Saturday, December 22, 2007



Happy Xmas everyone!

Sorry I've been tight lipped as of late, but as most of my energies and time have gone into work, all I'd be blabbing about is work. And I think we all know it isn't kosher to blab too much about work on the internets. Let's just say it's got a fire under my butt and I've been accomplishing things I never thought possible.

So... For the past 24 & upcoming 24 hours I'm spending as much time as possible sitting on my couch with zach and the dog. Catching up on the internet. Catching up on Talk Soup. Catching up on moments of absolutely zero thought. It's pretty awesome.

We took our big ol area rug in to get cleaned today. Not that it looks dirty - I just know from how many foster dogs have played on it that it's got to be dirty. And as much as I think that dry cleaning is a scam, I think about what carpet looks like under a microscope and I'm willing to pay almost anyone to convince me it's cleaner than before I brought it to them.

The room looks sort of cold without it.

Also, I fell down the stairs today and smacked my head and hurt some arms and things. That whole want to cry and laugh at the same time feeling is so perplexing. I hope that in 2008 I'm less clumsy.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Talk about jinxing things. Ugh.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Jump start. I really have a need to be smart today. But I'm feeling more confused than anything. The gears are moving slowly... Caffeinating....

Friday, December 14, 2007

Not to jinx myself (for the part of me who believes in the power of jinxing matters), but I work with the nicest, most supportive people I've ever worked with in my life. When one person gets thrown under the bus, I swear it's like a family matter over here. Such a feeling of well-being.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

It's really ridiculous how often I use MS Paint at my job.
It's 9:45am and I've already eaten my lunch. I hate when that happens. Ugh.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

It's so hard not to be lazy on the weekends. No matter what I get done, I still manage to sleep an embarrassing amount. Some day I won't be able to do this. Some day I'll have obligations outside of work.

My phone was off the entire day yesterday and I didn't even notice.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

So tired that I feel crazy. Crazy I tell you. I have tunnel vision and vertigo. And so much to do! Thank goodness I can take the train home tonight instead of driving. And I have a new long and puffy coat with a fuzzy hood, so I can wrap up lean my head against the window and sleep all the way home. Like I'm a great big blue caterpillar. Four more hours or so. Bzzzt.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Oh yay! Saturn is soon to be making a little pod car too! Yes yes come on everyone. Get into it. More little cars! More little cars!

-->annoying, flash-based Astra pre-sale page<--

I have to say the four door like the one below is pretty cute:



kind of ... golfy, no? er, rabbity? But the hatch entrance, once opened, appears to be really tiny and impractical. Just like the new volvo C30 hatch. Like you're ever gonna be able to get your surfboard, llama, xmas tree and sweet guitar amps in and out of that spot without killing one of the three of you (you, your car, or object to be transported). How can you get something like that wrong? It's the main utilitiy of a hatch back, people.

See, I should be in charge of things like this. Most especilly hatchbacks. Duh.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Gosh. I've become a really bad blogger. I'll try and maybe write something on the train on the way home if'n I'm feeling too dumb to do my work-work. Not that you're second best. Not at all. It's just that you don't pay me to blog. Work, however... Oh what does that make me?

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

okay okay. so the entire show embarrasses me.
um. the guitar hero scene on gossip girl? I feel embarrassed.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Saturday, November 10, 2007

I like that these things show up when you google image search "cool hand luke"



A hard boiled egg I can understand, but.. whatever.

I originally made this blog so that my family could join in the fun, but for obvious reasons my brother's been too busy. Dad's got his round of car sites he visits. And I suppose my mom just isn't into blogs.

That being said, I can dish on xmas presents: Today Zach and I got the nephew a tiny old-timey veleur adidas track suit in red and blue. The little striped legs are about 7 inches long and I keep pulling it out of the bag to look at it. It's funny. I mean, even too small to put on the dog. A fine example of rule of cuteness number what, seven? Fourteen? I bet that baby breaks a number of the rules.

