This past weekend I returned to kickboxing, we art-a-whirled, saw the new Star Trek movie and I fully appreciated some of the boyfriend’s “life hacks” around our apartment.

Five more good things:

• I feel like I already watch too much teevee, streaming via the internet of course, but this news? Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos Reboot Confirmed by Fox for 2014. Umm. Hell yeah.
• I don’t care so much about baseball, but Saints games are more fun than most. And they have better beer now. I am particularly excited about this Sunday’s game but only because of the Monster Food Truck Rally afterward (we missed it last year for some reason). Oh, and bonus fireworks!
• Speaking of food…the fine folks at The Heavy Table have a kickstarter going to produce The Secret Atlas of North Coast Food. I am so into it.
• This is neat. “A plan to expand urban agriculture in Minneapolis passed the city’s zoning and planning committee on Thursday, opening the door for farmers to turn vacant lots into commercial farms.”
• The World’s End trailer is finally out! This is the final installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright. So excited. And August already has so much to look forward to.

Now for my one big gripe. A better brighter flickr? Seems more like a half-assed redesign launched before it was ready, in order to justify the timing of the weird new pricing scheme to coincide with Yahoo’s big tumblr buy out. They must just be hoping to gain more new users from the tumblr ranks rather than to offset the cost of the buy out. The twitterverse let out a collective groan at this announcement yesterday afternoon. Sorry Ms. Mayer, this does not “make flickr awesome again.” Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this all pans out.

Sunday was a bit off. In the morning I woke from a bad dream collage: I lost my job. A friend was diagnosed with some awful blood disease. There was a kitchen fire. I got mugged in a parking ramp. Unsurprisingly I got out of bed feeling not at all rested. And proceeded to cook up a storm (without any accompanying fires) before heading to the May Day Parade. We mostly had a good time but the boy and I just experienced synchronized seasonal allergy explosions so we were both a bit punchy and prone to crabbiness/crappiness.

In other news, Saturday is the boyfriend’s birthday. We’re heading down to Chicago to see Boris at Lincoln Hall. Despite being a mother I was oblivious to the impending Mother’s Day when I booked this trip out of town. Without my son. Oops.

Speaking of moms and more:

• The Matrix, retold by mom. Weird bonus: “The Walking (And Talking) Dead” — A Bad Lip Reading of The Walking Dead
• Matt Groening’s mom passed away recently. Read through her obituary and you will a) see what a wonderful smile she had and b) see how much of Groening’s real life inspired/informed The Simpsons.
• What an amazing person. I wish I had that sort of focus. Ray Harryhausen, Master Of Stop-Motion Animation, Dies. My friend Emily rounds up some of his best works.
• 22 cleverly defaced textbooks and exam papers and also science!
• I have long been amused by musicians who achieve a certain level of success and use it to come up with ridiculous riders when touring and whatnot. One photographer decided to document such things. Wonderful.

It was a long hard winter. Now that things are finally warming up (I’ve worn sandals! At least twice!) it’s particularly hard to focus on staying in one place in the here and now. Mentally or physically. The other night the boyfriend and I fully booked our Canadian trip for August. I even did a happy dance. Neither of us have used airbnb before but I feel like we did our homework and made some good choices for our Toronto and Montreal stays. We’ve also got this trip to Chicago, at least one to Pizza Farm, and another to Cheyenne for a friend’s wedding. And my son has some wacky adventures roaming the countryside with his grandparents and their dogs in an RV. But we need to remember to be present in the days that we are here, in our every day lives, and try not to daydream too much about what lays ahead.

It’s hard to switch gears to five good things, but I need to:

• Hooray for Colorado! Hundreds of Colorado gay and lesbian couples put an official government seal on their relationships in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after the state’s civil-unions law took effect.
• Love this: a mini documentary about the importance of food in Quentin Tarantino’s movies.
• Silly but snort-inducing: Super Mario Bros. Characters Reimagined as Hipsters
• My Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds vinyl finally showed up this week. Amazon had been having trouble procuring it. But Push the Sky Away turned up and sounds wonderful. And it came with a bonus 7″, with the songs Lightning Bolts and Needle Boy. Very happy making.
• Also happy, I have happy hour plans with a friend at one of the happiest happy hours in town. Stoked.

