Fascination

Today's fascination is: jewelry.

This comes about because I recently bought both a strand of pearls and several new blouses, and I had the horrified realization that I simply don't own much by the way of nice pendants to go on 16"-18" chains . . . which would really help out the new blouses. So I started looking at jewelry.

I really have come around to a place of wanting to own a few nice pieces, not the "fashion jewelry" I've worn for years. Pearls are good. Green amber, which I've only recently discovered, is also good. I've always liked amber, and it's sacred to Freya, which is a bonus. I just mostly can't wear it in honey or cognac shades, and lemon doesn't appeal to me.

Pearl and amber are two of the three organically-derived "gemstones" that I'm aware of, and given my metaphysical leanings, I'm not surprised I'm drawn to these. I discovered the third one by accident while searching for brightly-colored pendants. Ammolite is derived from the fossilized shells of pre-historic sea creatures very much like snails. In one particular area of Alberta, Canada, it develops fascinating colors. Leave it to me to fall in love with a stone almost as expensive as opal.

Quote of the Week

"With him, I have the strength to be defenseless."

--performance Master Mikk, in The Merro Tree, by Katie Waitman

A toast . . .

To everyone who still wants to be a ride a dragon, be a Herald, or work in a Tower circle.

Even knowing the cost.

Quote of the Week

"Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them."

--Suzanne Necker

Z22 minus 1

I did, indeed, buy the $100 Palm. Only to plug it in, charge it, sync it, and discover that the left-most column of pixels is dead. The bleed-over of black characters and graphics on the left edge is hugely frustrating. I e-mailed Palm, since they wanted all support requests to go through them. They e-mailed me back telling me to do a list of completely unrelated things, and if none of them worked, to take it back to the store and exchange it.

Frustrating, but at least I get to do what I wanted to, rather than having to mail it in for a repair and wait for them to mail it back.

Summary

Journey's recent work log:

Fri: 11.5 hours
Mon: 12.5 hours
Tue: 10.75 hours
Wed: Had a hair appointment in the middle of the day, so fewer hours but still stayed late.

And yet, I'm still fairly upbeat about the job situation. Just tired.

I had a very nice visit with my grandparents last weekend. Next weekend's schedule is the Renaissance Festival with Pete. Originally, three other people were going, but the situation's changed, and now I think it's just us. The weekend after that, I have to figure out what someone named "Justin" has done to my hairdresser's computer, and why this caused them to lose audio. On the plus side, I got my hair done for free (not insignificant with this much hair): We trade back and forth. The weekend after that is Disneyland.

Then in March, I may be tied up all month with the office moving. I have to try to get up to Phoenix at least once, though. Pete's been doing all the driving, lately.

Found on eBay

156 pages of "Adult toys." I kid you not. And those are only the direct sales, not the true auctions.

Quote of the Week

"Men with grey beards really don't like to be called, "fellow wizard." (Although, their wives are likely to find it funny.)"

--from The Escapist: Quest for Glory, by John Walker

Love at First Bite

They look so fierce unless you have cats. I recognize that posture. That's the posture Cady uses to attack my arm or fight her sister. These are a lion at the San Diego Zoo who lost his twin, and the puppy introduced as a playmate, whose mother came through Hurricane Katrina pregnant with him.