Post-donation fatigue

Well, I finally got my butt in gear and went back to donate platlets down at the Red Cross. Two hours in the chair, and I feel a bit cold and tired, but I feel good, too. It’s amusing… donating red blood cells only takes about a half-hour, and you can only donate every eight weeks. Platlets take four times as long… but you can donate them every three to four days. Go figure.

In any case, I’m going again next Thursday. I figure it’s the easiest way and most productive way for me to do some community service time. I probably won’t keep going *every* week, but since I’d neglected going for a year, I have to do a bit of self-induced pennance. Plus, they’re BEGGING for platlet donors, saying that they can’t even keep up with the demand for them. I wonder how fast it will take for mine to get used? I figure they have to go through the standard tests first… so in two days, maybe?

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Dear Goddess–there’s a Journal Con? (looking at the ad above the entry form on the screen). What the heck do they do at a journal con? Sit around and just write?

Colley’s meowing and wandering around the apartment again. I’m pretty sure he wants to be taken outside, but I don’t know where I put his harness and leash, so he’ll have to stay in for the night. It’s freezing out there, anyway. He can wait until spring really arrives in the city. Then he’ll be going out so often that he’ll probably get sick of it. That is, he’ll be going out until I get tired of bombing the apartment for fleas. =) Ooop… never mind… he’s off to his perch up on the top of the Yaffa blocks. What a cutie.

I guess I’ll spend the evening getting material together to update my website. I can’t believe I haven’t done a thing with it in two years. It’s pathetic, isn’t it? No wonder so many newbie Pagans feel like there’s no current info… my site’s one of thousands that has been forgotten and just left to blow in the superhighway crosswinds. Granted, Real Life ™ has gotten in the way. But still, I should have been able to keep something up to date. I think the basic info page still has me at 23… three years out of date? Just a bit behind the times, no?

Off to mess around with my settings on this thing again. Maybe I’ll get a nifty setup together. =)

–mel.

Fundies

Why the fuck can't people accept that others have the right to their own thoughts and beliefs?

I try to be as accepting as possible. Not of the specific practices of another faith, but in respecting someone's right to believe the way they do. I realize I'm way too naive in hoping that by doing so, I'll get that respect back. Stupid!Measi.

Now, as a Wiccan who's been on the web for several years, has a webpage and contact info, I'm well aware of fundie syndrome. I've been attacked by it on several occasions. But now I'm seeing it happen to a friend, and it pisses me off to no end.

You see... I have a friend, (X) who is separated from his wife. He was kicked out of the house after having an affair. Yes, he was wrong. And yeah, he deserves to be kicked out. But now... THREE YEARS AFTER, as the divorce is being finalized, he's engaged to a wonderful woman who he's truly happy with, and he's trying to get on with his life, one of his friends (The Fundie) of twentysome-odd years is deciding to pull the "I am a good Christian and you're not" bullshit.

My friend's already been kicked out of his church because, as The Fundie put it, he was no longer welcome after what he did with his marriage. Completely shut out. Gone. Why? Because he'd sinned "past the point of redemption." *snort* Well, whatever.

But NO... it gets better. Now that X has decided to live with his fiancÈe, and get their lives going, it's become a huge problem to The Fundie. "He's living with another woman while he's still married!!!" "He's breaking his promises as to his responsibilities as a father!!!" "He's unremorseful for what he's done because he hasn't asked to be let back into the church!!!" and so-on and so-on. Well, heck... let's discuss this from my point of view as a child of divorce, shall we?

1) X lives in a shithole apartment and needs to move elsewhere just to start feeling human again.
2) He's been living only a few minutes away from his kids and ex-wife
3) About every other weekend, he has the kids. And he does a LOT of things with them... D&D, Girl Scouts, sports, etc. He's very involved with his kids' lives
4) Just because he's moving to another town which is still within decent driving distance (about an hour away) does not mean he's skirting his responsibilities
5) If I had my entire congregation turn their backs on me and lock me out, I wouldn't go the fuck back, either.

So The Fundie has decided that not only will he not help X when he eventually moves into his new place... he will not come over to X's house "until he's in a correct marriage." And why isn't X already in a correct situation? Because as The Fundie damn well knows, X was told by the judge that the divorce settlement wasn't fair for *X* and that it had to be rewritten before it would be approved. X just wants out of the marriage to end the whole thing.

