weapons of mass distraction







Archive for April, 2006

Urban Heat Island

11 April 2006

This summer-like weather has taken me by surprise. While it’s wonderful to have the windows open in the house, to dispel the stale, stinky winter air, I’m not used to wearing my Chacos yet. If the straps aren’t adjusted properly there can be dire consequences. During my morning drive the big toe on my right foot felt like it was being strangled to death. But my big toe is the least of my worries. I can barely walk after yesterday’s workout. My personal trainer (again, can I point out what a bizarro world concept this is, that I have a personal trainer?!) really put me through my paces. Squats and lunges and some time on one of these new-fangled Bosu Balls. I felt so absolutely goofy on that thing, like I was going to fall on my face, or my ass, at any moment. And I’m still afraid I’ll find out I was secretly being filmed the entire time and that the video is making the rounds on the internets right this very moment with people everywhere busting a gut over my buffoonery. Whoa, paranoid much? I need to relax a little…and maybe cut back on the caffeine.

faux smokestacks

Bonus: Awright, maybe I shouldn’t find this as funny as I do, especially since my Dad is a cop, but it works so well because of the authority figure (though like Kevin said, it would have worked well with a clown too). Check out The Birdhouse.
Plus: The Gamines Love Gaiman
And: What does your apocalypse look like? (Spacey’s first MeFi thread)

Comfortably Dazed Dislocation

10 April 2006

For nearly seven years now I’ve lived in the same house. The longest I’ve lived anywhere since I was a kid. But right now I am having that feeling, the one you get the first night spent in a new apartment. All because the husband was motivated today. He singlehandedly swapped rooms. The smallest bedroom had been serving as his home office for far too long while our much larger master bedroom had been used solely for sleeping. Since he works from home full-time it made sense to have him use the larger room for working in. I still need to clear out a bunch of clutter, but things are looking good. Change, it can be a good thing.

While I can pretend I’m still living life before the mortgage, some others we know really are. Before the Mortgage: Real Stories of Brazen Loves, Broken Leases, and the Perplexing Pursuit of Adulthood is a collection our friend Jessica contributed to, and will be reading from (along with other contributors), on April 25th, at Magers and Quinn in Uptown.

Ablaze At All Angles

9 April 2006

All weekend I’ve been inexplicably grumpy. Ok, maybe not quite inexplicably. There is the PMS to contend with. And Jasmine’s health is very obviously deteriorating. And the infant loss support group meets tomorrow night (2nd & 4th Mondays) but I still haven’t managed to force myself to attend. A little voice keeps telling me I should go, but I don’t wanna. Instead I’m going to do the grumpy dance (via Milk and Cake).

In other news, my Geek Prom ensemble is really coming together. Or it will be, when all my ebayed items arrive. Go Go boots of gold, a blue beehive wig, some metallic gold opera gloves, a sparking raygun. And I scored some silver fabric at Savers that I intend to turn into a cape. I’m going to look fracking ridiculous. I can’t wait.

And in other news still, I bought a newspaper. Because the article I was interviewed for ran today. It’s lovely- a big two page spread, and I know two of the other women (from NaNoWriMo) who were interviewed for the story. But one of my quotes was taken slightly out of context. Such that caption above my hideous photo reads: “…that creepy lady that always sits in that corner…” Gee, great. It’s pretty funny actually.

that creepy lady
the little man's hands
hello kitty
kitty caught midstep

The Wonder Space Which Cannot Be Moved Satisfactorily

8 April 2006

zentai fetishists

I don’t think I’m so naive, and I realize, in the abstract, that there’s a fetish out there for just about everything. But yesterday I was poking around on ebay, trying to put together my outfit for the upcoming Geek Prom, when I stumbled upon the world of Zentai fetishism (unsurprisingly Boing Boing and fleshbot beat me to it, a couple of years ago). My favorite examples? The unisex mermaid and the XXL Green Lantern (poorly translated as “Green Light”) costume. You know, I’m down with cosplay, but I don’t think that straight-up spandex costumes are my medium, what with my body type and all, and I’m far too claustrophobic to have my face covered like that. Ack.

