Jane's Thotful Spot

Vroom, VROOOOM!

Ha! Picked up the new car today. It's big, black, and beautiful, and it drives like a dream. Of course, it's got plenty of gadgets: from cup holders to middle arm rest to AC to ... navigation software! Just imagine, never getting lost, ever, again :-)

Cheese!

Actually, every dentist I've had before would scale every time. Dunno what they used, just that it tasted foul and made my gums hurt like h***. And the sound/feeling (definitely combined sensation) of the little picking thing they use! *shudder*

I changed dentists a couple of years ago because I moved. First visit, he did scale my teeth, and told me to floss. Next visit (and every visit since) he beams at me and says: you've been flossing, haven't you? Then he prints the bill and makes a new appointment. I just don't have the heart to tell him I haven't been flossing. Maybe there's less calcium in the water or something. Maybe it's that I started filtering my water after I moved. Who knows. Who cares?

Poetic references

Some new phrases people have looked for which took them to my blog:

Silver Neckless Jewelry for Men
McDonalds Wedding Poem
Donny Darko Polyphonic Ringtone
"i'm so insecure"+ carey
citizen Kane theme tune
celebrate silver necklesses
Nike just do it poem

Some of these search entries are weird all by themselves - even without knowing that they somehow turned up in these pages. Of course, now they show up as "complete" phrases, moving me up the list of hits.

McDonalds wedding poem?!? What kind of sick weirdo are you!

Drought causes flouding

Come again?!?

Oh, yes, the continuous drought of the last couple of weeks has caused a few dikes to crack, flooding the homes of two thousand something people, leaving the river bed empty. Go figure.

The insurance companies are so afraid the claims will be more than they can manage, they have announced they will not honour any claims in relation to this flooding whatsoever. Dam(n)!

Signs

“One way to become enthusiastic is to look for the
plus sign. To make progress in any difficult
situation, you have to start with what’s right about it
and build on that.”
------Norman Vincent Peale

Beginning our days with a positive mental outlook is a great depression-chaser. Simply lifting our heads and looking up and out instead of down will make us feel better. Although we can’t spend all our time staring at the sky, we can train ourselves to look for the best in ourselves and others.

Even in the middle of difficulty or pain, we have choices. We can choose a gloom-and-doom attitude and endlessly replay the thoughts that accompany it.
Or we can step back and find the one good thing.
We may be blinded with pain. The situation may appear hopeless, utterly bleak. But our journey guarantees that we are equal to it, that in our pain there is at least one good thing.

We are the masters of our fate. We can change even the most difficult situations with an attitude of hope and positive expectation. Approaching each day with a hopeful heart will give us a different approach to our troubles."
-----Body, Mind, and Spirit, Anonymous,

The message

Remember! No one loves a martyr! Not even the martyr!

Monday's late

1. When was the last time you helped out a friend in need? What was going on that made you want to help?
Eh? Define need. Constantly - I'm always there for my friends. If they need, and I can, I do. Simple.

2. Are you a "pet" person? Do you like to keep pets or would you rather not bother with them? Why?
Yes and yes. I'd love a bunch of cats and a couple of dogs. No can do because of my work, though. Grrrrr (no pun intended).

3. In a dating or married relationship, is it possible to change someone to be more like you want them to be? Have you tried to or had someone try to change you? How did it turn out?
Yes, but only if the person you're trying to change is you. You can not change another person, no matter how much you want to or feel you are right to. If you try, it is more than likely going to backfire - either the person will change in the opposite or some unexpected and obscure direction, and/or you will lose the person. I speak from experience as both intended changor and intended changee.

4. In your opinion, why is it that some married people have affairs? Is it ever justified?
They're bad, or in a bad relationship, or in a bad place, or think they are. No, never.

5. Do you tend to make the same mistakes over and over? Got any examples?
No! Durrr. Nobody intends to make the same mistake over and over, do they? They just do. Make the mistakes. Until they learn to avoid it, which is when they'll start making other mistakes. Of course, they might learn to make new mistakes whilst still trying to tackle the earlier mistakes. Life's complicated, life is.

6. What do you find distracts you the most when you are trying to concentrate?
The voices inside my head.

7. What do you know "now," that you wish you knew "then?"
a. you can't change people, and people can't change you (although either might be persuaded to change part of their behaviour)
b. always have taxi money at hand

BONUS: What's the matter with your life?
Nothing, why, do you think there's something the matter with my life?

Mourning

Oy!

Past Isa - Cessation of energy, freezing an issue where it stands, cooling relationships, separation, division.

Present Daeg - Increase and expansion, prosperity, growth, major turning points in life, turning in new directions.

Future Berkana - Growth, abundance, fertility, Mother Earth, protection, the zenith of an idea or situation.

I didn't recognise the love runes, so, What about death?

Past Tir - Victory, leadership, success over other competitors, increase in finances, virility and passion (especially for men).