So The Fundie, "not wanting to make a big deal" out of the situation, has apparently told everyone... except X... his view on the situation. Which leaves the rest of us in a very uncomfortable position. Do we tell X? Do we wait and let The Fundie tell X?

Grrrrr....

Fucking Fundies.

I try to be tolerant... but damn if they won't turn me into a complete bigot.

Ongoing Cast of Characters and Common Terminology

The Players

Measi: That would be me. I have a bio file on another page... you can also press the "about" button to the left of this text block. :)

Erich: My boyfriend since late May. It's frightening how well we get along together. He's 27, a born-and live-long Massachusetts guy (no accent, I might add), and is interested in just about all of the geekiness that I am. I love him a lot. I'm just having to get over all of the crap from past relationships to open up to him more, so our relationship is going very slowly. Erich currently lives in one of the South Shore suburbs of Boston... and has a car. (oooh.... ahhhhh).

Little Gray Man (LGM): Male, 25, born in NJ, grew up in Florida, now lives in the suburban wilds of NYC. Also is an adoptee. He is the person who has helped me develop my most dysfunctional friendship... in both good and bad ways. Ex-lover, ex-pseudo-boyfriend, ex-roommate (reverse that in the order that they happened). We're in the middle of repairing six years of shit right now. Not sure where it's leading, but hoping to regain the trust and get rid of some of the fear that I have toward him. He is an extremely passionate, sensitive person who kinda lost his way the past couple years, and now (hopefully) is starting to dig under the crap to get back to the gem that's underneath it all.

Wildcard: Male, born 1976 in Columbia, adopted and raised in New York. Lives in Boston. Wildcard is, well... probably the title he holds is You Lucky Fucking Bastard. Both in and out of our roleplaying sessions. Wildcard has tons of energy, tons of curiosity, and is completely spontaneous. If you've ever read the DragonLance novels, Wildcard is Tasslehoff incarnate.

Avatar: Male, born 1976, raised in upper New York State. Lives in Boston. Avatar's also an ex-roomate who moved into Egremont with LGM and I for the last year that we lived there. Avatar's a guy's guy... and until the last year or so was in more of an annoying college guy mode. He's really come into his own in the last few months, and as he's grown, I've liked him more and respected him more. Avatar is infamous for extremely amusing melodrama (purposely created melodrama for the sake of joking around, I might add).

Ogre: Isn't one. :) But I don't have a better name for him at the moment, so I'll use part of his email-name. Ogre is 30, born and raised in Mass. I met him through one of my college friends, Ivy. He's a hockey fan, a fun guy to be around, and happens to be into the BSDM scene. Someone I was interested in for a while, but the night I was going to ask him, he told me about his entrance into the "scene." I'm a curious outsider and knew I wouldn't be relationship material for him. I never talked to him about it, and we've developed a good strong friendship. Ogre is one of the rare people who actually provides comfort to people who are hurting at the same time as *gently* pointing out issues/signs that might have been missed.

JT: Male, early-forties, born and raised in Mass, currently is engaged to and lives in New Hampshire with Tan below. Has three kids from previous marriage. JT is the DM--that's Dungeon Master, which is different than Game Master only in the sense that we're talking Dungeons and Dragons rather than Heroes--of an extremely large (15 people total) gaming group nicknamed the Innburners that includes LGM, Wildcard, Avatar, Tan, myself, and many others who will be probably be added to the list. JT's a very cool guy who helped me out a lot, and hopefully without too much "ick... twenties angst stupidity!" thoughts during the most recent drama round of LGM and me. He also has written some 2nd Edition D&D material and is currently doing a couple freelance projects for Wizards of the Coast and their upcoming RPG titles.

Tan: Female, 35 (she pointed this out to me after finding my journal. *cough* consider me whacked). Engaged to and lives with JT above. Has one daughter that lives with the two of them. Tan's the level-headed female of our gaming group, lots of fun, and a damn-good player. Over the past few months, JT and Tan have become very close friends of mine. If anything, I think I've started pulling away from the "Boston Crew" and find myself enjoying my time with them far more.

Grace: Female, mid-twenties. Raised in New York state, lives in Boston. Until recently was LGM's girlfriend. Major drama queen, and has a fit if her ass isn't kissed. That's about all I have to say about her. And now that LGM has broken up with her, I doubt I'll have much more to say about her. She's included only because of her inclusion in entries in Spring 2001.

