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2001-10-13 / 11:13 p.m. ~Powdery White Substances - Hockey Home Opener - Those Damned Cats!~ We'll begin at the end, which was really the beginning. For some very strange reason, known only to them, Norma and Gladys did not want to sleep last night, nor this morning. And, because it's no fun to be an insomniac on one's own, they decided they would try to get me to join them, like all night and all morning. Really. One would jump on the bed, that's a running into the room, then a leap up onto the bed jump, not just any jump, but one with the most impact. Then it's me yelling, "Stop it!", or "Go sit down!", or "Get the fuck off of me!", etc., to little avail. A few minutes of sleep follow, after much anger, so it's a fitful sleep, soon interrupted by another cat, another jump, or loud meow, as if I'd forgotten to feed them, or as if there was something going on I needed to know about, a Lassie kind of thing. This thought had me a bit worried. What if Lassie, er, Norma and Gladys, are trying to tell me that there's a fire in the kitchen?! Nah, I don't care, I'm TRYING to sleep, goddammit! Then one knocks this jar thing filled with bath beads or salt or some shit (it was a gift) off the edge of the tub into the tub, and it makes a loud banging sound, but I can tell what it is and decide not to worry about it. Yeah, this was all real fun. I forced myself to sleep through it, sort of an "I'll show you damned cats!" kind of attitude. When I finally got up for good, around 2:15 p.m., Gladys was lying next to me, her head buried in Norma's butt, one of her favorite sleeping positions. I forced them both to get up and out of bed. That'll show 'em. Not a good way to start this day. Then it was online for me, checking the group emails from the Coalition For Peace, and reading the latest at Antiwar.com. Really, I cannot recommend that web site strongly enough. It has the BEST links to articles and editorials culled from all over the internet, up to date articles, current, independent, good stuff about what is REALLY going on out there! I read the first independent report of civilian deaths in Afghanistan. Finally. Not that I can't wait for people to be killed, but I can't wait for the word to get out that we are over there KILLING people, and it needs to STOP! Dammit. And this anthrax thing, what the fuck is up with that? Tonight I get home and read and hear there are 5 more people in Florida infected. Wow. And it just sounds so horrific: Anthrax...ANTHRAX. I was thinking about it yesterday, or last night, why does it sound so awful? I think it's because it ends in "X". It just sounds bad. And now we keep hearing about this white powdery substance, or that white powdery substance, about idiot hoaxters who are mailing "white powdery substances" to people, just to get in on the scare factor. Gee, isn't it fun to terrorize people? Speaking of terrorism, okay, vandalism, and no, it's nothing like anthrax, but today there were these little boys putting sticks into one of my neighbor's outside air conditioning units. You know, the metal box thing that sits outside, with the fan running when you have your a/c on, that thing. Yeah, they would take sticks, one at a time, and stick them between the spinning fan blades, then jump so the stick wouldn't fly out and hit them in the eye or something. They were gleeful while engaging in this vandalous activity, giggling, etc. I went out on my porch, still in my short nightgown, not getting dressed because it's Saturday and that's what I do on Saturdays, and I watched them, only yards away, right in front of my porch, in incredulous disbelief (that's almost redundant, isn't it?), and finally, I could take it no more! I yelled something along the lines of, "HEY! Stop that! You're breaking that person's air conditioning!!! How would you like it if someone broke YOUR air conditioning?! You're going to break it!!!", and they all scatter, all but the youngest one, with all this cute blond curly hair, and he just stands there, his stick dangling from his hand by his side, and he says, "It's not me!", and again, after I yell some more, "It's not ME!". I was SO MAD! I ran in and turned off my a/c of course. It was on because it got really warm again and I'm upstairs and heat rises and all that, and it's been hot up here, and I was panicking thinking they are now gonna put sticks in my fan blades and break MY a/c, and I'll be HOT! See, it was selfish motivation. I could relate to their activity. I mean I used to run in a pack when I was their age, living in apartment complexes, ringing people's doorbells and running, etc. But we were never that bad, we never damaged personal or public property, I don't think. So, then I went out to the hockey game, still a bit in fear of retaliation from this motley crew of little terrorists, not really wanting to go, not in the mood. But the arena has added some stuff, a cool band of lights that go all the way around inside, flashing different things, images, etc. Like a giant TV screen, but instead in the shape of a horizontal ribbon. The pre-game activities were all aimed at Patriotism and Unity and good ol' USA kind of stuff, a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace", which had me a bit choked up, just because it's a pretty song, and some firefighters, and the singing of "God Bless America", etc. The players were all introduced too, this being the first home regular season game, and there were little kids on skates with flags from the players' home countries, but none for Canada. This I didn't get, even though we only have one Canadian, seems like they could've splurged for one more kid, one more flag. The game was alright, we didn't try hard enough though, caved totally and completely in the third period, lost 5-2 (including an empty netter - pitiful). It was disappointing, but I always love being there, seeing them in person, my team, my arena. I had a decent seat up in the cheap seats too, no one next to me, and we got these souvenir "Bobblehead" dolls, in the image of our team captain, Ray Ferraro. And, they had firefighters going around during the second period, with those firefighter boots, collecting money for that firefighter fund, I guess, and I gave a buck, 'cause it's the least I can do, it's not like I don't care about the people who died, I just don't want any MORE people to die, and well, we, in our arena, capacity 18,500 crowd, gave around $16,000 they said later! Isn't that cool? I saw Joe in between periods too, or he saw me. Gave me a big hug, two really, and it felt great. I used to like him so much, we had so much fun together....he invited me to go out drinking after, and I sort of said I would, 'til I learned the drinking location, then changed my mind. I ran through it all in my head, how they'd all drink a lot and I wouldn't really want to, how there would be too much cigarette smoke, and I don't want to be around any really, how Christine would be all over Joe, still thinking that I would want to steal him from her, how Dan would flirt with me, but I would know I am not his type, and he is not mine. So I came home instead. I'm such a social butterfly, I know. I just don't like hanging in smoky bars, in groups, knowing I'll have to sit and listen, people I haven't seen in months will say, "So, how've you been? What've you been up to?", and I'll have to think of things that will be okay to say, what wouldn't be okay, etc. Too much work. Not enough gratification. But it was great to see Joe, it was great to hug him, to feel him hug me back, one of those real hugs, sincere, genuine. Damn, somewhere there are people who miss me, who think of me, people who actually like me. How strange is that? Okay, I hope N and G let me sleep tonight, I really do. Cost of the War in Iraq
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