Present Lagaz - Intuition, imagination, success in studies, creativity, vitality and passion (especially for women).

Future Ing - Fertility, successful conclusion to issue or situation, ending one cycle and beginning another.

Cast the runes here:
Rune Caster

Short or long

My memory is toast, anyway you look at it.

1. When was the last time you laughed?
Tricky. Last time I chuckled was this morning, reading something funny. Last time I laughed heart felt and out loud? Not that long ago, surely, but when, when?

2. Who was the last person you had an argument with?
I'm not an argumentative person, so I save my arguments for that special someone.

3. Who was the last person you emailed?
A co-worker. She asked me to give her a mini-training in some program, and I just confirmed the new day and time with her.

4. When was the last time you bathed?
Naughty! Last week.

5. What was the last thing you ate?
An orange. hey, man, smell my finger!

Drat

We had it all: I was there, my friend was there, we had the cd with snapshots, and even a computer with cd-rom player. All the elements were there, except Photoshop Elements, or similar.

See, I ought to get my own laptop (paid for by my employer, naturally, but with some liberties as to what programs to be installed).

Jane to the rescue!

I'm a right ol' hero, I am.

Today I got the second call within a week to perform my magic, show of my medical prowess, apply some first aid. Last week I responded to a cardiac scare, today I helped a girl with a broken wrist.

I love my job!

I don't mind

spiders...

Normally. Not keen on the football sized specimens suddenly appearing on my wall as I'm heading into the kitchen to get some breakfast, though [shudder]

Monday Mission

1. Yes. Of course, that's easy with the near incessant absence of comments and emails I receive. And comments I respond to in a comment (or a comment in the sender's blog).

2. Yes. Although it makes me more crazy to know they're not reading them.

3. Light.

4. There's several people from my past I can think of that I would like to spend some time with. My nanna, mostly, and I'm not gonna run into her, for sure, as she's, well, dead. Simply for her sake, I believe there is a Heaven. Other people - who are alive and well - include P, P, D, J, J, M, and J. A person I would like to not ever see again? X.

5. If it's true that you always pay too much for any bad meal, that would have to be the food court in Beijing. We didn't pay much for it, but nearly everything was cold while we were quite sure it wasn't supposed to be, and on second thought, we didn't dare eat any of it.

6. I'd work in ER, possibly in ER in a children's hospital. I'd probably need training up a bit (med school is only 10 years, right), although I do have a current diploma for performing first aid, including CPR, and I care.

7. I think it would be called something like "Just Jane". The food would be simple and comforting, and so would the style be. Feel free to bring a book, your mother, or your kid brother along.

Mmmm, castles

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need
not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put
foundations under them.”
--Henry David Thoreau

Positive thinkers have dreams, set goals, make
plans, follow through on plans, and get results.
Action is the magic word. The more we believe in
ourselves, the more we are able to accomplish.

One way to start getting positive results in our lives
is to watch how others succeed. If we stick with the
winners and learn from their attitudes, we can do
just about anything we make up our minds to do.
------Our Best Days by Sally Coleman, Nancy Hull-Mast

Dish it up baby and don't be stingy with the jalepenos!

Luvly Tawni

Some of us have gone through life unconsciously expecting others to bring us happiness, to make our dreams come true, and to make us feel good about
ourselves. When nothing seems to be going well for us, we blame it on the lack of external support--we’re not in a serious relationship, we don’t like our job, we don’t have the money to venture into our own business.

When we change our perspective--when we know and trust that we are responsible for our happiness, our dreams, and our feelings--we become
empowered. No longer is the burden on someone or something that is either unreliable or nonexistent. We’d been giving this power to others; now it’s
time to take it back, to make and be responsible for our own choices, to value our opinions, and to respect our intellect.

It's amazing how life changing this concept was for me when I truly "got" that I was responsible for my OWN choices. There's such power in knowing that I can change my attitude on the cards that life deals me. I no longer have to wear the big V on my chest declaring POOR ME, POOR ME I'm a VICTIM. Years and
years wasted on that way of thinking!

Yes life is unfair at times. Oh well. Let's get busy! We've got lives to lead!

Dish it up baby and don't be stingy with the jalepenos!

Comfort

Some people have the need to touch base every now and then. Is this my base? I always seem to come back to the same place. Back to square one. Have I really achieved anything since my last stay? Have I learned anything new? I can't see that I have, really.
It's so familiar, it's comfortable. Rock bottom. Sure, I get bruised, but mostly after I've tried to lift myself up, and then fall down again.

There's nobody here, and that suits me just fine. Just let me wallow for a bit. There's usually light at the end of the tunnel, there probably will be this time, even if I can't see it right now.

Music in my head: the theme tune to Men behaving badly.

