Creepy boy is creepy. (NOT!)

tom felton aka draco malfoy :: then and now

One of the nice things about fan fiction based on visual mediums (tv / movies), is the wealth of screen grabs you can find. I have a whole selection of Harry Potter pictures I’ve been using as reference, or reminders, of the movies. Granted, my memories of the books is shot, but I will reread the English versions shortly because I need to fill in some of the blanks in my Drarry fic. (And then, hopefully, the Ukie versions!)

Speaking of fan fiction, OH. MY. MOTHER. FUCKING. GOD.

SPN’s 200th episode was all kinds of awesome. All the inside jokes. All the nods to the creative energy of the fandom. The cover of “Carry On My Wayward Son”… Our anthem, beautifully done.

 

I love this fandom so much that I can’t even express what it means to me. All the people I’ve met, the crazy shit I’ve done, all in the name of a show that’s about these two brothers. It shouldn’t work as well as it does.

——

Texts from this morning - from a guy I dated in high school:

HIM: I felt like I should get in touch with you after the strange morning I’ve had.

ME: Why? What happened?

I don’t want you to think I’ve climbed on the creepy train. It might come across a bit… wrong.

You can’t say something like that and expect me to ignore it.

So, you know how certain sights and sounds remind you of things from the past? Don’t that this all creepy like, because it’s nothing like that, but I was standing in line at a convenience store and the woman behind me smelled exactly like you did in high school. I know. Psycho, right? But seriously. I truly turned around expecting to see you behind me… Feel free to call me creepy. I know it sounds a bit like that.

You remember how I smelled in high school? That is creepy. LOL What the hell did I smell like? BO?

No. Not like that. You smelled good. It was just distinctive to you. I liked it. I can say that I am truly embarrassed by this now.

Don’t be. It’s kind of awesome.

I’m glad you think so. This conversation was going all kinds of awkwardly for me. LOL

I think it’s a testament to our friendship that we can even have this discussion… you totally made my day (in a weird way, but it is what it is.)

——

I have some of the weirdest fucking people in my life and I’m keeping it that way.

I’ll have you know it feels soooooo good

my childhood copy of winnie-the-pooh vs the ukrainian e-book version

This sounds REALLY weird, but I’ve enjoyed reading the Ukrainian version of Winnie-the-Pooh on my iPhone’s Kindle app. (Well, it’s not really reading. Yet.) I’ve been highlighting words I know and adding the definitions just in case I flake out. The more words that get highlighted, the better I feel. The better I feel, the more motivated I feel. Eventually, I’ll be able to string the words together and make sense of them.

The italki October challenge is going well, also. Amazingly enough, the combination of the italki lessons and Winnie-the-Pooh led me to have a great breakthrough this weekend: I’m learning garbage. Who needs to be able to count to twenty when you really need to know how to say basic verbs and nouns?  I couldn’t write a sentence right now with what I (feel I) know. I can spell nineteen like a champ, though. (дев’ятнадцять) What the fuck do I need the word nineteen for? How many times do I use the word nineteen? (Three so far, but this is different. Well, four if you count the Ukrainian version.)

What I need to know are the verbs to know / to write / to speak / to work / to sleep.

What I need are adjectives like depressed / tired / happy / sad / cold.

What I need are nouns like dog / work / husband / music / friends

What I really need (REALLY) is the word fuck in all it’s wonderful and varied forms.

Those four lists are pretty much the basis of everything I write here, so those are the words I need to focus on.

And that’s what I’m going to do.

Fuck rote memorisation of words I don’t need right now like nineteen (five times).

This isn’t a new discovery. All the language bloggers who promise quick fluency in a language, they all tend to agree on one thing… Speak first, learn the details later.

It’s a weird idea and not nearly as easy as it sounds, but it forces you to learn the language. Yeah, you might sound like an idiot (tarzan-speak: I to read book vs I read a book, for example: Я читати книжка instead of the correct Я читав книгу.), but - theoretically - you’ll learn the grammar as you go along. Naturally. Without needing to memorise conjugation tables.

Well, I’m not keen on speaking (shy/introvert/social anxiety), but I am keen on writing. And so, I’m going to start trying to write. Even if it’s just two sentences about my day. It will force me to learn the proper noun cases and verb conjugations and it seems to be just as interactive as memrise. I’ve been learning the hard way that I just can’t do flashcards. They’re boring. I need to be involved. I need an external force to tell me if I’m right or wrong. Guessing an answer on a flashcard isn’t interactive enough…

So. Yeah. I will write more. I write a lot (Я пишу багато) any way - so why not try to do it in Ukrainian? 

