Almost Interesting Musings on Life

2 DAYS TO GO

2008-12-18T11:03:00.000-06:00

“80% of male multimillionaires having extramarital affairs plan to cut back on lovers’ gifts, says Prince and Associates”

This was a quote in my January issue of Money magazine. I just cracked up laughing when I read it. It really caused me to wonder who this magazine is truly written for. In all honesty, who is that statistic really going to help? I mean it is great for a laugh but is it real financial advice? Not so much. Is it even a real financial trend? I guess it is if you are an affair having multimillionaire. What’s the point? Maybe the author thought it was as funny as I do.

I am having a really hard time focusing on anything but getting on a plane on Saturday. Not only do I get to go home to Minneapolis for seven days but I get to come back home to Chicago and not have to be back to work for nine more. Oh the joys of working in higher ed.

HOLIDAY TIME IS ALNOST HERE

2008-12-15T12:54:00.000-06:00

I have that giddy holiday feeling. You know the one, all warm and fuzzy inside for no reason. I also have a bit of nerves. I absolutely love the holidays. Not only will I be going home on Saturday to spend the holidays with my family but Tony will be joining me on Christmas Eve. After 4.5 years of being a couple we will get to spend Christmas day together. This is pretty freaking exciting. Although, I think after finally getting incredibly comfortable with my family and the new people nerves having worn off, we just might scare him with our slightly nuts and painfully happy festivities. Oh well.

Last week I was talking to him about our trip home and I was saying how he would get to go to the Christmas Café (just our table) and get breakfast and he said, “I don’t’ want to have to go to any Christmas Café. I just want to hang around the house.” Once I explained that he would be hanging around the house and would get to be served breakfast with my parents by Sister and I he was more agreeable. Although, I swear he knew the Christmas Café existed. I think he doesn’t listen to me sometimes. I then pictured him flying in and being accosted with Harry Connick Jr. singing “This Christmas” (cause it’s hilarious) and Sister draping him with tree decorating stuffs. HEHEHEHE. I’ll get pictures.

Plus, Hanukkah starts while I will be home. This means that I will NOT forget to light candles this year. Last year I had every intention of lighting my menorah. I took it out of the drawer got it set up nice and pretty and went to get the candles...get the candles…where were the candles? I spent the next eight days reminding myself to go to the store and buy candles. I failed completely. After the holiday break I returned to work and told my Jewish colleague of my failed menorah attempts. Amusingly enough she had candles but no menorah. That gave us a good chuckle. Tony should also enjoy lighting the menorah. Although he was raised Catholic, he has a strong affinity for all things Jewish. I think he knows more Yiddish than I do.

At this point all the presents are ordered and the planning is done. Well, most of the planning. I am having thoughts about the traditional Christmas Pizza. We usually do two big pies with different toppings. I will have to check it out with Sister because Christmas cooking has kind of become our thing but I think that we should do more, smaller pies this year, thus maximizing our flavor variations. I have all kinds of wondrous pizza ideas milling around in my head. A Mexican pizza with beans and salsa as the base, a pesto pizza like we had last year mmmmm, a caramelized onion and apple pizza with brie, a normal pizza, a wild mushroom pizza with some kind of delicious sauce. Oh, Christmas Pizza, why must you be so far away?

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and all the wonderful things that come with it. Hooray!

A IPOD SHUFFLE MEME CAUSE WHY NOT

2008-12-08T13:11:00.002-06:00

1.Put your music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS! (I skipped any repeat artists in the spirit of variety)
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
I Hear a Symphony- The Supremes
Whenever you’re near/I hear a symphony/A tender melody/Pulling me closer/Closer to your arms.
Apparently I am not only okay with whatever people are asking about, I am ecstatic about it. Maybe people just have really good taste and are only approaching me with awesome things.

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Western Eyes- Portishead
With western eyes and serpents breath/We lay our own conscience to rest/But I'm aching at the view/Yes I'm breaking at the scenes just like you
So I suppose this means that I sometimes do bad things and then I feel really bad about them later. Doesn’t everyone?

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
If you Don’t Get It The First Time Back Up and Try It Again- The JBs
The lyrics are pretty much the title, no need to retype that
Who wouldn’t like a guy who is both resilient and funky?

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
God- Tori Amos
God sometimes you just don’t come through/ Do you need a woman to look after you
Actually, I feel pretty good today. There was no need for this teenage angst to pop up here. Actually, there is pretty much never a need for this particular brand of teenage angst, I just can’t let it go.

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Stop Singing and Start Swinging- Malcolm X
Well this is a speech and, for a time, I was this militant (in theory) However, since we now have a Black president and OBVIOUSLY live in a post-racial America there will be no need for anything like this anymore…right???right??? UH….

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Murder Ink- Dr Dre
Uh, uh, for real/ You’ll fuck around and get killed
Uh, uh, I won’t be killing anything at all. I’m not as hard as I think I am and I certainly don’t think I’m the murdering type

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Small Man, Big Mouth- Minor threat
You laugh at a man when he tries/You're trying to make up for your size/To you life is a rivalry/ Keep a step ahead of me
Apparently my friends think I have a serious Napoleon complex, who knew? Oh, iPod shuffle, you reveal mysterious wonders sometimes

8.WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
50ft Queenie- PJ Harvey
Hey I'm king of the world/You oughta hear my song/You come on and measure me/I'm fifty inches long
Well, I too seem to be obsessed with my height. I would have you know that I am no mere fifty inches long. I stand a proud seventy inches so there!

9. WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Hunting Bears- Radiohead
This is an instrumental piece. That is what they get for asking such a stupid question

10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Boll Weevil- Presidents of the United States of America
Boll weevil why don’t you get out of your home/He said I’m comfortable here I don’t wanna move I don’t wanna leave/I said boll weevil get right out of your home
I have a few people that I could consider best friends. Out of all of them I am the one who is most likely to stay inside. I can’t say this one applies too much but it would if my best friend were the person who sent this to me cause she never goes out.

11.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Sunshine Recorder- Boards of Canada
A beautiful place/a beautiful place/an eagle in your mind
I guess I really like him huh?

12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Dueling Banjos- Primus
An easy groove. The notes are happy, even jolly. Then you think about Deliverance and everything is much worse. Much much worse.

13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Beef Jerky- Cibo Mato
My weight is 300 pounds/My favorite is beef jerky/I’m a vagabond, I’m a vagabond/My mom says, you are kinky!
Well I most certainly do not want to be a 300lb kinky hobo

14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
All Along the Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix
There must be some kind of way out of here/Said the joker to the thief/There is too much confusion/I can’t get no relief
This is like the exact opposite of what I think. It is an incredibly awesome song though so I’ll just go with that vibe

15. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Bridge over Troubled Water- Simon and Garfunkel
When you’re weary. Feeling Small/ When tears are in your eyes/ I'll dry them all
What can I say? My parents really really love me

16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Derilict- Beck
Blow back derelict wind/Lay my soul in the foul of the air
I can find absolutely no way this song works. Lyrics, no. Tune, I would like to see Tony and I try to dance to this with our non-dancing asses

17. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Reeling- PJ Harvey
Wanna bathe in milk/ Eat grapes/ Robert DiNiro sit on my face
Uh, gross and completely inappropriate

18. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Memories of Jacqueline- Olivia Tremor Control
Right now is when we break the static/With our themes of liberation/Conquer all that we can
Yes, my hobby is to conquer all that I set out to conquer. The fact that I don’t try much of anything does somewhat hinder this hobby but I’m sticking to it

19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Sir Duke- Stevie Wonder
Music is a world within itself/With a language we all understand/With an equal opportunity/For all to sing, dance and clap their hands
See, I am secretly the most talented musician/singer/songwriter that the world has ever seen but I can’t divulge my talent because the world just can’t handle my glory. Therefore, I fool everyone into thinking I have no instrumental talents and can’t carry a tune to save my life. I do write a pretty awesome song though, get a little whiff of this
Insideoutafied, I said insideoutified---YOU TURN ME
That's what I thought, you can't even handle the awesomeness.

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Mingusings- of Montreal
Sister tells you No, our shit is only gonna get better /I'll let ya know let ya know let ya know /I feel like the last time is gonna be /my final collapse
This obviously means that I have awesome friends and we help each other when the other is down

21. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Let It Be- The Beatles
When I find myself in times of trouble/ Mother Mary comes to me/ Speaking words of wisdom/ Let it be
I swear I am not skipping any songs (except repeat artists), this is just too perfect. The worst thing that could happen is just something that you deal with. Let it be.

22. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
The Mariner’s Revenge- The Decemberists
We are two mariners/ Our ships sole survivors/ Trapped in the belly of a whale
I am going to be swallowed by a whale while on a mission of revenge. That is freaking badass

23. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Pattern Against User- At The Drive-in
Circus carny guarding/The gates of heaven/Like stuck in limbo abduction/Wormed our way through/Distant earth
I have absolutely no ideas what this means. I suppose it means I have no regrets?

24. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying- Belle & Sebastian
Oh, get me away from here I’m dying/ Play me a song to set me free/ No one writes them like they used to so it may as well be me
What is funny about this one is that the above lyrics used to always give me a chuckle so I guess that is another right on pick by Natapod

25. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
My Baby Loves the Secret Agent- The Detroit Cobras
I can’t get the lyrics for this one but I do know that it is about someone’s baby being in love with a secret agent. That would certainly make me cry

26. WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
(You Caught me) Smilin’- Sly and the Family Stone
In my pain/I'll be sane to take your hand
Well the song ends with that, I suppose it means that it would be smart for me to get married

27. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Black Coffee- Tricky
I feel so lonely, haven’t slept a wink/I walk the floor, and watch the door/And in between I drink black coffee.
I will take this as a resounding NO. Or, maybe I have a coffee drinking stalker, and that is a very scary thought

28. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
What’s Mine is Yours- Sleater-Kinney
Sit down, honey, let's kill some time/Rest you head on this heart of mine/Tell me, honey, cause you look so blue/Just how did they, did they get to you?
I guess I wouldn’t’ change anything, maybe just help the past me through some of the hard times and maybe leave her with a tip or two on how to make them not quite so hard

29. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Tunneling Through The Guy- Man Man
Girlfriend, I know/I can smell your blood/you're gonna do bad things tonight
Well this sounds like something is really painful, in fact, nothing hurts at all right now except for the fact that my cell phone broke but that will be fixed soon enough

30. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Return to Hot Chicken- Yo La Tengo
Another instrumental one, and that is that

ITS ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL TIMES OF THE YEAR

2008-11-26T13:20:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is a special day; Monica will turn the big 3-0. It also happens to be Thanksgiving. While the main festivities for Monica will be on Saturday, her birthday couldn’t be ignored and I got her a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. No pies at my house. We will keep ourselves entertained with Wii, PS3, TV karaoke, and if Netflix behaves Kung Fu Panda on blu-ray.

When I get home I will start the final stage of Thanksgiving preparations. Cleaning the living room and getting stage one of cooking going. When Tony gets home we will start cleaning our room. We might need the extra space. Our menu for thanksgiving is an awesome one:
Main dishes:
Turkey
Ham
Turkey Tofu (NOT tofurkey)

Sides:
Butter dipped rolls
Collard Greens
Macaroni and Cheese
Stuffing (turkey and vegetarian)
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes (regular and roasted garlic blue cheese)
Cranberry Sauce (homemade no cans here)
Asparagus soup
Brussel Sprouts
Vegetarian gravy

Dessert:
Gravy Cake
Aforementioned ice cream cake

Tonight I will help Monica’s turkey thaw, marinate the tofu and assemble the turkey tofu casserole, and make the cranberry sauce. The rest should be okay for tomorrow. I think we have 12 people confirmed and we may get up to 7 more stoppers by. It should be a good time. I hope everyone has as much fun as we will. I hope there is enough wine. Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

THE MORNING AFTER

2008-11-05T10:44:00.000-06:00

Here it is, Wednesday morning, I still don't entirely believe what happened last night but I'm so glad it did.

After work I headed home, tried to eat and completely failed. I then headed over to a friend’s house to watch the returns. By the time she put snacks out things were starting to look fairly secure so I was able to get something to eat. I talked to my cousin who I haven’t spoken to in quite a while. He was pretty amazed that I wasn’t down at Grant Park. I was a little amazed myself but I had plenty of reasons why I wasn’t there.

At my friend's apartment, we sat and talked and watched and before we even knew what was happening the election was called. I knew it I left then I could make it home in time to see the speech with Tony, who was getting off work at 10:30. As I walked got to the bus stop a young brother (probably too young to vote) was standing there holding the front page of the Red Eye paper that said Election Day and grinning as big as he possibly could. He turned to me and asked how my night was going. I replied that it was absolutely amazing and I was in disbelief. He smiled at me with this serene, otherworldly look and said, "It couldn't be more beautiful. What a great night". There was hope in his face and I knew it was no dream. This was our new reality.

Like Obama said, he has a hard road to walk. He is inheriting one of the biggest clusterfucks in recent American history. He pulled no punches. He admitted it was a long and hard road. He wasn’t claiming that he could change the world in the blink of an eye. That would be a lie. He said that the American people can’t let go of the passion that got him elected in the coming years. That we have to stay vigilant and continue to fight for what we believe in. He couldn’t be more right. It’s going to be touch, but we are all in it together.

ELECTION DAY

2008-11-04T10:10:00.002-06:00

It's election day. I got up an hour early to vote and beat the crowds. My polling place was so empty I almost thought they moved it and didn't let anyone know. Needless to say I arrived at work an hour early, so I get to go home an hour early. That's nice. I have contemplated going to the big Downtown Chicago secondary rally. Tickets to the main one in Grant Park were gone within 5 minutes and I just missed it. A friend is having a party but I'm not sure I want to be there. I think I either want to be at the huge thing or home mostly or completely alone. I predict many tears and I would rather cry in a huge crowd or at home.

My stomach is in knots and will be for the rest of the day. Luckily I have a relatively busy day at the office so I am hoping that I won't be thinking of the election too much. I am hoping wrong. I know that I should be more confident than I am in the outcome but I'm just not. The first presidential election I voted in was 2000 and I was pretty confident of the outcome then. Look how that one turned out.

Hope everyone is out there voting!

The End of Vacation

2008-10-30T14:35:00.014-05:00

Cabin number two was more remote than the first. It was in the Stevens Pass area in the Cascade Mountains. Being a kid from the Plains I haven’t had much experience with mountains. Sure, I drive through Pennsylvania plenty of times but that was about it. These mountains were beautiful our ears popped continuously and Tony was a little scared of my driving. I wasn’t going above the speed limit (was below it plenty because f the rain), was keeping with traffic and was being perfectly safe. He just wasn’t as sure about all that as I was. I was having a blast on those curves. We had a little problem finding our turn off because Tony didn’t realize the directions were two pages but that was solved relatively quickly and we made our turn and came upon this.

Yes, that is a one car at a time wooden bridge with a 5mph speed limit. I wasn’t scared driving on winding roads up and down mountains in the rain but that bridge kind of freaked me out. The rest of the drive up to the cabin was pretty scary. Lots of turns and dirt roads and places where you could fall in ditches. We made it and all was well. I didn’t snap a shot of the outside of this cabin as you drove up which is a shame but the real beauty of the place was the view. You have the views from the living room, the balcony, and the other side of the living room. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time we were there and we didn’t get to hike around like we wanted. Someone from the area might not have been bothered by the rain but we city folk weren’t having it. We did have a rainy hot tub experience and it was fun but very cold upon getting out. I wished that tub had a cover over it like the other one.

While our first spot was all about luxury, this one was all about being in the woods at a good old fashioned log cabin. We made a fire in the big fireplace, kept the fire going in the pellet stove, and sat down with board games and an extensively random VHS collection. It was quite the cozy time. The second night I made a wild mushroom alfredo on this scary old fashioned stove that was just delectable. I used Lobster mushrooms, chanterelles, and a chef’s sampler of all kinds of random mushrooms. I caramelized an onion and then threw them in the skillet, how yummy is that? After they had cooked down I dusted them with flour, poured down some milk, and dumped in some Gouda. The plate was garnished with fresh chives and we sat down to look at the river and the mountains to eat. I had taken a really great picture of the plate but it didn’t download for some reason so you get us making faces and tucking our napkins into our shirts while we eat instead.

The last morning I woke up and was leisurely cooking breakfast when the maid drove up…WHAT? Apparently checkout was at 11. I thought it was 3. I told her I thought it was 12. I woke tony up and we rushed out of there. We got a motel on the road to shower and catch some more sleep since our plane wasn’t until 11:30 that night. It is very strange to drive up to a motel and tell them you need a room for a few hours. Oh well. The rest of the way back was rather uneventful. We stopped at a mall somewhere to try to find a book. There was no bookstore in the mall…WHAT? We went to a casino by the airport but there were no slot machines, only real games…WHAT? The flight was uneventful and we made it to our apartment at 5something the next morning. We proceeded to sleep for days. We still haven’t unpacked. So it goes.

Vacation Part 2

2008-10-21T13:21:00.008-05:00

Once we were certain that we weren’t going to die we were able to settle down and enjoy our place. The climate was like nothing I had experienced in my Midwest/East Coast living. Technically, it was a rainforest. Everything outside was constantly damp although it didn’t really rain a lot at all. It would mist or even lightly drizzle for 5-10 minute time spans here and there. I think once it really came down for about two or three minutes. It was pretty cool. The fact that the hot tub was under a gazebo didn’t hurt either cause that meant none of that drizzle got in the way of our relaxing.

I spent a good portion of the first morning/afternoon in the yard trying to hone my badminton skills so that I could destroy Tony when he woke up. Although I played badminton in high school I hadn’t picked up a racket since. I had certainly lost some skills. It didn’t matter, though, although Tony was totally into the game he didn’t have much of a chance against me. If we both practiced he would probably surpass me relatively quickly. He has a large height/reach advantage over me. I also spent some time communing with nature.

We had expected to see tons of wildlife while out in the woods, not so much. We saw a few raccoons while driving lost and contemplating death. On the property itself there were some birds, many slugs, and one absolutely adorable squirrel. It was with this squirrel that I spent a lot of time. I spotted him through the window going up into a little squirrel house. He would dart in, grab a sunflower seed, and dart out again to a stump. He went back and forth, back and forth, for a good 20 minutes before I decided to go out and take a closer look. The squirrels I am accustomed to are city squirrels; big fat gray creatures that, while cute, are nothing to write home about. This little guy was about the size of a chipmunk and had an adorable reddish tummy. His little tail curled about him ever so preciously. I was hooked.

I went outside and started taking pictures, after about 30 attempts I got this one of him on the ledge of his home. I have many of him scampering down the pole, half in the house, or nowhere to be seen in the frame. He was a fast little guy. I then took pictures of him by his stump home. He was quite friendly and let me get close enough to snap this gem. However, it was when he was perched atop the stump looking down at me when he first chirped. I was astonished. Big city squirrels do not make noise. Certainly not noise that sounds like a bird’s song. I thought it might have been a bird but as he chirped his tail gave a twitch. It was awesome. He might be my favorite thing I saw on the whole trip. Tony almost didn’t believe me about the chirping but was able to see/hear him the next morning so I didn’t appear crazy.

We spent the rest of the night grilling, playing board games, watching movies, hot tubbing, and just having a good time. We were able to take our time leaving in the morning and headed off to cabin number two. I could certainly see us going back to this place someday.

TV Night

2008-10-16T14:37:00.001-05:00

A brief break from Vacation stories to talk a little about last nights TV programs. It was a hard and long night. It started with Leanne winning Project Runway. It wasn’t a surprise. We knew months ago when we looked at the collections online that she was going to win. It was a good collection. Jerrell, my favorite, was already gone so I didn’t have too much invested in the episode. As long as Kenley lost, and she did, all was right in the world. Man was her collection ugly and stolen. I am quite sad to see Project runway go. I know it won’t be returning to Bravo *cry* and Monica said there are complications with the move to Lifetime so the current season may never be shown at all. What a sad world this world will be without Project Runway. However, Top Chef is starting up again soon so, yeah.

Then there was the debate. I am so glad that it was the last one because I think any more and my head may have actually exploded. I couldn’t believe that three of the six Joe Sixpacks they interviewed after the debate on NBC were planning to vote for McCain after that mess. One said Obama. Two said nothing. Were they watching the same debate that I was? I read an article this morning that said McCain was attacking (true) and winning because of it (really?) and was making Obama uncomfortable (huh?). The biggest moment of discomfort I saw was the stunned look on McCain’s face when Obama explained the lack of penalties good old Joe the Plumber would pay under his healthcare plan. He looked like someone had asked him what the Bush Doctrine was.

Anyway, from what I saw it was an easy win for Obama. He kept cool, stuck to (and expanded on) his talking points, and made a whole lot of rational sense. McCain got angry, didn’t back up his claims, and both looked and sounded like a crazy person. If he manages to pull this one out all I’ll be able to do is speak like Maya Angelou (aka David Alan Grier) and say, “President elect John McCain…ain’t that a bitch,” which leads me to the point that Chocolate News was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Vacation Part 1

2008-10-15T12:29:00.004-05:00

So I am back in the real world after 12 days of no alarms, very little required things to do, and lots of hanging out in bathrobes. Needless to say I am somewhat sad to have returned.

We flew into the Seattle/Tacoma airport on Saturday the 4th and had a very uneventful trip, rented a car and got on our way. We headed to the Seattle to get on the Bainbridge island Ferry. My impression of Seattle was, WOW. Hills. Kind of scary to drive down a hill and not be able to see the bottom. That’s about all we saw of Seattle though. We get a glimpse of the space needle from the plane and from the ferry deck and I feel that legitimized the trip. We drove off the ferry directly onto the road we needed to be on and followed the directions to the best grocery store ever. Oh, Central Market, Poulsbo. How I miss you. I never expected to find a 24hr grocery store filled with tons of gourmet produce and the biggest selection of vegetarian meat type products I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere Washington but I did. We walked in to a cart of fresh chanterelles and lobster mushrooms. I knew that I would be making a mushroom alfredo at some point during our trip. We stocked up and headed out to the Maplebrook Retreat.

The directions we had were a little…confusing. We spent a VERY long time looking for Front Street and never found it. We even stopped and asked someone where it was, they seemed to know exactly but their directions didn't help us much either. I think it’s a fake name. We started to think that maybe this place did not really exist and that some people made a website to direct unsuspecting people to the middle of the woods and kill them, or simply to take their money for a nonexistent property. We soon found the street after Front Street on our list of directions and took that, hoping that we weren’t heading to our deaths.

The next direction told us to look for an old bus stop around mile marker 2 with some mailboxes in front of it and turn onto the dirt road. I’m a city girl. To me a bus stop has a bench, a sign, and maybe a little enclosure to shield you from the elements. We drove and drove on a barely lit 2 lane highway at speeds of 50mph so as not to get hit by cars around us looking for a bus stop. We found mile marker 2 but no bus stop. We found the street that let us know we had gone too far and needed to turn around. We drove back and forth between mile marker 2 and the street that was too far for a while. There were a couple of dirt roads with mailboxes but no bus stops.

“There it is!” Tony shouted, and pointed to a small shack. “What do you mean?” I replied. I saw nothing resembling a bus stop. He explained that there was an old warming house for kids to wait for a school bus and I was passing it. I supposed he was right and we turned around to turn up that proper dirt road and look for the property. I turned on the brights (or held them on because I couldn’t figure out how to make them stay on) and we looked for our property number. We were still terrified. It was a scary place. We found the property number and turned up the drive.

As soon as we made the turn we were greeted with small lights leading up a winding drive to a very well lit cabin. The thoughts of death started to abate. As we pulled in fully we saw a covered, and well lit, hot tub beckoning us. We opened the door and were greeted with dim lighting, soft music, and wonderful smelling candles. We walked through the cabin and found the most luxurious bedroom, opened the closet to find cushy wonderful bathrobes, and quickly decided that we were certainly not going to die and were instead going to have a wonderful time.

In the day, everything was much, much, less scary.

Boring Meme of Nothing

2008-09-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

The brain is filled with thoughts of vacation and thoughts of making sure everything is in order at work before I leave for vacation. All else has been pushed to the background. 3 days of work left and 4 till the plane leaves. It's almost here. Rental cabins here we come!

Therefore, I give you meme that Monica tagged me with. She has nothing to say either.

1. What are your nicknames?
People used to call me Nat. That doesn’t happen too much anymore. My sister calls me Head, no one else is allowed to because coming from anyone else it would be gross and wrong. Sometimes Tony calls me Bearface. We like bears, they are cute, its ok. Mizzle calls me Nizzle and that is also fine. Most people should just call me Natalie though.

2. What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on?
Lingo, Wheel of Fortune, Who wants to be a Millionaire, that’s about it

3. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
I have absolutely no idea. It was probably Kuffs or Universal Soldier or The Great Muppet Caper.

4. What is your favorite scent?
Delicious food

5. If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
I would pay all my debts, buy a house and furnish it, buy a car, and go on a very long vacation. Anything left over goes into retirement accounts.

6. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?
I haven’t gone anywhere al that great since Friend and I went on after college trip. Maybe after Washington vacation in 4 days I’ll have more to talk about.

7. Do you trust easily?
Depends on who is talking. If they are a friend then yes.

8. Do you think before you act, or act before you think?
Both. I usually think too much about things I should just do and not enough on things that I should think about more

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Not too much, things are pretty good

10. Do you have a good body image?
Reasonably so

11. What is your favorite fruit?
I ate fresh figs the other day, they are not my favorite but they are pretty good. I think I like mango the most

12. What websites do you visit daily?
My various emails, facebook

13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Thinking about vacation

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Mizzle is a bitch

15. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
“Plastis Wafers” of Montreal, cause I am a huge predictable nerd

16. What's your favorite item of clothing?
My navy blue cardigan, it makes me oh so cozy

17. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
I have, but I have been wrong

18. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Take it. Although, like Mizzle said, if I were inside that would probably change

19. What items could you not go without during the day?
computer, TV

20. What should you be doing right now?
This is fine

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

2008-09-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

Obviously I did not write this piece as it was clearly written by Tim Wise. However, I completely agree with what it has to say and think it give some great food for thought.

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.” 

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals. 

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. 

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful. 

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist. 

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.” 

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt. 

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America. 

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced. 

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden. 

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain… 

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Random Post

2008-09-17T14:46:00.001-05:00

I haven’t made a blog in FOREVER, I just haven’t wanted to say anything. Tons has happened; my family came to visit, I planned a vacation, I almost got pick pocketed, ANTM started again, Project Runway had all kinds of awesomeness happening, 90210 started (love it love it love it), political hilarity has been spewing over the waves (air, cyber, radio). All in all, things have just been happening left and right. So why have I been uninspired to blog? I just don’t know.

The funny thing is that today, the day when I am inspired to type something, I have pretty much nothing to say. So be it.

THE FEVER IS SPREADING

2008-08-11T14:06:00.003-05:00

My weekend started off a little slow. On Saturday I watched a bunch of Olympic coverage and then went out to a comedy show with Monica and crew. It was pretty mediocre but I still managed to have fun. On Sunday I was incredibly saddened because Isaac Hayes died. I’ve loved that man’s music for quite a long time and I certainly love Chef. I haven’t been so broken up about the death of someone I didn’t know for a long time.

Watching more Olympics seemed like the only thing to do. I caught the China/USA basketball match. There was some sloppy ball on both sides but I really enjoyed watching the game. I wanted the US to win but wanted China to do really well. I love that Yao Ming, such a stand up fellow. I thoroughly enjoyed the women’s synchronized springboard competition. I love diving. Getting my first taste of both Men’s and Women’s gymnastics was also fantastic. The US women had a real rocky start and I saw many individual medal hopes dashed but I think they could end up strong in the team competition.

The highlight of the evening had to be the swimming and the highlight of the swimming was the men’s 4x100 relay. France had done a lot of trash talking, and they had reason. The US wasn’t going to go down easy though. And this is how the race went down. If you haven’t seen it don’t read this. Actually, feel free to read it, but check out the video first.

