Fridays go by way too fast for me. This morning I overslept, and had to drive the little man all the way to school (rather than to the bus stop) but that’s ok because his school is near my gym. Gawd, I have a gym. What is up with that? I worked out until my legs felt like they were filled with jelly, then headed back home where I lost a good hour or so to my flickr addiction. Now I’m going to attempt to get a few things done, if I’m not waylaid by Battlestar Galactica. I must say, I’m awfully surprised that the husband decided to buy all the DVDs. After the little man went to bed last night we stayed up late, watching the mini-series together. So far the quality seems to be somewhere between Farscape and Firefly. The little man…he prefers Pigs in Space. Speaking of the lad, I’ve come to dread Friday afternoons and his swimming lessons. Each has been worse than the last. Halfway through the most recent one he started telling his instructor that he wanted to go home. I brought it up to him this morning and he declared he’s sick of swimming and doesn’t want to go. What do I do with that? The last thing I want is to bully him into athletic activities, but it seems like the ability to swim would be a useful skill. And I’ve already paid for these lessons. This parenting gig isn’t getting any easier.
Bonus: I’ll admit, I get too much of my music news from Pitchfork…but it was good to hear that Jersey’s best dancers, Lifetime, are back in business. And it brings back the memories. Nine years ago I had just extricated myself from a suffocating long-term relationship. To celebrate I roadtripped it to Chicago with a friend, to see Lifetime’s last show at the Fireside Bowl. It was an extremely freeing experience. For the next couple of years after that I drove down to Chicago a dozen more times for other shows. Those were the days. Sigh.

Yesterday was a mixed bag. Crappy morning followed by a cranky day, but capped off with a big finish. The lovely Zophia and I met up at Muddy Paws for a little pre-show cheesecake. There we discussed some plans for the summer of ‘07, when I get to be “one of her girls” - not brothel-style, silly, but in her wedding. In Italy! Yay! So looking forward to that. Then it was on to First Avenue to be mesmerized by our favorite chanteuse, Ms. Neko Case. Overall the show was fabulous and over far too quickly, but man was it ever jam-packed (I blame The Current). At one point I wound up stuck in some dude’s armpit. I squirmed my way out only to have him elbow me repeatedly in the boob while he was swigging his beer. Finally I pushed him away, but it was so crowded I only managed to move him about an inch. Thankfully he got the hint.
Bonus: Earlier in the evening I’d settled down with the little man to watch a bit of The Sound of Music, at his request. I told him “You know, I haven’t seen this movie since I was a little kid.” He very seriously replied, “me neither.” Umm, he’d never seen it before, and that only made it funnier.
Plus: I’ve only heard a little of this, but I liked what I heard and the name alone makes me oddly happy - I give you Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra.
And: In other music news, I’m stoked that Seu Jorge is coming back here this summer. I missed his show last Fall, because it was the same week as Andrew Bird and I was just feeling generally unwell. So hurray for second chances!

Unsurprisingly I didn’t make it to the Turf Club show last night (or to Neko Case’s in-store at the Electric Fetus). Didn’t feel like going solo, and the boys are coming down with something (fingers crossed that it will skip me, but I’m not feeling so hot this morning) so I thought it best to stay in…even if I did stay up way too late re-reading a favorite book and then, when I’d reached the end, I worked on my own novel for a while…and realized I need to learn more about the Ukraine, and Ukrainians, particularly in Chicago. Tonight I will be going to see Neko Case in the main room, to redeem last night’s failure, and because this time I have a ticket, and will actually havbe a companion. Used to be that I didn’t mind going to shows alone, but that was because I’d always run into myriad friends and acquaintances upon arrival. I’m older now and feeling more disconnected.

Oh how I love Neil Gaiman…

After a night’s sleep, I feel sunny and bright and no longer desire to burn down the hotel and dance in the ashes.

Now I’m wanting a good night’s sleep so I can feel as refreshed as he does. I’ll try to pencil one in for, oh, maybe Friday.

