The Geek's Meow

Recently I was in a car accident, and a major one at that.

That’s the CHP pushing my vehicle off the freeway, because it was facing the wrong way and could not move under it’s own power.

Many things were lost or destroyed in this.  But my phone (which had been plugged in and was sitting in between my front seats but not in use in any way) was battered about however not damaged in the least – despite a dramatic fling of old caramel and creamy coffee drink that I had meant to throw away.  Smart phones are not known for their impact ratings, even with the improved glass we’ve seen added to them over the years.  They are certainly not known to be impervious to sugary coffee leftovers.

It’s possible my phone would have been fine, the world may never know, but given the way I was tossed around and bruised, I was pleasantly surprised to find it hale and hearty (after a quick wipe down, of course).  I attribute that to the Otterbox Defender case I picked up when my phone was brand new.  The case has already taken it’s share of falls and flops, sits comfortably on my hip in it’s holster, since we all know women’s pants never have proper pockets, and generally has been good to me up until now.  This takes that good to great, it may well have been the salvation of my phone, which I really needed at point in time to start the artful collaboration of putting my car to rest and getting through the chaos of the next few days.  Somewhere in there I lost the holster attached to my hip, but that’s a small price to pay for the safety I received.

I like companies to know when they do things right.  Normally you only hear from customers when things are wrong, and having worked customer service for so long I understand how it can change things just to hear the occasional kudos.  So later I went to Otterbox’s website to use their contact form and wrote them a short note explaining what had happened and giving them the credit I felt they were due.  Just my thanks, and a pat on the back for a product that did exactly what it was supposed to.

Yesterday I got a reply from their customer service team member, Maria.  She thanked me for my note, and then, because she appreciate my message but believes the case may have unseen damage, dug up my old original order from two years ago and sent me a replacement, free of charge!  Not because the product was defective, but because it had done it’s job exactly at it was supposed to!

Otterbox has a sturdy, reliable, quality product, no question.  But I think their willingness to stand behind their product and their quality service team really make them shine as a company.  I will never buy another case, I’m not Otterbox all the way.

Earlier this week I was in a major car accident – my vehicle is a total loss and had to be pushed off the freeway by the CHP.  I was hit so hard from behind I was pushed into the car in front of me.  The person who hit me took off – hit and run.

So all the police have to go on is my brief glance in my rear view mirror, which tells me it was big, a truck or SUV, and it was probably black but maybe another dark color.  Not helpful at all.  No witnesses stopped to provide any info, and neither myself nor the car I hit were able to provide any details.  In my defense, because my car was spun around, I was facing backwards on the freeway with all my airbags deployed, I wasn’t seeing much of anything.

While no witnesses stopped, one man that did not see the accident pulled his car into the lane I was blocking, then carefully got out and came to my car, where I was sitting slightly dazed and trying to figure out what to do, to make sure I was okay.  He then proceeded to wait with me after I was able to get out of the car, to make sure I wasn’t stranded and alone in the middle of the freeway, until the CHP came.  I only got his first name, Andrew.  Now I deeply wish I had gotten more information from him, because that was the ultimate kindness that he offered me as I sat, scared and shaken, on the freeway – just the presence of a calm and kind human hand.  All he got for his risk was my thanks and a handshake.  I have to trust that the universe will find a way to reward him, because I don’t have any way to do so.

I have to believe that the hit and run driver, who didn’t stop to make sure any of us were okay, will get what they have earned in a way that hopefully doesn’t splash on to anyone else.  For Andrew, though, I can only wish the best for his gesture, so I choose to believe that the universe will make sure he, too, gets the reward he earned with that effort.

Thank you, Andrew.  Even though you will never see this, I have to put it out there.

Yesterday I was in a significant car accident.  I’m still up and about, bruises and strained muscles only.  But that does mean that I’m falling behind on work-work, and so blog is going to have to take a back seat for a few days while I sort things out.

Like finding a new car.  I hate car shopping.  You’re probably going to get a rant on that process shortly.

The world, as it is currently, is a terrifying and depressing place.  So let’s talk about Pokemon, instead!