One of the reasons I look forward to having babies: Dressing them like adults.
Another reason: Making them do the dishes. For real, there are few things I hate more than doing dishes.

Okay now that we're further into Cool Hand Luke I get the hound thing. Blue done run himself to death. Can't wait to see if the llamas come into play.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Squeeee!



Just amazing. Cuties absoluties.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Weeeeeee!



Oh dang! Zach and I are uncles! Let the cuteness begin.
More photos over here.

Friday, November 2, 2007

His name is Dominic. And he has some hair. That's all I know.

: )
Baby's coming! Baby's coming! Baby's coming!

Right now!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Just a waitin' on a friend you see....

Still no bebe. This suspense is killing me.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Man. US Maple is really nuts. I mean, nuts in a good way, but still, some of the weirdest stuff I've ever seen or heard. Bring that back out again. The purple album is so so good.

Bizzy bizzy at work. I like it that way. Superhero or maniac? Who cares? I'm learning a lot. I'm rolling with punches. Boss's boss says this builds character. It also makes time fly.

Check it out - I'm gonna be an auntie again like any day now. Any day. A little dude for dressing up in dinosaur patterns. I'm just waiting for that call. Then I gotta arrange a trip to Cincinnatti right quick in order to sniff that baby before he stops smelling sweet. Man I love sniffing new babies, don't you?

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Streetview

I just spent an hour driving through a moment in time of Chicago's Englewood neighborhood with Google's new Streetview feature. It must've been a beautiful day that day because everyone and everyone was out on their porches. I made a gallery of some of the people I saw.



Gallery --> here.

We don't have much of a porch culture in our world. I'd bet these peeps even know who their neighbors are.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tonight we are hosting our very first dinner par-tay. Detroit style (veggie) conies & fries. Hooray!!
What could be our centerpiece?

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Mmmmm. So much better than it sounds.

Pasta & Cauliflour Curry

ingreds:
* 10 to 12 oz pasta, any short chunky shape
* 1 head of cauliflour cut into bite sized pieces
* one 28 oz can low sodium diced tomatoes w/liquid
* 1 heaping cup frozen green peas, thawed
* 2 teaspoons good quality curry powder

1. Cook de pasta & drain.
2. Steam de cauliflour until tender crisp or however you like it.
3. Put cauliflour, can o' tomatoes, peas & curry in a saucepan & simmer.
4. When heated through, mix de pasta & vegetables and gorge yourself.

Stats (if you must):
7 g protein
0 g fat
0 g cholesterol
33 g carbs But who cares about all that when its so so good?


Hmmmmmm! Made my laptop bag & everything else in the kitchen smell like beautiful curries for days to come! Ahh. If you use this, let me know how it goes. Any adds, etc?

Friday, October 12, 2007

man, that was emo.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

I'm alone tonight. The first days of autumn always bring nostalgia.

I can't believe Peanut is gone. Long gone. That skinny little body we worked so hard to build back up. Those wounds I cleaned and wrapped... They're all so much a part of history.

Why didn't I keep that dog? What was I afraid of?

I was young. And youth goes hand and hand with selfishness, fear of committment, uncertainty and immortality.

That pup is long gone. And if I could I would, but I imagine anyone who says they don't have regrets is a flat out liar.

I did what I could at the time. And I will always wish to have done more. For as long as I live. In every circumstance. That's how I am.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

53 minutes until big meating. I'm not prepared and have medicine head.
I can do this. I can do this. Be cool.

Burr.. Autumn is here. Bust out the old old Smashing Pumpkins. They compliment each other. And headphones can keep it your secret.

ps - today is my half birthday! 29.5 yay.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

What do you do when you spill coffee all over your colleauge's office & lab books? Ugh. You send an e card.



Then what?

