Happy Halloween

Today I dressed up as a zombie gas station attendant (hey it was kind of lame, but I didn't have much in the way of ideas this year). So I wore my uniform, put on white makeup with dark circles around my eyes to suggest the undead or a skull, and put fake spiderwebs in my hair and on the shirt. I didn't have a picture taken of it, though, even though I had my camera with me. The picture to the right is a decorated statue in one of our hallways. The artwork is by Virginia Leake and is called 'Blue's Cat'. It was donated to the hospital sometime after UK had their public art auction of wildcat (their mascot) statues (Lexington had recently done a similar one with fibreglass horses).

We had trick-or-treating for the kids at work; hence the dressing up. The kids come to each department and we hand out candy. There weren't that many kids this year; Fridays are kind of light on census and outpatient clinic visits. But it looked like they had a lot of fun.

The biggest hit in costumes were probably those of the information technology department, who all dressed up at iPods. They had white cardboard boxes with a transparent sheeting where the screen would be, and the buttons and Apple logo were printed on them as well. I remember one saying his screen kept fogging up. I wish I'd gotten a picture. Nancy was in that department; I think she would have approved.

I had thought to dress up at the gas station as a librarian, but 1) I wasn't working tonight and 2) it's a lot harder to dress as a librarian, even with stereotypes like buns and glasses. I don't have a long skirt and crepe-soled shoes, either. Basically, if I dressed as myself, no one would get it, work name tag or not. So, it's just as well I wasn't working tonight.

Of course, it's also a religious holiday for me. So I'm home early and enjoying some time at home. Normally I would make an offering, but I hate to say it, I don't even have spring water, and I miscalculated with my chequing account (I forgot an ATM charge for using another bank's machine), so I can't really get anything right now. Sigh. But I like to celebrate on Old Samhain, too, and that's the 11th of November. I'm sure things will be better then, so I'll give a libation then.

I'm going to spend some time tonight on notes. I don't have to be at work until 2 pm tomorrow, so maybe I can do notes and clean the apartment some. I'm working until 10 pm. Sunday's the game, of course. Then Monday-Wednesday I'm off at the hospital so I can do a massive cleaning. I still have to work Monday and Wednesday nights at the station, though.

Tuesday I'm off completely; I asked off at both jobs for Election Day, partly because I'd like to go vote, take a friend to vote, and check on the results throughout the night. A few years ago there was another big election and I took my friends to vote an hour or so before the polls closed and wound up being two hours late for work because we got locked into the polling place and it took so long for them to get through the line. This election sounds like it's going to be a record one, too. I'm going to try to go about 10 am and I'm taking my friend at 3 pm, so I'm hoping we can get around the big crowds. Mine should still be lighter, since I live in a precinct that is almost entirely my apartments, and many apartment dwellers do not vote. But I think that might be different this time. We have two big races--the presidential one, of course, and also the senate race between McConnell and Lunsford. It should be apparent how I'm voting from things I've written here (and the Obama graphic). But remember, no matter how you're planning on voting, VOTE! Exercise your right to choose your leaders.

An embarrassed alumna

Effigy of Obama Found Hanging From Tree

I guess we have racist boneheads at UK, too (but I'd argue they're pretty much everywhere). The comments to the news story are especially interesting, many pointing out that there is a very different reaction from people and the media of the incident vs. the gay couple who as part of their Halloween decorations in West Hollywood have hung an effigy of Sarah Palin and put John McCain on the chimney surrounded by flames like the Devil.

I think the history of lynching black people makes something of a difference. Nor do I think anyone is attacking Palin due to her gender--she and McCain were targeted because of their politics. But I agree that neither case should be treated like Halloween fun. I just don't think Palin's represents a hate crime (and wouldn't be treated as one under the law, which as far as I know doesn't recognise gender for hate crimes, which I think is unfortunate). The Obama effigy may be meant as a Halloween prank, or a political statement, but it strays more fully into hate crime territory. I don't support either 'statement', to be honest.

