So my friends and I are at dinner in the UMF cafeteria, and Ashley says we should have an "I'm fucked" dance. We toss around the idea for a bit, then move on to other topics. Then after a while Leland cocks her head and wonders what an "I'm fucked" dance would look like. I say it would probably involve a lot of pelvic thrusting and we snicker like twelve-year-olds. Except for Ashley, who says rather loudly, "NO, I was thinking it would look something like I looked on the floor the other night!"

Hilarity did, in fact, ensue.

I just got the news of his death. He was a hell of an actor.

I first saw him in the George C. Scott Christmas Carol, although I didn't know it was him until years later. The first time I saw him in a recognizable role was as McCall in The Equalizer, which was an amazingly good show for the period. With another actor, it could have been just another spy show trying to be grim and gritty; Woodward made him a complex, believable character, and most of that was due to his acting more than the scripts. Then I saw "The Wicker Man"- the real version, not the Nicholas Cage crap- and was amazed at how he took the self-righteous prig Sgt. Howie and gave him a backbone. And, of course there was his "appearance" in The Lone Gunmen- as the voice of a chimp. And he managed to be impressive as that, too.

I've never really considered his age, and was surprised to learn that he was 79. He always looked about the same, having reached middle age early and settled in comfortably. He didn't need to look impressive or be handsome; he was good enough that it didn't make a difference. Of course, his voice was a decided asset- he didn't look like an alpha male, but he could sound the part when he wished. Those bright blue eyes helped too, especially since he knew how to use them effectively.

I don't know much about his personal life, other than the fact that he married the girl who played Jane Banks in Mary Poppins. And I don't really care. If he had issues, he didn't make a huge fuss about them. Pity a few more recent celebrities couldn't do the same. They could do worse than learn from him.

I went camping this weekend. In Gulf Hagas, about three hours from Farmington, and about twenty miles from the nearest collections of humans that could be considered even a smallish village. That would be Greenville, incidentally, population about 1600, on the shores of Moosehead Lake. The weather was almost perfect- highs in the upper 50s, which is great for hiking, but it was quite windy and the temperature at night got down below freezing- not so great when you've got a 30-year-old kiddie sleeping bag. Luckily, I packed extra blankets, and I layered, but it was still damn cold.

The drive up was gorgeous, and our first view of Moosehead was coming down a hill into Greenville. The water was so dark that I didn't realize it was the lake at first- it was the whitecaps, visible at a fair distance, that tipped us off. Seriously, the water was blue-black; I've never seen a lake so dark in the daytime. I could happily live in Greenville, I think.

To get to the camp, we had to drive over mostly dirt roads, and there were wooden bridges involved. Our campsite was right on the river, with a covered picnic table and a firepit. Just for the record, it is not a good idea to walk around a metal firepit while you're barefoot. We did tell him he was a little too close, and there may have been some mocking afterwards. (No, he wasn't really hurt.)

I didn't know how long the Gulf Hagas hiking trail was, and I'm glad I didn't. The book I've got here says 8.2 miles for the loop, but if you add in the extra distance caused by going up and down, I suspect you could almost double it. And if I'd known we had to wade across the damn river coming and going, I'd have packed my swim shoes. That water was COLD. It was bad enough going over, but coming back after sunset, it was so painful I damn near hyperventilated.

But you know something? Totally worth it. Gulf Hagas has to be seen to be believed. Some of the cliffs are over 100 feet tall, and the waterfalls are amazing. I can't believe the actually drove logs through this thing- even at high water, it can't have been easy. I did take pictures, but there is no way they can do this place justice. The name "Grand Canyon of the East" is more than justified; it is not as wide as many canyons, but that makes it even more impressive.

That same night, back at camp, I noticed that it was very clear, there was no moon, and we were miles and miles from any source of light pollution. We didn't have a large clearing anywhere around, but we had crossed a good-sized bridge (still wooden), to get to our site. So I walked out onto the bridge and saw more stars than I have ever seen in my life. They were so thick and so bright it was hard to pick out constellations, and the Milky Way was as clear as I have ever seen it. I wasn't able to get anybody else to join me out there, but a bunch of us did walk down to the riverside and just look up for a while.

