I Swear, Now I've Really Moved!

Please email me if you want the new address...liosliath at yahoo.com

Spa

Well, it was just supposed to be a simple brow wax. Somehow I found myself getting a facial, which cost a lot more than I should be spending right now - but I don't care. All my dead skin cells are sloughed off, everything's extracted (eeew), and I got a neck and shoulder massage. If I could have one every night, I would!

I keep procrastinating about the major packing for Morocco. Well, not entirely, stuff is getting done, just not at the rate it should. My DH is already complaining about time spent apart, which may be a bad sign, because I'm doing fine. Maybe I'm not meant to be married, because I certainly enjoy having time to myself and a place of my own. I read the other day that Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have two houses in London, joined by a tunnel so they can visit each other. Sounds perfect to me.

Gulf of Mexico Ship Map

Gulf of Mexico Ship Map
Originally uploaded by Liosliath.

Since I'm interested in weird things, I took this map of where all the ships/rigs are in the Gulf of Mexico, and put pics of the ships next to their names. I guess I wanted to see who has the balls to ride out Rita!

The numbers are buoys.

So we have:

5 container ships*
3 tankers
1 scientific research ship
1 drilling rig

This list probably isn't exhaustive at all, I don't think all the rigs report data.

Seems like a few of the big ships are heading down toward the Mexican state of Tabasco, maybe it's safer to hide in the curve?

* forgot to label "Lykes Ranger"

Dreams

"You see things and you say 'Why?'. But I dream things that never were, and I say 'Why Not?'" - George Bernard Shaw

- Searching the beach with a borrowed metal detector. Found nothing but empty beer cans.

- In a strange city, riding along in a "bus" powered by a bicycle on the front. Passed a tunnel to another section of the city that had a huge iron sign above it reading "Plains." Massive white building at end of road that looked like a church, bright white lights shooting out from it like a crown.

- On top of a hill in Tajikistan, looking down on an open green valley. Saw horses being ridden madly back and forth in some kind of clebration, while another group of people were playing some kind of tossing game - like the Eskimo "blanket toss."

Am I seeing parts of my future, or parts of someone else's life, or something else altogether? The answer is moot.

Rabat Update

Hamou has called in some additional connections from The Family, and now my new abode is going to be a private apartment in Rabat itself, not Sale. It's also supposedly in the chi-chi section of Rabat called Agdal, and it's fully furnished. Hamou : "It has a TV with lots of channels!" I don't know why I'm getting this apartment, or why I don't have to pay rent, but you don't ask a lot of questions in the Mafia, you know?*

Therefore, invites are officially issued to visit me in Rabat. Ms. Jeni, you're expected. Others are not expected, due to impending exciting events, and you know who you are. Other friends will not come, because their wives would string them up by the cojones before they let that happen, those folks will get nice postcards. Some will talk about coming, but will be daunted by going overseas, postcards for them too.

*I'm kidding about the Mafia, Hamou and his family don't belong to them, they just have a big web of favors/connections that they utilize. Or at least that's what they tell me, ha ha. The real Moroccan mafia is heavily involved in drugs and human trafficking.

Dates!

Ok, I still haven't moved this blog to the new location yet. I moved all my old entries over there, it's a start. I'm still playing with my WordPress template, I want it to look good like all the other cool kids out there - yes, Heather/Jeni, I'm talking to you! :)

Now, on to some "hard dates." I had to laugh when I read that, my mind must be really in the gutter. Anyway, I'll be flying out from Columbus on November 3, arriving in Casa the next day. Someone, either Hamou or someone from The Family (more on that later) will be picking me up at the airport and schlepping me and my heavy baggage straight to Rabat. I start orientation on November 7th, and the internship will last for six months. I should be posted in Rabat the entire time, but I may be assigned to other projects, that's kind of up in the air. After that, I'll be back in the Gorge. I'm looking into grad school after this internship, but it may be September of 2007 - it depends on financial aid stuff, where I want to go, that sort of thing.

So, since I'll be in Rabat, the organization normally puts you with a host family. Hamou has severe doubts about the motivation behind the host family's generosity (typical suspicious Moroccan!), so he's basically called in all family/friend contacts in the area and is trying to find me someplace to stay. The Family is working the situation, LOL. As of right now, one offer is on the table - a shared apartment in Sale with another girl from the family, she's working up there too - Moroccan, of course. Like Sally says, "We'll see."

Gay

Dave Navarro is hot. He's what Prince would be if he had a set of cojones.

I really am moving to a new blog location soon, it's just going slowly. Just like my packing to move overseas, etc... I feel kind of discouraged, sad, and tired. I'm second-guessing myself, because I like my neighborhood, my job is pretty good, and I don't like moving away from my family. I feel like I have something in me that just refuses to let me settle for anything that starts to feel routine and normal. And that something, by virtue of how many times it repeats itself, is starting to become its own routine.

Now I'm going to have a bath, read a really trashy romance novel, eat some chocolate, and stop overanalyzing.