That’s right, while I will never be the very best, like no one ever was, I am still having fun as a casual trainer in Pokemon Go.  My temptation has been to get a shirt with an ‘R’ on the front and run around the office stealing phones while yelling “Team Rocket is blasting off again!”  Of course I would then take those phones directly to the front desk as “lost” so that people would get them back.  But my entire office is walking everywhere with their faces affixed to the tiny screens.

One sec, I need to check if the PokeStop outside has refreshed… okay, I got three more PokeBalls, let’s continue.

I am not inclined to burn through my phone battery, walk extensively around my slightly ghetto neighborhood (especially after dark).  But at work, if I’m going to do a walk-and-talk anyway, why not snag some lost little Evee in the process?

The game does not teach you well, so a network of fellow players, even those far away and online, to help you understand is a must.  Beware of false tips (like the one going around that claims you can retrieve missed PokeBalls – this is a lie).

The very basics: When your phone vibrates, click the nearby Pokemon you see.  Place your finger on the Pokeball, watch the inner circle that changes size slowly, when the inner ring is smaller it is easier to “throw” your PokeBall into the space between the rings, which is how you catch the Pokemon.  Just flick your finger and try to throw the ball into that space.  If the inner ring is yellow or orange, the Pokemon is likely to break out of the ball and you will have to try several times, as the Pokemon is agitated – I haven’t found a way to calm them down, yet.  Green small inner circle is easiest and least likely to waste your PokeBalls.

That took me days to figure out, so you’re welcome if you’re new!

So sudden and new? I felt the moment I laid eyes on you.

Musical geeks will recognize that as the intro line to “Loathing” from the musical ‘Wicked’.  Strangely the musical I didn’t loathe, compared to the book which I utterly detest.

Aren’t they the same story?

Execution, my friends.  The book feels like the Oz setting is shoe-horned in to the political and societal statement Maguire wanted to make in his story.  The voices of the characters all speak with Maguire’s voice, and it can be hard to tell who is actually talking as a result.  This dialogue with the same voice is one of the primary reasons I don’t write fiction, I can’t make the characters speak with their own voices.  Maguire had no such self-awareness.

In fact, because the musical was rooted in the book, I refused to see it for years.  This means I missed my chance to see Kirsten Chenoweth and Idina Menzel perform it.  All because I had read the book, and even after I realized the musical was, in many ways, it’s own take, I refused to contribute to the idea that Maguire had been successful in any way.

Slowly, over time, exposure to the songs, the revisions in the story, and the amazing acting got under my skin.  I began to want to, then need to, see it.  I got the soundtrack as a Christmas gift and I’d leave it on repeat.  Since then I’ve seen it twice, and still love the depth they breathe into Glinda and Elphaba, a point the book felt hollow on.

So maybe it comes down to the details, the way the songs give a distinct style to the characters that was missing in the novel for me.

But you still can’t make me read Son of a Witch.  It is not happening.

So today I am faced with a quandary.  Do I get a pass on sick days, when I’m home from the office?  Paid Time Off (PTO) and vacations count as holidays (unless it’s a stay-cation), so I do get to be free from my posting requirements.  But sick, that hasn’t been decided yet.

I think it comes down to the Work From Home (WFH) model or the too sick to really sit up and function model.  Today is a precaution, my throat was scratchy so I opted to WFH.  I’m obviously up enough to sit up at the computer and knock out some of the stuff I have to do – especially as I am on a deadline.  So it’s enough to require a post at some point.  Provided I am not overwhelmed by work.

That’s another case, the real world job.  There are rare times where I will be so heads down on a project that I don’t know if I will have the bandwidth to be here.  Generally my job is a lot of “hurry up and wait” time, so I should almost always be able to squeak something in, but if I’m not I have to acknowledge that the real work has to come first.

So today I’m going to get the majority of my work done for the day, then check back and see if I can contribute here.  It is a WFH sick day, with a lot of my work-plate. Fingers crossed!

