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What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as Cultural Creative Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Interesting personality quiz
Monday, April 7, 2008
"Dexter" revisited and Metallica whispering
Okay, I have now watched several episodes of "Dexter," and, I have to admit, am in the process of downloading the entire first season from Amazon.
Anyway, my initial fascination with this show has eroded somewhat, possibly because I had a really bad case of insomnia last night and began to apply logic to the ideas in the show. So I ask my occasional reader:
If you rescued a child from a crime scene, adopted him, and he began to display some, err, unusual traits even as a young child, would you a: get his butt into therapy or b: teach him how to stalk and kill. Apparently Dexter's foster father thought "b" was the more useful course of action.
Okay, Dexter is an admitted serial killer of other serial killers. He lives in Miami. The show has been on since 2006. Let's say Showtime does about 26 episodes/year, and Dexter offs one serial killer per episode, all in his immediate vicinity. That would equal about 52 serial killers for Miami that the police department hadn't either caught or suspected, as Dexter basically leaves no tracks. Either Miami is some sort of gathering place for serial killers or this show is seriously running on "Improbability Drive." I wonder what the Miami Tourist Bureau thinks of this show.
Finally, his foster sister, a homicide detective, is currently dating--you guessed it--a serial killer. Now, I have about as much training in investigation as a gnat, and the minute this guy came on screen and the audience was made aware of his profession (prosthetic/orthotic maker), I said to myself, yep, that's the serial killer they've been looking for. This is in addition to the serial killers that Dexter has been after, and Dexter himself, which brings the count up to about...54 serial killers in Miami, and I'm not even counting the ones that I may not have noticed or forgotten about.
I have to admit, this only partially diminishes my fascination with this show. I really love the psychology. I almost went to graduate school for psych, but I realized that there is a huge difference between my fascination with the collective and individual psyches that make up the human race and sitting in an office all day listening to people talk about their problems. Not that I am against therapy--I have certainly used it myself in many different situations. But I was an ER/ICU nurse and still am at heart: I don't have the patience to become a therapist. This, however, does not diminish one bit my fascination with why people do what they do.
But I digress. I still will watch "Dexter," especially the episodes that I paid for (heh). Certainly the scripting and acting (especially the acting of the man who plays Dexter--Michael C. Hall, if I am not mistaken, for some reason I keep forgetting his name), are still very compelling. And there is plenty of the kind of one-liner humor in this show that I love. My favorite lines out of the last couple of weeks:
Dexter's really naive girlfriend texts him: "What are you doing right now?" Dexter mutters to himself, "Breaking and entering."
And on a completely different note (heh), I have discovered a really strange talent: I know when a song by Metallica is going to be played on the radio, and can tune into a radio station right about the time the song starts. I have no idea why. I like Metallica, but I have never felt a huge passion for them the way I have for, say, Robert Plant or Peter Gabriel.
Hopefully one of these days my talent will evolve into "Lottery Number Whispering."
Anyway, my initial fascination with this show has eroded somewhat, possibly because I had a really bad case of insomnia last night and began to apply logic to the ideas in the show. So I ask my occasional reader:
If you rescued a child from a crime scene, adopted him, and he began to display some, err, unusual traits even as a young child, would you a: get his butt into therapy or b: teach him how to stalk and kill. Apparently Dexter's foster father thought "b" was the more useful course of action.
Okay, Dexter is an admitted serial killer of other serial killers. He lives in Miami. The show has been on since 2006. Let's say Showtime does about 26 episodes/year, and Dexter offs one serial killer per episode, all in his immediate vicinity. That would equal about 52 serial killers for Miami that the police department hadn't either caught or suspected, as Dexter basically leaves no tracks. Either Miami is some sort of gathering place for serial killers or this show is seriously running on "Improbability Drive." I wonder what the Miami Tourist Bureau thinks of this show.
Finally, his foster sister, a homicide detective, is currently dating--you guessed it--a serial killer. Now, I have about as much training in investigation as a gnat, and the minute this guy came on screen and the audience was made aware of his profession (prosthetic/orthotic maker), I said to myself, yep, that's the serial killer they've been looking for. This is in addition to the serial killers that Dexter has been after, and Dexter himself, which brings the count up to about...54 serial killers in Miami, and I'm not even counting the ones that I may not have noticed or forgotten about.
