Egad.

I have just spent the last three hours playing a game by PopCap called Bookworm. I downloaded a trial from Yahoo!Games. Being my mother's daughter, I'm easily ensnared by addictive games. I had played a few times, did okay, maybe up to 50,000 if I was lucky. Then I played this particular session. This game has just gone on and on (and I'm not finished yet...I just got so mind-numbingly tired I had to save so that I can hope to get some sleep). My score was nearly 300,000--basically the most I've ever gotten on any game. The premiss is very simple--you have a square full of random letters you must link to make go away. More letters drop from the top. Special coloured tiles give you bonus points. Fiery tiles must be used before they reach the bottom or they'll 'burn up your library'. Bonuses are awarded if you can spell a specific requested word. Every level gives you a new title. I think I was 'Super Dictionarian' when last I looked. I've been playing games like this for about 30 minutes a day as a way to give my brain a decent workout--since I'm not actively taking classes, and my job does not generally require quick problem solving or other involved thought, it's a good way to exercise 'the little grey cells'. But who knew a simple little game would drag me in so much? So far I've used such words as 'souse', 'wen', and yes, even 'egad'.

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny during the day, and it was glorious. Even those of us cooped up at work managed to enjoy it a little. And it was jeans day, which we get once a month and I really just about live for. It's not like I wear hose and three-piece suits the rest of the time, but I just work better in jeans. A dance troupe made up of men from various First Nations came and demonstrated a variety of dances. I particularly enjoyed the Eagle and Buffalo Grass dances and one which involved five hoops and juggling up to all five at once making different animal shapes. I know it sounds corny, but the drumbeat called to me. They weren't just doing empty dances--they were doing the ritual that went with it, and you could feel the power. I don't know if it was the teensy-weensy Blackfoot/Cherokee in me repsonding or just an appreciation for wonderful dance, but it made me want to experience more. There was one dance where they got women from the audience to get up and dance with them (I hid admirably like any good chickenshit--I'm still a little dizzy from when I was sick and I'm barely co-ordinated at best). It was a sort of two-step/reel/spiral dance, all in one. I was struck by the similarity I've seen in some Pagan circles. Don't know if it was co-opted by neo-Pagans or if certain dances just have similarities, though.

Speaking of co-opting, one of my co-workers who is also very liberal started going into a tizzy when she saw the men walking down the hall in their feathers and beading. She apparently thought that they were a bunch of middle-aged white guys playing Indian--which I would usually admire because lord knows enough of their culture has been stolen by others who pretend the First Nations no longer exist. But she kind of jumped the gun in her not-quite-righteous indignation. I had to explain to her that it was a group pretty well-known in the hospital system, from one of the clubs from Oklahoma, and yes, they were real Indians. I was sort of surprised she couldn't tell. When I went to watch she was like, 'ooh, you were right'. Hello, yes. (Shakes head). I could understand if the guys looked like one of my former acquaintances who is always talking about the 'Good Red Road' and the 'Sacred Hoop' even though he's blonde, blue-eyed, and pretty much looks European (He is actually part Navajo and maybe Cherokee, I think, but most people would assume he was just playing at being Indian, and even we sometimes had to wonder. Of course, he also believes in intelligent viruses, spontaneous parallel evolution, and non-electric radios, so anything he did was taken with a grain of salt). Have I ever mentioned the sheer numbers of loons I've encountered, especially being a Pagan in Lexington? But back to the dance troupe. Most were pretty much as Indian-looking as I look British. Several, I suspect, were veterans. One guy had beaded on a shirt 'Butch'. It was great. It's like people don't think they have any lives and just sit on reservations posing for tourists. (Shakes heads again). Anyway, having doused water on the fiery temper of my co-worker, I really enjoyed their performance, and another woman and I went up to them later and thanked them for coming. I'm not sure anyone else did.

Oh, and here's something else I've come across this week. If you ever by chance encounter someone who thinks carnivorous plants, at least those that could be grown in the gardening zones of the US, would be too dangerous to plant in a garden because they might eat passerbys, please reassure him or her that he or she is perfectly safe so long as he or she is bigger than, say, a fly. What can I say, some people just don't grasp basic science--and watched way too many episodes of 'The Addams Family' as a child.

Last night I mostly played on the computer. Today I watched Animatrix. It waswonderful animation, and several of the segments helped explain some things behind The Matrix: Reloaded (how Zion got its intelligence concerning the imminent attack, how the annoying kid was saved from the Matrix, how the Matrix began...good stuff). A variety of styles were used, and there were some great martial arts moves. I have to remember them for the game. :)

This evening I went to a Lexington Legends game. There was free food (most of which I couldn't eat, being vegetarian), not free food (I had a funnel cake and warm cashews--hmmm...yummy), and fireworks. The team spent most of the game without a single score but then rallied towards the end to close behind the other team 9-7. We were in transit during the running of the Belmont (they had shown it on the big screen at the ballpark) but I was disappointed to hear Funny Cide did not make the Triple Crown. Sounds like it was a great run, though. So, this is probably the most you'll ever see me talk about sports in one post. Enjoy.

Okay, that's enough for now. Have fun storming the castle. I'm going to bed. ;)