[RAW]
Innsmouth is a town of wide extent and dense construction…(Ok, yes I know
it’s Gloucester, but this is my blog, and from here on out it’s getting called
Innsmouth). Lots of older homes and buildings, some new stuff that fits in,
and some stuff that just plain looks weird. The main streets are like
most any street USA, but if go down the side streets it gets kind of…
cramped. Especially since parking is at a premium, so everyone parks at
the curb if possible. Got turned around a bunch, (a common theme) but
finally made it to The Pilot House, which is a strange but cool mix of
American bar food, and Chinese and Japanese Food. I went for the sushi,
my usuals, plus a appetizer that was a mix of spicy tuna, avocado, and rice
with eel sauce, deep fried, with more eel sauce on top. (I’m a huge fan
of the sauce they put on freshwater eel sushi, so this was just heaven)
The waitress was
very friendly and attentive (and pretty darn cute too, nice big eyes), and the food was great. Lots of locals came in to grab take out orders, also a good
sign. I left with leftovers and a very contented stomach.
[/RAW[
Author Archives: vulpine
Goin’ Down to Innsmouth: Chapter One – The Arrival
Ok, if I don't start writing the tale of Innsmouth, I'll just keep putting
it off. So, here, we, go!
The airport and the flight out were not much to speak of. Well other than I thought I was getting a plane full of college kids who looked like they were going on spring break. Got major 'Final Destination' vibes, but luckily they were going to Cancun. I spent the flight reading, William Meikle's 'Operation: Siberia' and bits and pieces of other stuff. Got to Logan that afternoon, took a very crowded shuttle to the car rental. Got upgraded to a sedan (they were out of compacts)...and I found out that these new fangled autos are smarter than me. I literally spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to start a push button starting system. Including Googling the url they gave me for car instructions...it's a year or two out of date. The nice lady though took pity on me and told me to hold the brake down. The more I use consumer electronics, the more I understand how Mom felt. That and if it doesn't have a CLI, it sucks. *wink*
So I fired up my phone's GPS, and headed out into Boston traffic. Within 3 minutes I was cursing to make my New Yorker brethren proud. Soon after that I was gesturing like a native. Miss a LOT of turns because Boston is laid out like any city that's grown organically for 4 centuries. (I just will not drive in London. Ever. I've heard stories) I finally got on the road I wanted, the 1A which parallels the Atlantic. Windows down, sea breeze smell, the call of seagulls over an audiobook of 'The Call of Cthulhu'. I was happy. And cursing much less. The drive took about 2 hours, with a short stop in Salem to check out a bookstore. (shocking, I know). Got to my hotel north of Gloucester (by about 5 miles), signed in, got an actual key, not a magnetic keycard like everywhere I've been in recent memory, and went up to my room.
The room itself had nothing really eye catching...well other than the view out over the Atlantic. WOW! Surf, a nice wind coming in, just what the Doctor ordered. (West, Herbert west). Unpacked, stared a lot at the water, finally decided that if I didn't eat fairly soon, I'd be snacking on a beachgoer. So I pulled up my map, and picked a place and drove back into town.
The airport and the flight out were not much to speak of. Well other than I thought I was getting a plane full of college kids who looked like they were going on spring break. Got major 'Final Destination' vibes, but luckily they were going to Cancun. I spent the flight reading, William Meikle's 'Operation: Siberia' and bits and pieces of other stuff. Got to Logan that afternoon, took a very crowded shuttle to the car rental. Got upgraded to a sedan (they were out of compacts)...and I found out that these new fangled autos are smarter than me. I literally spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to start a push button starting system. Including Googling the url they gave me for car instructions...it's a year or two out of date. The nice lady though took pity on me and told me to hold the brake down. The more I use consumer electronics, the more I understand how Mom felt. That and if it doesn't have a CLI, it sucks. *wink*
So I fired up my phone's GPS, and headed out into Boston traffic. Within 3 minutes I was cursing to make my New Yorker brethren proud. Soon after that I was gesturing like a native. Miss a LOT of turns because Boston is laid out like any city that's grown organically for 4 centuries. (I just will not drive in London. Ever. I've heard stories) I finally got on the road I wanted, the 1A which parallels the Atlantic. Windows down, sea breeze smell, the call of seagulls over an audiobook of 'The Call of Cthulhu'. I was happy. And cursing much less. The drive took about 2 hours, with a short stop in Salem to check out a bookstore. (shocking, I know). Got to my hotel north of Gloucester (by about 5 miles), signed in, got an actual key, not a magnetic keycard like everywhere I've been in recent memory, and went up to my room.
