this entry is brought to you by the letter D

I asked both Falling Dog and Jasspirit for a letter to use in the Letter Game, and they both gave me D. SO, the Divine D it is! I believe the point of this game is to write about ten words starting with D that have significance to you right now. And if you want a letter, let me know. Free of charge.

So, in no particular order other than however they bubble up in my brain:

1. Decrepit. Oooooh, nice first one! I love decrepit old run-down ruins. That’s my favorite thing to take pictures of.

2. Document. I have what amounts to an obsession for documentation. I want pictures of, oh, EVERY MOMENT OF MY LIFE. I really do have to have a camera everywhere I go, or I practically have a panic attack. I’ve also kept a journal since I was 12. Because, of course, I am just so fascinating and every breath I take must be preserved! No, no, it’s not just me that I want to document. I want to document the entire world. I think I should have gone into museum work.  Or been a historian.

3. Dementors. Because I’m currently reading Harry Potter. The, ummmm, Order of the Phoenix. Not the one that just came out. No, the one that came out YEARS ago. I finally figured out where I got to. Harry gets attacked by Dementors right off, in case it’s been so long since everyone else in the world read it that they’ve forgotten what happened.

4. Digital. I do adore my digital camera. How did we function pre-digital? And how I resisted eaving the world of film.

5. Drought. I wish it would come back. Seriously, it rains Every.Single.DAY. It rains, it pours, it flings buckets out of the sky. If it’s not actively raining, it’s either just quit raining or is about to start raining again. I am SICK of rain. We hardly get any summer as it is, what with it snowing till MAY and getting cold again in, oh, August. I feel like we have had no summer at all this year. Which is pretty much my usual summer whine, since we NEVER get a summer here, or at least it always feels that way. I certainly wish I could send some of this rain off where it’s needed. Which is, apparently, everywhere in North Carolina that we aren’t.

6. Driving. I love to just drive around. I especially like getting lost. Lost around here, not really lost, but just not knowing where I am. Taking back roads that I have no idea where they will end up. This is a great place for doing that, since there are still fairly remote spots out in the country. Of course by now I know our surrounding area so well that it’s a little hard to get all that lost. I was just thinking that I need to have a Driving Around Day. I haven’t done that in quite some time. Mostly because it’s hard to find the time. Gas should probably be an issue too, but isn’t. Thanks to my Non-Gas-Guzzler Vehicle.

7. Dreams. I’ve always been fascinated by dreams. I take spells of keeping a dream journal, but never manage to keep it up for long. Lately I don’t seem to remember my dreams very often. Although I did dream the other night that Tito, the foreman of our House Fixer Crew, just showed up at the door carrying the huge metal thing they have to replace. They are supposed to be back Monday to do that, but I imagine it’s way too heavy for him to just carry to the door. Definitely one of my less meaningful and interesting dreams, I’m afraid.

 8. Di Vinci. I won a ten-piece Di Vinci watercolor set a few weeks ago, of all things. There is an annual trade expo thing on campus that the local art supply shop sponsors, and I decided to check it out. Sadly the show itself was pretty underwhelming – just booths of people selling canvases and paintbrushes mostly, which was probably nice for professionals but it all seemed a little pricey to me – but I put my name in the pot for one of the doorprizes. As I was filling out the slip of paper, I thought, "Why, I’m going to win something!" Which was a little odd, since I generally don’t have strong psychic premonitions about winning door prizes. And I don’t ever win anything. Seriously. So I was both shocked and not shocked at all when I had a phone message a few days later telling me I’d won. I haven’t even tried it out yet – I need some paper and brushes. But it was quite thrilling, and I love watercolors.

9. DVDs. Have to be one of the greatest inventions ever. As is Netflix. Especially for watching TV series that I either didn’t see the first time around or loved and wanted to see again. We’ve recently watched Twin Peaks, On The Air (David Lynch’s OTHER bizarre and hysterical TV show that sadly was only seven episodes, of which only three were even shown in the US) — and oooops, it isn’t even on DVD. We rented the video and I DVD’d it so we’d have a copy in case it never gets released and the video goes away as they are all rapidly doing. We’ve also watched the two discs that are out of the American Whose Line Is It Anyway, then last weekend I discovered that the first two seasons of the British one are out now – I had no idea, but was delighted because they’re still my favorites by far. So we got those. And I have the first disc of House, which I haven’t started watching yet. AND we’ve watched several episodes of Captain Scarlet, which are hilarious. Manly – although awfully pretty – spaceage Mysteron-fighting dolls. Which, unlike the amusing but creepy marionette Thunderbirds, only seem to move their mouths and wave their arms around a bit.

What else have we seen?? OH – my last D!

10. Deadwood. I’ve just finished watching the third season. I really liked it, although it took me the entire first season to decide whether I liked it or not. It’s about a gold mining camp as it turns into a gold mining town in South Dakota – or the territory that will become South Dakota – in the 1870s. It’s grim, dark, gorey, and I’d imagine pretty realistic. The writing is fantastic as is the acting. It’s based on an actual town, and many of the characters are based on actual people, which I didn’t realize before reading the Wikipedia article. Well, I knew Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were real people, and I figured George Hearst was an ancestor of William Randolph (it’s his father, actually) but didn’t know so many other main characters were based on real people. Anyhow, it’s excellent. Grim, but excellent.

 Wow, that was kind of difficult. I could think of ten gazillion C words, but kept having trouble with D ones. On that note, a few House Madness pictures:

This is the end product of the horizontal anchors in the basement wall. Well, not exactly the end, as the metal beam thing is what isn’t the right thickness and has to be replaced. That’s what I dreamed Tito showed up at the door carrying in his arms. When they are finally finished, the panel will go back over it so it won’t be visible. There are two more in the basement which are visible, but…who cares!

From a distance with the rug rolled up (we’re not entirely sure what we’ll do with it) and all our junk piled up all over the place.

The actual House Jacking. They had three or four people at a time in the holes, jacking it up like you would a car. Very very strange.