Update: My morning commute was all about the path of most resistance. I’ve long known that Highway 94 is the work of the devil, much like Crowley’s handiwork with the M25 in Good Omens, but having that knowledge doesn’t make the drive any less grueling. The sooner we move back to Minneapolis the better. In the mean time I’m getting the feeling I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning…

For the last couple of months I’ve been dreading this date, but also looking forward to moving beyond it. Today is the day Felix should have been born. Well, it was the estimated due date at least. It’s sort of an arbitrary thing, because not all babies are born on their due dates. But it’s a pretty big milestone nonetheless. I feel like I should *do* something today, but I’m not sure what. It’s probably a good thing I don’t drink. But I may go to a bar. I’ve been a long-time fan of Damien Jurado but have never seen him play. Tonight he has a show at the Turf Club (where my grandma used to waitress, back when she still had a B-52s style beehive). A snippet about Mr. Jurado from sub-pop’s site:

Damien has been known to make the ladies cry at his shows with his sincere tales of love and loss. He is also a fabulous breakdancer.

Perfect. That’ll fit the bill nicely. And I’ll raise a glass (filled with a Shirley Temple, no doubt) to Felix.

Because I am tired and feeling weird today, some random little man quotes I have been saving up:

• I want a robot in my pants. (meaning that he intended to put a robot toy in his pocket before we left the house)
• You can’t go to work, it’s Spring Break! (it was, for him)
• But I like to go downstairs when I’m naked.
• Good monsters live in the light. (that was most random)
• Is that like big kid daycare? (asking about college- the boy is wise beyond his years)
• And lastly, one of the strangest things I’ve said recently - “you put that hippo in your mouth right now mister” - referring to his chewable vitamin. He only wants to consume the lions and tigers for some reason.

Initially I had big plans for today, as it was the little man’s first day back to school after Spring Break, and thus my first little man-free day off in a while. But nobody slept well last night, what with the boy’s bed-hopping and the husband’s work pager going off at all hours. I did make it to my first appointment with a personal trainer at the Y this morning (when I told a friend of these plans he looked at me, paused, then asked “who are you?”) and that went well enough. Driving home I was energized, ready to tackle my To Do list with renewed vim and vigor. Then I actually got home. And showered. And crawled back into bed like the sloth-like creature I really am.

It’s time for the doom and gloom machine to take a little break. I’ve got some diverting distractions lined up for the weekend. This afternoon will mark the little man’s third swimming lesson (and boy howdy is this one going to be fun, he’s already saying he doesn’t want to go). Tonight will be better. The lovely Zophia and I are going to the MN RollerGirls’ “Pretty in Punk” bout (though it’s sad that the original roller derby queen, Ann Calvello, passed away just last week). Tomorrow is another flickr photowalk. That ought to be a good time. And Sunday we’ll be heading to the burbs for a long overdue visit with the ‘rents.

For those who haven’t seen ‘em yet, click on the photos below to launch the four flickr photosets I created, from our recent Icelandic adventures.

The thing I hate most about going on vacation…coming back. And becoming re-immersed in the reality of day-to-day life. My elderly cat is dying. The last couple of weeks she’s been losing weight, but still behaving normally, so I was thinking “maybe I should take her to the vet.” So today I did. And it turns out she has a massive tumor in her abdomen, off of her liver. Her last checkup was in November and at that time she was in good health, for her age, and weighed in at 9.1 pounds. Today she was down to 7.4 pounds. I cringe when petting her now because I can feel her bones. There isn’t much we can do at this point. She’s still comfortable and not in pain. Yet. Some time in the next few weeks or months I’m going to have to take her back to the vet…but I won’t be bringing her home.

It’s been a strange week, featuring back-to-back blizzards and more. Out of the blue I was interviewed by Chris Hewitt, of the Pioneer Press, for a story about people who write fiction in coffee shops, which I do. I think that went well (but we’ll see how it is in print, tentatively slated for April 2nd). What was more nerve-wracking was having my photo taken. I prefer to be on the other side of the camera. Still, I met the photographer dude at Caffetto yesterday morning. Chatting with him was nice but disconcerting as he kept snapping off pix of me for an hour. Literally. During this process I was to act naturally, typing away on my powerbook. I tried to pretend I was writing something, but my concentration was shot. Instead I was really IMing with friends, one of whom had me freaking laughing and looking like a total dork because he was sending absurd ASCII art and choice lines like:

Remember… lioness in jungle! Lioness in jungle!
Do you think if you just lapsed into pirate talk he’d freak out?
or Cockney slang?
Cover one eye with a biscotti and yell, “YARRR, thar be photos!”

