Tourmaline_

It is the other main stone for the sign of Libra [the astrological sign just occurring on the calendar] and the month of October. Yes I know it's not Oct. but it is Libra so bear with me.

The word tourmaline is Sinhalese and comes from the root word thurmali which means any of many precious stones. [Wiki] It is mined all over the world with new deposits being found all the time. It comes in a rainbow of colors from black to colorless and is used for decoration, jewelry, it's electromagnetic conductive properties[black schorl]This last has been fading as the business sectors have found easier replacements but the healing sectors have picked up the slack. Tourmaline is known as a good healing stone.

You can find it at gem and mineral shows. Crystal shops and on-line...

And as it cleans up nicely, you can find it at the jewelry shop.

I've realized something. Since the migration from Multiply and the deletion/moving/changing/rearranging of all the blogs and creative writings that were done during that process, I have not written one sentence creatively. Not. Even. One. Word. I haven't even been poked mentally to do so. Nothing. Zippo.

I don't suppose it's really all that strange. What is strange is that it just occurred to me. Oh, I mean I noticed in an abstract sort of fashion that I wasn't 'working' but that didn't really even register as much as it should, if you know what I mean? Maybe you don't know what I mean. It's hard to explain if you don't get kicked in the seat of the creative expression spot [wherever that is, exactly]. When you do get kicked it's more an imperative than a request to comply.

'Get off your lazy brain and slam this down in words. DO IT NOW!'
'Mumble.'
'What? WHAT?!?'
'Mumble, mumble'
'So what if it IS three o'dark in the morning! GET UP! Write This Down__ Do It Now!'

Yes. So that hasn't been happening since the great migration. Have I entered into writer's shock? Or maybe it's the words ganging up and refusing to work for someone who shuffled them off to the equivalent of summer camp and then left them there while figuring out what was up in the new scheme of things. I don't know for sure but I do know it's been vewy, vewy qwiet around here lately.

We have a new dog in the neighborhood. A large dog by the sound of him. He lives somewhere to the east of us. I mention him because he has a distinctive bark.

Raf [drop an octave] Rolf__

That's it. The sum total of his repertoire. Over and over. Raf Rolf, Raf Rolf. He serenades all afternoon and evening, most days of the week.

When Mattie first heard him, she went off like a bottle rocket and barked her head off. I presumed this was in example of the possibilities available but to no avail [alas] because if you think listening to regular barking for extended periods is annoying try Raf Rolf for a few hours.

Anyway just a few days ago he learned a new note...well not really. It's more an addition. Now he sings Raf__Rolf Rolf. Well! How about that! We were so impressed that after a few times we realized he was creating a beat and we started to dance, my dog and I.

Somewhere in California [Los Angeles] they are cutting down 400 mature trees to accommodate the passage of the space shuttle to it's new home at their museum. Why? Because it won't fit on the transport [lying flat] along the tree-lined road otherwise. This is such a travesty in a smog choked city that I am nearly speechless. Their response to people like me? 'Oh, we're planting new trees.' What planet do these idiots live on?  They will be moving traffic lights and power-lines already to further accommodate this proceeding sooooo___why not transport the shuttle in a, I don't know, more sideways or upright fashion? Is this beyond conceivable? Would it take away from the majesty of the slow and stately progress through the bleary, smog __I mean through the lovely streets of L.A.? Hell, no.

Ok, that rant over.

Football season has started. The political cartoons__I mean commercials__are going to cause mayhem if they are not curtailed during game time. The only thing anyone wants to hear from the candidates at game time is what kind of beer they like and how much they lost on their fantasy league last week. If Romney wants to humanize himself he would do well to lose a LOT. This also involves accommodation  Hmm. I'm beginning to sense a trend here.

Which brings us to that word [the one I keep having to correct because I keep spelling it accommodation __wait, I got it right that time]. Nevermind.

Accommodation: noun: 1.the act of accommodating; state or process of being accommodated; adaptation.

2.

adjustment of differences; reconciliation.

3.

Sociology . a process of mutual adaptation between personsor groups, usually achieved by eliminating or reducinghostility, as by compromise or arbitration.

4.

anything that supplies a need, want, favor, convenience, etc.

5.

Usually, accommodations.

a.

lodging.

b.

food and lodging.

c.

a seat, berth, or other facilities for a passenger on a train, plane, etc.

This is something it would seem that we, as a nation, need to be reminded of. That the concept exists and should be not only considered but utilized. Arbitration isn't just a word. It needs to be put into practice and much more often than litigation and confrontation. How did I get from there [looks up] to here? Those trees didn't need to be cut. Valuable $ doesn't need to be spent on empty words thrown into our homes over our communication devices. There are many more examples of the need for accommodation, arbitration and the utilization of the brain power and ingenuity of our people abounding. I chose a couple from different ends of the spectrum. But come on, folks, isn't enough, enough?

One of These Days

One of these days__it's a common phrase. You hear it used in many ways. Positive: One of These Days I'm going to change the world. Negative: One of These Days, Edith! [for those of you too young for this reference it's a threat]. Questing: One of These Days I might... As a finality [which is rather funny when you think about it] One of These Days I'm leaving [or changing or rearranging or stopping or going].

I woke up this morning thinking that one of these days I would scrounge through the old paint downstairs and finally cover an area of sheetrock [wallboard] that has remained paintless for, well, we'll just say far too long. It has an old gas heater mounted about halfway up the wall which is no longer in use but remains hanging because the mounting and gasline are still there. As far as aesthetics go it doesn't have much. But it will stay hanging there, at least for the time being. That will be a future One of These Days.

When I started thinking about the many One of These Days things here and about I heard Judy Collins singing Someday Soon in my head. I thought, wait a minute this isn't about romance it's about setting out [or at least thinking about setting out] to accomplish something. But I suppose in a way that's a romantic ideal in and of itself. Yes, I like that. The romance of accomplishment. I think I'm in the first stages of wooing the wall.