GOP convention reactions (2 of 2): My mom's coworker.

When I came into the library where my mom works the day after the GOP convention, my mom's one supervisor asked me how I was doing, after warning me that she was feeling sick and not to get too close.

First, I told her about how I might be teaching a class at an art school, since for a fellowship I have to teach a class somewhere.

"That sounds like fun," she was like.  "But I hope the kids shower."

Then, I asked her if she had watched the GOP convention last night and seen Clint Eastwood.

"No," she was like, "I'm already sick, and I didn't want to [and she made a vomiting gesture, by raising her fist up along her throat and opening up her fingers as it got to her mouth]."

GOP convention reactions (1 of 2): My dad.

So yesterday I turned on a bit of the GOP convention - it happened to be the part where Mormon after Mormon got up and testified about Mitt - and watched some with my dad, who made it like Mystery Science Theater 3000.

After a little bit, my dad used a funny voice and was like, "Mitt rhymes with sh*t!".

Later, when they were talking about how many hours Mitt volunteered as a pastor, all without pay, my dad was like, "That's not so hard, just go get some of your money from Switzerland and you're all right!".

Still later, when one speaker self-identified as a fireman, my dad was like, "Union, union, fire him, fire him!  And then go shut down seven companies and send jobs overseas."

Also, I was asking him about Paul Ryan, and he was like, "His grandparents were normal, I don't doubt that, but that little f*cker has been living off their money ever since."

Labor Day trip!

I'm heading home for the long weekend, so, like always, I have to coordinate a trip with a friend from high school who now lives in a different part of the state and has a train station near her house (it's a 3.5-hour drive to where my parents live!).

My one friend from high school is recently pregnant, so when I sent her a text finalizing details, I said something jokingly how this was good practice carting around someone according to their schedule, for when her unborn child hits school age.

She texted back -

Yes...and children talk non stop to so that's good practice ;) ;)

. . .

Toaster developments.

Oddly, my toaster, which for years you've had to hold down manually, has now started to stick again, so you can leave the bread be and do other things while it toasts.

I'm glad I didn't give in to consumerism and chuck it.

Sick on the subway.

A few Mondays ago, I had not had much sleep, and then worked a full day at school, which included one more cup of coffee than usual, and then did my usual two-and-a-half hour workout at the gym.

The subway ride back was herky-jerky since the driver kept accelerating the train then breaking on and off for no apparent reason, and I felt dehydrated, and the heat was on because the afternoon had been cold though the evening was getting to be warm and muggy.

Between all that, I began feeling sick like 6 stops before home.

So, I stopped reading my book, and closed my eyes and laid back against the seat back.

Like 2 stops before home, I started erping and tasting this banana and orange I had eaten post-gym (like usual), and I started worrying that I might throw up.

So, 1 stop before home, I hopped out, and just sat in the cool breeze on the subway platform - it was cooler there than on the train!.

By the time the next train came along, I was feeling better and was able to go home no problem.

Getting sick like that in the city can really make you realize how along you are, though.

Fatima scoops!

The other week at a going-away party for my one (Irish) (artist) friend and her boyfriend, I cornered this (Portuguese) grad student who I had met before, and I grilled him and his visiting (Portuguese) friend about what they know about Fatima:

1) Supposedly attendance at the annual pilgrimage is like 1 million, and Portugal only has like 10 million people (I haven't checked these numbers; I'm just repeating them).  People they know who have gone have been relatively normal, and not like some Catholic crazies.

They also knew the basic outline of the apparition narrative, including the date of the final miracle, just from being Portuguese.

2) I guess there's this saying in Portugal, that the "3 Fs of the Portuguese dictatorship" were:

- football.
- fado (=traditional music).
- Fatima.

As they said, those were what distracted people from looking at what was really going on, and doing anything.

3) One of them had heard that some (Portuguese) priest went and recently wrote an entire book debunking the apparitions; he was so disgusted by the modern apparition industry, they said, that he went back and examined early accounts and came up with this whole expose/.

Dream of the Slightly Off.

The other week, I dreamed that I went under my sink to pull some stuff out, and I pull out the big 20-lb. bag of Goya rice, only when I pull it out, it's mostly empty, with some scattered grains and bugs crawling all out of it...

Dreams like that are hard for me to recognize if they're dreams, everything is so normal.  Only my remembering that I had thrown out the bag right away after transferring the rice to coffee cans made me realize it was a dream.