5-7-5

So, in a moment of insanity, (I have those often, daily in fact, hardly remember them, but for some reason this one stuck with me), I decided to write heiku. Not a poem or two, but dozens, hundreds in fact. Specifically, 366 heiku poems about whatever, not necessarily nature. My insane ass plan was to self publish a little book(let) of my insane ass heikus (heiki) for 2008 to celebrate, in some insane ass way, the leap year, summer olypmics and the end of terror our current prezitwit.

Quite ambitious don't you think?

Most of my moments of insanity quickly arrive, quietly pass and life goes on. I thought this one would too, but after a few hours it was as annoying as a cold wet cat nose in your ear at 3 in the morning. The annoyance became an obession. Yes! I'll write heikus. And they will be profound, pithy, simple, elegant, humorous and abundant. Yes! Heikus as far as the eye can see!

So I dug around and found a little spiral notebook. So, there it was, a blank virgin piece of paper. I was slapped sane as soon as I folded back the front cover. What the fuck do I think I'm doing? 366 of them? That's a stupid number. It's a stupid idea.

So why am I now, five months later still writing heikus?

not too smart business

The company I work for bought the competition (Sister Company). The Sister Company offered themselves up to Competitor B last spring who didn't think they were serious and turned down the chance. So they came to us, we said hell yes.

Sister Company has a product that they sold to both us and Competitor B. Same exact thing, but with different labels on it. So why they didn't buy when they had a chance and put a dent in our day is kind of stupid. So we bought the company and put a dent in Competitor B's day by not shipping them their product. The only thing Competitor B gets is the name on the label. We get the product and the technology.

It didn't dawn on Competitor B until a week after we released the press release announcing the acquisition that they were screwed. It took them almost another week to issue a letter to their dealers and customers bad mouthing us saying it wasn't fair that we're not shipping them the product so they can at least fill backorders.

Company B had violated Sister Company's copyright last year. Also violated a few other contractual agreements and they went to court over it. So as soon as the court ruled in Sister Company's favor, they started the final paper work for my company to complete the purchase.

At my company it was an open secret what was going on. At Sister Company it was a top secret. The number 3 in the company didn't know what was going on until weeks before the deal closed and the deal has been in the works since last summer.

So since the beginning of the month things have been hectic since we're merging their products with ours which means new packaging, which means I've been sucked back into the black hole of graphics. There's lots of major projects to do but thankfully we're taking one or two a quarter until it's done. Plus since Sister Company didn't know this was happening it will make them less likely to feel that they are being pushed aside and about to be fired at any moment.

I'm not happy at doing graphics work again. But it's for the good of the team right? right? (If I keep telling myself that maybe I'll start to believe it).

why women have a soft spot for firefighters

"It was just luck that Oklahoma City fire Cpl. Craig Herrin found the kitten when he returned to Pine Ridge Apartments...to retrieve some of his equipment hours after the deadly blaze Friday. The kitten had suffered smoke inhalation and burned eyes."

There's video here here. Mostly facts and a few 'so cute and sweet' moments.

Then at work I heard it was on another channel. This one has more of the awwww factor.