The room itself had nothing really eye catching...well other than the view out over the Atlantic. WOW! Surf, a nice wind coming in, just what the Doctor ordered. (West, Herbert west). Unpacked, stared a lot at the water, finally decided that if I didn't eat fairly soon, I'd be snacking on a beachgoer. So I pulled up my map, and picked a place and drove back into town.
Home from Innsmouth
Had a very good vacation. Will post details once I’ve caught up on sleep/rest. I’m going to miss sleeping to the actual sound of the ocean, and the calls of the gulls during the day. Night all.
Goin’ Down to Innsmouth: The night before
Well, as of about 4:30 CDT, I went into vacation mode. Work notifications
are muted, I had a fairly busy day of getting things done, or assigning tasks
to other people for when I get back. Also one of my pals at Carcosa is
leaving, so me and my fellow admin took him out to lunch. Busy busy cultist
today.
I also woke up about 2 hours early. Since I still had packing to do, this ended up being a good thing. Redid the packing, did some around the house stuff, and went to work an hour early. Came home, watched 'Dagon', did some more packing foo, ate dinner. Thinking I'm going to hit the showers soon, then bed with book and early to sleep. Have to be up earlier than normal tomorrow for the fun and games of airport security. I won't be blogging while I'm gone, like the last couple of trips I'm not bringing a computer (or a tablet, just my phone and kindle). I'll probably ramble on Facebook though, I usually do. Then back from Innsmouth on Sunday.
So wish me safe travels, well stocked bookstores, friendly Deep Ones and fine seas. I'll try to not make the change early and swim down to Y'ha-nthlei...but if they've gotten internet you landlubbers may be out of luck *wink*
I also woke up about 2 hours early. Since I still had packing to do, this ended up being a good thing. Redid the packing, did some around the house stuff, and went to work an hour early. Came home, watched 'Dagon', did some more packing foo, ate dinner. Thinking I'm going to hit the showers soon, then bed with book and early to sleep. Have to be up earlier than normal tomorrow for the fun and games of airport security. I won't be blogging while I'm gone, like the last couple of trips I'm not bringing a computer (or a tablet, just my phone and kindle). I'll probably ramble on Facebook though, I usually do. Then back from Innsmouth on Sunday.
So wish me safe travels, well stocked bookstores, friendly Deep Ones and fine seas. I'll try to not make the change early and swim down to Y'ha-nthlei...but if they've gotten internet you landlubbers may be out of luck *wink*
Goin’ Down to Innsmouth
Been a while since I posted on an actual blog. Part of the problem is I can't
just open a term window and post to wordpress, like I used to do on
Livejournal. Those were the good ol days. There are tools, but they're
way overpowered, have weird access, and well...I'm just paranoid enough
to worry about installing strange php scripts on servers. (Yes, I'm talking
about wp-cli).
So what's been going on ? I've had some crazy mood/anxiety issues. I'm fighting it, but I'm very tired of fighting. So I'm trying a kind of Iä Cthulhu play, and taking a short vacation this coming week. Flying up to Boston, and from there driving north to Gloucester. Or as I call it, Innsmouth. Grandpa Theobald based his depiction of Innsmouth on Gloucester and the nearby town of Newburyport. So, I'm going to my city of dreams, see the 'Gilman House' and the 'Esoteric Order of Dagon Hall'. I'm also going sailing around Cape Ann on a schooner, and I'll be spending more than a little time in my old friend, the Atlantic. Will only be up there 4 days, but I hope it will be enough to reboot my brainmeats. And if nothing else, I get to check a few items off the bucket list.
Besides brainmeats and Innsmouth, I've been kind of doing the usual. My reading has kind of narrowed down to almost all history. Part of that is coping with mood problems, it's very hard to develop an emotional connection to things that happened 100/1000/2500 years ago. Which is kind of weird, as I've been binge watching 'Babylon 5' the last week or so, which is full of characters I care about. Oh well, it's still fun, even if it's made me want to cry more than a few times.
