one corner as his territory. Now about every couple of hours, he claws at the door and gives me a disgusted look.

I have yet to decide on a wall color. The house has genuine oak trim at all the windows and doors. Real wood in a house is almost totally absent from anything build within the last 20 years. This has made me leery of painting it. At this point, I'm thinking of cleaning the wood or even giving it some type of highlighting stain. I've got several brochures from Lowe's on staining interior wood, so I want to look at them again. And I need to do some web research. So this decision will determine the wall hue.

(In Thursday - 20071227-0800 / Out - 20071227-2130) This entry was written in multiple settings.)

Pax! Erin go braugh! Je accuse...