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Today my friend at work gave me garden tomatoes, and so tonight Zach and I made nachos. They were a thing of beauty. Look:



For tomorrow I have a yogurt/cucumber/tomato/dill concoction. Man, tomatoes from a garden are so exciting.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Spinal Tap skeleton t-shirts for dogs at old navy! Oh yes!

Friday, September 21, 2007

I've not been blogging.
I've been busy I guess.

They let my boss go at work. So now I have his busy. And my own busy. And the whole ordeal is a little saddening, but... sigh.

And yesterday morning I fainted at the train station & bit it & got bad boo boos & spent the morning at the doctor's office. And now I'm sore and embarrassed and bandaged and have had to re-tell the story 30 times.

And, but, last night Zach and I went to dinner at Green Zebra! All the portions are laughably small but so so great and savory. And you may spend your whole night and your whole allowance there but you leave feeling so so satiated. I've wanted to do that forevers.

I lurve him. <3

Thursday, September 13, 2007

p.s. Tomorrow's crazy hat day! Super.
I just survived a round of layoffs at work. This is a new feeling. Interesting. There are totally mental benefits to not having real responsibilities, like tots or a mortgage.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Man, there's this girl at work with a perfect figure, right? She was just in Portillos and the (presumably) mentally challenged kid sweeping the floor said to her:

"Wow, you should be a mannequin."

HA! Take your compliments where you can get them, right?
Aah... I just find that very funny.... still laughing.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Feel like I havent slept in days. Though I have. I really have.

Been riding the train. Riding the train allows for a lot of reading and daydreaming. And that is cool. Maybe eventually I'll get creative.

Today we ran out of dog food. Because I leave my car out here in the burbs when I ride the train, today I'll be riding the train home reading Isaac Asimov with a big bag of kibble in my lap. And, I don't know. Maybe that might stir someone's imagination.

Power to them.

A few hours ago I ate sushi from Target Greatland. Just so you know. I'm not dead yet.

Zzzzzz

This week is maybe haircut time for Zach and I. If he's been able to set up a time for us, I just may go for the Suri Cruise. And then if I could just get her fashion down, this fall will be tight.

I know. You might think I'm kidding.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Haven't been updating. Currently obsessed with a video game, science fiction novels & Berwyn. Currently dealing with a bout of insomnia. Sleep isn't near but I don't want to pull out the game cube because Zach will come out and make fun of me. It's still hot this time of year, but change is in the air. As expected, they're dragging out the construction at the intersection in front of our house.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Still sneezing. I'd make a really, really crappy Scientologist.
Okay.
Okay.
I know how stupidly lucky I am, but I'm also allergic to almost every simple pleasure. Leaves, flowers, kitties, apples, pears, plums, cherries, bananas, avocados, raw carrots and broccoli, sugar snap peas, ice cream, plain milk.... I guess horse flies aren't a simple peasure but horses are, and God help me if I meet another horse fly, so I imagine I won't be riding ponies again any time soon.

Tonight sleep wasn't coming easily (as most Sunday nights go) so I climbed out of bed, ate a peach (cut up into bite sized pieces of course, so as to avoid it touching the skin on my face) and woke up everyone in the house with my sneezing. And now I've got no choice but to sit here in the dark for the next hour, trying not to claw my eyes out. It itches. So. Bad.

The peach wasn't even that good. Surprising for its size.

Maybe I'd trade one blessing to get rid of my allergies. Let me sleep on which one it'd be.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Monday, August 20, 2007

The only reason I have no tattoos is because I've never found anything that meant enough to me, and that wouldn't eventually fade. Not fade in the literal sense, but things, they come and go. I don't even feel much like the person I was five years ago.

But I'm thinking now that if I were to ever get a tattoo, it'd have to be something that would just remind me to never take things for granted. It's so hard. And that's one thing that never changes.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Prez Grid

Thank Melissa for this. It's both interesting and useful: [A grid detailing the stances of the top 237 Presidential hopefuls] Lets hope it gets pared down & updated accordingly. This Tom Tancredo looks like a nice guy, right? Though I try not to get excited this early on in the game.

