Theatre of the Absurd

I am looking at my (for all intents and purposes) brand new laptop, and I am entirely unsure what to do with it. It's kind of heartbreaking to admit this, but I have lost a lot of my fiction...and not just because the files are floating around on my broken hard drive. I can't remember a lot of things about what I wanted to do with it, or where I wanted certain things to go. I have the bare bones of things in my mind but that is it. I lost my ideas because I didn't work with them. Now that I go back to the toy box that is my mind, I can't find what I really want to play with. So what do I do? I can remember how I used to find inspiration - in music, in other works, in photographs. I would make myself start things and they would always just GO, dragging me along for the ride. I love that feeling. I MISS that feeling. I lost my way in the haze of everyday life and drama in other quarters. The new goal is to find my way back.

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There was a citywide garage sale in my mother-in-law's hometown today. Which is to say, the residents of the city were encouraged to do garage sales on this day. We drove around and hit up maybe a half-dozen sales. We came home with some interesting swag: a new hat for J, a grocery bag filled with new toys for the pups, a poster that we plan to frame for the living room, and three old film canister boxes. They are old, sturdy, black pressboard with metal edges to make them strong. Each of them closes with a leather belt that buckles (one is broken). We're going to stack two of the boxes in the bedroom to make a new bedside table for J, and put the other next to "my" chair in the living room. I love them. Other great finds include a genuine Harley Davidson handbag (in black leather, no less) that looks completely unused for $1 (a gift for mother-in-law...the thing retails for around $35 or $40, per MIL), a tiny ceramic box painted with a uniquely done lighthouse for a quarter and a really interesting looking old cigar box that mother-in-law will somehow incorporate into her decorating scheme in her new home.

After the garage sale, the three of us went out for what ended up being brunch. We split three different breakfasts family-style. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to do such things. Also this way I got to try the strawberry banana-nut waffle and STILL have some of my tastyanddelicious Texas Skillet (steak, eggs, ranch potatoes, Portobello mushrooms and bell peppers). Win.

Unfortunately I have been fighting with a migraine since last night. It got pretty horrible by the time I had left work yesterday. I dosed it, showered, rested and ate dinner (J made me eggs on toast, my very favorite comfort meal) and felt a lot better by bedtime last night. It was back this morning. I started out fine but by the time we were eating brunch it was throbbing. The only thing that helped was holding my hot tea mug up to my temple and resting it there. Came home, showered, napped for two hours. Feeling better now, but I can still tell that it's there. It's hiding behind a curtain but I can still see feet sticking out the bottom.

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Reading a lot of Wilkie Collins still, as his novels are all free for Kindle. Alternating with Cassandra Clare's books - on CITY OF ASHES right now. Not free for Kindle, but I have hardbacks. I'm really loving my Kindle, but it's still nice to pick up an actual book and read it too.

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And that's it. Happy Weekend, all...

Why It Sometimes Sucks To Be a Female, Reasons Eleventy-Twelve and Thirteen

*You get one serious and one light-hearted*

1112) Every few weeks or so, hormones come traipsing into town to fuck with your entire life. I started on BC pills last fall. Being me, I read the insert that came with my little plastic packet and came across the side effects section. Blah-blah, stomach upset. Blah-blah appetite changes. And then, my favorite line: If you experience changes in mood, contact your physician. I DID experience mood changes...I felt BETTER. Everything evened out. Also the headaches lessened tremendously. It was all well and good for three straight weeks.

Then came Orange Pill Week. Orange Pill Week is the week in which the placebo pills are taken, and thus the Girl Making Thing happens. For me it is Hell Week. I run out of patience almost before I start, play on the mood swings almost constantly, and my head hurts so much. I've tried skipping the orange pills (jumping straight into a new pack, skipping the week off) and that made things worse. Not only did the mental issues happen anyway, the Girl Making Thing happened, and both lasted for over two weeks. So no more skipping.

It sucks so much, and I can't wait to get my new insurance card in so that I can find a girl-type doctor who will work with me on adjusting my dose to something else. Or possibly put me on something for the mood issues. THANKFULLY, June's Orange Pill Week is over as of yesterday, so I get three weeks of normalcy.

1113) If I am not very, very careful, I get crumbs in my cleavage when I eat toast. It itches a lot, and is awkward to fix, especially when in public. It is just another item on a sub-list that I've started, "Reasons Why Sizable Bosoms Are Overrated."

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Garage-sales yesterday yielded four boxes of old paperbacks for a mere two dollars. J. found several things that he's looking forward to reading (he loves true crime books), and I have a small mountain of older Dean Koontz novels. That's the bulk of the thing. I would have been happy with just the copy of It that J. handed me at the same time that I was handing him one of the aforementioned true crime books. I haven't read much Koontz. I read one when I was a teenager...The Funhouse maybe...anyway, whatever it was, it disturbed me. A few years ago I started his rewrite of Frankenstein, and it wasn't bad. So we'll see. If nothing else I can make it a summer project.

One of them is called The Bad Place. I kid not.

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East TX summer is kicking my ass already. It's gotten up to 102. My car is not doing well in the heat. I'M not doing well in the heat. I can has it be winter tiem nao? Plz?