Colley: Also known by his full name, "Colorado Kat." The big fuzzy love of my life. =) Colley's a Norwegian Forest Cat, which normally is compared to a Maine Coon. He weighs around 13 pounds, and when he stretches out next to me, his head is next to my knee, and the tips of his toes neary hit my shoulder. He's a lovebug, and definitely thinks he's a human toddler. He's also a wonderful older brother and protector of Fizzy.

Fizzy: Also known by his full name, "Mephisto." He's the little fizzy love of my life. :) Fizzy is a mixed-breed kitten born in June 2001. He's a lovebug, a strong purrbaby, and hyper as hell. He also likes to climb up my back and perch on my shoulders. One of his nicknames by my gaming group is Fizzylactus, which is a tie in with The Finn's description of Lich Kittens, and a lich we fought in one of our Dungeons & Dragons sessions. He's my little vicious kitty.

Dad and Anne: Live in Montana. They're happy. I love them both. Dad is an OB-GYN. Anne, my step-mom, trains special-ed kids with horseback riding and does some other part-time work. They've been married since 1999.

Mom and Jim: Live in Pennsylvania. They're planning to get married by the end of the year, but haven't actually set a date. Mom is a real-estate agent. Jim works his ass off for the electric company.

Scott: My pain in the ass 23-year old brother. Currently living in Arizona after getting his associates in virtual-reality design. I talk to him around the holidays, and otherwise don't really concern myself too much with him, because we have personalities that just don't mesh. Of course my mom still insists that we'll be the best of friends someday.

Em and John: My step-sibs on Anne's side. John's the same age as Scott. Em's a couple years younger. I've only seen them a few times each over holidays. John is currently in the army, and undoubtedly was called to action with everything going on in the world, but I haven't heard much from my dad about it.

Brett: My soon-to-be step-bro on Jim's side. Lives in Pennsylvania, and was working on his degree last I heard. I haven't seen him much in the last couple years.

---

Terminology

swapping: another term for penpalling. One of my nearly life-long hobbies. I trade letters and these addictive little things called friendship books--fb's for short--with pals all over the world. I don't even check to see how much money I give to the postal service. I'd probably cry. Let's just say that I'm probably putting someone's kid through college right now.

Gaming: anything to do with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), Heroes, or computer games. Unless it's computer related, it involves funky dice with four, six, eight, ten, twelve, or twenty sides. I keep a journal of our adventure recaps here.

The Great Reset: A final battle to our Heroes campaign in late April 2001. It was a disappointment. That's about all there is to say.

the T: Short for the MBTA, which is short for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, which is the subway, bus, and commuter train system for metro Boston. My standard mode of transportation for anything other than walking distance. Cars are an annoyance in Boston, so unless you have a deathwish between the insurance costs and trying to find a parking space, you take the T, which can get you just about anywhere--including Providence, Rhode Island.

Egremont: Name for the apartment that LGM, Avatar, and I... along with a couple others at times... shared for three years in Brighton. Egremont was actually the street name, but like everyone else who has an apartment that winds up being the group's hangout spot, it usually winds up pretending like there was only ONE apartment in existence on the street.


More will be added to this list as needed... so check back if you're confused. =)

In the beginning, there was a form... and it was a good form...

... okay, so my mind is still on Rocky Horror after watching parts of the DVD last night. *Grin*

Perhaps this type of writing will get me off my ass and start writing a bit more in my paper journal.

Maybe not. But heck, it's worth a try anyway. I can keep a diary here and transpose parts of it (and add more to it in the private one).

Granted, this one will be a bit more open. Eventually I'll probably share the link with friends. I keep having people complain about how closed I am, and how I don't share my thoughts as much as I should. I always do better with writing them down, so let them read my ramblings a bit. *shrug*

We're moving John and Carol this weekend to their new apartment in Nashua. I think it'll go well. I just hope that it doesn't rain as much as the news stations keep reporting. (granted, these are the same stations who kept screaming that we were going to be buried under five feet of snow with every storm that came up here all winter... I'm a bit tabloid-weathered out).

Eh... I'll write more later, but have to get back to work since I'm leaving at 4-ish today.

Later,
Measi