“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.” -Pablo Picasso

My hands are still achy, but not as bad as towards the end of last week. I’ve slept quite a bit of today, but that’s probably from having an ear infection, combined with having to take the higher dose amount of the meds due to my hand hurting a ton more. I’m surprised I feel like I got anything done today.

So, I thought with it being near the beginning of the week, I’d make a list. My goals for the week, include some of the following:

• Finish a wall hanging quilt that I’ve been working on for a while now.
• Study 2 modules on my FE review disk.
• Complete another prompt in my write brain workbook.
• Assemble and stain two unfinished bookshelves I bought earlier this month.
• Convince Joe to help me with the above thing since I have no hand power and can’t grip things.
• Come up with a decoupage project. (A new thing I’ve been getting into…)
• Complete a piece in DAZ that I’ve been dwelling on for a while.

I think that’s a good list for the time being. I’ll be updating it later on this week to see how far I’ve gotten.

Go figure.

The doctor has me on restricted duty and this medicine that while I love it because it takes the pain away, it also robs me of my ability to think. I had to wait for it to wear off before I could type this and before I could continue working on my homework. Trying to do fluids with a groggy head is hard. Very hard. So hard I started crying because I knew I could do this really simple problem, but I couldn’t seem to think of where to start it.

Actually, its not just hard, its frustrating.

Before I went to the doctor, I was in complete agony. I’m in a bit of pain now, but its tolerable. My hands had swollen up to the point that I couldn’t spin my engagement ring around my finger (its always been a little on the large side because I have skimpy fingers). I couldn’t hold a pencil. I couldn’t open a box of mac and cheese. I have work to blame for this too. Its from drilling and the field testing I do. I’m not strong to start with but I’ve been expected to do difficult testing by myself, the type of testing that jars my hands and wrists over and over again. Spinning spoon samples that constantly get stuck and having to try and break them apart with pipe wrenches. It just all added up after a while.

I’ve filed for workman’s comp to pay for most of the bills that’s going to add up because of this. In some respects, I’m worried about that. Probably because I’ve heard to many horror stories.

I have been plagued with the question of why I wouldn’t vote for them. People seem to think that since I’m from Alaska, I should vote for Palin because she’s from Alaska. The truth is, I’ve never liked Palin. I never even liked Stevens when he was governor. It’s probably why I’m not a republican.

I think the thing that bugs me the most is that when we vote for our leader, people seem to choose the worst of two evils. When I go to vote, I choose someone I think is respectable enough to represent not only my self, but be an example of what I feel it is to be an American. When I grew up as a kid overseas, that was something they always drilled into us. When you’re not on base, you are not only representing you. You are representing a larger audience, you represent all Americans.

Pretty big burden to place on a ten year old.

The funny thing is, when you think about it, our current leadership probably represents the majority of our population perfectly.

Now that just makes me feel sad…

Circle the one word that most appeals to you:
Alabama Banister Carousel Diesel Exorcist

Circle another word that appeals to you:
Flatulence Garage Harried Insensitive Jambalaya

Circle yet another word that you find appealing:
Keepsake Lamb Massage Nonsense Oriole

Use these three words in a story. Start with: Sometimes I feel just like a gerbil running around and around on his wheel!

My response… which doesn’t necessarily follow the prompt. I took off on a tangent after reading the next step part.

Possessed by the need to always get to the end, I doubt an exorcist could free me from the daily routine of a gerbil. My gerbil is undeniably over compulsive. If something is not finished, it will continue to run, afraid to leave the spinning wheel — afraid to lose whatever flow is coming through. It will continue without food, without water until borderline stress and exhaustion causes collapse. He is never harried by distraction, never bothered by any other needs besides the current one being obsessed. The nonsense of this obsession eventually causes worry in others, especially when fainting occurs and the health deteriorates. There is no stopping, no pausing for breath because this gerbil cannot escape mental stubbornness, no matter how hard we try.