Saturday, January 19, 2008

THT, redux, and...uh, tripleduxed 20/05/07

It's back. Thanks to the superpowers of our very own Superhero Saviour, TypeASub. In accordance with my promise to the baby jesus, she and i will be negotiating the desecration of my anal cherry, sometime soon. Be careful what you pray for.

Meanwhile, in its original state (god love ya typea, thanks so much for inactive open windows and the forward):



groovthang:
Because I would write that same letter for you or anyone else in this group.

Not only would i never expect such a letter to be written for me, were i to run my big mouth as much as she did, i'd be wondering why it took me as long as it got booted as it did, and would hardly expect anyone i chat with online to rally to my defense.

I'll go farther than , and say i'm a lot disappointed in you, with your self-aggrandizing and self-importance, based on a freaking internet chat group. I'll stop there, out of a modicum of respect for offsite chats, since a modicum's about what i figure should be afforded.


because if ya can't, you know what to do.

Sure do. Later gators.


So it's perfectly clear, and i don't have to answer questions for a week.


DO NOT speak for me, ever, unless you've got your name tattooed on my labia or you've been asked to. You want to stomp around like the cock of the walk and wow all the biddies with your uber cool toughness, be my guest. You want to proudly boom about the fantastic group that you've got (little newsflash: the users make it fantastic, it's got precious little to do with you, but anyway), go nuts.


But don't presume to lump me and the entire membership of that group, en masse, into one pot of "we all feel this way", because it's not only wholly and utterly dishonest, it's just fucking cheap and inane.


You think Redbrat should be reinstated? Great, have a fucking parade and get it painted on your back. Don't use me, or the rest of your membership, to try and make your point, without even asking us first. And sure as hell don't do it when you're specifically told that the pawns you're trying to use do not consent to being used that way.


It passed self-important and full of shit and became downright fucking sleazy.


Oh. And if i ever did succumb to martyrdom and want such a letter written for me? I'd have it written by someone who doesn't ask me to do their editing. Ugh.


Tempest in a pizza box 13/09/07

So I just read the now locked 'query' thread, and now i'm gonna serious up TNP's fluff thread, since i can't reply there.

Tempest. Fucking. Teapot.


For christ's sake. The facts have been laid out a few dozen times already, yet people either refuse to acknowledge them, or just start making shit up.


There were two hanging out threads. I have no idea where the "the morals thread was interesting" bit comes into play, because the morals thread wasn't on the page at that time. Don't believe me?


Pizza threads were started at and around 19:15 on Sept 14. Morals thread was started on Sept 13 (over a full day to run its course at that point, it had been given more than a chance), and no one bumped it off the page, because it wasn't on active topics page. Timestamps on posts tell that story -- it had been off the active topics page since 12:34, when the last post was made to it. It didn't come back up until limper went digging and bumped it, with the ever topical "at least it's not pizza" comment, at 20:01.


Timestamps would indicate that was that clearly a malicious bump. I'm also quite sure that hijacking a thread for malicious reasons is violating the spirit too. I look forward to this little brouhaha being over, so we can get to talking about that.


Which threads were active at the time?


http://bondage.com/p/2/topic_id/248932/forums/topic.html
This was not one of the two on the active topics page. It was, however, the first thread that came up when one clicked on 'hanging out' (from active topics). Since spankslut bumped her own birthday thread (for a birthday two days before), i'm pretty sure she's not going to have a meltdown at the tidal wave.


First thread
This was one. It was posted at 17:53, and had 3 replies by the time pizza frenzy started. Two from the same person (limper), and one by the OP, okiniiri. Since we've had numerous instances of the "nothing is protected on the internet, watch what you say or do here" variation of threads, i think it's safe to assume that that's why it didn't have a wealth of responses this time. Simply put - an interested thread, but hardly meaty enough to sustain actual interest.


BTW, Oki happens to be one of those dirty av-ers, so i'm sure that must be the reason she's not having a seizure over being pre-empted. Actually, she's been in AV since, and laughed over pizza. That's probably because she's too hurt to talk about it, though.


Other thread.
This, i suspect, is where the tea storm is coming from. This is limper's thread, the other thread sitting on the Active Topics page, under Hanging Out.


I read it. I had no fucking clue what he was talking about, and since it sounded like one of those inside jokes, i moved on. I've come to learn that subwithoutaclue has something about diamonds on the ground in her sigline, that one other poster in a thread with SWaC commented on the diamonds, and then that thread was started by limper.


Obviously it is an inside joke. Fair enough, i'm not willing to extend the ban on fun to no inside jokes. But when i don't get it? It's snarky and unproductive to post to someone else's fun thread with "i don't get it. What are you talking about? Is this a private joke?", so i refrained from posting.


It looks as though others felt the same way i did, since there were no posts to it at all until the pizza frenzy started. Then, the two big complainers in this epic little saga, made sure the thread came alive, by posting to it. It got a few posts after that, though it still hasn't hit a full page. Still - two days later.


I guess no one understands the profundity of the topic. That, or the dirty av-ers have started a campaign against limper, and the whole site's in on it.


Clearly, the forum was beyond dead. It was worse than dead - it was exclusionary. I'd already said happy birthday to spankslut, so i was pretty much excluded from taking part in that thread (yeah yeah, i can't post whenever whatever i want, but there was no point. I'd said it already). I couldn't post to limper's topic, because i had no fucking clue what he was talking about. The thread, quite obviously, wasn't intended for me, so instead of disrupting it, i just walked away and figured "meh, the people who get that'll have a right good time in there. Fair 'nuff".


Yeah, i could have posted to the internet security thread, but honestly...it wasn't interesting to me, and i've posted to those threads dozens of times already. Besides, i'm aware of no rule that says "thou must post to all active topics before starting a new topic". I mean -- that's why one starts a new topic - because the old ones aren't stimulating anything.


Pizza was stimulating. You bet, there was a frenzy, you bet it overtook those other topics, and you bet, it got a whole lot of focus. As lulubel said, she was sitting there, looking for something to do. She saw pizza frenzy, thought "wtf? hahaha, ok this'll be fun", and joined in. She's not an av-er. Borealis, reckless abandon, olsg, cat o' eight tails, wind_of_change, and numerous others are also not av-ers and they joined in the fun, not only posting to current threads, but starting some of their own.


Hanging Out was not only active, it was true to its name. People hung out - people that have never really interacted together before. I know i had no clue who borealis was, before the 100th post thread. Now, i do, and we've shared a laugh and a "hiya, welcome and congrats!". We are supposed to be welcoming and including the n00bs, yeah?


Seriously? This is fucking retarded already. Beyond fucking retarded. This is no longer about moderation, or even over moderation, because it's long past anything resembling moderate. We've hit police state, where the whiniest five or six children are setting the day care rules for the other 200 kids, because they aren't getting the spoiling they so richly deserve. "Teacher! No one wants to play with me, make them play with me!" is rewarded with a "yes darling, you there, you kids, play with this kid right now!". "Teacher, johnny said he doesn't like my pen, he hates me! Make him say sorry and be nice to me!" is responded to with "Johnny, billy's pen is a lovely pen, and we are all going to admire billy's pen as a group, or you're going to have to go to another daycare".


And "teacher, i think no one likes me and they're all going out of their way to not let me play with them or be their friend" is being met with "you know, you just might be right there, no worries, i'll tell those big bad meanies to smarten up and be nice and play with you. Then they'll love you!", instead of the far saner approach of "grab your glove and ask if you can be second base. Better still, just go stand in the field and catch one. People love a joiner "


'Cause i'll just say it straight up, for what it's worth? You whiners - and of course we know who you are, you've outed yourself without katiej's help - nobody likes a pissy kid who thinks he's entitled, and i, for one, sure as hell have no interest in making nice with you. You bitches are interfering with MY use and enjoyment of the site's resources (now's a good time to point out that while there was one full page and 4 posts on a second page of pizza threads, and yes there are screen caps i believe, those threads averaged a page and a half. 20ish posts. Tidal wave indeed), with your incessant fucking "me me me". Seriously. Cut it the fuck out.


I'm goddamned tired of hearing that "interfering with the use" clause, but only when it's convenient. I'm tired of having that thrown in people's faces, time and again, as justification for 'cut it out', yet hearing from the other side of someone's mouth that "yes, i know this is a kink site, yes, i know it's a site based on tolerance and 'all are welcome', but the homophobes and racists have a right to their enjoyment as well, and can speak freely".


Tell me, moderation, do you HONESTLY think that a page full of pizza threads taking over a birthday thread, a "the net's not private" and a private joke is going to turn newbies off the site and drive away valuable contributors....but the incessant ever-present moralizing, homophobic, closed minded, racist, and intolerant nonsense spouted in relationships, technique, politics, arts, support, and philosophy & religion are ok, because "it's an adult site, and people reading should know that we encourage free speech"?


Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.


Fun's not outlawed at b.com. Anything resembling common sense and maturity are.

Oh dear. Deleted by God 22/09/07

Limper - the only thing that makes me angry about you is that i have to share a board with you, and the rest of the idiot club you're a member of. That perfectly logical, rational, mature adults have to pander to the stupid, inane, childish nonsense that you continue to pour out there, for what appears to be no reason other than to stupid up the place. That, and that saying so makes me the bad guy, because even fact is still 'flame'.


You're an idiot, and reading - let alone associating with - you, albeit combatively and digitally, has just made me dumber. Intelligence i can't get back even if i deleted this reply.