So it looks like, even if the show has died an abrupt and cliff-hangar-esque death, the show Constantine is now legally available to watch again!  http://nerdist.com/cw-seed-is-now-streaming-the-constantine-tv-series-for-free/  This has me excited, I want to sit down and watch it again to catch the little things that I may have missed.

I loved this series.  It was true to John Constantine in a way that Keanu only managed in a single moment.

Angela: Well, I thought that with your background, you could at least point me in the right direction?
Constantine: Yeah, okay. Sure.
[points to the door]

That was a beautiful, truly Constantine moment.  That was all I really got out of that movie when looked at through the filter of the comic book – and I’m not even a real Hellblazer reader!

See I have a mildly addictive personality.  I delve into things hardcore, and comic books are a thing with millions of spin offs, connected stories, sub-stories, and so on.  If I allowed myself to delve into them fully, I would never have money for food and rent.  So back in High School I made a personal rule – no buying comic books for myself.  At all.  If I were buying them as a gift, they had to truly be a gift, not just so I could proceed to borrow them but really be what the person wanted.

So I did get Hellblazer for my boyfriend at the time (now my husband), since he was a fan – and when he was done with that selection I did borrow and read them, and enjoyed them greatly.  The anti-hero or reluctant hero trope has always been one I loved, it’s why I feel Han Solo is a deeper character than Luke Skywalker.  John Constantine is, in all ways, a truly reluctant and not-so-heroic protagonist/hero.  His wry wit, snarky attitude, and British punk nature make him so much fun.  When he does the thing that furthers the plot because it’s a bad idea, you really believe it since it’s a Constantine thing to do, not an obvious McGuffin.  I was sold.  At that point, looking back on the somewhat enjoyable 2005 movie, I was now disappointed, because I could see what it lacked, and what it could have been.

This meant I was skeptical when they brought it to TV.  Sure, John was British again, and bleached blonde as he should be.  Matt Ryan was, visually, a good choice, sure – but that does not a character make!  And a friend got a preview copy of the pilot, to be shared as a group, at a time that I was out of town for work travel.  Reports back from that same boyfriend were that, yes, this was indeed the Hellblazer John Constantine we knew and loved, and the show was moving in a good direction.  So I waited, on pins and needles, for the actual air date.  Well, though there were some changes from the pilot they saw and the one that aired, it was still a true interpretation of what I wanted, it was worthwhile and I knew I had to watch it!

Ryan’s Constantine was dry, sharp, drove people away, gathered people together, manipulative, lying, a good guy with a bad streak a mile wide.  The cast that supported him had their reasons, but also their regrets.  The world was a dark and difficult place, and it wasn’t getting any better.  This was Hellblazer, TV edition!

I’m trying not to give anything away, in case you haven’t seen it yet, but while it takes liberties from the comic, I feel the spirit is utterly there.  And now, the good news is, if you missed it – go catch up!  Maybe this bodes for a digital future for our beloved devil-may-care cad?

I think she’ll know…

So one of the things I love is Alice in Wonderland.  Alice Through the Looking Glass. American McGee’s Alice.  Just that whole down the rabbit hole mythos.  Although I’ve not been impressed with Disney’s recent offerings in the live-action space, so there’s lots of bad Alice over the years, for the most part I am something of a Wonderland-fan.

Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?

Truly, Carroll had no idea when he wrote the question.  His favorite answer in time was “Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!”  A joke that only works in text, and only if your copy-editor is asleep at the wheel, which, rather unfortunately, Carroll’s was not and the ‘nevar’ joke never flew. I prefer “Poe wrote on both,” or the simplified “They both produce flat notes.”  For those who prefer the bizarre and non-sequitor, Aldous Huxley posits “Because there is a ‘b’ in both and an ‘n’ in neither.”  The internet is full of answers, but when I wear this pin I stick to the ‘Poe’ answer – I used to try the Mad Hatter’s approach of explaining that I wouldn’t ask a question if I knew the answer, but this left people unsatisfied and confused.  So instead I leave the non-period appropriate delight in people (as I commonly wear the pin while working at the Renaissance Faire) as my default choice.

