What Sits Heavy

Last night I had a dream that I was a member of a ballet troupe and cult of deer-worshippers. We believed that the deer was the guardian of the natural world, ensuring that its forest was ready for the next season, and we tried to cultivate that practice through a spirit of community, discipline and dance. It was a really strange dream. I could spin on one foot (I believe this is what is known as the pirouhette, but I'm not sure) for quite some time, and did so around a room while one of our members was leaving in celebration of her time with us. We were kooks, yes, but I was really happy. I had found something I really believed in and a community of people who believed with me.

I'm not sure what it meant, but it was kind of hard getting up this morning. Our new, quiet alarm was a sudden and disorienting presence, and I had to take a moment to remember where I was. Ryan stirred but did not wake, and I stumbled through the dark and turned it off. He tends to turn over to where I was, as if acknowledging my absence, then turn back to get more sleep. It's adorable. :)

We caught a screening of There Will Be Blood last night; the review should be up sometime this weekend (or next Tuesday). Seeing it made me want to see Gangs of New York again, and perhaps In the Name of the Father the first time. Oddly enough, I'm completely comfortable with keeping My Left Foot in my memory.

What's it called when spokes are revolving so fast it looks like they're moving backwards? Do we have a word for that? If not, we should. I propose retrorote.

My House is Bricks

Time: 30 minutes
Distance: 2.67 miles
Speed: 6.2 mph
Calories: 272

Work so far this week has been an exercise in coping. There has been a gauntlet of things to get through since I've been back, and new things keep popping up all the time to distract me. It's like running a hurdle race where the hurdles keep changing distance, springing up and sinking back down randomly. It's not so bad as all that, but if I can't grumble a little in my journal, where else can I do it?

Anyway, things are mostly caught up on the work front, so I can actually devote most of my attention to those small fires that spring up throughout the day. There are a few things consistently going wrong, at least, so I can work around them pretty easily. I don't know how specific I should get, because I could get *really* detailed, breaking confidentiality and (more importantly) boring the pants off of people.

In other news, the 2008 Iowa caucases are in the bag. With most of the precincts reporting in at this point, Obama is projected to win the Democratic delegates with 38% of the vote and Huckabee is taking the Republican ticket with 34% of the vote. This is both good and bad news.

I'm no political analyst, so I'm not exactly sure how much stock to put into the results here. However, it's worth noting that the Dems are posting a turnout of 240,000 while the Republican numbers are around 125,000. This means that more people in Iowa voted for Barack Obama than they did for Mike Huckabee. If Obama can get that kind of thing in white-bread Iowa, then it's a huge feather in his cap. Imagine what he can do in other parts of the country!

I lived in Arkansas while Huckabee was governor, and I have to say it makes me pretty worried that he's gathering so much steam in the GOP. Truth be told he wasn't the worst governor ever, but he was quite firmly a conservative hypocrite who fostered a good ol' boy network in the state. The kinds of people who voted for Huckabee are also the kinds of people who are responsible for the explosion of megachurches and gated communities all over northwest Arkansas. The idea that he might carry the party just leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. This primary is the best chance other Republicans have of wresting control of their party away from the religious right. Huckabee is definitely a step in the wrong direction. I'm not saying vote for Guiliani or anything, but...damn.

Are there any conservatives reading this? Who are you voting for, and why?

There's also a fairly big storm coming through the Bay area starting tonight and stretching on into Sunday. I think we'll be just fine, here, but I'm tempted to stock up on a few supplies just in case. The only flashlight I have are the small LEDs that attach to my keychain, but I'm sure everyone else has a lot more. And we have quite a few candles, should the power go out. It's enough to read a book by, but I'm not sure it's enough to cook a can of chili.

Happy birthday, brokkentwolf! I would try to roll you, but perhaps you will settle for lapinic frolicking instead. :)