Oh. And you're damn right i'm gonna jump on your posts when i see them. I already told you once that i have no issue whacking at you every time i see your molebean pop out of the ground. 'Cause enough hits, and ya kill it.


Like you're killing the boards, that is.

Moderation, Yep, It's long. 2007-09-29

Moderation, Yep, It's long.

I started to respond to this in the thread it came from, and realized i was derailing a discussion of mod selection with bigger concepts that are only tangentially related. I'll post it here for now, and find a better, more public place for it later.


ilikemonsters:

KatieJ:
Discussion is good - to a point. I remember many instances where it took more than 5 rounds of email to communicate to a member that they had violated a part of the AUP and/or forum rules. The ranting (and that's what it was, not discussion) was because the member didn't like the rules that were in force when they joined the site. I'm sorry, but I think that's excessive. I don't think anyone has the right to throw tantrums because the site isn't doing what they want - and there's evidence of that many times as well.

Oh jeez! More than 5 rounds of email is pretty excessive. I guess my persuasive argument kinda falls apart without the assumption that people will be at least somewhat rational.



I think there's a world of difference between hashing and rehashing someone's already-occurred sanction, and having open, inclusive discussions of moderation as a concept. One is akin to arguing with the drunk guy as to why, no, he cannot have yet another drink to spill on the patron next to him. The other is like comment cards, focus groups, and "how can we serve you better" surveys. I trust we're all smart enough here to know which is dumb, and which has value.


The problem, as i see it, is that the latter are being treated as the former, and increasingly so of late. Any sign of dissension is shouted down, any question is seen as challenge, and gets the ever-popular party lines of "vote with your feet" or "you agreed to these rules, you need to suck it up".


I'll speak for no one but myself. I absolutely agreed to the rules around here, and on those occasions when i'm told "hey bigmouth, back it up. You're veering dangerously close to bad touching here, and that's not ok", i'm the first to say fine. Fine, because i know where the line is, and whether i like it or not, i agreed to colour inside the lines. I don't get timed out. I do occasionally get warned, and i do, even more rarely, get deleted. There are ways to be vociferous, passionate, and even combative without violating. It would probably serve a lot of people some real good to learn how to do that, and to learn what violating really means. We'd likely have fewer complaints about flaming, and subsequent moderating, if they did.


Meanwhile - i understand it's really hard to entertain that voiced dissension and challenge to the status quo when one's inundated with it. It's really hard to respond rationally, objectively, and open-mindedly when someone's screaming the dissension in your face. I know. I've had customers stand in the center of my shop screaming about the salesclerk that sold the item they had on hold in error, and WHAT THE FUCK AM I GOING TO WEAR TO MY WEDDING NOW YOU BASTARDS I WANT HIM FIRED. I'm not firing anyone, and i'm not dealing with you when you're screaming obscenities. Absolutely not.


I am, however, more than willing to discuss this with you when you're able. Frustrated and angry's ok, 'cause i get where that's coming from, and when it's my job to serve you, i need to engage with you through that frustration to find a mutually satisfactory solution. Because i want to keep your business, and you just want pretty shoes for your fucking wedding. I get that, 'cause i would too, and i really can help. It's what i'm here for.


It's no different here. It's frustrating when you voice a concern to the salesclerk, and are told we aren't discussing this, because this is the way it is. (It happens. Not with all of you, not all the time, but it happens, and you know it's true). It gets incredibly frustrating when you try to escalate those concerns, responsibly and respectfully, through the channels, and hear the same party line. And speaking of that, where the hell is the customer service rep? Ali? Hello? Is there anyone in there?


And it passes frustrating doing 90, when things get worse, not better, and the responses remain the same. Then it hits anger.


I take offense at the suggestion that those who vehemently express dissatisfaction with the current "rules" are labeled whiny, sour grapes assholes who just have an axe to grind. I welcome the mods to share my sanction history publicly, because it'll be a short discussion. I also encourage them to share their personal feelings, because it'll help negate this ridiculous idea that being friends with mods gets you off the hook. There are a few mods in this thread that don't like me, and several others on the site that don't either. Sanctions are no more a popularity contest than mod selection is, in my experience.


If i fuck up, i get slapped. I get slapped harder by those that are my friends, because how dare i make more work for them. "Smarten the fuck up, you know better", that's what i'd expect. As well i should, because i do.


There are many who challenge "the rules" for reasons not remotely related to being an asshole or a thorn in your side. Some of us do it because THE RULES AREN'T WORKING ANYMORE. The thing with sets of rules, including AUPs, is that they should be evergreen. Living documents that are constantly revisited and revised to reflect the current climate, the current needs, and, to smaller degree, the current wants of those who are expected to live within those rules. Because they are the reason for those rules, and, ultimately, they're the ones who are going to make or break them. They're the ones who drive the business, and i have the distinct feeling that some here forget that, in their frustration to police the rules.


When one tries to question and challenge those rules from within, without stepping outside the rules, and gets smacked down anyway?


You're damned right it moves from concern to frustration to anger pretty fast. When one hears from those administering the rules that it's their call to take responsibility for changes to those rules, it just becomes more logical - and more fun - to bang one's head against the wall until it's bloody, just so one can debate with the stain.


Police officers don't set rules; they enforce them. They certainly make recommendations, when they see that "ticketing people for jaywalking on a street with no cars is kind of dumb", and those recommendations go to those who *are* responsible for changing the rules.


The people, that is, as represented by their elected officials. In a democracy, anyway.


Bcom's not a democracy. That's probably just as well, given the number of poopularity threads around here. Good lord, if the criteria for 'good policeman' was based on 'who's the most fun bobby at parties' (yes, i'm ashamed that i not only used, but know that reference), it'd be anarchy that even the clash wouldn't support. Lord help us.


That doesn't mean i think bcom needs to be a dictatorship either. A benevolent dictatorship makes for a hot relationship. It does not make for a hot forum.


So it's clear, i don't advocate user selection or user nomination (beyond the current system, which i think could stand review) or even user voting in the sense of "if 20 people want this person, we'll do it", because i think that's asking for trouble. It's also impossible to manage, because which 20 get the say?


I do, however, advocate feedback. "These 5-6 people are currently under consideration for moderatorship. **Note: This is not a vote** This is, though, a chance for you users to SANELY AND WITHOUT VIOLATING provide your feedback as to this person's suitability for this forum and for the job at hand. Here are the criteria we use in selecting a moderator (you'd need to be clear in that, rather than the vague 'well they have to be a good citizen' we've heard so far. What makes a good citizen? How active must they be? How recently must they have cleaned up their act?...and so forth). Discuss, debate, don't violate or you're ass'll be in a mexican jail faster than you can say 'flame'."


I also think public announcements to the effect of "welcome these new mods to this forum" are more than a good idea, they're necessary. I found out, quite by accident (and rumour mill) about three new mods in the last month. Others found out later, and others still likely aren't aware. There's no reason to hide that information, so why wouldn't you announce it?


The bottom line is that it makes no sense to argue "the system's in place, you gotta work with the system" when the system's not working, not anymore. That Sam stepped down, having had enough, that KatieJ's now stepping down for much the same reason (not to mention the countless others over time) is a good indicator. That even users that have long supported moderators and the calls they make are now crying foul is an even better indicator.


If you get one guy (or 5) who's been smacked crying victim, order another beer. If you get one guy who's never been smacked saying 'wtf', offer to buy him a beer and shoot the shit, if you've got the time and money, and then go home and bang your wife. If you get 5, wonder what's in the beer, and switch to whiskey. And when you get 30 and 40?


It might be a good time to put the stein down and find out what the hell's wrong with the lines, 'cause somehow, it's souring the beer.

Fuck you if you think AVC's not friendly

Bryan1: hiya lolly
Lewd_Lolly: shut the fuck up
Heff: CHER23 HAS COOTIES
cher23: hey guyz pm me. 25 f ny here

Friday, January 11, 2008

From the hea...ass 27/09/07

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

This woman needs 08/10/07

Yes, cock. Ok, besides that.

So I met this guy a little while back. He was, of course, pretty (they always are), funny, and local. He thought the kink thing was just grand, and said that he wanted to be kinkier too, but just needed someone to explore that with him.


I tried not to roll my eyes, smiled, and said 'uh huh'. 'Cause it's got nothing to do with me hating "vanillas", and everything to do with me not wanting to be anyone's kinky tour guide. I'm all for people exploring - i'm just way too tired to lead that expedition. Just do me. Do me like you own me (or ya never will), and fuck the wanting me to drive. Tired, i tell you.


We talk, and of course, he's hyperfocused on sex and sexuality and expressions of kink. Why the hell not? I'm liberal and open and he's finally hit paydirt with a chick who isn't going to say "omg you're disgusting you freak, i'm not doing that". Generally? Yeah. I did bee guy. I'm open minded and willing.


So anyway, as he continues to ask me the "have you ever done this? Would you do it again?" questions, i'm feeling more invaded and objectified and less human. Sure, that can be hot. Not so much when you don't know the person, and you're just plain bone-tired. And when he asked me "so what's the one thing you've never done, that you really want to more than anything else?" i responded kinda snarkily and agressively.


"I want someone who loves me wholly and completely, who makes me the center of their world, because i'll make him mine. Someone who is capable without me, but better with me, because i'll need him that way too. And i want to love him, and be loved by him, for the rest of my life. That's what i want that i've never done, and never had".


He didn't say anything, and then stuttered a second, and said "uh...ok, well i just kinda meant sexually, like being loaned out for sex or something".


Indeed. Sigh.