For the first leg Phelps was up for the US and Leveaux was up for the French. Phelps put in a respectable time of 47.51 to Leveaux’s 47.91. Both were eclipsed by Eamon of Australia who had the fastest first leg in a 4x100 relay ever at 47.24. Up for the second leg was Weber-Gale (47.02) for the US and Fabien (47.05) for France. This brought the US into the lead. I’ve been seeing people talk about how Cullen Jones almost blew it for the US. Sure, he had the slowest leg of the team at 47.65 but was up against France’s fastest leg by Bousquet at 46.63.

And let me just say something here about Cullen Jones. This is a man who teaches swimming to Black children because he knows exactly how dangerous not knowing how to swim can be because he almost drowned as a child. Black children are almost 3 times more likely to drown than white children. He also had to swim in the relay heats the night before and earned his spot on the team with the three fastest swimmers because he had the best split from those in the heats. If Jones had led off the race and Phelps was swimming third people would be saying Phelps almost blew the race since his time was almost a full second slower than Bousquet's. Lay off him people.

Anyway, what it really came down to was the final leg, Lezak vs. Bernard. The US was .69 seconds behind the French. When you are 32, the oldest male member of the US swim team, and chasing down the world record holder things might look a little grim. Not so for Lezak, he put in the swim of his life. Got the fastest split time in history, and took the gold. It was quite a night.

A HISTORIC APOLOGY

2008-07-30T15:05:00.001-05:00

My mom sent me an article from CNN that let me know the House of Representatives have passed a resolution that apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow. Although individual states have apologized for slavery in the past, this is the first time any branch of the federal government has done so. I don’t know if anyone has apologized for Jim Crow before this point. I actually think that apology carries much more weight. The article I read had this excerpt from the resolution

"African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity,"

I am actually in shock that a branch of the government went so far as to acknowledge this, particularly the part about the long-term loss of income and opportunity. Although I certainly know it to be true, and most people I hang out with know it to be true, many people obviously do not. Many of the comments from the article are a testament to that fact. One of the more common arguments I hear in regard to issues of the overwhelmingly obvious disparity between Black and white America is that it is not a race issue but a class issue. To have the government link the two together is, in my opinion a big deal.

The article also briefly mentioned reparations, as much as I would love to get the current monetary value of 40 acres and a mule, adjusted for inflation of course, I know that is just silly. Come on people, there won’t ever be any reparations. Stop asking for them. Even if there was a legitimate way to decide who would get them our country is broke and couldn’t possibly afford it.

Anyway, I’m happy it was said. Sure it’s symbolic and doesn’t really change anything, but aren’t apologies in general primarily symbolic? I think the acknowledgement of the lingering repercussions is enormous and hope more people take a second to stop and think about what that really means.

THE WORLD IS MADE OF ENERGY

2008-07-25T15:41:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a happy day of chillin. We arrived around 2ish so that we could get a good spot for The Apples in Stereo at 3. We got our spot from last year’s festival on the left side of the stage right against the rail. We settled in to wait for things to start. Shortly after we got settled Terrence the Security Guard, who we knew from Public Enemy spotted us and came over to say hi.

“What band are you here to see today?” he asked
“This one,” we replied
“Move to the middle” he said

So, of course, we move toward the middle. He’s right up front telling people to move down and clearing a spot for us front and center. In fact, as you watch the corresponding video from the show you can see how no one seems to be standing front and center, it is because we are very short. In fact, about halfway through the song there is a shot of the crowd and you can see two sets of brown arms clapping; one set has a wooden bracelet. That bracelet is Monica. I am next to her and not quite as brown. I watched this video a bunch of times to catch that. There were lots of beach balls during this show. I kind of hate beach balls. I wanted to pop them but never caught one. I accidentally hit one a few times in trying to catch it. Lame.

After the show we went to sit for the remainder of the evening because we are old and we like to chill. We took turns getting food cause no one likes to sit alone. Jamie’s veggie dog came with multigrain chips, mine didn’t. Racist (hahah). It was a good veggie dog though and I didn’t mind not having chips cause I had a delicious mango smoothie. It was very very hot and even though I drank a lot of liquids I sweated them all out and still didn’t use the port-o-potty!

Les Savy Fav was up next and did they ever put on a show. A big old dude in shiny red drawers is always a recipe for a good show. After them it was The Dodos were very chill, during this time it was very hot and Jamie and I spent much time sitting under umbrellas or setting them up to shade us as we lay peacefully. Sometimes I was all long and would read my book. I later got laughed at for reading my book. I love Jonathan Ames so much. See, there is this game we were playing about spotting all the ridiculous Pitchfork people and I guess reading was worth some points. Star tattoos are also worth points and Monica had the nerve to call points on someone we knew.

In true politically incorrect fashion we decided that the game winning spot would be an Asian/Asian couple. I know, I know, not cool but research has been done, they are rare, particularly at places such as outdoor music festivals. Monica spotted one while she was away from the group but Stacy saw them so she technically won. I also spotted one so I came in second. I think I should have gotten bumped up points for spotting an Asian Man White Woman couple earlier on; they are kind of rare too. Racist.

That’s just rude. Jamie left us to go see Ghostface Killah & Raekwon and I maybe should have gone because as much as I wanted to see M Ward and liked listening to his set, I couldn’t hear all of it because of Ghostface Killah & Raekwon and the bass they were spewing all over the festival. Oh well. After M Ward was Spiritualized, a fine band but somewhat forgettable. Dinosaur Jr. was next, looking as 90s as anyone can look. Even more than me when I wear skirts, tights, and Dr. Marten boots.

Spoon closed the show. They were really boring. Monica and her friend Stacy did some dances. I don’t know if it was because they were trying to get into the band or because they were hating. I was just chillin and kind of sad I couldn’t’ read anymore since it was dark. There was this girl who loved Spoon more than anything ever in life and she was doing all sorts of spastic dances all over the place. We agreed that it was time to go before Spoon was over. As we were leaving we heard Cut Copy on the B stage and they sounded good. Too bad we hadn’t been over there listening. Oh well.

Thus ended my weekend at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

INVASION OF THE MUD PEOPLE

2008-07-24T13:54:00.001-05:00

So I arose bright and early on Saturday morning, like around 10 and started to get ready for the day. I had a poncho and an umbrella stuffed in my bag and a plastic bag to carry them in if they got wet, which was going to happen. I headed down to the festival and got there before Monica but not before her cousins and their ridiculously adorable child. I spotted them and then saw this tiny tot in a sling with HUGE hot pink headphones covering her ears from the concert noises. The headphones pushed her cheeks up to make them extra bumby. When I arrived, Boban i Marko Markovick Orkester was warming up. They played a pretty groovy and fun set. It sounded something like klesmergypsyjazz. I only got rained on a little, not enough to warrant an umbrella or poncho.

Monica arrived in time for A Hawk and a Handsaw. During there set it flirted between umbrella time and poncho time. Then it definitely became poncho time so we busted them out. Ponchos are kind of awesome. A Hawk and a Handsaw were pretty chill; they had an accordion so that is always a good sign. Their music was a mix between calm, crazy, folk, and gypsy. There was a dude in the crowd with a crazy mustache and visors that went over the lenses of his sunglasses HA! Monica and I tested out the frontish area of the crowd for a while and then retreated to the blanket. I mean, we didn’t need to be all up there…yet.

Icy Demons was next, we needed to be all up there for them. Jamie showed up. Yeah Jamie! What a glorious band is Icy Demons. I don’t know how to explain them except to say that they like to have lots of fun and that they make me smile. I will try to explain them; harmonies, dances, percussion, crazy sweaty drummer that Monica wanted to touch, a smidgen of the ridiculous, and lots of bouncing around will have to suffice. During the show poncho time ended and the sun came out. They must have brought the good weather with their cheer.

It was time for some snacks and then we were going to see Fuck Buttons. Snacks were good Fuck Buttons, despite their excellent name and promising description were incredibly boring. We left to find a nice parking spot on the other side of the field for Vampire Weekend. We also managed to catch a good amount of Dizzee Rascals set. That dude was putting on an excellent show. Vampire Weekend’s show…not so much. I hadn’t really heard their music before but I had heard good things…I hope their album is more interesting then their performances. !!! was up next, if you are curious about that band don’t try to google them, according to an article Monica read they are one of the least ungoogleable bands ever. People often call them chk chk chk but I have also heard bam bam bam and pow pow pow. I think I’ll refer to them as exclamation exclamation exclamation because it’s funny. They freaking rocked though.

It was around that time that we noticed the mud people. I suppose that anytime there is rain at a festival you are going to get mud people. These fools were slip and sliding through mud pits. It was disgusting. They had mud mouths, mud bodies, mud everything. I shuddered every time they walked by our nice safe non-muddy blanket. At one point when I was all alone holding own the blanket fort there was some proper mud wrestling complete with a piledriver. I was pretty sad no one else saw it.

The Hold Steady were up next. They certainly put on a show but they aren’t really my kind of band, a little too regular or something. I’m not sure what it was that didn’t move me because they were pretty good. However, other than Icy Demons, Saturday belonged to Jarvis Cocker. He was AWESOME. He got up there in his little suit, although he had to lose the jacket because it was hot, and threw down. At one point we looked to the monitor and saw him singing and dancing, the next second he was on the ground writing like a true star. You go, Jarvis.

Animal Collective was the last band to play. They were supposed to be awesome. Maybe if I had been on many many drugs they would have been. I wasn’t even on beer cause I am terrified of the port-o-potties and vowed not to use them at all, and I didn’t, not once. There was this dude who was on lots of drugs and stared at us with much intensity while we folded up our nonmuddy blanket. After we were done he proceeded to lie down and get kind of trampled. Monica told some people who kind of stepped on him that they needed to leave her boyfriend alone and that he was embarrassing her. It was funny to us but the other folks didn’t get it. We left before Animal Collective was done cause I’m too old for a damn hippie jam band with a light show.

Sunday….

WE NEEDED A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD THOSE MF'S BACK

2008-07-23T16:20:00.000-05:00

So, Pitchfork (so named for Pitchfork Magazine) Festival was pretty freaking great. Monica, Jamie, others, and I had excellent times. Here’s a little rundown. I had hoped to add video to this but everything was streamed live and is not currently available. However, I bet it will be one of these days. I hope it will be.

Friday-
My one and only reason for being there on Friday was to see Public Enemy perform “It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back”. Monica was also happy to hear Sebadoh play “Bubble and Scrape” and, although I listened to it a few times and thought it was swell I didn’t much care. Public Enemy was what’s up. We arrived at about 6something (they went on at 8) and were able to walk right up to front and slightly (and I mean slightly) off center to chill and wait. We were able to hear Mission of Burma play some of “Vs.”, which was okay. Sebadoh sounded good, until The Bomb Squad decided to tune up during the acoustic part of the set.

Let me just say that the first note from the Bomb Squad reverberated my spleen. We all looked at each other and were like…”uh…earplugs?” We did manage to secure a pair from some security guards and covered them with some torn up medical gown or something of the like that our new friend Hilarie game us. The Bomb Squad didn’t seem to notice that Sebadoh was still playing and they started the show, they had to stop. This caused the more rude and jerky members of the audience to chant, “Sebadoh sucks” repeatedly, which is not true.

Let me just say that many of the “fans” who were there didn’t care dick about PE, they just wanted to see some Flavor Flav, which is bogus cause Chuck D is the man. There were some real fans there though. These dudes to the right of us were like, “man, I remember when this came out, I was in eighth grade and I thought, man, Black people really hate us…and they have a reason!” Monica and I burst into laughter. Another dude said, “It looks like hot topic exploded into a thrift store in here,” and I told him that was the funniest thing I had ever heard. He looked at me and Monica and didn’t reply…maybe he thought we were too thrift store.

As start time neared these same loser fans made the most horrible siren noises ever to signal the start of the album. I wanted to kill them. When the real siren noises came on I forgot about it, cause it was about to be AWESOME. It was around the beginning of the show that security guard James was replaced with Terrence, the most awesome security guard ever. Flavor forgot to come on stage for Bring The Noise, which was pretty silly. He was dealing with his family, who were a bunch of adorable kids who danced like madmen the whole show. We loved them. Then Terrence had Monica take some pictures and video on his phone, which may have been our ticket to later awesomeness. It could have also been that both our group and he were grooving like you wouldn’t believe.

The show was outstanding S1Ws were there stepping in their military gear, Professor Griff had no idea what he was doing there and couldn’t remember his verses but he was cool. Flavor called people out for booing him when he thanked the crowd for making him the #1 reality TV star of all time, “What are you a bunch of ghosts? Booo booo. Why don’t you be proud for a mother fucker?” He had a point. Then he tried to kill us and I wanted to boo his ass too. This fool had the idea to come up right on the other side of the rail to touch the fans. This means we were pressed into the rail and pushed all around. Monica and I threw elbows like crazy yelling at people to back the fuck up. After it calmed a little Monica pulled out her keys, to which Terrence replied “Come on now”. She didn’t have to use them. I was left with a bruise on my arm. Stupid Flavor Flav.

After finishing up the whole album Chuck D was like, “So we didn’t stop with that…we then did this…” and launched into Welcome to the Terrordome HELLS YEAH. He continued with other hits; Shut 'Em Down, He Got Game, 911 Is A Joke,Harder Than You Think, Can't Truss It, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, and Fight The Power to close it out. Freaking awesome. Home, to bed, and more for the next day...

ITS ONLY TUESDAY AND I'M ALL ABOUT THE WEEKEND

2008-07-15T12:48:00.001-05:00

I haven’t had much to say at all lately. Things have been pretty good though. I watched the first season of Mad Men so I’ll be all ready to go come season two. I seriously think that might be the best show that is currently on television. I’m not at all mad at Weeds either. That show is also pretty freaking good.

I’ve been spending a lot of time working on an absolutely impossible jigsaw puzzle. I’m at the point where I feel really excited about every piece that goes in. I only have the middle left but it consists of a bunch of snow covered pine trees. All the pieces are starting to look the same. When the sky is the easy part you know you have a hard puzzle on your hands. The pieces also seem to fit together very well even when they are wrong. I don’t think that is at all fair. If two pieces have matching patterns and fit together they should be the correct pieces. Not always the case with this stupid puzzle.

I don’t know why I like puzzles. I was talking to Friend last night and she was saying how they are completely frustrating and unrewarding. I have to agree with her. I don’t feel all that much satisfaction when I finish one. It’s just done. When I was a kid there were a few puzzles I would do over and over and time myself to see how fast I could get them done. Well, at least one. It was round and had a unicorn on it. It was pretty. I liked that puzzle a lot. I think it may be at fault for me believing that I like puzzles.

This weekend is the Pitchfork Music Festival. I am incredibly excited about going. Monica and I planned out our days pretty well. I think we are actually all set. Schedule is as follows

Friday night three bands will be playing full albums. I don’t know if we’ll get there in time for Mission of Burma playing Vs cause they start at 6. We’ll be there for Sebadoh Bubble and Scrape and Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. It promises to be pretty awesome.

Saturday we have to be there bright and early at 1:25 for A Hack & A Handsaw followed by Icy Demons and Fuck Buttons. We will then switch stages for Vampire Weekend, !!!, Jarvis Cocker, and Animal Collective. It will be a seriously rocking day.

Sunday we don’t have to be there until 3pm for The Apples in Stereo, probably the band I am most excited about seeing. Then M. Ward, Dinosaur Jr, and Spoon. We’ll possibly see some other stuff in there and we’ll eat some snacks while trying to avoid using the port o lets. It will be a good weekend. Luckily I have Monday off work and Tuesday is our team bonding day. It will be a good week I think. Reviews to come.

And songs to be revealed

1. Well its hard enough to get there/ On your own/ And it’s always time to pay the rent/ When you’re home. The Worst trip, Dr. Dog. (BOO MONICA BOO)

2. Are you afraid to go outside/ Are you afraid of what you might find/ baby girl, I understand it/ I seen it too and I don’t recommend it. I’m with You, The Ponys

3.Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ and I want it to be. All in Your Mind, Beck

4. Around the world/ Around the world/ Around the world/ Around the world. Around the World, Daft Punk. Identified by Brooke

5. And she was lying in the grass/ And she could hear the highway breathing/ And she could see a nearby factory/ She's making sure she isn't dreaming. And She Was, Talking Heads. Identified by Brooke.

OLYMPIC FEVER

2008-07-01T13:01:00.002-05:00

I have caught major Olympic fever. I’ve been watching the trials like crazy and just can’t wait to see more. I have four main sports for the summer games; gymnastics, swimming, diving, and track and field. It is interesting because even though Figure Skating is my ultimate sport of choice I thin I look forward to the Summer Olympics a little bit more. I suppose it is because I follow Figure Skating year round every year and I get just as excited about a world championship every year as I do about an Olympics every four years. The summer Olympics are new, exciting, things I only watch when Olympic fever hits.

Even though I love the sports mentioned above I know very little about those who compete in them. Sure I know the gymnast twins Paul and Morgan Haam, they competed a few times in Ninja Warrior, and Michael Phelps, the God of Swimming but that is really it. Watching the trials I get to pick out favorites for no reason other than I like their name, the cut of their jib, or something particularly cool that they do. I have already seen one favorite, Raj Bhavsar, not get selected for the Olympic Gymnastics team even though he was the closest one to automatically qualify. He came very close four years ago so I was really pulling for him to get to go this time but it just didn’t happen. Some others have caught my attention.

I’ve saw a perfect dive off the platform from 30 year old Laura Wilkinson. Is there anything more awesome then someone ripping through the water without a splash? It doesn’t even seem possible. I saw world records broken by both Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff in the 400 meter medley. I saw a 400m hurdler fall and knock into Sheena Tosta who somehow still managed to come in third and secure a spot on the Olympic team and in the Men’s 400m hurdles, Bershaun Jackson beat men with legs as long as he is tall (not really) to win the race. I fumed as NBCs HD feed kept shorting out over and over causing me to miss some races.

However, the thing that is possibly the most exciting about the Olympics is to see all the people from the rest of the world who are amazing at what they do and I have no idea who they are. With the games in China, their team should be on fire. I’ll look for strong contenders in diving, swimming, and gymnastics. I don’t know so much about their track skills? It is still great to see everyone come out and perform at the top of their game.

Come 8.8.08 we will bear witness to thrills of victory and agonies of defeat. We will cheer as people we never heard of before awe our senses and win our hearts. If you ask me, it can’t come soon enough.

1. Well its hard enough to get there/ On your own/ And it’s always time to pay the rent/ When you’re home

2. Are you afraid to go outside/ Are you afraid of what you might find/ baby girl, I understand it/ I seen it too and I don’t recommend it

3.Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ and I want it to be

4. Around the world/ Around the world/ Around the world/ Around the world

5. And she was lying in the grass/ And she could hear the highway breathing/ And she could see a nearby factory/ She's making sure she isn't dreaming

WEDDING CRASHERS

2008-06-30T13:59:00.004-05:00

On Friday I felt horrible so I slept and slept and slept. I thought my allergies had gone insane but after I woke up this morning lying on a big old damp pillow I realized my fever had broken. What fever was my initial question but then I realized it was the fever that the night before I had dismissed as some warmth from a few beers. I feel much better now.

I thought I felt much better Saturday night when I attempted to attend a going away party for this dude and his lady. I made it to the spot just fine and was having a fine time discussing the first CDs we ever owned (one of this dudes was the score from Terminator 2, hence me calling him a dude and not putting him out there for all to mock. Yes I said score, not soundtrack, score.), mine was He’s The DJ I’m The Rapper, which is a fine album to this day. Chanda mentioned that she was hungry and as I hadn’t eaten in a good 7 hours I thought going with her to procure some snacks might be fun. And it was.

We went to this spot called El Cid and I got some cactus and cheese tamales. MMM. So rare to score a vegetarian tamale. While eating Chanda and I noticed that we have the same phone. We thought that was cool. We also selected the same blue patterned background for our screen. Chanda mentioned how funny it would be if we had the same ring so she called me…and immediately burst out laughing. I called her and laughed as well, it really was the best ring available. My phone does have a Lewis News ’08 sticker on it and hers does not but it was still pretty awesome.

As we are walking back to the bar we happen upon a group of dudes. They start talking, we talk back, I wanted to keep walking because I think random strangers are…strange but Chanda was really chatting it up so I rolled with it. Eventually they mention that they are at a wedding reception and invite us to come up. I would have just left but Chanda, being much smarter than me, said we would go in. It was AWESOME. Our friends were a bunch of West Indian Hindi guys and the bride’s family was from some Latin country that I can’t recall so the music was a mix of like reggaeton and bollywood. As soon as we got inside we were ushered into a conga line. We also learned how to dance to the bollywood type music.

1. Put one hand up, palm to the sky, as if you were holding a plate
2. Put your other hand up and screw in a light bulb
3. Shrug shoulders while holding the plate and turning the light bulb

Best. Dance. Ever.
If you don't want to screw in the lightbulb, twirling a napkin also works. The plate must remain in place.

We got introduced to everyone; cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, the groom and were welcomed pretty openly despite our obvious lack of knowledge of anyone and not particularly festive dress. As usual I was in a skirt (but not a fancy one) and Chanda had on jeans (but heels). At one point Monica stopped in to bring Chanda her camera and marveled at all the fun we were obviously having. Although we were asked to go to the after party we had to decline. It was far and we did have prior obligations. But we got a greap group photo!

Sadly, as soon as I got back to the bar the people I was going to share a cab home with were ready to go so I really didn’t do a very good job of going to a good bye party but so it goes. Instead I crashed my first wedding and had an excellent story to tell.

1. She says my ass hurts when I sit down/ She says my feet hurt when I’m standing around/ I think my body is as restless as my mind and I don’t think I can roll with it this time. Roll With It, Ani DiFranco. Identified by Brooke

2. I can’t believe that it’s real/ the way that you make me feel/ A burning deep down inside/ A love that I can not hide. Here I Am (Come and Take Me), Al Green. Identified by Brooke.

3. Well its hard enough to get there/ On your own/ And it’s always time to pay the rent/ When you’re home

4. Are you afraid to go outside/ Are you afraid of what you might find/ baby girl, I understand it/ I seen it too and I don’t recommend it

5.Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ Well it’s all in your mind/ It’s all in your mind/ and I want it to be

BLOGGING ABOUT BLOGGING

2008-06-26T14:56:00.002-05:00

So I haven’t had much to blog about in a little while and that is pretty okay with me. I just haven’t been felling it. I just decided that when something came to me I would write about it and when nothing did I wouldn’t force it. Plus, it’s the summer and while that should mean that I have tons to say about all the hot ass messes in Chicago that think they are doing something cute when they walk out of the house in the morning it doesn’t. Maybe I would have people to comment on if I carried a camera with me all the time, or maybe if I had a USB cable so I could plug my camera into a computer…maybe.

My sister has started to beat me at wordtwist. I find this slightly depressing. I think I may have to step up my game, maybe try to type properly for once or practice a ton. I don’t like my sister to beat me at things. I don’t care if my friends do but they aren’t my sister. Actually, I am just glad that I have another challenging person to play with. It would be better if I won more than I have been though.

Anyway, the thing that got me thinking I needed to blog was my blog. I opened my email this morning and got a comment from someone named Stephen saying I blogged about him and I was pretty confused because I don’t know anyone named Stephen. Then, I went to the post and it was the one about that VH1 show “The Pickup Artist” and Stephen was the guy Spoon that I thought was pretty awesome and was sad to see leave the show cause he was a pretty chill dude. This also means that he was googling himself, which shows me that he is a very normal guy. He also has the prettiest dog ever. Monica, go to his myspace page and look at his dog. It will make you die. Tony wondered that if Spoon invited me to be his myspace friend that he was maybe going to try his Pickup Artist skills on me. I kind of doubt it...dude has hella myspace friends.

That is all. I will reveal songs. I have no idea how long they have been there but I suppose it is long enough. Crap, I can’t find my list. I’ll do my best.

1. She feels like/ A stranger has come in the night/ And stolen her life/ And left her with this. Something I’m too tired to look up by Man Man.

2. Looking at the devil/ Grinning at his gun/ Fingers start shaking/ I begin to run. Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself, Sly and the Family stone

3. Oh so long/ For this night I’ve prayed/ That a star/ Would guide you my way/ To share with/ Me this special day. Ribbons in the Sky, Stevie Wonder

4. I love the time and in between/ The calm inside me/ In the space where I can breathe/ I believe there is a distance I have wandered to touch upon the years of/ Reaching out and reaching in. Something off Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLaughlin.

HOPES FOR THE WEEKEND

2008-06-20T13:32:00.004-05:00

When I woke up this morning I could have sworn it was Saturday. It wasn’t. However, it was Friday, which is the day before my three day weekend. I have to give credit to my employer; their idea of summer hours is quite nice. You work 7 extra hours every pay period (45min a day) and get a three day weekend every other week. I have to admit that there are some days when the extra 45 min are a bit of a bummer to do but it all get cancelled out when I wake up every other Monday morning and don’t have to go to work. Also, Tony’s weekend is Sunday and Monday so it will be nice to get some extra time together. We’ll finally be able to go to the cemetery!

I am hoping that we’ll go this weekend but I don’t know if that will end up happening. It doesn’t matter though, we have all summer. In case any of you think it is strange that I am all geared up about going to the cemetery you just may be right. However, Graceland Cemetery is no ordinary place. Many of the great makers of Chicago are buried there and they have quite impressive looking gravesites. I think I was first inspired to make the trip by a post Blondie did about the place. She took wonderful pictures including one of “The Girl in the Glass Case” which captured my attention. She also mentioned there was a lake on site. Johnny Yen also had a nice post about the place and I learned from him that you can pick up guide books at the front entrance. I was hooked. This meancing looking fellow marks the grave of Dexter Graves, a hotel guy. I just think it's particularly awesome looking and wanted to include it.

So anyway, it should be pretty awesome. If I don’t end up going I can always finish up Heavenly Sword. That is one fun game (even though I can’t block properly for crap) and I'm finally becoming an acceptable shooter.

1. She feels like/ A stranger has come in the night/ And stolen her life/ And left her with this

2. Looking at the devil/ Grinning at his gun/ Fingers start shaking/ I begin to run

3. Oh so long/ For this night I’ve prayed/ That a star/ Would guide you my way/ To share with/ Me this special day

4. I love the time and in between/ The calm inside me/ In the space where I can breathe/ I believe there is a distance I have wandered to touch upon the years of/ Reaching out and reaching in

5. Something in the way you love me won’t let me be/ I don’t want to be your prisoner so baby won’t you set me free

ON CHEATING AND CELEBRATION

2008-06-19T13:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Juneteenth Folks! If you don’t know what that means look it up, learn a little something. On this glorious day I will be celebrating by playing video games and eating a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. Sure my actions will have absolutely nothing to do with the holiday itself but it sure will feel good doing them.

Monica and I have been taken over by a game called wordtwist on Facebook. If you happen to know this game and are awesome at it please, feel free to challenge us. If you are not awesome you will more than likely be destroyed. In our efforts to become even more awesome at this game (she is a little more awesome than me but we are essentially equal in awesomeness) we have decided to cheat at scrabble to learn more seven letter words. I know that cheating is wrong but since we are agreed on the matter and are using the cheating as a learning opportunity to better ourselves it is okay. Plus, if we are only cheating while playing each other and we are both doing it is it really cheating? Probably not.

The other day I watched Seven Samurai. I have no idea why it took me so long to see this film. It was pretty incredible. It was also incredibly long. For me to not get bored watching a 208min movie that is black and white and has subtitles something pretty freaking awesome must be happening. I’m not entirely sure why I liked it so much but those samurai were some stand up fellows.

The top chef reunion show was pretty bogus. No dirt was strewn about. I was somewhat disappointed. It was a happy-loving-huggy affair. I do kind of almost sort of want an “I have a culinary boner” t-shirt but I would never wear it so I don’t.