I definitely am embarrassed that this happened at my alma mater.

Willow and Wesley are having a baby :)

Okay, not really. Alyson Hannigan (Willow from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) and her husband Alexis Denisof, who was a Watcher, Wesley, in both Buffy and its spin-off, Angel, are expecting. Congrats to the couple. :)

WHY?

Grieving father says he gave son, 8, permission to fire Uzi
I sometimes wonder if fully (or even semi-) automatic weapons belong in the hands of the average person (generally I'd say no, certainly it's not necessary for hunting, after all, since that's better done with standard rifles, shotguns, and bows), but on the other hand, they are legal in many places and as far as I am concerned, if you have obtained them legally, know how to use them (even taken classes on them), are duly licensed, and are an adult with your full faculties, then I say, fine, go to the local shooting range and use your weapon in as safe an environment as can be made.

I've even shot guns myself, and at the age of 8 or 9--at 4-H camp, both rifles and shotguns (but neither automatics).

But why would anyone put an automatic UZI, with a decent recoil, in the hands of an 8-year-old, even if it met all the other parameters I stated above (legal gun, permits obtained, in a shooting range, under certified instructors' supervision--and in the state of Massachusetts, which has long been touted as a 'tough' state in gun laws)? What adults thought this was a good idea? Because although a fair amount of children shot such weapons this weekend at a gun expo in Westfield, Massachusetts, one little boy didn't come out alive. He lost control of the gun during the recoil and accidentally shot himself in the head. It's a miracle no one else was injured, either. And a lot of people are asking why.

The father says he gave permission because it was a small gun, with lower recoil than many, and his son already had experience in firing weapons. He doesn't think the instructor was holding the gun with his son, but doesn't see it as particularly relevant, according to the story. Oh, and his father's job? He's the medical director of the emergency department at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, Connecticut--which you'd think would give him a perspective on the fact that kids and guns don't really mix well.

I'm not sure what I think about this story is particularly printable. I'm sure there are those out there who say, but you just don't like guns and want to keep them away from everybody. No, I don't like guns, although every now and then I consider buying one not for defence but for shooting at a range, increasing a skill. No, I question why a kid that age was given a weapon that more correctly would be in the hands of soldier than a child. I question why a gun club would advertise an event with discounts for children, lots of child activities, and drawing them in as just plain family fun. Does no one teach children about the dangers of guns anymore? Before I was allowed near one, I had to complete a hunter safety course in 4-H. And I KNEW not to go near the handgun my dad had (as a military person he had one in the home) at all, because that was made clear. I knew what guns could do without having to see if first hand. And then when I was older, I had a younger cousin killed by a gun when he was 18, which has been described as a freak accident but I suspect someone was clowning around with it. Guns aren't toys. Kids need to learn that early on. I knew the cap guns I played with as a child weren't real. I knew that real guns were deadly. And so should all of the adults and children at that expo.

News of interest

FACT CHECK: McCain persists in exaggerations

Obama assassination plot thwarted

US crossing more borders in terror war?: The alleged incursions into Syria, and previously into Pakistan, could be risky

International law and boundaries just don't seem to matter to the Bush Administration

US Forces Reportedly Strike Inside Syria:


This 9 days before the election. I hope this goes no further than Syrian protests. I mean, attacking other countries is generally considered an act of war. Nevermind overextending the military, let's fight on as many fronts as possible, right? Who cares about whether we have to go into another country or not? We're Americans; we can do anything we want. What a mentality. Gods, I hope that some cooler heads get put in office before our country goes belly up in terms of international support. It's no wonder the world thinks we're a bunch of cowboys.