This woman who takes on the world
And picks up your shirts, keeps it together somehow
This same woman that melts with your touch
Wants you to feel what I'm feeling right now

'Cause this woman needs
A safe place to land
The strength in your hands
To know you know
What this woman needs
Is somewhere to cry
So lay by my side
And I'll tell you, I'll tell you


This woman needs to be reassured
That my heart's your home, and love is what wills you to stay
I need you to see me in every light
And hear that you still think I'm beautiful anyway


Cause this woman needs
A safe place to land
The strength in your hands
To know you know
What this woman needs
Is somewhere to cry
So lay by my side
And I'll tell you, I'll tell you
What this woman needs

I read the news today, oh boy... 10/10/07

My friend is not going to be posting here anymore. I'm sure it's not an "i'm leaving forever", because it's not her style. I am equally sure that she'll just fade away like smoke though, and it makes me sad.

We, the collective, lost a great contributor. We lost a lover and a sage and a fighter and a dreamer and a prophet and a dingbat, all in one fell swoop. We lost a voice of conscience, and a voice of insanity. We lost a psycho killer with a heart of gold.


I'll miss your posts and your blogs, and I'll miss having you around to read mine. Most of all, i'll miss being able to click on your profile, see your faces, and be just a little closer for a little while.


I promise not to lose you either, because my life's just a little brighter when you're in it.


I'll see you soon.

Knock knock 15/10/07

Heff: Knock knock
Lewd_Lolly: who's there?
Heff: 9/11
Lewd_Lolly: 9/11 who?
Heff: You said you'd never forget!!!!!
Lewd_Lolly: hahahahahahahahahaa
Lewd_Lolly: hahahahahaahahaha


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Erm. That's disgusting. Shame on you.

Further to last... 21/10/07

...I thought it apropos to clarify one thing (ok, after a friend pointed out vagaries of language, thx J).

"Like me" might be better represented by the words "validate me". I want you to validate me, because i will validate you.


What does validate me mean?


We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the plant...I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things...all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'.

~Susan Sarandon, "Shall We Dance"

New Year 12/12/07

Instead of going to Van, as originally planned...i'm staying in Winnipeg. For yet another year.


But this year's gonna be different...because this year, I get the best bday gift ever.


B's coming here, because he loves me enough to make that ridiculously long trip. That, and because my bed's awesome, and he needs to be in it. Happy birthday to me


Update: "Yes, I am flying 5 billion miles just to hold you".

He wins. He's SO getting laid for that.

Intimately memetic (and inimicably verbose) 10/10/07


Bast recently blogged about intimacy, and how that behaves (counselor speak) in her world. Since she piggybacked off bronx, and it seems everyone's been thinking and mulling and talking about it...i figure it's less a meme and more direct suggestion. Still and all, i've been chewing on it too, so it's apropos to follow the yellow meme road.

As i've said before, i don't have trouble with intimacy. I'm really pretty good at it, actually, and often, i'm *too* good at it - at least as compared to others i am being intimate with. I'm capable of seeing the intimacy for what it is, without reading more into it. I'm capable of interacting intimately, while still maintaining my own boundaries and respecting theirs. I'm capable of seeking intimacy, of embracing it, and of ending it without drama when it's no longer appropriate. Intimacy, i do well.


Others, not always so much. I find that so many people have these unrealistic fences around their own ability to be intimate with others, because they have all these preconceived expectations and assumptions about WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I CONNECT WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I suppose, reading the boards around this joint, i can see why. It's still awfully sad.


For me, i need that. I need someone who is capable of intimacy. Capable of being "warm, comfortable, affectionate, and acting with detailed knowledge" - of themselves, and of me. I need it.


But it's a funny thing, that intimacy, because you can't force it or pretend it. It's one of those things that comes as it comes, and you just gotta be open, and willing, and embrace it when you see it. They have to be all those things too, or it'll never come.


I need a man who listens to me, and remembers the little things i say, because it's important. I need a man who asks me inconsequential questions about trivial shit, because it's not trivial, and because he wants to know me. And i need a man who tells me things about himself, all sorts of things, that i'd never know otherwise, because he wants me to know him too.


Because that's how intimacy is built - one word, one laugh, and one shared moment at a time.


So yeah. I need intimacy. But more than that, i need vulnerability. One can have intimacy without vulnerability, but i don't think you can do it the other way around. It's certainly never worked for me, anyway, so if you can figure it out, lemme know.


I want...no, i need...that person who is willing to set aside that impenetrable shield of invulnerability and be willing to lay themselves bare for me. Not the first time we make eye contact, of course not. But i need to know that willingness is there, from the first second we interact. I need to smell it - because it has a smell, though it's hard to describe. I think it smells a little like fear, with a hint of promise, a topnote of confidence and optimism, and a strong bottom note of passion. Or rain. Maybe it smells like rain.


I need a man who is willing to let me see him, and to know him, knowing i just might refuse to look, or walk away because i don't like what i see. I need a man who is willing to say "you make me happy", knowing i might stop. I need a man who is able to say "i need you", knowing i just might not be there for him. I need a man who is willing to bare his throat, just a little, and say "i like you", despite the fear that i just might say "so what" or worse - "i don't like you back".


At the end of the day, intimacy, for me, is seeing another. Seeing them as they are, and acknowledging it, and wanting to know more, without asking or expecting them to be something else. It's being a witness to their life, as my dear friend quoted, because it's that act of witnessing that weaves us together in untearable ways. Intimacy, for me, is learning them, for no other reason than because you like them.


And intimacy, for me, is the only way to the vulnerability that i need - from you, and from myself.

No news = very good news 23/10/07

Today was an awesome day. Like, really just amazingly fantastic. I was cranky before bed, but was happy by the time i fell asleep. I woke up a little tired, but oddly feeling very rested. Relaxed, maybe. I definitely woke up relaxed.

The first thing i saw this morning was flowers (ok, second, i saw the laptop because it's closer and my eyes suck), and i started my day with a big smile. I love flowers, and i love tiger lilies best. So pretty.


"Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head". (Apparently, it's Beatles week in the blog). I was almost late for work (again), because i hate getting up in the mornings. I am firmly convinced that the workday needs to be 11-4, with an hour lunch. Firmly convinced. My bed + sleeping in = win. God help me, WIN.


I went to work, feeling hopeful and happy, and had a good day. Things just seemed to go as planned, and i got everything done that i've been trying to catch up on for weeks. I managed to completely clear my desk!


And as i was walking home (the exhausting 95 second walk), and trying to remember where the egg's damned tae kwon do uniform was (i have GOT to clean this house), it occured to me...


I haven't had to go to the school once this year. I haven't heard from the school once, other than the random notes announing events and the like. I haven't been called by the teacher, i haven't had to meet with the psychiatrist, i haven't even had any notes home.


Nothing. It's October 23, and there has not been one noteworthy incident.


Oh. And i got ...stuff, to send...away. It made me giddy and goofy and happy to think about it arriving.


Today was a blindingly, brilliantly, awesome day. _kisses

Greatness 27/10/07

I think that, if you give people a space for greatness, that they'll seize the opportunity. I don't think that people are inherently evil. Yes, i believe we have a great potential for evil, but i don't believe we're inherently evil.

Create a space where greatness can live, and it will. Build it, and they will come.


(thanks, sb, for the conversation that generated this)

Stretch out and wait 8/11/07

People talk a lot about communication, and how important that is. I agree. It's really important to communicate with the people you love (and sometimes even those you don't, I think), because it's really hard to enter each others' spaces without that. We're social animals, us humans, but we're also naturally insular, because most of our socializing happens in our brains.

Most, but not all. For us animals, some of that socializing happens physically -- kinesthetically -- sensually, and we're often blissfully (or painfully) unaware of it.


We learn each other by smell, just like animals. Newborn babies aren't able to see hours after birth; they lack the coordination and sensibility to forge a touch-recognition relationship. But within minutes, they can recognize their mother, because they know her smell. As it happens, we mothers know our little ones' smell too, because it's familiar. It's a little mysterious too, and that's why we spend so much time over them, breathing in their baby-ness.


We kiss, and remember the feel and taste of our lovers on our lips. We guage our arousal by the shiver down our backs, by the weakness in our knees, by the throbbing of our loins. We convert those feelings into love, too, because it's easier to define love kinesthetically than it is logically.


We're a feeling bunch, and we're an expressive bunch. We need to communicate, because we're socialized to do so, way down in our very DNA.


Speaking's a kinesthetic thing too. Sure, it's a mental and emotional thing, and that's why words matter. But sometimes, it's purely kinesthetic -- simply energy -- and the words just don't matter. At those times, the words almost become sacrosanct, because you can no more explain the shiver down your back in words than you can explain why you need to feel it. During those times, speaking impedes the communication, and you're better to stop.


Today was one of those days.


You ask me what I want you to say, and I tell you I don't care, because I don't. It isn't about the words, it's about the way your voice connects us - each word a thread, weaving and winding its way into the warm embrace that is one's favourite blanket. Whether or not I know the words, I can feel them, kinesthetically, because words are kinesthetic things. I ask you to speak, because the sound of your voice gives me body memory, and it lies there, dormant, waiting for me to stretch my mental body and recall it. Waiting for the time when I read words on a page, and I can hear them whispered in my ear, because they're living, breathing, kinesthetic things that have an energy all their own... a life all their own, and i can hear them and be wrapped again, if i just stretch.


Sometimes, the saying nothing at all says more than words ever could.

Kiddie rides R more than metaphor (aup friendly) 9/11/07

First: I HATE that there isn't enough space to spell "are" in the subject line. Gah. Net speak.

