Behold, the Power of Garlic

I've been on this kick lately where, whenver I feel that I might be getting a cold or such, I eat raw garlic. It's quite heady. The last few times I've done it, it has worked like a charm; I felt better within hours, and did not come down with a full-blown cold. But I did smell like garlic for days on end. Ah, the sacrifices we make.

On the subject of garlic, if you are ever slicing cheese to eat on top of apple slices, and you were slicing raw garlic just before, and you are using the same knife -- maybe rinse the knife off before slicing the cheese. Otherwise your appley-cheesey snack may pack a bit more kick than you had been planning for.

Peeing after you've been holding it for a while has to be one of the most gratifying feelings ever. But not gratifying enough that I would voluntarily choose to do it all the time.

I wish that you were
holding me right now, and that you would whisper
nice things
about how maybe I annoy you sometimes
and you like to kick me while I'm down
and enjoy that you have the power to make me cry,
but right this moment you adore me
and are happy
just to be
with me.

And I would fall asleep in your arms,
and love
and be loved,
and be happy.

And maybe in the morning
you would be quick
to jump out
. .of
. . .bed
and be short with me,
kicking me out so you could start the day,
but there would be that short moment,
right before, where I wake up, and you're right there,
and the sun is shining on your skin,
and you have this glow,
and everything in the world seems
good
and wonderful
and I'm glad to be who I am,
to know you,
to just be.

- Kathryn Krueger, Jan 2005

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Isn't it apt that I am a biter dog?

What kind of dog is Louie? According to the same survey:

AMERICAN BLACK & TAN COONHOUND

Origins
USA. The first to foster the Black & Tan in the late 1700's were Simon Kenton and the Poe brothers from the Ohio Valley. Purpose bred to hunt raccoon and opossum, chasing their quarry up a tree and hold it there for hunters. American Coonhounds were developed from Foxhounds, with dashes of French, German, and Irish dogs for specific needs. Similar to a Bloodhound.

Personality
A very versitile and hard working dog, which is also obedient, friendly, and intelligent. They will stand their ground with intruders and are usually kennelled out of doors.

Well, he's not really black & tan, but he would love to hunt raccoons.

What kind of dog are you? Here are my results:

GERMAN PINSCHER*

Origins
Germany. The Pinscher* ("biter" in German) has existed for several
hundred years. Resembling the larger Doberman to which it contributed
its genes, it was officially recognised as a breed in 1879.

Personality
Often described as high spirited and self possessed, this is in fact a
good natured, playful dog which is good with children and makes a fine
guard. It is alert, loyal, watchful, and fearless. However, they can
be bull-headed and stubborn and need to know who is boss. For this
reason the German Pinscher is not a good breed for children. They will
bite first and think later.

* In the original description, "Pinscher" was spelled differently each time it was used. I have corrected this in my posting.

I'm in Portland now. It's sunshiny and beautiful here, but oh, so cold.

The dancing last night was lovely, although my whole body hurts now. I feel like a train wreck. I'm not used to dancing that long and that energetically, and the weekend has hardly even started.

I didn't dance with that many people. Muliono, Wade, Bill from Portland, Jaimes (and hardly that, just two songs), and Greg from Eugene. I'm never quite sure how that happens; the night is so long, you'd think I would have danced with more. But the dances I had were connected and energetic and wonderful, so it all works out.

OUR COMPLAINT HAS BEEN ACCEPTED

Thank you for filing your complaint with the National Do Not Call Registry.

Do not call complaints will be entered into a secure online database available to civil and criminal law enforcement agencies. While the FTC does not resolve individual consumer problems, your complaint will help the agency investigate the company, and could lead to law enforcement action.

(Yes, they are calling again.)

Hey, take a look at what's gone down lately in my hood.

From The Seattle Times: Feared Seattle property manager is arrested; dozens of guns seized

". . .They say that since the early 1990s, Gilbert, a convicted felon and outspoken member of the Aryan Nations who once spent time in prison for plotting to kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., had intimidated, threatened and sued neighbors so often that his presence became "a total cancer. . ."

I guess I should consider myself lucky that our landlord is not an arms-bearing, convicted felon who threatens and intimidates us day in and day out.

The word of the day today is 'pseudocyesis'.

Ooh, I just realized - no call from Cingular today!

Maybe they fixed the problem. Or maybe they don't do automated calls on Fridays.

Adults don't often have it all figured out.

Rarely, even.

I am just now starting to break this myth that has colored my childhood and all of my adult life so far; that adults are grounded, all-knowing, and always certain, and so will we be too, when we are grown up.

Except now that I'm looking more closely, paying more attention, I see more adults who struggle for clarity, for direction, for meaning. My peers. My co-workers. My elder family. Dancers, professors, computer programmers, journalists. Americans, Europeans, Middle-Easterners. Their lives are so much more complex than I would have ever thought.

