Stalkers

So, the other day, I thought the police were following me. Not the "we're just waiting for you to stop and we'll nab you" following, but the "this person looks shady, maybe they'll screw up if they see us behind them" following. Seriously, I am twice as likely to do something stupid while driving if I see a cop behind me. I've gotten pulled over once for running a red light (I do that sometimes when I'm distracted) and I honestly can't tell you the color of the light because I was too busy watching my rear view mirror at the cop behind me.

Little paranoid much, yeah? I drive just fine, for the most part, except when a cop is behind me. Then I drive awful.

Anyway, I had just turned onto Main Street and saw the cop coming down the street. I pause for a second and then figure "Eh, they're going so slow, I'll just pull back to the parking area." So I do so. Then driving along the parking space set just south behind the buildings of Main Street, I'm edging along trying to figure out what would constitute the back of the buildings I was interested in when I glance in my rear view mirror and see the cops, following me. Keep in mind this is a completely different direction... they were heading east, now they're heading west behind me. Now, I am painfully aware of my tendency to screw up when followed, and I was fairly sure they didn't have anything on me yet, they had just seen me maybe something piqued their curiosity. There weren't any other cars moving back here.

So I pull into the nearest open parking spot thinking I'd walk. I park, get out of my car (while double checking that I was in fact allowed to park there) and head west again walking. I might not be less suspicious walking, but I1 feel there are fewer rules you can break while walking. And the police car has pulled over just a short ways from where I parked and is just sitting there, breaks on. I try not to look at them as I pass. As I turn up an intersecting street toward Main Street again, they pass me, turning south toward Lincoln Way. Which is still not the direction they were originally going.

Now, I believe two things. One, I believe police, when they don't have anything to do, stroll/sneak/cruise about just waiting for people to screw up. I've ridden with police men (not in the back) and while the ones I rode with seemed decent, there was still that element of just cruising around, waiting. And two, I have dreadlocks and believe there is a high(er) likelihood that I will be profiled.

Could that be their motivation? Maybe it was just because I hesitated before pulling in and they thought that was weird.

So, obviously, not the most interesting story. I knew someone who told me about them hotboxing in a car and getting pulled over but not getting arrested or anything. Much more interesting. But the thing that makes me think about it is simply that I couldn't figure out how to tell something this story remotely, i.e. not in person. At first I thought about calling someone, simply to relate that I felt I might have been profiled. But then I remember that Big Brother is listening to my phone conversations. The story itself has no wrong-doing in it, but how do I know they'll listen to the whole thing? Maybe they'll just hear that I was being following by the police. Same goes for Gmail, although while I figured people at Gmail can read my emails, they're probably cool enough not to turn me in for whatever presumed crime misreading this story might imply.

When something as extra powers, I simply assume they are always working to the fullest. When I get home, I assume the dog can hear me open the door to the garage or open a package downstairs with the door shut. She's got extra powers of hearing. So too, I assume the government is somewhat stalking all of us. Someone said, "The government is going to have files of us all!" and I'm like, "They don't already?"

What is really bad is that I got followed by police for no real reason and then cautious about telling anyone because of the government listening. And this is America, land of the free...

Lost In The Jungle... of withheld Disney DVDs

So, I was playing World of Warcraft one day as a hunter and decided to tame a tiger to be my pet. I proceeded to name the tiger "Shere Khan" after the tiger in The Jungle Book. Good cartoon, I think we own it.

As I continued question with my companion, ShereKhan (they don't allow spaces in pet names), I kept thinking about it. And I remembered they had a live action The Jungle Book. I only had a vague recollection as I believe I saw it on an airplane and was more stunned by the fact that Westly from A Princess Bride being a bad guy than anything else. That's almost all I remember from the plot. I think there was a girl as well. And, you know, I decided I wanted to see that movie again. Generally referred to as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, although a review said it wasn't anything like the book. So I checked my library. They only had the cartoon, as far as I can tell.

This weekend, we called Family Video and asked them if they had it. Nope. Must not be popular, I concluded. David has vague recollections as well, and he recalls liking it. Well, let's try Wal-Mart. They have some older movies. Nope. I asked them just to make sure it wasn't hiding on the bottom of a $5 bin.

When I got home, I tried looking it up on Amazon to see how much it would be to order it. They don't actually have it, though I would have been willing to pay the two dollar rent fee for the instant view, if it was available. But the selling price for the non-Amazon sellers was listed as $79.98 new. And $49.95 used. Oh sure, if I wanted a VHS, which I don't even have the equipment to play or the tolerance for the quality, I could pay 20 bucks. But seriously, 80 dollars for a DVD? SERIOUSLY?

Barnes and Noble has it listed at $69.13. Google shopping generally agrees on 80. I am about ready to buy it for $15.60 from the Goodwill Industries in Florida. Except that the service is temporarily unavailable. I hope they didn't charge me... Why is it so ridiculously high priced?

Probably Disney. Doing one of their Disney tricks of not selling DVDs to movies almost two decades old. And then selling a "20 Year Anniversary" edition for the same price as like the Life of Pi or Avengers or something that actually came out recently. So I got about a year or so until that is an option.

