Niff.Dot

>To recap:
Beginning a couple of years ago, I developed a completely random and unexplainable fascination with pi. Not so much in application of pi, but the fact that I had a difficult time trying to comprehend that the number goes on…and on…and on…

It’s much the same when I try to think of the universe; I mean, ok, it’s big and all that…but how can something just be, big? Um, and if there is an end, like, what’s containing it? I mean, is there really such a thing as infinity? Can there really be such a thing? I don’t see how! Just WHAT the hell is going on here?
(This is where I start to question my existence by feeling the need to consider believing in an omnipotent superbeing who created the universe just so I don’t have to think so hard and give myself a nosebleed. Fortunately, I usually come to my senses and can go back to focusing on things like the Doomsday Vault and wondering if there really IS some cataclysmic event that would necessitate such a thing, won’t the environment be inhospitable to new growth, like, the soil would be depleted of it’s bacteria and stuff? And, if there is some earth-shattering disaster, just how in the hell is anyone supposed to get up to the friggin Arctic to haul all these hundreds of seeds down for planting in aforementioned useless sod thereby defeating the purpose of the damn thing in the first place????)

So, that being said…pi. So, anyway, the unending-ness of pi caught my interest and as such I decided I would see how many digits I could memorize within an undetrmined period of time. As I tend to obsess a bit, I reached 192. I was trying to shoot for a clean 200 by Pi Day this year, but I was distracted by unemployment and a general sense of self-loathing and forgot.

In my research of the history of Pi and it’s discovery and theories, I was directed to Phi, otherwise known as the Golden Ratio, Divine Proportion, Golden Mean, blah blah blah. As an artist I was pretty familiar with the idea of phi, but I didn’t realize that it, too, had an unending ratio (and as such I don’t want to go into too much detail here so just Google the damn thing if you really want to know.)

So that’s been my new gig. So I’m working on memorizing Phi, and as such in my Gmail chat status I had put:

1.61803398874989484820458683436563811772030917980576

Tina pops up, and the following conversation ensues:

Tina: ?
you are odd, do you know that?

me: moi?

Tina: uh huh

me: You must be thinking of another Niff

Tina: um…dont think so…

me: So…you just thinking that in general or was there a sort of trigger…

Tina: your latest chat tag

me: it’s Phi!

Tina: I know

me: Who doesn’t love Phi?

Tina: it’s still odd

me: Just sharin’ the love
It’s a Phi and oatmeal kinda morning

Tina: so, if phi and pi got into a fight, who would kick ass?

me: ooOOoooo…
That’s a toughie…

Tina: kinda like the superman,batman question

me: hmm….
Like particle Man and Triangle Man

Tina: course i think superman would take it

me: But Triangle wins…
and Pi can’t refer to a triangle…

Tina: or mermaid man and barnacle boy?

me: But Phi can be interpreted into a Golden Triangle…
so therefore…
Phi wins.
I have a dizzying logic, don’t I?

Tina: dizzying, truly
Im telling pi on you

Tina: I mean, does pi know you have a thing for phi?

me: Im “mathematically poly”

Tina: ah

me: if Pi can’t accept who I am…

Tina: well that explains it then

me: then, Pi can go elsewhere

Tina: mainstream mathmeticians really don’t get you.

Barman: Did you say the end of the world is coming? Shouldn’t we all lay down on the floor or put paper bags over our heads?

Ford Prefect: If you wish.

Barman: Will it help?

Ford Prefect: Not at all.

voulez-voulez-vous:

>Graffiti that made me giggle.

voulez-voulez-vous mmmkay…

>Something has been plaguing me for a time now and I must ask: have any of you ever tied the shoestrings together on an old pair of Converse-es and flung them over telephone lines? If yes, please…who are you, and why do you do this? What does it all mean, man!! I just can’t take it anymore…I just can’t!

I need to know. I tend to obsess about such things.