I have to admit, this only partially diminishes my fascination with this show. I really love the psychology. I almost went to graduate school for psych, but I realized that there is a huge difference between my fascination with the collective and individual psyches that make up the human race and sitting in an office all day listening to people talk about their problems. Not that I am against therapy--I have certainly used it myself in many different situations. But I was an ER/ICU nurse and still am at heart: I don't have the patience to become a therapist. This, however, does not diminish one bit my fascination with why people do what they do.
But I digress. I still will watch "Dexter," especially the episodes that I paid for (heh). Certainly the scripting and acting (especially the acting of the man who plays Dexter--Michael C. Hall, if I am not mistaken, for some reason I keep forgetting his name), are still very compelling. And there is plenty of the kind of one-liner humor in this show that I love. My favorite lines out of the last couple of weeks:
Dexter's really naive girlfriend texts him: "What are you doing right now?" Dexter mutters to himself, "Breaking and entering."
And on a completely different note (heh), I have discovered a really strange talent: I know when a song by Metallica is going to be played on the radio, and can tune into a radio station right about the time the song starts. I have no idea why. I like Metallica, but I have never felt a huge passion for them the way I have for, say, Robert Plant or Peter Gabriel.
Hopefully one of these days my talent will evolve into "Lottery Number Whispering."
Thursday, April 3, 2008
From serial killer humor to karma....
Besides being a place that is almost devoid of humor, my workplace has a number of very fundamentalist Christians--both patients and staff. So I keep my "Vision Quests," crystals, and sweatlodges to myself, needless to say.
Anyway, the other day I was talking with a very nice patient who gave me some information on her religion: Jehovah's Witness. It was (to me) a rather morbid treatise on whether or not we are living in the "Last Days." Rather than trying to explain that I follow my own spiritual practice, and am very happy with it, I accepted this pamphlet with thanks.
To make matters a bit more surreal, this patient thought I was Jewish, either in spirituality or by descent. Which is odd because the heritage I am aware of is as follows: Swedish, German, Norwegian, and possibly Irish (I do have some mystery in my background due to adoptions on both sides of my family, but I am going with what I know or can be reasonably sure of).
Which brought me to thinking about all of my friends and patients, and who they all said I looked like: Bette Midler (a long time ago), Frodo Baggins, Winona Ryder, Jodie Foster, and now someone of Jewish descent. But I digress...
The problem that I have been having is what to do with this pamphlet full of information that I do not want. Although it is not a part of my sacred teachings, it is sacred to someone, so I feel a bit uncomfortable just throwing it away. There it is, sitting on my kitchen counter, with the "Are We In The Last Days" cover staring up at me every time I pass it.
Is it bad karma to throw someone else's gift of their spirituality away, no matter whether I agree with it or not? Or am I just as usual over thinking a simple situation???
The best solution I have come up with so far is to recycle the pamphlet. That way, it will be going back to the Earth, and I will have at least done something constructive with it.
Does anyone else in my small circle of readers wonder about such things???
Anyway, the other day I was talking with a very nice patient who gave me some information on her religion: Jehovah's Witness. It was (to me) a rather morbid treatise on whether or not we are living in the "Last Days." Rather than trying to explain that I follow my own spiritual practice, and am very happy with it, I accepted this pamphlet with thanks.
To make matters a bit more surreal, this patient thought I was Jewish, either in spirituality or by descent. Which is odd because the heritage I am aware of is as follows: Swedish, German, Norwegian, and possibly Irish (I do have some mystery in my background due to adoptions on both sides of my family, but I am going with what I know or can be reasonably sure of).
Which brought me to thinking about all of my friends and patients, and who they all said I looked like: Bette Midler (a long time ago), Frodo Baggins, Winona Ryder, Jodie Foster, and now someone of Jewish descent. But I digress...
The problem that I have been having is what to do with this pamphlet full of information that I do not want. Although it is not a part of my sacred teachings, it is sacred to someone, so I feel a bit uncomfortable just throwing it away. There it is, sitting on my kitchen counter, with the "Are We In The Last Days" cover staring up at me every time I pass it.
Is it bad karma to throw someone else's gift of their spirituality away, no matter whether I agree with it or not? Or am I just as usual over thinking a simple situation???
The best solution I have come up with so far is to recycle the pamphlet. That way, it will be going back to the Earth, and I will have at least done something constructive with it.
Does anyone else in my small circle of readers wonder about such things???