A friend gave me the heads up about this Montreal city guide. Looks right up my alley. It just dawned on me…I’ll get to stop by the Drawn and Quarterly store when I visit Montreal. SO very excited about that. And we’re going to give AirBNB a shot. We’ve already found loads of cool looking, well-reviewed lodging in Toronto and Montreal. But we’ll be going for the private apartment option rather than sharing space/staying with someone in their home. The older I get the more I appreciate my privacy. And this return to cohabitation is hard enough. When I go on vacation I need my personal space.

How about five good things?

• Nice to see this piece about Sarah Allen: Blazing the trail for female programmers (though it fails the Finkbeiner test in nearly every possible way).
• Here at Clockwork we’re thinking about the next generation of programmers. To that end we’ve begun hosting the brand new Twin Cities branch of Coder Dojo. Recently mentioned in this piece: “Computer-coding classes teach students skills they’re not getting in school“
• My old pal Michelle is a Mongol now. So happy for her and I love living vicariously through her adventures.
• Yesterday NBA player James Collins came out, which was super cool. First major sports player to do so. And there was a lot of positive reaction to his announcement, which was good to see. In related news, a friend made a spot-on observation about Chris Kluwe: “while he’s not saying anything new, he is saying it in an interesting and sometimes humorous way that’s just intelligent enough to get the A-OK from the cognoscenti, and just middle-of-the-road enough for the average person to not be turned off.” This time we were talking about this: “When They Come For You“
• I was blown away by this powerful photo essay: Photos of Children From Around the World With Their Most Prized Possessions. Wow.

Distractions abound on the internet, as ever. Yesterday I learned Neil Degrasse Tyson had the esteemed Alan Rickman on his Star Talk show. Bookmarked that to listen to later while I got sucked into a new BBC mini-series by Jane Campion. I binged on too many episodes of Top of the Lake last night but I haven’t made it to the end yet. Biting my nails to find out how it all shakes out. But there is so much going on in real life. Paperwork to contend with for the kid’s summer camp. Music and art happenings. Hanging out with friends. A whirlwind weekend of Free Comic Book Day and the May Day Parade and related house parties, potlucks and shows. I’m happy to end my winter of hermitude.

• Local musician/artist Venus de Mars is being picked on by the department of revenue and the whole thing is baffling. Jim Walsh penned a good piece about it here: Talking with the taxman about poetry — and deductions. As a friend put it “Venus is one of the most longstanding and hardworking artists in the community - the very definition of legitimate.” Just from a cost/benefit standpoint the government has got to be spending more on resources - person hours and what not - than they could possibly hope to receive from this damned audit. Truly vexing.
• In news of the sad yet inspiring - Divinyls singer Chrissie Amphlett died at age 53 of breast cancer (she was also afflicted with MS). I was a teenager when I first became aware of her and was bowled over by her presence. Inspirational.
• The internet is abuzz with talk of the Kim Gordon interview in Elle. She’s always been a major role model in my world.
• Can I get a HELL YES “Pop musician Grimes attacks sexism in the industry” - Grimes is taking a break from music, saying she ‘doesn’t want to compromise her morals to make a living‘. I’m sad she feels the need to step away but I applaud her for trying to bring awareness to something that shouldn’t still be an issue but obviously is.
• Kelvin Atkinson, Nevada Lawmaker, Comes Out In Gay Marriage Debate - Good for him! I particularly like this: He dismissed the idea that gay marriage threatened other marriages. “If this hurts your marriage, then your marriage was in trouble in the first place.” Hear, hear.

After yet another Spring snowstorm on Monday / Earth Day it seems winter weather and snow are finally retreating. As is my sinus infection. I have slowly but steadily been feeling better. I may even be able to return to kickboxing this weekend. Fingers crossed.

