Hand-pressing Flash Light

1. This product is a new science and technology product and made with high and new science and technology. It can illuminate only placing it in rhythm.
2. No need any power no environmental pollution. Low noise and health. Comparing with common torch, it can be several times on lift.
3. Constantly using this health torch, it can benefit to your palm, arm and shoulder stretching and blood circulation, so as to let your hands relax and brain clever, hand and brain coordinate and promote your brain memory and health composition.

The flashlight works very well, despite what the English translation might have you believe.

White Noise Machine is wonderful!

I ended up with the SleepMate 980, ordered from Nature's Tapestry, who provided informative reviews on their site and great quick service.

The machine works perfectly and I've been sleeping really well. The only noise it doesn't block is the sound of my neighbor starting her SUV at 4 a.m. But no more dogs, no more noisy husbands coming to bed later than me. The sound is more organic than the digital files I was trying out. I don't wake up and feel cold and electronic.

Sleeeeeeep.....white noise

So one of my problems, I've realized, is that I haven't been getting enough sleep. I mean, I know I don't get enough sleep, but I've always thought of it as an annoyance or a fact of life. (Is it still only an annoyance if I want to punch someone in the face for waking me up?) The realization is how profoundly it affects my mood and health. One would think a month-long bout of pneumonia would have taught me this but no...it took a really good night's sleep to remind me of who I can be when well rested. And then a bad night's sleep to remind me of the Crab Monster I've been lately.

And yes, I am writing this at 5 a.m. and I got up at 4, but I feel pretty good right now.

To help with my sleep, I bought some ambient music and white noise last night. It seemed to work.

First the white noise. I have to do more research on this and am planning on buying a white noise machine. I saw a note on iTunes about the differences in white noise, recommending tracks that provide the full spectrum of frequencies. I compared white noise tracks from Parasme and Ambient Music Therapy and could definitely tell the difference. The AMT is hissy. The Parasme is a fuller "sound" and was easier to listen to and ignore, if that makes sense.

I bought two AMT tracks: rainy ocean waves and rain. They also have some white noise, which I didn't catch at the time. I don't know if the white noise woke me up this morning but I definitely couldn't get back to sleep with it on.

Oooo, field test! A big truck is banging around outside but I can barely hear it. I've got the rainy ocean waves on now (which sounds better than the plain rain).

I also bought an AMT album: Ultimate Sleep System, which is three tracks of dreamy music. I have a lot of ambient music but these tracks seem different and sleepier. I did not find them distracting and slept right through them.

All this is just playing on my stereo through two large speakers on the side of my room opposite the bed. The sound is running parallel to the windows, so does that mean it is perpendicular to the sound coming from outside?

N.B. These tracks are available on iTunes and Amazon. I think it is the differing pricing schemes on these sites that make the prices vary so much. On Amazon, each track (some over an hour long) are 99 cents and the album of three tracks was $2.97. On iTunes, the long tracks are considered an album and everything is $9.99.

The Mystery of the Octopus in Chains

Many neat finds at the Renegade Craft Fair yesterday in SF. Also many repetitious ones. For instance, the octopus pendant with the necklace chain hooked on two of its tentacles. Three separate booths had them. Where did they get the pendants? I haven't found the answer to that yet, but did find that it is very common.

See Google's Image Search. See also on Etsy.com. Now say you really did want one of these things. (I think they are pretty cute.) How would you decide who to buy it from?

Blur : Midlife

Contrasts

Last weekend was museum time in the Big City. Crazy costumes like suits of armor made from doilies, candelabra and ceramic birds, fake fur, sequins, buttons, even beaded baskets and Easter bunnies. They are all designed to make different sounds when danced in, as well as invoke spirits and memories, I think. The rest of the weekend was wandering around enjoying the sights and foods, public transportation, and friends.

This weekend (so far) was the rodeo! The real deal in a small town. They rode (mostly fell off) bucking broncos, they jumped off a horse to collar a steer and wrestle it to the ground, they roped little calves, all the typical rodeo stuff. I was tearing up all over the place. The American flag, the empty horse to memorialize someone who had passed away, the incredibly competent women on horseback, and then the poor little calves. What made me so teary? Past life on a horse on the plains? Sad because I always wanted to ride and never did? Just being goofy?

Ok one more dream cast...

Since I am giving away all my secrets...These guys don't look too alike, but I'd love to see them in a movie together. I take that back. They totally look related!

Stellan Skarsgard

[photo from http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/feb/21/filmweeklymeetsstellanskar]

Brendan Gleeson

[photo from http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4430000/newsid_4433700/4433714.stm]

Another Dream Cast: two similar actresses

We rewatched "The Matrix" the other night. The first scene with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) totally made me think of Elizabeth Mitchell, who is Juliet on "Lost," of course. Wouldn't they be great as sisters? They speak the same, have similar features...yes? No?

Elizabeth Mitchell Carrie-Anne Moss

For Your Reference: Three Very Similar English Actors

I think it was when we watched the first seconds of "Life on Mars" that I thought, "Oh I love that guy...wait, who is that again?" All three of the men below popped into my head. So, I've been daydreaming about writing a screenplay where they play brothers. 

Martin Freeman is Tim from "The Office" and the super sweet body double in "Love Actually."