Oh! Sulu got married!!! George Takei and his partner looked so happy over there in California. It just made me smile. I love Sulu. I love the original Star Trek. I am pretty curious as to the new movie. I am not curious (no I am, I lied) about the Prince of Persia movie. While I am positive that Jake Gyllenhal is not the best guy to play the prince and I wish they had picked someone slightly swarthier I am not sure who the best person would really be. I thin I decided that dude who played the shrink in “Sunshine” (which I think no one has seen) is the best I have come up with. At least Jake is better than Orlando Bloom.

1. She feels like/ A stranger has come in the night/ And stolen her life/ And left her with this

2. Looking at the devil/ Grinning at his gun/ Fingers start shaking/ I begin to run

3. Come/ As you are/ As you were/ As I want you to be. Come As You Are, Nirvana. Identified by Mom.

4. Oh so long/ For this night I’ve prayed/ That a star/ Would guide you my way/ To share with/ Me this special day

5. Dawn is a feeling/ A beautiful ceiling/ The smell of grass just lets you pass/ Into a dream. Dawn: Dawn is a Feeling, The Moody Blues. Identified by Mom.

SADNESS REDEEMED

2008-06-16T13:57:00.002-05:00

The weekend started off wonderfully. I went out for a quick drink with some co-workers, went on a nice walk, and had my Mom come pick me up so we could watch some basketball. I wasn’t all that excited about the basketball but my folks love the NBA and Kevin Garnett in particular. Even though he is no longer a MN player, he remains near and dear to their hearts. We watched the Celtics getting their butts kicked and then stopped and watched Ratatouille instead. The Celtics ended up pulling it out though and we saw some post-game coverage.

I had a day off on Friday and was happily lounging around my apartment when I turned on the computer and saw that Tim Russert had died. I’m not one to watch many politically focused talk shows, or any talk shows for that matter. However, if I had to choose three to watch it would have been; Charlie Rose, Inside the Actors Studio, and Meet the Press.

I never planned to see Charlie Rose, sometimes nothing else would be on and it was always a good standby. I also never planned to see Inside the Actors Studio but I would often notice it was on and see someone I wouldn’t mind hearing an interview with. Meet The Press was different. I certainly didn’t always plan to watch it and I often didn’t remember that it was on, however, if there had been some particularly juicy happenings during the week I would occasionally look forward to hearing what Russert had to say about it. I found him to be very fair, and rather funny. He was someone who I would love to just sit down with and hear him tell stories. I wouldn’t have thought that his death would make me as sad as it did but there really isn’t anyone out there that does what he did, or at least nowhere near as well. I’ll miss the guy.

Mom and I took a nice trip to Target and then we picked up Monica to eat at Irizu, a Costa Rican place. Monica made us try Oatmeal Shakes and I was quite hesitant but then very pleased. They tasted like cookie dough. The food was none to shabby either. On Saturday morning I awoke and called Mom to have her come and pick me up. When she arrived at the door I opened it only to find Dad heading up the stairs. The sun of a gun surprised me! It was wonderful to see him and we proceeded to have a fantastic weekend together. Sat night Tony, the parents, and I went for dinner at a Pakistani restaurant. I forgot it was Pakistani and thought it was Indian, because the food is so similar it was easy to do. The food was delicious but they didn’t have appetizers on the menu and that bummed me out. Also I thought I was ordering chick peas and I got lentils. Not that it really mattered because the food was very good and I like lentils. I think their mango lassi and naan were some of the best I have ever had. Mom took pictures of Tony and I that she must send to me because we have none and they are the best to date I think (hint hint). We came home and watched Sunshine, which is like a faster version of 2001 with a different plot and Cillian Murphy. It was enjoyable. Anything with Cillian Murphy is enjoyable. After my folks left Tony and I watched the new Rambo movie on Blu-ray. Can I just say BEST EXPLODING PEOPLE EVER! If you like to see people explode the last 30 minutes of this movie is a must see and the rest won’t make you mad either. If you like plot…maybe not your thing.

On Sunday I showed Dad the last 30 minutes of Rambo because I know he likes exploding people and we tried the new Uncommon Ground by my apartment for brunch and were incredibly happy with our decision. Best Sweet Potato Fries I have ever had! The chili was okay but I’ll order something else next time. Then we went on a shopping extravaganza that completely tired me out. We stopped at the cheesecake factory for a snack and ended up with a meal. The Fried Macaroni and Cheese was very tasty but I could have used a little more macaroni in mine. Not that I’m complaining. Ever since I saw Alton Brown pull that treat of death off I wanted to try some. The Avocado Eggrolls were delicious and I was a little iffy on warm avocado. It wasn’t too warm though. We also got some fire roasted artichokes and they were quite good but I wasn’t incredibly happy with either of the dipping sauces they came with. We got cheesecake to go cause we were so full and I still have the better part of my piece in the fridge at home. MMMM Key Lime Cheesecake. I eat a lot when my parents are in town. We watched the game Sunday night and it was a pretty good battle but unfortunately the Celtics couldn’t pull it out. I almost want to watch other games in the series now because they got me into it…almost.

1. She feels like/ A stranger has come in the night/ And stolen her life/ And left her with this

2. You always felt like Suede/ there are days I feel your twin/ Peekaboo/ Hiding underneath your skin. Suede, Tori Amos. Identified by Brooke.

3. I’m a pixie/ I’m a paper doll. I’m a cartoon/ I’m a chipper cheerful free for all and I light up a room. Pixie, Ani DiFranco, Identified by Brooke.

4. Well there ain’t no/ Ain't no telling baby/ when you will see me again/ But I pray it will be tomorrow. Ain't No telling, Jimi Hendrix. Identified by Brooke.

5. Looking at the devil/ Grinning at his gun/ Fingers start shaking/ I begin to run

WEEKEND RECAP STUFFS

2008-06-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went to a silly party where we dressed as people from the 80s and tried to solve a murder mystery. It was a rockin’ good time. The murder was apparently solved within the first minute or so but wasn’t divulged so that people could continue to play. Some people were in possession of clues and some people had to do dares to get clues. This was a bad idea because people I know are evil.

I dared Patrick to give Monica a wet willie because it would completely gross her out and was an inside joke.

Patrick dared Monica to give me a wedgie, which was completely awful and also had to be done repeatedly because Patrick just wouldn’t look. At least one of them was real.

I dared Patrick to run around the table and go “Woo Woo”

Patrick dared Monica to walk around with a beat box saying “I am a chicken”

I think the point was to dare people you didn’t know to do stuff but being painfully introverted that wasn’t going to happen. It was still a fun party. So fun that I slept until 5pm the next day because every time I woke up before then I decided that it was too unpleasant to be alive.

Tony and I have decided that our television is too big to watch some regular TV program on. Certain channels are fine, Top Chef looks great. However, some programs don’t have particularly good resolution. This makes them look extra horrible on our very large TV with excellent resolution. Most of the things that I really enjoy watching look good though so I don’t have too much to complain about. Since Food Network, HGTV, and most premium channels have HD offerings I’m pretty good. Last night we watched Billy Madison on demand in HD and seeing Adam Sandler paddling around on his floating pool chair was more hilarious than ever before. I thought he was going to paddle right onto our couch. I still can’t figure out why the 120hz doesn’t seem to be on though.

Mom is coming tomorrow and I am incredibly excited. However, my house is not ready for her. We cleaned the living room yesterday but the front room is a disaster and the kitchen and bathroom could use some serious work. I know what I’m doing tonight. She graciously offered not to come inside until it was clean but I would like her to be able to visit the inside sooner rather than later. I have to make her brussel sprouts.

1. We’re in the movies/ Watching some people move their mouths/ And a religious figure/ Whose not really a religious figure/ Cause he’s an actor. The Opera House, Olivia Tremor Control

2. It never really mattered too much to me/ That I was just too damn old to MC/ All that really mattered is if your rhymes was ill/ Girl that’s all that really mattered to me. Great Day, Madvillian

3. Tulip Baroo/ Tulip Baroo/ The magnetic roller-skater wears a bonnet of blue/ Bonnet of blue. Tulip Baroo, of Montreal

5. Girlfriend/ I’m gonna tell your boyfriend/ Yeah/ Tell him/ Exactly what we’re doing/ Yeah. Girlfriend, Michael Jackson

LET'S GET THIS TOGETHER

2008-06-04T13:34:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot the primaries were on last night. Tony and I were watching Gilmore Girls (I know, I know) and were pretty oblivious to the outside world. After a few episodes I remembered it was a pretty big night and turned on the TV to see the primary results. They were pretty much what I had expected to see. I was a little surprised to see the check mark next to Obama’s name showing him as the presumptive nominee. I smiled and went back to my mind numbing show.

I haven’t heard the full speeches that were given last night by any of the candidates but I have heard clips and have seen plenty of commentary (not that you can really trust commentary). I certainly think the next few days will be interesting. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if HRC takes it to Denver, although I do think that it would be ill advised. When the opportunity for a graceful exit comes along it generally should be taken.

Regardless of what happens it is important to remember that history has been made, just as it would have been made had Hillary won the nomination. A lot of work has to be done to reunite the party and I feel that the biggest thing that should be on the minds of those who are thinking of leaving the party and voting for McCain or not voting at all should be the Supreme Court. We’re talking up to three new appointments in the next presidential term and that carries decades of weight. I hope we can come together and do what’s right.

1. We’re in the movies/ Watching some people move their mouths/ And a religious figure/ Whose not really a religious figure/ Cause he’s an actor

2. It never really mattered too much to me/ That I was just too damn old to MC/ All that really mattered is if your rhymes was ill/ Girl that’s all that really mattered to me

3. Tulip Baroo/ Tulip Baroo/ The magnetic roller-skater wears a bonnet of blue/ Bonnet of blue

4. When you sleep/ Where do your fingers go/ What do your fingers know/ What do your fingers show.

5. Girlfriend/ I’m gonna tell your boyfriend/ Yeah/ Tell him/ Exactly what we’re doing/ Yeah

WHAT MY MIND HAS BEEN FILLED WITH

2008-06-03T14:57:00.004-05:00

I have been so incredibly full of stimulation that I haven’t had any idea what to write about. For someone who generally has nothing happen to them, the past week has been overflowing with stuffs and it isn’t over yet. Last Thursday, Monica, Jamie, and I went to dinner and to see Avenue Q. I loved it. There were times when I wasn’t as into it as others but overall it was incredibly fantastic. Monica and Jamie were sucked into the cute world of the Bad Idea Bears, and I liked them too. The bears were hilarious, they had very bad ideas and convinced people that they were good ideas by their powers of cuteness. Come to think of it, Natalie as a child had a lot in common with the Bad Idea Bears. Maybe it was because of that fact that I was not taken in by them. I was immediately in love with Trekkie Monster the second that his hairy face appeared on the stage. Here is a glimpse of him in all his horny glory.

On Saturday Tony and I got a wonderful delivery, our 52inch Samsung Touch of Color Series 7 arrived! Tony was at work and when I saw the TV being carted off the truck I gasped because it was really big. When they set it up on our entertainment center I was still amazed at how big it was. It fits and everything but MAN is that thing big. After I finally got the closed captions to turn off (thanks Dad) I settled down to a weekend of television glory. The picture is amazing, so amazing that we watched golf simply because it was beautiful. Video games are unreal on this thing. I pulled out Uncharted: Drakes Fortune because the graphics were amazing on our old TV (which is still a perfectly fine piece of machinery) to see what it would look like and I was amazed. It’s so real. The only thing is we can’t figure out how to make the 120 Hz stay on. I think it might only kick in for certain things because the TV says it is on but then the info still says 60 Hz. Oh well, I’ll figure it out. Don’t even get me started on the blu-ray stuffs. Man I love my TV.

I guess the fact that an incredibly over stimulating time consisted of a play and a television delivery should maybe make me reconsider my measurement of over stimulating. At least the next few days will be busy.

Tomorrow night I will be going to see Jamie Lidell, again with Jamie and Monica. It will be different from the last show we saw him do because he will have a band. I am very interested to see how it will work. Here’s a glimpse of the last show.

Thursday is my birthday and that is probably the least eventful thing that is going on. I just don’t care about 29. I’ll care next year. On Friday Chanda is having a murder mystery party and I am pretty excited about it. Tony’s mom might be coming into town for Blues Fest this weekend and Mom is going to be coming in for a conference next Tuesday. The stimulation just won’t stop.

1. We’re in the movies/ Watching some people move their mouths/ And a religious figure/ Whose not really a religious figure/ Cause he’s an actor

2. It never really mattered too much to me/ That I was just too damn old to MC/ All that really mattered is if your rhymes was ill/ Girl that’s all that really mattered to me

3. Tulip Baroo/ Tulip Baroo/ The magnetic roller-skater wears a bonnet of blue/ Bonnet of blue

4. Let's all get up and dance to a song that was a hit before your mother was born/ Though she was born a long long time ago/ Your mother should know. Your Mother Should Know, Identified by, Michael.

5. When you sleep/ Where do your fingers go/ What do your fingers know/ What do your fingers show.

AN EMPTY MIND

2008-05-29T12:37:00.001-05:00

There hasn’t been much on my mind lately. Tony and I got our TV, which is pretty exciting to us but not so much to the vast majority of the human population. It is getting delivered on Saturday and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow night getting everything ready for it. Tonight I am going to see Avenue Q with Monica and Jamie and that should be wicked awesome. I suppose I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

Basically I have been walking around with my head buried deep within Atlas Shrugged and being a total recluse. It’s pretty cool. Atlas Shrugged is basically the same book as The Fountainhead but longer. Although I am only about 400 pages into it I can safely assume that my assumption is correct. There are people motivated by industry and construction, people who punish themselves for having sexual desires contrasted with those who revel in them, Government type folks who just can’t seem to leave those bloody capitalists alone, Sentences dripping with the absolute horror of any remotely socialist ideals, and tons of self-righteous boobs of all sorts running around. It’s wonderful.

1. We’re in the movies/ Watching some people move their mouths/ And a religious figure/ Whose not really a religious figure/ Cause he’s an actor

2. There’s a man I’ve found who could bring us all joy/ There’s a doctor I’ve found could cure the boy. There's a Dr. I've Found, The Who. Identified by, Mom.

3. It never really mattered too much to me/ That I was just too damn old to MC/ All that really mattered is if your rhymes was ill/ Girl that’s all that really mattered to me

4. Tulip Baroo/ Tulip Baroo/ The magnetic roller-skater wears a bonnet of blue/ Bonnet of blue

5. Annie’s twelve years old in two more she’ll be a whore/ Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way/ Don’t be afraid with the quickness you’ll get laid/ For your family get paid it’s the wrong way. Wrong Way, Sublime. Identified by Mom. Mom, I'm kind of sorry that you know this one. Maybe I can blame it on Sisterhead.

THE BEST THING ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS

2008-05-21T14:28:00.002-05:00

I haven’t had much to say lately, which is strange because I feel that I have been very busy. I guess I have enjoyed playing word games on Facebook more than blogging lately. Therefore, during my lunches I sit down to have a quick game of something and then notice an hour has passed and I have no time to write anything. Again, not that anything interesting would be said. Maybe I should change my blog name back to “I Have Nothing Interesting To Say: Read Me”.

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis, as I always do. It is truly a great city. On Thursday I went out for Thai food with Roxanne, my oldest friend. She isn’t the oldest of my friends but I have known her since I was about 6mo old so she is really more like family than friend. I mean I’ve known her longer than my sister. It is amazing that we still enjoy each others company as much as we do. Anyway, the point of my story was that we went out for Thai food and I got to eat mock duck. I don’t know what it is about Minneapolis that every Thai and Vietnamese place has mock duck on the menu but it is a wonderful thing. Maybe there is a mock duck factory in the twin cities somewhere that I have never heard of. What I wouldn’t do to get some proper mock duck here in Chicago. Sure my family lives in Minneapolis. Sure I love the quiet vibe of an ever more cosmopolitan city. Sure I get to see old friends who mean the world to me. Regardless, mock duck is quite possibly the best thing in Minneapolis.

Of course I have no idea if the mock duck tastes anything like real duck but I do know that it tastes delicious. It’s moist and firm and chewy all at the same time. It has a fantastic flavor and it makes me incredibly happy. I ordered mock duck pad thai at a level five spicy out of five and didn’t even need to put more hot sauce on it, although I could have. It was nice and red with spice when it arrived on my plate. It even had big tofu pieces along with the mock duck! Usually they just put some little crap pieces in there if it isn't your main "meat". I have to do some research and find out where I can get some of this wonderful product and make my own mock ducky dishes. I actually just did a google search for "mock duck chicago" and found a restaurant that serves the stuff. Dharma Garden here I come. I should also mention that the first entry on google was from someone who went to college in Minneapolis and was lamenting the mockducklessness of Chicago.

On Friday the entire family (parents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and grandparents) went for dinner at Cristos, a Greek restaurant. The food there was incredibly delicious as well. I ordered dessert, which I never do, and tasted a little piece of heaven called milopita. This thing was filo dough wrapped around baked apples in a ricotta/cream cheese mixture. There was some kind of sweet wonderful sauce all around it. I won’t want another one for about five years because it was incredibly rich but it was certainly something wonderful to store in the back of my, “delicious things to eat” corner of my mind.

I also saw two movies, Iron Man and Prince Caspian, which is insane because I never go out to the movies. It was great fun even though I took a benadryl, which never make me sleepy but miraculously did that day, before going to see Iron Man and dosed a little bit. Oh well, just gives me more reason to see it again. I now have to reread Prince Caspian because, while I think it was similar to the book, if it didn’t follow the story closely it was a total Two Towers rip off. Then again, the first one was very true to the story so I’m not really sure why it wouldn’t be. If anyone remembers and will let me know so that I can continue to read Atlas Shrugged (which I am enjoying immensely although not as much as The Fountainhead) and not have to bother with minor literary distractions. Then again, literary distractions can be cool as I just read a book called Running With Walker, which was a father’s memoir of taking care of his autistic son and was incredibly glad that I did.

Now for the song reveal

2. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran. Barre Baby, Big Moe.

5. They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now I’m coming to reward them. First We Take Manhattan, Leonard Cohen

PACKIN MY BAGS GOING AWAY

2008-05-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow I am getting on a plane and flying to Minneapolis. I hate the journey to the airport but I love when the doors to the plane close and we take off. I know I’ll be home soon.

This trip is a pretty big one. Mom is graduating with a Masters degree in something that I don’t understand and took her about three sentences to explain to me and I still don’t get it. I think it has something to do with education and community development. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of her. If I recall correctly this is actually her first graduation. I could be wrong but I don’t think she walked in High School or for either one of her Bachelor’s degrees. This is a pretty big deal and I am so glad I get to be there.

I love Minneapolis. It’s a great time of year to be there. It would be better in about a month but this will do. The city is beautiful and I can’t help but smile as I drive around and see all the green and the blue. They weren’t kidding when they called Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes. Even though there is a big old lake on the East side of Chicago I don’t get the same watery satisfaction here that I do at home. It’s a serene place.

I’ll hang with the family, see some friends, and relax as much as possible. It should be a good couple days. Sometimes I wish that Minneapolis was as close as Evanston but most of the time I am glad of where it is because I can truly go away and still feel at home.

1. I know I should get next to you/ You’ve got a look that made me think you’re cool/ But it’s just sexual attraction/ Not something real so I’d rather keep wackin’. Why Bother, Weezer. Identified by Monica

2. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran

3. Oh Baby Baby how was I supposed to know/ That something wasn’t right here/ Oh Baby Baby I shouldn’t have let you go. Baby One More Time, Britney Spears. Identified by Brooke.

4. Make of our hands one hand/ Make of our hearts one heart/ Make of our vows one last vow/ Only death will part us now. One Hand One Heart, West Side Story. Identified by Mom.

5. They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now I’m coming to reward them

SHAKING THINGS UP ON A FRIDAY MORNING

2008-05-09T12:58:00.002-05:00

So there I am, sitting in my office, and a strange voice comes over the loudspeaker.

“Everything is clear, you may return to the building.”

I was a little flummoxed. I hadn’t left the building. If I was supposed to leave why didn’t anyone tell me? I know I keep to myself somewhat but not to the point that people would forget that I work here. Seconds later the voice spoke again.

“This is a bomb threat.”

“Really,” I said as people started to grab their things and leave the office. I grabbed the iPod, my bag, and a coat and headed outside.

For the last few weeks the University has been talking about their new safety alert system. They did a test last week and I got a voicemail message, a text message, and an email. I left my cell phone at home today so I don’t know if I got the text or voicemail but no one else did so I am guessing no. I certainly didn’t get an email.

We all went outside and pondered why we were evacuated and got no alerts. We also wondered why only five or six people actually heard the announcement. Some people heard garbled mess, others heard nothing. It was clear as a bell in my office so that is good to know. We wondered why so many of the evacuated people were standing directly outside the doors of the building. Our staff was across the street at a parking lot. I suppose that we may not have been far enough away but at least we weren’t directly in front of the doors.

After about ten minutes someone came by and mentioned that it was simply a mistake. Someone must have accidentally hit the “bomb threat” button on the loudspeaker. We were all allowed back inside. The day continued and all is well.

Random song time

1. Been spending most their lives living in a pastime paradise/ Been spending most their lives living in a pastime paradise/ Been wasting most their time glorifying the days long gone behind. Pastime Paradise, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Brooke

2. Snow can wait I’ve forgot my mittens/ Wipe my nose/ Get my new boots on. Winter, Tori Amos. Identified by Brooke

3. I know I should get next to you/ You’ve got a look that made me think you’re cool/ But it’s just sexual attraction/ Not something real so I’d rather keep wackin’

4. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran

5. I/ hurt myself today/ To see if I still feel/ I/ Focus on the pain/ The only thing that’s real. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails. Identified by Brooke

LOOPTOPIA PART DEUX

2008-05-05T13:09:00.001-05:00

On Friday, Monica and I decided to venture to the festivities that are called Looptopia on Friday night. After the debacle that was last year we didn’t hope for much. We scoured the activities and had a rather difficult time finding anything we were incredibly inspired to do. We decided to walk to Daley Plaza and figure it out more from there.

We sat by this sculpture thing that one of the creators described to us an an inefficient system. It was made up of three inflated beach ball type things that were slowly deflating. Atop said balloons sat a city and the whole contraption was hooked up to three stationary bikes. You had to pedal the bikes to keep the balls inflated or the city would fall. It was about cooperation. I think it was a metaphor for the entire evening.

While at the plaza it rained a little but not too much. We decided to head to the cultural center, a place of madness the year before, and check out this sketch comedy thing. One side was locked so we went to the other. Believe it or not there was a line to get in that wrapped around the building. AS IF!!! We decided to walk to some bars and see if old co-workers were hanging out.

We passed some people doing strange performance art type things in the windows of Macy’s and then heard a noise…it sounded like…Assholes! They were obnoxious, they were hollering, they were not the real Obnoxious Hollering Assholes but they were pretty cool. The group was about five people in orange jumpsuits making noise and marching down the street. Monica and I fell in line behind them and did little dances and went Woo! Eventually she busted out her kazoo and played along. I don’t think they even noticed. We followed them for about five blocks or so until they stopped. It was the best time of the evening.

We tried one bar and found no old co-workers. It started to rain a bit so we busted out my umbrella and started walking to the other bar. On the way we made up a new band. Monica is in the Assholes and I am not exactly in the Assholes but sometimes I make appearances. The Assholes do not have lyrics and I prefer bands that do. As the two of us have written awesome songs before, it is only fitting that we have a band that sings actual songs. Look for us, we’re called That One Band Right There. Forthcoming songs include; That One Song, That Rap Song, The Song that Goes Like That, and our soon to be smash hit single Insideoutafied. We thought about selling tapes out the back of our pockets but then realized it would be better to have people send us money and then we would email them mp3s of our songs. As soon as we get a closed door creative type song writing session scheduled it’s on. We may even cover Emo Boy, a wonderful song by our other band that used The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” as inspiration. That One Band Right There is headed for stardom.

Anyway, our co-workers weren’t at the other bar either and it was raining like crazy so we went home. One of my co-workers said that Looptopia was rumored to be a roaring party and a smashing success. Maybe it was, but I missed it.

1. Horses in my dreams/ Like waves like the sea/ They pull out of here/ They pull they are free. Horses in my Dreams, PJ Harvey

2. Oh here we go again/ It’s time for the same arguments about/ About that and a little bit of this. ShadowBox, The Ponys

3. What about the time/ You were rolling over/ Fell on your face/ You must be having fun. Slippery People, Talking Heads

4. Unexplainable things will happen when we really see into each others eyes/ Right/ So why is it we rarely find the time to see each other in the eyes. Eyes, Apollo Sunshine

MUSINGS ABOUT STUFF

2008-04-30T13:05:00.001-05:00

I’m sitting here eating this “eating right” bar of the peanut butter crisp variety and I am really wishing that it was a Tiger’s Milk Bar. It almost tastes like one but it isn’t. When I was young, I would go on trips to Sears with Mom and Sisterhead and we would go to this section where there were treats and I would get Tiger’s Milk Bars and this absolutely divine red licorice that I think was slightly raspberry flavored and it had a panda on the box. Sears, like many of my childhood memories, is Sepia toned. The yellowish nature of the memory could also be due to cheap fluorescent lighting. I have no recollection of what was around this section of the store but I do remember shelving and these brightly colored treats staring at me from the dull metal shelving.

I wonder if Mom had other reasons for going to Sears. Was there generally other shopping involved? Did we just go there for Tiger’s Milk Bars and Licorice? Was it even Sears? Were there other treats that I don’t remember as well? Luckily, Mom reads the blog so she can probably answer some of these questions.

The building that was once Sears isn’t anymore. I don’t know if it is anything. I don’t know if it is even standing. I don’t know much about how the old neighborhood looks. Whenever I go home I rarely stop by. There isn’t much there and what is there makes me a little bit sad. I remember driving past the condo where I lived from age 2ish until right before my 10th birthday. I turned into the alley and everything looked so sad. It was dirty, silent, and empty. It wasn’t the way I remembered it at all. I remembered running though the “yard” and down the sidewalk with friends. I remembered hiding throughout the complex and all the friends Sisterhead and I had living nearby. It didn’t look like the place I played.

The house we moved into after leaving the condo is where my parents live today. It’s a happy place. The yard is lush and green, there is a garden. There are trees I used to climb and it looks better now than it ever did before. When we moved there, Sisterhead and I didn’t want to go. We loved our new house but there was something about the old one that was special. Sisterhead was born there. I had my first room that was all my own there. Our friends were there. I never really hung out with the neighborhood kids at the new place. Sisterhead found a few friends there but it wasn’t the same. Then again, I was a teenager and playing tag in the backyard didn’t have the same feel to it. There were different things to do and the world was larger.

Now that I am older the world seems small again. Going home doesn’t seem to take too long and when I get there things are just where I left them, but with some minor changes. My home in Chicago seems closer to my parent’s house than my parent’s house seems to the old neighborhood and Sears. I guess that is just part of life changing.

1. Horses in my dreams/ Like waves like the sea/ They pull out of here/ They pull they are free

2. Oh here we go again/ It’s time for the same arguments about/ About that and a little bit of this

3. What about the time/ You were rolling over/ Fell on your face/ You must be having fun

4. Unexplainable things will happen when we really see into each others eyes/ Right/ So why is it we rarely find the time to see each other in the eyes

5. You consider me the young apprentice/ Caught between the scylla and charybidis/ Hypnotized by you if I should linger/ Staring at the ring around your finger. Wrapped Around Your Finger, The Police (well actually it was a Tori Amos cover but have The Police version too and it is by them) identified by Katrina

HOW STRANGE TIMES TURN OUT WELL

2008-04-28T14:04:00.003-05:00

I had a most wondrous Friday night. I must admit it started off rather disappointing but it was all nice in the end. I met Monica and Jamie for a quick stop at “free happy hour” at Howl At The Moon. While there were free creepy nacho fixings, that were okay but if I opted not to get seconds when free food was involved they couldn’t have been that good. The free drinks actually cost $1 and I vowed not to drink one on principle. Monica and Jamie offered to get me drinks but I told them that it wouldn’t jive with my stand. There were some INTERESTING people there. The place was full of people in their 40s who were just having a swell old after work time and people in their 20s who were dressed like scandalous hot messes and couldn’t wait to get picked up by the first standard frat boy that offered to buy them a cosmo. I can’t remember the last time I saw so many people who were wearing clothes that didn’t fit them, heals they couldn’t walk in, and thought they were doing their thing. What can I expect from a place that played dueling piano versions of Gin and Juice and that Soulja Boy mess?

