Thursday, December 13, 2007
I’ll be the first to admit…I can be an attention whore. I think today was the first time one of my photos landed in the flickr blog (interesting to see how that’s affected its interestingness). And seeing my name in print only fuels the fire. Sometimes these look-at-me tendencies lead to good things. Like how all my whining, here and via twitter, about not having Andrew Bird tickets led to me scoring amazing seats for tomorrow night. Big ups to my blogosphere buddies.
But, believe it or not, there are times when I do value my privacy. This week I received a letter, the second of its kind in as many years, informing me that a laptop full of sensitive information has been stolen. Some of my personal information was on that laptop - possibly including my social security number. That’ll learn me to give blood. Stupid bloodmobile.
Bonus: Other flickr goodness today - the launch of flickr stats and the flickr uploadr 3. My flickr love continues unabated.
Plus: I woke up early this morning having my annual holiday-related anxiety attack. Big fun!
And: Too tired now to watch the Turkish Star Trek disc I got from a friend (different from the Turkish Star Wars that I mentioned recently, but related). But soon.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I think poor Olive has finally had enough of Freddy, because she made a break for it this morning. Like, for real. Normally her escape attempts are limited to the front steps. But this time she bolted down the block. When I gave chase I managed to rip my damned jeans. In the crotch. The little man was laughing his head off throughout the spectacular spectacle. Thankfully I wrangled the cat back into the house and the kid to the school bus on time. But then…
- On my drive to work I encountered two middle-aged bicyclists with death wishes. First one decided the other wasn’t going fast enough and attempted to pass him - right in front of my car! I had to slam on the brakes. Their erratic biking continued for blocks. At each stoplight one would try to outpace the other. It was ridiculous. Especially now that the shoulder is diminished, what with the giant snowbanks and all. Geesh.
- I currently have a flickr parse error on my front page, and I am not alone.
- I picked up a pair of 4g tapered ubolts, but have been too wussy to stretch my ear lobes myself (currently wearing 6g spirals).
- We have to haul ass out to Savage, MN on Saturday morning for a birthday party. The things I do for the little man.
- I’m all about percussion, but only just found out about the Hit It! festival at the Southern Theater. Doh.
- Yesterday I experienced the spectator paradox, firsthand, when our Pizza Luce food order arrived at the office but no one told me. Everyone assumed someone else would let me know. 20 minutes later I stumbled upon the order and ate my cold vegan cheese toast. Alone.
- Juno is screening at the Walker tomorrow night, complete with a Q&A session with Diablo Cody. I have no tickets.
- My dear Andrew Bird is performing at The Guthrie Friday and Saturday nights but I have no tickets.
But it’s not all bad.
Gosh I had a lot to say. Thankfully they weren’t all grievances. But none qualified as Feats of Strength. Maybe I’ll come up with one of those for tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
It was an unexpectedly awesome weekend but today (Monday) I was totally beat. Low on energy though I am, sleep is eluding me. Yay. But Saturday saw cupcakes, sledding at Como, and lounging on the new furniture. All with fab friends. Sunday brought an unanticipated break, when the little man’s grandma called out of the blue. She hadn’t seen the lad since September and asked if she could have him for the day. Why certainly! This allowed me to enjoy a leisurely brunch at Seward. After which I hit up The Handmaidens Craftmas Spectacular with my pal Ericka. Then I went on to check out The Golden Compass film adaptation with J (it made us both want to revisit the books more than anything). And lastly to do some solo grocery shopping at the co-op. Sure, it was all go-go-go but it was utter bliss.
Today we were back to the usual slog, starting out with a 45 minute haul to the school bus stop (it’s usually half that or less). Thankfully we’d left early and the school bus was late. After work we met up with Zophia for the first time in ages, at Muddy Paws. I was so spacey I neglected to photograph her or the vegan cheesecake we consumed. Doh. We popped by J’s afterwards for dinner (his ingredients, my culinary talents) before heading home. Where I’d intended to cross a few items off the To Do list but have instead spaced out, dozed and otherwise squandered my time.