But I promised this is a Wayback machine post, didn’t I, and you still don’t have any reason why I love Lewis’s lovely leading lady’s land of laughter!

I can’t pinpoint an exact moment on this one, but I can narrow it down to a character that still holds part of my heart.  After all, Sleeping Beauty was my favorite princess – note that in Through the Looking Glass Alice does become a Queen, but never a princess.  And Beauty and the Beast was a wonderful story. But Wonderland, that was where I identified with, all because of my love for the Cheshire Cat.

Now it is debated, is he a villain?  Disney classifies him as such at times, he does lead Alice further down the mysterious paths of Wonderland – and is that such a bad thing?  He’s not exactly helpful, not in any direct way, but for a girl looking for adventure, what better mischievous companion than the Smile without a Cat?  He’s no Queen of Hearts, “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”  He’s not even mad as a hatter, or is he?  After all, he is the source of my favorite Wonderland quote… and I will save you from my memorization of the entire passage and just sum up with “We’re all Mad here.”

How did I grow such affinity for a rarely seen character?  Well I see him at least once a month – in the sky.  My mother would point up at the crescent moon, just when it was a wide tilted slash in the sky, and make sure I saw the Cheshire Cat’s smile.  Mom was my first step into down the rabbit hole, even making me a plush Cheshire Cat prop for when I would go to amateur modeling photo shoots dressed as Alice.

American McGee gave me a new, more adult, look at my troublesome companion.  His sly, less goofy, slightly gory look on a dark and grown up Wonderland.  My fascination took my mother by surprise – this was not her Cheshire Cat, but it was mine.  The taunting guide, never really as helpful as you thought he should be, but when you look deep into his words more insightful than you had first imagined.  He told you the things you really needed to know, even if you didn’t want to hear them.  I was terrible at the game – jumping platforms is a challenge for me – but I loved the story more than anything at the time.  And just when you least expected him, The Clever Cheshire Cat.

I still insist on going to the Alice in Wonderland ride when I visit Disneyland, just to be pointed in the right/wrong/only way by my beloved Cat.

If you put an intent out there, you can be held accountable to it.  So here it goes.

The blog: I intend to make at least a short post or story (excuses for not posting do not count), and the cadence is at least three times a week.  Sometimes I will push myself to make a post a day.  Weekends are okay to post, but not required.  Holiday weekends – like the one I’m currently experiencing – count as weekends.  While traveling, for work or pleasure, posting may be suspended, depending on how much “bored in the hotel room” time I have to spend.

When I can’t think about what to write, I may use the “Wayback Machine” which will let me tell an amusing anecdote or story from the past.  Usually my past, maybe not.  Generally Wayback Machine posts will be as true as I can remember them, may be deeply personal, and have the potential to ramble a bit.  Forewarned, you are.

That is the goal.  3x per week on weekdays.  More is better.  When I hit a wall, try hopping in the Wayback Machine.

If I can be that successful, I can upgrade this to a real URL and more custom formats with the wordpress premium package.  I think we will give it one month from the start date (June 30th, 2016) to determine success.  I will also start to think about commissioning a logo, art, business cards, and so on if I make it longer than the month.

I have two (three?) tattoos – one on my lower back and a matched pair in progress on my shoulder blades.  The first was acquired in 2010, after several years of thinking and looking at a particular piece of art.

Growing up Dad had a collection of tattoos, so body art seemed utterly normal to me.  But personally I was cautious, because I was also very aware of their extreme permanence.  Some, like the Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles on his pecs, he was still very happy with.  Others, like the odd skull with butterfly wings that had faded to near illegibility, while they were still good memories, the art itself and the choice that lead to it, since it was essentially flash from the wall of the shop, he was not as fond of these days.  It didn’t help that I would look back at who I was 10 years ago each time I considered a tattoo, and kind of wonder what that person would have chosen, and would the person I am today be happy with it.