After that we went and got tickets for Avenue Q!!!!! Hooray!!!! Although I don’t know the songs how can I not enjoy such gems as: What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?, Everyone's A Little Bit Racist, The Internet Is For Porn, and I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today? Then when you add on the fact that the cast is full of Muppets you realize that this must be the best play EVER.

Jamie and I headed back North so I could meet up with Dave and go to Cake Chicago, a live music review that takes place on the last Friday of the month at the Red Line Tap (behind the Heartland Café). I must admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. I tend not to like music I haven’t heard of and hate paying covers, even $5 for said unknown music.

The first act was spoken word, and I was certain I would be in for a long night. The second act was a guitar/harmonica playing lady who was pretty good. The third act was this lady named Ripley who organizes the event and was also pretty good. We ordered some Nachos & Guac from Heartland drank plenty of beers and I was feeling like my night was worth the $5.

It suddenly got better. The last band, The Gwen Mitchell Experiment, was amazingly outstanding. Dave and I have big old crushes on Gwen Mitchell. After the show Tina told Gwen and Gwen’s girlfriend that the gay boy and the straight girl were completely hot for her, which was a little embarrassing. The thing is that Gwen is totally hot. I thought she was pretty cute when she got on stage but as she was performing she went from cute to amazingly hot. That girl really gets into her rock star persona. Look at her, she’s adorable. She kind of looks like Kevin Barnes. The band is a Chicago group made up of drums, bass, guitar, and electric violin. They have this kind of funk/gypsy/chick/Celtic/jam band/rock kind of thing going and it was absolutely wonderful. Tina and I bought the CD. I can’t remember the last time I bought a CD at a show, if ever. I must say the CD was a little less funky than the live show but there are a few cuts where they really do their thing. I think they are awesome. If you are in Chicago and they are playing it will be totally worth it to check them out.

1. Horses in my dreams/ Like waves like the sea/ They pull out of here/ They pull they are free

2. Oh here we go again/ It’s time for the same arguments about/ About that and a little bit of this

3. This old sun is slowly sinking down/ And the moon is slowly rising. And this old world must still be spinning round/ And I still love you. You Can Close Your Eyes, Richie Havens. Identified by Mom.

4. What about the time/ You were rolling over/ Fell on your face/ You must be having fun

5. Unexplainable things will happen when we really see into each others eyes/ Right/ So why is it we rarely find the time to see each other in the eyes

THE IMPLICATIONS ARE STAGGERING

2008-04-24T13:20:00.002-05:00

An old professor of mine sent me an email talking about some legislation that just passed the appropriations committee and is headed to the full House in Arizona called measure SB1108. It would ban public schools from teaching materials that "overtly encourage dissent" in regard to core American values. Another piece would bar teachings, or organizations affiliated with public schools, community colleges, or public universities that are "based in whole or in part on race-based criteria," I find this incredibly terrifying.

From what I have read in the emails that have been going back and forth as well as this article, the target appears to be a La Raza studies program that focuses on cultural history and instilment of pride in that history. Some of the texts used in the program have rubbed people the wrong way.

It is one thing to complain about a text or two used in a program and maybe even talk to the school to get those texts removed or to choose laternate texts. I’m not saying I think this is necessary in this case because I don’t have all the information, I haven’t read the texts, I don’t know about the student organization mentioned, and so I honestly can’t comment on their ethos. However, I certainly can comment on the implications that type of legislation could have statewide.

Imagine a world where the only culture allowed to be taught is the dominant culture. How fundamentally un-American is that? While the article states that teaching about cultures would be acceptable, “race-based” classes would not. I can just see Asian Studies, Diaspora Studies, Chicano Studies, etc. disappearing from Arizona’s public universities and it makes me want to cry.

The language is so vague. I think if you asked ten people what it means to "overtly encourage dissent" from the values of American democracy and Western civilization you would get ten different answers. Debates could come to a raging halt. Any sentiment of radical change or even not so radical change could be squashed out of the brains of many children and young adults. People could essentially be taught that everything single thing about America is right and good and I am certain that type of thinking will only do our country harm.

Since Mom guessed all the songs yesterday here are five new ones

1. Horses in my dreams/ Like waves like the sea/ They pull out of here/ They pull they are free

2. Oh here we go again/ It’s time for the same arguments about/ About that and a little bit of this

3. Moon Sammy walks/ Across the floor/ Below the floor/ There is a wall. Moon Sammy, Soul Coughing. Identified by Mom.

4. When apple leaves fall/ You may feel something in your mind’s eye/ When the earth drinks in squall/ You may plan to escape on the sly. Apple, Cibo Matto. Identified by Jamie

5. It’s coming on Christmas/ They’re cutting down trees/ They’re putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace. River, Joni Mitchell. Identified by Chatty Knitter.

A MAJOR DECISION

2008-04-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

Tony and I have decided to buy a television. To those of you who have frequented my house and seen the television that we already possess you might be wondering why we would do such a thing. Although not top of the line or huge, out television is certainly quite a nice piece of equipment. When we purchased it we said we wouldn’t need to get another TV for 10 years. We were wrong.

Although it has HD capability, it must be like on of the very first HD type TVs because it doesn’t have a place to plug in an HDMI cable thus making our HD not as awesome as it could be. It runs at 1080i and at 420 but not at 720 or 1080p. Because of these specifications we cannot enjoy our PS3 to its full abilities. Most games run in 720 and we have to view them at 420 instead. Some of the ones that run at 1080 will run optimally but not all of them. It really is rather frustrating.

Last night we took a trip up to the Evanston/Chicago border (because Tony didn’t want to get on the red line and insisted it wouldbe an easy commute) to try out a Greek restaurant up on Howard street and then take the bus to Best Buy in Evanston. The food was pretty good but we both ordered the wrong entrée. I think others would have been better than pretty good. The appetizers were AMAZING. We hopped on the bus and saw this big conglomerate suburban edifice that contained a Jewel/Osco, Best Buy, Office Max, and Target. It was wonderful. I really wanted to go to Target but we didn’t really have time.

Best Buy is a wonderful place full of big pretty televisions. While we aren’t completely sure if we will end up getting one from there, Internet shopping could possibly be an option, we needed to scope things out. After looking around for a long time we basically found the two TVs that had the best picture. Picture quality is really the most important thing. Both of them were a little out of our target price range but we can always save a little more. One was a 40in Sony Bravia LCD screen. I had never seen such picture; it looked like I could reach in and punch Spiderman in the face. The shots of video games were amazing, they showed Drake’s Fortune and it looked like a completely different game than what we had been playing. We started to drool. However, it was a little small for us to. To put out new TV the way we want to in our living room we’ll be sitting at least 12ft back from it. Since we know we’re going to plop down a nice chunk of change we want it to look big from 12ft back, not just up close. The other one we liked was a 52in Samsung LCD the picture was essentially the same but it wasn’t showing any video games so we were left a little in the dark. When we got home we realized we just should have put the DVD that was playing on the Sony into the Panasonic but we didn’t do that. Right now we are leaning toward the Panasonic. To get the Sony in the size we want would be SERIOUSLY out of price range rather than a little out of range. We already feel a little silly paying so much money for a stupid TV. I mean, seriously.

Although a very helpful salesman tried desperately to have us buy the TV last night it wasn’t going to happen. We need to save some money and completely rearrange our living room before we’ll be ready for the TV. It was tempting though. My sound Financial Fitness hat must have been on though because I was able to say no. This time last year I probably would have got a TV. Yeah for being somewhat financially responsible.

Oh, after we were done at Best Buy we went to wait for the bus to go back to the city. One passed on the other side of the street and told us that we would be waiting for about an hour unless we went three blocks east and took another bus. We got to the other bus stop as our bus was pulling away and had to wait another 20 minutes or so for one. I knew it would have been easier to go to the one off the red line.

1. Love Love Love/ Love Love Love/ There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done/ Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. All You Need is Love, The Beatles. Identified by Mom

2. I am/ Doll eyes/ Doll mouth/ doll legs. Doll Parts, Hole. Identified by Mom

3. Two weeks in a Virginia Jail/ For my lover/ For my lover. For My Lover, Tracy Chapman. Identified by Mom

4. I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more/ No I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more Maggie's Farm, Bob Dylan. Identified by Mom

5. It’s more fun to compute/ It’s more fun to compute/ It’s more fun to compute. It's More Fun To Compute, Kraftwerk. Identified by Mom

I THINK I MIGHT WIN THIS ONE

2008-04-21T14:32:00.004-05:00

So I was playing Scrabulous with this dude on Facebook that I won't name because I don't know if he would want me to and he proceeded to kick the pants off of me. It was somewhat embarrassing. Not having too many games going, I decided to start another game with him and keep my fingers crossed that I would lose not quite as badly as I did before. He has quite the impressive record. The first set of letters I got were

MN?UEDW

I thought, “Huh, those look like promising letters.” I began to think of words and came up with "mewed", the noise a cat makes. The remaining letters were “un”. I wondered if unmewed was a word. I put it on the board, although not in the smartest place cause I didn’t really think it would work. It worked. The definition doesn’t have anything to do with the cat sound. Apparently, "mew" means to confine and to "unmew" means to set free and therefore someone can be "unmewed". Nifty, I scored me 78 points, learned something, and got my next letters.

TORANIE

I thought, “Huh, these look like very promising letters.” I really wanted to spell “anterior” but the other r was nowhere to be found. However, there was a D on the board and “rationed” soon appeared on the board netting me another 70 points. I don’t know if I have ever scored two seven letter words in a row and certainly not the first two moves of a game. My opponent wrote an “aw HELL no” after my move. I just smiled to myself and got my next letters.

TESET?O

I thought, “Huh, these look like very promising letters.” I mixed them and mixed them and wasn’t having much luck. Then I thought ETTE is a pretty common ending of things. I mixed the rest of the letters around and was oh so glad I watched Project Runway like a mad woman because “rosette” was suddenly staring back at me. I couldn’t believe it. It even fit on the board, and over a triple word score. I netted another 70 points.

There the game sits. Three moves in and I have a score of 218. The last time I played dude I had a total score of 274. After his first two moves he is sitting on 60 points, not a shabby score at all. While he could catch me I think I might have this one wrapped up. I don’t have another seven letter word on my board though; at least I don’t think I do.

EDYOEED

No, "doeeyed" isn’t a word. Even if I had one and you saw it I couldn’t accept help cause that would be cheating and cheating is for losers. Then again, since I have been all self-congratulatory on my blog I will probably lose anyway due to overconfidence. That would suck.

1. Well I’m reading this poem and it’s so profound/ and I/ I like its rhythm/ and I/ I like its sound. Lies, Violent Femmes

2. Can I come over/ Tonight/ Can I come over/ Tonight/ What do you think I wanna do/ That’s right/ Can I come over/ Tonight. Real Cool Time, The Stooges

3. I got bullets in the clip/ So what you want/ I got a lyric I can spit/ So what you want. Ghetto Pop Life, Dangermouse and Jemini

4. Andy would bicycle across town in the rain to bring you candy/ and John would buy the gown for you to wear to the prom/ With Tom the astronomer who’d name a star for you. The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side, Magnetic Fields

5. Loyal fans and new found followers/ What’s up ya’ll/ Hello how are you doing out there/ You chillin/ I’m winnin/ Oh by the way the album’s out/ Go get it. Here We Go Again. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

6 THINGS ABOUT ME

2008-04-15T13:19:00.003-05:00

Colleen tagged me with the Six Quirky Things About Me meme. I am struggling with the idea because I can’t think of anything I haven’t already talked about before. I’ll give it a try though. Who knows, I might come up with something new. I just spend about 20 minutes not being able to come up with anything so I decided I am going to narrow things down and stick to quirky food things. This too may be hard.

1)I eat my pizza like a weirdo
I prefer to eat my pizza with a knife and fork. Although a little strange it is certainly not unheard of. However, utensils are only the beginning of my pizza neurosis. I always start by cutting off the crust, or ripping it off if there are no utensils. I do this because it is one of my least favorite parts of the pizza. I then cut (or rip) a one inch strip from directly below the crust. If there is some cheese that has crept upon the crust and gotten nice and brown I will generally take it off and put it on the side of my plate to eat later. As I pick up little squares of pizza to eat I bite the crust part first, put down the fork and then eat the cheese part. Sometimes I try to eat cheese and crust together but I invariably separate them in my mouth. After I have eaten the top third of the pizza slice I turn my plate and work at it from the tip up. Eventually I am left with the middle third of the pizza slice. This third is where most of the toppings and goodness tend to be. I will peel the cheese off in one big chunk, eat the crust, and then savor the last wonderfully full cheesy bite. It doesn’t matter whit kind of pizza it is the process will be the same. This process may be why deep dish is one of my least favorite pizzas. It can be very hard to separate the cheese and crust because of the way they are constructed. Stuffed crust is easier. With that I usually will eat away the bottom crust and eat the top crust and the stuffing together. I despise pizza being cut into squares because it really messes up my flow.

2)I will always save the second best nacho.
If eating nachos, I will find the one with the second best combination of toppings and set it to the side of my plate. The best nacho should be eaten immediately while everything is nice and hot and melty. If there are tons of nachos and I won’t finish them in one sitting I eat the second best nacho just as I am about to be full. I will eat nachos as leftovers but they are never as good as the first time and I don’t want to waste my perfect one. My little sister, Shoshana, has this nasty habit of stealing my second best nacho. I don’t blame her, it is the best one left on the plate. For a while, she tried to play it off like she thought I put it to the side because I didn’t want it but that only worked once or twice. She will still try to steal it though.

3) I eat my burgers and sandwiches from the outside in
Yes, they are veggie burgers. I always start by nibbling around the edges and then slowly making my way to the middle. I bet you can guess why…the middle has the best mix of all the yummy goodness. With a sandiwch I try to leave the center for the last bite as well. Sometimes this can be hard because of all the things in the sandwich. You can bet my last taste won't have any crust though.

4) For most of my life I would turn down desert for more dinner
I didn’t have a huge sweet tooth but I sure loved a savory dish. Typically I would rather have a taco or some pasta than a bowl of ice cream. However, lately I have been craving sweets to end a meal. This has been a bit of a problem because I have never really kept sweets around as I would rather have some cheese. I’m going to have to make some changes.

5) I eat candy bars in layers
Chocolate is certainly not one of my favorite foods. I do like candy bars though. I like to meticulously eat as much of the chocolate from around the edges of a bar as possible so that I am just left with whatever is inside. This I particularly easy with things like Kit-Kat bars and Twix bars. Twix may be the easiest. With those I like to eat the cookie part separate from the caramel part. I like the caramel part better. They separate quite nicely.

I have just realized that most of food quirks revolve around getting the best bite possible. I wonder if they are all that quirky. Doesn’t everyone want the best bite possible? Anyway, I tag anyone who wants to do the meme.

1. Well I’m reading this poem and it’s so profound/ and I/ I like its rhythm/ and I/ I like its sound

2. Can I come over/ Tonight/ Can I come over/ Tonight/ What do you think I wanna do/ That’s right/ Can I come over/ Tonight

3. I got bullets in the clip/ So what you want/ I got a lyric I can spit/ So what you want

4. Andy would bicycle across town in the rain to bring you candy/ and john would buy the gown for you to wear to the prom/ With Tom the astronomer who’d name a star for you

5. Loyal fans and new found followers/ What’s up ya’ll/ Hello how are you doing out there/ You chillin/ I’m winnin/ Oh by the way the album’s out/ Go get it

MEETING DAVID WILSON

2008-04-14T13:21:00.002-05:00

So this Friday I watched the documentary Meeting David Wilson on MSNBC. It was about this young Black man, David A. Wilson who was researching his family history and came discover not only his own family history but that of the white Wilson family who once owned his own. Turns out there was a guy still living in the same town where the plantation was who was also named David B. Wilson. David A. calls up David B. and says something along the lines of, “Hi, I think your family used to own my family,” and David B. says, “Well that could be.” They then proceed to have a short conversation about the weather. Eventually they decide to meet.

This was one of those documentaries that tore me apart. I couldn’t turn it off but I couldn’t stop crying. Slavery really messes with my head. I cried because he found this guy. I cried because he wanted to meet him. I cried because he went down to the plantation and found an old shack in the slave quarters and stood inside thinking of the joy and the tragedy that must have happened inside. I cried because the two Davids got along. I cried as they got both Wilson families together for a mini reunion even though DNA showed no relation (that didn’t make me cry though, it made me happy). I cried as David A. went further back in his roots and traveled to Ghana, as he stood inside a slave castle looking at the “Door of No Return” and thinking of how long it took him to go back to his ancestral home. Mostly, I cried because I never could have done it.

As I mentioned, slavery really messes with my head. I get incredibly angry. When I get angry I cry. I could imagine myself having that conversation. It would have been full of cursing, name calling, shouting, and tears. I probably would have been hung up on. Then again, I probably wouldn’t have ever made the call because I already know how the conversation would go. It wouldn’t be healthy for anyone involved. It would bring back the recurring nightmares I had as a child of being chased through dense woods by dogs. Whatever poor white person I called and went crazy on would have nothing positive to think about and would probably look down on Black folks and think we were raving crazies after our interaction.

The Davids touched on a question that I have heard so many times. Although I think that it was worded less offensively than I am doing here in the film, “Do you think you have more opportunities living in an affluent society here in America than if your ancestors had never been brought here as slaves?” David A. gave an awesome answer, “America wouldn’t be the affluent society it is if it hadn’t been for slaves.” That comment was one of the few things in the film that made me smile.

1. Well they say that birds do it/ Bees do it/ Time the freak Money B gets to it. The Freaks of the Industry. Digital Underground.

2. If the music make you move/ Cause you can dig the groove/ Groove on/ Groove on. Do Your Thing. Isaac Hayes

3. Went down to the mountain I was drinking some wine/ Looked up in the heaven lord I saw a mighty sign. One More Saturday Night, Greatful Dead.

4. What’s the matter/ Why don’t you answer/ What’s the matter with me. Stockholm Syndrome. Yo La Tengo

FOODIE FRIDAY- A CHIP

2008-04-11T12:52:00.002-05:00

A bad bad thing has happened to me. I found a good Dill Pickle chip. I have been on an eating better kick for the last few months and it has certainly done my body some good but I seem to have hit a plateau. I actually don’t mind plateaus, I mind backtracking. I really can’t complain. This morning I stopped by Dominick’s on my way to work to raid the salad bar and thought I might want something more than a mere salad. By the deli there were many chips, I love a salty snack. Then I saw Dill Pickle flavored chips and I got excited.

Let me tell you a little about the Dill Pickle chip. When I first saw them I thought it was so incredibly disgusting that I had to try it. I believe this happened sometime during the mid 90s. Old Dutch (a very popular brand over in good old Minnesota) was the maker and I couldn’t wait to eat the nastiness that I was sure would come out of the bag. Why I was excited to eat nasty food I do not know, but I was. However, the chip was far from disgusting. In fact it was quite possibly the most delicious chip I had ever tasted. It was a regular potato chip and was dusted with these dill pickle flavored specks, similar to what you might see on a sour cream and onion chip. I was hooked.

When I went off to college I had my mom send me a bag of Dill Pickle chips in a care package. It got completely pulverized. Friend and I ate the entire crumbly bag in about 30 seconds. She had been wary but they were a hit with her too. Over the years there have been a few other attempts at dill pickle chips. Lays has one but there are no flecks on it and, therefore, I feel it doesn’t have the charm. It tastes a little too much like a salt and vinegar chip to me, like they just dunked them in pickle juice. Lays are also notoriously greasy.

The bag I saw today was of the Kettle Classics brand. A kettle cooked chip is generally a good thing so I figured even if the pickling wasn’t right on I would still enjoy the chip. When I opened the bag (it was actually the hardest to open chip bag I have come across in a long time) I was greeted with crunchy kettle chips, pickle flakes, and a light pickle taste on the chip itself. I bit into it with anticipation and I was disgusted. The chip was so damn good. I’ll have to stop myself from eating them all the time. I haven’t had a dill pickle chip craving in years because there haven’t been any good ones to crave. It may all fall apart. For shame.

And now for something completely different. I watched Sweeny Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street last night. It was absolutely wonderful. I loved the whole look of the film and was thoroughly entertained. Unless you hate incredibly bloody and stylized musicals I suggest that you watch it as soon as possible.

1. Well they say that birds do it/ Bees do it/ Time the freak Money B gets to it

2. If the music make you move/ Cause you can dig the groove/ Groove on/ Groove on

3. Went down to the mountain I was drinking some wine/ Looked up in the heaven lord I saw a mighty sign

4. What’s the matter/ Why don’t you answer/ What’s the matter with me

5. Tie yourself to me/ No one else knows you’re not rid of me/ No you’re not rid of me. Rid of Me, PJ Harvey. Identified by Brooke.

GUEST BLOGGER: MAGDALENA HOTTENTOT

2008-04-09T13:18:00.003-05:00

I moved into this quaint one bedroom house and furnished it sparsely, but tastefully. I started to wonder what kind of people would come into my life. I’m a quiet person who doesn’t need a lot of contact with others and has a strong thirst for knowledge. After I got settled into my new home, my neighbors, the Smith family stopped by for introductions. I immediately hit it off with Jenny. Although plain, she and I got along wonderfully. I can’t say the same about her husband, Pollination Tech 9. It isn’t that I don’t like aliens it’s that I don’t like old people. The elderly creep me out with their hunched backs and their slow moving ways. I ignored him and continued talking to Jenny.

Over the next few days things happened very quickly. I got a job as a paramedic and spent the time I wasn’t at work with Jenny. Then one night she kissed me goodbye. That was it, I was in love. I asked her to move in with me and couldn’t wait for her to leave that gross old husband of hers. She agreed to come and live with me but couldn’t quite bring herself to officially leave Pollination Tech 9. It was a real mess; he caught us kissing and had the nerve to start a fight with her in front of our home. It got pretty physical but she kicked his ass. I really wanted her to leave him but she kept telling me it just wasn’t an option.

Much to my dismay, I found out that Jenny was no spring chicken after she moved in. In fact, she was destined to grow old in three days. I had to do something to remedy this situation because I hate old people so I got some Elixir of Life to keep her young and pretty. I also got her a serious makeover, that ponytail was doing nothing for her. Now she is almost as cute as me. Jenny also works in the medical field but I thought that our overlapping careers were a little creepy. No matter, I had a real urge to become a criminal mastermind so I quit medicine and became a pickpocket. Things were looking a little too wholesome in the Hottentot house and I needed to spice things up.

Jenny had to go over to her old house to celebrate her teenage son growing up into a man. I suppose the fact that she had a teenage son should have clued me into the fact that she was not as young as she appeared. It didn’t matter, that elixir was doing wonders. Back at the old abode, they got into another fight and it was the last straw, they broke off the marriage. It was the best thing that could have happened. As soon as she came home I asked her to be mine and she said yes. We planned a small wedding at home and invited a few close friends. We did NOT invite Pollination tech 9 but he came anyway. I had to ask him to leave.

Ever since we have been back from our amazingly refreshing honeymoon Pollination Tech 9 has been trying to ruin our lives. He comes by early in the morning and steals our newspaper. He comes by late at night and kicks over our garbage can. This is quite a problem because the garbage lying out sometimes brings roaches. I can’t tell you how much we have spent on bringing the exterminator to our house time and time again.

Jenny and I are managing though and actually are enjoying each others company quite a bit. We spend our time playing chess, swimming in our new pool, and watching The Yummy Channel. However, it seems there is something missing in our lives, it might be time to call up the adoption agency. Jenny has been promoted to a surgeon and I am bringing in good money as a Bookie. It just may be that time.

1. Well they say that birds do it/ Bees do it/ Time the freak Money B gets to it

2. If the music make you move/ Cause you can dig the groove/ Groove on/ Groove on

3. Went down to the mountain I was drinking some wine/ Looked up in the heaven Lawd I saw a mighty sign

4. What’s the matter/ Why don’t you answer/ What’s the matter with me

5. Let’s get out of this country/ I’ll admit I’m bored of me/ I drowned my sorrows and slept around/ When not in body at least in mind. Let's Get Out Of This Country. Identified by Monica

THE RETURN OF THE ADDICTION

2008-04-08T14:11:00.003-05:00

Tony’s new job has him working late a lot and it has left me home alone many nights. It took me a little while to decide what to do on these long nights alone. Sure, my apartment could use some serious cleaning (I did one room so that is better than nothing) but that isn’t going to keep me inspired. I have a jigsaw puzzle that needs some serious attention but the thing is all the same color and I can only handle that for so long. I can watch food network all day (and I do) but it is better for background stuffs and I can’t devote my full attention to it. I couldn’t think of anything.

Then it came to me. Last Friday I went to Monica’s house for tacos. They were delicious. She reminded me that I had been asking her for the SIMS discs back and she gave them to me. My addiction has come back full force. I LOVE SIMS. I haven’t downloaded any custom content yet so I just have the basic ones. I am having such a good time with them but no one is getting kidnapped by aliens and I am a little bummed about it. The joy I am experiencing with this game makes me wonder why I stopped playing in the first place. Then I went back and read this old post that explained it really well. I suppose in about six months or so that could happen again.

I then read this other post where I had entertained the notion of making a blog from the point of view of a SIM. It was a little bit funny. I then realized that my old posts were much funnier and had a larger dose of cracked outedness than my recent posts have had. I must be running out of ideas. Maybe I will have SIMS guest blog for the rest of the week. Even if the world was bored I think I would be entertained. Keep your eye out; I think the next post will come to you courtesy of Magdalena Hottentot.

1. Well they say that birds do it/ Bees do it/ Time the freak Money B gets to it

2. If the music make you move/ Cause you can dig the groove/ Groove on/ Groove on

3. Six o’clock in the morning/ You’re the last to hear the warning/ You’ve been trying to throw your arms around the world. Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World, U2. Identified by Katrina.

4. Went down to the mountain I was drinking some wine/ Looked up in the heaven Lawd I saw a mighty sign

5. What’s the matter/ Why don’t you answer/ What’s the matter with me

MUSINGS ON LEARNING

2008-04-04T15:29:00.002-05:00

Today I looked over graduate programs and I have concluded that I am probably going to embark on a journey to get another useless degree. While I firmly assert that I got an excellent education and that my Liberal Arts degree is totally worth something the reality of that statement is up for review. I like to say that I have a degree in everything but I also have a degree in nothing. The programs that sounded remotely interesting to me are as follows:

Curriculum Studies
English
Human Services and Counseling
Interdisciplinary Studies
Media, Culture, and Society
Organizational and Multicultural Communication
General Psychology (which I probably won’t do because I would have to take the GRE and I am lazy and I hate standardized tests and I don't want to get a bad score and worry that I am stupid)
Sociology

Seeing as the guy who meets with undecided students works in my office, I should probably go and have a meeting. Maybe I can get some help. Help just isn’t really like me though, I tend to just make decisions and live to regret them or live to love them. In fact, the only education related regret that I have is taking the MCAT instead of the GRE and not figuring out that I didn’t want to be a Dr. before I took all of those science classes. In the grand scheme of things that isn’t too bad.

SOME THINGS ARE JUST DUMB

2008-03-31T13:03:00.003-05:00

Can I just say how upset I am over this whole overpayment of Road Home Grants thing and now thousands of people who lost their homes in Katrina are going to have to pay back tons of money. Between one and five thousand people are going to have to repay money with the largest repayments being 150k and the average being 35k. Assuming everyone paid back the maximum (which they won't) they would repay 750 million in total. The company is being paid 912 million to run the program. Something just doesn’t add up to me.

