AnJuli's blog

Recycling and Paper Waste

When my sister temporarily moved in with me last month she bought a TV. Sadly her TV stopped working pretty much the moment it crossed the threshold to my apartment so we acquired an old set from Kenneth. One of the many differences between my sister and I, or really, my sister, I, and the rest of the country, is how we deal with waste.

My sister is a pack-rat and future hoarder.

I'm a recycle-nut.

Most of the rest of the US is a fan of the trash heap.

She keeps everything regardless of its' working condition, its' usability or the likelihood that she'll remember she owns it in ten minutes.

I routinely go through my belongings and purge everything that I don't use / can't fathom when I'll ever use it / think someone else would make better use of it. I don't throw out "trash" because I like to think that trash is just a vast quantity of things waiting to be reused.

When I purchase things, the packages, assuming they're not made of styrofoam, are put into bins so I can take them to be recycled when I amass enough and am already traveling in the general direction of the Houston Recycling Mecca on Centre Street... which is what I call the place I take my non-trash.

I throw my old food directly into the dumpster hoping that its lack of separation from the dirt it will be buried in will encourage its' decomposition.

I take old clothes, shoes, books and other household articles to an appropriate facility for reuse.

I recycle my electronics; which is what this entry is about.

I didn't know where to take two TVs; there's no use for a broken one and Kenneth didn't want his old TV back, so I googled it and found out that I can take them to my local Best Buy. The program at Best Buy is basically... you give them an old TV and pay 10$ for "recycling fees". In return they give you a 10$ gift card to their store. You're not really losing money so much as taking a not quite solemn vow to spend 10$ in their store.

I took them two and instead of giving me one gift card for 20$, they give me two gift cards for 10$. So in a way, they were like, "Thanks for recycling. Here's some paper and plastic for your trouble."

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Did I mention I don't shop at Best Buy? 

The Life and Times of a Bad Blogger

I remember back when I was on LiveJournal or had just started Vox every event in my life was bloggable. It didn't matter if it was boring and mundane or tragic and earth-shattering; my first question was "But can I blog about this?" and if the answer was yes, which is always was, every aspect of the event took on a new, almost otherworldy, feel. It was almost as though, no matter how depressing or tragic the day was, if I could blog about it, and make it into a funny, satirical story, it happened to someone else.

Now I'm so busy with work, school, Kenneth, the gym, trying to lose weight, reading 100 books this year that... I just don't have the time. And unlike the gym I don't make the time to blog. I used to set aside entire days and take pictures of things to send to my blog. Now I don't even think about the camera on my phone. The ironic thing about that is that I actually paid extra for my phone because of the camera. There was a device that costs 50 some odd dollars less with all the features I wanted in a phone but the camera was a downgrade from what I'm used to so I didn't get it. Instead I paid the extra and now I almost never use it.

I used to blog to relieve stress and share my mortification at my inability to be a functioning member of society now I... go to the gym and, as it turns out, I'm not as bad at being an adult as I originally believed.

Today I'm taking a vow, a VoxVow, that I will update at least twice a week until December. I'm going to a picture post at least once a month. I really did enjoy doing the "My Day in Pictures" entry.

That all said...

I've spent most of my life thinking I was rather oddly sized for a girl. My shoulders are broad. My stomach is rather rotund though not as fat as it used to be. My limbs are lengthy and obviously longing for lean muscle. I'm on the tall side of average or the short side of tall. My neck is short and fat. My palms are chubby and my fingers are stubby. My feet look like elongated hooves. My ankles are non-existent and my knees resemble overinflated basketballs.

I was always under the impression an impressions I gave myself that I was something of a... short giant with disproportionate body parts. I felt that I looked enough like a girl that one could accurately guess my gender at a second glance but androgynous to the point where I shouldn't expect much from that first glance... especially if it occurred at night.

The other day... someone called me dainty.

Dainty.

Me.

The two words have been, in the dictionary of my life, antonyms.

I brought this issue up with Kenneth and he was like, "Well, you are dainty." He said it flippantly; as though "dainty" was the most obvious description of me that anyone could come up with. I always described myself as "unintentionally masculine" or "screwed over by both God and evolution". But "dainty"? Never.

I started wearing skirts and dresses because I wanted to people to think I was a girl! Well, that and I kept having growth spurts and my pants would start rising to my shins. But at least half, or a fourth, of my entire rationale for wearing a skirt was that people would look at me from afar and assume I was female. A dress kind of helped that first impression of "Well, this one might be female." along.

