I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

Have I ever mentioned how rotten it feels, knowing no one on the entire planet, wants to hang out with you?

It sucks not having any real mates where I live. The one thing I would like most in the whole world, right now, is to just have someone to hang with, to share a larf or just some conversation with. I'm never going to have that luxury, I know, but it doesn't stop me from wishing for it, sometimes. Damn, I'm lonely tonight.

Yeah, I'm feeling sorry for myself, so sue me.

I'm about to dash off to work, but before I go, here's a link to a LIVE WEBCAM of "One and Other," aka: the Forth Plinth, and what is happening right now...some wannabe rock star playing guitar, apparently.

http://www.oneandother.co.uk/

Read the Guardian's review of Gormley's Plinth Project. Wasn't very pretty...but probably was quite accurate.

The reporter said that there was a woman in a rubbish pigeon suit, cooing half-heartedly, a man dressed as a poo, going on about people in third world countries not having toilets, some bloke dressed as a town crier bragging about his pub and getting ticked off when nobody seemed to particularly care, and some overweight bird just sitting there texting and applying her makeup, as if she was sat in the ladies, and not a monument in the middle of Trafalgar Square.

You have an hour to be in the spotlight, and this is all people can come up with?

This big old wonderful world, full of such marvels and centuries of wisdom, full of art and history and the wonders nature, and all you can think of to do, is text and coo, and dress like a poo?

How utterly normal!

Dullsville on a plinth, you can't beat that.

I'd still love to give it a go, though. Maybe I'd dress like Louisa May Alcott, and recite Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Little Women...or, maybe I'd just sit there in a typical American self-induced coma, drinking a beer, reading a hunting magazine and farting.

I was reading in the news this morning, that many home gardeners in the USA, whom are growing potatoes, have been hit with the same disease, that fostered the Irish potato famine.

I cannot help but wonder at the slight irony, that at least some of these US gardeners are here, because their ancestors came to America to escape the potato famine, some 150 or more years ago.

Hello all,

It's going for 6am here, on this Saturday morning. I should be in bed, sleeping, but I woke at 5am and couldn't get back to sleep, so...guess I'll blog for a bit. It's 62 F, at the moment, but supposed to shoot up into the low 80's F, by noon-time. Not blistering hot, but hotter than it's been for quite a while. We're to get some storms later, as well...and, extremely windy, later, I guess...around 25 to 30 miles per hour gusts, I've read.

Good weather for flying a kite, I suppose...if I had a kite, and wasn't working today, I might go to the lake and fly one...though not in a thunderstorm, obviously. Ben Franklyn I ain't.

I was reading where there's been a significant increase in earth tremmors in California, along the San Andreas fault, and some scientists think it may be a precursor to a big quake, sometime soon. I guess there's been two precidents for this sort of activity, in the last 20 years, since that sort of data has been able to be collected. Certainly, there does seem to be a heavy concentration of activity there, of late. But then, there's also a heavy concentration in Alaska and, of all places, Puerto Rico. Who'd of thought that Puerto Rico was a hotbed of earthquake activity? One tends to associate that, with the west coast, more than the east.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

As I've written, we have, in this city, one of the worst-run public transport systems I've ever known. So it sort of ticks me off, when I read that a huge chunk of a federal stimulus money for this area, is being used to test a hybrid bus. Now, don't get me wrong, I love being green--our new library was designed to be environmentally friendly, yet, there are so many serious issues that need to be addressed in this city: poverty, joblessness, inadequate healthcare (for the poor), drug infestations/increased gang activity, crumbling infrastructure, etc., that I get a bit weary of the city constantly taking its eye off the ball, to appease the upper classes who have nothing better to worry about than global warming.

Yeah, global warming is important, sure. But, when human beings are suffering, when men, women and children are going hungry, when there's only two places in the whole entire city, where the poor and working classes can afford to go for medical care, when "less desirable" people are being forced out of the poor sections of the city, to heaven-knows-where, when pedestrians wanting to walk around the city, are having a hard time getting around the city because of poorly lit streets, crumbling sidewalks, and homes are allowed to decay and not be kept up, when the county is talking about laying off school teachers, and they want to fund a hybrid bus---reality check, yeah?

And the Local Idiot Award for today, goes to:

Some guy with the last name of Blair, who was pulled over by police for a minor traffic violation, and gave his name as "Johndrow"--possibly providing fake ID. His girlfriend carried on the deception, by signing the fake name onto the ticket, when they posted it to the town court. How police found out about the false identity, isn't mentioned in the paper.

However, while the man only had to face a small fine before, now that he's lied to police, he's being formally aressted and charged with a felony: offering a false instrument for filing, and, a misdemenor, for false impersonation. Idiot. It doesn't say if the girlfriend is charged with a felony, as well, but I'm prety sure she'll likely be charged with at least a misdemeanor.

I almost got hit by a car today--THREE times.

Now, I am actually quite cautious while riding my bike, cos' 1. because of my partial blindess, I have very little periphial vision. and 2., I'm not always that steady on a bike, like I used to be (partly due to the blindness, party from disablity). Also, I rarely pedal fast--often I just barely coast along at crawl, to save my bad knees from having to pedal too much.

Today:

1. Was crossing the next street over, on my way to the office to pick up my pay check, when a little red Toyota comes barreling around the corner--nearly hitting me head on! Like the jerk with the pick up truck the other day, the more I tried to swing wide to avoid being hit, the more the idiot kept coming on.