We headed home in the morning, and we all agreed that it was worth doing again, although perhaps it might be better in slightly warmer weather. So we got back, all of us a bit stiff and sore and reeking of smoke from the campfire, and all of us planning to do it again at some point.

Although next time, I'm packing an air mattress.

It's not enough to give us rain for most of June and July, with temperatures more suitable to April. And it's not enough to pack all the summer we should have had into a couple of weeks worth of extreme suck with weather that I'm sure was meant for Georgia or Florida. Having record-breaking heat when the rivers are still too high to swim in safely does, in fact, suck donkey dick, thank you. And with the weather we've had this week, I more or less expected thunderstorms, even some bad ones. But a tornado? Here?

Seriously, hon, what's up with that? That's, what, the third, fourth this year? I realize the human race is enough to drive anybody to drink, but I'm comfortably certain you're not supposed to operate planets while under the influence.

I also need to speak to you about your choice of targets. You wiped out Young's Greenhouse but left that Fred Phelps-wannabe Bob Celeste alone. Come on, Gaia, I don't think aiming the Wrath of God(dess) at the right targets is too much to ask.

I've seen the forecast for next week and it looks like you're getting your act together again. I hope so; this sort of behavior on the job is simply unacceptable.

Your aggravated servant,

Kate

Head Trip - Twilight Sucks by ~shinga on deviantART

1) I'm home for the summer, and net access is only guaranteed when I can get to the library.

2) I got wifi at home last night, but I'm not sure how often that will happen, or why it happened in the first place.

3) Mom has a new dog. 8 months old, cute as all hell, Lhasa/Shi Tzu mix, named Molly.

4) No Canada for fall semester. Will try again for spring, which means graduating from a different college, I think.

5) Will be house-sitting for Mom for two-three weeks starting tomorrow, which means that if last night's wifi was indeed a fluke, I won't be around for a while.

6) People who tell you you have a job, and then change their minds two weeks later and hire two other people instead, suck donkey dick.

7) No Reservations kicks ass, and Tony Bourdain is my latest celebrity crush.

There are other things I should mention, but brain not work now. I messed up my back again and between going "ow" and being woken up at an ungodly hour by a pooch poking her head over the side of the bed to lick my face, I'm doing good just walking semi-upright, much less thinking.

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Your Animal is the Raven

You have an incredible work ethic and are very tenacious. You like to productive. No matter what you want in life, you're committed to making it happen. You are infinitely patent. You are philosophical about life and feel that good things will eventually come. You believe it's important to carve out your own space in the world. You will change your life until you feel comfortable.

Went to auditions today, didn't get in. Joined a D&D campaign as a crazy bard bitch with an obsessive pissiness toward the bandit lord she was forced to follow for several months and an immunity to hangovers. Her specialty is finding songs about people who piss her off and singing them all day. I'm going to enjoy playing her...

So I'm stuck doing a group presentation on Bonapartism for my Modern France class. I don't have a choice in the matter if I want a good grade. I have to meet with the professor after class tomorrow (5:30PM) and we have a group meeting to put together the final presentation at 7PM on Tuesday. At the same time, I have to be at the theater every night this week at 5:30 sharp, no exceptions, for my project for my theater class. I told the stage manager about my meetings for my other class, and her response was "well, you have to be here, and they can't do anything about it." Yeah, nothing- except give me a failing grade. So, in effect, I now have to choose which class I want to fail. Which means that I will be ineligible for the exchange program. Which means that I don't get to spend next semester in Cape Breton or Newfoundland.

Thanks a lot, bitch.

So Ridley Scott is doing a Robin Hood movie with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, and Gordon Pinsent. And playing Allan A'Dale is none other than... Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea.

I am so camping out at the theater for opening night..