Time for the reveal.

2. The fat is in the fire/ A fryer made of chicken wire/ Gettin sick and tired of a friggin liar. Crosshairs, Dangerdoom

4. You are a splendid butterfly/ It is your wings that make you beautiful/ And I could make you fly away/ But I could never make you stay. All My Little Words. Magnetic Fields.

FOODIE FRIDAY- CHEESY PASTA AND YUMMY BEANS

2008-03-28T12:52:00.002-05:00

I have actually been cooking a fair amount this week. I’ll share what I think was the most successful meal. As far as the pasta goes, for something in a cheese sauce it keeps very well. I know because I have been eating it at lunch more a good chunk of the week. For an even better reheating I put a little in a mini ramekin and covered it with parmesan to get a nice baked thing going for dinner one night. It certainly isn’t the most healthy of dishes but in small amounts it fit into my not eating horribly plans quite well and, like I said, lasted a really long time. Since the smoked gouda has such a strong flavor I didn’t need as much as I would for other cheese sauces I have made.

Sauce
3tbsp butter
3tbsp flour
1 grated shallot
1 clove garlic pressed
3oz smoked gouda
3 cups skim milk
5oz frozen spinach cooked and drained
2 packets boca ground burger (I could have done without this but Tony wanted it and it added a nice boost of protein so it wasn’t a bad addition)
Salt and pepper to taste

It’s just your typical cheese sauce preparation and would go well with any pasta but I used whole wheat rotini.

Melt the butter, add the shallot and garlic, stir in the flour, let it cook together for a min or so, add the milk, stir until the flour mixture is dissolved, add the cheese, add the boca meat, spinach, and seasonings, let it thicken.

So go with it I made the most delicious bean dish I have had in quite a long time. They complimented each other very well

1 can small white beans
1 can whole tomatoes each tomato cut in thirds
1 zucchini
3tbsp fresh basil
1tbsp lemon zest
Juice form ½ lemon
2 shallot diced
1 clove garlic pressed
.5 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute shallot and garlic in the olive oil, add everything except the basil, let cook about 5-7 min or until zucchini is soft, add 2tbsp basil and adjust seasoning if needed, let cook for a few more minutes, serve with a light dusting of freshly grated parmesan and the rest of the basil as garnish

Tony isn’t usually excited about eating beans. He'll do it but without enthusiasm. He was LOVING these

1. You had all of them on your side/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you/ You believed in all your lies/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you. Ruiner, NIN. Identified by Brooke.

2. The fat is in the fire/ A fryer made of chicken wire/ Gettin sick and tired of a friggin liar

3. Three hits to the heart son/ And it's poetry in motion/ One can send you down the river/ Three's a strange way to be delivered. Three Hits. Identified by Citizen of the World

4. You are a splendid butterfly/ It is your wings that make you beautiful/ And I could make you fly away/ But I could never make you stay

5. You can't hide/ Behind your social graces/ Don't try/To be all touchy feely. As Is, Ani. Identified by Brooke.

I LIKE MY JOB

2008-03-27T13:52:00.002-05:00

My issue of Money arrived today. I don’t know why but I am very excited about receiving it. I haven’t had a regular subscription to a magazine since the days of Cricket and Ranger Rick. Man, were those ever good magazines. I kind of wish I still got Cricket but I think I might be a little mature for Ranger Rick. Then again, animals are pretty awesome. Regardless, my magazine came and I can’t wait to read it.

The April issue of Money is filled with exciting articles like How to Pay Zero Taxes, Smart Moves in a Mean Economy, and Steer Clear of the New Gold Rush. Only a year ago I would have not even thought about reading a magazine like this but, now that it is my job, I can’t wait to go through this thing cover to cover. I’m certainly not the pinnacle of financial knowledge but being good at my job is important to me and I like learning. I’m actually going to start working on my certification to become a financial planner during the summer quarter. Who would have thunk it? I’m a firm believer in teaching what I do and I know I have some work to do in order to get my financial house in ideal shape but knowing how to do that is important.

Oh, potentially important news for people is this FICO ’08 thing that the credit bureaus are rolling out. It won’t make huge changes for most people but the big thing is that if anyone is/has an authorized user on a credit account that information will no longer factor into the authorized users credit history. Many people add family to their cards to bring up bad credit or create non-existent credit. Once this plan is actually implemented, that "piggybacked" credit information will drop off reports. Seems some people with good credit have essentially renting their credit out and people with bad scores are paying to be added as authorized users to help them improve their score. Apparently privacy laws make it impossible to tell who is family and who is a scammer so all authorized users are going to lose the benefit. Joint users, however will have see no change. This is a big thing for a lot of the students I work with who are authorized users on their parent’s cards.

On another topic, my iPod has gone crazy and has started to play albums out of order. It doesn’t always bother me but I certainly won’t be listening to Dark Side of the Moon anytime soon.

1. You had all of them on your side/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you/ You believed in all your lies/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you

2. I’m in a crisis/ I need help/ Come on mood shift/ Shift back to good again. Heimsdalsgate Like a Promethian Curse, Of Montreal. Identified by Monica

3. Rose/ I’m feeling older/ I was lucky/ Like a four leaf clover. Razzle Dazzle Rose, Camera Obscura. Identified by Janna

4. I am just a poor boy/ Though my story’s seldom told/ I have squandered my resistance/ For a pocket full of mumbles/Such are promises. The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkle. Identified by Chatty Knitter

5. 50 years they’ve been married/ They can’t wait for their 51st to roll around/ Yeah, roll around. 51st Anniversary, Jimi Hendrix. Identified by Jamie

CALL ME, I'M YOUR ROBBER

2008-03-26T14:06:00.002-05:00

As many of you may have heard, the stupidest criminal ever resides in Chicago. This fool had the nerve to go rob a store and when he found out that the present employees couldn’t open the safe he left two phone numbers and told them to call him when the manager got in. He said if they didn’t call he would shoot them. Of course he was called back, and when he arrived at the store was met by plain clothes policemen. They shot him in the leg while he was waiving his gun around trying to rob folks.

This isn’t the first time I have heard of criminals leaving numbers. The fool who stole my sister’s cello was also a number leaver. After he stole the cello he brought it to a music resale shop. The merchant had a pretty good idea that the instrument was stolen so he gave the guy $50 and said they would call him when they found a buyer. The shop was right down the street from their apartment building (yes this fool lived in the same building as my sister) so it was one of the first places she checked. She came away with her instrument, and the name and number of this fool. She promptly called the police to press charges. Even if she hadn’t pressed charges the state would have because it turns out cellos are expensive and the amount was large enough for the state to prosecute.

I guess the moral of these stories is a simple one. If you plan to go around robbin folks don’t leave a number.

1. The Bloom/ The Swoon/ The Sugars on your block/ The Planets land in flesh in the corners of New York. Nickel Bags, Digable Planets. Identified by Monica

2. I want you/ I want you so bad/ I want you/ I want you so bad/ It’s driving me mad. I Want You/She's So Heavy, The Beatles. Identified by Mom.

3. Blue moon/ You saw me standing alone/ Without a dream in my heart/ Without a love of my own. Blue Moon, Identified by Mom. This version happened to be Billie Holiday but there are so many it doesn't really matter.

4. Sit around and watch the tube but nothing’s on/ Change the channels for an hour or two. Longview, Green Day. Identified by Danielle

5. You had all of them on your side/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you/ You believed in all your lies/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you

Wow, my iPod must have intuited that songs were getting a little obscure. These should be a breeze.

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD

2008-03-25T13:07:00.002-05:00

I didn’t really claim a winner for Dance so we just won’t count that. Plus, a fall in dance is almost unheard of so how was I to know Belbin and Augusto were going to be out before things really even started. They were lucky to pull up to fourth. No one was predicting Buttle would walk away with the gold in the men’s event. As far as pairs, I called first and the couples that came in 2nd and 3rd (The Zhao’s and Dube and Davidson) were mentioned in my post. For ladies, Mao Asada came out on top even with the fantastic opening fall below. I've taken that fall before and it really knocks the wind out of you. I can't believe she got up and did as well as she did. Just as I predicted and Kostner and Kim were right behind her. It’s good to be right.

Other than watching skating I had a pretty calm weekend. Tony was working a lot so I really got to take it easy. We did have time for a few movies though, Bee Movie and No Country for Old Men. I enjoyed them both. Bee Movie was technically pretty horrible but there were some nice messages in there, like we all exploit each other for the good of the world. An odd message for a children’s film but an interesting one. As far as No Country For Old Men is concerned, I didn’t see the other nominated films but this one was pretty freaking good. It left me with one question though, who came up with the idea for a silencer for a shotguns. It’s just evil.

Lyrics reveal

1. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity. Identity X-Ray Spex

2. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world. Mourning Air, Portishead

3. Ghost, ghost I know you live within me/ Feel as you fly/ In thunderclouds above the city/ Into one that I. Ghost, Neutral Milk Hotel

4. I’m tired of wasting gas living above the planet/ Mister show me the way to earth/ The boys from quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds don’t come round here no more. Ballad of Maxwell Demon, Shudder to Think

5. Downtown/ We’ll drown/ We’re in our never splendor/ Flowers/ Showers/ Who’s got the new boy gender. I’ll Tumble For You, Culture Club.

WORLDS WEEKEND

2008-03-20T14:26:00.002-05:00

It’s the happiest time of the Figure Skating Year! It’s World Championship time. Events will air as follows:

Tonight: 7:30-11 Pairs short & long and the Original Dance on ESPN
Friday: 7:30-11 Ladies short & Free Dance on ESPN
Saturday 3-6 Men’s Short and Ladies Long on ABC
Sunday 4:30-7 Men’s Long ESPN

I am super excited and here’s my rundown.

Men’s: The best event in Skating.
From what I hear Evan Lysachek (US champ) is out with an injury, US almost champ Johnny Weir could certainly be in the running for a medal. As usual the men’s field is deep and depending on how everyone skates it could go a number of ways. French powerhouse Brian Joubert but he has been sick and looked awful at the European championships. Swiss champ Stephan Lambiel has had a rough season. Czech and European champ, Tomas Verner, has been skating very well and could certainly be a contender. However, I’m going to predict this one goes to Daiske Takahashi of Japan. I’m crossing my fingers on this one because I think he is my absolute favorite skater of the moment.

Ladies: What people think is the best event in skating
This is going to be a rough one for the US team. Since only one of the top three finishers from US nationals was old enough to compete at Worlds and former champ Kimmie Miesner has had a most embarrassing season I don’t see a medal for any US athletes. Kimmie did change coaches and it did wonders for Weir so anything could happen. The best female skater in a long while, Yu-na Kim, from South Korea, has been out with an injury and that could possibly hurt her skating. Then again, she could be fine. Her chief rival, Mao Asada has been having an up and down season but has been on fire recently. She has a good shot at the title. Then again, so do her teammates Miki Ando reigning world champ but she has been imploding recently and Yukari Nagano who I almost always forget about but is great. Italy’s Carolina Kostner will probably be in good standing after the short program but typically struggles in the long. She will still be in the running. My prediction is that Asada will take it all.

Pairs: Can the Chinese reign be broken?
In this event I’m putting it all on German Pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy. I absolutely love them and I don’t think a person of African descent has ever stood atop the World Podium. I gotta cheer for the Brother. Not to mention that they are absolutely fantastic, innovative, and all around awesome. The Zhang’s and Pang and Tong of China will probably put up a good fight but don’t count out the upcoming Russians and Dube and Davidson of Canada (you may remember them from the amazing blade to the face spin injury of a few seasons past it's just below if you want to see it again).

Dance: It’s almost gotten interesting again
I don’t know or care enough about dance to put too much into this category. Belbin and Augusto will probably be the best chance the US has for a medal this year. I just hope to see that one team whose costumes look like straight jackets and skate to DJ Shadow.

1. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity

2. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world

3. Ghost, ghost I know you live within me/ Feel as you fly/ In thunderclouds above the city/ Into one that I

4. I’m tired of wasting gas living above the planet/ Mister show me the way to earth/ The boys from quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds don’t come round here no more.

5. Downtown/ We’ll drown/ We’re in our never splendor/ Flowers/ Showers/ Who’s got the new boy gender

MY SUBCONSCIOUS THINKS I'M CHILDISH

2008-03-18T13:48:00.007-05:00

I went to the optometrist this morning. My prescription has changed a tiny bit but my eyes are not the source of my lightheadedness. I’m calling my Dr. back tomorrow. Today my pupils are dilated and it has enhanced my feeling funny. What fun. I did get really nifty glasses though. they have sparkles on them that you can kind of see in the side view.

So the other night I had this dream that Monica, Patrick (who is Monica’s friend and I have never met but have seen pictures of), and I were playing on this playground after winning some crazy boat race or something. That part of the dream is a little fuzzy. Patrick in the dream didn’t look like Patrick in real life; he looked more like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, which is very funny because it is almost the exact opposite of real Patrick. Anyway we had this tent thing that we draped over a round climby thing on the playground and were playing fort. Fort rules.

So we are in our fort having an awesome time when this little kid comes in. The kid’s dad is standing on the sidelines of the playground watching. The kid looks up at us and asks how old we are. I say 28, Monica says 29, and Patrick says 30 (I have no idea how old he really is). The kid looks at us and says, “Oh, that’s old. I’m 4. What are you doing in this fort?” We just looked at the kid and then at each other and packed up in shame. Then some other strange dream type stuff happened that I don’t remember. I think that the remembered part was the important part though.

The thing was my dream kind of hurt my feelings. I mean sure, I like to play around but I think my friends and I are fine examples of people in their late 20s. We have jobs, we pay rent, we function as adults, and we are generally accepted to be grown type folks. So what if we like forts? Who doesn’t? Just cause we don’t have kids of our own to play fort with doesn’t mean we should be shut out from playing. Play is important. Anyway, I’m mad at my dream.

1. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity

2. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world

3. Ghost, ghost I know you live within me/ Feel as you fly/ In thunderclouds above the city/ Into one that I

4. I’m tired of wasting gas living above the planet/ Mister show me the way to earth/ The boys from quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds don’t come round here no more.

5. Downtown/ We’ll drown/ We’re in our never splendor/ Flowers/ Showers/ Who’s got the new boy gender

IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING

2008-03-17T12:40:00.001-05:00

Well I am back in the land of the living and still have no idea why I was out. I can’t say I feel 100% because I would be lying but I have made it through half of a workday and I am pretty sure that I will make it through the rest just fine. If I am still feeling off in the head by mid-week I’m calling the dr. again.

Needless to say things have been pretty uneventful since my last post. My bloodwork was perfect. I guess that is good to know but since I felt imperfect I was kind of hoping for some validation and tangible illness. I did run a fever on Friday, which was my first measurable symptom and I was very excited about that. I watched a bunch of movies, many of which helped to confirm that I was not feeling well. Can I just say how much I LOVED The Gameplan! Yes, that is the movie where The Rock is a football player and his unknown daughter appears on his doorstep. Man did it ever make me cry. Then again, every movie makes me cry. I can’t really remember the last movie I watched that didn’t get me a little choked up.

I did manage to go to the grocery store on Sunday and made a delicious fruit salad. Even though it isn’t Friday I feel like sharing food stuffs cause it’s all I got.

1 container strawberries, halved (obviously Monica was not coming over)
1 container blueberries
2 pluots chopped
2 nectarines chopped
3 kiwi chopped
2 banana chopped

It would have been great just like that but during my time confined to my bed I saw this lady, whose name I never remember but she is the Healthy eating lady with short dark hair and blue eyes, make the best looking fruit salad dressing ever so I had to have a fruit salad. I now want to put this dressing on everything because I haven’t had anything so yummy in a long time

2 tbsp honey
Zest of one lime
Juice of one lime

Stir and put on EVERYTHING
Awesome

1. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity

2. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world

3. Ghost, ghost I know you live within me/ Feel as you fly/ In thunderclouds above the city/ Into one that I

4. I’m tired of wasting gas living above the planet/ Mister show me the way to earth/ The boys from quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds don’t come round here no more.

5. Downtown/ We’ll drown/ We’re in our never splendor/ Flowers/ Showers/ Whose got the new boy gender

NOT DEAD YET

2008-03-13T09:51:00.003-05:00

My dizziness is slowly dissipating. I went to the Dr yesterday and she was utterly perplexed by my symptoms. My neurological processes seemed fine so I probably don't have a tumor and didn't suffer a stroke. My blood sugar was a little low but not low enough to cause the symptoms. I'm waiting on the results of my other bloodwork. I feel better but not normal. I hope I will feel normal tomorrow because I have my first one-on-one financial advising session with a student. I am excited about it and want to do it well. As my iPod is in the other room I won't be getting up and putting new songs on because sitting up all day is my mission, walking...not so much.

WHAT IS UP WITH MY HEAD?

2008-03-11T13:18:00.002-05:00

I feel very strange. I don’t know what is wrong with me but I think something is. I am not one for hypochondria but I just can’t explain what I have going on here. I feel like I am on some kind of mild hallucinogen or something. All of a sudden my head got really light and things just kept turning slightly to the right in an upward direction. I don’t know why but every time I try to look at something stationary it won’t keep still. It is even going on when my eyes were closed. I thought maybe I was just hungry so I ate my lunch. I am still feeling crazy. The only thing I ate today that I don’t eat all the time was a life savers mint. I highly doubt it was laced with anything. I really don’t know what to do but I think functioning like this will be very difficult. I am on my lunch break now and am hoping that it will just stop as suddenly as it started. What the heck! Maybe I am dying.

1. Jenny said that when she was just five years old. There was nothing happening at all/ Every time she puts on the radio/ There was nothing going down at all. Rock and Roll, Velvet Underground. Identified by Jamie.

2. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity

3. Finished with my woman cause she couldn’t help me with my life/ people think I’m insane because I am browning all the time. Paranoid, Black Sabbath. Identified by Jason.

4. When I wake up early in the morning/ Lift my head/ I’m still yawning. I'm Only Sleeping. The Beatles. Identified by Jamie

5. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world

A WEEKEND FULL OF STUFF

2008-03-10T12:49:00.004-05:00

I had an utterly exhausting weekend full of stuff and things. To most people it would have been a relatively low key weekend. Oh how I love my extreme debilitating INFPness.

Friday after work I headed over to Monica’s office to meet her for dinner and Be Kind Rewind. We had a lovely meal at a Mexican joint called Su Casa that we never go to because it is right next to Grand Lux and we felt it would be overpriced. It was pretty standard dining out Mexican food priced. We even ordered marguerites, which is unusual because usually we are all about being hella cheap. It was nice to eat like regular adults. While we were there we discussed how I only have three friends I see on a regular basis and one of them is Tony. This leaves me with Monica and Dave. It isn’t that I don’t like my other friends; I like them quite a bit. However, seeing Dave once a week and Monica about once every other week give or take, and Tony all the time more than satisfies my need for human interaction. This, coupled with my laziness, means that I love seeing my other friends but it doesn’t happen all that often. She then wondered why it was that she has like 20 friends who she sees semi-regularly and still feels like she doesn’t’ have enough friends. I had no answer, the thought of the stress of seeing so many people just made me want to curl up on my couch and I had a movie to see. The movie was plenty entertaining, the end was a little on the cheesy overdone side but it was still fine.

Saturday was a day that most people would say was full of absolutely nothing. Tony slept late so I watched some TV and messed around with the computer. Then we went out to Diner to eat food, then we went to the grocery store, then we cleaned the fish tank (those poor little guys needed it so bad) and installed a new heater, then we watched Torchwood (which is totally awesome) and had some dinner. I think we might have read some as well. It was, as you can see, incredibly busy.

Sunday was even busier! We got up and made some breakfast and then decided that since we had a nice clean fish tank that we possibly needed more fish to go in it. We headed to the fish store up the street only to find that it was closed and they are also having a going out of business sale. We saw a bus coming and decided to hop on it to go to a fish store up in Evanston that we visited the last time my parents were in town. They didn’t have any fish we particularly wanted, which was a bummer because we really wanted some fish. They did have a Sugar Glider and I immediately wanted to take it home forever but it was like $285 and that wasn’t happening. After the fish store we decided to go for a walk and ended up walking back to Chicago. It was only about two miles but it was also 34 degrees and Tony had no hat. We passed a cemetery and I really wanted to go inside and walk around but it wasn’t the right time. Instead we just looked through the gate and commented on how certain mausoleums looked more like they housed vampires than others. We also noted how long ago everyone was born. Where do they bury new dead people? We decided that we would need to have a visit cemetery day when the weather gets nicer. They are pretty cool. After making it back to Chicago we hopped on the bus and headed home. Later that night I made a lasagna! Talk about doin stuff.

So my point is that if I do ANYTHING it seems like a whole lot of action. I’m totally exhausted today but we’ll say it is because of the daylights savings thing because if that lame nothing weekend made me this tired there is no hope for me at all.

Time for the reveal of last weeks songs.

1. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now. Sometimes, My Bloody Valentine

2. Elephant wields the rod/ While the donkey throws you the bone/ I'd rather have a bone than a beating I suppose/ Either way still the dog. Master and Dog, Quasi

3. Silver birch against a Swedish sky/ The singer in the band made me want to cry/ We're all inside our own heads now/ We are leaving new friends/ We are leaving this town. Country Mile, Camera Obscura

4. When I had you to myself/ I didn’t want you around/ Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd. I Want You Back, Jackson 5

5. So they say I was sometimes cruel/ I don’t know if I would say that too/ oh I/ I don’t know about that. Sixteen, Le Tigre

I SHOULDN'T HAVE HIT PUBLISH

2008-03-07T12:47:00.002-06:00

One thing I have learned from my last post is that unfounded theories that are known to be based on vast generalizations will inevitably cause more legitimate realizations to surface. I find this to be fascinating. Recently I was reading an article about poop. Why was I doing this? Because Tony and I thought it would be funny to google poop and see what came up. Yes, I realize this makes us seven.

One of the sites full of fun facts about poop tackled the question of wiping. Apparently, most people wipe sitting down and a much smaller number of people prefer to stand and wipe. There seems to be no difference in gender. It just struck me as strange that people do this very common thing in such different ways. Why is this? I guess people learn from their parents and that the percentage of standers and sitters would remain relatively constant throughout generations. I didn’t research this it is just an idea.

I don’t know much about wiping habits of others and I don’t particularly wish to discuss my wiping habits. I don’t want to read comments about peoples wiping habits. I assume most people feel the same way. I guess the question then becomes why did I post about it? That would be a valid question. The answer is simply that it was on my mind and I didn’t know what else to write about. Plus, it’s yet another thing that I believe is learned at home and that impacts the life of a person. And maybe, just maybe, someone will know actual real facts about the subject.

1. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now

2. Elephant wields the rod/ While the donkey throws you the bone/ I'd rather have a bone than a beating I suppose/ Either way still the dog

3. Silver birch against a Swedish sky/ The singer in the band made me want to cry/ We're all inside our own heads now/ We are leaving new friends/ We are leaving this town

4. When I had you to myself/ I didn’t want you around/ Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd

5. So they say I was sometimes cruel/ I don’t know if I would say that too/ oh I/ I don’t know about thaT

GENERATION SKIPPED

2008-03-04T13:40:00.003-06:00

Writing about my mix and seeing people’s responses made me think about the kind of music I like and why I like it (other than the fact that it is awesome). I learned a lot about music from my parents. This has led me to assume that many people are influenced greatly by their parent’s musical tastes which are, in turn, influenced by their parent’s musical taste and so on and so forth in perpetuity. Therefore, I wonder, does music skip a generation?

I also assume (erroneously but not entirely so) that musical taste solidifies between the formative years that I will label as being between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Granted, there will be much loved bands that come into ones life after that age but I postulate that the new bands will not greatly contradict the sensibilities of the aforementioned formative bands.

Now, I don’t know exactly how old my parents are. I am ashamed to admit this because they both read this blog and I have seriously condemned myself. You would think I could just figure it out based on the years they were born but as I do not know those either I am screwed. I do know, however, what their birthdays are and approximately when their anniversary is and that I love them very much so they’ll have to just accept that. I’ll just say they are in their early to mid 50s and were, therefore, born in the mid to late 50s meaning their formative musical years were in the late 60s and early 70s, which was arguably one of the greatest times for music ever.

I love music from that era. The kids I grew up with loved music from that era. My current friends love music from that era. Naturally, I assumed that everyone loved music from that era. However, while having a conversation with one of my student workers I found out that I was mistaken. My student did not love music from that era. What was even more shocking to me was that the student knew next to nothing about music from that era. I mentioned a bunch of big name groups to get some kind of reaction; The Beatles, Hendrix, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin (who i never heard in my house but many of my peers heard in theirs), various Motown groups…you know the stuff. The thing is that this student didn’t. All he could say was “I’ve heard of some of them but I don’t really know any of their music”.

I love my student workers, every last one of them, but I didn’t know what to say. I felt like there was a huge chasm that had suddenly formed between us. How can you not know what Hendrix played? What do you mean you have never heard The White Album? You can imagine how I kept trying to find things they knew and continued to fail. It made me wonder if I was a total freak. I decided that was not the case and there had to be another reason.

I know people have children at all different ages. According to the most recent data I could find in one quick Google search 25 is the average age for a first time parent (2004) and that was a high. Since I’m talking about people who are currently 18-22 and were born in the late 80s (gosh that makes me feel old) I’m guessing the average age of their parent was about 23, just cause. That means they were born between 63 and 67 making their musical formative years fall in the early to mid 80s and they are now in their early to mid forties. Therefore these kids grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, and the like. My students knew who all those people were. They also didn’t know jack about early 90s music. They were too young to really care and it either didn’t jive with the formative sensibilities of their 80s entrenched parents. Thus, i have proved that music skips a generation.

I realize that this proof is full of assumptions and holes but what do you expect from a blog post? I’m not saying my students can’t appreciate the music my folks taught me to love. They just haven’t had the chance to be exposed to it. Now that they know me (and I have music in my office all the time) they have a better chance of expanding their musical knowledge and I am doing my best to make sure that it happens.

1. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now

2. Elephant wields the rod/ While the donkey throws you the bone/ I'd rather have a bone than a beating I suppose/ Either way still the dog

3. Silver birch against a Swedish sky/ The singer in the band made me want to cry/ We're all inside our own heads now/ We are leaving new friends/ We are leaving this town

4. When I had you to myself/ I didn’t want you around/ Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd

5. So they say I was sometimes cruel/ I don’t know if I would say that too/ oh I/ I don’t know about that

THE IMPOSSIBLE MIX TAPE

2008-02-29T14:34:00.004-06:00

I am listening to a playlist for a CD that I made for Lakeiya when she left for law school and I am realizing that I have really good taste in music. I am sure there are some people out there who will disagree with me but this list is kind of universally good.

Ain’t No Sunshine- Bill Withers

High and Dry- Radiohead

Oslo in the Summertime- Of Montreal

For Your Love- The Yardbirds

Cool It Down- Velvet Underground

Golden Slumbers- The Beatles

Morning, Morning- Richie Havens

2HB- The Venus in Furs

Flying Away- Smoke City

Sexy Boy- Air

Dry The Rain- The Beta Band

I’ll Be There- The Jackson 5

Long Hot Summer Night- Jimi Hendrix

Get Ready- The Temptations

She’s Not There- The Zombies

Fuel- Ani DiFranco

Tender- Blur

In My Life- The Beatles

The Circle Game- Joni Mitchell

Street Spirit (Fade Out)- Radiohead

Sure there are some repeats as far as artists go but it’s ok. The songs may not seem to flow together to the naked eye but the final notes of a song always lead nicely into the first notes of the next song. It’s just a really good grouping of songs.

I have always been a mix tape maker. I think I have made some kind of mix for every close friend in my life with the exception of Monica and Tony. Brooke, Jenna, Roxanne, and Shoshana got the majority of them. Monica simply knows far more about music than I do and I wouldn’t presume to do a compilation for her. Then again, I did make an Ani compilation for her that wasn’t half bad. I guess Tony is the only one left out.