Second: It's long. WTF else is new. Hush, and read or don't _tongue


So I went to the mall last night. I had to do some shopping, and the mall was the most efficient place to do it, as is the way of malls. At least, it seemed the most efficient way to do it, what with everything i needed located under one roof. Sadly, everything i don't need is there too, and it's so shiny and pretty that of course i stop and look. Three freaking hours at the mall, and money i didn't need to be spending on things i don't need to be buying. Oh well.


I wandered the halls, feeling a little bit lost and purposeless, despite being well aware of my purpose there. That's a new feeling for me, a retail whore, who can find any store in any mall in three minutes flat (maybe a little extra for walking time, if it's a big mall). At first, i thought it was because i hadn't eaten yet, as that makes me flaky, confused, and out of sorts. Sometimes it makes me combative or morose too, but i wasn't really those things, not this time. I was just lost.


So i ate, and that didn't help. I still wandered from store to store, looking, touching, and looking some more. Being the kinesthetic (have i rambled enough about that yet?), i figured getting a finger-sense of things would help. It didn't. It made me feel strangely disconnected from everything, and that was confusing. I connect through touch, and it grounds me.


I was decidedly without ground last night. Despite food and fabric sense, i was adrift.


I wandered about, back and forth, and bought everything that seemed to speak to me. As a casual aside, some lucky girl's getting the awesomest gift ever, thanks to my utter confusion and my need to find my center. You're welcome, and I love you, haha _tongue


And then, when the mall was winding down on the closing time home stretch, i went to walmart. I had to grab a couple of things, and it made the most sense to get them there (since it'd cost triple anywhere else in the mall, given the nature of them). I spent as little time as possible in there, because that place drains the life out of me. All that faceless consumerism is just exhausting and disheartening, and i can't take it. That, or maybe it's that it's ugly and packed to the rafters with crap and losers, just like me, who are desperate to toss their coins in the coffer for a little oblivion in the form of happy faced "our prices are always this low!" signs. Maybe i just can't handle the mirrors there.


I made my purchases, made a point of being pleasant to the cashier who, given her demeanor, was feeling as desperate to run as i was, and wandered out. The walmart is connected to the mall by a long hallway, and in the hallway they have the usual suspects. The posters for AUP-find, the set of gumball machines that are filled with gumballs (duh), cheap necklaces, stickers, and the candy du jour (it happened to be Runts, this time). I debated buying some stickers for the egg, but they were jungle creatures, and he's off animals and onto pokemon, at least this week.


By the AUP-find boards, they've got the grab game. You know the one. You drop your twonie in, and the machine grabs it, and laughs as you try like a retard on smack to use the little robotic hand to get you a 10 cent stuffed animal. This one's not even a winner every time, so you're doomed before you start.


And next to that, they have a kiddie ride. It was a little car with a tuxedo-wearing elephant in the passenger seat, for company as you take a leisurely cruise, i guess. Perhaps the makers of that kiddie ride are unaware that aups are deliriously imaginative little creatures, and don't really need the visual aid to imagine themselves on their way to a spectacular event. Perhaps they just had a spare elephant, and figured that was as good a place as any to put it.


Most times, the kiddie ride is silent and empty when you pass it. It's $2 for a two minute ride, and everyone with eggs knows that a 2 minute ride barely awakens the consciousness, let alone satiate it. That trip's gonna cost you a good $6, and sometimes more on a really dreary day.


Yesterday was decidedly dreary.


I was about ten feet from it when i saw a little aup in it. He couldn't have been more than *18* (which, of course, he wasn't, he was more of a hat trick than a hockey team - and yes, i hate speaking in obscurities as much as you hate reading them), and he was doing all the things one does on such a road trip. Making the vroom sound, spinning the wheel madly so as to careen from one ditch to the other, and occassionally chatting with his companion about the things AUPs chat about. He seemed to be having a perfectly delightful cruise, as the car rocked from side to side.


Then i noticed that the machine wasn't on, in the way that a mom knows. There were no flashy lights, there were no random noises, the rocking was gentle and not jerky as it always is on those cheap-ass rides.


And I knew then, in the way that only a mom knows.


I came up to it, and there she was, on her knees on the floor in front of it. Her shopping bags (all two of them) were set neatly on the floor between her and the wall, and her coat was off, and folded across her lap, over top of his. Everything as it should be, for a woman used to setting everything in its safe place so she can pause to give her kid what he wants most.


She was probably about my age, and similar enough that i had a pretty good idea how old he was, without even looking closely at him. We moms are like trees, and parenting those glorious little demons makes its mark on our faces. If you peel back the makeup and the glasses, you'll see how long we've been at it -- just like cutting a tree open to see the rings. Mom rings, that's what we wear on our faces.


She had 4. 1 for the year of living life as an acorn, and 3 for the years of driving down roots and reaching for the sun. She had that tired showed, that tired that you learn to cover better, as you get more rings.


I watched them, for a second, before she realized it, and our eyes met. We gave each other those smiles you give each other, when you know you're both single mothers. Hers: a little apologetic, a little humble, and a lot fiercely devoted to whatever it takes to that little oak's happiness. Mine was bittersweet...from understanding, and the tender sadness that comes with it.


Those rides cost a fortune, and those of us that are the sole breadmakers, shoe buyers, and bandaid putter-onners know those damned rides are a week's worth of milk. And our hearts break even harder than theirs do, every time we have to shake our heads, and take their hands to lead them on with a "no babe, sorry, mommy has no change today". 'Cause we really want to...and we really can't. We just can't.


Sometimes, the heartbreak's so bad, that we succumb. We'll dig through the wallet and find the twonie, and give them two minutes of bliss that they'll forget by the time we hit the payphones, just because we've got enough mom rings to know you gotta take that two minutes of bliss wherever, whenever, however you can get it.


Other times, though, we just don't have it. We know that $2.41 is gonna buy a 2L of milk, if the safeway lady's feeling generous today and willing to let us off the hook for the extra six cents. And we still know that two minutes of bliss are probably just as important as the milk, so we pawn the only other thing we've got to give that little oak a few minutes of joy: our pride.


We arrange our shopping, near the wall, where it's out of the way of the jabbering teens who aren't watching where they walk, and where it can't be snatched in a grab and run, because we're far too tired to chase anyone. We fold the jackets halfways, and hold them against ourselves, so we can keep track of them, 'cause we are in no position to be buying new ones if they get stolen, and far too proud to walk back to the car in footprint covered coats. And we get down on our knees, in front of the little red jalopy, and hold our heads plenty high, 'cause it helps the dignity go down.


She looked me in the eye, and smiled a little, and i smiled back at her, the drawn in, head tilted kind of smile that says "it's all good hon, i see you, and i know you, and i've been on my knees too". She smiled a little brighter then, 'cause dignity's not so sour when you share it with someone else.


I kept walking, and the vision of them stayed in my head. I had brain memory of that little egg's little egghead bobbing around in that jalopy, and i had body memory of just how you gotta move your lips to make the "vrrrreeerrrrrrm" sound be realistic, at least to a hat trick.


And i got to the end of the hall, where the white linoleum turns to taupe tile, letting you know you've hit the quality shopping, and i stopped. I put my own shopping down, and took my purse off my shoulder, and dug around in my pretty lime green wallet.


I turned back, and walked up to her, and held my hand out, with the two twonies i had left. She looked up at me, and i said "it's been a long time since my guy was little enough to enjoy the jalopies, and i'd love it if you'd let your guy have a ride or two, from us."


She hesitated, longer than i would have, and then took it with not much more than a smile and a "thanks, that's really nice of you". I smiled back, and walked away. It wasn't my moment anymore, and staying would have been more than i paid for.


I finished my errands in 15 minutes, after that. And picked up an extra gift, for the person who's taken up residence in my head, and made me pink enough and shiny enough to dig for change in my pretty green wallet, just because it made more than me smile.


Yesterday was a dreary day, filled yet again with wonder, and with pink.

Familiarity breeds contempt 24/09/07

Over-familiarity, that is. The assumption that because you feel comfortable tearing down a boundary between you and another (or others), that doing so is ok.

It's not. It's presumptuous, it's proprietary, and it's invasive. It's not going to make you any friends - because even those that are initially drawn to your interest, your openness, and the initial flattery that you see them, like them, and know them - even those people are going to draw back, as your lack of respect for their boundaries fences them in to the place where antipathy lives.


Because you don't know them. You don't see them, you see something to attach yourself to - and that's not inviting. It's parasitic, it's off-putting, and it makes others feel used and violated.


familiarity
noun
1. personal knowledge or information about someone or something [syn: acquaintance]
2. usualness by virtue of being familiar or well known [ant: strangeness]
3. close or warm friendship; "the absence of fences created a mysterious intimacy in which no one knew privacy"
4. a casual manner [syn: casualness]
5. an act of undue intimacy


You aren't a known entity. You can become one, sure, but you can't force that - no matter how many hairballs you vomit on the table, no matter how invasively you insinuate yourself into someone else's world - you just can't make these things happen any faster and more naturally than they're supposed to, 'cause that just be the way it are.


I think people assume an over-familiar stance because they want to demonstrate a relationship of mutual trust, of mutual affection, and of mutual respect.


The problem? It doesn't do that. What it does do is that you can't be trusted with affection and intimacy with another, because, instead of treating it as sacred and something to be watered and fed and let to grow in a sunny corner, you make clear you're desperate to show the world the blossoms, before they've even bloomed.


Watched pots don't boil, and billboarded orchids don't bloom.