Spent a late, lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon with Kira and Zoe out at Seattle Center. I did this because I rationalized that being exposed to some collective mayhem, complete disregard for established social protocol, clowns, for god’s sake, children run amok and despondent looking teenagers working their weekend jobs monitoring children on the “bouncy things” might provide me with some insight and appreciation for my life and I’d realize that certain things aren’t quite as melancholy-worthy as I make them out to be. I mean, clowns, really. Bloody hell.

And I think that may just be the longest run-on sentence ever.

While Zoe was playing in one of the smaller (“Zoe Size”, she says) air-inflated contraptions designed to look like a gumball machine I wandered over to the other side of the staircase and discovered to my combined utter amusement and curiosity a chess setup which defied all established size parameters that I was familiar with. Not “Zoe-Sized”. (Yes, I know, they’re nothing new…blah blah blah. This was my first encounter with such an anomaly so humor me.)
I felt very “Alice in Wonderland”. Kind of rocked my world view a bit…I felt small and unsure of myself…very cool. I must return sans two-year old in tow. And with someone who enjoys chess. Actually, I don’t care if they enjoy chess. In fact, if they don’t know how to play at all, that would be ideal…for I would appear to be a ruddy genius and I could take complete advantage of their handicap. What a great way to bolster one’s self-esteem. I could totally make up my own rules…like, when your bishop takes out their knight, the proper procedure consists of swinging the bishop a la cricket wicket, sending their knight careening into the poor innocents involved in the nearby oversized checkers board. Though they may retaliate in a discus-throwing onslaught…pawns would be sacrificed…

I just don’t think these things through. I apologize.

The evening wrapped with a jaunt to Madison Market where Zoe had great fun pushing the (“Zoe Sized”) shopping cart around and coming rather close to committing attempted vehicular manslaughter in the produce section. I fear this continued disregard for Washington State’s driving laws may result in her license being suspended. And then no more shopping at Madison Market. Which means no more fruit leather. (“Froot leh-doh”).

So sad. =( The apricot is really yummy.

Voulez-voulez-vous checkmate.

>Often, on my walks to and from work, I usually encounter an “oddity of the day”, which I often find somewhat blog-worthy. However, as I have been lackadaisical about my writing as of late (I’ve had shit going on, aiight? Don’t judge me…) the noteworthiness of aforementioned oddities dissolve into the far reaches of space where employment and financial stresses have no domain.
During my jaunt to work this morning, I was traversing the I-5 bridge. I usually get a small giggle out of this, as my favorite thing to do at this point is lean over the railing and look at all the wee little commuters stuck in traffic and cramming onto exit ramps with a smugness that can only come from someone who tries not to drive if she can help it. I find that walking and the bus keep me in far better spirits than sitting in a confined space for hours a day, dealing with Seattle traffic and beginning to hate the universe for allowing such idiocy to exist. (Not ME…Seattle traffic).
Okay, I have strayed from my intentional path here. Oddity, yes…that’s it. Bridge…got it.
SO.
As I am crossing the aforementioned bridge I look down and notice what appear to be wet footprints left by someone who obviously forgot to put their shoes on before leaving the house. I smiled and followed them down the sidewalk, as they faded into evaporated nothingness. Though the nothingness was short-lived, as the prints re-appeared immediately with renewed intensity and continued down Denny unabated. It occurred to me that this was not a recent act…and what I thought was water was indeed paint. As such, realizing this was more of an artistic statement and less a case of involuntary barefoot-edness, I was tickled for the second time this morning and, intrigued, I knew I was exactly the type of person such an exhibit was intended for. (Someone with a fondness for the odd and an obsessive personality).
Alas, I had to be at work shortly and could not pursue them farther than Westlake. I have now found myself plagued by this all morning and feel I will not rest easy until I know the terminus of said feet. Perhaps there the answer lies.
I am babysitting for my housemates around 7pm to I figure I have a good hour to further my investigation. I need closure, dammit.
I will post updates as they occur.

voulez-voulez-vous that is a good prize

>After a less than thrilling Wednesday and the ever-increasing uncertainty about my job placement along with sever other blah-esque things I convinced DaBoon that she and I needed to skip the gym/yoga, buy Peeps, and watch Coupling all night long.