I have thought about making one for him. I have even started to create a playlist only to give up. The reason is simply that his musical taste changes far too often for me to even attempt to make something he would enjoy for more than a week or two. He has this thing about music he likes but never wants to hear again. He is the type to burn himself out on particular artists. I can listen to things I like over and over forever. He has actually been swearing off music a lot lately. At one point he lived and breathed music but apparently he is burnt out on the whole genre. Interesting. Maybe someday I can crack the code.

1. I’m coming up man-sized/ Skinned alive/ I want to fit/ I’ve got to get/ Man-sized. Man Sized, PJ Harvey. Identified by Brooke.

2. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now

3. Elephant wields the rod/ While the donkey throws you the bone/ I'd rather have a bone than a beating I suppose/ Either way still the dog

4. Virtue/ Is relative at best/ There's nothing worse/ Than a sunset when you're driving/ Due west. Virtue, Ani DiFranco. Identified by Brooke.

5. Silver birch against a Swedish sky/ The singer in the band made me want to cry/ We're all inside our own heads now/ We are leaving new friends/ We are leaving this town

RANDOM UNCONNECTED THOUGHTS

2008-02-28T13:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a very strange day. I actually forgot that Top Model and Project Runway were on. Luckily I turned on the TV at 9:03 so I didn’t miss much Project Runway but Top Model is a mystery. No worries. That show blows anyway. I must say I am a little bummed that Rami “made it” to Bryant Park. Really, are there avid watchers of the show that don’t know that the top five actually showed at Fashion Week? Did I think Rami’s collection was better than Chris’s? Sure, because it was but that doesn’t mean I wanted him to win. Since Christian “overwhelmingly won the fan favorite,” I think Jillian is a shoe in for winning the show. They won’t let Christian win everything and Jillian’s collection is awesome. Still, the show has surprised me before and anything could happen next week.

I think this Huey Lewis thing is actually working. I keep seeing him pop up everywhere. It could be because I’m looking but I don’t think so. I think that something is actually happening with it. This morning there was a casual mention of Huey in the Red Eye. As half of the world has seen, Huey was featured in Kimmel’s “I’m Fucking Ben Affleck” video. This can’t be all about coincidences. It’s like that thing The Secret that some people believe in. Maybe it’s real.

I have had urges to sing more Talking Heads at karaoke. Since I failed so miserably last time I attempted one of their songs I have no idea where this urge came from. Regardless, I was listening to Stop Making Sense and couldn’t help but picture myself taking on “Once In A Lifetime” with the chorus sung by my little sister while we were both doing David Byrne moves from the video. Man would it ever be a disaster. Same as it ever was.

1. So messed up I want you here/ In my room I want you here/ Now we’re gonna be face to face/ And I’ll lay right down in my favorite place. I Wanna To Be Your Dog, Iggy Pop. Identified by Chatty Knitter

2. I’m coming up man-sized/ Skinned alive/ I want to fit/ I’ve got to get/ Man-sized

3. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now

4. Now Peter Piper picked peppers/ But Run rapped rhymes/ Humpty Dumpty fell down/ That’s his hard time. Peter Piper, Run DMC, Identified by Monica

5. Come down off your throne/ And leave your body lone/ Somebody must change/ You are the reason I’ve been waiting oh so long/ Somebody holds the key. Can't Find My Way Home, Blind Faith. Identified by Dad

WHAT TO PLAY NEXT

2008-02-25T13:06:00.002-06:00

So I had nothing to say at all and then was telling Monica about how this dog she thinks is really cute is only kind of cute which made me remember this Nat Geo program I was watching about a man raising wolves who were rejected by their mother with the aim of teaching them well enough to be released into the wild.

The cutest thing ever was how he taught them to howl. OH MY GOSH a baby wolf howl is the best thing since lions hugging people. I totally love fuzzy animals.

Actually, something did happen this weekend. I beat Assassins Creed. It was a very good but not quite great game. Tony didn’t like it much at all. He found it too repetitive and stopped playing with me after the second assassination and before the fighting got interesting. Although there aren’t many moves, becoming a master assassin is a matter of timing. I read a review that likened the fighting to dancing and it really is. If you are off rhythm you will die. The final scene left some to be desired though. A little more resolution would have been nice. That being said, the graphics were incomparable, the story was interesting, and I liked the stealth and patience that the game required. If you are more about running into a battle guns blazing this is not the game for you.

This means Tony and I have completed all our ps3 games. Luckily, my tax refund got direct deposited last night so I can go buy a new one. Elder Scrolls Oblivion, here I come. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a good RPG to work through. I’m also toying with the idea of getting God of War II (although it was made for ps2). I figure I should play it before III comes out and it should be pretty cheap now. Then again, if anyone has other ideas I would be very open. To get an idea of what we play here is the list of what we have finished.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma- Awesome but incredibly hard and didn't need to be as annoying
Resistance Fall of Man- Tony played but looked awesome
Ratchet and Clank Future:Tools of Destruction- Awesome
The Simpsons Game- Would have been bad had it not been Simpsons
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune- Awesome
Assassins Creed- Awesome to me but not to Tony

As you can see, we are not into sports games so don’t suggest any.

1. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine. PS I Love You, Billie Holiday

2. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain. Ball and Chain, Janis Joplin

3. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest. Good Guys Don’t Wear White, Minor Threat

4. They say some days you're gonna win/ They say some days you're gonna lose/ I tell you I got news for you/ Your losin' all the time you never win. Tightrope, ELO

5. A wannabe gangsta/ Thinking he’s a wise guy/ Rob another bank/ He’s a sock em in the eye guy. If You Have To Ask. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Identified by Jason.

WHITE GIRLS AND GANG SIGNS

2008-02-22T12:42:00.003-06:00

I was completely stumped about posting today when I looked in my inbox and found these two gems from Tony. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

1. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine

2. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain

3. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

4. They say some days you're gonna win/ They say some days you're gonna lose/ I tell you I got news for you/ Your losin' all the time you never win

5. A wannabe gangsta/ Thinking he’s a wise guy/ Rob another bank/ He’s a sock em in the eye guy

SHE THINKS I'M COOL...OR NICE

2008-02-21T13:32:00.003-06:00

So, apparently a person who I spend quite a bit of time with (proportionately to other people at least) thinks that I am a nice person. It’s good to know. For most of my life people who I spent a lot of time with thought I was more of a raging asshole mean bitch than a nice person. Don’t get me wrong, they liked me just fine. We were friends and in many cases still are. They just wouldn’t have used the words nice to describe me. Maybe I have grown up or maybe it is just because some people wouldn’t necessarily recognize her as nice either (even though she is) so she understands what I go through.

So, thanks, Friend. For knowing that deep down under all the snarky comments and hating on all that is generally lame that I am a nice person. It is refreshing. As far as passing this along goes my lunch is about over and I must get back to work. I figure everyone that reads this blog is probably pretty nice so I pass it to all of you nice folk out there.

3. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

4. They say some days you're gonna win/ They say some days you're gonna lose/ I tell you I got news for you/ Your losin' all the time you never win

5. A wannabe gangsta/ Thinking he’s a wise guy/ Rob another bank/ He’s a sock em in the eye guy

SWEET HOOOOLY JESUS

2008-02-20T12:34:00.003-06:00

The show was great. Sure, Ted Neely doesn’t have quite the same voice that he had in 1973 but, honestly, what do you expect. Actually, his lack of the ability to hit an incredibly ridiculously high note every three seconds diminished some of the inherent whininess of his character so I think it was almost a plus. He really saved all the super high crazy singing for “Watch Me Die,” midway through the second act and he thoroughly rocked that song.

Corey Glover, however, was virtually flawless. The “Heaven On Their Minds” opening was simply amazing but I thought he should have really brought the house down with “Superstar” and it wasn’t quite as good as some of his other numbers. Like Monica said, “even though he has second billing those words are still pretty big.” To me he was the star of the show. The program notes about him gave me a chuckle and, since I took the playbill out of my bag I might not get the quote exactly right but it was something like, “Living Colour proved not only that Blacks can kick out the jams but that they can be embraced by a diverse audience.” We had a good chuckle over that one. Was there ever any doubt that Black folk can jam? Sure, hard rock may not be their typically chosen vehicle from which to jam but jamability should never be called into question.

I wasn’t as impressed with some of the other characters. Mary Magdalene did that American Idol growl for emphasis thing a few times and Simon The Zealot wasn’t quite zealous enough for my taste. There was a properly froggy voiced Caiaphas (although I could tell he was more comfortable singing a little higher) even though they changed my favorite line of his from “One thing I’ll say for him, Jesus is cool,” to something nowhere near as hilarious that I can’t remember. King Herod was great though. It’s a relatively serious play so having an awesome Herod to inject some comic relief is important (not that he was the only comic relief of the night). The song was arranged to be more conga than ragtime, which worked, and Herod was attired in a kimono type bathrobe and orange crocs. Normally I hate anything Croc related but Mario Batali and King Herod are total exceptions.

The other entertainment of the night was a woman sitting two rows behind us. I’m not entirely sure what her issue was. At first I thought she was on a field trip with people from her group home. Then I looked and didn’t really see anyone with her. Then I thought she was just slightly special. I’m still not sure if that was the case or if she was just plain old crazy or if she was a normal person who thought the theater was like a movie where it is annoying but somewhat acceptable to yell at the screen. Let me give you a little taste of her medicine.

As the curtain went up and the overture was playing the players made their way onto the stage. She welcomed them, “Hello,” as they continued to dance she was relatively quiet and then Jesus came on stage, “Hallelujah!” There were nudges all around between Tony, Monica, and I. I caught my first glimpse of her when she announced, “Dad I have to go to the bathroom.” Imagine my surprise when she turned out to be a very grown woman, wearing headphones and carrying a Discman (who brings their Discman to an opera?) who seemed to be alone. Maybe she was talking to Jesus, I guess they call him Father and maybe she is on more casual terms with the guy.

The kicker came halfway through the aforementioned “Watch Me Die,” there is a lull in the song, after he is all crazy and screaming at God and before he accepts his fate. During that lull comes, “Sweet hooooly Jesus!” We could take it no more. The laughter came. We tried our best to stifle it but it took us quite a while. One would stop but still be shaking and that would cause the others to laugh harder so the one who had stopped came back to the fold. We finally got it together though. She was pretty quiet until the end of the show. After being crucified and FINALLY dying (it really took him longer than necessary to get out those four lines about they know not what they do and where is my mother and why have you forsaken me and into your hands I commend my spirit than necessary) Jesus rose off the cross and into the rafters to the loving words, “Come back!” to which Tony said, “it will be about three days.”

3. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

4. They say some days you're gonna win/ They say some days you're gonna lose/ I tell you I got news for you/ Your losin' all the time you never win

5. A wannabe gangsta/ Thinking he’s a wise guy/ Rob another bank/ He’s a sock em in the eye guy

TOMORROW I'L BE SINGING

2008-02-18T13:11:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow is the night. Monica, Tony, and I will be heading downtown to experience the wonder that is Jesus Christ Superstar. We are going on opening night. I always wonder about attending the opening of a show. Part of me feels that they are going to go out there and give it their all but another side wonders if they may not yet feel quite at home and, therefore, suck a little. No matter, even if the show were to suck it couldn’t help but be awesome. It will be hard to contain myself and not belt out songs. I think it might be a little inappropriate in a theater. This isn't movies in the park.

Let me tell you a little about why I love this show.

The music

Tony once told me that while in Texas he asked his friend Matt what Jesus Christ Superstar was. Mat replied, “it’s Jesus but funky.” He couldn’t be more right. This music is FUNKY. You just want to get up and dance and I am so curious to see the dancing that is going to happen tomorrow night.

The history

When I was young I didn’t go to church, synagogue, temple, ashram, or any other edifice of religiosity. I was somewhat curious about religion because I was a curious child and a while lot of people seemed to put a lot of stock in it. All the questions I had were answered by my parents to the best of their ability and I considered myself rather well informed.

One day, while looking through my parent’s records I came upon a double album containing the London cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. I figured the title was pretty interesting so I put it on. Need I remind you that it was FUNKY? I think not. So I sat there and listened to the music with the liner notes in hand reading along and learning the story. I think that experience was my first real exposure to the story of the final days of Jesus. Because of this musical being my teacher I was very confused when I heard that Judas was considered to be the worst of all worst people. His character in the play is very sympathetic and he totally has the best songs. Jesus is a little whiny. These facts may be why the musical was controversial.

Later in life I read the Bible and was pleasantly surprised to find bits and pieces of the words from JC Superstar dispersed throughout. I felt pretty good about the fact that the play was nice and true to the text…ish

The clothes

Now, since my only seeing of this show has been through the 1973 Norman Jewison film that is my only concept of the clothes. However, anytime Roman guards look like village people, King Herod appears to be a coked out movie producer, and Jesus and pals are total hippies I can’t help but love it.

The music

Yeah I know I covered this already but really, this stuff is FUNKY

I can’t wait.

1. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine

2. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain

3. Cato play with my head/ I won’t know the difference/ if we’re living in the novelist/ or statistician/ Oh oh oh. Cato As A Pun, of Montreal. Identified by Monica

4. See the storm set in your eyes/ See the torn twist in your side/ I wait for you. With or Without You, U2. Identified by, Danielle

5. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

HAPPY DAY OF FORCED LOVE

2008-02-14T13:04:00.006-06:00

I'm not so big on Valentines Day. I always thought once I got someone special in my life that it would suddenly mean a lot more. Instead it has come to mean a lot less. It is actually a pleasant surprise.

My dismissive attitude to Valentines Day doesn't mean I don't like love and affection. In fact, I like those things quite a bit. I think hugs are the greatest. To celebrate valentines day I present you all with the best hug I have ever seen in my life.

Don't you all wish you had a friend like that?

I thought about putting up love songs for the guessing today but it was far too much work. It's all shuffle like normal.

1. I see us in the park/ Strolling the summer days/ Of imaginings in my head. Knocks Me Off My Feet, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Mom.

2. Well I went to school/ Oh/ Well I went to school/ Haha/ Well I went to school/ In Olympia. Rock Star, Hole. Identified by Jason.

3. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine

4. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain

5. I feel pretty/ Oh so pretty/ I feel pretty and witty and gay. I Feel Pretty, West Side Story. Identified by Chatty Knitter.

I'VE BEEN THINKING

2008-02-11T15:49:00.000-06:00

Today I had my first meeting for the campus book club. It isn’t a club that meets particularly regularly because we all have our own busy schedules, but rather is scheduled for two meetings and a screening of the movie based on our book. As I am playing with the idea of going back to school, I figured participating in this would be a good way to get my mind thinking critically again. While I believe I always read with a critical eye it is different when you know you have to discuss the work in question. Plus the book that was chosen was Native Son, by Richard Wright and I have read it many times before so it wouldn’t be too hard.

I am not a fan of Richard Wright. I find his work to be wordy, unsophisticated, underdeveloped, and full of self-loathing. However, I am always curious to see how other people feel about him because he is considered to be one of “the greats” and Native Son is seen as a masterpiece. It’s not a bad book. I find it to be rather preachy and altogether too obvious but I can see why it could be seen as relevant. It is certainly a somewhat entertaining read what with the violence and political intrigue although the lack of chapters is incredibly annoying. Either way, I figured it would make for a good discussion.

I wasn’t disappointed. Our group facilitator did a great job of asking pertinent questions, allowing everyone to express their opinion and keeping the discussion moving. He also did a good job of keeping his personal opinions out of things. I feel that I did a good job of that as well, which is not easy for me. Our next meeting is on the third of next month and he posed some challenging questions to us.

Do we know a Bigger Thomas?
Do we know anyone who resembles the other characters in the book?
How have race relations in Chicago changed from the 1930s until now?
Do we still allow the stereotypes that pervaded the community into our minds today?

The first two questions made me chuckle. If you haven’t read the book, Bigger Thomas is about the most stereotypical “poor uneducated young Black man who is stuck on a path leading to destruction” that you could ever come across, and the white characters are also stereotypical “well meaning rich liberals who think they are helping”. All I had to do was think back to my last job and realize that I knew plenty of people who fit both these categories and some of the latter weren’t white folks. I guess that is how race relations in Chicago have changed. Now it isn’t just rich white people giving ping-pong tables to the poor Black children but Black people as well. Maybe the fact that it took me .2 seconds to reach that conclusion signifies that these stereotypes are around today. However, there is a grain of truth in every stereotype so….

I look forward to our next discussion. It’s a good and diverse group of people and I enjoy people coming together and discussing things that interest me. You all know I love some good talk of race and racism.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go. You Feel You Must Go, Don’t Go!, Of Montreal

2 You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down. Bad Reputation, Thin Lizzy

3. They got a committee to get me off the block. Cause I say my rhymes loud and I say them non stop. Slow Ride, Beastie Boys

4. On the corner/ We talk away/ Everybody’s older these days. Glass Conversation, The Ponies

GOOEY GOODNESS

2008-02-08T13:22:00.000-06:00

Apparently I said I was going to write a post about sandwiches today. In all honesty, who doesn’t love a good sandwich? I firmly believe that the sandwich is one of the more perfect foods out there. In fact, one of my first, and favorite, posts was about sandwiches.

I’ll call this sandwich Gooey Goodness because I like things that start with the same letter yet describe the product. It is important to be catchy.

Four thin slices of sourdough or other delicious bread with a nice crust
1 large cap Portabella mushroom
½ Zucchini
2 slices Red onion
1 Roma Tomato
Sprouts
Brie cheese
½ tbsp butter

sauté the mushroom and zucchini in a tiny dab of butter until cooked
Put the rest of the butter in a pan and melt
Rub the bread, on both sides, in the butter
Put a layer of Brie on two slices of bread and cover with mushroom and zucchini then cover with other slice of bread
Press together with spatula
Cook over medium/low heat covered for a few minutes and flip
Repeat process until bread is nice and golden and cheese is gooey
Remove from heat
Open sandwiches and top with onion, tomato, and sprouts (in that order so as to avoid slippage, a successful sandwich is all in the layers)
Close sandwich and enjoy the gooey goodness

I suppose a Panini press would also work in this situation but who has one of those? Not I. I had a green apple with this sandwich and it was delightful. Green apples are so good with Brie. As I was typing I think a super thin layer of Dijon mustard may have complimented this sandwich as well. MMM Sandwich.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go

2 You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

3. They got a committee to get me off the block. Cause I say my rhymes loud and I say them non stop

4. On the corner/ We talk away/ Everybody’s older these days

5. I’ll light the fire/ You place the flowers in the vase that you bought/ Today. Our House, CSNY. Identified by Mom.

YOU WANTED AN ESSAY, I'LL GIVE YOU AN ESSAY

2008-02-05T10:58:00.001-06:00

Although I have been subtly plugging Huey Lewis here and there for some time on this blog I have been hesitant to pull out all the stops and explain fully why Huey is so important. Until now there has only been a facebook page but I don’t spend enough time there to truly attempt to fuel the fire from that site. No, this blog is where much of my online efforts go. The website existed before but consisted of nothing more than a picture, although a good picture it was. Sure, the site isn’t brimming with information yet. I don’t even see a post about the essay contest…maybe it’s over. Needless to say, Lewisnews08 is now a reality. You can all be a part of the movement.

Why Huey? Why not. Do I like Huey? Not particularly. Do I know any Huey songs? Only from my in-depth knowledge of the mind of Patrick Bateman (wasn’t American Psycho great?). So why do I care? Why is it that every time I pick up my cell phone I feel a sticker, smile, and think of Huey? It’s because this may be my chance to make a difference to the world. This movement, the bringing back of Huey Lewis and the News for 2008, is a chance for us all to unite and see if mere word of mouth and suggestion can change the course of musical history.

You might say that there is a much more important movement afoot in 2008 what with the elections and all. You would be right. However, the country will never unite behind one candidate. There are too many differences for that. At the same time, it is possible for everyone in the country to get behind Huey. They don’t have to like his music, they don’t have to know any of his songs, they only have to believe in the dream. Join us. You know you want to.

How do you join? It’s easy. Just let Huey into your life. Bring him up to people in passing. It doesn’t take much. Simply ask them if they know that 2008 is the year for the resurgence of Huey Lewis and the News. They will probably say they didn’t. So tell them that it is. That there is an underground movement set on this happening and all they have to do to help is tell a friend. We get enough people doing this and soon when you randomly ask someone if they know that 2008 is the year of the Huey that random person will say, “Yes, I did”. We will have achieved greatness.

Take the first step, join the movement. Get on facebook and check out the Huey Lewis is a Golden God group. You can request marketing materials; we’ll get them to you. People see enough stickers that they don’t understand with a website listed they’ll check it out. Think about it, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all working together to bring about change. This could be the thing that brings understanding across this great nation of ours. If you’re in a Super Tuesday state don’t forget to vote today but, while you’re at it, don’t forget to mention Huey. We can do it.

Yes, We Can.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go

2. Coming out the slums/ It's the hoodlums/ I'm pulling my gat out on all you bums. We Ain't Goin Out Like That, Cypress Hill. Identified by Ern

3. You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

4. They got a committee to get me off the block. Cause I say my rhymes loud and I say them non stop

5. On the corner/ We talk away/ Everybody’s older these days

WEEPY WEEKEND

2008-02-04T13:12:00.000-06:00

Apparently my post on Friday was my 300th post. Neat. I totally had no idea.

I had every intention of going to Jamie’s to watch the Super Bowl. Then I slept really late and felt pretty lazy when I woke up. Then I looked and saw it was going to snow at some point during the game. I decided to stay home. I really had no interest in the game either so it made the decision a little easier. Regardless, I am kind of a bad friend. Sorry. Instead of Super Bowl, Tony and I watched The Karate Kid. I had actually never seen the entire movie and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I also made some of the most delicious sandwiches ever but you’ll have to wait until Friday to hear all about them.

Speaking of movies I watches this weekend, I really have to recommend The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters to everyone. It is a documentary that chronicles the epic battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Weibe. Who are they you ask? They are the best Donkey Kong players around, duh. Although I had heard wonderful things about the movie I was a little skeptical about the entertainment value of a documentary about guys playing old school video games. Why? I have no idea. It was brilliant. There were shady dealings, bitter rivalries, and aloof masters of the joystick throughout. Even if you don’t care a thing about Donkey Kong or, like me, have never made it past the first board (or maybe second but apparently most people never make it past the third) you will enjoy this movie. Get it get it get it.

We also watched Pride. I can’t get enough of movies about sports that are “based on a true story” when there is racism involved it is even better. Pride is the one about the Black swim team from Philly. There were only two references to the whole “Black people can’t swim thing,” which I thought was interesting in some way. I never thought I would be typing this statement but here it goes, Bernie Mac was brilliant! He was just hilarious and delightful and made the movie. Terrence Howard wasn’t too bad himself but that is more expected. I mean did you see Hustle and Flow? He was so awesomely dirty. Like any movie about underdogs and racism it got me teary and Tony laughed at me. Whatever, The King of Kong made me a little teary as well. So did The Karate Kid. I just cry. I ain’t ashamed. Whatever.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go

2. Coming out the slums/ It's the hoodlums/ I'm pulling my gat out on all you bums

3. You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

4. I’d like to be/ Under the sea/ In an octopus’s garden/ In the shade. Octopus's Garden. The Beatles. Identified by Jenn.

5. Wow/ You sure got to climb a lot of steps to get to this capital building here in Washington/ Hey/ Who’s that sad little scrap of paper?/ You really want to know? I'm Just A Bill, Schoolhouse Rock. Identified by Janeylynne.

GARBANZO CURRYISH DISH

2008-02-01T12:55:00.001-06:00

Seems like over a month since I pulled a Foodie Friday. I guess part of that is because I have been eating staples for some time now. Even though I have been cooking almost nightly nothing has been particularly new. While this recipe is a lot like my lentil, potato, and cauliflower dish I think it is different enough (kinda) that I can post it. It sure was delicious.

1 big ole can garbanzo beans
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
8oz fresh spinach chopped
3 large tomatoes sliced and halved
1 red onion thinly sliced
1 serrano pepper thinly sliced
1 tbsp capers
3 cloves garlic
1tbsp vegetable oil
Lots of cumin and curry powder
A dash of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

HERE ARE THE STEPS

Put a big old pot of water on to boil
Heat the oil in a large and deep pan and sauté the onion
After about 4 minutes add the serrano and garlic and let cook for a little while
Add the capers, tomatoes, spinach, and spices cover the pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally
Add the potatoes to the now boiling water and let them get nice and soft
Once the tomatoes reduce and make a nice sauce add the garbanzo beans and the potato.
Give it a nice stir and let everything cook together for about five minutes.
Serve with flour or corn tortilla with the dish because it is somewhat Indian like and tortillas are somewhat naan like (I know this is a stretch) and I thought it would be good. I was right.

Enjoy.

People guessed all the songs from yesterday, cause they were all pretty awesome, so here is a new group.

I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Thought are not content here with me and you feel you must go
Coming out the slums/ It's the hoodlums/ I'm pulling my gat out on all you bums
I'm trying to tell you something 'bout my life/ Maybe give me insight between black and white/and the best thing you ever done for me/ Is to help me take my life less seriously. Closer To Fine, The Indigo Girls. Identified jointly by Mom and Jason. How Cute.
Isn't she lovely/ Isn't she wonderful/ Isn't she pretty/ less than one minute old. Isn't She Lovely, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Mom.
You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

EXPECTATIONS

2008-01-31T15:18:00.001-06:00

Is a really good song. Oh man, Monica, I need those Belle and Sebastian CDs so much.

Urban Chick passed on a meme that asked only one question, what do you expect from your blog?

I thought it was a rather easy question to answer. I expect absolutely nothing from it save that it entertains me. If other people are entertained as well that is simply a bonus. I like cataloging all the random thoughts, happenings, and mindless drivels that I encounter on a daily basis. It is something to do and it makes me smile. Plus, I like to talk about blogging and blogs with people who also blog and like to talk about blogging and blogs. It is yet another piece of things to discuss and for someone who is socially awkward an increase in potential topics is always a good thing.

There are some people who expect a lot from their blogs. They expect that they will get a book deal or a huge readership or quoted in some random media thing. If those things happen for those people it will not only be despite huge odds against it but it will cause more people who want to blog for reasons other than self-gratification to belly up to the keys and churn out tons of mediocre attempts at being deep. I’m sure someone will read their stuff though and stroke their ego and maybe one of them will make something out of their blog. If so I think that is great for them.

I like having readers, it makes responding to comments a much more enjoyable experience than if no one stopped by. That being said, would I blog if no one commented? Probably, I mean how many posts did I do about Figure skating before someone other than my mom really seemed to care? I still enjoyed writing them.

I’m not going to tag people, tagging is totally 2007. I’m just going to say it’s an interesting question to ask yourself and if you want to answer it feel free.

Monica, answer all five of these songs right now.

1. It’s over/ You don’t need to tell me/ I hope you’re with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleep. No Distance Left To Run, Blur. Identified by Jason.

2. Laid back in an old saloon with a peso in my hand/ Watching flies and children on the street. Mexicali Blues, The Grateful Dead. Identified by Monica

3. I/ Was gazing in your eyes/ Seeing butterflies/ Melting on the wall/ Strangest thing I saw . Will You Come and Fetch Me, of Montreal. Identified by Moncia

4. Streets like a jungle/ So call the police/ Following the herd/ Down to Greece. Boys and Girls, Blur. Identified by Monica

5. Your butt is mine/Gonna take you right/ Just show your face/ In broad daylight. Bad, Michael Jackson. Identified by Jenn

A BIG CHANGE FOR THE DEMS

2008-01-30T12:59:00.000-06:00

So, Edwards is out of the race. I have to admit I’m a little bummed. Not that I thought he would necessarily get the nomination, unfortunately I think the media decided that for him. I did think he was a good candidate and brought a lot to the Democratic race. I’ll be very interested to see who he ends up endorsing. At this point I am thinking it will be Obama as they seemed to have more in common than he and Hillary. I could easily be wrong though. I do think he has a solid chance at the VP nomination with either candidate. Maybe his endorsement will depend on how that negotiation goes. Maybe I presume too much.