So here's my advice: Don't insinuate yourself into another's world, by word or by deed, because it's the easiest way to ensure you'll never be part of it. Don't portray a closeness with another when it's fabricated, because the holes in the seams are going to show. Don't believe, for a moment, that your lack of boundaries and propriety is shared by others, because you'll just come off as creepy. Just as you wouldn't walk into the home of someone who lives on the street solely because you wave to each other when you cut the grass on Saturdays, so you can't paint your arm around the model in the magazine and claim she's your 'bud'. Not only does it make you weird - it's a good way to get yourself a restraining order for Christmas in July (or September, as it were).


Don't imply a relationship that doesn't exist, or it never will.


This one's public. So if you're reading it, and you think I might mean you?


I probably do.

On throats, and other dating apparatus - 23/09/07

I've been given an assignment. Toppeh bitch, she knows how to get me. "Write", she says. "Make a list", she asks. Gah. Ok.

I recently told someone i "don't do" intimacy. That's not true, or at least, not accurate. I do intimacy, quite often, and quite well, actually. More often than not, i'm likely too intimate, too fast, too inappropriately. People aren't generally comfortable with intimacy, i find, and it creates a strain where there wasn't one, when people aren't on the same intimacy page.


Yeah, I do intimacy. But enough of that. What i don't do is vulnerability.


Now, people think i do. I am highly adept at appearing vulnerable. I am very liberal with my opinions, my speech, and my secrets - at least for the most part. The part that others would be blinded by, anyway. I am also very liberal with my body, in many respects, and that appears vulnerable too.


It's not. It's no more vulnerable than a wall. The fact that the wall's covered in murals doesn't make it any less impenetrable - it just makes it pretty.


I've long let the misconception stand, uncorrected, because it's been to my advantage to do so. At least, i thought it was. No one said otherwise, and i didn't have a stream of consciousness that could prove me wrong.


I do now. I see the error of my ways, and i see where my desperate need to protect that most precious of gems has actually, ultimately, turned that gem to coal.


Is a diamond, locked away in the clammy depths of a mine, still a diamond? Sure it is. But who the hell cares, when they don't know it's there?


Some care. Some care enough to strap on the helmet, grab a water bottle and a pick, and brave the inevitable collapse of those seemingly fortified, calcium rich walls, in search of that elusive shimmer, that tiny little universe of light you can extinguish with a fist.


To you: Thanks. I do love you, in every sense of that word - or, at least, in every sense I know. Because it's another language, from another land, but i know the scent of its soil and its rivers. I have no map, but i'll find home if i just let the land lead me.


I'll write, not because you asked me to, but because if the only way to be found is to sparkle, then i'll sparkle. You dig; i'll show you where.


How does baring one's throat behave? By baring one's throat. By throwing one's head back; in a laugh, in a rage, in tears. By closing one's eyes, and thrusting one's heart forward, and lifting one's throat to the sky in the most primal of ways.


By breathing deeply, and embracing one's own silence.


I need to learn to breathe. Properly, in controlled and conscious ways. I need to learn to use my breath to make my body - and my mind - do the things i want, and need, it to do.

I need to learn silence. To be silent, and to welcome it. I need to learn not to fear it, and i need to learn how to use it - to hear my body, to hear the message (whatever that is), and to hear my path. Because i'm sure, if i listen, it'll come to me.

I need to learn to believe that silence isn't filled with screams, or even with whispers. It's just silence, and that's ok.

I need to learn to self protect in ways that still allow for intimacy, and for vulnerability. I need to learn how to protect myself - openly, and covertly - in ways that encourage my attacker to engage with me. I need to learn to guard that which needs to be guarded, without locking it away from others, and myself.

I need to learn my body. I need to learn its strengths, and embrace them. I need to learn its weaknesses - the ones i can change, and the ones i can't. I need to learn when, and how, to push it, and when to let it rest. I need to learn to love it - like i mean it.


And i need to make it loveable. That oughta be bolded too, but it's ok.


I need to think some more, and when i do, i can start lists and plans and maps. But for now, i need to sleep.


Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore

Sing to me
Sing to me ...

It's a new dawn, it's a new day... 8/09/07

...and I'm feeeeeeeeeeelin' good"

Me too, Nina.


The mind's an amazing thing. The ability to tie event to emotion and create meaning, to write single emotions into complex constructs, to hyperfocus on a construct so convincedly that it becomes a new reality.


And then, the mind's ability to supercede its own authority to say "no more, let it go, let it all go"...and away it washes, ashes on the tide.


Boggles the mind, doesn't it? It's no wonder we're all insane.


I used to say that i'm a survivor. I'm no victim, i'm a survivor, and i'll do what ever is necessary to survive. Then i realized, though, that calling oneself a survivor is just another way of calling oneself a victim. A victorious victim, to be sure, but a victim nonetheless.


I have no interest in being a victim - of my life, of my choices, of myself. I have no interest in choosing the mantra that allows me to dwell in the place that, at best, allows me to shed responsibility for my own path, and, at worst, makes me powerless over that responsibility.


I'm not a victim. I'm a navigator.


A navigator determines one's course. Sometimes, a navigator uses maps and compasses and GPS to chart the course, and other times, she just tastes the wind, watches the sun, and knows with full certainty that west is where she's got to be.


And sometimes, a navigator'll run her ship into the rocks, because it's better to risk it and swim, than to be lost at sea. Maps and compasses are little use during those times, but it's moot. The navigator can taste the salt on the wind, and on her cheeks, and she stays her course - 'cause the rocks might not kill you, but the ocean surely will.


Ten years have come and gone, since that day that created a life, and changed several more. Ten years of thinking and raging and praying and wishing and crying and laughing and hoping and thinking some more. Ten years of dazzling sunrises and mind-numbingly cold nights, of birthday cakes and cleaning out closets, of dancing grass and ash to ash.


Ten years. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And the more they stay the same, the more they all become new, again and again.


I miss you. He's even more beautiful than i promised you he'd be, and i'm better than either of us could have hoped for. I have friends, who get it, and lots who don't, but help me pass the time anyway, because they care. And still care when i walk away, 'cause i don't need them quite so much, and can navigate all by myself, sans rocks.


I'll see you in November. I'll bring the sand, just bring yourself.

Nightmares 5/09/07

...and the shit that causes them.

It's 620 am, and i've been sleeping for less than 2 hrs. I had a nightmare, and i needed to vacate the bed, and then, when that didn't work, to vacate the room to try and escape my brain. I'm not at all good at shaking off the sleepies, especially when i'm trapped in my own fear.


I lit a cigarette, cranked winamp (as much as one can crank when one doesn't live alone) and went to AV. A cigarette that early makes me nauseous, and AV was deathly quiet. "Crazy Mary", on the other hand, wrapped me up. Thank you, Eddie.


I know where they come from, because it's not the first, and, though it's been ten years, it won't be the last. I forget, though - while i've become awfully powerful in that time - i'm still not invincible, and the dreams are still beyond me. Like sand, they run through my fingers and leave grit on my palms; impossible to capture them and turn them to Sam's glass.


(NP: For those of you on the "hotlist hotlist", you'll get the reference, so please don't call. For those not - please don't ask. And since no matter the list, you know i suck at the emo-girl bit, i'll likely delete this when today becomes today anyway)


My guard was down. My priorities were wrong. My love, my care, and my vigilance were hyper-focused - on the wrong targets, and by the time i realized it, it was too late, and there was nothing i could do. And somehow, midstream, everything became something else, something new, and it was all old again. As the cobwebs clear - it was even the same door. Mary mother of god...they're supposed to become *less* real as you wander out of the grey and into the light, aren't they?


God help me, i'm sorry and i've paid, enough for all of us. You've had your piece - let me take some peace for myself.


I hate starting the day with a cigarette. I hate worse starting it with no sleep, and tears.


Crazy Mary - Pearl Jam (Victoria Williams)

She lived on a curve in the road, in an old tar-paper shack
On the south side of the town, on the wrong side of the tracks
Sometimes on the way into town we'd say:
"Mama, can we stop and give her a ride?"
Sometimes we did but her hands flew from her side
Wild eyed, crazy Mary

Down along the road, past the Parson's place
The old blue car we used to race
Little country store with a sign tacked to the side
Said "No L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G allowed"
Underneath that sign always congregated quite a crowd

Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around

One night thunder cracked mercy backed outside her windowsill
Dreamed I was flying high above the trees, over the hills
Looked down into the house of Mary
Bare bulb blown, newspaper-covered walls, and Mary rising up above it all

Next morning on the way into town
Saw some skid marks, and followed them around
Over the curve,through the fields, into the house of Mary

That WHAT you fear the most, could meet you halfway
That WHAT you fear the most, could meet you halfway
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around


...that what you fear most could meet you halfway...


This week, too, shall pass. Until then, i need to find me some oblivion.

On the day that your mentality... 4/09/07

...catches up with your biology...

Today's blog entry, known as "these are the riches of the poor" or this week in awesometown, will be scintillating, informative, and intimate. You know, as always.


My egg goes back to school on Wednesday. It's been a pretty good summer for us, actually, though the food paranoia reached fever pitch, and we needed some clinical intervention. I took him off meds for a few days, and while he's been batshit crazy, he's been happy and eating. Eating really well, actually. And happy like i haven't seen him in a long time.


I'm feeling very confused about where to go from here. 'Cause while happy and eating are good, batshit crazy isn't. As always, we'll figure it out, but we won't do that tonight.


