* Well, it turns out the annual administrator's-day in my department, which was to be Thursday, is cancelled. (My chair had a family emergency and that may be why; she and her husband are currently in Florida). It was because of this meeting that I decided not to plan to dress up at all. (I rarely do very much for Hallowe'en on campus, but this year I only teach one class, so....)
I might dig out my pumpkin hat (if it's going to be chilly that day) and wear it. I don't think I have the energy at this point to chase down what it would need to do my original thought, which was Grumpy Cat (I'd have to find a little nose-and-whiskers assembly, and I'm not sure if any of the local stores have them. And I'd have to look in my unused makeup and see if there was still any brown eye shadow that was usable, to do the coloring around her eyes. Though I admit Grumpy Cat is tempting, if for no other reason than being able to walk around with a placard around my neck that says "NO" and tell people, "But it's part of my costume!")
*ETA: I totally forgot this- I found out what's going in the old closed-down Braum's. (I've known for a while but keep forgetting to mention). Today they were putting the "big" (illuminated) sign up on the old Braum's sign posts. It's going to be one of those Mongolian Grill places. It's actually one that used to be out by the Wal-Mart here, closed down (which surprised me, because while I'd never eaten there, everyone I ever talked to who had said it was good). But now they're reopening. I guess they wanted a larger space, maybe somewhere with better rent or that they could modify more to suit their purposes.
The place is called Khan's Fire. (I may have to eat there some time; someone once told me you could select the seasonings they use and one or two of them were salt-free ones). Of course, if I ever go, I will be tempted to throw back my head and go "KHHHHAAAAANNNN!" in my best William Shatner impression....
* I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible pain in my left knee. It was just on the inside of the kneecap and at first I thought, "Did I roll over funny and somehow dislocate my knee in my sleep?" It really hurt and my knee was partially bent, but I could neither get it to bend more nor straighten out. Then I thought, "Well, eventually I'm going to have to be able to get out of bed, if for no other reason than to call someone to ask them to drive me to the hospital so they can pop my knee back in or whatever." So I started massaging the area and trying to straighten the leg out.
And then, the pain went away. It was a stupid muscle cramp but I didn't think of it being that because it was in a place I ordinarily don't get cramps. (I get them in my neck, and very occasionally in my calf, but never before in the knee).
I quickly reviewed my diet over the past couple days but it's been adequately healthful (and anyway, I think it takes something pretty dire to get your electrolytes seriously out of whack). But I also did forget last night and sit part of the time I was knitting with that leg tucked up under me, which I should not do, because it stresses the knees.
* I love the Internet, part whatever: the current pair of Birkenstocks I use on my non-dressy days are about worn out. So I went to Zappo's and ordered a new pair. While I get annoyed by the places that send you an e-mail EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. offering new "specials" or reminding you of their existence, I do like places that send out a chatty/funny e-mail to let you know they've shipped your package. (Actually, the worn Birks may have been a contributing factor to the knee cramp; I wore them yesterday because I wore a denim skirt and didn't feel like doing dress shoes, and I was on my feet for 3+ hours on concrete floors....)
(Yes, I know, you can get Birks resoled but there's nowhere locally that does it. I should probably bring a couple of the worn pairs with me on one of my longer breaks and take them to one of the guys up where my parents live who does the refurbishing)
* I'm switching out reading the Harry Potter series (currently halfway through Goblet of Fire, which is one of the ones I hadn't read) with the book Cahokia by Timothy Pauketat. It's interesting, and reminds us of how little we really do know of ancient cultures and how easily it is to misinterpret. He points out that apparently Cahokia, during at least part of its era, was a high-density living area (a city) and that they had a network of outlying farming areas (apparently). And he notes that despite the stereotype we have of the mystically-ecologically-conscious early Native person, they may very well have practiced a form of conspicuous consumption (through large feasts) and also tried to maximize production and extraction.
Also, there's evidence of human sacrifice, either as part of a religious or political ritual. (Political, in the sense that Pauketat speculates that some of the sacrifice victims may have been from ruling families that had been deposed by other ruling families, and the current ones-in-power figured it was best to get rid of them.) Most of the sacrifices seem to be women (which would make sense, if a group wanted to wipe out a family's ability to grow and increase....). Based on the positions of some of the skeletons that were found, it seems that death may not have been rapid or painless...What is known of some of the religions practiced in some of the groups that most likely descended from the Cahokians, there was a form of ritual sacrifice and some of the legends and stories about their gods seemed to expect human sacrifice, though probably in the later groups, it was symbolic rather than actual.
I wonder how the victims were chosen - was it chance, was it some kind of thing people saw coming (like the deposed royal families). Were there maybe people groomed from childhood for that role?
It always amazes me how different some other cultures are from my own. The idea of grooming someone from childhood to be a sacrifice victim would be abhorrent in 21st century North America (and probably throughout most, if not all, of the world), but there were times and places where it was accepted.
(In my mind, there's a huge difference between "laying down your life for your friend" - an individual choosing to face likely or even certain death to save others' lives - and being chosen to be killed as part of a ritual. But again, I recognize that may be partly my own attitudes.)
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