just an ordinary goddess…

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That it has been…

Sometimes I am not the brightest bulb on the tree.

Wordpress has a new update that I was considering installing. Before I did so, I backed up the entries on my blog. Cause I’m smart like that.

(Sometimes.)

I thought it would also be a good idea to back up the database for the blog as well. Unfortunately, I selected something I shouldn’t have selected, clicked on whatever it was that would have made the back up happen and…

I wiped out my database.

Crap.

Luckily it didn’t take much to reinstall Wordpress 2.6 and import my previous blog entries. I may have fallen from the Stupid Tree, but I was close enough to the ground that I didn’t hit too many branches on the way down.

Now the only thing I really have to do rebuild my sidebars, which is a pain in the ass, but not as much of one as losing all the entries I’ve written since I started the new URL would have been. A plus? I get my categories back after an ill-fated attempt to do something fancy a few months back, which turned them all into tags, which I found I liked a lot less than the categories.

I guess I’m not the dimmest bulb on the tree either. *phew*

However, the people mentioned in this YouTube video just might be:

Today is Noodlefest in Missouri and there’s no way I can get there to attend it.

Anyone going there, worship His Noodly Appendage on my behalf, mm’k?

*sigh*

UPDATE: I still can’t go, but I have found the perfect iBook accessory, as soon as I get my iBook:

It can be found at GelaSkins, which has all sorts of cool Apple skins.

That’s when I want it.

I’ve been waiting for it forever, or so it seems. It would have been mine two weeks ago, were it not for accidental holds on bank accounts and PayPal moving slower than slow. Not in time for the California Democratic Convention the last weekend of April, when it would have proven incredibly useful. Not in time for the Communications Committee meeting this past Saturday, where I’m still serving as Secretary because no one else will, even though I’m vice-chair now, in addition to being Tech Committee Chair and Endorsements Committee Secretary, because I seem to be more than a little bit masochistic. Communications between the main parties have been ongoing, making sure that progress is being made, but still.

I want it NOW.

Tuesday, tomorrow, it should be mine. Possibly Wednesday, depending on how slow UPS decides to be. Maybe I should have had it sent to my work address, but these things are tricky, receiving packages at a high-security workplace. I should know better than to work on government property.

Still, I’ve waited this long. Surely another couple of days won’t kill me.

Will they?

Before the weekend. I will have it before the weekend. In time for Saturday’s Coordinating Committee meeting.

I will, won’t I?

Soon I will have my lovely new (to me) 12.1 inch G4 iBook, with 1.2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB drive, Airport Extreme and AppleCare.

Then, all will be right with the world.

Well, all except for wars and hunger and poverty and cruelty and…

Surely my iBook can solve those ills.

Only time will tell.

Or at least I bear a strong resemblance to one (or several):

How weird is it that my first match (at 78%) is a guy? I just don’t know what to make of it.

Can you name all 50 US states in 10 minutes? I could, but it wasn’t easy (it took me 8:05 minutes) and I had to cheat for the spelling of Massachusetts.

I used to be so much better at all of this. States, capitals, Canadian provinces, countries – in my childhood I was a geographic force to be reckoned with. Now? I’m lucky if I can remember if a particular street is east or west of me. And if you take me out of the San Fernando Valley or my comfortable neighborhoods, I can’t even remember which way is north, south, east or west.

The brain, she be a-goin’…

I miss marshmallows.

I haven’t had one on purpose since I went and did this veggie thing over ten years ago, because marshmallows have gelatin. Since gelatin is derived from animal bones (most likely cow bones), me no can have.

And don’t tell me about kosher marshmallows either – they’ve got fish gelatin. So, again, not so good for the vegetarian shiksa.

*sigh*

Maybe it’s just time for a Fluffernutter – guaranteed gelatin free!

‘Course, it’s got all that sugar and trans fat and calories and crap…

*heavy sigh*

Guess I’ll just stick to my Vitamineral Green.

*shudder*

Oh, not in the diplomatic way, or in the building homes for Habitat for Humanity way (though I’ve done some work with them in the past) or even in a lust in my heart sort of way (though, you know, I have many times since puberty).

No, much like the country over which Carter presided when he spoke of a crisis in confidence, I’m feeling malaise.

All day I’ve tired and achy, with a bit of crankiness thrown in. Bones are too heavy to move. Mucsles think atrophy would be just peachy, swearing that vice-grips hold them in one place. Eyelids threaten to close. Brain wants to shut off and roll under the covers. People completely annoy the crap out of me.

Some moments I’m almost okay, but then a wave of malaise hits me anew, and I just want to crawl under my desk and curl up, waiting for it to go away and hoping I’ll feel better soon.