My cousin sent me a link to a site called vote chooser. It asks you very basic two or three option question about a variety of topics and then tells you which candidate has the most in common with you. My results went Obama, Edwards, and a tie with Hillary and Ron Paul. Interesting. I don’t think that this is the way people should pick their candidates but I found it to be entertaining.

Field Negro seered me to this press release by Marcia Pappas the President of NOW - New York State. I'm not one to get down on feminists in general but for her to put out a press release that said the men have been putting a "gang bang" on Hil by attacking her is one of the most ridiculious things I have read in a long time. Reason One, It's politics and people are expected to down their oppononents to a certain extent. Reason Two, Did you see all the mess she pulled on Obama? Reason Three, That kind of language is simply inflamatory and taking things WAY TOO FAR. Gross.

1. It’s over/ You don’t need to tell me/ I hope you’re with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleep.

2. Stand up/ You’ve got to manage/ I won’t sympathize/ Anymore. Army of Me, Bjork. Identified by Danielle

3. Laid back in an old salon with a peso in my hand/ Watching flies and children on the street.

4. I/ Was gazing in your eyes/ Seeing butterflies/ Melting on the wall/ Strangest thing I saw

5. Streets like a jungle/ So call the police/ Following the herd/ Down to Greece.

NOT SO SUBTLE

2008-01-29T14:33:00.000-06:00

Our City Councilman sent out a little brochure with descriptions of all the judges and random things that I never pay attention to. I thought it was a pretty nice thing to do. On the back there was a sample ballot. It showed Hillary Clinton’s name right on top. Then Senatorial candidates were listed. I wondered why they didn’t list other possible presidential candidates. Was it some kind of sideways endorsement of Clinton? I found it to be rather disturbing and made me distrust the things inside about the judge types. Very interesting.

While watching G4 last night they held a poll of how many people planned to vote this year. Sadly 64% of the people said they planned to. It shocked me. I can accept that some people may plan to vote but then something happens and they end up not doing it. I still was amazed by how many people simply didn’t plan to participate in any way. In this time I don’t understand how people can sit back and say whoever is President won’t make a difference in their lives. It’s that kind of attitude that will land us a President who walks around like this.

1. It’s over/ You don’t need to tell me/ I hope you’re with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleep

2. I caught it in the face/ Coming round again/ I thought it was worth waiting/ You're caught up in my head. Dry, PJ Harvey. Identified by Chatty Knitter

3. Stand up/ You’ve got to manage/ I won’t sympathize/ Anymore

4. Laid back in an old salon with a peso in my hand/ Watching flies and children on the street

5. Is there anybody going to listen to my story/ All about the girl who came to stay/ She’s the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry/ Still you don’t regret a single day. Girl, The Beatles. Identified by Mom.

THEY DID NOT DISSAPOINT: AND OTHER NEWS

2008-01-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

I so called it. The US “ladies” have a world team that will be made up of the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th place finishers at nationals. Poor 6^th place Katrina Hacker got passed up for last year’s champ Kimmie Meisner but I can’t blame anyone for doing so. She certainly isn’t ready for Worlds. The Pairs event also saw its winner being bypassed for Worlds because of age issues. At least the US ladies Jr. World team will kick butt.

The Men’s event was, as predicted, awesome. The two top finishers actually tied (unheard of with the new scoring system) but as Evan won the long program (by 1.35 points) he won the gold. It wasn’t the result I wanted and made me wish Johnny tacked one single jump onto the end of something or held a spin for one more revolution but so it goes. He was happy with the results so I am as well. Plus, he is so freaking fab in the most hilariously awesome way. I wish I had a picture of him strutting down the NYC streets in a blue bomber jacket with a popped fur collar, skinny jeans, fitted white ankle boots with pom-poms, and aviator glasses while toting shopping bag upon shopping bag that they showed in the NBC profile video. It was too perfect. This will have to do. Oh, and the pictures on his website that Nigel Barker of ANTM fame took of him….uh…yeah.

This weekend I also found a new show, Torchwood. Sure it’s been on for a season already but I had seen one episode with the rents and loved it so when I saw the season 2 opener was on I just had to watch. Imagine my happiness when James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy) was on. I also learned that there was a very entertaining remake of Bye Bye Birdie starring Jason Alexander, Vanessa Williams, and George Wendt. Awesome and Awesome.

In other awesome news Avenue Q is coming to town as well as JC Superstar with Ted Neely (of the movie) as Jesus and Corey Glover (of Living Color) as Judas. In case anyone was planning to get tickets who is not me or Monica you shouldn’t because we still need to get ours. You can get them next week.

Now for the song reveal.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones. Witch Doctor, by Captain Beefheart

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren G was on the streets trying to consume. Regulators, Warren G and Nate Dogg (come on people)

4. Goodnight/ Goodnight/ Sweet baby/ The world has more for you/ Than it seems. Lullaby, Ben Folds

WE KNOW WHERE I'LL BE THIS WEEKEND

2008-01-25T15:57:00.000-06:00

It’s time. The weekend where the US Figure Skating nationals will be aired has finally arrived. This is going to be a very interesting competition. Last night I watched the Ladies event (although it may as well be renamed girls) on icenetwork.com and realized that we very well may be in sorry shape internationally this year. While many of the results surprised me, the judges must have seen some things I didn’t in a few of the skaters, one thing I predicted was true. The best hopes we have for high placements internationally won’t get the opportunity to compete. The reason being they are simply too young.

Skaters are allowed to compete at Worlds and The Olympics if they are over 16 at a particular date. The girl in first place is 14 and the one in third is 15. Neither will be eligible for World competition. Although Caroline Zhang (also 14) currently sits in 7^thfor some odd reason she will likely move up in the long program. The person in fifth is not only unknown but didn’t have any of the really hard jumps in her short program which worries me. It looks like there is no way for our best skaters to make the World Team. The Pairs team that is currently leading is also ineligible because the girl in that team is also 15. At least we’ll have a great chance I the 2010 Olympics, provided all these kids don’t hurt themselves.

Anyway, I’m incredibly excited to see what happens this weekend. In case you are interested, and who wouldn’t be, Coverage is on NBC 4-6pm and 8-11pm on Saturday (I believe pairs, dance, and men’s) and 7-9pm on Sunday (I believe ladies). The men’s event should be very promising and I am hoping to see Rohene Ward who Skated at the same rink as me and has one of my old coaches on the TV. Plus he’s a skater of color that isn’t Asian, something incredib;y rare at the top levels. I hope they put him on. If not, though I’ll be seeing it on icenetwork. Best $30 I ever spent.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren g was on the streets trying to consume

3. Riding round town with all the windows down/ Eight track playing all your favorite sounds Summer, War. Identified by Johnny Yen

4. Goodnight/ Goodnight/ Sweet baby/ The world has more for you/ Than it seems

5. All my friends are embryonic/ All my friends are dead and gone/ All my friends are microscopic/ All my friends wake up alone. Gutless, Hole. Identified by Jason

THAT WENT SOMEWHERE I WASN'T PLANNING ON

2008-01-24T13:57:00.000-06:00

Today is an important day in my office. The first things of mine are going up on the wall. Ah yes, IKEA frames painted in fun colors and arranged in various ways. It resembles a small slice of wall from Addison Apartment Dining Room. We couldn’t paint but we sure could hang a HUGE number of frames and pictures all over the walls. There were frames of all sizes and shapes as well as mirrors, masks, and paintings of various types. It was a room of crazy. I loved it.

Sometimes I think the beauty of design is in its randomness. Sure our cheap IKEA frames didn’t stay straight on the wall. Sure the designs we painted on them were sometimes questionable. It didn’t matter though. The beauty of the room was in the fact that it was a disorganized mess of color and love. When Tony and I resigned our lease this year I was a little sad. Sure, some of that was compounded by the fact that a crazy person lives upstairs but most of it was because it would be another year before I could decorate someplace new.

I think our next apartment will be the last place we live before buying something so it needs to be a place we can stay for a while to save and plan for that next big thing. It needs to be a place with character, it should be a place that I can paint, and it absolutely must be a place where we can have a dog. I don’t think that is too much to ask. We’ll have to see what we can find.

Something about newness is really exciting to me. I feel like this year will be a preparation for many things that are to come. It will be a year of summoning strength and resources to start on something bigger, something important. I don’t know why but movement has really been on my mind lately. Maybe it’s because this will be the last year of my 20s. Come birthday ’09 I’ll be the big 30. I freaked about turning 20 but I am much calmer about 30. I actually just realized that we will be moving a month before my 30^th birthday. I’ll start the new decade in a new place and that sounds like a good plan.

It better have a dishwasher.

Oh, and how did Ricky manage to win a challenge on Project Runway? I mean his piece was kind of cute but I liked Sweet Pea and Christian's outfits better. Also, why was everyone amazed at the originality of Romi using zippers as trim when Jeffrey did that in his winning collection last season? Don't they remember? Just goes to show that the show is slipping. Not that I will stop watching it or anything.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren g was on the streets trying to consume

3. Riding round town with all the windows down/ Eight track playing all your favorite sounds

4. Goodnight/ Goodnight/ Sweet baby/ The world has more for you/ Than it seems

5. Where did you come from lady/ And ooh won’t you take me there/ right away/ Won’t you baby. PYT, Michael Jackson. Identified by Terry

I ONCE HAD A HALLWAY

2008-01-23T14:13:00.000-06:00

The year was 2000, I was a senior in college and I had the best hallway in the world. My hallway was off a main hallway and led to two rooms. The rooms belonged to myself and Friend. We spent many a good time in that hallway. I’m not entirely sure why we did because we had two perfectly good bedrooms and one perfectly good (most of the time) common room to hang out in. Even so, the hallway was a special place.

To make the hallway even more fantastic, we decided to decorate it. The entry to the hallway was adorned with purple shiny beads that let everyone know they had entered our world. The left wall was covered with three LARGE pieces of paper that were printed with this black wavelike pattern that were just cool looking. The right wall became the “Wall of Heath”.

It was that year that Friend and I discovered 10 Things I Hate About You. Being Sarah Lawrence girls, we found it particularly amusing that the main character wanted to come to our school. It was even funnier that she was a total moody bitch who read the biggest copy of The Bell Jar (cause that book isn’t all that long) ever. It was also funny that the girl who played her younger sister was a Freshman that year. We liked to try and make her know she wasn't all that cool. It didn't necessarily work. Anyway, we were enamored with Heath Ledger. He was delightfully off in that movie. Just the type of guy we thought was awesome. He was also our age which was nice.

One day, we spent HOURS online looking up various pictures of Heath and named the files things like “really awesomely hot Heath” and “cool Heath with sunglasses”. We then proceeded to print these pictures out and paste them all over our hallway turning it into the epitome of an obsessed eleven year olds bedroom. We knew it was hilarious, we also thought he was incredibly hot.

As I am sure most people know by now, he died yesterday. The details surrounding what happened are unclear and I’m not going to speculate because I just don’t know. I do know that he made me cry in Brokeback Mountain, disgusted me in Candy, and I was/am eagerly awaiting his role in The Dark Night as the sickest looking Joker I have ever seen. The pictures on the wall are long gone. In fact, they were only up for a short while because our hallway was considered a fire hazard and we were ordered to take everything down. Sadly, there won’t be a chance for any more.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren g was on the streets trying to consume

3. Riding round town with all the windows down/ Eight track playing all your favorite sounds

4. Everywhere I hear the sound of marching charging feet boy/ Cause summers here and the time is right for fighting in the street boy. Street Fighting Man, The Rolling Stones. Identified by Jason.

5. Goodnight/ Goodnight/ Sweet baby/ The world has more for you/ Than it seems

THIS IS FOR ME JUST AS MUCH AS...MONICA

2008-01-22T13:00:00.000-06:00

So while browsing around I found an entire of Montreal concert from their recent tour and decided to put it on this blog because...duh, it's awesome. Sadly, they are playing for the lamest crowd I have ever seen in life. Apparently, people in Amsterdam are notoriously dull concert goers or at least so said a commenter who was there that night. Sadly, the dull concert goers seem to have made the band rather dull as well. Where are the jumping up and down crazy theatrics??? Huh??? Huh??? Wait...they are in Amsterdam. Regardless, if I was at a concert where they played So Begins Out Alabee, Wraith Pinned To The Mist and Other Games, Requiem for OMM2, and many many more awesome jams I would have been a crazed dancing fool. Still, it is great to see some live footage that sounds good. Monica just called me to say I am an of Montreal obsessed fool, and it is true. Whatever, she can't wait to watch.

On another note, I have realized that my blog is now about Figure Skating and of Montreal. I should change the name to Definitely Boring Musings Unless You Love Figure Skating and of Montreal. I won't though. I'll just find some other things to post about.

I could write about those fool ass fools who decided to hold a white supremacy rally in Jena on MLK Day but the absolute mess that was such an event doesn't even warrant my rantings. Even a person completely blind to any and all racial bogusness would understand that one.

Today is exciting because I submitted my first flex spending reimbursement. OOOOHHHHH neat. Now that I have a grown up job I get real grown up job perks. I wonder where my transit card that I ordered through that great pre-tax transit program is? There is less than a week and a half until February. It better get here.

Speaking of transit. I can't believe G-rod (our Gov) made it so people over 65 can ride the CTA for free. I hope that only Srs who actually need the break apply for the card. I guess the CEO types generally take their cars anyway. Regardless, as much as I love the Baby Boomers there are far too many of them and they will all be over 65 in the not too distant future. They also happen to be the richest generation ever. It just doesn't quite seem right. I'm all for not taxing people on seriously fixed income and would be more than supportive of a sliding scale payment tier for Srs that went all the way down to free. I guess that would be too much work though. Eh. I'll just watch awesome concert footage and forget about it. When, oh when, will there be a DVD of their awesomeness?

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren g was on the streets trying to consume

3. You sure you want to be with me/ I’ve nothing to give/ Won’t lie and say this lovings best. Overcome, Tricky. Identified by Jason.

4. Hey, hey, mama/ said the way you move/Gonna make you sweat/ gonna make you groove. Black Dog, Led Zepplin, Identified by Katrina

5. riding round town with all the windows down/ Eight track playing all your favorite sounds

I REALLY THOUGHT I HAD A POST IN THERE

2008-01-21T13:26:00.000-06:00

Since Thursday I have had about a million ideas for a blog post. Sadly, none of them can be remembered currently. So it goes.

I do remember that my record of not falling down has been broken. There was a time when I used to fall down rather often. I don’t know why I was such a clumsy goof but I was always tripping over something. In the past five years or so, maybe more, I have actually regained my balance. It has all been for naught. I went down. I was walking home from work on Friday and there was a light dusting of snow over everything. It also happened to be extremely icy. I slipped and there was no hope of recovery. I was so disappointed in myself.

This weekend was unbelievably cold. I vowed that I wouldn’t leave the house because I was not ready to deal with the cold. I stayed true to my word. The weekend was awesome. On Saturday I spent the large majority of the day under a blanket doing crossword puzzles while Tony played Resistance Fall of Man. Sunday I watched the rest of my old Figure Skating DVDs and Tony and I watched Empire and Jedi. I got out my Jedi figures (many of which have mysteriously disappeared over the years) and acted out many scenes from Jedi (with hilarious embellishment) as the movie played. Yes, I realize this is the dorkiest thing ever to do but it was really funny at the time. Tony had wanted to see all the toys and once they were out I had to do something with them. I miss when my speeder bikes exploded at the push of a button. Now they just kind of flop apart. I thought I had many more old school figures than I appear to have. Many are the next gen figures that I have somehow come into possession of. I wonder what happened to my original Lando at Jaba's figure? He had that awesome helmet and everything. He was super cool. Now I just have the new version. I bet Eric stole them. What a dick (I don’t really think he did but I wouldn’t be at all surprised).

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. My old man he’s a singer in the park/ He’s a walker in the rain/ He’s a dancer in the dark. My Old Man, Joni Mitchell. Identified by Mom.

3. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren g was on the streets trying to

4. You sure you want to be with me/ I’ve nothing to give/ Won’t lie and say this lovings best

5. I ain't happy/ I'm feeling glad/ I got sunshine/ in a bag. Clint Eastwood. Gorillaz. Identified by Monica

I FINALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT PROJECT RUNWAY

2008-01-17T13:00:00.000-06:00

All I have to say is about freaking time! This season of Project Runway has been excruciatingly boring in comparison to all other seasons. Although there have been some interesting challenges, many of the designs were just blah and I wasn’t too fond of any of the designers. It started to get a little interesting last week but I really had to question the intelligence behind telling high school girls they looked horrible in what was supposed to be their prom dresses, particularly if they love the dresses. It was just mean. Now even if they like the dress they can’t wear it because everyone will know that fashion experts think it is horrible. Or, maybe they already had prom and no one will care.

Either way, this week was plenty of fun. Design and drama abounded. I haven’t much cared which outfits have won in the past but I was about to tear someone apart if Chris and Christian didn’t take this one home. As much as the judges love Victorya I think she needs a good slapping and I find most of her clothing to be cute enough but nothing special. Jillian’s jacket made that outfit, not the nasty jodhpurs or anything else Victorya did. I mean does Michael Kors really think all women will want to wear those things? I don’t think I know too many who would. Then her snarky comment, “we made three outfits so we should win,” was just too much. Sadly, she may very well end up at Bryant Park with her boring self.

I was also sad to see Kit go. I know they always kick off the team leader but Ricky needs to go home, what is he still doing there? They say everything he makes looks cheap. I think this time they should have made an exception and sent him packing. He seems like a nice guy and all but COME ON.

Chris and Christian put it together. That avant-garde piece was so incredibly fantastic it made me giddy. They handled the surprise second outfit with class and I think it truly embodied the feel of the original piece. They also worked so incredibly well together. Jillian and Victorya were just a couple of last minute ladies and planning is very important. Anyway, take a look at the top looks and judge for yourself. The second place ladies made the black things and the winning guys the tan.

And another thing, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is AWESOME! Tony and I watched it the other day and were thoroughly entertained. There was so much hilarity that had been forgotten.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. On a rooftop in Brooklyn/ One in the morning. Watching the lights flash/ In Manhattan. You Said Something, PJ Harvey. Identified by Jason.

3. My old man he’s a singer in the park/ He’s a walker in the rain/ He’s a dancer in the dark.

4. I did you wrong/ My heart went out to play/ And in the game I lost you/ what a price to pay. Oooh, Baby Baby. Smokey Robinson. Identified by Mom.

5. Well I’d rather see you dead little girl/ Than to be with another man. Run For Your Life, The Beatles, Identified by Mom.

DANG THAT LOOKS GOOD

2008-01-15T13:56:00.000-06:00

I gave my first Financial Fitness workshop today and it went just swimmingly. I had seven people initially sign up and Brenda got three emails saying people canceled but three came so I was happy. I hear we have a 50% show rate anyway so I was only expecting three. I had some very minor technical glitches but nothing that disrupted the presentation as a whole.

Glitch 1. To get the presentations on the computer that hooks up to the projector you have to email them to yourself then download them onto that computer. I did this with no problem. However, I neglected to close out my email when I was done. Therefore, every time I got a new email during the presentation a window would pop up that said “you have new mail”. It would go away after a few seconds but it was slightly embarrassing.

Glitch 2. Not only did I not close out my email, I didn’t close out anything. Therefore, when I needed to go to a website during the presentation, I had to sift through all these mucky windows to get there. I thought it made me look a little technically incompetent. I also flubbed the should be seamless transition back into the slide show.

Glitch 3. This is actually not a glitch, I just thought it was. There is a remote thing by the computer that I assumed you were supposed to operate your presentation with. I couldn’t’ make it work so I operated the presentation by mouse. I guess that is just how it works.

Needless to say those errors are really minor. On a scale of 1-5 I received one 4 and two 5s for the presentation and two people said they planned to take action on what was discussed so that is a good thing. I was even able to answer all questions. Tomorrow’s presentation may be another story. While the material is easier only three people signed up. We’ll see what happens.

Although I haven’t had a Foodie Friday in some time, I thought now may be a good time for some foodie stuff. Why? Because Mom sent pictures from Christmas and that means you can see the Christmas Pizza. Yes, my family eats pizza for Christmas dinner. We never had a tradition and one year my sister said she wanted pizza and fudge. It stuck. Shoshana and her friend Will handled the crust, cheese grating (mozzarella, romano, provolone), and ingredient chopping while I made the sauces and picked ingredients. This year we made some beautiful pizzas.

Pesto
3 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cup + (or so) olive oil (add more if needed)
Squirt of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste (All this stuff is really to taste)

Toppings
Artichoke hearts
Spinach
Feta
Onion
Fresh Basil

The lemon juice was a totally new thing to my pesto making but it really hit the spot. I tasted it and thought it needed citrus but wasn’t sure but Shoshana suggested it and I knew she was right. It was delicious.

Red Sauce
1 big can of whole tomatoes drained
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil
Dash sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
Mushrooms
Onion
Fresh Garlic
Fresh Basil

I think we ended up adding some of the drained out tomato juice to the sauce for volume but you can’t blend it all together, then you don’t get the nice chunky quality.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. Hot Cha where are you/ Everybody’s eyes are closed/ I can’t see why I miss you so/ So Hot Cha where are you. Hot Cha, They Might Be Giants. Identified by Monica

3. Little bag of bones been out all night/ Little bag of bones been out all night/ Can you hear him scratching at the screen door. Kitty, The Presidents of the United States of America, Identified by Jason.

4. On a rooftop in Brooklyn/ One in the morning. Watching the lights flash/ In Manhattan

5. Look on yonder misty mountain/ See the young monk meditating/ Rhododendron forest/ Over dusty hills I ask you. Epistle to Dippy, Donovan. Identified by Monica

SORRY, I AM ALMOST DONE WITH SKATING

2008-01-14T12:58:00.000-06:00

I am sure that many of my readers understand that I love Figure Skating more than most people. I accept this fact as well. However, this weekend I think I sunk to extreme Figure Skating dorkdom. Ages ago Mom had taken our beloved Beta tapes from the 1988 Olympics and put them on DVDs for me (although I am still waiting for dance, pairs short, and ladies). Sadly, they would not play on my DVD player or on my ps2. However, I hadn’t tried them on the wonder that is the ps3. Lo and behold they worked! Glory be to me.

It was time to pop some popcorn and settle in for some “Battle of the Brians”. Truly, there was never a greater moment in Olympic history. I also got to watch plenty of Chris Bowman (whose cause of death is still unclear and apparently won’t be knows for many weeks) and was struck by how well he would have fared under the current judging system. His spins were more innovative than virtually anyone else on the scene and he had some decent footwork as well. It is truly amazing how far spinning has come over the past 20 years. Jumping has made some strides as well but not to the extent of spinning. I mean how many rotations can a human being possibly do in the air? I bet someone makes a quintuple jump one of these days but, after that, fuggedaboudid.

Anyway, I remember that the Battle of the Brians was excruciatingly close and was essentially won by Boitano’s higher technical merit marks. I was curious to see if the results would have been as close under the new judging system. Why? Cause I’m an enormous dork. I had to base my results primarily on jumps (because I can easily comprehend their assigned point values) and then factored in spins, footwork, and connecting moves to the best of my ability. The way I calculated the technical marks Boitano came out about five points ahead of Orser. Had I subtracted the points for one of Orsers double axels (it wouldn’t have counted today because it wasn’t in combination) it would have been greater but since they didn’t know about that rule I thought it would be unfair. I also didn’t factor in the 10% bonus for jumps at the end of the program because, again, they didn’t know to backload their programs. The biggest difference was that Boitano did two triple axels (although one got a negative grade of execution for a slight two foot). Orser got a negative grade of execution for a two foot and a “wrunch around” on a triple flip, while Boitano’s triple flip got a positive grade of execution. He also may have gotten a negative grade of execution on his last triple toe. It seems to have been two footed but I am not positive. Both of their spins would have been scoffed at today but it seemed to me that Boitano held his positions a little longer and that they were more precise. That camel Orser did, what was that? A comparison of their Death Drops left Orser in the dust.

However, the presentation mark is something I was unsure about. For the past 20 years I have been trying to understand why Orser so greatly outscored Boitano’s presentation marks. Not that I found anything wrong with Orser’s presentation, it was a fine program, but Boitano’s was a mixture of a cohesive story, emotion, superior positioning on basic skating elements, and general awesomeness. His connecting movements were stellar (the spread eagle heard around the world and those Russian splits that hurt to watch) and the choreography was impeccable. Maybe there is something I simply don’t see? There has been a lot of talk that Orsers scores were inflated because it was "his turn" but there has been a lot of talk the other way as well.

I'm not trying to diminish Orser, he was a great skater and put together an awesome program. Either way, my opinion is that, if the current judging system was around in 88, Boitano would have won by much more. Then again, I didn’t judge the short program (which Orser won) so maybe the seven or eight point difference in the long wouldn’t have meant as much? I doubt it though. Anyway, Here they are if you want to be the judge.
Boitano (the program starts at one minute)

Orser

1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play. Spike The Senses, Of Montreal.

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home. Cry Baby, Janis Joplin

3. There are people going hungry/ Far away/ They got nothing on their plates. A Cantury of Fakers, belle and Sebastian.

4. Deep in the bosom of the gentle night/ Is when I search for the light/ Pick up my pen and start to write. Insomnia, Faithless.

5. Glue/ Stuck to my shoe/ Does anyone know why/ We play with an orange rind. Putting The Damage On, Tori Amos.

RIP SHOWMAN

2008-01-11T12:52:00.000-06:00

This morning I checked my email and saw a link that a champion figure skater had died. I clicked on the link and my jaw dropped when I saw the name Christopher Bowman. I guess i had expected one of the current skaters was in a car crash or something (which would have been equally tragic)Bowman was one of my all-time favorite skaters and I had a huge crush on him (which is a little embarrassing but I was 12 and loved figure skating, who else). In 1991 when the US Nationals were in Minneapolis I took a black baseball cap and put silver puffy paint on it that said “Congratulations Chris”. When I gave it to him I received the sweatiest hug known to man.

He was 40 years old and died in his sleep at a Motel in California. It is posited that it was a drug overdose. He had many problems over the years in that area. Seen as one of the “bad boys” of skating he could easily serve as the prototype for Will Farell’s character in Blades of Glory. As I was reading some comments on the story I was shocked at how many negative things there were about him. People commenting that he couldn’t’ have been that good because they had never heard of him. Maybe they were just too young or maybe they were just assholes.

For those who followed the sport in the late 80s and early 90s, Bowman couldn’t be missed. He had a flair that few skaters have and it earned him the nickname, “Bowman the Showman”. In the article I read Boitano named Chris as one of the top three male figure skaters of all time. Maybe of US male figure skaters…. Regardless, he brought a sense of levity to the sport that is in many ways lacking in this day and age. He’ll be missed.

Bowman’s Short Program from the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. It exemplifies who he was as a skater and you can easily see where he got his nickname.

Bowman’s Long Program from the 1991 Nationals. It’s a more subtle performance, although still great.

1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home

3. There are people going hungry/ Far away/ They got nothing on their plates

4. Deep in the bosom of the gentle night/ Is when I search for the light/ Pick up my pen and start to write.

5. Glue/ Stuck to my shoe/ Does anyone know why/ We play with an orange rind.

MOST BOGUS SHIT EVER

2008-01-10T16:44:00.000-06:00

So last night I was having a enjoyable time dinging with friends at Dave’s place when I got a frantic call from Tony telling me that I had to come home right away. Of course I hopped in a cab and got out of there. When I came home I couldn’t believe what had gone down.

I don’t know if I have mentioned our upstairs neighbors before. They disagree with the volume at which we sometimes like to listen to things. They have disagreed with said volume at such strange times at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. However, we hadn’t heard a peep from them in well over six months, probably closer to a year. That all changed last night.

