Surreal

As the consequences of the omelet from this morning gurgle in my stomach, I swallow the last gulp of cold tea and stretch out my arms.

I do not want to work today. But in truth - I don't want to work ANY day. But what makes today different or worse? can;t be anythign significant. In fact, I got my paycheck today. Rent is secured. Money for loans = check. And after that I'm going to my other off-the-books job to work some more. Sure, my knees protest, but they protest every day. So what makes me not want to work TODAY?

I think it's all in my head.

I don't know if I told you, but your dear Oru has had trouble staying happy in the paste. There has been severe depression, self-esteem issues, longings unatainable and lonliness. Pretty deep and disconcerting stuff, if you ask me. Butin all seriousness, I have been quite happy. I have not been lonely for one thing, I have been relatively successful, and I have accomplished a few things by now that I am rather proud of. (Published only being number 2 on the grand list of this years achievements, sos you know.)

However, I also know myself well enough to realize that sometimes - I am just NOT myself. And as I said - it is all in my head. Somehow, my inner surreal-me convinces myself that something is incorrect and something is amiss, when EVERYTHING tells me otherwise. I can rationalize it all I want: Tell myself that it's really my subconscious letting me in on something that IS wrong. Or maybe that I WANT there to be something wrong...

But as I said, I know myself far too well.

Which leads me to a random point that wasn't touched on really through this whole rasnt.

Do what you want, hopefully when you want to do it, and KNOW yourself. Know yourself REALLY well, or you will RUIN yourself.

Oru

Tension

I hate to flip flop between moods like this, but sometimes I just can't figure a way around it. I'll be blessed by the kindness of strangers, loving life, just having seen an awesome movie and had great sex to boot (I know, too much information,) and the next morning, I will still have this fiery grip of tension around my neck like a noose. I'm not sure what causes it. It could be the lack of sleep. It could be the drastic temperature changes in my lovely appartment: hot to cold to chiled to humid to hot to humid to cold to hot, etc... Or, it could be the idea of going to work.

Just the idea. Forget about ACTUALLY going. THAT is probably what causes the very corner of my eye to tick a bit whenever the phone rings. THAT is what causes the corner of my lips to turn down in an angry grimace when someone asks me if they can book three rooms under a so-and-sos wedding group. THAT is what causes my heart to skip a beat when the adrenaline from the thought of beating someone's face in with the key card maker because they demand a new room when we're SOLD OUT because their sheets are too small, or the AC isn't working JUST RIGHT or maybe the room smells a little strange. THAT is what makes me want to quit this stinking job and try my luck with unemployment benefits.

So when I get off work today - I'm going to do some shopping at walmart, get Navvy some more crickets, and price out a new fishtank. Then I'm going to see about putting up some shelves in the appartment acrobat style, and do something productive with my day. I'll even pay off some bills while Im at it. Boo-ya.

And I think I'll actually write out a poem.

Oru

Kindness of Strangers

As I sit here at the front desk (No, not actually sitting), nibbling on my Tiramisu, I smile. Yes, I actually, as a matter of fact, smile. And not just that plastic one that comes on and off when I see people I don't really like but feel obligated to be nice to. This is a true "Welcome to the freakin Hilton" smile.

I know. Brand loyalty. so sue me. But you don't even know the tiny thiings that happen here that just add up and add up and add up until you can't even HELP but smile. A job like this can do two things simultaneously.

1.) They can obliterate your hopes for humanity. Petty, bickering 'Platinum' Members who feel entitled to be treated like kings because they are constantly traveling and amassing 'points'. This is not a game. You are not in the lead. So stop acting like you're a lap ahead of us in this giant footrace of LIFE. I will be the first to admit I have seen my fair share of people who have their heads so far up their own TUCUS that I'm surprised they can still breathe. And it's those kinds of people that make me hang my head and ask the great celestial question: "WHY?"

Or

2.) They can fulfill your hopes in the entire world. I can also personally attest to it. Silly, little comments, like "Hey, drive safe" or "Your suggestion was great" or "Here, have a free dessert" can do so much to improve one's outlook on life. Conversations at the front desk at 10:3opm. A smile, a nod, and a "I'll see you tomorrow." No matter how much crap your day has been - now it's ok.

It's all worth it.

Oru

My Reptilian Baby

It's actually amazing how much comfort I can get out of holding a lizard in my hands and watching it's eyes blink open, closed, open, closed then remain closed. To think: This creature will grow at least twice it's current size in a few years. To think - this creature could scuttle right out of my hands and be hidden forever under the piles of boxes that I have yet to put away. (Or empty.) To think - I never once considered myself a Reptile person.

Sure. In my youth... and actually to this very day... my father will call me and my mother "lizards." Of course, I think that spawned from my brother and I watching the aforementioned movie "Willow" 10 times too many in our collective childhood. But I think that is ALSO why I never saw myself owning a reptile. Especially a Lizard. Just IMAGINE the amount of jokes that will NOW blossom from this one pet?