[photo from http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/541286/]

John Simm is Sam from "Life on Mars," The Master on "Doctor Who," and Cal in "State of Play" (all the good BBC versions of course). He was in  the second season of "Spaced" with Simon Pegg, which I haven't seen yet. They were both also in "24 Hour Party People."

[photo from http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1166793/]

Simon Pegg is from "Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz," and now Scotty on "Star Trek." !!!

[photo from http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/10questions/0,30255,1845694,00.html (Munawar Hosain/Getty]

Vladivostok sure loves music...

So it's hard to get away from live music here in my little town of Vladivostok. A few weekends ago was the Blossom festival and the house down the street was having a party to celebrate. I was really mad at first: Why do they have to impose their music on me? Why can't I have my precious silence? (Never mind the fact that I can't actually stand silence and wanted to just hear my own music or tv or whatever it was.) Then it dawned on me...They are playing really great jazz! They are pros! It's beautiful! A warm breeze bringing happy music to me through the window. What more could I ask for?

The same weekend, we heard the teen bluegrass banjo boys and a gypsyish, circusish brass band just out playing on the main street. Fun.

Not as much fun is the aspiring drummer up the street. He's pretty good for a high school kid. But he's started practicing at ten at night. Does he have a job after school now? It's really loud but I don't have the heart/guts to ask him to stop. Maybe I could just leave some egg cartons on his front porch?

Something I never knew before...

Just finally found out today that Brussels and Bruges are not the same place! I always thought one was the Dutch for the other. And it would be Flemish anyway!

Brussels = big city, capital of EU

Bruges = tiny city, lots of canals

That's why you should look stuff up and not just guess.

Dream: Jon Stewart on a motorcycle

YN thinks Jon Stewart is way sexier than Steven Colbert, so of course I had a dream about Stewart last night. He took me for a ride on his Harley and we were very snug on the seat.

Me and Thom Yorke are hittin' the Radio Shack

In my dream, I came up with this great idea to rebuild a record player. I would glue audio tape to a disc in a spiral shape. Then I would put a tape head into the needle arm. Thom Yorke (who speaks a little Icelandic and once helped the guys in Sigur Ros hold a benefit for a park) thought this was an awesome idea and wanted to help me.

Consigned to Anxiety

I dropped some stuff off at a consignment store for the first time today. How nerve-wracking! It's like high school: Will they like my clothes? Is this too dorky? Am I a loser? She took a few things and I can see how the rest was not their thing or was too boring.

Lessons learned: Just try it--it's their business to look at stuff all day long and say yes or no. And don't buy stuff unless I love it and will wear it always. Like those new Fellowship Fleuvogs. Beeyooteeful.

Confusing Dream about TC Boyle

I was at a friend's house and she had invited TC Boyle over after dinner. She wasn't around when he came and I had to handle introductions myself. What do I call him? T? TC?

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Boyle. I really enjoy your books."

"Oh, I don't do all that famous author stuff in my everyday life."

Oh, okay. "Well, I just wanted to say I am looking forward to your new one."

Still wondering what to call him. I guess Mr. Boyle.

Anyway, in this waking world, I really am looking forward to reading his latest, The Women, about Frank Lloyd Wright. Boyle always gets his authorial claws in me, a rare truly immersive reading experience. The situations he describes are both totally believable and totally new. His historical novels strike the right balance between thorough research and living breathing characters. 

Puzzler: Small Amounts

Put in order from smallest to largest:

a tad

a bit

a skosh

a smidge

Stream of Consciousness Eavesdropping

Lunch at the Thai restaurant, four people at the table next to ours. 

Topic 1: dogsledding

Woman: You say "Hush! Hush!"

Man: It's "Mush! Mush!"

Topic 2: hushpuppies

Man: Have you ever had a hushpuppy? They are so good.

Other men: yes,  yes, very good

Topic 3: Slush Puppies

Woman: I used to work in a 7-11. I knew all the Hush Puppy flavors.

I think the curry went to their heads. Or maybe mine.

All Songs Considered 2/2/09

Boy, what a stinky episode. Are my ears broken and grumpy or was that a practical joke? Someone please tell me why you enjoy The Decemberists. I don't get it and I seriously would like to know what other people hear in them. I skipped through every song, which was a big time-saver but not optimistic-making for this new year of music.

Am I a sucker?

Just got an email from The New Yorker: The big DVD set of all their issues for only $19.99! How could I pass it up? Will I read all of them? I'll have to print them all out and save it for when the power is out.

Flashback: Sons of Norway Building, Minneapolis

In the front room, playing Play-doh, and all of a sudden I'm in front of the Sons of Norway Building in Minneapolis. I don't even remember exactly where it is. By a grocery store? 

A Sweet Dream about Stephen Colbert

I had a dream about Stephen Colbert last night, and I am talking about one of those dreams. He was so sweet with that shy and knowing smile, even when he pushed me up against the wall. Then my dad came in because his flight was delayed. So I had to introduce Stephen to my dad. Dad thought he was on Saturday Night Live.

This dream stayed with me all morning and I was missing him until I watched the latest episodes.

Found: Poems; Describe to claim

Dreamline:

The marriage of sky and snow

In between:

A Christmas tree decorated with chickadees.

*

Snow Angel

The sound of snow on snow...

as soft as owl's breath.

*

Scarf on the wind.

Blue cap.

Red scarf.

This flag of snow.

This banner of joy.