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
An unlikely "ally"
I am lying in the dark, posting to my blog as much by feel as by sight, and hoping the battery in my laptop lasts longer than my musings.
I was speaking to a co-worker today. We agreed there was a distinct lack of humor in the department in which I am working. To be more specific, there is a distinct lack of the kind of oddball, off-the-wall, ironic humor that I thrive on. I have delivered one-liners that would have my friends belly-laughing, only to meet with blank stares at work. If I make any kind of joke, only the most pedestrian and bland joke will go over with most of my co-workers (except the one who hired on at about the same time I did...she at least appreciates one-liners and the occasional "Far Side" cartoon).
Anyone who has wanted to make a comment about the "Ministry of Silly Walks," or "Put an SEP field around it" but knows that no one in their general vicinity is either familiar with Monty Python or the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" can understand my feeling of creative claustorphobia.
Enter my newest favorite show: Dexter. I'll be honest: I tuned into this show for the first time out of morbid curiosity about how the writers would handle a main character who was a serial killer. Anyone familiar with the show knows that Dexter is a serial killer...of bad guys.
I am completely hooked on this show. Not only does it have a fascinating psychological theme to it, it also has some very (possibly unintentionally) funny moments. Dexter, at one point thinking he was going to be caught, said of his girlfriend (yep he has one): "First she marries a drug dealer and then she finds out her boyfriend is a serial killer. At some point you have to start taking this kind of thing personally." May not be an exact quote, but you get the idea.
It's late and I am tired--and some idiot in my neighborhood is blasting music that the whole county can hear, so I am probably not really expressing myself very eloquently--although the warped part of my mind is wondering if it is worth the trouble to go disconnect the rude neighbor's electrical circuits.
But anyway, if there is anyone among my friends and readers (all two or three of you) who is into this show, I would love to hear from you. I have found it to be just the escapist remedy for my really boring, staid, middle of the road work situation.
I was speaking to a co-worker today. We agreed there was a distinct lack of humor in the department in which I am working. To be more specific, there is a distinct lack of the kind of oddball, off-the-wall, ironic humor that I thrive on. I have delivered one-liners that would have my friends belly-laughing, only to meet with blank stares at work. If I make any kind of joke, only the most pedestrian and bland joke will go over with most of my co-workers (except the one who hired on at about the same time I did...she at least appreciates one-liners and the occasional "Far Side" cartoon).
Anyone who has wanted to make a comment about the "Ministry of Silly Walks," or "Put an SEP field around it" but knows that no one in their general vicinity is either familiar with Monty Python or the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" can understand my feeling of creative claustorphobia.
Enter my newest favorite show: Dexter. I'll be honest: I tuned into this show for the first time out of morbid curiosity about how the writers would handle a main character who was a serial killer. Anyone familiar with the show knows that Dexter is a serial killer...of bad guys.
I am completely hooked on this show. Not only does it have a fascinating psychological theme to it, it also has some very (possibly unintentionally) funny moments. Dexter, at one point thinking he was going to be caught, said of his girlfriend (yep he has one): "First she marries a drug dealer and then she finds out her boyfriend is a serial killer. At some point you have to start taking this kind of thing personally." May not be an exact quote, but you get the idea.
It's late and I am tired--and some idiot in my neighborhood is blasting music that the whole county can hear, so I am probably not really expressing myself very eloquently--although the warped part of my mind is wondering if it is worth the trouble to go disconnect the rude neighbor's electrical circuits.
But anyway, if there is anyone among my friends and readers (all two or three of you) who is into this show, I would love to hear from you. I have found it to be just the escapist remedy for my really boring, staid, middle of the road work situation.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Please stand by...
There is a dream in my life that I have been trying to ignore, but it keeps creeping, rather unwelcomed, back into my consciousness. As a supposedly mature businessperson going back to school to finish an MBA, it may seem like a crazy midlife folly sort of thing.
But a serious dream for one's life doesn't let go. I have avoided this particular dream for many years, thinking that I am not good enough, smart enough, etc. to manifest it. But one of the things that my experiences of the last couple of years have taught me is that I need to follow what I feel is my path in life, and let go of the outcome.
People may resent me, try to take advantage of me, attempt to hurt me, try to cause me to fail in my endeavors. This is an unfortunate fact of life. But I cannot make decisions based on fear of what people may think of me or do to me. I need to follow my spiritual guidance to wherever it takes me. Fear will only make me shrink from what my true dream is, and make all kinds of excuses as to why I cannot manifest that dream...