——

Speaking of feeling better: had a long talk with a few co-workers about the situation at work.

Needless to say, I felt MUCH better. I’m glad that people are noticing things and acting on them.

Because of this new intel, I talked at length with my Drug Dealer about the meds and the mix. It was decided that I would continue supplementing my current meds with the anti-anxiety meds. Well, I guess I really do just need to take the edge off. Temporarily. Once the situation settles down, I should be stable again.

At least, that’s the hope.

It’s been a while and I needed a pick me up

I saw a motivational speaker at work the other day.

It motivated me all right.

To find another job.

ba dum tss

——

In all seriousness, stuff’s been going on and I needed to find my happy. Since it’s been forever ago…

Stats as of 09/27/2014:
ZURICH: 10 Subscribers, 1492 hits, 54 kudos, 4 comment threads, 4 bookmarks

PARIS: 11 subscribers, 1764 hits, 50 kudos, 5 comment threads, 2 bookmarks

HARTFORD: 10 subscribers, 882 hits, 44 kudos, 9 comment threads, 5 bookmarks

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE: 2 subscribers, 2208 hits, 16 kudos, 0 comment threads, 2 bookmarks

AUTHOR STATS: 8 author subscriptions, 42,224 words

Stats as of 03/02/2014:
ZURICH: 10 Subscribers, 1014 hits, 41 kudos, 4 comment threads, 1 bookmark

PARIS: 11 subscribers, 1191 hits, 41 kudos, 5 comment threads, 1 bookmark

HARTFORD: 10 subscribers, 713 hits, 34 kudos, 9 comment threads, 4 bookmarks

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE: 2 subscribers, 1540 hits, 15 kudos, 0 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

AUTHOR STATS: 6 author subscriptions, 42,224 words

Stats as of 01/05/2014:
ZURICH: 10 Subscribers, 838 hits, 35 kudos, 4 comment threads, 1 bookmark

PARIS: 11 subscribers, 1057 hits, 39 kudos, 5 comment threads, 1 bookmark

HARTFORD: 10 subscribers, 624 hits, 29 kudos, 9 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE: 2 subscribers, 1334 hits, 13 kudos, 0 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

AUTHOR STATS: 5 author subscriptions, 42,224 words

Stats as of 11/17/2013:
PARIS: 12 subscribers, 773 hits, 32 kudos, 5 comment threads, 1 bookmarks

HARTFORD: 10 subscribers, 476 hits, 28 kudos, 8 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE: 2 subscriber, 1056 hits, 11 kudos, 0 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

Stats as of 11/10/2013:
PARIS: 10 subscribers, 504 hits, 23 kudos, 2 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

HARTFORD: 10 subscribers, 433 hits, 23 kudos, 8 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE: 1 subscriber, 1018 hits, 11 kudos, 0 comment threads, 3 bookmarks

Destiel to the rescue!

*snicker*

I am now $4.99/month poorer, but I have the ability to block a certain phone number.

I am now minus one friend on Facebook, but I have the ability to breathe.

I have finally finished what Windsor Locks started.

And, damn, it feels good.

The Empty House

i don’t know why i am smiling, but i’ll have you know it feels so good

*sigh*

It’s been a long few weeks.

The Apache-sized hole in our lives hasn’t begun to shrunk yet and it was really noticeable yesterday. I had a half day, so I was alone in the house for several hours before J & Guinness got home. It was pretty traumatic. I kept looking for him, listening for his bark or his tags jingling, just those little things that remind you you’re not alone in the house.

——

I decided to rework UkieGirl to make it easier to have a photo gallery. I’m using a stock template and another tutorial. (I HATE the new Expression Engine - there’s just enough that is different and it’s tripping me up left and right.) It’s nt anywhere close to being done yet, but in the meantime, for a quick break, I did redo the current blog to combine some “channels” and add some more navigation. There may be errors. I don’t care. It’s not like the blog is getting any traffic right now.

I’m a little pissy about the half-reboot because I asked for help on combining the channels and all I got in the EE forums was BS. I responded to the first answer I got with basically, “I don’t know what the fuck you mean. I know it’s not as easy as you make it sound. I have [boring tech shit here].” The response I got to that made my blood boil. That same unhelpful person wrote back, “Well, I guess you need to research how channels work.”

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, DUDE?

