Back in the Swing

My stomach is really hurting right now. I think I am lactose intolerant.
But then again, it may be stress. I have to write a resume today so that could be the obvious source of my stress. I am drinking lots of water, so that may help. Also, I've decided to write about it, the stress I mean, so maybe getting it out of my system and onto this proverbial paper may help. I drank three beers approximately last night. That may also have something to do with my stomach upset.
In other health news, I may have early signs of Rosacea. I met a girl and her mother at whole foods yesterday. The girl, Rachel, has full blown Rosacea. Has had it for five years. Thinks it may be related to allergies. Sounds very plausible to me. It's interesting to me how interconnected allergies, auto-immune disorders and stress all are.
I met another woman a little later yesterday at Half-Price Books. Her name is Susan. She was looking for a book on the Gerson Method. We talked for a while and she was very interesting. Lots of family problems, which of course are so fascinating to me.
I missed the social media breakfast this morning. I feel kind of bad about it. But I didn't really want to go.
Might be going to Blanco tomorrow with Eric and his dad. That should be a nice drive up to the country.
I'm worried about running out of my medication also. Next month I am going to be more careful about scheduling the appt. on the right day so that there are no gaps.
I'm going to quote the International Rosacea Foundation now:

"Rosacea is 'not' a hereditary condition as many medical doctors believe as hereditary denotes a genetic condition that is inherited. Yes, rosacea is a chronic (long term) skin disorder that most often affects the nose, cheeks, and forehead, but you will hopefully have noticed that these areas have the largest arteries and veins blood supply. And thus have the larger accumulations of acids over the years. If it were an inherited skin disorder, rosacea would start from a very early age of two weeks or several years after birth when most other inherited genetic disorders are noticed."

I can't believe it. I hope everyone realizes that you must be so careful when reading things about health on the internet. This woman has NO idea what she is talking about. Okay I'm done venting about that.

Alright. The stress has subsided substantially. I am going to begin working on my resume now. Thanks self, for listening. Everything is going to be okay. And my new job should be awesome. Can't wait to be wearing scrubs.

Polyatomic Ions

Hydroxide OH -1
Permanganate MnO4 -1
Silicate SiO3 2-
Chromate CrO4 2-
Dichromate Cr2O7 2-
Hypochlorite ClO 1-
Chlorite ClO2 1-
Chlorate ClO3 1-
Perchlorate ClO4 1-
Cyanide CN 1-
Nitrite NO2 1-
Nitrate NO3 1-
Ammonium NH4 1+
Sulfite SO3 2-
Sulfate SO4 2-
Hydrogen sulfite HSO3 1-
Hydrogen sulfate HSO4 1-
Phosphite PO3 3-
Phosphate PO4 3-
Hydrogen phosphate HPO4 2-
Dihydrogen phosphate H2PO4 1-
Carbonate CO3 2-
Oxalate C2O4 2-
Hydrogen carbonate HCO3 1-
Acetate C2H3O2 1-

The Night Time

Why is the night time the right time? Or more correctly: The wrong time.

I'm only glad that wasn't me making a huge ass of myself last night. Although, it would have been a lot more fun.
Yes I know I'm speaking cryptically, but it is only so as to protect the identity of said huge ass.
It's okay. I don't judge. One cannot keep one's cool forever.

Random thought: Isn't it amazing that a single misspelling can completely decimate the reader's respect for a writer's thought? Well it does if I am the reader. What do you think?

Chemistry 101: Naming Compounds

1. If the formula of the compound begins with Hydrogen (H), then it is an acid and must therefore be aqueous. Aqueous simply means dissolved in water and is denoted with aq in a chemical formula.

a. If the acid contains no polyatomic ion, or contains a polyatomic ion ending with -ate, then it's name will end with -ic.

b. If the acid contains a polyatomic ion ending with -ite, then it's name will end with -ous.

2. If the chemical formula begins with a metal that has more than one oxidation number, then the first part of that compound's name will be the name of the metal followed by roman numerals expressing it's specific oxidative state. If metal does not have more than one oxidation number than the name will simply begin with the name of the metal.

a. In either case, end the name with -ide if the compound does not contain a polyatomic ion.

b. If the compound does contain a polyatomic ion, then the name will end with -ate or -ite depending upon the name of the specific polyatomic ion therein contained.

3. If the compound contains only non-metals, then the name will begin with the name of the first element preceded by the appropriate prefix denoting the number of atoms of the first element present in the compound. The name will end similarly with the name of the other element and it's appropriate prefix, followed finally by the ending -ide.

a. Take note that if only a single atom of the first element is present in the compound the prefix mono- should not be used. It should be left out and the name of the compound should simply begin with the name of the first element.