Five things to divert my attention:

• “In Sri Lanka, the coconut is, in a sense, a source of life. Not only it is the main ingredient in most Sri Lankan dishes, but the entire coconut tree — From the roots to the coconut itself to the tips of the leaves — plays a major role in the non-culinary ways of life. Without the coconut, things in Sri Lanka would be very different. We spent the day with a family of 8 on their coconut plantation outside of Negombo, where they showed us all this fruit (nut?) has to offer.” Wonderful video.
• Speaking of coconut….local ice cream makers FrozBoz have crafted a vegan-friendly coconut hibiscus and lime flavor. I would love to try it.
• Most of the news stateside has been crap, but the other day lawmakers in New Zealand approved a marriage equality bill. Go Kiwis! And in it’s-about-damned-time-news, Activists cheer as Montana formally decriminalizes gay sex
• This hyper polyglot teenager taught himself to speak 23 languages. Neat.
• Science is awesome. What Happens When You Wring Out a Washcloth in Space

With yet more snow blanketing our region it seems like Spring will never come. We’ll just skip ahead, eventually, into summer. And summer of dresses. To that end I’ve been pinteresting dresses I would like to wear. Some day, when the weather cooperates. But that only induces more guilt about being brainwashed by our consumerist culture. I can’t win. And now more than ever I want off this rock. But all I’ve got is escapism. Elysium or Oblivion? Speaking of off of this rock and escapism…I also have access to watch the Lil Bub documentary in its entirety (the trailer posits that she is really an alien). I plan to tune out the rest of the world today and daydream about warmer and happier times.

I’m trying not to be too distracted by it, or to despair. Attempting to stumble along and find something pleasant to be distracted by instead. Five good things:

• Whenever I feel overwhelmed I think of my happy place. More often than not that happy place is Iceland. I would love to go back. I’m especially tempted to go in June. All Tomorrow’s Parties, my favorite music fest ever, will be held at Ásbrú (the former Nato Base) in Keflavík. With Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds headlining. It’s like this festival was designed for me.
• The Oatmeal to the rescue, as always. “Why the Mantis Shrimp is my new favorite animal.”
• Until yesterday I had never heard of William Tyler. But I spent a good chunk of last night and this morning listening to his music and it is gorgeous stuff. He’ll be playing in town next week. If I’m feeling better by then I may have to check it out.
• Not a “happy” list item by any means, but a powerful one. Two different but very effective hard-hitting ad campaigns in favor of gun control (which I am in favor of, obviously).
• Saturday is Record Store Day. Some great events are happening locally, though the outdoor block party is likely to be chilly with yet another wintry slush storm headed our way. The indoor night show is a better bet.

Saturday morning I’m looking forward to taking my son to a bar. To Icehouse MPLS, specifically, to enjoy the music of Dreamland Faces - pictured below - covering the composer Alec Wilder while old school cartoons are shown on a big screen. Should be fun, if my surly teen son is still into that sort of thing. We’ll see.

21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed

Tangentially related…another really good read. How not to say the wrong thing - “It works in all kinds of crises – medical, legal, even existential. It’s the ‘Ring Theory’ of kvetching. The first rule is comfort in, dump out.”

Five good things for this gloomy Monday:

• I recently learned about Lyft, “your friend with a car” in Los Angeles. A most excellent idea.
• 40 Hilariously Mean Roger Ebert Reviews
• Leaning in? Don’t fall over. When I was college-age my parents earned enough income that I didn’t qualify for much in the way of financial aid. But they were divorced - and not amicably - and neither would agree to help me in any way. I was on my own the day I turned 18. I attempted to go to school part-time and work full-time. Working won. Now I’ve been in my IT career for 21 years and a single parent for 13+ years of it. I’ve never had the luxury of choice.
• Gorgeous photo series, The Masks We Wear and incredibly well done Comic Book Illustrations Into the Real World
• The 2013 Minneapolis International Film Fest has begun!

At work right now but heading to the doc later this morning. Hoping to get a Z-Pak to knock out this nasty business and return to my regularly scheduled programming.

No child should go hungry in America, yet 1 in 4 U.S. kids don’t know where their next meal will come from.

Food Bloggers Against Hunger was created in response to the new documentary from Participant Media, A Place at the Table. On April 8, 2013, food bloggers will donate their posts to raise awareness about the film, issues of hunger, and ask their readers to send letters to Congress to protect SNAP funding and make anti-hunger legislation a priority.