Also, I've been playing a lot of chess against the Shining Trapezohedron. I've always wanted to be a good chess player. I'm not one. But lately I've found that I can plan further ahead than before. Not much, but enough that I don't have to play the computer on the utter beginner mode, instead 1 level up for beginner. So far I'm batting .500. Which I'll take, and the small endorphin pulse I get from a win, or for even fighting a solid loss.
So, long post short, I'm struggling. But I have plans, and tools, and I'll keep on trying. Hopefully it won't a month and a half before I post again. Ciao cultists.
So what's been going on ? I've had some crazy mood/anxiety issues. I'm fighting it, but I'm very tired of fighting. So I'm trying a kind of Iä Cthulhu play, and taking a short vacation this coming week. Flying up to Boston, and from there driving north to Gloucester. Or as I call it, Innsmouth. Grandpa Theobald based his depiction of Innsmouth on Gloucester and the nearby town of Newburyport. So, I'm going to my city of dreams, see the 'Gilman House' and the 'Esoteric Order of Dagon Hall'. I'm also going sailing around Cape Ann on a schooner, and I'll be spending more than a little time in my old friend, the Atlantic. Will only be up there 4 days, but I hope it will be enough to reboot my brainmeats. And if nothing else, I get to check a few items off the bucket list.
Besides brainmeats and Innsmouth, I've been kind of doing the usual. My reading has kind of narrowed down to almost all history. Part of that is coping with mood problems, it's very hard to develop an emotional connection to things that happened 100/1000/2500 years ago. Which is kind of weird, as I've been binge watching 'Babylon 5' the last week or so, which is full of characters I care about. Oh well, it's still fun, even if it's made me want to cry more than a few times.
Also, I've been playing a lot of chess against the Shining Trapezohedron. I've always wanted to be a good chess player. I'm not one. But lately I've found that I can plan further ahead than before. Not much, but enough that I don't have to play the computer on the utter beginner mode, instead 1 level up for beginner. So far I'm batting .500. Which I'll take, and the small endorphin pulse I get from a win, or for even fighting a solid loss.
So, long post short, I'm struggling. But I have plans, and tools, and I'll keep on trying. Hopefully it won't a month and a half before I post again. Ciao cultists.
Sleep, perchance not to dream
Some random thoughts. I've been having issues with sleeping, and with dreams.
I'm having nights full of broken sleep, waking up multiple times a night.
And when I do sleep, I have sad or anxious dreams and getting out of bed
is really difficult. My attempts to fix this have either involved spiking
up dopamine or serotonin before bed, or more often, going to bed earlier and
earlier. I'm starting to think this (early to bed) is the problem. Maybe I'm spending
too much time in REM sleep, where I'm mostly awake by 5-6 am, and I'm just
idling in dreaming mode, and waking up repeatedly, which make the dreams more
memorable. At least that's what my googling about sleep patterns and basic
logic comes up with. So, tonight is an experiment. Going to stay up til
about 10pm tonight (1-2 hours later than my sleep schedule lately), then take
my meds and go to bed to read a little. I'm resetting my alarm for the last
possible minute before I need to be up, so I can be at work in time for the
morning meeting. Then we see. If I don't get enough sleep, well the next
morning is the weekend, and I have no plans for Friday night. So if I'm
tired, I can fight through it. And if it helps, make notes, then try again
next week. Document all the way. And we see. If it helps, yay. If it
doesn't, well, check my theory, check my research, come up with a new idea.
That whole scientific method thing. Should do that more in my personal life.
So...I am my own experiment. Which probably isn't the best science, but it's what I've got to work with at the moment. I do have a perfectly good pshrink I can hand the results to after some time. We'll see. Later I may experiment with invocations of Morpheus, Cthulhu, Hypnos, Nut and/or Nyx. Just no self medicating, that will just in tears. Ok, wish me luck.
So...I am my own experiment. Which probably isn't the best science, but it's what I've got to work with at the moment. I do have a perfectly good pshrink I can hand the results to after some time. We'll see. Later I may experiment with invocations of Morpheus, Cthulhu, Hypnos, Nut and/or Nyx. Just no self medicating, that will just in tears. Ok, wish me luck.