The timing is, of course, rotten, as I’ll be going to Tucson this weekend with HSTeacher. Sunday BestFriend and her family are having a naming ceremony for her new baby girl and HSTeacher and I will be driving there and back. It’ll be the first time we go on a trip together, so I’m excited. But I’m also feeling a little trepidation, as we’ll be driving fourteen hours round-trip and I am not a fan of long drives. I hope my crankiness clears up by the time we head out of L.A., else I will not be a fun traveling companion.

Of course I have tons of things to do tonight, but I lack the energy to do them. I wish I could take tomorrow off, but I’ll be out of the office on Monday thanks to my treadmill stress test, so taking tomorrow off as well wouldn’t be a good thing.

Too much to do, as usual, and no time to get it all done.

This morning I was reading an MSN TV piece about picking TV’s best campy classics, nodding my head at the selections, though many of them I’d barely seen. Dukes of Hazzard? Yep. MacGyver? You betcha. The double Hasslehoff whammy of Knight Rider and Baywatch? Oh, hell yes.

But then I came to the end of the “article” and my face fell, my eyebrows knitting over the bridge of my nose in consternation. Star Trek? Star Trek?! Are they out of their freaking minds?!!

But then I was forced to step back and view it objectively as William Shatner’s visage peered suavely yet pensively out at me and I read the words, “Then, of course, there was William Shatner, a man whose glorious overacting and inflated machismo pre-dated Hasselhoff by several decades.”

And I thought, “Damned fucking straight, and don’t you forget it, Hasselhoff!”

The I slowly closed the page, nodding again. Because, much as it pains me to admit this, and much as I adore Star Trek, its camp factor could be inordinately high at times. I mean, Spock’s Brain alone has enough camp for the entire Star Trek franchise.

I’m surprised TJ Hooker didn’t make the list. Damned punks.

In the past I’ve mentioned that I’m a bit on the hirsute side. It’s something I battle with, despite knowing that ultimately I will lose the war.

But since I’ve got an election on Sunday where I’ve got to look as good and professional as possible, I’ve decided to get my facial hair waxed on Saturday. Which means I’ve been letting that hair grow out for almost two weeks. And it’s driving me completely nuts.

I hate it. I hate it so much. I’m positive that small children are fleeing at the sight of me and animals are looking at me askance, whispering amongst themselves, “Girl needs a weed-whacker.” Even furries are thinking I have a hell of a costume.

Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but coupled with the fact that my face has decided it’s time to break out in red neon blemishes, well, let’s just say I’m not feeling at my most attractive right now. Thank heavens HSTeacher hasn’t seemed to notice. Or, if he has, he doesn’t care a whit. ‘Cause the thought of having my boyfriend avoiding me until I’m somewhat less Sasquatch-y doens’t thrill me a heck of a lot.

Ooh, I can’t wait until Saturday…

…it was nice knowing you. And I mean that sincerely.

2006 marked an interesting time, I have to say. For the first time in a long time, the good outweighed the bad by such a huge margin that I almost can’t remember the bad.

It started out on a somber note, even though I was a little excited about it – unemployed, scared for the health of my mother as she struggled with newly diagnosed breast cancer, coming to grips with the likelihood that I’d be alone for the rest of my life in my little one bedroom Valley apartment with my cats.

Somewhere along the way I picked up as a publisher’s assistant for an Irish newspaper and webmaster for an incredible congressional candidate. Mom’s lumpectomy was wildly successful and now she’s doing very well. I decided that everyone else was right and that George Clooney was damned hot. Somehow my love life was jumpstarted and I went on a lot of first dates (though none of them were with George Clooney). I gained a roommate and a new apartment, though I lost my beloved neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I also lost my dearly beloved Noel, he who was my dearest companion – feline or human – for thirteen years. I’m still filled with extraordinary sadness and I wonder if I’ll ever stop missing him. Also, BabySis moved to Florida, which frequently causes the corners of my mouth to turn downwards. My health has been giving me quite the scare as of late, though nothing has yet been diagnosed. Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status.

And now? I’m working at JPL, which excites me to no end. I’m making pretty okay money, which is nice for once. In a few weeks I’ll be running to be delegate to the California Democratic Party, which would be very interesting if I get it. I’ll be part of a progressive slate, which will up my chances of being elected.

But most astounding for me? I have a boyfriend. One I’ve been seeing for almost six months. And we’re still getting along very well. Like any couple, we have moments where there are arguments, but we talk it out and try to come to some sort of resolution. We love each other like crazy, which is a wonderful feeling. But we also have enough history between the two of us that our feet remain on terra firma even when our heads are in the clouds.

Turning 40 seemed to have worked out for me. Thank you, 2006.

Here’s hoping that 2007 is even better for all of us.