Found the Peeps. Took the dog for a walk. Came back. Busted out the Peeps.
The manufacturers of Peeps also make a “do it yourself” Peep egg-decorating kit. So you can paint Peep eggs. I saw opportunity there.

So since I am now in the throes of a Peep hangover and I feel like if I don’t go to bed I will vomit on my keyboard, I leave it to the photos to tell the story of peep wednesday.

enjoy the peep show.

>Photos will have to suffice.

I mean, for f*ck’s sake.
Only in Tennessee.

Voulez-voulez-vous get me back to Cap Hill…

>For several weeks now, maybe months, this song pops up in my head with no corresponding stimulus or significance. I have not seen this movie in over a decade. I do not know why this is or where it came from but if you can help, please feel free to do so.

Here you go:

voulez-voulez-vous hello Alice.

>On my walks home after work in the afternoons there is this certain point on the hill at 17th and Pine where I can see all the way to the hills of Issaquah and, now with the snow season upon us, the outline of Mount Si. The last two days, with the weather being so clear, I have come upon a beautiful thing which I am still kicking myself for not bringing my digital camera to photograph.

The sun is at it’s most splendorous point in it’s setting process after 4pm. So as I’m at the top of this hill, I can see all of the various homes/condos/apartments scattered upon the hilltops of the eastside. What makes it so noteworthy is that the sunset causes the light to reflect off of dozens and dozens of the windows of aforementioned residential structures, resulting in this yellowish/orange-sh shimmering glow that makes it look like little fires all over the hillside. It’s absolutely gorgeous and helps me (somewhat) to tolerate the cookie-cutter-condo infestation of my old stomping ground.
It’s supposed to be sunny again tomorrow; maybe I’ll remember my camera next time.

Oh, and if anyone has a lawyer-friend who knows anything about divorce/liability/assets issues, and doesn’t mind giving some free advice, please let me know. I feel like I am going to have “ex” issues forever. sigh.

voulez-voulez-vous trying to deal.

>okay, post-yoga post.

so, I was walking to the store after yoga because the last several times I had gone to get toilet paper I had, of course, forgotten to get toilet paper. Today, my resolve was intact: I would leave the store with toilet paper.

On my way, as I passed the rather large rosemary bushes decorating the north side of Olive, I realized how, as a habit, I always ran a sprig through my fingers as I walked by so the scent of rosemary would follow me on my errand. I realized, this simple thing…my assault of an innocent herb flourishing on the sidewalk…made me happy.

So why the hell, if my threshold for happiness is so easily met, by a shrub, a pug, the smile that crosses my face when I see the pair of tennis shoes, spray painted fluorescent orange, dangling from the telephone wires on Denny and 12th…why aren’t these simple things enough to pull me up and out of dwelling on the very few things in my life that bring me sadness? The few things I have little or no control over…I submerge into these negative feedback loops consisting of frustration, sadness, jealousy, anger, resentment…why is it so easy to sink into the things that bring unhappiness and so challenging to remember the simple things that bring you joy?

The changing of my perspective and focusing on what is as opposed to what I think it is is fundamental to the work I have to do on myself.

As the Dalai Lama says: “Happiness can be achieved by training the mind.”

voulez-voulez-vous Ommmmm…

>of being surrounded by people yet feeling painfully lonely.

eh, I’m an artist. i’m supposed to thrive on angst and solitude…i think.

no worries. i’m not gonna go all “Frida Kahlo” on everyone.

Van Gogh…eh, maybe.

voulez-voulez-vous can i have your ear?