Er... so anyone have a copy they can loan me? Sitting in their basement somewhere? Hopefully in DVD format?

Bah. Interlibrary loan, here I come!

Unconditional Chew Toy, That's What.

Some of the reasons I heard for getting a dog is that they "love you unconditionally." A month in, I have yet to see anything that resembles more affection for me than what she shows her chew toys... and those don't last very long.

Sure, puppies nip. That's what the books say, that's what people say. Unless it relates to me, apparently. Then it's just biting. I go to pet her in some cases her mouth instantly drops open. I thought dogs liked petting? "She just wants to play!" I tried playing with her yesterday. Sat down on the floor and waited for her to come to me. And this time, she went after the crotch of my jeans, my nose, the soft part of my upper arm, went after them mean. I put my hands over my head and she kept trying to bite my face. David came in and found my crying, not because I was hurt, but because I couldn't understand what made the puppy want to hurt me so much. I'm used to her going after fingers or whatnot, but everything else? She hasn't done that to anyone else.

The "dog people" of the world seem to think that cats are above affection, snobbish, and selfish. I'm starting to miss my cat. The only indication that I'm doing something Luna likes is that she isn't trying to bite me. And I'm not even sure about that one... maybe inflicting physical pain is her love language. My cat would chirp when she was happy to see me, come running, and would purr when I pet her. I loved her because she reminded me of me: independent and valuing her space some of the time and coming up for affection and jumping on my keyboard and rubbing against my legs other times.

Luna mostly acts like a cat in the respect that she has her own agenda and wants you to keep it for her. Go inside, go outside, get fed, be played with, be let out of her kennel. I'd think she didn't care about me one way or another except she's obsessed with people. She sees a random stranger and wants to jump all over them. She jumps all over us when we come home (it's cute now... wonder how it will be when she's like 45 pounds). She prefers to be in and sleep in the same room as us. I haven't noticed any particular affection for any of us. She does retreat to people she knows, but is really quick to warm up to new people, provided they don't introduce themselves by chasing her all over the house.

So, a dog with a people obsession and a nipping problem. And she hates Linsey, the person who takes her out multiple times a day, takes her on walks, feeds her, buys her toys, etc. Or maybe she loves me. Loves me like the scattered pieces of every single toy I've bought her.

If this is unconditional love, I think I'd be better off being alone.

Confident

Luna decided to do laps around the house. She's kind of crazy. They're all like, "Take your dog for a walk to tire them out!" She is most hyper right after a walk. Sometimes I'll stick her on the line in the backyard for like fifteen minutes so she can play in the snow without being on a walk. She practically leaps on me when I come out to get her. Basically, everything we do to "tire her out" results in higher energy... for a while, anyway. Maybe it wears off faster or something.

Speaking of walks, I still have not had much success. Today was a lesson in tug-of-war. Either I was pulling her forward because she had decided to stop and smell the roses... or other dog crap... or I was holding her back because she just HAD to get to those two guys, or that woman, or whoever. I never knew walks were such a pain. I thought, "What, you just walk with the dog, right?" Nobody told the dog that.

Cesar Milan always talks about "calm-assertive energy" and how you have to project that to the dog. Something I read somewhere said he advised a woman to picture someone who inspired her and try to walk like she was that person. The woman chose Cleopatra.

I was trying to think of someone who inspired me like that. Ron Paul? Eh, he's not precisely physically inspiring. Anyway, I don't think of him as calm-assertive. When I saw him in debates, it seemed clear he was trying to explain what he considered obviously the best way to people who he probably considered a bit thick. So, more suppressed frustration.

I don't care much for Cleopatra. What a drama queen.

Finally, over the holidays, I discovered someone who had that great walk: Pepper Potts. She's the redhead from Iron Man I and II and makes an appearance in the Avengers as well. Now, I didn't even like Iron Man until they made the recent movies. Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious. Anyway, if you've seen them, you know Pepper Potts was his assistant in the beginning movie and he decides to she's attractive. Pepper isn't the hottest girl. There's a journalist/super model Stark sleeps with in the first movie who is much prettier. But Pepper has attitude, confidence, assurance, etc. Even before Stark goes after her, she is calm and in control and somehow able to put up with him. And as her and Stark's relationship gets stronger, she gets even more confident. She's able to walk around like she's the sexiest girl there and that's when you realize she is actually quite pretty... and has nice legs.

So, Pepper Potts would be the one I'd want to channel. Confidence, it seems, is the thing that makes girls sexy... even more than looks, sometimes. It doesn't matter what you look like as long as you know your worth and carry yourself like it.

Granted, I've had to work on that a lot. I came out of high school with about zero confidence as far as interpersonal relationships go... but plenty on my own, when it came to just myself. I don't know how much I've changed since then... but I think I know myself better and feel better about myself. Still a lot to work on. David seems to give his highest praise in the form of "she knows who she is." I don't think I'm quite to that standard yet.

So, trying to walk with calm-assertive energy and Pepper Potts confidence. Still didn't seem to impress the dog.