A feel-good story

Hero dog risks life to save kittens from fire

I cashed in my points from my bank for a Barnes & Noble gift card

because I'm not particularly trustful of corporate America. You see, my bank is National City. But according to this news story: PNC to buy ailing National City for $5.58 billion, it's being acquired. So I don't know if the points programme will continue. It should, in theory, or at least accumulated points should be able to be used. But like I said, my faith in corporations is weak. Hence, cashing in a little over 5,000 of my points.

What will I get with the $10 card, you ask? H.P. Lovecraft: The Fiction, an unabridged and complete compilation of Lovecraft's stories in a hardcover tome with 1,120 pages. It's just been published, with an online price of $12.95, so I can get it for about $3 plus shipping and handling. Yay.

As you may recall, the last time I cashed in points, there were 40,000 of them and I got the $100 Amazon.com card that I used to buy my digital voice recorder (used mostly for the Cthulhu game) and a CD. I love getting free stuff. :)

Okay, that's enough blogging. I'm going to bed now. Ciao.

PS Did you know 'ciao' comes from 's-ciào vostro' or 's-ciào su', literally meaning 'I am your slave'? Maybe I should take that back, although of course it's an idiom not meant to be taken literally even in the full phrase. Just a bit of random knowledge for the day.

Now for something lighter: did you know common office sticky tape emits x-rays?

From Wired:

Gallery: Take an X-Ray With Your Office Sticky Tape

It has been known for a long time that sticky tape emits visible light when peeled in a dark room (try it!). But researchers at UCLA have also discovered that peeling sticky tape in a vacuum sends out pulses of X-rays along with visible light, though the actual mechanism that causes the X-rays to form is not yet understood.

Looking in the mirror and seeing mortality

Nancy's funeral was Friday afternoon. For those of us who couldn't go, there was a memorial service at the hospital, which was nice. I was able to view the slideshow today, and the service itself was really pretty helpful, I must admit. A chaplain from Hospice performed talked to us, but mostly it was people talking about how she touched their lives.

A friend of mine and I were talking about why I took her death so hard, given the fact that I really didn't know her that well, and certainly not outside of work. He believes, and I agree, that part of it is that the last person in my life to die was my grandfather, eight years ago, and he was older and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema and had been on oxygen for years. It was not unexpected. Most of the people in my life who I've mourned died due to an illness that prepared everyone for the eventuality. The one exception I can think of was a young man in a wheelchair I'd been tutoring who was killed by a car as he was crossing the street. But I was nineteen or twenty at the time, and although I was sad about him, I didn't really make a link between his mortality and mine.

But now I'm in my forties, I'm diabetic, overweight, and very much feeling the weight of my mortality. It's not that I'm particularly afraid of death per se, but it is the unknown quality that unsettles me. And Nancy's death--someone closer to my own age, sudden as it was, and with her dying alone--underscores the idea that we all will die, sometimes without farewells or wrapping up loose ends, and especially it reminds me that I could die at any time--and yes, die alone. I find myself thinking sometimes questions like: Will my family respect my wish to be cremated, to give my organs? Should I write a will? How will I die? How will my loved ones take it? How will the readers of my blog know? Will I be remembered fondly? Have I touched any lives? What will people think of the mess that is my house when they have to go through it? That sort of thing...

And part of it, too, is that I feel like such a failure in my life, in terms of what I've accomplished. But that's mostly because I'm pretty critical; I don't always see the good in life very easily. I do know that one of my best qualities is that I'm a fiercely loyal person. And I'm sure there are other good qualities. But I can't say I have joie de vivre, or that spark that Nancy had.

One thing my friend said that struck me, though, (and I'm paraphrasing since I don't remember the exact words, but it was expressed much better than this) is that there's no way to know how people will really be remembered until their work is finished and they've died.

I guess most of us have thoughts on mortality as we get older. It's only natural. But Nancy's death has given me more to digest about death, and life, and I can only hope it will have an impact in how I approach the rest of my life, and how I myself will be remembered.

I know that's several posts now on the subject. Thanks for bearing with me.