Hoping a return to my workout schedule at the YWCA - in combination with cutting back on the caffeine - will help set me right and boost my productivity again.
Bonus: For some reason Santacon has never struck in Minneapolis. I feel this should be remedied next year. Who’s in? I’ll be a sexy Santa. Or maybe just a really really short one.
Plus: Our Mustachio event may be over, but I’ve only just discovered Whiskerino, via the flickr blog. What grabbed me more than anything? That man’s jumping photos. Fantastic captures.
And: “Mysterious mammal caught on film.” Mammal? I think the Jerboa looks way more rodent-like. Or like a Pokemon character.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Been sacrificing sleep for the love of Scrabulous and/or for insomnia’s sake. I am one groggy girl.
So…yesterday morning I had some new furniture delivered. Real furniture. No more crappy futon couches or hand-me-downs for me. I hit up the Room and Board Outlet. Yeah, I felt a bit conspicuous-consumer, all surrounded by yuppies, but I got some excellent deals on really well made stuff. I sat on every couch in the place before I found the pair that will transform my living room into a room I actually want to live in. The Tulane and the Lenox are now in my house. Teevee party tonight, all right! After the roller derby, of course. And before that, cupcake Saturday and sledding. Oh how I adore weekends.
But I love work too. Because it’s Clockwork. The other night we had our holiday rumpus/first annual Mustachio party. I love my people.
Bonus: Bauhaus is allegedly releasing one last album before calling it quits. “We were getting along really well, but there was an incident that occurred,” drummer Kevin Haskins tells Billboard.com, declining to elaborate further. “Some of us just felt that we didn’t want to carry on as a working unit.” Hmmm, curious what this incident was.
Plus: Missed a slew of shows last night, but I did get out to dinner with J, to celebrate his 14th vegan anniversary.
And: Today is International Human Rights Day.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Whenever it snows I am thorough in the shoveling of my front steps and sidewalks, but always run out of steam by the time I get to the driveway. My half-assed job of clearing the driveway invariably leads to the car getting stuck when backing out or trying to get back in or both. And it’s only worsened by the damned snowplows leaving behind a barrier of compacted snow. Ah, the joys of homeownership in the upper midwest.
How about five better things?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I’ve shacked up with menfolk for over ten years of my adult life, but for the last year I’ve been sleeping alone. In a ginormous queen-sized bed. I could totally sprawl, spread-eagle, across the middle of it. Or sleep diagonally. Or heck, I’m so short I could just about stretch out horizontally. But no, every night I still confine myself to the right hand side of the bed. Recently I moved my night stand over to the left, in an effort to force myself into the middle area. It didn’t work. And now I have to get up - or roll over a few times - to turn off the damned alarm clock in the morning. Ensuring that I literally wake up on the wrong side of the bed. I think I’ll be moving the night stand back to its original spot.
Bonus: More writers strike blowback. Ah, David Cross in a cat suit. What’s not to love?
Plus: Voting is now open for Mustachio 2007.
And: The Golden Compass opens this weekend. Debating, for entirely selfish reasons, whether or not to take the little man to see it. It’d be far more relaxing to go without him. He sometimes has a hard time sitting still at the movies, and will occasionally, arbitrarily, announce that he’s bored and wants to leave (even when it’s a movie he wanted to see). Then there are the times when he shouts out spoilers. At least he wouldn’t be able to do that with The Golden Compass. He hasn’t read the books yet.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Ahhh, a brand new month brought us a better day. The boy seems to be recuperating. Proof? He had way too much fun running around the house with the walkie talkies shouting Wassup. Even so, I was hesitant to let him play outside. But wound up caving, as it was the first real snow of the season. We tried out the new sleds in the backyard for just a little while. And Cupcake Saturday came to us, courtesy of a kickass friend. It was good to see an outsider. There’s been too much of just the two of us.
While Adam was visiting, he clued me in to the existence of a Turkish ripoff of Star Wars. Highlights include entire scenes stolen from the original, incongruous Indiana Jones music, and fight sequences with Chinese throwing stars the size of hub caps. Amazing stuff! I know what we’re watching at my next teevee party.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Did someone open an extra big can of crazy this week? Sure feels like it. And it’s not just me. It’s been a rough/weird time for a lot of folks I know. Is it something in the air? The general malaise of the impending holidays? Circadian rhythm disruptions? Whatever it is, I’d like for it to dissipate. And fast.