Work was finally back to normal. Well, normal meaning i wasn't run off my ass, cleaning up someone's messes, and trying to figure out what the hell she does all day. My bonus came through on my last cheque, so I spoiled us and banked the rest. I also accepted another consulting job, which looks not only profitable, but really interesting. I'm looking forward to it. Better still, it's good not being broke.


We had dinner with my mom tonight, after taking the egg to see Shrek 3 (awesome, go see). It's a strange thing, this new relationship phase with her. It's strange to let her in the house, and not hear how it's not clean enough for her. It's strange, to say "can you watch C in march, i want to go to new orleans for a gathering of friends from online" and have her say "ok" without asking who they are, and how i know them, and what we'll be doing...all followed by the expressions of disgust at not only my choices, but how i don't feel guilty about them. It's stranger still to laugh together, without a whole lot of walls up. Cautiously optimistic, i believe is the phrase.


And i've spent more than an hour or two in av chat. I seem to be on the up cycle again, after taking yet another hiatus from the interwebs a few weeks ago. It's a lurid and dangerous relationship we have, me and the interwebs. I leave, time and again, with a huffy "i don't need you, you don't value or respect me and you give me nothing in return!", only to come back, quietly, while it sleeps in the night, and slide into the bed to curl up beside it. It sleepily throws an arm over me, and never sneers at me in the morning. It works.


I'm going to NOLA in the spring, to meet several bcommers i've not yet met, and to once again connect with a couple that i have. I'm excited, and it promises to be a great time full of debauchery, craziness, and lots and lots of laughs. I can hardly wait, and have made it a mission to get the giac there too, because it won't be the same without her.


I've also got myself a crush. Another one, you say? Yes, another one, but this is no ordinary crush. Oh no, dear readers, this is one of those deliciously painful crushes. He's beautiful, he's witty, he's intelligent AND articulate, he's got a great accent (though he could be mute, and i'd still be head over heels), he's sexy and sexual, and he's beautiful. Did i mention he's beautiful?


I've spent the week sacrificing any semblance of pride to let him know how enamoured i am. Clearly, my shamelessness knows no bounds, as i've unabashedly and unwaveringly given him my complete focus, making sure that every time we interact, he knows i'm awed and thrilled by him.


Bluebonnet says i'm sending mixed signals, and i'm sure she's right. I'll have to work at being clearer.


No worries, dear readers. He's very married, very happy, and very, very far away. This one'll not be leaving me in (or for) a bar, anytime soon, as it's going absolutely nowhere. Sometimes, that's better, n'est ce pas?



On the day that your mentality
Decides to try to catch up with your biology

Come round ...
cause I want the one I cant have
And its driving me mad
Its all over, all over, all over my face

....

A double bed
And a stalwart lover for sure
These are the riches of the poor

....

A tough kid who sometimes swallows nails
Raised on prisoners aid
He killed a policeman when he was
Thirteen
And somehow that really impressed me
And its written all over my face

Oh, these are the riches of the poor
These are the riches of the poor

I want the one I cant have
And its driving me mad
Its written all over my face

....

And if you ever need self-validation
Just meet me in the alley by the
Railway station
Its all over my face
Oh ...


Unrequited, unachievable crushes are fun.

Enjoy your week, everyone. _kisses

Peetopia (as usual, i need an editor) 1/09/07

I'm an irresponsible blogger. I know it's true. I intended to write this days ago, after it happened, but life conspired against me and interfered with that (translation: I was too busy perving online over hot men who aren't for me, and trying not to fall asleep at my desk at work as a result. Irresponsible, but horny. What's to be done).

So. Pee. Most of you reading know that I don't really hold an opinion of pee, one way or the other. It's not disgustingly gross for me, and it's not exquisitely hot and sexy and intimate for me. It's just pee, yanno?


Submission, on the other hand...now that is disgustingly gross and exquisitely hot and sexy and intimate for me. I am in constant awe of submission, others' submission, anyway. My own? I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it, that's likely a result of lifelong programming meets wet cunt. Even if I could resolve that and just decide one way or the other, i don't know that i would. Cognitive dissonance is sexy.


I've said it many times - I don't need the grandiose acts of submission to really feel that the task is worthy. I don't need to be asked to serve thai chai from my slave belly to 18 leather clad whipmasters, just to receive the infamously rewarding "good girl". 'K, that might be kinda hot though. Hm. Anyway.


No, submitting, for me, is about the submitting itself. As i said to some folks in AV chat, when i am in the presence of dominance (and yeah, i know dominance. Can't explain how, but i'm guessing it's a smell or an energy vibe or something equally tangible.), I just know, and my instinctual reaction is to fall to my knees, metaphorically and physically. I want to respond to dominance with submission, because it just makes sense, and feels "right". I want to submit, because it wouldn't occur to anyone that i wouldn't.


So here we were, having this great conversation about dominance, and submission, and hot buttons, and kink, and all those other fascinating things, and the time ran away from me. After several hours of talking, I realized that I hadn't peed, and that it was time to take care of that. Relatively soon, because i have a sneaking suspicion i realized it once or twice as we talked, but put it off because the conversation was so enjoyable, and now, my body was trying to take back the reins over my irresponsibility.


I made the mistake of saying something like "i have to pee. i should go do that", and one of our devilishly charming resident dominant types said "No you shouldn't".


There's a moment, when you wake in the morning, that you just know today's going to be a good (or bad) day. There's a moment, with friends, that you know you're sharing a profoundly intimate moment, and aren't quite sure why, but just enjoy it for what it is. There're moments, too, when you're with a lover, and you know, without doubt, that you are heading into dazzingly and blindingly good sex, though no one's touched or said a word. It's just an energy meets energy thing, i'm sure.


Like submission recognizing dominance, and responding, despite your brain.


His lighthearted "no, you shouldn't" triggered an immediate agreement in me; an acquiescence that precluded argument or refusal or denial or even responding with equal measure of dominance. That's possible, too, even for the "naturally submissive", and i always find it interesting when i hear it said, by the submittive types, that "i couldn't dom my way out of a paper bag". Hm. Won't, perhaps. Couldn't? I don't buy that. "No" is, in itself, a dominant response to a command. It might be necessary, but it's not submissive.


Anyway, I'll save the philosophical for later; let's get back to the pee.


I'm a fan of the clarity of the command form, rather than the obscurity of declarative statement, so I didn't take "no you shouldn't" as a command. Instead, i said "i should, yes", and was then told (see girls, dominants can be led too, and you don't even have to top from the bottom to do it) "no, we're having a nice conversation. You just sit there and continue the conversation, I'll tell you when you can pee".


Be. Still. My. Heart. Pee, i can take or leave. The presence of dominance, and the resultant command...ah, that's a good place to inhabit.


Of course i said "ok". Sure, i had a choice. I could have responded with dominance and said "no, i really have to pee, i'm going to go do that". I could have been coy and deflected dominance by pretending i didn't hear it, and gone anyway. I could even have been passive agressive and responded with a giggle and a stomp and a "that's not fair, my body has to pee!". I could have done or said lots of things, but I like to submit - even when i don't.


I said ok. I like clarity and direct communication, so i asked if i was expected to ask when i really had to go, or simply wait until i was told to go. Not surprisingly, "i'll tell you when it's time" was the answer.


Fair enough. For close to two hours, i sat, as gracefully as i could, and tried not to squirm (except for when i was told to squirm; it's amazing the power of suggestion and how it impacts the brain's ability to process sensation. Must explore further). I chatted, i clenched, and i squirmed inwardly and outwardly as it was suggested that a punch to my stomach better not make me pee. That a boot on my torso, grinding against my bladder, while the wearer drenched me in spit and piss and all other manner of instigatory fluid would not make me pee. That even a fist, filling me so full that there was nowhere for the pee to go but out, even that would not make me pee. It would, however, make me come. Of that, i have no doubt.


It became fun for everyone, as it became public knowledge that daay was obeying an order superior to nature's, and the teasing was lightheartedly merciless. Water was poured, we were regaled with stories of glorious pee sessions, all of which were fun, mean, and interesting - but they didn't distract from the purpose. I wasn't allowed to pee. Listening to the sound of water being poured and then watching it be consumed was not going to be the excuse for my denying myself what i really wanted - to obey, to acquiesce, to submit.


I didn't pee. Even after he went to bed, leaving me the light at the end of the tunnel that "another half hour, then you can go and relieve yourself". God, those minutes just crawled by. Thank goodness i had great conversation, a pretty georgian, and an even prettier scotsman to distract and inspire me.


It's good, that feeling of acquiescence. I read, often, women (and men, though it's rare) who rail so hard against that acquiescence, as though once they've done so, they've lost. It's such a foreign thing to me; i just can't understand how acquiescing (when what i really crave is to be acquiescent) is any more a loss than getting the job i want when i apply for it is a loss. I keep reading these women, in hopes that one day it'll make sense. Hope's a dangerous, but unquenchable thing.


And then - 1:31 am. Glory be! I could pee! I'm not sure, but i recall interrupting someone with an "omg, i can pee", and running off to the bathroom. When I got up, my legs were a little shaky, as i'd been sitting in nearly the same position for over 2 hours, as i was told i couldn't get up ("you just sit there and continue the conversation" - really people, there's no ambiguity there). I had that passing fear that i'd get there, sit my throne, and my body would reject me, as punishment for my earlier disregard of its plea. Even as i sat, and there were those milliseconds of non-response, i thought "oh no..."


Fortunately, my body is either not that smart, or not that petty. I sat there, labia throbbing slightly, legs still radiating shock at their recent movement, mind praying desperately to be over matter, and then...it came. Oh, how it came.


