The Woodchuck

I made the mistake of joining Facebook and using my woodchuck picture for my photo. (Okay maybe that's TWO mistakes).

Now people are finally asking me "What's with the woodchuck?!?"

I consider the woodchuck to be my animal guide. (Or spirit guide or animal totem or whatever you call them).

Of course I don't really believe in spirits or any mystical powers of a big fat rodent. But I think it is useful (or at least fun) to define archetypes that give us direction.

It's like those online tests for "Which Superhero are you?" or "Which Cylon are you?" Of course those things aren't real, but I think it's a good way to be introspective and analyze who you are or what your motivations are.

Ever since I grew up in Kentucky, I seem to come across an unusual number of woodchucks. (Some people call them groundhogs. Same thing.)

The thing that really gave me the chills was that on more than one occasion I've examined some of my old photos very closely and found a hidden woodchuck I hadn't seen, in the picture, looking at me. And I'm not a camera person, so I don't take very many photos.

Many years ago I was reading about animal totems, and I looked up "Woodchuck", and it said it was one of the few animal totems that will follow you for life. It also described the woodchuck spirit as being solitary, introspective, and highly philosophical, especially on the topics of life and death. Perfect. I decided then and there that my animal guide was a woodchuck. :)

So there you have it. I don't like pictures of myself, so I just prop up my animal guide as a symbol for the kind of person I am.

In the "Which superhero are you?" tests, I usually come up as "Spiderman"...which I don't agree with. In the "Which supervillain are you?" tests, I come up as the "Joker", which I totally agree with...but that's just lame to put the Joker as my picture. So...I'm a woodchuck! :-)

Warm Fuzzy!

Wow!! :-)

Some of my co-workers surprised me at work today with Christmas presents and a card signed by everyone! That has never happened before!

I am horribly embarrassed by the whole thing, and I'm sure I don't deserve it. I feel like I either want to curl up into a little ball and hide, or hold my head up and actually accept the fact that a bunch of people actually thought kindly of me!

I took down my entire "Happy Meme" because I have at least 10 real human beings to be thankful for now.

My spirit is more than re-kindled, it's on fire!

I feel like I could take on the world, or at least take on any technology or managerial dragons that threaten us in the coming months!

Foolish, silly, immature optimism? Probably. But it FEELS good. :) :)

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

Evil Dead Christmas!

Christmas seems to be coming SO fast this year. Normally I'm prepared and have all my shopping done way in advance, but for this year I've barely even started.

I can't figure out why the date is coming so fast and why I'm moving so slow, and the image I keep having in my head is that comical scene of the Deadite chasing Ash through the woods in the movie "Evil Dead II".

It's like Christmas is chasing me, gaining on me fast and yet somehow not catching me, charging at me with a roar and dramatic camera angles, and I'm stumbling over trees and crashing through doors trying to stay ahead just ahead of something I can't see.

Okay...I know that's a weird visualization...but that's what Christmas feels like this year! Aaaaa!