Living In the World, Not on It

OK! Not only did the ludicrous idea of allowing all the asteroid riff-raff in end, they even went the step in the right direction and decreed Pluto to be an asteroid itself. Pluto and Charon seem to have a friendly relationship and that works well for them, but let's face it, what planet has a moon its size and that also happens to be a rough asteroid? So we went, in a brief span of time, from nine planets to 12 planets to 53 (!) planets and now we are holding at eight. I'm sure Percival Lowell is spinning in his grave to know that Pluto (not named for the Disney dog , for the love of little apples) is no longer a planet and has been dissed, so to speak! Well, really. You have the Solar System. See the above image. If you click on it, you'll get the blown up version, which will make the terrestrial planets visible. This image is meant to show scale and I think we all know that when it comes to scale, Jupiter is the big cheese. No mystery there! This is an older image, so th...

That's me, a year ago. When you consider how slim some months were (October 2005 had one posting for the whole month; December had three), I have really done a lot of postings. True, there were a lot of repeat things in there, such as my overabundance of hormones and the hospital thing with my mother and of course there is a lot about the NYRF. That is eight weekends of a lot of excitement, you know - expecially after the depressing stuff! I did finally see George this weekend, too, but it was just for a very short while! Disappointing, really. I'm sure I will see him again, before the Faire is over. But a year! That is a year of many, many changes! When I began this blog, I was working at Berlex Labs in Wayne on a three-week assignment, covering for a woman on her holiday. I was working the Faire but for full hours and it was more of my main income for that season - scary, eh? And I was riding with the Thursday night crew who at that time consisted of me, Bob Heinzerling, Mar...

It's been a weekend. One filled with cloudy, cool weather (which in and of itself is not an issue or problem. In fact, we made some killer sales yesterday and that was with highly mediocre weather!). Today the cloudy and cool part also threw in torential downpours and tornado warnings, so at 1240, someone sucked it up and made the executive decision to shut the faire down. Good thing. I have no plans to work in a tornado. And if one were to come rolling through Ren, where would we hide? Booths may be solid, up-to-standards constructions but not one of them has a basement that is in any way shape or form submerged. Where would we run to for protection? There isn't any! I did make a huge leap forward today and have decided to replace (finally) the buttons on my 9-button Catskill Mountain Moccassins. You laugh. Those maoccassins cost me (with a hefty employee doscount) about $525.00 in 1989 or 1990 (I think I got them in 1990). Now these same pair of boots would run about $600 wit...

******************************** Definition of "pluton" in danger ******************************** From: Allen Glazner afglazne@email.unc.edu Greetings, Members of the volcanology community should be aware that the International Astronomical Union (IAU), meeting now in Prague, is proposing a new term for Pluto-like planetary objects --"pluton". This seems like a remarkably bad idea, given how important and well-established the word is in Earth science and that planetology and geology are closely related sciences. Unless we want students coming into our classes thinking that plutons are transneptunian objects , we need to convince the astronomers to come up with a different word.I am writing to encourage you to contact members of the IAU and ask them to change this. Officers of the IAU are listed at http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/Officers.60.0.html http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/Vice-Presidents.59.0.html http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org...

No one gets why I do this. I've been at the Faire twenty years now. Twenty years . That is over half of my life! Can you imagine? I never can, and I have been doing it! But it is not the same as a fulltime job, it isn't the same as when I went through PSG, where there were people displaced from their job of twenty or thirty years. This is an annual thing that is every weekend from the first weekend in August to the last one in September (and Labor Day). Well, so what? Ah, "so what" indeed! I don't know anyone who does not escape to somewhere or something. A lot of people escape in alcohol, or drugs, or gambling every penny away, or illegal or illicit activities. Some people escape in tawdry affairs or turn into couch potatoes or maybe crime sprees. A lot of us try to find more exciting but less dangerous things to do, such as speed racing, sky diving, flying (an airplane, a hot air balloon, a glider). Some of us join first aid squads and revel in that sort of pub...

With all the bad kind of stress that I went through in July and early August, it is a more smooth ride than it ever could have been since then. There are some negative stressors at work at the moment, but this will smooth itself out shortly, I think. Before long, September will be waning and we will be going into the time of year that I love most, Autumn. But it is the New York Renaissance Festival that is reloading and recharging the batteries for me and allowing me to get from one nutty week to the next. The fun, the joy, the freedom, the power and the opposite sex are all up there in one concetrated area, looking for the next slice of fun in life! We can get stressed out and crazy, but it is so easy to get out a bit and loosen up from that! It's mostly just fun. Eye-candy galore. So I feel great on Saturdays and Sundays with freedom at hand to play and have fun.