Happy Valentine's Day

I come to you with empty hands
I guess I just forgot again
I only got my love to send
On Valentine's day

I ain't got a card to sign
Roses have been hard to find
I only hope that you'll be mine
On valentine's day

I know that I swore that I wouldn't forget
I wrote it all down: I lost it I guess

There's so much I want to say
But all the words just slip away
The way you love me every day
Is valentine's day

If I could I would deliver to you
Diamonds and gold; it's the least I can do
So if you'll take my I.O.U.
I could make it up to you
Until then I hope my heart will do
For valentine's day--Steve Earle

S.A.D. Weather

S.A.D. as in seasonal affective disorder. It is a type of depression that recurs due to seasonal changes, usually in the winter months. I don't actually have the clinical syndrome but this awful weather sure does get me down a bit.
I miss the country today. I feel a bit trapped in this tiny apartment. It would be a lot better, I think, if I could go places around here. All of the places I want to go are across town. On second thought, I don't have any place I really want to go.
Eric wants me to have a grocery list made so that we can go to the store as soon as he gets home. It is 3:36 and he gets home at about 4:10 so I guess I should make one soon. I don't see any reason I couldn't type it out right here:
Milk? I don't know how much we have left.
couscous for dinner sounds good
frozen veggies to saute and add to said couscous
wine? sounds good. I much prefer white but I feel obligated to drink red in this weather.
Water. Our tap water is gross.
Orange Juice. Vitamin C is good for you.
Some other type of beverage. Not soda. I am trying to quit soda. That reminds me: I should
make tea.
Bananas
Apples
Bag salad
Avocado (2)
Peppers. Any kind as long as they are super hot. Capsaicin supposedly cures depression.
Frozen Pizza. THAT is what I want for dinner! Yay!
Okay that seems like a perfectly complete list.
Oh wait: Bread
Ice
Coffee
Saline Solution
Now I am done.
I am being rather productive today! I finished the shopping list, washed all the dishes, made the bed, put away all the clothes, cleaned the litter boxes and got the trash ready to be taken out. I ALSO called my grandmother and wished her a happy birthday. Now all that is left is sweep, take the trash down, go to the store, put everything away and go on a bike ride. Oh and I forgot I am posting in my blog as well! Look at me go! Rar! I am Emma hear me roar!
I don't like that you cannot use "tab" on this post editor. At first it was fun to go wild and crazy with my indentions, but now my O.C.D. is kicking in I guess and this willy-nilly-ness is starting to irk me.
So back to the crappy weather. I woke up early enough (9am) to catch NBC's Good Morning America. At one point they flashed to the local station and showed the seven day forecast for Houston. Only two of the seven weather pictographs featured the sun. It gets worse. Even these two sun images were only visible as jigsaw slivers behind opaque, gray clouds. So now I wish I hadn't seen the weather report at all. I cannot un-know what I now know and this is making it extremely difficult to stay steady with my day-by-day mantra for this year. A week more of this dreary crap?
Uh-oh. I feel a sarcasm attack coming.
GOOD thing I got the bike fixed just in time for this LOVELY weather. It really is a PERFECT day for a bike ride.
But this weather will NOT stop me. I shall overcome. I WILL go for a bike ride. Maybe. eh. I don't know. Maybe I won't.
I think I just heard Jeanette's door slam. Maybe she is about to come over.
Well blog, thanks for listening. I would promise you a more exciting post for tomorrow but I really can't.

Not So Crazy Today

Salut!