I’ve been using EE since it was in fucking BETA. I have googled what I’m looking for. More importantly, I only post questions to the forum when I’m really confused and want my hand held. Smart ass answers help NO ONE.

I couldn’t even respond to his post, I was so angry. I even ended up unsubscribing to my own thread. I don’t want to know what other brilliant answers are out there.

——

While I’m on the topic of things I’m probably over-reacting to, let’s talk about Soulmate Boy.

He had been doing fairly well in a halfway house and being a productive member of society while he counted down the days remaining on his sentence. His wife decided to divorce him (which is not my story to tell, but I totally saw that coming.) After threatening to commit suicide several months ago, and creating all kinds of havoc in my life. I mean SERIOUS HAVOC, he wound up back in prison, in a mental health ward.

I fought with J because of him. I never fight with J. It’s probably due to the dynamics of the fact that he’s the youngest and I’m an only child… I’ll leave that for the shrinks to decide. The fact remains that we argued quite a bit over the things I was promising SB to get him to calm down and think rationally. I meant every single one of those promises and I was going to deliver on every single one J would agree to.

Finally, we negotiated down to adding him to our cell phone plan. In March. Before he got locked up again.

He wouldn’t write me directly, choosing instead to dictate letters to me through his mother. I got email after email after email begging me to get him a damn cell phone.

Did I mention he wasn’t going to be free / able to use a cell phone until August 18th? This shit started in MARCH.

We went and upgraded our iPhones, looked at new plans, looked at phones for him, etc. If the girl at the AT&T store hadn’t been such a fuckhead, I probably would have had every thing all set for him. In July. When I got sick of the bullshit. (And did I mention, he had to have a CT phone number because he was afraid that a NH number would violate his probation or some such shit? So, that added an extra layer of bullshit to deal with. We live in NH. My account is in NH. Getting a CT number required some work.)

The very next day, I got an email from his mom telling me he convinced his aunt to get a cell phone. Supposedly, she didn’t know about him begging the aunt.

My blood literally started to boil. My heart acted up. I was unable to calm down.

I just couldn’t believe how selfish he was. I was going to lose my AWESOME cell phone plan (unlimited data, text, voice, iPad, roaming, etc) because we were adding a line and that plan wasn’t offered any more. Granted, in the end, it became a moot point, but for fuck’s sake what if the girl at the AT&T store hadn’t pissed me off? I’d have an extra phone, an extra line, and a shitty plan because of him.

I’m still angry thinking about it, and it’s been almost two months.

The other night, I was watching a Queer as Folk episode where Ted is pissed off at the gang for some reason or another. (I don’t remember the episode and I turned it on halfway through, so forgive my vagueness.) Ted’s friend, Blake, runs into Michael and Ben at the gym and says, “You’re a reflection of those things that he wants to forget. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about you.”

And holy shit. Light. Fucking. Bulb.

I only have two words: Windsor Locks.

Again, probably not my story to tell, but the highlights include a midnight phone call, and hour drive to an apartment complex, and a threat of attempting suicide.

I think you can put the pieces together.

He’s definitely a reflection of those things I want to forget… I need to forget Windsor Locks. While the details are hazy, the emotions are very much there. Very powerful. Very unforgettable.

Let’s put it this way, if I ever needed to learn the Ukrainian word for suicide (самогубство), his face would be my mnemonic device.

To put it in psychological terms, he is a trigger. A trigger for all the bad things I am capable of. For all the bad things my body can do. (Dude… thank Dog for my heart pills or I would have gone to the ER that afternoon.)

I need to walk away, but because I do care, it’s hard to stay away. We’ve been doing this stupid dance for decades now. If I don’t find him, he finds me.

Right now, he’s on my facebook restricted list but I’m about an hour away from defriending him and blocking his new phone number. If he tried to email me, I’d even report him as spam.

I just can’t have him in my life any more… and every one says, “Oh, if he’s that toxic, dump him.” Then, I tell them about the blocking and the spam reporting, and I get told I’m overreacting. The only way to remove him from my life is to really ensure he can’t find me.

Obviously, there aren’t any easy answers where he’s concerned, and there never have been.

——

In happier news, I officially own my car.

I now have only one car in my life that I’ve never held the title to.

Most of the time, I get the title and trade the car in, but I really don’t want a car payment right now. Maybe I can frame my title and use it as inspiration to save the $24K that firm is going to charge me to get a Ukie passport. *grin*

OK. Enough stalling…  back to terrible 80s horror flicks and html.