The color of infinity inside an empty glass

K isn't home. By the looks of her last post, and how late she left, she may not be home for a while.

The good news is... I, personally, lost no one in the crash. All my family is safe. All my friends. The plane crashed a mile from K's grandma's house, which... is all sorts of freaky, but everyone is fine.

The bad news is.. it looks, now, like two brothers, an old acquaintance and one good friend have lost someone they knew and cared about in it. It's hard to not be kinda depressed and blah about that fact. 50 people, total.. and yet.. Buffalo's small enough someone is at least one or two connections from someone who died.

It really brings home how small a community Buffalo is. We may be a city, but in a lot of ways, we're more of a small town. Not to say we all know each other, but the connections run deep and... I mean... like I said above.. 50 people died on that plane and I've already have four connections.

M is a wreck. I called him up. I didn't know what to say. You can only say "I'm sorry" so many times. Mostly, I just tried to listen. By the looks of Facebook, J is no longer faring much better.

I think... I'm somewhere in between shocked and upset. J's friend, the one J is upset about.. was the cantor who did his bar mitzva. M is unluckier... his connection was a good 'friend'.

I may be here, safe and sound in Northern Virginia, but tonight I mourn with the city I grew up with...

Alot of interesting things happening around the world and I wanted to touch base on some of them.

( On Terri Schiavo and the latest from Buffalo )
OK. I'm done rambling for now.

It's been a looong, depressing week. I haven't posted because there's been nothing TO post. I'd stay home, look at the snow, shovel, come back inside and watch movies. No gym, no going out, nothing.
Today I have alot to report.
Today I think I experienced the highs and lows life has to offer: from the beginning (birth.. well.. not fully.. but you'll understand) to death to everything in between.
Well, probably not everything...