To the Devil a Daughter…and more rambles
Home from work, dinner eaten, books added to catalog and shelved. Am pretty pooped after the work day. Going to go to shower, bed and book soon.
Listening to 'To the Devil a Daughter', I knew that the movie was very different than the book, but the only thing they both have is the evil priest. The good guy, Verney is made up of 3 characters in the book. And if you're looking for habit wearing hotties, well this stories has nun ;) Pretty sure I can guess why Wheatley was so torqued off at the Hammer production. It's a slow start, lots of English people complaining about France, while in France. But we got to the crazy Satanist monologing about his plan to a hero, and boy is it bonkers. Also there's a call back to the novel 'The Devil Rides Out' which makes my little geek heart happy. Still have hours to go to listen, might switch over to reading the book the old fashioned way, see if the plot runs off like a crazed hare...like the movie does.
Night all.
Listening to 'To the Devil a Daughter', I knew that the movie was very different than the book, but the only thing they both have is the evil priest. The good guy, Verney is made up of 3 characters in the book. And if you're looking for habit wearing hotties, well this stories has nun ;) Pretty sure I can guess why Wheatley was so torqued off at the Hammer production. It's a slow start, lots of English people complaining about France, while in France. But we got to the crazy Satanist monologing about his plan to a hero, and boy is it bonkers. Also there's a call back to the novel 'The Devil Rides Out' which makes my little geek heart happy. Still have hours to go to listen, might switch over to reading the book the old fashioned way, see if the plot runs off like a crazed hare...like the movie does.
Night all.
Random post surgery thoughts
Been healing, bit by bit. I'm really tired of soft foods, my stomach is
demanding things I'm pretty sure I shouldn't eat, and I'm still generally
worn down. Worked from home on Thursday, which honestly I didn't get much
work done during. Called in on Friday, watched the first 8 'Friday the
13th' movies as is traditional. Yesterday and today was more or less
the same, with more variety in movies though. Back to the office tomorrow,
with a lot of emails to check I think. Plus lots of things to do in general
that I meant to do this weekend. My TODO list is giving me more than a little
anxiety though, so many things to do, so little time. Oh well, going to
do some little things and make something for dinner, then probably spend
the evening in a book. Catch everyone later.
Survived Dental Surgery
Reply
Had the extractions this morning. Sedation dentistry is my friend, I blinked
and I went from getting wired up, to getting ready to leave. Eating a ton of
soft food, pudding, jello, and yogurt. Wanting sushi, Italian food and gyros. None of which are a good choice right now. In some discomfort/pain,
but not bad. Not feeling too loopy from the sedation either, but avoiding pushing that in any form or fashion. Plan is to work from home tomorrow, and possibly Friday. Now lets hope I heal quickly and without issue.
Vulpine faces a fear
Quick post. Remember back before I went to Providence I went to the dentist and had one tooth extracted, and a failed attempt at the second one. I was giving a referral to an oral surgeon. Well, as I'm wont to do when I'm terrified about something (dentists) I put it off. Well, that tooth is
giving me grief again. So I made an appointment with said oral surgeon, went back to the dentist for a double check, and antibiotics and pain meds. Today I went for the consult. Yep, that tooth needs to go, and oh yeah...I have another abscess that I'm probably not feeling because the other one is hurting more. So I'm going back next Wednesday to have both extracted. I brought up my anxiety, and the doctor agreed that sedation is probably better all around. Luckily I have a friend who can take a morning off to drive me around, and a job that's pretty flexible. So I'll be stoned off my ass (under doctor care) next Wednesday, and probably working from home on Thursday, while eating yogurt, pudding, Jello and other soft things. Which I already had on hand because well, I knew it was coming. I was freaked out before, I'm mostly calm now...I see next Tuesday night as being kind of rough though. But hopefully this will correct things for now, and later on I can get the rest of the work I need done. Stupid stupid dental phobia, seriously if I could change one thing I'd probably go back and tell very young me to either suck up the laughing gas or accept the scary as fuck needle, because the future is full of worse things. So yeah, any spare thoughts to buck up my courage would be appreciated. Catch you all later, hopefully with a more pleasant weekend post.