Jeez, that nearly scared the poo out of me. It must have scared the poo out of the chap in the car, as well, 'cos as I was sat there on my bike by the kerb, trying to recover from my shock--he was sat in his car, stopped in the middle of the road!

The elderly gent did have the decency to stop and sincerely apologize...but crikey! I thought I really bought it, that time. (For the record, the bloke didn't have his turn signal on, and just pulled into the street from the main road, obviously without looking).

2. Was walking across a busy four lane road, and there was traffic, so I was standing in the median--the wide space between the right and left lanes, meant for people who are turning into shops. Well, some berk pulled out of a resturant across the way from where I was standing, then abruptly decided, apparently, to turn into the supermarket car park aross the road....so without any warning, he turned into that wide median strip-- right into my path! Blimey again!

OK, I weigh 200 pounds, how the hell could you miss me standing there??? He pulled out, right across the street from me..he HAD to look right the hell at me! I had to jump out of the bastard's way!

In fact, the car on the roadway behind him, actually stopped to gawp at the guy in the car who almost hit me--and very kindly blocked both northbound lanes with her car, so I could cross safely, asking through her open window if I was OK? That was so very kind, bless her.

3. I was walking through a car park--checking for people backing out of spaces, when suddenly, this woman in a big expensive SUV, barrels backwards out of her parking space, narrowly missing taking off my right kneecap, in the process. She didn't look right or left, just gunned it out of there and drove away, like I was stinking invisiable.

I yelled out of pure fear--did the bitch even turn to look? No, she had her window rolled up--probably cos' her air conditioning was on, and was probably tuned into Rush Limbaugh's radio programme (she had anti-Obama stickers on the back of her vehicle).

For pity's sake, did I wake up wearing some kind of invisiblity cloak this morning? Or, were Americans even more steeped into their self-induced comas, than usual?

Well, it was a hell of a day, but at least I didn't end up spending it in the ER, or on a slab at the county morgue.

1. I’ve come to realize that my chest-size. . .will never be mistaken for that of Dolly Parton.

2. I’ve come to realize that my job. . .is a dead end, guarentees me a life of poverty and totally sucks, but at least I'm working

3. I’ve come to realize that when I’m driving. . .(can't answer, cos' I don't own a car).

4. I’ve come to realize that I need. . .a new life, preferably somewhere else.

5. I’ve come that realize that I have lost. . .pretty much everything that ever truly meant anything to me, including myself.

6. I’ve come to realize that I hate it when. . .I feel stupid.

7. I’ve come to realize that if I’m drunk. . .(can't answer cos' I've only been drunk twice in my life, and that was 30 years ago, and I don't remember much about it).

8. I’ve come to realize that money...is something I need--sometimes quite desperately, but that it really cannot buy true happiness, true happiness is a state of mind, which lays its foundations within the heart.

9. I’ve come to realize that certain people. . .can be unbelievably stupid and/or mean, just as certain people can be unbelievably kind and intelligent.

10. I’ve come to realize that I’ll always. . .be poor.

11. I’ve come to realize that my sibling(s). . .was born without a conscious, and, while I love her very much, and have forgiven her (mostly), I will never entirely like my sister. .

12. I’ve come to realize that my mom...was the best teacher (and friend) that I ever had.

13. I’ve come to realize that my cell phone. . .has a flat battery again.

14. I’ve come to realize that when I woke up this morning. . .I had a headache from the jackhammer outside, on the next street over.

15. I’ve come to realize that last night before I went to sleep. . .I'd finished the book I'd been reading, and it was time to find another one on my shelves to dive into.

16. I’ve come to realize that right now I am thinking. . .that I really should go to bed, as I have to be back at work in another 11 hours.

17. I’ve come to realize that my dad. . .sucked as a dad a lot of the time, but those few times when he didn't suck, he was brilliant.

18. I’ve come to realize that when I get on Facebook. . .I don't know how to use it, so I leave.

19. I’ve come to realize that today. . .was pay day.

20. I’ve come to realize that tonight. . .I am sore, tired and cranky--bascially, normal.

21. I’ve come to realize that tomorrow. . .I will have to to telemarket to ill-mannered boors for four hours.

22. I’ve come to realize that I really want to. . .write, or be a tour guide or help people, or...just do something interesting that I like and am good at, for a living.

23. I’ve come to realize that the person mostly likely to repost this is. . .likely even more bored than I am.

24. I’ve come to realize that life. . .sucks, and then you die.

25. I’ve come to realize that this weekend. . .is just another weekend, like every other weekend.

26. I’ve realized the best music to listen to when I am upset. . .upbeat oldies.

27. I’ve come to realize that my friends. . .are the most wonderful people on earth, and I don't feel like I deserve to be so blessed to have them in my life.

28. I’ve come to realize that this year. . .is just another year.

29. I’ve come to realize that me exes. . .(Cant do this, don't have any exes)

30. I’ve come to realize that maybe I should. . .stop swearing so much.

31. I’ve come to realize that I love. . .writing, even just this daft old blog.

32. I’ve come to realize that I don’t understand. . .the mental processes of my fellow Americans any longer

33. I’ve come to realize my past. . .is gone forever, but I can still cherish the memories.

34. I’ve come to realize that parties. . .(can't answer, I don't get invited to parties).

35. I’ve come to realize that I’m totally terrified. . .of being put away (sectioned) or being homeless.