...Mmmmmaybe I don't want to think about the jokes. Topic change!


In any case - This adorable young lady is Niko Loki Nyx. Niko for short. Full name is you're trying to find her and she'd hidden under the bed. She was actually rescued from the very hotel I work at! THAT is a funny story. How about I tell you tomorrow morning in my next update?

:)

~Oru

"Yer Mother Was A Lizard!"

...Exclaimed the Brownie from the movie "Willow." [Starring Val Kilmer as the amazing Mad Mardigan, Warwick Davis as the 'peck', and the devine -or rather not- Jean Marsh as Queen Bavmorda.]

In any case - Meet Navvy. Our new Chinese Water Dragon. He is active, as well as interactive. why, just the other day he refused to leave my hand. I love him already. And my Love loves him, so we're all good! The only thing I don't love so much is digging through that little can of mealworms to find the ones that are still wiggling.

He likes eating the wiggly ones. Crickets for some reason I can manage. They're just crickets after all. And the crunching doesn't bother me that much either. Maybe it's just the worminess of the mealworms that wigs me out. *shiver*

It was a toss up for names as well. 'Navvy' is short for the name 'Navagrian' [pronounced Nahv-agg-Ree-ahn] which is the name of a very charismatic, if over enthusiastic Dragon in a story I tell with my friends' participation. [Yes there are dice involved.] He is, conveniently enough, green, like our friend here, and very personable with his moments of panic and anger. Like our friend here. [Few and very far between.] However, the other name we thought of was Kaku. [pronounced kay-coo] He is also a character from a certain interactive story line. He is scaly and semi-reptilian as well as green, which works for our friend here. But Kaku is closer to the size of our new family member, as well as that curious nature.

As you noticed, we decided to go with Navagrian. Because there's also that bit of pride that just rolls off this little guy's itsy bitsy shoulders. And hey - did I mention he'll get to be a bout 2 feet long?

Oru

Just Another Day...

...at work. Same jacket, same shoes, same pain in my right knee. Same scenery, same soundtrack and same great people. Different cars in the lot, different clouds in the sky and different mood most of the time. (You know, other then those specifically miserable moods.) Same slightly-against-regulation blog post, facebook surf, and e-mail check. Same shoulder twinge, same wrist ache, different day. Same compliments, same complaints, different people handing them out.

...at home. Same clutter we haven't put away, same XBOX360 with controllers and games. Same kitten-blanket strewn on the floor, same empty box serving as a garbage can and same brand-new dish rack that made me really excited to show my love when he came home. Different temperature day to day, different ideas of things to do, shelves to hammer, books to spread. Different opinions of the neighbors, but same apprehension about volume levels of the TV. Same love for the place and love for whom I share it with, and same pride that we did it.

...on my blog. Same mildly-insightful words, arranged in a way to seem nearly poetic, and slightly narrative. Attempted wit and thehope of clever banter produced from such a post. The same half-hip-cocked stance at the front desk as I type, eyebrows knit together in contemplation. The same urge to just get it out of my head and onto the screen as oposed to needing to edit or fix my many typos. Different topic, different paragraph structure, and hopefully some new and different readers as time goes by. But the same readers? MORE then fine with me. In fact - that's perfect.

Thanks for reading, guys :)

Oru

Able and Not

How many times have you said or thought "I wish there was something I could do?"

I had one of those moments today.

I am following another blog here, called "The Continuation - The Conclusion". The writer lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Tell me - what have you heard on the news about it? Recently? Something about Rain? Personally, I was sitting in a deli, waiting for my love to get off work, and while I sat and ate, I watched the news. And not once, while I sat there for about an hour, did a side-story, or any story come up about Nashville Tennessee - and the massive flooding that has as of this moment killed 20 people.

So I am going to put up a link here, from her blog, so you can educate yourselves all the more about the events going on it your own country, as opposed to finding out that Fidel Castro wants a twitter account, ok?

We Are Nashville
Anderson Cooper

One brief thing? At least news websites haven't totally forgotten aboutit. Although... I suppose there's always something more you can do.

Oru

On The Verge

... Of venting, mostly. Teetering on the thin edges of anger and calm. It's about all I can do not to throw open the door and spout fiery words of absolute hatred with alarming alacrity. I would tear the name tag off, throw it on the ground and spit on it before turning on heel and walking out with a stormcloud over my head.

You know, it isn't always this bad.

But there's a saying I would like to extend to the antagonist of my own personal story. It's pretty popular. It goes something like, "Leave your Baggage at the door." Or we could even step to the side and just say, "Don't mix your social life with your work life." Or hwoever that goes. (I would say business or pleasure - but I don't think our mental assailant knows what that IS, let alone has any in their miserable life. Which is unfortunate. They would be totally different people if they had, and I mean better people of course.