There was a time when the solar system we lived in was only nine planets (and that last - or sometimes the eighth or seventh one, depending on where it is in its orbit is questionable. Always has been). You should know them but I've seen Howard Stern and Jeno Leno ask people (models for the former and just anyone on the street for the latter) if they knew how many planets are in the solar system. It is rather staggering how many people don't know this! Which is just wrong. I love astronomy and I know my planets and not just who they and where they are but their nomenclature and the number of moons, siderial days/months/years and whole host of other information. I also own an absolutely gorgeous telescope that can zero in on the planets (as well as other things when the air isn't so poluted with... stuff - light, junk, clouds, ha, ha). I love astronomy. Well, I am not sure that astronomers love astronomy, because either someone thinks more planets will get more funding or ...

...at the 2006 Renaissance Faire! Oh, it was nice to be there - wonderful to see everyone and wonderful to be out in the fresh, beatiful air and great to be away from home and some where out-of-doors! I looked really nice and everyone told me how much thinner I look! Unfortunately everyone noticed I was looked rather tired but I got a lot of warm hugs and people cared about what I'd been going through. It was a great day! I miss Lady Gaea's pottery, but all is not lost. There is another pottery maker there and although her goods aren't as unusual and amazing as the original, she has some very well-made, user friendly goods and I will shop there. More than once...! I also stopped in at the henna tent and had an Om drawn on my right breast. Most people won't see it. As low as my shirts may be at work, nothing is as low as my bodice and it will not be noticeable under the regular clothing. Still, the artisan did a good job, although it is a little bigger than I'd wante...

The emotional and physical well-being tank is out of gas. Around 1030 this morning the engine sputtered and stopped and I felt awful. Nothing I can pin down, like a stomach ache or onset of a cold, just... general malaise. I was suddenly exhausted and feeling just "not right". Time to go home. I've pushed myself unbelievably hard the last four weeks and probably working all weekend last weekend was not the smartest thing in the world. And yesterday was definitely a test of my ability to deal with bizarre situations. Staggering. I guess there is not much more to say beyond this. I'm super tired and I need to have some down time. Away from the situation with my mother more than anything else. Fortunately the end is in sight and she is slated for release tomorrow. I called every day since they told me that to make sure that this evil place is not going back on their word. If you have a loved one that is in the hospital, do NOT, under any circumstances, talk you into putt...

How did this happen? After a particularly trying day at work, dealing with some knotty issues, I find that the commute home was fraught with little examples of all kinds of annoying, stupid and of course, outright dangerous behaviours that were staggering in their stupidity! Not that this is unusual... nay, it appears to be normal, thoughtless behaviour perpetrated by so many people who are wholly unaware of the terrible habits and behaviours they possess. Poor driving is the hallmark of the American roadways. There was a time, not too long ago, when you could blame it on NYC drivers or DC drivers, who definitely are imbued with that "kill or be killed" mentality when driving anywhere. The deeply ingrained sets of driving skills required in Manhattan, Washington DC, or any metropolitan area are unlike any others and while it is what works inside those cities, it is not so good to apply those same techniques to the rest of the world - even northern New Jersey is not as much a ...

Come with me I want to show you something You don’t see You’ve given up trying Watch the leaves Rustling in the wind The summer breeze That’s living and dying Ah, Ah Come with me Remember when you were So carefree Laughing not crying Spin around And listen carefully Can you hear the sound Of living and dying It’s amazing, it’s amazing,this amazing life It’s amazing, it’s amazing, this amazing life Come with me Stop making it so hard You can be Laughing not crying Nothing’s changed Just got to recognise That it’s a game Of living and dying Ah, Ah It’s amazing, it’s amazing, this amazing life it’s amazing, it’s amazing, this amazing life It’s amazing, it’s amazing, this amazing life It’s amazing, it’s amazing, this amazing life Come on now baby please Just look around Look around it’s there It’s good to feel alive Feel alive, feel alive This amazing life It’s good to feel alive Feel alive, feel alive This amazing life This amazing life Relax it’s easy relax it’s easy Living and dying. Th...