Yesterday was fun. Went snowshoeing up at Flagstaff Lake with a group from school, and other than the wind, it was perfect. Clear skies, just cold enough that you didn't overheat, and we actually went out on the lake. It's completely frozen over, and you can't even tell where the shoreline is. Flagstaff's an artificial lake caused by damming the Dead River, and it's right in the mountains. I really hope my pictures came out.

On the less-than-fun side, my tendinitis came back. I have to wear a brace on my left wrist for a while and take massive amounts of ibuprofen. Bleah. On the other hand, my professors and boss have been great about it- especially my piano teacher. She actually offered to let me blow off class and just make it up when my wrist was better, but I figured that I'd probably better just keep going or I'd lose the momentum. So she assigned me the easiest piece she could find for this section instead. And my boss has been popping in every now and then to make sure I'm not over-working my wrist.

And now, something ganked from sealgair:

Created by Train Horns

How have I not heard of the new Red Dwarf episodes that are being filmed right now?

Since we got over two feet of snow in the last storm, and it is nicely packed already, people have been digging tunnels. There's one on the front lawn of Mallett that I can't even see the end of from outside, and one between Mallett and the next dorm that curves through a huge drift.

And, from ailsaek:

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you (the NEAREST, not your favorite book, the coolest, or the most intellectual).
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth full sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LJ.

I said I had the tree. (Robert Frost's Poems)

(Slight cheat- the closest book has a page full of sentence fragments on 56. There were a couple of candidates for next closest, and this is what I chose.)

Okay, I really don't like this song, and it's not exactly right for her voice. But sweet zombie Jesus, how can you argue with a result like this from a 74-year-old woman?

Heard a rumor yesterday that I semi-discounted at first, but today I heard the same rumor from one of the staff here. When I diplomatically expressed my opinion to her, she laughed and told me I should tell it to the people who are- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Some rocket scientists on the student senate have come down with a bad case of offensensitivity. They are proposing to ban all religious symbolism from posters on campus, and if the "offense" is repeated, they want to be able to report it to the Attorney General as a hate crime. Yes, that's the Attorney General of the State of Maine, whom they seem to believe has nothing better to do than prosecute some college group that put a cross somewhere on a poster.

Are you fucking kidding me?

On the list of proposed "religious symbols" are hearts, stars, and the words "Happy Birthday." Okay, I can sort of grant the stars as religious symbols, but the other two? A bunch of us got riffing on this at lunch: "Hearts and stars? What about green clovers, blue diamonds, and purple horseshoes? Save our Lucky Charms!" And it all got rather silly from there.

I will be attending the next student senate meeting and bringing a long list of religious symbols that would have to be banned (including the school mascot!). I will also be bringing the snark. But if anybody wants to add to my growing list of sacred things that might possibly offend somebody who will never actually see it or give a damn if they do but must be protected anyway, feel free. The longer the list and the more ridiculous I can make them look, the better.

"Stop making all the Christmas songs sexual! 'Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus'- DAMMIT!!! ...I hate you all."

I got a call from Mom yesterday a bit before noon. Her dog, Lady, wandered out of the yard, tumbled down an embankment, and fell into the brook behind the store/post office. Mom and the woman who works in the PO went in after her, but they couldn't reach her fast enough. The woman gave Mom her jacket to wrap Lady in, and they rushed her to the vet, but it was too late.

Lady was one hell of a dog. She was about 16 years old, blind, deaf, and was starting to have hip troubles, but she just kept going. Mom had her for over ten years, and Lady was Her Dog, so you can imagine she's taking it hard. Lady went everywhere with her.

Ailsa and I are both starting to look into finding her another dog, and my roommate from last year, who I ran into yesteday, said she'd look, too; she met Lady and adored her. This may seem a bit soon to be doing this, but Mom lives alone, and cats aren't too fond of riding in cars. She needs a dog.

I'm really going to miss her. She wasn't overtly friendly until she got to know you, but once she did, but once you did, you were part of her family. It's not going to feel right going on trips anymore without her trying to climb into my lap every five minutes.

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