That is the French word for an informal hello OR goodbye. Gotta love efficiency in language. Although French is not a language known for efficiency. In fact France in general is probably the world's epicenter of form over function. God bless them for it. I was, for a long time, disgusted with the culture.
Actually that is not true at all. I was disgusted with the many, many girls I knew in high school who took French as their foreign language requirement and never seemed to shut up about "French this" and "France that". They thought it made them seem super cool, fancy, trendy, citizens of the "beau monde". What disgusted me? They were right.
I took Latin. Which I still think is more awesome. So there.
Anyway I am over my invidious disdain for French/France. Don't get me wrong; I won't be "oh hoh hoh hoh!"-ing or sporting a beret anytime soon. Or ever. But picking up a few words here there might be fun.
Spent some time fixing Eric's/my bike today. It is a cruiser. Was a little worried about getting on a bike for the first time in years. I just kept thinking of how horrible it would be to be the first person EVER to disprove the old saying that "you never forget".
I had not forgotten. Praise the Lord! It was a nice ride around the block until a bubble of air formed from a hole in the inner tube of the front tire. Then it was wobbly. So more work must be done to the poor, rusty thing. I shall name it Dabra. As in the second part of Abrakadabra.
Because it must be magical if it can get me to exercise.
I did clean the apartment yesterday. It looks great. Self B has just reminded me that I need to do it again today. That is what sucks about cleaning: You must do it EVERY day.
I want to leave you with my favorite line so far from the book Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson about the Hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. It is a mind blowing (no pun intended) story. Check it out if you need something quick to read.
For some reason this just really tickled my fancy:
"It moved through the city like a mailman delivering dynamite."
Reminds me of this Magritte painting I saw at the Menil Collection here in Houston once. A bloody rifle propped against the finely papered wall of an obviously fancy sitting room. Half and Half. Every day and the end of days.

First Blog Post Attempt

Well it is the first day of the second month of the year; As good a day as any to begin a blog. I created this account months ago. I enjoy my mother's blog and even blogs belonging to people I don't know that I have occasionally stumbled across while adventuring through the internet. I am fascinated by the feelings and ideas expressed. Conjectures of truth, absolutes and opinions related with earnest. No remorse or apologies. To me it seems a triumph of humility. To feel something, to believe it, to stand behind it and relate it to others. Not without thought or care but without fear.
The answer to a question is the weather in a day. So many tiny factors at play. But each one real and each one right. Perhaps.
I want to KNOW things. I want to hold on to a thought and write it down. Read it again. Believe it in a year. Or maybe not. Ha
I'm making couscous. I am bored. I was thinking of cleaning but I am okay with the mess right now. It's not that bad. I am not okay with the litter boxes though. I should clean those. I will in a little while.
Okay so I am asking myself: What is the standard of cleanliness that I should strive to maintain?

Response (from Self B): Well do you think your standard can not change from day to day? Could you be fine with "pretty-messy" today and then want things "super-neat" the next without having the "super-neat-self" judge "pretty-messy-self"?

Self A: Okay I see your point about judgment and about being forgiving of myself for sure. It is just that I want to challenge myself you know? I want to have standards. Maybe the best thing to do would be to establish a standard but to work on not beating "pretty-messy-self" up when she doesn't live up to "super-neat-self"'s standards.

Self B: Yeah, sounds good except for the "super-neat-self" standards. How about setting the "neat-self" as the standard instead? Middle ground seems more reasonable.

Self A: Absolutely!

Self B: How about litter boxes, dishes, trash, clothes, sweeping and making the bed. Essentials. As standard?

Self A: Okay so every day clean the litter boxes, do all the dishes, sweep all the floors, put all the clothes away and make the bed? That sounds pretty reasonable. System or tools?

Self B: No I don't think we should over think it. I suggest sticking to this year's mantra: Day by Day. Do it every day. That's all. For now anyway.

Self A: You are right. Let's just stick to it and let ideas for better efficiency come from the experience of doing right?

Self B: Yeah because if we try to brainstorm a bunch of "perfect" solutions we will only end up realizing the bottom line is that we have to just do it. No tool or system is going to make the task disappear. Might as well practice coming to terms with the task and incorporating it into everyday.

Self A: This sounds too easy. Ha.

Self B: What is there to lose by trying then?

Self A: That's true. But okay well that's solved and I guess I know what I need to do today before I go out but what then?

Self B: Do that stuff first and then we will talk. Day-by-Day can be Task-by-Task too remember? What are you so afraid of? Not feeling good? That is kind of the whole problem. It is why you don't feel good often. Instant gratification.

Self A: Yeah you are right. But I just worry that the day will be over and I will be bored and lonely and won't have exercised you know?

Self B: Cleaning is exercise. Revel in the "agony" of doing something not instantly gratifying. Stop worrying. It really disgusts me.

Self A: I sound like a child don't I? I sound like a child trying to find excuses for parents about why they should not be responsible. I know this yet still I have this fear in my chest. It feels like loneliness.

Self B: Begin the chores.

Self A: Right now? But I am writing! Isn't that important? Can I take a smoke break first? Should I put on some music? I can't think of anything I want to listen to.

Self B: Okay Five minutes. Then start the chores. This conversation is over. I have no more patience for you. Make me proud little one.

Self A: Okay. I would say "I'll try" but I think that would piss you off. :)