The day started early. Woke up, look outside and there was SUN! The sun WAS OUT! Wooo! Woke up, got dressed, posted to livejournal etc. I took some pictures of the snow outside. I plan to shrink them and post them so that all you bastards wishing for a white christmas can see what it REALLY means... at least in Buffalo.
The driving ban had lifted, we were all in the midst of major cabin fever and we needed things.. so we made a list, checked it twice, but didn't bother figuring out who was naughy and nice.. and we headed out.
Before going out, however, I started to scour the house. My MP3 player is missing and I'm not certain where it is. At this moment, I'm pretty certain it isn't in the house. HOPEFULLY it's in my car (which is at the mechanics.)
Did I mention my car? Let me tell you.. Wednesday (in the middle of a snow storm), we brought the car into my mechanic. My first time driving in the snow... I hated it. It was NOT fun. Mom says I did a decent job of it.
Anyways, he called me Thursday. There was problems with the electrical system. Electricity was arcing and he wasn't certain why. Problem: Thursday afternoon and Friday the city shut down. The city is STILL in a state of emergency and not dug out (as you can tell by reading phinnia's livejournal. So, as far as I know, he hasn't been able to locate the problem yet, forget being certain how to fix it and how much it will cost. So the car is at the mechnics and HOPEFULLY the mp3 player is in it. Otherwise, I need a new one. I can't work out without it... it's just waaaay too boring to do cardio without SOMETHING to listen to. The radio may work for a day or two (and I may try it tommorow), but I'll probably get bored of it quickly.
Life lesson #1: Shit happens. It just happens. You make the best of it and move on. I don't really want an extra expense to get a new mp3 player, but I need something, so i'll get something.
So... anyways... we need to go out.
First stop... Tops Supermarket. Got some stuff for homemade spaghetti sauce, some milk stuff like that. Nothing special. Just keep in mind we have frozen onions and milk in the car.
Stop two... I KNOW I mentioned my mom is hell-bent on getting a kitten, right? So she drives all the way to the SPCA (luckily, it's open and accessable) to A) get pre-approval so that when she FINDS a kitten, she can adopt it no problem and B) look for kittens.
I (silly me) figure there's absosmurfly no way that there will be kittens. The SPCA has been closed for a couple of days.. how would they get there? I was wrong.
There were 7 kittens there when we came in. Not all of them were "good enough" for us. Two were longhairs and we prefer shorthair breeds (partly because brushing kittens is not easy nor fun and partly because we just like the way they look better. When we think of cat, we think of something along the lines of an american shorthair, applehead siamese or russian blue. Not a long-haired persian or even a Maine Coone with the big fluffy tail.), one was a hisser... there were three that got out attention, though.
One was a little orange and yellow striped kitten (you'd probably call it tiger) who was happily chasing a toy mouse around the play room. I had dreams of calling such a cat Spitfire or FireBolt or something akin to that.
The next was a little grey cat who reminded me of Smokey without the white in his fur. He was trying very hard to get the ball out of one of those toys where the ball is in a circular track. It kept trying and trying and we thought it was very cute (We like playful troublemaker type of cats.)
The next was a little mostly black cat who LOVED the teaser I was shaking around. It jumped and lunge and was too cute.
So mom was like "we need to decide." and it was a difficult decision. In the end, I think it was when I lifted the little grey one and it put it's head on my sweatshirt and looked sweet that decided it for us. So we got the little grey one.
When I say we got, I don't mean we brought it home. Tommorow they're closed. Monday, he'll get fixed, Tuesday they're closed and Wednesday we'll bring him home.
We'll probably call him Sherlock (we were bouncing names around in the car and that one came up. Choice #2 is Shadow.) but... who knows, right?
Once I get the kitten home Wednesday, you can all expect pictures of course.
So, with that stop out of the way, next stop was Blockbusters to return some videos and return more. We ended up leaving with Saving Silverman and Scary Movie 2, which my brother wants to watch and I don't care to.
Next stop, Target. Mom is looking for photographic paper and she likes the cheap walmart and target brands which are as good as Kodak and HP, but cheaper. We also leave with a thermal top for myself and a couple of other things.
Next stop, Barnes and Nobles. Mom is looking for a certain book. No luck, though.
By then, it's about 2:00 and my belly is yelling that if we don't eat soon, it'll start eating me from inside. So we go out to eat at the Buffalo Wild Wings.
Finally, we go to Rite Aid and go home.
Listening to the messages, my friend Dave's grandmother, Eva Niles whom I knew from when I worked in Beechwood Nursing Home has passed away. Eva hasn't been the same since an accident a couple weeks back and her health has been deteriorating. I haven't gone to see her because I don't want to think of her as any way besides how she was when I worked there (more on this in a few). So I told Dave I'll be at her Funeral (Monday morning at 11:00).
Issue: Monday is New Years Eve and we were SUPPOSED to have a big New Years Eve bash, but he's not up to it (he wasn't looking forward to it anyways, for a few reasons none of which I'll discuss.) I suggested that we modify the bash to a few small friends and I'd be glad to host. In other words, if he can get away from his family, come to my house... hopefully we can get Carl, his girlfriend, maybe our mutual friend TJ. Whatever. Just a small Friendly New Years Eve party.
I hope it happens. I really do. I don't wanna be stuck spending New Years Eve with my mom. I love her, but.. that's not my idea of a blast of a time. On the other hand, mom says if it doesn't happen, we'll try to go see a movie, so that's cool.
Eva Niles... I remember her very well, even if she never remembered my name, she certainly remembered me. She hassled me and I hassled her (and for people who know me, that's how I treat the people I love. I give them hard times and joke with them.)
I remember that the nurses (who disturbed and angered me because I never felt like they cared a bit... well, most of them.) complaining that she'd take these fortified orange drinks, bring them into her room to drink and forgot about them completely. They went bad and the nurses had to clean it up. She was such a matchmaker. She'd always ask me.. am I married? She'd often point to some of the female workers on the floor and said "I bet she's single. You should ask her." She'd also come and help me put table clothes on the tables. It gave her someone to talk to when her family wasn't here. I remember, she loved to play bingo. (she loved all the activities. Hell, she was jewish and she'd go to the catholic masses and stuff, because she wanted to be out and about and do things.) One day, I was her "lucky charm". I came over (having finished my floor) to help her play bingo and as I sat, she won not once but twice. If I saw her in her room, she'd offer me one of her many peppermint patties her family would give her.
I do remember Eva Niles. She was... definately a personality. (Much like the rest of her family)
Continuing on with the day...
After calling Dave and taking a nap, we went out AGAIN. This time, we started off at Rite Aid (her last prescription had recieved part of a shipment, so she got some.). we went off to the mall and, despite the fact that I figured it would be swamped, it wasn't. We were at the mall to look for thermals for my mom and a snowblower (all sold out. Surprise Surprise, I guess.)
Then we went to Walmart where I got some more thermals, some of my flavored water (yum!) and a bedspread for my mom.
Came home, watched Saving Silverman and then watched the news.
Now they're saying we might want to stay home tommorow due to blizzard-like conditions (not because of new snow coming done, but high wings resuspending the snow into the air and whiting out our vision. Not to mention a REALLY cold Wind Chill.)
Let the frustrations continue.
And so, that's my day... a new family member, the death of a person I liked and frustrations with life.
I guess I'll post this and head to bed. Good night everyone. Have a safe and warm New Years Eve if I don't write before then. And wish me luck in finding something cool to do!