Anyone who is reading this and is a praying person, please pray that I am able to manifest the dream in my heart, that I believe is inspired by Creator. If you are not a praying person, please send whatever positive thoughts you can to me, in support of my dream.
Namaste, Willow
But a serious dream for one's life doesn't let go. I have avoided this particular dream for many years, thinking that I am not good enough, smart enough, etc. to manifest it. But one of the things that my experiences of the last couple of years have taught me is that I need to follow what I feel is my path in life, and let go of the outcome.
People may resent me, try to take advantage of me, attempt to hurt me, try to cause me to fail in my endeavors. This is an unfortunate fact of life. But I cannot make decisions based on fear of what people may think of me or do to me. I need to follow my spiritual guidance to wherever it takes me. Fear will only make me shrink from what my true dream is, and make all kinds of excuses as to why I cannot manifest that dream...
Anyone who is reading this and is a praying person, please pray that I am able to manifest the dream in my heart, that I believe is inspired by Creator. If you are not a praying person, please send whatever positive thoughts you can to me, in support of my dream.
Namaste, Willow
Friday, March 21, 2008
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."
With sincere apologies to Robert Plant...
Some of my friends know of my struggle to obtain tickets for the upcoming Robert Plant/Alison Krauss concert this summer. The friends who have known me for many years are probably very familiar with my sort of lifelong admiration of Robert Plant. When I was a teenager, and very much into Robert and Led Zeppelin, I acquired a small Queensland Umbrella Plant that I named, of course, Robert. Due to many circumstances, I have never seen Robert Plant in concert.
So when he and Alison Krauss released a CD together, I bought it without ever hearing any of the songs on it, and I still love it (I also really like Alison Krauss, but I don't have the history with her and her music that I have with Robert Plant...probably because she most likely wasn't even born when I was so crazy about Robert Plant--but I digress). I also signed up for email updates of their activities and, of course, announcements of their upcoming tour.
So the day finally arrived: I had a chance to buy tickets for the concert online before they went on sale. I was so excited, I emailed just about everyone I know in the area, and got a few folks together for the concert. When the day that I could order tickets came, I came home from work, raced to my computer, logged in, and found...no tickets. I logged on again and again but was never able to get tickets.
I went through a period of reliving teenage angst, and then I got a second email from the website: for more money, I could get premium tickets for the concert, plus one of a kind souvenirs. I figured, what's $300.00 for the chance of a lifetime??? I tried to order one ticket (none of my friends were this devoted to seeing the concert): Well, guess what--no tickets available.
Anyway, last night I must have fallen asleep wondering if it was worth it to quit my job and apply for a position at the concert venue, because I had the following Really Bizarre Dream:
Robert and Alison were on their very successful tour, and Robert and his manager (female) were staying with me. Robert and his manager had some sort of romantic connection, and I broke them up. I won't bore the reader with all the details as I suspect that no one but my bestest friends, and anyone who is similarly devoted to Robert Plant is still awake reading this. But at one point, my "good angel" said to me that I should stop my involvement with Robert because I was breaking his manager's heart, and my "bad angel" said basically, "all's fair in love and war, and besides, other women have done it to you." You can guess the decision I made in my dream. After all, I have a 20-something year old plant named after him.
A side note: Alison Krauss was staying in another hotel, because she couldn't stand the noise of Robert's incessant partying.
But here is the weird part: At some point in my dream, Robert and his manager were arguing over a bra that I thought was hers. But Robert admitted that the bra was his...and he confessed to certain "behaviors," such as wearing women's underthings.
So now my dream about Robert Plant is ruined, and somehow Monty Python invaded my unconscious: I have the song "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay," going through my head. I don't remember much of the lyrics, but the melody is relentlessly stuck in my mind.
And I still don't have tickets to the concert!!!
Some of my friends know of my struggle to obtain tickets for the upcoming Robert Plant/Alison Krauss concert this summer. The friends who have known me for many years are probably very familiar with my sort of lifelong admiration of Robert Plant. When I was a teenager, and very much into Robert and Led Zeppelin, I acquired a small Queensland Umbrella Plant that I named, of course, Robert. Due to many circumstances, I have never seen Robert Plant in concert.