There's something so amazingly comforting and intimate and titillating about one's own pee making its way out of one's body. There's that first little tickle, deep inside, as your bladder awakens and unlocks its normally guarded gates. That tickle becomes a trickle; that hesitant stream like a new lover, kissing tentatively at your lips before breathing deep and diving in to consume you.


And then it comes. There's always just a little shame associated with urinating - you feel it rushing out of you, soaking your lips in its warm embrace; its redolent spiciness soaking into your skin, your hair, your senses. You know that, after its all over, the only way to rid yourself of it will be to wash it away - soap and water will eliminate even the body memory of it, at least until next time. You feel slightly dirty and ashamed knowing that you have no intention of washing afterwards.


I felt it hurry out of me, desperate to vacate my treasonous body, and i exhaled deeply. I may have sighed slightly; i know my eyes rolled back in my head as my eyelids gratefully closed over them for a moment, allowing me to just be in that moment.


It. Was. Magnificent. It seemed a never-ending stream; like an orgasm that just washes over you and through you and around you, and i rode it like one who'd survived a plane crash floats on an endless sea, too glad to be alive to worry about looking for land. Or maybe like a warrior, fiercely and defiantly victorious on the back of my trusted steed, riding through fields of carcasses of the enemies who fell at my hand.


(Ok, maybe just orgasmically. The steed might be a bit overdramatic for pee, n'est ce pas?)


Nonetheless, time escaped me. I peed, and i peed, and i peed some more. It seemed it would never end, and then came that moment. The one where the stream becomes a trickle; it slows, then pauses, then comes to a stop that, were it not for my body's baited breath, would be enough to reach for paper.


But my body knew, always knows, better than my brain, and it paused too. And sure enough, pee grinned and giggled, thrilled to be allowed to stay up past bedtime and play just a little longer, and again it began.


Peeing when you think you're finished is like getting fingered after you've just orgasmed so deeply that your teeth vibrate. Lovely and warm and delightful, but just a little scary, as you wonder "oh god, how long will this last, can i handle it again?"


I can. I did. I reveled. And for that, i was rewarded with that all-too-familiar washing of the water, that lingering kiss to my hairy mouth (waxed to be neat, tyvm), for another few seconds (hours?). I found myself wondering if orgasm was this fantastic, and found myself surprised that i really didn't care.


(Clearly, i need to get laid again, and soon. Meanwhile, there's pee. Glorious, sexy, intimate, caressing pee.)


When i came back, the pretty scotsman asked if it was enjoyable. I could scarcely answer; in my post-pee euphoric giddiness, my fingers hadn't yet come back to earth. My brain took substantially longer, as i was drunk with pleasure. Such delicious poison, pleasure is. Thank god it doesn't make me vomit like gin does.


Why didn't i just pee, many asked. Because then i wouldn't have been able to submit, that's why. Sure, i'd have submitted to my body's whim. But in the end, i got to dance with submission twice - first, the blatant, direct, and overtly willing submission that was my response to dominance, no matter how unremarkable it may have been, and the second, submitting to nature, after just proving that i can fight it; that i can win the battle, if not the war. And, of course, i got to pee.


There's nothing mundane about submission, no matter how ordinary it is.


And pee's magnificent. As the lady says, Gawd, i lurve pee.

Healthy Women 21/07/07

Stolen from MtnCat's thread:

My wife once told me that she read that a healthy woman should have something like 4 or 5 orgasims a week.


I didn't want to hijack, as that comment was not at all germane to the discussion at hand, and my comment on the comment would have been even less germane. But it struck a chord for me nonetheless.


We've got the Oprahs and the Cosmopolitans and the intermawebs shouting from the rooftops that women shouldn't settle for just any man. They should have high (unachievably high, sometimes) standards, and hold out for the guy that meets those standards. Doing otherwise is unhealthy, and not respecting herself. It also means she's not getting laid, but anyway.


So, women aren't jumping into relationships, and it's healthy to be on your own, learn to love yourself, learn to enjoy your own company, etc etc. Good, great.


We also know that, even now, in 2007, women running out to get laid 4 or 5 times a week without any sort of relationship are still sluts. We might not like it, we might not agree with it personally (i know i don't, but these boards are evidence that many do), but it doesn't change the fact that it is the public perception. Factor in the "used/damaged goods" philosophy that both men and women share (you've all heard the town pump jokes), and it's virtually impossible for a woman to be viewed as healthy if she chooses to get her 4 or 5 weekly orgasms outside the confines of a relationship.


Ok. Right then. So how, exactly, does she get those orgasms? She can't get them in a relationship unless it's on par with what the collective views as "worthy of her", she can't get them outside of a relationship, because that'd make her a slut, she can't prostitute, because not only is that illegal, but she'd be patently unhealthy if she actually got off on renting her sex bits (i'm just the messenger, folks), and she can't go without, because we already covered that she needs that 4 or 5 quota to be healthy.


Masturbation is the only alternative, i guess? Are we going to stop making fun of women and their need for batteries, then?


Just curious, and all.

There are no words - 17/07/07

I watched Without a Trace tonight. I watch it every night, even though it means i'll be exhausted tomorrow, because i need my sleep, and it's on late. I watch it because it's intelligent, it's entertaining in an engaging "i can feel that" kind of way, and because I'm hot for LaPaglia. It's probably more the third reason than the other two, but never mind that.

I watched it, and it made me weep tonight. I can't even talk about why, 'cause we can't talk about that topic here. Here, where all manner of perversion is ok, hell, it's encouraged - we can't talk about the real perversions, because our (your) government says they're just too ugly for here.


They're right. It's too ugly for anywhere really.


So since i can't say what i really want to say, i'll say the things i oughta instead.


I'm really, really tired of hearing the whole "bullying" thing thrown around in these parts, by grown men and women who a: oughta know better, and b: couldn't survive real bullying if they had to face it. God knows i couldn't, and i can survive a whole lot. Stop using that fucking word - because you're taking the perversion out of it every time you toss it around with your cavalier little foot stomps, because some unknown person that you have all the power in the world to stop doesn't like you. Fucking. Stop. You make me nauseous.


I'll say that people, all people, are capable of immeasurable perversion, and that it scares me more than it saddens me. As I said to someone in email last night, people might not be inherently evil, but we sure have a talent for it. Tonight's dramatized version of what, sadly, are real life events, just reinforced that for me, yet again. Fuck, we're a horrid breed, us people.


And i'll say that i don't give a shit if it was stylistic flair, emo-writing, or just fake empathy - seeing a cop cry, when he should cry, gives me just a tiny little ember of hope. Even if it is tv - you just gotta believe that someone gets it, even if it's a fictional someone. 'Cause hope, as we all know, is a dangerous thing, but it's the best we've got.


And tonight i'm sleeping in the little bed, because one night of being there to stroke the forehead and soothe the fear won't make my tears stop, but it might let me sleep.


I realize fuckpuppet's likely the only one who'll have even the faintest of ideas as to what i'm talking about, being my WAT fan club co-president, and that's probably just as well, in the grand emo-scheme of things.


I'm going to bed. Be good to someone.

Update on being job-dumped 14/06/07

So, we met again today (at his behest, not mine, i figured i'd leave the offer for cocksucking until they were calling security to get me out).

He said he'd thought about our discussion, and realized it would be a mistake for the organization to lose me. He stated (again) that there are no opportunities at the hospital that address my skill and experience level, not today, but he knows that long-term thinking means there will be, in a few years. He needs to position himself strategically for that, but it's a tough catch-22. I agreed, and said i'm in much the same boat, from the other side of things, and that is why i'm interested in taking a position that isn't as challenging as i should be in.


Long story short (imagine that, dear readers) - we came to an agreement. He offered me the position as a 6 mth term, and will retroactive my service to date, so i can be eligible for the benefit plan immediately. My term ends Jan 4, and we will review it then. They are also going to pay for me to take the french course, so i can pass the bilingual competency test, and will continue to introduce me to the people i "need to meet" in the industry, so that if there isn't an opportunity to move into a more challenging role in 6 months, i will have some doors to knock on.


He only asked that I commit to the 6 month term, and, if Bill Gates himself comes knocking on my door to head up his global HR department, that i give them a minimum of 2 months notice.


I'm happy to agree. I don't want to work for Bill.


So, as of 2 pm today, i am officially an employee of The Hospital (not named, to protect their reputation), for the next 6 months, with full benefits, salary, and continued opportunity for project work (as a consultant, meaning billable hours above and beyond).


'Scuse me while i do my YAY ME dance._big


Thanks, everyone. I'm feelin' the love -- except from bast and heff. I know that's not love, that's hot lust for my monkey bits. Dirty pervs.

It's not you, it's me! 13/06/07

Otherwise known as "you're just too good for me".

I heard that today. Not even in an interestingly angsty relationship drama way, oh no. From my boss.


I'll back up. Several months ago, i took an internship at the hospital, to develop my skills and build some experience in my new career path. It was good, and i had a great project to work on. Completed it, did well, impressed him, and he hired me on as a consultant to do another project. Through the course of the project i continued to impress him, and when a staff position becamse vacant, they offered it to me. "Casual", because i lack the french fluency qualification (read: functional i am, pass the test, i did not).


No problem. Casual was good, as i wasn't sure i wanted to be there, and it was entry level. Figured i could finish my consulting project, and look for work, and this would ensure i had extra income while i did that (got paid for the consulting as well).


Fast forward to now. Been working casual in the position for about a month, and finally completed the project and the accompanying report. I was worried about the report, because while i know i can do ok with reports, i had no framework. He just said "write a report", with absolutely no guidelines at all. I like rules. Gimme rules.