But dainty? Surely the person that called me that was drunk on something. I was going to add pictures but Vox won't load the form to add pictures so, alas... I'll do it later.

The Joy of Reading

I've read, since the inception of the goal, 50 books. I'm 8 books behind.

1. Ghostlight - Marion Zimmer Bradley
2. Bones of the Dragon - Margert Weis and Tracy Hickman
3. Dreamchild - Hilary Hemingway and Jeffrey P. Lindsay
4. The Diary of Adam and Eve - Mark Twain
5. Dragons of Dwarven Depths - Weis and Hickman
6. Enemies and Allies - Kevin J. Anderson
7. Death Troopers - Joe Schreiber
8. Dragons of Highlord Skies - Weis and Hickman
9. Dragons of the Hourglass Mage - Weis and Hickman
10. The Glass Harmonica - Louise Marley
11. The Island of Doctor Moreau - H.G. Wells
12. Starfish - Peter Watts
13. Reconstructing the Dreamland - Alfred L. Brophy
14. Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
15. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Piccult
16. A War of Gifts - Orson Scott Card
17. Lucky in Love  - Catherine Johnson
18. Magic Street - Orson Scott Card
19. Stone Father - Orson Scott Card
20. I'm Still Not an Ambulance Driver VII - Steve Barry
21. Infinite Possibilities - Robert Heinlein
22. Lost Boys - Orson Scott Card
23. Things I've Been Silent About - Azar Nafisi
24. The Long Life Equation - Trisha McNair
25. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
26. The Silent Majority - Matthew Lassiter
27. Promise Not to Tell - Jennifer McMahon
28. Look Again - Lisa Scottoline
29. The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian Pratt
30. Buyology - Martin Lindstrom
31. Cain's Apples
32. Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Charles Sheffield
33. An Edible History of Humanity - Tom Standage
34. House - Frank Peretti
35. All Fall Down - Zachary Alan Fox
36. Lost - Gregory Maguire
37. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
38. We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shiver
39. Wickett's Remedy -  Myla Goldberg
40. The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
41. What the Dickens - Gregory Maguire
42. Clay's Ark - Octavia Butler
43. Kindred - Octavia Butler
44. Virtual World - Chris Westwood
45. Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler
46. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
47. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick
48. Parable of the Talents - Octavia Butler
49. In Defense of Food -  Micheal Pollan 
50. V for Vendetta - Alan Moore
    

Religion hurts

Kenneth and I recently had a… verbal altercation. The entire thing was really his overreaction to something I said that he felt was an overreaction. We were talking about something so nebulous that I don’t even remember what it was when the topic of religion came up. I’m an atheist, straight up and hardcore, minus the part about being hardcore and he’s a lapsed Catholic.

R.E.M. Losing My Religion

I’ve had “issues” and that’s putting it lightly, with those of the Christian faith rediscovering their lost roots and deeming me no longer worthy of their friendship before so I made the comment, more of a factual statement, that if he suddenly became really religious, I don’t think I’d be able to take it.

He was all like, “That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it? You couldn’t take it?” I tried to explain to him the number of friends I’ve lost to religion but he insisted that I was overreacting. Maybe I was, I’m not sure, but being an atheist in a highly religious state has given me certain, sometimes painful, insights into the darker side of religion and I really don’t think I would be able to take it.

I’m assuming, of course, that he comes home one day and is all like, “Let me share my God with you!” as Christians tend to do. From the start of that conversation it’s only a matter of hours before the fire and brimstone speeches start and people start condemning others to Hell and calling them Godless Heathens, amongst other names…

I know; I’ve been in that conversation. More than once. And I can honestly say, when it’s someone that once held you in high regard, one time is one time too many. Nothing hurts more than having someone suddenly look down on you because of new discoveries they’ve made. Woohoo, I’ve found Jesus, let me convert or discard the heathens in my life.

I know it’s asking for a lot to live in Texas and want to come home to a place where Jesus isn’t about to mindfuck me into submission but… home is sanctuary. I can’t relax and experience downtime when someone is bible-thumping over my dinner.

I know. I’ve been in that conversation too.

I still don’t want to have children if I can’t raise them as atheists. Nothing says tearing the family apart like, “Honey, I know Daddy makes you want to think a magical man in the sky watches over you, loves you, and still allows bad things to happen but, well, Daddy’s been lied to.”

I can imagine that conversation. I don’t want to have it.