It’s been a week since I posted. I have thought of two or three things to post about every single day since then.

But I have had no time.

It’s been amazingly hectic. In the midst of the battle is not the time to compose the epic poem.

That comes later.

I have some AMAZING stories to tell. And I will tell them.

But it will have to be later. Perhaps tonight I will have time to blog.
My apartment is filled to the brim with Boxes, and Skellig the Brave paces and lounges among them.

I THINK I can find my computer in the middle of all of it.
When I do, I will have to find the time to write all my amazing stories.

Thanks for your patience and continued readership. I _love_ the fact that people are reading my stories and thoughts.

Don’t stop!

For my dear friends and family that have been supportive and interested, I figure I should post a little bit about my new job.

This was my first day. Being the first day, I did very little. I watched 4 videos…at least, I was supposed to watch four videos, but I got confused and only ended up watching three. The HR bunny came in and asked if I was done, so we started going through all the things I had to sign. Part way through, she showed me a paper about ergonomics, and said, “This covers the same stuff you saw in the video.”

Video? Whoops…”Oh yeah…Right!” I said. Well, I would have to use my own judgment when it came to ergonomics.

Then I got to meet my new cube, which was all fancy and built in. I have panes of frosted glass at the top of my short cube walls, and my section is full of people that are in my group.

Every single person I met seemed extremely nice. They were friendly and welcoming and seemed like the kind of people I might actually enjoy spending time with.

Of course, I have not met any lawyers yet. From the way they are spoken of, I get the impression that the lawyers are regarded as Olympian gods…. Full of power and wrath, unless they are ignoring you.

We shall see.

In the afternoon, I got to spend time in a class explaining how to use their complicated system of servers and utility software. You must be very careful when dealing with legal documents, you see.

I don’t think I will be dealing with legal documents. I will be dealing with technology.

One major thing that struck me was how laid back the IT people were. They didn’t have the dogged look of the Silicon Valley. Maybe that is an incorrect first impression, since they did talk about having to be there at 6AM, and other major projects that needed to be completed.

It will be interesting to compare the two cultures. Diarmiud (Pronounced Dermott) my co-worker said he had spent a lot of time in San Francisco. Maybe he knows the Silicon Valley pace; he was there working after I had left.

Speaking of leaving, that reminds me of the traffic. Yes, there was a lot of it. No major accidents, but getting to a major freeway from any downtown anywhere is more complicated than getting to a downtown from a freeway.

I took the scenic route through the city. Spirals and backtracks got me to a freeway labeled East.

I seriously doubt that it was east.

Oh the map that I was using, that freeway seemed to be going DOWN. Down is south, right?

Not necessarily.

Suffice it to say, it was a long day, and it ended with a long drive.

But I got more gas before I got home so I won’t have that difficulty in the morning.

Tomorrow is my first Videoconference.

I don’t’ want to be late.

well, this looks like it will be another busy day of packing. I’m making some progress. I woke up early, because I was excited.

Of course, the first thing I do every morning is check my email. Since I was already sitting at my desk, I started my packing by trying to clean off my desk. The detritus of my last year of college had piled up alarmingly.

But as I was searching through which things to keep and which to throw away, I found some scraps of musings. I surprise myself sometimes by writing down really great interesting stuff, stuff that is mysterious and possibly profound. I find that when I read it later, the meaning is somewhat opaque, as if it were written by another person entirely. I don’t know what the author was thinking when she wrote it. And the author was me!

Here is a little scrap. Maybe I’ll post some more of this type of thing, if I run across them again.

Notes from a scrap of paper, probably from 2001, fall

I have fought so hard to learn what I know. I fought hard, but at the point when I actually learned what I know I had, for that moment, stopped fighting.
I don’t know all of what I know yet. But when people ask me questions I know the answers to, I am often embarrassed. The answers are rushing out my mouth; I want to share the joy of finding the answer with someone else. But I wonder if the person asking really wants to know the answer. If he wanted to know it is obviously there [waiting to be found out]. But if he only wants affirmation that the answer is unknowable, my giving an answer will anger him.

Sometimes, I only shrug.

TIme is going by a little fast, now.

It looks like I will be moving to LA. A law firm is about to make me a job offer…I sort of gave them the impression that I already live there.

That made it easier to get the job.

I am pretty excited, and I have a lot to do.

This is the reason why I have not written on my blog for a while. When my mind is whirling, it’s a little bit hard to take the time to be contemplative and write all these great thoughts down.

I guess I don’t have time to write anything long and profound tonight, either.

I am sorting through all my books. LORD, I have a lot of books.

I cannot take them all. I suspect whatever apartment I find next will be smaller, anyway. So..I have a new theory:

If I can easily find a book in any library, I should not have my own copy.

There can be exceptions, of course. Especially sentimental books, for example. Or exceptionally beautiful books.

Since every member of my family is moving this month (except my youngest brother), I have had some time to think about the fact that there must be some way to reduce possessions. Really. All my stuff takes up so much space.