This has got to be the cutest, most adorable creature ever...oh, and the kitty is cute too.

~~~

Tuesday morning, was it, that a tv crew was out at Yukon along the interstate. Talk about having a story land in your lap. Just sit out there, aim the camera toward the highway and watch the idiots slide off the road and down the embankment.

Fatality on I-35 and Hefner that morning too. I drive that service road to work, it was wierd seeing the turned up dirt on the embankment. Reminded me of the fatality wrecks I covered when I worked for the newspaper back home.

I was more concerned with my own safety going to work so I forgot about that wreck until I came up to Wilshire. Did that person know they only had a few more minutes to live? Were they worried about the road conditions? Were they driving too fast and talking on their cell? A car slid off just moments before, did the doomed driver see that and freak out sealing their own fate? Or as it sometimes happens, just simply caught off guard?

Very sad.

Seems to be more house and apt fires lately now too. Maybe not any more than usual, just the media jumping on the sadness factor so they can tsk tsk and make the public feel fortunate for the gluttony and greed they have now. Although there have been, what? 6 or 7 deaths due to fires in the last few weeks around here (mostly kids), it's just as sad now as if it would have happened in August.


reading: Quiltmaking by Hand by Jenny Beyer
Whiskey is: outside sunning his belly

ohh, a tv, just what I need?

Scott's birthday was Friday. Since my office Christmas party was yesterday and they always cater in a cold fajita bar from Ted's, I took him out to Red Lobster last night before going to the party.

Anyway, after thinking this would be my 7th Christmas party with this company and no winning anything bigger than an alarm clock radio or $25 cash, my number was drawn and I won a 27" flat screen tv.

Wonderful.

I sit back down and said to J, "now I have 2 tvs and no house to put them in".

Called my brother to see if he needed a new tv for Christmas or just wants a second one. He called me back a bit ago. Said he can't afford cable so he only gets the whatever he can pick up on the rabbit ears. He lives with his girlfriend and said they don't watch tv much anyway. If he does watch it's when she's at work or asleep.

He's trying to get into Occupational Therapy school right now so he's more worried about that now than anything.

So the new tv is in the spare bedroom, not far from my other tv, a measly little 20" that isn't fit to grace scott's living room.

Scott's mom called him on his birthday. Then suddenly he thrust the phone at me. "hello?"

"You know that Whiskey is always welcome at my house ANY TIME. Don't worry if he gets excited and pees. It's an accident, I have carpet cleaner, we'll just clean it up and go on. This isn't a fussy house. One day I came home and Rusty just couldn't wait for me to come in from the garage and he dribbled by the door, but it is no big deal. When Molly was a puppy she had her accidents. Life goes on. You don't have to leave him there just because you're worried that he might pee in the house." and on and on and on.

I think she's taking it personally that I'm going to board Whiskey at daycare while we're over there for Christmas. I love my dog. But I'd like to have a 3 day weekend without having to worry about him trashing someone elses house. If they didn't have dogs, I think he'd be ok. But his mom has 2 dogs and 3 cats, his sister has 3 dogs and 2 cats. With them all playing (or Whiskey chasing the cats) it can get a bit stressful.

My parents are the opposite. When I mentioned boarding him for a weekend, they were like, "ok, he's welcome here, ya know. How much will it cost, I'll pay for the boarding."

square fish

My dream life has been very very active lately. I know I dream, but don't remember any of it. I've read that you should keep a pen and paper by the bed and when you wake up out of a dream to write it down, or sketch it. Sounds good in theory. But, honestly, who wants to roll over out of a comfy position, feel around for the paper, knock the pen off the nightstand, fish around under the bed for it, turn on the lamp, get blinded, hang upside down to look under the bed for the pen when it actually just landed at the base of the nightstand and you didn't really need to inhale dust bunnies at 3 AM. Then you wake up read what you wrote and can't make sense of it because you've either written a page full of adverbs or can't read your own writing.

One night I tried to imagine myself writing down a dream thinking it would help me remember it. Didn't work.

I have over the years noticed that if I awake out of a dream and it sorta made sense at the time, I won't remember it in the morning.

The other night I had a dream I was swimming with the fishes. Not like a mobster would have you swim with the fishes. I had no flippers, no oxygen tank, nothing, I'm able to breathe water.

I don't swim. Barely know how. Other than a former Red Cross lifeguard, everyone else who has tried to teach me thinks it is damn funny to get me out there, get me trusting them, then dunk me.

Anyway, I was swiming with at least one of every fish in this reef area. The school was not just a random group, but in a square, about 10 wide, 10, high, 10 deep. Each fish lined up and no one breaking ranks. As the only human, I felt a bit out of place.

Then a shark starts circling, we stay in formation, each fish facing a different direction to be on the look out. A manata ray swims by, since mantas are my favorite fish in the world, I thought we would be safe. The shark bites the manata, I get pissed and after watching the manata swim away injured, I get super angry, break ranks and swim toward the shark. Don't know what else happened because the alarm goes of. Why does the alarm go off just as the dream gets better?








reading: Me by Katherine Hepburne
Whiskey is: sleeping behind the couch