Voice in my head: Prince, singing "I love to see you happy, I hate to see you sad", only he is getting the lyrics mixed up half the time or more ( ... I love to see you sad).

Brilliant quote

[snip] isn't anywhere near perfect but every day it's 15 minutes closer.

Tuesdays Thots

He who cannot rest, cannot work;
He who cannot let go, cannot hold on;
He who cannot find footing, cannot go forward.
-----Harry Emerson Fosdick

There is a part of the human psyche that wants to get right along to the last step, to wrap things up.
Sometimes before we barely get started, we want to jump to the conclusion. Happy endings are our favorite part of any project.

Yet behind every successful conclusion is a productive plan. Conclusions are consequences, and all consequences are caused--they’re the result of something that went before. We are wise when we take the time to see and understand what it takes to make a happy ending really happen.

There can be no productive work without rest, no holding on without letting go, no going forward without firm footing--even if finding that footing costs us some time and a few tumbles. Every step of the way is made possible by the step that preceded it. Satisfying conclusions come to be when we take all of the steps, one at a time, and stop sabotaging the project with shortcuts.

Self-esteem thrives on the satisfaction of a job well done."
-----Believing in Myself by Earnie Larsen and Carol Hegarty

Buzzed

...usually when the owner is away...
Some people haven't grasped the concept of the mobile phone yet, dispite the fact that they've been around for quite a few years (both the people and the phones).

Much better than polyphonic ringtones is the option to make your phone vibrate (instead of ring), but please, don't leave it lying on your desk - I jump every time a phone goes off, due to the desk happily vibrating WITH the phone, and that sort of defeats the purpose: phones vibrate when you set them to silent mode, and vibrating on a desk is NOT silent.

100 films

Ahhh, lists!

100 movies films (silly Americans). Bold the ones that you've seen.

Godfather, The (1972)
Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
Schindler's List (1993)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Star Wars (1977)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Memento (2000)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Rear Window (1954)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Usual Suspects, The (1995)
Amélie (2001)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Goodfellas (1990)
American Beauty (1999)
Vertigo (1958)
Pianist, The (2002)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Matrix, The (1999)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Third Man, The (1949)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Fight Club (1999)
Boot, Das (1981)**
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Chinatown (1974)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
All About Eve (1950)
M (1931)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Raging Bull (1980)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Se7en (1995)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Vita e bella, La (1997)
American History X (1998)
Sting, The (1973)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
Alien (1979)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Rashemon (1950)
Leon (1994)
Annie Hall (1977)
Great Escape, The (1963)
Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Sixth Sense, The (1999)
Jaws (1975)
Amadeus (1984)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Ran (1985)
Braveheart (1995)
High Noon (1952)
Fargo (1996)
Blade Runner (1982)
Apartment, The (1960)
Aliens (1986)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Modern Times (1936)
Shining, The (1980)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Duck Soup (1933)
Princess Bride, The (1987)
Lola rennt (1998)
City Lights (1931)
General, The (1927)
Metropolis (1927)
Searchers, The (1956)
Full Metal Jacket
Notorious (1946)
Manhattan (1979)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Graduate, The (1967)

Nearly half, then. Actually, I've got a feeling it's really more than half, but some films I saw such a long time ago - like I was in primary school or something - I'm not sure.

NOTE: Except for the italic titles and the titles followed by ** (films I have made a conscious decision not to see), whether I've seen them or not is not a judgement of quality or entertainment value at all. Although you can always wake me up for Hitchcock, Spielberg, Lucas, and Kubrik (although 2001 does require strong coffee). Oh, and Tom Hanks. And Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and Meg Ryan. Mmm, Meg.

Anyone feel the need to lend me/invite me over to see/come over to my place with any of the ones I haven't seen (esp. the italic titles), please let me know.

Resemblance

Upon reading Harry Potter 1-4 for the fourth time, I've come to the conclusion that I rather resemble Hermione. Well, not in everything, obviously - my parents aren't dentists, and I never got my Hogwarts letter, but there are plenty of similarities:
- we both have bushy brown hair and rather big front teeth
- we both spend (spent) a lot of our time at school in the library, and are (were) examplary students
- we both care greatly for the rights of animals and other non-human creatures
- we both have a dislike for rule-breaking and confrontations, while under the right circumstances we can be quite brave, and we favour adventurous friends

Another dissimilarity: I have never been quite such a know-it-all. Well, I wasn't in school, anyway. I may have become quite verbal at courses since then, but as far as I can tell, people find me rather charming. Not a know-it-all. Even when I do. Know it all. Ha! :P

Gaaahhhh!

I don't believe it! My period! Again! (sob)

Duh!

Tarzan!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
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Me Jane. (what a lovely heartbeat, heh)

Mehh!

You come from an Ancient Civilization. Egypt, China, Rome... a piece of all the greatest civilizations of their time can be found in you.


Where Did Your Soul Originate?
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You may worship us from afar.