Shouldn’t I be able to outsource some of my storage to the local library?

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have a great love of politics or the news. That amounts to the same thing.

I remember as a child, I was deeply irritated at the news. I didn’t understand why there was never anything GOOD on TV at six o’clock. The news was really boring, and had nothing to do with me.

In the seventh grade, my teacher had been a photojournalist. He was very excited about the news, and he had us get very involved in current events. We followed the story of what was happening with Khadafi. He made it sound very exciting, and we were supposed to clip articles out of the paper that told us what was going on.

That made the news interesting. But they stopped talking about Khadafi, so I lost interest. No one explained to me about anyone else.

But then a few years later, a new excitement hit. My born-again Christian family was getting swept up in the new Christian craze:

Pat Robertson for President.

Suddenly, ELECTIONS were important. Not only was it important to become registered to vote, but all kinds of strategy was discussed. Electoral votes and all kinds of other things.

Wow. I remember we went to a rally, to get support for Robertson for president. It was hard for me to understand what the big deal was. And even more, why we had to rally about it.

“It’s a political rally! For Pat Robertson for President!”

Well, it honestly took a little time for me to remember who Par Robertson was at first.

“You know! He’s the preacher on TV”

Oh. But I remember thinking there was something funny about that. Sure, maybe he was a really good preacher, but that did not really tell us if he would be a good president.

I asked, “Has he ever held public office before?”

“No.”

“Well, Maybe he shouldn’t just jump into being president. I think it must be a hard job. I mean, the president is really important. He has to make difficult decisions.”

Well, actually, that had been considered. There was something of a debate about whether Robertson had a chance, and whether we would be “throwing the vote away” by choosing a candidate that was not a republican or a democrat.

“Perhaps voting for George Bush would be better than letting a democrat win.”

I thought that was a good idea. George Bush had been vice president, and that seemed to be good training for the job of president. I felt much more comfortable with that idea.

So why was everyone trying to elect Robertson?
To abolish abortions.

Now, whatever I may feel about that situation now, and however I felt about it then, I certainly realized that there was more than just one issue involved in being president.

As important as that one issue was to all the people at the rally by the lake, I felt like it was foolish not to consider the other responsibilities the president shouldered.

That was my earliest political conviction.

One-issue politics is stupid.

You are going to miss something important, and not further your cause by ignoring complexity. Nothing is quite that simple, and you will seem a fool if you don’t see the other side and other issues. The person in power to effect the changes you wish to occur knows that it’s more complicated than a one-issue activist gives credit for.

Fools are easily dismissed. You hurt your own cause by not fully understanding the issue.

This leads me up to the issue at hand. I just got a newsletter from a Woman’s studies program. They are quite concerned with the “war on terrorism.” One article in particular, concerned me.

It was called “Race, Gender, and the War” by Andrea Smith. She was reporting on a forum of the same name. She reports:
This forum provided an opportunity to more fully explore the gender dimensions of the war. Some critical questions raised included: Why would George Bush, who has so solidly supported the Christian Right’s anti-feminist agenda, actually care about the status of women in Afghanistan? How can state violence provide true peace and security for anyone, including women?

This paragraph bothers me. It seems to indicate a tried-and convicted mentality, prejudging the issue before they have talked about it.

Granted, I was not there; I have not heard the discussion. But such questions are set up to receive negative answers. They seem rhetorical, not inviting true questions. Even if the forums included open and free discussion, this author did not give that impression.

This group has already decided that “if they are not in total agreement with us, they are against us.” Bush’s alignment with the Christian Right on matters of abortion may be well understood. But, God help us! There are many more issues that face women’s lives today than just that one.

Diplomacy requires talking out, understanding each other’s position, and working on broadening the places of agreement. It’s not a matter of one person shouting down the other.

In terms of attitude, I see very little different in the political tactics of the far right and this women’s rights group. Neither one is behaving in a politically savvy way.

Especially in light of the second question “How can state violence provide true peace…?”

I assume the alternative to state violence would be diplomatic negotiation. But the lack of diplomatic skills is writ large in the actions and speeches of this group.

I am very interested in the welfare of women all over the world. I am disappointed that this group does not demonstrate proficiency in the methods they approve of.

Goodness. TIme flies. It’s been almost a week. A lot has happened.

Last friday I went to a bellydancing party. It was marvelous. And for the enlightenment of the male readers, whose little minds are spinning, this was an entirely female experience.

The women were wearing the most elegant and revealing of costumes, and since it was an all-female party, the sexual overtones were lacking. We could simply enjoy the beauty of the female form, and be entranced by the graceful movements of the dance.

I was very much entranced. I tried to learn a few basic bellydance movements, but I confess, I was not a quick student. Even though I have learned the basics of a number of different dance steps, I was not quite up to all the subtle movements the bellydancers used.

It made me want to learn.

Even more, it made me want to get one of the fabulous outfits!