Oh my. How could I possibly keep it together?

In other news, we leave tomorrow. Yowza. We do have all passports present and accounted for now, but I need to run up to Kinko’s to make the suggested photocopies. While perusing the State Department’s site I came across this fabulous fact sheet for Iceland:

Extreme care should be exercised when touring Iceland’s numerous nature attractions, which include glaciers, volcanic craters, lava fields, ice caves, hot springs, boiling mud pots, geysers, waterfalls and glacial rivers. There are few warning signs or barriers to alert travelers to potential hazards. Several tourists are scalded each year because they get too close to an erupting geyser, or because they fall or step into a hot spring or boiling mud pot. High winds and icy conditions can exacerbate the dangers of visiting these nature areas.

Mmmm, boiling mud pots. Anyhow, today I have a metric crapload of laundry to do. Once washed I will have to select portions of it to pack, without over or underpacking for the trip. In the past I’ve had limited success in this department. Once I went to NYC for a full week with just one pair of pants (and I went on no shopping trips while there) but generally I err on the side of overpacking.

Bonus: My word, iTunes is so dangerous. I arbitrarily decided I was in the mood for The Cars, and they were just a couple of clicks away, of course. I’m not a completist though, so I settled on an EP containing five of their classics. Wow, I didn’t remember their songs featuring hand claps so heavily, but they sure do.

Guess I shouldn’t have been worrying about rain over the weekend. It was all about the Monday morning snow. It was absolutely grueling, commencing with a two-hour round trip commute to nowhere, through white-out conditions. I should have just stayed home with the little man, but his school district was one that didn’t shut down. But his school sure did. A crucial piece of information I gleaned over halfway through our journey, when I decided to get fancy and use my cell phone to, you know, actually call the school. Oh the glory of technology. I couldn’t fathom turning right around for a continuation of the white knuckle drive, so we took a much-needed break at Seward Cafe. Thank the heavens they were open. Afterwards I tried to pick up a few groceries at the Seward Co-op, just next door, but they were only selling non-perishable items…as the coolers were mysteriously out of commission. No fresh tofu for you! Back in the car we went, only to get stuck in the damned parking lot. After my blood pressure had skyrocketed I managed to get us out onto the street… and stuck at the first intersection we approached. Stop and go, that is the tempo. Eventually we made it home, safe and sound, but not in the damned driveway (stuck, yet again, and after getting unstuck I had to drive around the block just to get parked in front of the house). It was a three-and-a-half hour ordeal from start to finish. And when we entered our abode we found the husband, just waking up. Bitter? Who, me? At least we got some neat photos out of the morning. View the snow day set here.

Before the blizzard hit we got out and about on Sunday afternoon. The little man had a visit with his bio-dad while the husband and I went to see Tristram Shandy: a Cock and Bull Story. Fucking fantastic, and just what I needed (and amazing that the husband and I were is such agreement as to which movie to see). Afterwards the three of us had dinner together at Evergreen for the first time in ages. The food was marvellous, as usual, but the little man was being a pain in the neck for no apparent reason. Now I’m seeing this defiant streak the school has been speaking of. I’m pleased that he’s coming along, developmentally, but this is a phase I could do without (oh please, let it just be a phase).

There is much too much to be done before we leave for our trip on Friday. I’ve begun using the Backpack web app for my incessant list-making, and that does have a calming effect on me, but I’m still in panic attack mode. I’ll try not to hyperventilate.

Wow, 50 degrees. I really should get my bike out of the basement before the rains come. I’d say there’s a 50% probability of that happening.

Poor Chuck. He seemed fine at the office on Thursday. Then he took off Friday for Tex-ass, for SXSW, where he wound up in the hospital. With Strep Throat. Easily treatable, yes, but also a pain in the ass. And man, I hope I wasn’t contaminated. We leave for our trip this coming Friday.

Bonus: Speaking of which…today the New York Times has an article about what a good time of year this is to travel to Reykjavik. Don’t I know it.
Plus: I started my morning off with Daniel’s homemade rap song, with accompanied video. Check out the nerdcore, yo.
And: Love the Good Wood Gang toys (found via flickr, of course). I want them all! Well, all right, maybe not the Mr. T.T.T. Burger toy, unless he’s a veggie burger.