From what I understand Tony was watching youtube on the TV and was having some problems getting it to go full screen. He ended up listening to three songs, which would take roughly ten minutes. During this time he heard a noise like nothing before. Like the walls were falling in. He went to the front door and saw nothing. He looked out the windows and saw nothing. As he walked to the back door ther was a huge smash and the back door came swinging open and the boyfriend of our upstairs neighbor came into the kitchen and began yelling at him to turn the music down. Tony grabbed onto the guys sleeve, because what else are you going to do when someone bursts into your kitchen, and demanded to know what the fuck was going on. The guy yelled at Tony to let him go, which he did, and then left. Tony called the police, who came after about 20 minutes (the station is a block and a half away) and a report was filed.

This morning our maintenance man came and fixed the door. I just recently got off the phone with my landlord. I guess the plan is for me to talk to my upstairs neighbor (her boyfriend isn’t an official resident) and try to work something out. Tony is going back and forth about bringing charges up against the guy. I have absolutely no clue as to what I should do in this situation. I am going to talk to the lady but it just seems utterly insane. I never thought I would say I wish that someone had called the landlord to complain about me or called the cops to my apartment but that would have made so much more sense that what happened. I don’t know what else to say. Instead I will give you the most awesome thing I have seen in the last two days. It comes to us from "The Whitest Kids You Know", I give you Get A New Daddy.

1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home

3. There are people going hungry/ Far away/ They got nothing on their plates

4. Deep in the bosom of the gentle night/ Is when I search for the light/ Pick up my pen and start to write.

5. If You Want Me Too/ I Could Hang Round With You/ If I Only Knew/ That's What You're Into.

If It's What You're Into , Flight Of The Conchords. Identified by Mom.

SHAME AND A MEME

2008-01-08T12:47:00.000-06:00

So I am officially incredibly uncool. I have known for some time that my level of cool is not the highest. I stay relatively up to date with gadget talk and video game news by watching Attack of the Show on G4 more days than not. I am incredibly socially awkward, particularly when around people I fear could possibly be cool but even around people who I know are definitely not cool. Before doing something new I often have nightmares and feelings of utter failure, even when I know the chance of utter failure is negligible. Regardless of all this embarrassing horror, I am very comfortable in my own uncool skin. Remember, it’s hip to be square.

However, I just found myself hardcore groovin’ to Sarah McLachlan. There is absolutely nothing remotely redeemable in the coolness department about that. It would be one thing if I had a moment of nostalgia and put the album on but to be jamming like it’s the hottest new joint is just not right. I’m really not THAT much of a total tool. Or maybe I am.

What had happened was my iPod was on shuffle and this Elsewhere came on and I was like, “man I miss this stuff,” so I put on the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album and was instantly transported back to a time where I actually thought listening to it might somewhat approach coolness. I heart this album. It ranks up there with More Than Words and To Be With You in my list of guilty pleasures. The thing is, those are songs and this is a whole album. I am actually a bit scared that one of my co-workers or worse, one of my student workers, will come in the office and catch me. Whatever, it is so good.

Monica gave me a meme. It’s been a while.

1)Three Exes I would pretend not to know today:
I don’t think I would really pay much attention to any exes but I also don’t think I wouldn’t at least give a nod.

2)The most scandalous rumor to pass through my high school:
I am sure there were plenty but I honestly can’t remember a single one.

3)The time I Knew Santa didn't exist:
I had an inkling but it was confirmed when I was around 7 my parents rapped the Santa present in the same paper as the other presents. They then tried to tell me it was possible that Santa also shopped at Target.

4)The funniest thing I did in a house of worship:
Other than weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs I have only been in a house of worship once or twice. I don’t think I have done anything funny in one at all.

5)Best excuse I came up with for being out past curfew:
The cops stopped me for speeding. See, if I hadn’t been stopped I totally would have made it home on time.

6)Saturday cartoon character I had a crush on:
Keith from Voltron. At least he is a person.

7)Cartoon character I wanted to be:
Princess Allura from Voltron

8)Foods I can no longer stomach:
spaghettios. I went through a month or two of really liking them in high school because I had never eaten them and I thought they were grossly delicious. Now I think they are just gross.

9)Tacky pick up line you used that worked:
I don’t think I have ever used a pick up line.

10)Secret Hangover recipe:
If I told you it wouldn’t’ be a secret anymore.

Song time.
1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home

3. Stand/ Under/ Fountain/ Cool skin/ Wash clean. Wash him/ From me. Fountain, PJ Harvey. Identified by Jason.

4. There are people going hungry/ Far away/ They got nothing on their plates

5. Deep in the bosom of the gentle night/ Is when I search for the light/ Pick up my pen and start to write.

A POST OF POSSIBILITY

2008-01-04T12:09:00.000-06:00

So last night I watched the Iowa Caucuses fully expecting to see Hillary Clinton coast to a win. I wasn’t hoping for it, of the three top runners she is my least favorite. Something about her just seems a little robotic and I don’t trust her. I feel pretty good about both Obama and Edwards. They seem sane, passionate, intelligent, I like their plans, and are generally stand up guys that I wouldn’t mind having dinner with. I think dinner with Hillary would make me really self-conscious.

Just a little under a year ago I wrote a very honest post about how I felt about Obama’s chances to become president. I really wasn’t sure at the time if I thought our country would actually vote a Black man into office. I still am by no means convinced that it would really happen but the actual possibility of it sank in a little bit. It brought a tear to my eye. Don't get me wrong, I'm not for Obama because he is Black, I like his politics. I just didn't know how many people would feel the same way. Obama himself doesn't talk about race all that much but all the commentators do and it is certainly in the mind of the public. It isn’t something that can be ignored.

Political commenters, and Obama himself, have been saying for a while that he needs to have a victory to really gain the full support of the African-American community. While I was ready to support him win or not, I think there is likely to be many people who, after seeing his rather definitive success, will take a closer look at him. I don't know if that is all that it will take to get people to support him, believe it or not politics do matter. However, it did play out that way in the Illinois Senatorial race.

His speech after the win was absolutely priceless. If you didn’t get a chance to see it take a look.

He spoke of hope, unity, change, and a belief in the inherent good of our country. I felt like he said everything that I needed and wanted to hear. However, in the middle of his speech one thought came into my head, “please don’t kill him”. I don’t know where it came from and I was actually a little disappointed in myself for thinking it. Sadly, I couldn’t see myself thinking anything else.

Even if he never gets another win in this race I think great strides were made last night. I think, at the very least, the possibility is there. Sure Iowa is only the first of many many steps and it won’t be an easy road from here on in. It will be interesting though. Very interesting.

Ok, enough of that. Time for some songs.

1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home

3. Stand/ Under/ Fountain/ Cool skin/ Wash clean. Wash him/ From me

4. There are people going hungry/ In Far away/ They got nothing on their plates

5. Deep in the bosom of the gentle night/ Is when I search for the light/ Pick up my pen and start to write.

RANDOM POST ABOUT STUFF

2008-01-03T13:44:00.000-06:00

In case no one knew it is really incredibly cold here in Chicago today. When I woke up the TV said it was 1 outside. That just shouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, I wore my one pair of pants that are not jeans to work yesterday. I also wore my new boots (and could walk in them unlike the other time I tried to wear them in the slush and gave up two feet from my door) and broke them in significantly but not enough for two days in a row. Therefore, I was all about tights and sneakers this morning. I’ve worn tights and sneakers all winter for the last many years, it isn’t a big deal and I knew I would be fine. However, something was different this morning. By the time I got to the train station the place between my knees and my sneakers just didn’t feel right. They came back to normal but it was a little dodgy there for a second.

Not to worry though, I have a solution…legwarmers. Now I wouldn’t typically be a legwarmer wearing in public type of person but it’s freaking cold. I also wouldn’t typically own legwarmers but apparently Tony’s mother figured that since I asked for a bunch of tights for Christmas that they would be a good idea. I laughed a lot when I saw them but have been sporting them around the house under my target pants for extra warmth for some time. Apparently they will make an outside debut.

So last night I watched Conan because I was curious to see what a show without writers would be like. It was pretty bad. However, I really like Conan’s new beard that he grew for solidarity with the writers. I do not like Letterman’s new beard, he looks like a creepy Santa. I realize that many people do not agree with my like of the beard but I think it makes him look less like that little girl from Mary Poppins and more like a regular dude. Plus when he was walking around his office playing the guitar is was way cooler than it would have been if he had not had a flaming red beard.

In additional TV news I still heart Project Runway and really want Christian to die. As I am discussing the show with Monica, however, I realize that everyone is kind of boring. They kept telling me that this season is full of the strongest talent but I don’t believe them. I heart last season. I extra heart season two but just because of Santino. Couldn’t they have brought Santino back instead of Chris? I also am embarrassed to say I watched the Supermodel show that came on I am also ashamed to say that I could possibly become a voter. Crap.

1. Every second/ of every minute of the day/ I let my fancy play

2. OOOHH Baby/ Cry Baby/ Cry Baby/ Welcome back home

3. Get down get down little Henry Lee/ And stay all night with me/ You won’t find a girl/ In this damn world/ That will compare with me. Henry Lee, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds w/ PJ Harvey. Identified by Jason.

4. I can’t get no/ Satisfaction/ I can’t get no/ Satisfaction. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones (althouhg I wish it had been Devo) Identified by Jason.

5. Stand/ Under/ Fountain/ Cool skin/ Wash clean. Wash him/ From me

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

2008-01-02T13:33:00.000-06:00

Being back at work after many days off is never an easy thing. Luckily, I have plenty or organizing and planning to do and it doesn’t involve an extraordinary amount of brain power. Mostly I just have to read lists and then put the information in different places. Good times. My office is freezing. I think I need a heater. When I get home I am totally sitting in front of one.

Since my last post the year has changed. I had a fantastic New Years Eve and a very slow New Years Day. So it goes. Tony and I got all dressed up at around 5pm and left the house at six for our 7pm reservations at MK. We got there at 6:55 and were promptly taken to our table, which was nice and private but still in the middle of everything. We were thoroughly overwhelmed by the wine list and asked the waiter to recommend something, he did and it was delicious. I have no idea what it was. All I remember is it was Spanish and white and had an apricot aftertaste.

Our meal started with an amuse bouche. I had some salsify with a few sprigs of what was either very large sprouts or very small greens, a lemon sauce (we’ll call it a reduction to be fancy), and some black truffle shavings. It was delicious. Tony had some kind of shooter in an oyster shell. I think there was something cucumberish about it. He said it was nice.

Course two was an endive and field green salad for me and a lobster salad for Tony. Endive is an interesting food. It is very bitter and yet somewhat sweet, almost licoricesque. The dressing was light and lemonish and complimented the bitterness of the salad very well. There were also some baby croutons and orange slices in there that went perfectly. Tony said the lobster salad was good.

The third course was, in my opinion, the highlight. I had a sunchoke soup that was poured tableside over two small piles of diced endive topped with an orange slice. It was creamy, just the right temperature, and had the most delicate flavor that I’ve had in quite some time. However, it still really stuck to the ribs. The tiny orange slices were the icing on the cake. The way they just burst apart and complimented the soup was exceptional. Tony had the squab which was served over lentils. His face lit up when he tasted it and seemed to enjoy it most of all. Monica later told him that squab is pigeon. He still thought it was tasty.

My main course was a risotto trio. The first didn’t quite seem like a risotto as it appeared to be made of diced endive (a common thread) but I could be wrong about that. It was topped with baby carrots and delicious carrot foam. I was ecstatic about getting foam on my meal. It just made me think of Marcel and smile and laugh. I was surprised at how carroty and delicious the foam actually was. The second risotto had a delicious parmesan flavor and was topped with I believe oyster mushrooms that were cooked to perfection. MMM delicious. The last was a black truffle infused risotto with an abundance of black truffle shavings. Also divine. We ordered some pomme frites with the main course and they were served with a white truffle aioli. Those were some killer fries. Unfortunately, we were fat too full to eat all of them. Tony had turbot which he said was tasty but he was getting too full to really enjoy it anymore.

The dessert course was also a highlight for me. I ordered the lemon dessert while Tony opted for the chocolate. I was so glad I had the lemon. The chocolate wasn’t bad; warm chocolate cake with some chocolate moose type stuff on the side. The lemon was heavenly. I had a very light custard that just melted on the tongue and it had these sweet lemon curls of wonder on top. Then there was the lemon tart with a caramelized crust on top and a flaky wonderful crust on the bottom. Although I couldn’t finish it I most certainly wanted to. Although we took longer than the 90 minutes we were told we would get the staff didn’t rush us out at all and were more than accommodating throughout the meal. They were an absolute delight.

Then it was into a cab and over to Dave’s place. He assured us that the march to the lake would be optional so we didn’t need to go home and change first, which was good. I don’t know if I would have made it back out had I been able to enter my cozy abode. In true Dave fashion there was a plethora of delicious looking food at his house, sadly we were far too full for anything although I did sneak a couple handfuls of popcorn and a forkful of enchilada at around 1 or so. I did help myself to the rum and hot apple cider though. MMMM. After a march around the block (although some continued on to the lake) and some more chillin, Tony, Brooke, and I headed home and proceeded to drink some wine which I think helped me feel very lethargic on Monday. I went to bed around 3 while Tony and Brooke stayed up until about 7. Crazy. Tony still managed to get up around 9, take a shower, and head to the store to buy breakfast. What a goofball.

I forgot my iPod today, although I did remember to bring my iPod speaker to the office. No songs today.

FOOD FUN AND FRIENDS

2007-12-29T12:23:00.000-06:00

You gotta love friends being in town. After I spent Thursday recuperating from my trip home by lazing in my pjs, doing puzzles, and sleeping Friday was a time to get out and get going. I planned to meet Monica and Brooke for lunch downtown but that didn’t quite happen. Brooke came over after lunch and we got to chat a little bit and then headed to the train where we met Dave and then were off to Ba-Ba-Re-Ba for some Tapas and Sangria. Monica and Lakeiya met us there. Hooray for lots of friends! After four pitchers of sangria and delicious tapas, one of which looked like a caramel covered nutty poo (but was incredibly delicious) we though it would be an excellent idea to travel far out west for Karaoke.

Sadly, I had forgotten my check card but since I was with friends they made sure I wasn’t too thirsty during the singing festivities. That’s what friends are for. Brooke and Monica’s band, The Obnoxious Hollering Assholes, made their official debut, which is funny because I am kind of the only friend who isn’t in the band in some way shape or form. Apparently you have to ask them to be in the band and I thought they should just ask me because I am so obviously talented. Guess not. On the way to karaoke Dave became the costume designer and Lakeiya became their lawyer. I was still just chillin. Anyway, I am now at least something since I had a fairly large part in the debut. Our first two numbers were a complete group effort (Brooke’s first time up on the karaoke stage) and were both completely Asshole type songs.

Lakeiya had to go home at around ten because she is a sleepy little girl who likes to go home. Plus she lives in the suburbs and it takes her a while to get anywhere. I guess it was acceptable. Monica and I both did atrocious solo songs. We both decided not to do those songs again. I should have sung The Letter instead. We should know better then to get up and sing when we are afraid. We are never afraid to get up there. It was a sign. Dave and Brooke did an awesome rendition of a karaoke staple, which sealed the deal for Brooke becoming a full fledged karaoke lover. We then closed out the night with a very fast song with hard to pronounce words. I can’t believe we sang it as well as we did. Our voices were totally sore and horrible when we were done but it was totally worth it. 2am it was and obviously time to go home.

It took us a while to get out of there, being that the place is in the middle of nowhere, and it was rather extremely chilly but cabs came and we got in them and then were able to get to our homes. Today should also be a good time. We plan to eat burgers and drink bad sangria (not to be confused with the delicious sangria at Ba-ba-re-ba) at Moody’s. Should be a good time. I have once again made a post and it isn’t yet 2008. However, as I got an awesome laptop for Christmas, it makes posting wile doing other things much easier and therefore possible.

For the songs today I will use the ones we sang for karaoke in the order of which they were sang. This does mean six songs instead of five but it just seems right. Obviously, Monica and Brooke have no business answering these.

1. I pulled into Nazareth/ I was feelin' about half past dead/ I just need some place/where I can lay my head. (sung awesomely by the Obnoxious Hollering Assholes) The Weight, The Band. Identified by Johnny Yen.

2. He went out tiger hunting with his elephant and gun/ In case of accidents he always took his mom (sung awesomely by the Obnoxious Hollering Assholes). The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, The Beatles. Identified by Johnny Yen.

3. He came from somewhere back in her long ago/ The sentimental fool don’t see/ Tryin hard to recreate/ What had yet to be created once in her life (sung quite poorly by Monica) What A Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers. Identified by Johnny Yen.

4. Heard of a van that’s loaded with weapons/ Packed up and ready to go/ Heard of some gravesites/ Out by the highway/ A place where nobody knows (sung quite poorly by Natalie). Life During Wartime, The Talking Heads. Identified by Johnny Yen.

5. Twenty-five years and my life is still/ Trying to get up that great big hill/ of hope/ For a destination (sung incredibly awesomely by Brooke and Dave). What's Up. 4 Non Blondes. identified (with the wrong title) by Mom.

6. Harry Truman/ Doris Day/ Red China/ Johnny Ray/ South pacific/ Walter Winchell/ Joe DiMaggio (sung surprisingly well by The Obnoxious Hollering Assholes (although Lakeiya had left)). We Didn't Start The Fire, by Billy Joel. Identified by CS.

SCRABBLE WITH MOM

2007-12-23T13:12:00.000-06:00

I hadn’t planned to write between my last post and 2008 but since I have been home I have played two games of scrabble with my mother and I have won both of them. This is a virtually unheard of occurance. The first game was actually a blowout, 408-277. I scored 247 points in five turns, one of which I lost because I put up a totally made up word. If you are a scrabble player you know this is a rather awesome feat. The second game was a tight one. She was about to beat me, although not by more than 30 pts or so, when I got a seven letter word at a point where only three letters were left in the bag. She was still about ten points ahead and the last three letters that I picked were H, S, and Z. I took a deep breath and asked her if it was ok to play a word that I knew exised but was not in any of the dictonaries that we had. She agreed that if I was sure it was ok. She knows I am no cheat. So I played “za” with the Z on a double letter score, sending me over the edge. I ended with “his” on a double word sore for a final of 358-336. I also informed her that “qi” is now legal.

As I am sitting here in my parents room watching a Mingus DVD that my sister got for Christmas from her roommates I have no ipod and will not post any new songs.

1. Today was the day/ For dancing and for singing/ The birds in the trees/ And all the bells are ringing. Slide Show, by Travis.

2. My head’s been lying dormant like a sleepy little mouse/ What I have inside me it’s enough to fill a house. Swimming Pool, by Camera Obscura.

3. Repair the hull/ Replace the sail/ The monkey wrestles with the ghost. Sea Shanty, by Quasi.

4. City bird/ Haven’t you heard/ hasn’t anybody told you/ the city blocks can hold you/ Your place is in the sky how can I show you. City Bird, by Of Montreal.

5. A wanna be gangster thinking he’s a wise guy/ rob another bank he’s a sock em in the eye guy. If You Have to Ask, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Identified by, Jason.

THOUGHTS ON 07

2007-12-20T12:37:00.000-06:00

2007, it was a year. A year full of stuff and things. A year full of times of various types. It was a year that brought some changes and I have a feeling will be one that will serve to lead me into the next chapter of life, or something like that.

Despite going from Ma’am to Miss I feel that I have done a lot of growing up this year. I feel like I have come to realize that the time for not knowing and just kind of muddling through life with absolutely no direction may be coming to an end. The end isn’t around the corner or anything, probably down the street a few blocks, a mile or so south, and somewhat east. Either way, it is a lot closer than it was before.

Making a career change has been something on my mind since I made the failed change in late 2005 and went back to Jobs For Youth, albeit in a much better position, in 2006. I think the change I have just made is a good one though, one that will not only help me to better construct my life in many ways. I think I am actually around people who want me to grow and change and transform rather than people who just want me to do what I do and do it well. It’s refreshing.

It was also a good year for fun. I’m not the type of person who loves to get out and do things and 2007 provided me many opportunities to have fun without going out and doing things. The PS3 came into my life. I fell in love with Attack of the Show and Ninja Warrior. I was made incredibly happy by two Of Montreal shows. TV was particularly enjoyable this year. I also did get the chance to get out on a regular but not overwhelming basis, which was quite nice. I even got Tony to play a decent amount of scrabble.

Pretty good year.

1. Today was the day/ For dancing and for singing/ The birds in the trees/ And all the bells are ringing

2. My head’s been lying dormant like a sleepy little mouse/ What I have inside me it’s enough to fill a house

3. Repair the hull/ Replace the sail/ The monkey wrestles with the ghost

4. City bird/ Haven’t you heard/ hasn’t anybody told you/ the city blocks can hold you/ Your place is in the sky how can I show you

5. A wanna be gangster thinking he’s a wise guy/ rob another bank he’s a sock em in the eye guy. If You Have to Ask, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Identified by, Jason.

R.O.U.S LIVES

2007-12-19T12:50:00.001-06:00

Remember The Princess Bride? It was a great film and I wanted to hug it. The movie had everything you could possibly want, comedy, romance, suspense, sword fighting, and revenge. It also had the Fire Swamp, a place that terrified me as a young person. The idea of catching on fire was not pleasant, even with the loud sound that warned you of the upcoming conflagration. Then there was the lightning sand. Quicker than quicksand this stuff was seriously dangerous, but as long as you didn’t step in it you were ok. No, the true terror of the fire swamp was the R.O.U.S (Rodent of Unusual Size). This guy was horrible. He was a rat the size of a dog, and not a small dog either. I took heed in the fact that they were not real. Or should I say they weren’t real. Researchers discovered a R.O.U.S in the Indonesian jungle. He is still the size of a dog, albeit a much smaller dog that the original R.O.U.S. Check him out.

On a happier note (I think), while reading Metromix’s review of the top 10 albums of 2007 I was pleased to see none other than Of Montreal’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer which I continue to listen to like mad and have even begun to like The Past is a Grotesque Animal and to almost tolerate Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider. Who knew? While I am incredibly glad the album has been recognized I wonder if that will make it inherently less cool. They wrote “A playful yet intense batch of neuroses from frontman Kevin Barnes, indie rock’s prince of fuzzy glam weirdness.” I guess it’s a pretty accurate portrayal. How about the video for Gronlandic Edit (my favorite song on the album) for you all to enjoy. Why? Cause it’s awesome.

1. Today was the day/ For dancing and for singing/ The birds in the trees/ And all the bells are ringing

2. My head’s been lying dormant like a sleepy little mouse/ What I have inside me it’s enough to fill a house

3. Repair the hull/ Replace the sail/ The monkey wrestles with the ghost

4. City bird/ Haven’t you heard/ hasn’t anybody told you/ the city blocks can hold you/ Your place is in the sky how can I show you

5. She called me up today/ Meet me down at the old café/ I jumped into the shower/ I was getting my marching orders. Step Into My Office, Baby by Belle and Sebastian. Identified by Chatty Knitter

ADVERTISEMENTS LIE

2007-12-18T13:32:00.000-06:00

So I watched about 50% of the Vikings Bears game last night and although I haven’t seen sloppier football played for a while the end result was just fine with me. I always think it is mean when teams who have little or no chance at the playoffs beat teams who have something of a chance. I know they get paid to win no matter what but sometimes I think it is more sportsmanlike to make sure some fellow players get their dream. Actually throwing games may be the epitome of being unsportsmanlike so never mind.

While I was not watching the game I was watching the Extras finale. What a depressing show. It made me want to cry repeatedly while slapping the people who were making me cry. I guess that is something of an accomplishment.

Note to self: stop being taken in by commercials about pizza.

A while ago there was that Dominoes commercial about the garlicky crust pizza with the guys who had extra big sensory organs. They made the pizza look so incredibly delicious. I don’t do Dominoes pizza, it was been pounded into my head that they have some political leanings I don’t believe in (although who knows if that has changed since the mid 80s) and the pizza is relatively disgusting on top of it. Pizza Hut, on the other hand, is a guilty pleasure of mine. Man that stuffed crust is awesome. I do realize that I live in Chicago and if I want a delicious pizza there are far better options but sometimes I just want some of the Hut. Anyway, Pizza Hut had this new double deep pizza that looked pretty delicious in the commercials. I wanted to eat it. While it wasn’t disgusting, it certainly wasn’t as delicious as my typical Pizza Hut pizza. I swear that pizza commercials will not take me in anymore. I am always disappointed when I open the box. Actually, this happens with many food items I see on TV and think look delicious. They never look the same on my plate as on the TV. I take that back, there is one product, the ice cream I have seen on TV is just as delicious if not more so when I try it. I love ice cream.

Note to self: When you get up early to go to a breakfast at work, don’t eat breakfast before you go.

I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean I got up an hour early specifically to go to breakfast. However, as part of my typical morning routine I ate breakfast. What a dumbass. There was fruit at the breakfast though and I hadn’t eaten any fruit already so I had some but not as much as I would have if I hadn’t already eaten. Stupid stupid stupid.

1. Across the lines/ who would dare to go/ Under the bridge/ Over the tracks/ That separate Whites from Blacks. Across The Lines, Tracy Chapman. Identified by Mom.

2. Today was the day/ For dancing and for singing/ The birds in the trees/ And all the bells are ringing

3. Goodbye Cruel World/ I’m leaving you today/ Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye. Goodbye Cruel World, Pink Floyd. Identified by Auld Hat

4. My head’s been lying dormant like a sleepy little mouse/ What I have inside me it’s enough to fill a house

5. Repair the hull/ Replace the sail/ The monkey wrestles with the ghost

SO VERY FESTIVE

2007-12-17T12:38:00.000-06:00

I’m getting the holiday spirit in full force. I spoke to my friend, Friend, and found out that she will be here for a nice chunk of time and I will be able to hang out with her as I have no work and I am incredibly excited about that. I also found out that friend Lakeiya is coming to town for a week or so as well. YEAH! I miss Lakeiya so much. Monica and I will have to do something fun with her. I feel all festive and warm and fuzzy thinking of their smiling faces.

Tony and I made reservations for New Years Dinner at MK, a swanky type spot. We opted for the earlier dinner seating because eating at 7 costs about 35 less than eating at eight although Tony was hoping for a slightly later meal. Oh well. We are only allowed 90min at the table before they kick us out but that is a pretty long dinner for the two of us. We are not slow eaters. We opted for MK because the samples of dinners on the prix fixe menu sounded yummy to Tony and they also have a vegetarian prix fixe option. Two years ago we went to The Green Zebra, a 90% vegetarian restaurant, for New Years (which was 100% vegetarian) I loved the food but Tony wanted some meat. This will work out well. Plus, Tony really wanted a reason to wear a suit. That means when we show up to Dave’s party we’ll be all swanky. That might suck as we head to the beach for fireworks…. Oh well, make it work. Awesome.

And now for something completely different, a very short and very hilarious video spot courtesy of “Tim and Eric Awesome Show Good Job”.

By the way Tim and Eric to have an awesome show and every time it is over I want to say, "good job". They have wonderful guests like Fred Willard, Bob Odenkirk, and John C Riley. They are on adult swim. You might like it.

1. We are two mariners/ Our ships sole survivors/ In this belly of a whale. The Mariner's Revenge, The Decemberists. Partially identified by Identified by Monica

2. I let the beast in too soon/I don't know how to live/ Without my hand on his throat/ I fight him always and still. Fast as You Can, Fiona Apple (I know people don't laugh)

3. Have mercy on me sir/ allow me to impose on you/ I have no place to stay/ And my bones are cold right through. Song of Joy, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Identified by Brooke.

4. Sleepwalking through the all night drugstore/ Baptized in fluorescent light/ I found religion in the greeting card aisle/ And now I know Hallmark was right. Superhero, Ani DiFranco. Identified by Brooke.

5. Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as /parklife/And morning soup can be avoided if you take a route straight through what is known as/ parklife. Parklife, Blur. Identified by Brooke.