I wish I didn't need this money to survive - oh the things I would do!

Come on people, make me rich and famous (Or just well-known and comfortable for that matter) and OH the things I would do and then thusly recite to you! I could be epic in my anger, magnanimous in my generosity, and effortless in my supply of posts and reading material for those bored few who follow the Oru!

So whadda ya say? Should the Oru be famous?

Oru

Abracadabra

I have decided to try some more projects on lulu.com.

But in other news.

I miss the days where things were left unexplained. You know why? Because people still felt that there was some divine, magical reasoning behind everything that happened. That there was a God behind the shining sun, directing it's rays. That there was a spirit as tempestuous as the storms above residing in the seas. That there was a rider and charriot racing across the sky every day.

but now we have everything spelled out for us, don't we? The electrons and neurons and protons and atoms and molecules and cells that circle around us endlessly have now been put into nice little categories, with labels and stickers to mark them. Like microscopic 'Hello, my name is:" stickers. Everything is now at a collective M.A. Meeting, standing up in turns going, "Hi, My name is the Loch Ness Monster, and .... I'm not real."

...Do we really need this proof? I'm sure that SOME people need to know the why and the where and the how of everything... so let them figure it out. I do not need to know everything, I am not filled with the urge to discover WHICH particles, atoms and solar conditions make up the event of a meteor shower. I am content in witnessing it and wondering.

I think that is the problem. There is no wonder left in the world. Thereis only knowing.

Well this Oru doesn't want to know.

Oru

Diluted

Things here just seem to be getting more complicated. And by here, I mean everywhere. But for argument's sake, I will stick with the analogy of the hotel.

For example - Old hotels? They had sets of keys, and you were required to drop the keys back off in order to officially check out. Sometimes breakfast was served. There was housekeepers that made your bed and straightened your towels. Sometimes they may even fold the clothes or vaccum or replace soap and stuff. Front Desk people offered to help and were indeed very helpful beings! They were owned by families and friends, and were often refered to as Inns, or Bed and Breakfasts.

Now? Now we are not liable for items stolen out of your bag. We tell you that smoking is strictly prohibited in this room and that room but not the far room. Breakfast is not complimentary to those who do not have special membership. In fact, Breakfast isn't complimentary unless you special order the breakfast through the reservations, of course. However, if you wanted to become a Gold or Diamond member, you could spend potentially thousands of thousands of dollars travelling in order to amass the points to GET to Gold in order to have breakfast for free. As for the keys? They demagnitize if they are near a cellphone or credit card, and you don't have to bother returning them because they time-out or are doubled. Which means you don't have to come to the front desk OR call down, you can just leave. You know, in case you absolutely obliterated the room.

Not to mention that the GUEST is always right regardless if it makes sense or not, Diamond members get the better rooms first, regardless of allergies. If you book online it's cheaper then actually CALLING here for some reason, and front desk employees are 'discouraged' to take any breaks. At all. Ever. Or sit down. Ever. Or do anything but stand there, look pretty, and pretend to know what you're doing. And of course, the owner of this establishment you never see. You see the manager he elected and the co manager that HE elected. So when you complain do you really think they care? And I of course mean this ont he employee end as well!

My goodness.

I feel this turned into a bit much of a rant instead of an actual comparison, hmm?

Being Late

Before you panic - I mean for events, social gatherings, work, etc.. NOT biologically.

Now that the awkward hurdle has been thoroughly jumped.

Degrees of being late for work:

1 -5 minutes: Usually do not require a call, but an appology is always appreciated.
5 -15 minutes: Requires a call, usually delayed by traffic, the snooze button, or lost & missing clothing items.
15 -30 minutes: Calling is mandatory, caused primarily by car trouble, traffic violations, or setting your alarm clock wrong.
30 -60 minutes: Calling only dulls the pain. These are casued by total alarm clock failures, power outages, accidents, or severe weather without preparation. Not only that, but you will most likely have to cover for someone else's hour, because you were so freakin late.
60 minutes + : Don't even bother, man. You can call to say you died.


Social Events: The Oru Guide:

If a reason exists prior to the day of, inform someone immediately of your dilema. Preferrably someone in charge so that the important people know you will be tardy.

IF the late-ness is casued by an uncontrollable event MOMENTS prior to your arrival, that is what a cell-phone is used for. And remember to be honest.

The HOnesty Clause also refers to those events which you are purposely late for because yousimply don't want to be there, but feel obligated to make an appearance. It's just easier to say, "Listen I'm really not feeling it tonight" then "My Grandma died, and on the way to the hospital I got a flat tire and hit a homeless man at the same time." And lets face it. If you don't want to go, just SAY something. It will save you the awkwardness once you get there.

Well la dee dah, lookit me spouting words of wiseom.

Oru