I'm fed up with scandals, with people who have no right to talk giving advice on other people's marriages, with all of the nonsense and silliness and the thinking our lives are private or not private or really just wishing other people's were.

So here's a story.

The motorist's prayer

Forgive me, o lord, for my infidelities: it's hard enough to stay on the same road, let alone the same lane.

Forgive me, please, for yelling at the idiot in front of me, who's about to do the same damned-fool thing that i always do, and is still cheerful enough to wave to me about it when i'm so far gone that i can only cuss.

Forgive me for crossing four lanes without so much as a signal. Wide is the path of temptation.

i'm watching from a sort of third person perspective as a story unfolds.

A man. Regular guy. Setting is a random town, he was just passing through on his way to somewhere. He meets a girl, they have dinner. Get along. She's pregnant. He's falling for her anyway. They go to have a drink at the hotel, of course nonalcoholic for you, he say.

Hm, she says.

It's a small town bed and breakfasty place. Three other guests. They talk, he ends up falling unconscious.

dragon: what klind of origami would you like?

blinder: a panda

dragon: (busy folding) um... i think it might be a kind of monkey-panda.

blinder: all right.

dragon: (folding some more, checking mistakes, and looking at diagram) Maybe not a monkey. Maybe more of a... um...

blinder: Whatcha making, dragons?

dragon: i give up.

***

dragons: look, i made this! (holds up little origami box shaped like a house)

blinder: it's a... thing!

***

blinder: do you want some grape juice?

dragon: no

blinder: i was kidding. I meant, "you hate grape juice. You're tired of it. You're so sick of grape juice that you could just KICK THE NEIGHBOURS!"

dragon: ???
(bursts out laughing)

***

"jaws" is now called, "show me the way to go home," because the song got stuck in my head and now whenever "jaws" is on television, blinder starts singing the song.

***

A 17-year-old Indian-American student at the Mississippi Institute of Mathematics and Science has identified a molecule that can inhibit the growth of a bacteria that causes a disease which can be deadly to people who have AIDS, cancer, or cystic fibrosis, according to a story posted at VOA News. According to the article, the student intends to publish her results to the public r

what a weird week.

i spoke to my father's mother.

She's so glad to have her babies back. i don't mind her, though i hate drama in all its forms and am coming to see where a lot of stuff came from in the family.

I know a lot of people are critical of how public i make my emotions, but to me it makes sense. Being able to express them means that i can share what i'm going through, and maybe hear things that some of you have gone through in exchange. I'd like to thank those of you who shared your similar-but-different experiences with me, and my guild members who talked to me about it.

Sol,
(email from my mum)

(my sister) called... Friday night, to ask for -'s (Jr. - you guy's father's) social security number.
I found it for her, and she confirmed that the name and information she found on the social security web site was correct. I am sorry to have to tell you that he has passed away, last October 21st. Place of death was listed as -, Mass. She looked in the phone book, and found his address. He had been living in B-, Mass. She got in touch with people out th

When you fold someone an origami bookshelf, be aware that it takes a lot of miniature books to fill it.

Also be aware that having written one funny story about a teacup dragon, it will be expected that you will write many, many more.

And that it's very hard to tell a story in eight VERY small pages.

On the bright side, i've filled one of four shelves.

blinder: (watching tv show on science channel) I can't imagine how a black hole can be so small and have so much mass.

dragon: good things come in little packages. Like dragons.

tv: There's this dark star,like a hungry dragon, it will grab you if you get too close but won't actively chase you, and it will utterly destroy you, it has big sharp teeth and a ravenous appetite and if you get too close it will tear you limb from limb...

Well, and here it is. Yeah, I know. Not New Year's.

I learned to fold an origami lotus before the clock ran out on '06. You may think that's a useless bit of paper, but unless you can fold one, don't knock it. Took me a month to learn because i suck at the paperfolding.

Code Widow: One who is left alone in the evenings, to have dinner alone, or with the codewriter's other family, while said codewriter slaves away in the code mines for long hours at a time. The codewriter will arrive home fatigued and stressed, to grab a few scant hours' sleep before returning at break of day to the mines.

And yet, blinder's the one i feel sorry for. At least i never have to work late. Being unimportant does have its good sides.

does, "Family-free holidays" mean, "Please come visit the day after christmas, and plan to stay a week"?

Apparently, English.

Don't get me wrong. I love blinder's dad- he's a sweet guy with a heart of gold.

On the other hand, this is not what i ignored my mother's phone calls to preserve. (Yes, my mother still calls when i ask her not to.)

Panda hippo gnu deer!!!

Well, here we are, the halcyon days (actually starting around the 14th), the end of the year.

The end of the year is when we consider not just the making of new resolutions, but the changing of things, the leaving things behind.

I'm not a huge fan of resolutions. This year has seen a lot of changes. Marriages, divorces, babies born, relatives passed on, and the endless progression though the adventures that make up life.