I'm always amazed at the people who find my blog. Like the time, down in Eugene, when I thought I was meeting this couple for the first time, except that as we were introduced, they said, "Oh, you're the girl with the web journal." Or when I got in trouble with my employer for work-related content; good times, those. This forum is not as anonymous as it can get to feeling sometimes.

I'm still getting Cingular's daily pre-recorded auto-messages.

As noted below, I took additional steps today and filed a formal complaint with the FCC. I got the idea from the FCC Consumer Facts page on Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls; a lovely little reference. (This may be the first time I have really appreciated the existance of the FCC - I take issue with the FCC for a number of things, such as the commercialization of radio.)

Filing for: Kathryn A Krueger has been received by the FCC

Thanks for your information.
When inquiring about your complaint, be sure to reference the following confirmation number:

FORM475: 10253235

Additionally, be sure to mention that you filed this complaint over the internet.
Finally, the carrier will have 30-45 days to respond to this complaint.

Thank You!

In Direct Contrast

Traffic today on I-5 was pretty bad.

Turns out someone jumped off the ship-canal bridge. I heard this on the radio just as I was driving past the exact spot. They had shut down the right-most lane, and a number of troopers were on the spot, investigating.

According to the radio, the person jumping hadn't landed in the water, but on pavement. So things were shut down below the bridge, as well, and even more investigators down there, and troopers cleaning up.

It all seemed so close, hearing this as I was driving past the exact spot. Too close.

I cried.

It seems so wrong, living in a world where people can feel destitute enough to end their life in such a way.

Now I feel mostly numb. For a while I was connecting with it on a personal level; now I'm back into "normal"-mode, where I might read about something like this in the paper, nod, and think to myself, "it's sad," but not necessarily feel sad. Not that I'm happy. Just numb.

I was inexplicably happy all of yesterday, and drew this picture as a
means of expressing my joyous mood:





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

I JUST ROLLED AN 'R' FOR THE FIRST TIME, EVER, IN MY LIFE.

What a momentous experience!

I was in my car, listening to tango music -- more specifically, to Canaro's "No Hay Tierra Como la Mia". And I was trying to mimic and sing the words, with more (or less) success.

I was thinking about the rolling of 'r's... "If babies can learn to do it, and everyone in the Spanish-speaking world can do it, then physically, I must be able to do it too," I thought to myself.

So I was making noise after noise.

Most were far too gutteral. (I've never had a problem making more gutteral German-ish sort of noises.)

I experimented with closing my teeth, opening my teeth, using the back of my tongue, the front, using more or less lip...

...and then...

...suddenly...

...I was doing it! Rolling my 'r's! I was an 'r'-rolling demon!

It was so exciting. I had to call and tell half my friends, roll my 'r's for them, gush and gush.

And I still am! An 'r'-rolling demon, that is. I think it's like learning to ride a bike. Once you do it, it's always with you.

So r-r-r-really, life will never-r-r be the same again.

Update:

I called someone at a local Cingular store, and he said he couldn't help me. He advised me to call the automated lines again and just randomly enter a long series of numbers, which he thought would eventually hook me through to an actual customer service representative. I tried this, and was eventually put through to a real person.

She thought that perhaps Cingular might have my number incorrectly listed on someone else's account as a home number, but they are not able to look up accounts based on home numbers so she was unable to help me resolve the issue in any way.

I asked if there was an IT department it could be escallated to, or anyone who could help me, and she said the best she could do would be to write up a ticket for my problem. She did so at my request. We'll see what/if I hear back from them.

In the meanwhile, to temporarily soothe my rage at my helplessness in this situation, I've filed a complaint with The Better Business Bureau. I've also attempted to file a complaint with the Do Not Call registry, with whom I listed my cellphone several months ago, but keep getting a message indicating that the site is down.

I keep getting a pre-recorded message from Cingular & AT&T on my cellphone asking me to "call customer service" about my number.

Problem is -- I am not WITH Cingular or AT&T. I use Sprint.

Getting this message -- either listening to it real time, or listening to the message -- eats up my cellphone minutes.

When I've talked to Sprint, they've been unable to help me -- they are not Cingular. They throw me around from this person to that person, but nobody is actually able to help me. They say the best they could do would be to change my wireless number. I think that's a stupid / cruddy solution.

When I attempt to speak TO Cingular, I can't get through to anybody, as I do not actually have a Cingular number to speak to them about. The people at the local Cingular Stores tell me that the best they can suggest is to talk to Customer Service, only I can't, because it's all automated and doesn't actually let you through to talk to anyone unless you have a Cingular/AT&T number to enter.

Any ideas on what I can do to stop this? It's really annoying, and I'm frustrated / annoyed / pissed off that I can't get it to stop.

I've already spent 30 minutes of my time sitting around talking to Sprint Customer Service people or sitting on automated lines trying to get ahold of real Cingular people. Not to mention the cellphone minutes I'm getting charged for each and every time they call me with that @#$@#% automated message. Not cool.