Wrote the report, delivered it yesterday. Today, he calls me into his office to discuss it. I see it sitting on his desk, and, of course, i panic, thinking "oh god, it's not what he wanted".


He taps the folder and says "This....is fantastic." Nothing more.


I say "well, thank you. And...?"


"And nothing. It's fantastic. One of the best reports I've ever read, and definitely executive calibre. I can't tell you how impressed I am".


Cue to my extreme embarassment, avec blushing, and attempts to graciously accept praise. Asked if there was anything he'd like to see changed, and he said not one word. Perfect, and am I willing to present it to the executive, the regional health authority, and the minister of health, when they meet to discuss the ER initiative next week.


*Deep. Gulp*. "Um, sure, i'd be happy to, would a powerpoint to accompany it help?" (Internal monologue: "shut up daay, don't create more work for yourself, oh god i need a new suit, oh fuck, i think i can't breathe")


I get a yes to the powerpoint, and then, just as i'm basking in that post-praise glow...he drops the bomb.


"And this" (points to the staffing desk, where i sit doing an entry level casual job), "you can't settle for that. You have to find better than this, it's beneath you. I can't give you that job, because you can do better." (We had talked about me keeping it, because i want to work there, and i'm willing to start at the bottom, since opportunities don't happen every day there).


Mother. Fucking. Ow. Recover, quickly. Grace, poise, assertive.


"I appreciate what you're saying, and i realize it doesn't take advantage of my skills. There are a lot of other reasons i want that job, not the least of which are the long-term opportunities and the work-life flexibility. I don't want to rule it out, and i'm willing (and have been) to take the initiative to find creative projects for myself in between tasks there. I'm already doing more than the person who was in that job for two years was, so i can learn more. And as well, i considered applying for the WCB Analyst position".


He laughs, taps the report, and says "you screwed yourself out of that, with this report". My shock must have been visible, because he said "Sherri (my work name), i don't think you realize how good this report is. You're not getting it. You're above that job, and it's not enough for you".


So, i'm so good, you won't give me a shitty job, even though those are the only jobs you have and the only way to keep me in that organization?


Ouch. So you know...that's the equivalent of having amazing, mind-blowing sex with someone, and then saying "you're too good for me, we have to break up". It'd be unbelievable, if you hadn't been there for your partner's drooling and screaming, and weren't well aware of the fact that it was your hips that got ya both there.


I know he means it. The fact that he continued to find me work for 6 months, as a result of a 3 week internship, shows it. The fact that he sent me a meeting request that cc:'d all the above mentioned officials shows it. And the fact that, when i swallowed the huge lump in my throat (grace, poise, recover) and asked if he would please consider not making a job offer to anyone until monday, so i could prepare a business case to show value in keeping me in this organization, he said yes, he'd be open to that, and perhaps we could look at term options for other projects, so i could continue to be paid AND get benefits...that showed it too. He means it.


Effusive praise for outstanding achievement + we just don't have anything good enough for you = cognitive dissonance, to the nth.


Business case'll be done by Sunday. I'll recover, because i'm an achiever. Which, apparently, isn't always a good thing, lol.


Oy. Bureaucracy.

Playing with poetry

It was your smile that got me
Oh, that smile
a big hard cock you flashed
for the whole world to see
dripping
perfect white pearls
that made my eyes twinkle
and weep with lust

You were your own reality
and that smile
that cock-of-the-walk that was
that is
your smile
your smile became dangerous

the second you tugged that jagged zipper
and flashed those pearly whites
i stopped knowing
and started believing
that your half-cocked trigger
wasn't really loaded

that smile
grinning at me
from the folds of your jeans
penetrated the center of my being
fucked me
rode me
peeled me back and lapped
at the wettest
part
of my
hungry
little
brain

baby hater
victim maker
distorted aborted function of some
pinned down
bound up
fucked up
thwarted proportion of love
or
at least
reality

i miss
most
your smile
reflected daily
in that dangerous little face

[Edited 5/28/2007 7:20:15 PM]

lit my eyes' fuse
'til they wept lust

'til they rained lust

ejaculating tears

it was your smile
that smile
big hard cock you flashed for the world
to see dripping
perfect pearls
my eyes
ejaculating/weeping
diamond/coal lust

You were your own reality

and that smile
that cock-of-the-walk
your smile became dangerous

you tugged that jagged zipper
and flashed those pearly whites
knowing came undone
belief
reality
reason around my ankles
your half-cocked trigger
wasn't
loaded
really

that smile
grinning at me
soft denim lips (veiling)
cloaking steel teeth
that nibbled at the center of me
stroked me
rode me
peeled me back and bit
the wet
knot
of my
hungry
little
brain

baby hater
victim maker
distorted aborted function of some
pinned down
bound up
fucked up
thwarted proportion of love
or
at least
reality

i miss
most
your smile
reflected daily
in that dangerous little face

[Edited 5/29/2007 6:29:31 PM]

Soiled Goods 12/05/07

So I was on another forum board today, and came across the comment "who wants a man who's slept with 5000 women?? Not me, I'd rather have the guy who's slept with only one, by far".

Well, at least it was a new twist that it wasn't about the dirty girls this time. Still and all, oy.


Who wants that man? I do. But then again, I'm not really interested in forgoing my sexual enjoyment in favour of being someone's sex educator. Teaching your partner about all your best buttons, is a great, great thing. Teaching your partner which is slot a and which is tab b, and how to go about making them fit? Fuck, I did 16 once, I'm only going back if i get the abs. Even then, hm. Great fucking outweighs good abs, hands down.


What IS it with this never-ending glorifying of sexual inexperience? Why is one's worth as a partner/mate dictated by one's sexual purity, and one's sexual purity equated with number of partners, and why is it so much better to be pure?


When can i get the church out of my bedroom? _sad

Job! 1/05/07

As most of you know, it's been a pretty big year. This time last year, I went back to school to get some theoretical credential towards a new career. I had lots of tranferrable knowledge and skills in the particular field I chose, but needed the theory to validate that (sadly, "just a piece of paper" does count, in the big bad work world).

I did that. Loved it. Worked my ass off, and finished with a 4.2 GPA (98 in the Canadian university system). I did a lot of networking, built and maintained relationships with my professors, and, in short, marketed the hell out of myself, with work product to give merit to "why i'd be a great professional to add to your organization".


Practicum was a component of the program. The university had a list of sites that they've used in past, but when the initial list was published, none of those places appealed to me. Instead, I went out and started meeting with the contacts I'd made, i got active in the local professional association, and managed to get some face to face time with the chairperson of the association's board - who also happens to be the Chief Human Resource officer of the hospital near my home. This is a great organization, despite all the politics of health care (or maybe because of them, it's a great learning opportunity). They're a teaching hospital, they've authored a lot of really great HR initiatives, and this same CHRO is a pretty smart guy, who makes a great mentor.


So yeah. I got five minutes with him, at an association function, and impressed him enough that he emailed me a week later saying "if you're still interested in an internship, we'd love to have you, and have some great projects for you to work on that would really enhance your body of knowledge and experience. Let me know".


Meanwhile, my student advisor had told me about an internship opportunity with a company that had approached them. It's a small, but growing business, that's been dealing with HR issues on an ad hoc basis, and needed someone to come in and, in essence, set up an HR system for them.


It sounded fun, it sounded challenging, and it sounded like a great opportunity to really make an impact (not only to them, but on my resume). I met with the owners and the person i'd report to, and fell in love with the organization. It's a fantastic company - so i took the internship. It was a fantastic internship.


Meanwhile though, i didn't want to turn the hospital down, so i didn't. I arranged with him to let me start internship when the first one ended, and did that. The first internship didn't turn into a job, but the potential is still there, once their fiscal year ends and they can re-evaluate their budget. I keep in regular contact with them, because honestly, that's where i want to be.


But the hospital was great too. And when THAT internship ended, i was offered a contract position as a consultant, working on some more interesting projects (i've posted about them), this time with pay. Of course i accepted it, and have been loving it.


I haven't really looked for a permanent job yet, because i've been having too much fun, and have been focused on these two places. Part of me keeps hanging in, waiting on small business to come back and say "we're ready, come on board!". I'm making a living, so while it's contract, i can afford to wait a while.


But today, the hospital offered me a permanent position. It's not a great position, and it's more administrative than i'm looking for. It's also a lower salary than i'd make if i were to put myself out there in the real HR world, with my work experience (past and present) and my training, but it's enough to live on, and there are full benefits (that's a must).


It's not a great job, but it is a great opportunity, in that it looks great on my resume, i can continue my professional relationship with this CHRO who has been a great mentor, and it's across the street from home. There also may be opportunity there in the next couple years, as several of the staff in positions higher than this one are poised to retire. There are lots of plusses too. I'm just not sure which outweighs the other.


So, i'm on the fence. Do i take it? Do i not? Do i take it and look for a position more suited to me, with a higher earning potential, letting them know that i can't commit to being long-term, and will be sure to give them more than sufficient notice, should i find something else? Should i call small business and say "ok, i have a permanent job offer, time to shit or get off the pot" ?


Gah. What to do.


Either way, consider this bragging - if nothing else, i am incredibly flattered that the hospital has been so impressed by my work that they continue to find ways to keep me in the organization, and pay me to be there. I'm also flattered at how committed to my development CHRO has been, and how he continues to provide me opportunities to learn and build my skills.


Yeah. Bragging. Go me. That done, wtf do i do now, lol.