In other news, we’ve long known that the little man has awesome destructive capabilities, yet he feels the need to prove it time and time again, lest we forget. Most recently…I had emptied out one purse, to begin using another. I left a few pieces of paper out on my nightstand. The lad picked one up and ripped it in half. It was a lottery ticket. A winning one, worth $75 (I didn’t buy it, it had been given to me). He also has a habit of running from one side of the living room to the other, then slamming his body, full force, into the wall. Unfortunately there is a window in one of the walls. Yesterday he broke it. And I could have put that $75 towards repairing it.

Bonus: My copy of At War With the Mystics arrived the other day and I have been listening to it over and over again. Love it (even if the Village Voice doesn’t). I’ve never gotten to see The Flaming Lips live, but I do hope my friend gets a chance to, at Red Rocks.
Plus: This is spooky. Just this morning I was thinking about Naked Raygun (and how that was one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen) and bam, there’s Afrojet’s post mentioning them. Even if they were left out of the American Hardcore: A Tribal History book I may need to pick up a copy.
And: I am overjoyed each and every time there is a new Mimi Smartypants post. This week I’ve discovered we wear the same underpants (not the very same ones, just the same brand), we’re both facing elderly cat issues, and Nora doesn’t believe in Switzerland.

A Fascination With Extreme Situations

6 April 2006

In less than one week I have watched every single episode of the new Battlestar Galactica. Now I can catch up on sleep, and go back to living my life. I still have bonus materials to get through, as well as the podcasts from the official site, but the sense of urgency has lessened. Speaking of which, I could have paced myself a bit more, because, man, I’ve got one heck of a wait before season three begins…in October.

Speaking of living life…the last couple of days the weather has been warmer so I’ve taken the little man to not one, but two of our favorite outdoor playgrounds. All winter we were cooped up and relied heavily on the indoor variety, but those are pay-to-play, and filled with germs. It was good to get outside again. But I’d forgotten about the insidiousness of sand. When we got home the other night the little man plopped down in my favorite chair and inadvertently emptied his pant cuffs into it. I guess that’s the price you have to pay to play outside, for free.

Bonus: I’m thinking about making some sort of duct tape dress for the Geek Prom, but it would have to be very simple and it will be time-consuming, so I’ll have to get started asap.
Plus: I missed Mates of State last night (again) but Chuck went to the show for me. Wasn’t that thoughtful of him? And Metric is playing Monday night, but I’ll probably miss that too. All the good shows have been on schoolnights lately. Sigh.

boy with stick<br />
(stickboy?)

Never Create What You Can’t Control

4 April 2006

My apologies for the lack of posts, and to a whole slew of people whose emails I’ve been meaning to reply to. You can blame the Cylons. They have taken over my life. I’ve gotten completely sucked into the new Battlestar Galactica series. Over the weekend we spent most of our waking hours with the husband’s family, as his eldest sister was visiting from Florida, with her husband and their little girl. We had a good time hanging out but when we were back at our place, and I should have been sleeping, I was completely consumed by the blue glow. I am such a geek. Speaking of which…yesterday I was semi-formally invited to be an honored guest at this year’s Geek Prom. It’s being held in the Twin Cities for the first time (instead of Duluth, like Geek Proms past), and it’s practically in my backyard. I’m planning to attend, of course. But in true geek fashion, I may be date-less. Yesterday’s conversation with the husband was as follows:

Me: So…I’ll be needing a date for the geek prom.
Him: [cold silence]
Me: Would you…
Him: [cutting me off before I could get the question out] No.

I swear he’s not imaginary…just anti-social. Anyone else want to be my date? Or send me some suggestions for my attire? Anyhow, the weekend, combined with daylight savings and my first weight-training workout yesterday morning = super-tired Sharyn. But I will not let the Cylons kill my blog. Photographic evidence will be forthcoming.
Bonus: Nerd alert. Tomorrow morning, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.