To my credit, some of the things my past self would have chosen would have been fine.  But some of it, well, I am a different person by a very large margin in many ways.  Back in high school I loved Star Trek: Voyager.  And X-Files.  And a TV show nobody remembers called The Pretender.  Any of these would have made bad long term choices.  But my love for Star Wars is still strong, I would not regret Leia or an X-Wing, after all.  So how does one successfully guess what will still be part of their lives down the road?  What is true fandom and what is passing fancy?

Another factor that always weighed on me was a job.  When I worked at Knott’s Berry Farm as a ride operator, their rules on visible tattoos was strict, and I watched coworkers struggle to find the appropriate cover ups.  Long sleeve shirts in the brunt of summer, goopy make-up, “bandages” where there was no wound.  So I agreed with myself that a t-shirt should always be able to cover up my art, in case I ever need to accept a minimum wage job with strict restrictions again.  It was always “What if I had to go back to Knott’s tomorrow?”  Which has become a bit silly, as I develop a professional career with options even if I leave my current position, but that doesn’t do much to the phantom voice inside my head asking that question.

So why get a tattoo at all?  The way I see it, it’s an ultimate form of personal expression.  Art and self that you can carry with you and display.  I don’t do it for others, I do it for me, to take a little piece of my inside and let it be part of my outside.  And getting it done, that’s quite the endorphin rush at some points!  Also… pretty!  Not all tattoos have to have deep personal meaning, sometimes they’re just fun, but for me they all have to be something – a tribute to a creator I admire, a bit of my inner self, a message to the future me – and that’s what’s right for me when it comes to tattoos, which is why getting one is a many-year process.

My first was acquired after what was probably over 5 years of deliberation.  I knew it would be a cat, those are my initials and cats have always been special to me.  The only way I felt sure to make it feel timeless was to go with a stylized approach.  Once I’d settled on this idea, I let it percolate for years and confirmed that I did want a tattoo after all. So I did tons of searches and crawled all over the internet. In my mind it was a seated cat, looking over it’s shoulder.  Or maybe facing the viewer?  But on DeviantArt I found a beautiful piece that had the right style, even though the pose wasn’t right, so I tacked it up everywhere, just to get used to the idea.  At home I had a white board in my room it was taped to.  There was also a whiteboard at work.  Computer wallpapers all got switched over, too.  I had to look and think about this art for over a year on a daily basis.  And it turns out that this image, originally “not right” grew on me.  So I contacted the artist and got her permission to use it exactly for my tattoo.  She was happy to give me the okay, so I used this:

And it was perfect.  Or, I suppose, purrfect, if you will.  I wasn’t able to make arrangements with the artist I wanted, but with a lot of homework and research I a place that was close and clean and well reviewed.  My artist was great, she was even able to handle it when, half way through shading, I got nauseous and had to be quite sick to my stomach.  We just cleaned up, drank some water, and finished.

Before I’d even gotten that tattoo scheduled, though, my head was already working on the next.  That’s why I was so cautious with the first – they’re very much like potato chips and you can almost never get just one.  On my shoulder blades I wanted an angel and a devil, but for me, they’re cats.

So for the last 6 years, I’ve had a matching set of stylized cats with the appropriate accessories to turn them into an angel and a devil waiting in the wings.  But one night about a year ago a dream changed the plan.  Sure, it would still be an angel and a devil cat, but they were going to be in color, almost like a stained glass window, in an art nouveau style, a la Alphonse Mucha.

So a few phone calls with the artist I had originally wanted, and I had a consultation appointment.  She pulled the ideas out of my head, even the ones I hadn’t said outloud, and last May delivered the art… the perfect art.

I had to wait just over a month, but I was thrilled.  Right now we’re at the first stage, we’ve done the outlines.  In a few weeks I will finish with color, and you bet I will be sharing that with you here!  I was able to sit like a rock, and her technique is just amazing, so there were no troubles.

To me these are so much more than good and evil.  They are also caution and adventure.  Duality.  Day and night. All the two halves that make up the more beautiful whole.  Each of these are lovely on their own, but together they stand as a greater piece – which is why I’m not sure if they count as one whole tattoo in two places, or two separate tattoos!

So for me, a tattoo will always be a little bit of the inner self, allowed to fly free and breathe life.