SecondSkin

dedicated to bright shiny objects everywhere!

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Laundry Blogging

So, I've decided to make more time for blogging by multi-tasking - type while waiting for laundry to cycle through! Frighteningly domestic, don't you think?

It might also be sheer boredom - there's not a lot to do, or that you FEEL like doing when it's 36 degrees outside! Yup, welcome to summer in Kelowna. It's been between 31 and 38 for the last 6 days or so. *whew* But that's OK, 'cause it cools down to 20+ at night. Right - that's refreshing! Not so many thunderstorms though, so that's promising for camping. Looks like we'll get one tonight, but it'll be the first in a while. Really, the weather's perfect for lounging by the pool - gotta love Shannon & Cory's place in Salmon Arm! (OK, so it's Shannon's parents, but who cares? They're away for a couple weeks, and they've got a pool! *yippee!*) And, with all this heat, the lake's pretty much warm enough for swimming now -can't wait to go try it out! (I'll have to convince Bilbo to come with - gee, that might be hard. D'ya think he'll really want to go to the beach, when there are all those beach bunnies in bikinis about????)

Hmmm, what else have we been up to in this sweltering summer? Went and saw "Troy" last night. It was good, but I have one big issue with it all. Bilbo pointed out a disturbing theme - we think the movie was directed by atheists, 'cause there was a very strong "The Gods don't give a shit about the mortal world" attitude running through it. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with that, being not particularly religious myself, to say the least. However, when you're talking about a Myth, which existed largely to show that you simply CAN'T disrespect the Gods without something REALLY BAD happening, well, I've got issues.

You see, even if the Greeks (or Trojans, whatever) didn't like the Gods, they sure as hell knew they had to step lightly when it came to saying or doing anything about it. Really, you were only safe in hacking on a God if you had another God's protection (and even then it was kind of "Greek Roulette"). And EVERYONE knew the Gods were capricious, that was why you didn't fuck with them. So, in a movie based on a legend that starts with the goddess of discord dropping a golden apple one a table among three of the most powerful Goddesses of the pantheon, for the "fairest" of them, just to see how it fucks with the mortal world, well, I guess I was expecting a little more pagan piety from the mortals.

I mean, even the heroes, Achilles, Hector, Paris, Odyseus, Ajax, Agamemnon, Menelaus, were heroic largely because they all had patron Gods and goddesses looking out for them! The whole reason Achilles was invincible was 'cause his Mom, under divine direction, dipped him in a sacred river! (By everything but his heel, I might add.) So why is it that when he dies, it seems like the shot to the heel was just incidental?

I'm not even saying that the Gods had to make cameo appearances. Just give the whole concept of divine patronage some credit. The story was built on that foundation, after all.

OK, that's my rant as an English/History major. I'm done now. :)

Monday, June 14, 2004

What's summer without camping??

So, we moved to Kelowna and were assured that summer would be scorching! Nothing but sun, heat, and more sun, with the potential for forest fires. Well, aside from a rather toasty April, so far it's been more like patches of blue sky with thunder showers, thunder showers, and more thundershowers!! Actually, it's not bad. It clears the air, and it's kind of a fun weather change from the coast - hang out on the balcony, watching the rain pour down while it's still warm out, and listening to the rumbles in the distance.

However, it makes for crappy camping weather! And I wanna go camping this summer! So, I'm hoping that June will pass into a more stable July - since June's pretty much booked already - and that mid July and August will see a couple of camping expeditions come to fruition. For anyone who's interested, I'm hoping to coerce people out to the Okanagan for a camping trip any weekend in August except the long one.... After all, what better place to meet - it's halfway between the coast and Lethbridge!!! ;) So, check your little black books, and let's get something planned. We may not have Lizard Lake, but I'm sure we can discover something to make the Okanagan at least as memorable.

Friday, June 04, 2004

greetings to the devoted and bored

Hi all.

So, after an exceptionally long hiatus (during which time they totally changed blogger on me!!!), I'm back. Decided I should come out of my shell, and surface from the chaos of work, and start communicating with the living.

So, what's new? Well, I've got two brand new neiphlings! Yup, that's one new nephew (Brendan Ted O'Brien), and one new niece (Noelle Maria Theobald -yes, they're Catholic), together that makes 2 neiphlings! :) And they're both ridiculously cute. Of course.

Work is crazy busy (I like 10 hour days, honest!), but still going well, I think.

Haven't been camping yet this summer, so that's GOT to change. Any volunteers??

Had food poisoning and/or the Norwalk virus. Had pink-eye (no, I did not turn into a zombie). Got better from both.

Made two whirlwind trips to the island, and didn't see nearly enough of anybody.

Got a giant, 5 foot catfish pillow from Bilbo's mom.... Don't ask.

Oh, and had a grand birthday fete with Shannon, Cory and Bilbo. It was girls night... Shannon and I went lingerie shopping, and then we subjected Bilbo and Cory to chick-flicks. :)

That's the scoop! Really, May was pretty busy. I'm hoping June will be a little more sedate, but we'll see. For now, it's enough that the computer is back up and running, and I'm back on line. Night all!