At least the Shrinky Dinks were a big hit.
Bonus: Can’t wait to see Juno. And neither can J. I think he has a dude crush on Michael Cera. The kid is funny.
Plus: Blade Runner, the Final Cut? Undecided. I did go to the theater the last time around, for the 10th anniversary/director’s cut. It is one of my favorite movies. Maybe I’ll have to see this “radical update” on the big screen too.
And: Has anybody out there read Jack Williamson’s Darker Than You Think? I made a note-to-self about it months ago but all context has been lost. Hmmm.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
There was so much blood. One should not see one’s child covered in blood. And it seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute I was coaxing him to down a dose of cough syrup, which he was refusing, the next his coughing fit was producing blood. It was probably a relatively small amount, but the coughing sprayed it everywhere. The kitchen floor. The kitchen sink. His clothes. Just covered. Seeing his own blood only made him panic, and I came close to losing my shit myself. Thankfully mom mode took over. I got him cleaned up and settled down as much as possible and grabbed the phone. Got through after waiting on hold for a few minutes that felt like an eternity, then hauled ass to the clinic. Chest and sinus x-rays and bloodwork were inconclusive. We were given an antibiotic just in case. The first dose caused him to puke for the first time in his life…all over me and the floor. And then he got his first nosebleed, which led to renewed panic.
That was yesterday. Today was a brand new day. No blood. No puking. But he didn’t have much of an appetite and little energy. And the battle over his antibiotic was exhausting to us both (you wouldn’t think someone could get so worked up about taking just 5mls of medicine). But we played a few games of Connect Four. And watched the intro to Katamari Damacy. Repeatedly. And an episode or two of Aliens in America (which is really most excellent). And then there was this gem, when he turned to me, excitedly, and suggested “mom, we should turn the shrinky dinks into growing dinks!”
Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Bonus: I’m a long-time Low fan, but somehow I’ve missed all of the Retribution Gospel Choir shows. Here are some quality live videos of them performing.
Plus: I like the idea behind One Laptop Per Child, and would love to have one of the units to play with. But like J says, I’m skeptical that what poor kids need most is internet access.
And: The month of mustachio is coming to a close at Clockwork. The beard cap would be just the thing for those of who cannot grow facial hair. Now I just need someone to knit me a vegan-friendly version (no wool), in less than a week.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Dang, it’s going to be December this weekend. Stating the obvious, I know, but still. And the first falls on Saturday, which makes it the Walker’s Free First Saturday. Again. I don’t think we’ll be rolling down the big hill this time. Suddenly it’s too danged cold (5 degrees out this morning!) but we could stay nice and warm inside with the Hip-Hop Hooray program. If only my son would be as interested in that as he now is in Saturday morning cartoons. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet and I’m afraid it won’t any time soon. What a bonehead move that was. And the award for most inconsistent parenting goes to…yes, yes, to me.
I was thinking it was about time for the year-end wrap-up lists to start appearing, and bam! Everywhere I turn, well, all over the internets - in message boards and blogs - there they are. Too bad my memory is so lousy or I’d compile my own. I know I got to some seriously awesome shows, read quite a few commendable books, made it to some decent movies, etc. But all I could come up with off the top of my head? Maybe a “top ten best cupcakes consumed” list.
The Neverlate alarm clock is an interesting idea (it’s got a different setting for every day of the week) but I’ve got my own human alarm clock to wake me daily. And I don’t think his warranty will run out until he’s a teenager. At which point I’ll probably have to return the favor and wake him up.
Bonus: I am a sometimes fan of Dave Eggers. Planning to pick up What Is the What (thanks to James for the reminder) after I finish reading First Among Sequels.
Plus: Chuck makes an excellent point. The best gift is helping others.
And: Yesterday my friend Emily had to put her dear cat Babe to sleep. My thoughts are with her.