Greetings and Decapitations, my dear Livejournal readers.
It's been an interesting couple of days (isn't it always?)
Christmas came and went. As, no doubt, most of you saw Buffalo made it into the national news again for having an awful lot of snow at one time. I got hit with the majority of it (Buffalo got about a foot. We, here in Amherst, got about a foot and a half. Plus.. whatever from last night. Add 1/4 foot or so.)
I'm sick of being on the national news for shit like this.
The worst part is we really got it Monday... mom had one accident and one skid out.
The accident happened right outside the SPCA (more on this later) where she hit one rock, jumped a bit and landed on another. These were BIG rocks, too. Anyways, by the looks of it she landed with her front axle on the rock. Luckily with the help with three other guys who were also there to adopt, we jacked the car and pushed it off the rock.
And went home.
To slide going down Campbell Boulevard because no one plowed till really late

(begin rant)
I'm really ticked about that. SOMEONE.. not only in Buffalo, but Amherst and Tonawanda and what not is NOT doing their job. We had at least 12 hours notice for this big storm Monday and no one was out at all for at least 6 hours! SOMEONE wasn't ready! For that matter, the big streets weren't very well plowed yesterday after it started snowing hard again.
I agree that the weathermen don't always know what they are talking about, but they all predicted Monday's storm at least 12 hours in advance. For that matter, Channel 4, at least, predicted a small storm last night they weren't ready for!
Come on people. This is Buffalo! We get lake effect snow! Keep the damn roads safe for us!
Idiots.
(end rant)

So due to heavy snow, we didn't go out as hoped Christmas Night to see my grandmother. We rented videos and watched those instead. Seen a few really good movie so far ans we have a few left.
I think I may buy Moulin Rouge. I haven't seen it in it's entierty, but I was dying at how amusingly terrible it was.

So yesterday came and went, we watched a couple more videos, I slipped out to play some D&D 3rd edition with my friend Dave (not a particularly serious campaign. We have a half-elf who despises humans, a gnome female who TIED the half-elf up to a tree and "mounted" him, a gnome with two orcish weapons and magical cups (I GOT CUPS!) and.. myself.. an elven were-panther druid.
In a way it wasn't a pity it wasn't serious. Dave (the GM) spent so much time screwing people that the story itself got kinda lost at times, but it was fun anyways!
Then last night we went to grandma's for dinner instead.
Holy shit, you should SEE the amounts of Christmas Candy Laura (my grandmother's upstairs neighbor who really likes us) gave us for christmas!

And today we'll watch more videos, go out and do some errands (weather permitting) and.. go BACK to the SPCA.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned last time that my mom hopes to get a kitten again? Well.. she's hell bent on it. So she intends to, if she slip away from Joshua (who says he's dead set against it, but will gladly accept a fuzzy kitty. He's strange in some ways.) to go to the SPCA today to go to take a look.
I'm, personally, a bit leery about bringing in a kitten only because A) they are expensive and B) it will disrupt the family. That said... I know mom when she gets in these moods. She's GOING to get a kitten.
I'm just going along to make sure she gets a good one.
(Yeah, right)

That's all I can think of to say for now.
Peace to all my peeps, yo!

It is Saturday morning. No school today.
Life is good with fuzzy kitties in my lap.
Last night was... odd. I don't remember an awful lot of it. I was so exhausted, mentally, that I shut down bits of myself here and there. When I relaxed, bits and pieces of it came back, but I never felt right.
Problem is... that's about the time I get the direct connection to by subconscious pixie self. I remember talking to Soreth about stuff, but not what about. I remember trying to force Soreth and Trillian to talk.. and, in the end, succeeding :)
I feel vaguely... wrong, disturbed... after experiences like that. It's like as if some totally different personality takes over for a night and then I come back to myself and I'm all "What the hell?"
And the images.
A torrent of images for about half an hour in the middle of a talk with Soreth. We were talking about magick and about seeing the future and I got a torrent of vivid images of possible futures.
*shakes his head and tries to clear the memories out, lest it happens again*

It snowed last night. In general, I don't like snow. That's because *I* am the one out there... walking/driving in it, shoveling/snow blowing it, trudging through it. And we do get alot of snow here in Buffalo. I must agree that a thin blanket of snow has a certain sort of allure, though. It does look pretty.

This month's TMBG Unlimited (which JUST came out apparently) is really amusing. Especially where they do "While My Guitair Gently Weeps" by the Beatles in their backwards voice. Ehehehehehe. It makes me want to go back and listen to their live versions of "The Joker" and "Yellow Submarine" again.

So... assuming the weather stays clear, we'll b going out to see the new version of "Ocean's 11" tonite. I cannae wait. I saw the original last week and it was cool, but now I wanna see them breaking into today's Las Vegas! :D

Not much else to say. Peace y'all!