So when he and Alison Krauss released a CD together, I bought it without ever hearing any of the songs on it, and I still love it (I also really like Alison Krauss, but I don't have the history with her and her music that I have with Robert Plant...probably because she most likely wasn't even born when I was so crazy about Robert Plant--but I digress). I also signed up for email updates of their activities and, of course, announcements of their upcoming tour.
So the day finally arrived: I had a chance to buy tickets for the concert online before they went on sale. I was so excited, I emailed just about everyone I know in the area, and got a few folks together for the concert. When the day that I could order tickets came, I came home from work, raced to my computer, logged in, and found...no tickets. I logged on again and again but was never able to get tickets.
I went through a period of reliving teenage angst, and then I got a second email from the website: for more money, I could get premium tickets for the concert, plus one of a kind souvenirs. I figured, what's $300.00 for the chance of a lifetime??? I tried to order one ticket (none of my friends were this devoted to seeing the concert): Well, guess what--no tickets available.
Anyway, last night I must have fallen asleep wondering if it was worth it to quit my job and apply for a position at the concert venue, because I had the following Really Bizarre Dream:
Robert and Alison were on their very successful tour, and Robert and his manager (female) were staying with me. Robert and his manager had some sort of romantic connection, and I broke them up. I won't bore the reader with all the details as I suspect that no one but my bestest friends, and anyone who is similarly devoted to Robert Plant is still awake reading this. But at one point, my "good angel" said to me that I should stop my involvement with Robert because I was breaking his manager's heart, and my "bad angel" said basically, "all's fair in love and war, and besides, other women have done it to you." You can guess the decision I made in my dream. After all, I have a 20-something year old plant named after him.
A side note: Alison Krauss was staying in another hotel, because she couldn't stand the noise of Robert's incessant partying.
But here is the weird part: At some point in my dream, Robert and his manager were arguing over a bra that I thought was hers. But Robert admitted that the bra was his...and he confessed to certain "behaviors," such as wearing women's underthings.
So now my dream about Robert Plant is ruined, and somehow Monty Python invaded my unconscious: I have the song "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay," going through my head. I don't remember much of the lyrics, but the melody is relentlessly stuck in my mind.
And I still don't have tickets to the concert!!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Out of Hibernation
My Nordic ancestors took over this winter, and I spent a couple of months doing not much of anything other than going to work and sleeping. I did, however, manage to paint my living room and hallway, and only need to paint my dining room to get rid of that ugly beige color that I've been living with since I moved in here.
Some insane part of me decided to go back to school. Actually I don't think it was really insane, just practical. Once I got over all of the distressing things that happened at work over the last couple of years, I realized that I don't have to be the kind of incompetent manager that I have seen so often.
So I will be taking an accounting course starting March 31...and participating in National Poetry Writing Month starting April 1. Should be interesting...
Not much else to say here. I'm still pretty much in the process of "waking up" to springtime. Imagine a bear stumbling out of her cave, looking around, and wondering what to eat for breakfast after a two-month hibernation.
Anyway, how many higher level brain functions did I need to use yesterday at my job? None. While I am certainly grateful to have a job in this economy, I really would like a position that challenges me so that I don't have to spend 8 hours on autopilot and watching the clock to see how long before I can get OUT of there.
Is there a happy medium for me between "totally bored" and "totally stressed" in the medical field? I'm beginning to wonder. Anyway, that's about it. When I'm more awake, I should have more interesting things to say.
Some insane part of me decided to go back to school. Actually I don't think it was really insane, just practical. Once I got over all of the distressing things that happened at work over the last couple of years, I realized that I don't have to be the kind of incompetent manager that I have seen so often.
So I will be taking an accounting course starting March 31...and participating in National Poetry Writing Month starting April 1. Should be interesting...
Not much else to say here. I'm still pretty much in the process of "waking up" to springtime. Imagine a bear stumbling out of her cave, looking around, and wondering what to eat for breakfast after a two-month hibernation.
Anyway, how many higher level brain functions did I need to use yesterday at my job? None. While I am certainly grateful to have a job in this economy, I really would like a position that challenges me so that I don't have to spend 8 hours on autopilot and watching the clock to see how long before I can get OUT of there.
Is there a happy medium for me between "totally bored" and "totally stressed" in the medical field? I'm beginning to wonder. Anyway, that's about it. When I'm more awake, I should have more interesting things to say.
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