I’m reminded of one of the most anxiety inducing chapters of my life, not long after my son was born. New parenthood is scary enough but single parenting without a net is just plain terrifying. While pregnant my nesting instincts kicked into overdrive and I convinced myself that buying a house was A GOOD IDEA. But then struggled to cover my bills. The cost of daycare was more than my mortgage payment. I was already exhausted and stressed, just barely scraping by, when the bombshell hit. I lost my job when my son was nine months old. He’d had some medical problems (two surgeries before he turned one) so I needed to cover the monthly cost of COBRA, which was even greater than daycare. I quickly found temp work and that temp work led to a permanent position but it didn’t take long for my debt to spiral out of control. In a matter of months my car was repossessed and my home went into foreclosure. At the time it felt like everyone wanted a piece of me but I didn’t have enough money to cover the basics.

I was still breastfeeding my son when I experienced real hunger for the first time. My fridge and kitchen cupboards were empty. I had just covered our COBRA payment again, was a month or two behind on my mortgage payment, my savings account was empty and my checking account was seriously overdrafted and racking up fees. Overwhelming despair did battle with a powerful need to eat. And to produce milk so my son could nurse, and to get some solid foods for him to eat (a pretty new development at that time). Thankfully I was resourceful. The car hadn’t been repossessed yet and still had half a tank of gas. And I was armed with some useful knowledge. I knew where to go dumpster diving. I scored free baked goods (safely wrapped in layers of plastic) from the trash behind Breadsmith. I knew a place to pick up barely expired Naked juice. And I had friends who worked at local co-ops. That summer saw a number of power outages where all the perishables had to be thrown away. Those friends gave me the heads up so I could swoop in before the food went bad. I picked up a couple of grocery bags’ worth each time. And my saving grace was the Seward Cafe. Back then they still closed in the afternoon and would give away whatever cooked food they had leftover at the end of the day. For a few weeks I regularly lined up with strangers, with my baby on my hip, to load up on free beans and brown rice and kale at four in the afternoon. It was nerve wracking but I got by. I can’t imagine keeping that up for the long term. The intervening years haven’t been easy by any stretch. But we have avoided experiencing that sort of food insecurity again and my son - now a teenager - has thrived.

Let’s see if we can give other children that opportunity. Please join me in telling congress that Federal nutrition programs are crucial for hungry children. And watch the trailer for A Place at the Table. And consider other ways to help.

I’ve been feeling pretty down this week so it is harder to come up with my usual five good things. But I’m going to do it anyway. Because it will make me feel better.

Five good things for this Friday:

• Edison High innovator engages kids, reaches finals in Teach-Off. What a wonderful teacher! Watch the videos and vote here for Christopher Leonard Pennington.
• So much new music to enjoy right now. I love the new Low. And the new Kurt Vile. And the new Marnie Stern. And the new Julianna Barwick single. Been listening to the Knife’s New album Shaking the Habitual, streaming via Pitchfork. Live music-wise we saw Low at The Fitzgerald last month and Sigur Ros Wednesday night. This weekend we’re going to see Iceage and next week Julia Holter will be at The Walker.
• This is an incredible project. “Beijing Silvermine is a unique photographic portrait of the capital and the life of its inhabitants following the Cultural Revolution. It covers a period of 20 years, from 1985, namely when silver film started being used massively in China, to 2005, when digital photography started taking over. These 20 years are those of China’s economic opening, when people started prospering, travelling, consuming, having fun.”
• Your Morning Cry: Volunteer Pilots Fly Rescue Puppies to New Forever Homes
• Lastly, fantastic scotch tape portraits. I need to set aside some time to do this with the guys at home. For sure.

Speaking of the guys at home…the boyfriend is all moved out of his old apartment, as of Monday morning. But definitely not all settled into mine (now ours). This is the first time I’ve attempted cohabitation since 2006. So far so good but we have a lot of work to do to de-clutter and get everything situated. I’m de-cluttering in other areas of my life too. Even just unsubscribing from the countless email lists I was receiving and trying to reduce other distractions as well. Going away up North to the solar barn home in Biwabik was the best thing ever. I kinda wish we were still there, where life is simpler.