Monday, August 13, 2007

4:10 pm. My new watch - it doesn't move fast enough.

Monday Afternoon

I'm feeling paranoid today. Everyone at work is oddly quiet. I'd much rather be at home, reading books. Wouldn't you?

2:29 pm

tick
tock

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

funny story

Last night I dreamed I was in our old back yard (clue #1 - you are dreaming)
playing football with my mom (clue #2 - you are dreaming).

As she held the ball in place for me to kick, Charlie Brown style, I wound up...

...and kicked my dog who was sleeping at my feet on the bed.

Oops.

-----------

Another funny story, but this time weird-funny, not so haha funny:

I pass a cemetery every day on the way to work. I've passed it every morning for the past year or so & I've always been meaning to stop because cemeteries are nice. I'd always thought I'd stop in the afternoon on my way home from work, but this morning, for some reason, I stopped. I got out & admired the morning mist, walked through the big old trees, the ancient looking stone blocks with the writing worn off and sticking up out of the ground like crooked baby teeth. Watched a bee land on some fake flowers. And the first stone I walked up to read

"William E Albach July 18 1929 - August 7 2006"

Which would be exactly one year ago today, which is interesting. Looking up Bill Albach. It appears he was a school bus driver. The reason I stopped today, well there must be a reason, although it isn't obvious to me. Not at all.

Existentialism can be stupid.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

so proud

My little car is going to be famous! It's going to be in an Allstate ad about teen driving. Which is pretty funny to me because I've been informally collecting car insurance ads on teen driving for the past few months. Totally unrelated. As a sort of study. I have some from 1967, some from 2007... Not sure why I started setting them aside but I suppose I've wanted to lay them out side by side to see what I can learn about how marketing tries to create a sobering moment amidst ads for cologne & haircolor. Moreso, how marketing tries to bring attention to a serious topic without offending by pointing out how moronic young folk can be. It's always about a half page ad that reads like a public service announcement, throws in some shock, some statistics & ends with something along the lines of "we want you to live!"

This ramble isn't really going anywhere.

Okay but I have to point out that the oldest ad starts out:
"It may be beautiful to die for love in a poem, but it's ugly and stupid to die for love in a car. Yet how many times have you seen (or been) a couple more interested in passion than in passing?"
Um. Rarely, thank God. What kind of world did my parents grow up in? Making out while DRIVING??

I hope no one makes out in my car today.

New Topic
Annika looked fabulous this morning. You'd never know she's running on four hours of sleep and has been working nonstop. She's absolutely the type of person who should be working freelance & I'm not sure why I even secretly worried for her when she made the jump and went out on her own. She's got the energy, she's got the talent, & she's got the integrity. This has been such a life changing year for her & I love witnessing these kinds of things.

New Topic
What am I doing up at 7:00 on a Sunday morning? Not sure, but it's nice. I can't wait for Z to wake up so that I can make him pancakes. With mandarin oranges to make little faces with big ol lips on them.

Friday, August 3, 2007

I'm a star!

And running on fumes.
Or is that mania?
omg tgif

27.8 - (12.5*0.24)

I'm forgetting my basic math concepts.
Percents, standard deviations and means (not medians) are totally stumping me.
I don't have time for this brain failure.

Or this A.D.D.

To stop working to complain to your blog is totally not a solution. Not a solution.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

i had a bad day today

They told us at work that they're letting Barry go at the end of August.
It's good for him because he can go back to his family.
But bad for me because he is my BFF at work.
And I just asked for a raise.

I'm not being told the entire truth.
For one reason or another.
White as lies may be, they diminish my trust.
I'm not asking them to promise me anything, so why do they keep promising me things?

Poop.

Playing my guitar for the first time in a year and the intonation is off.

Dear Santa,

I would like for my guitar to be set up.
And three guitar lessons with Rockin' Billy down the street.
Cause guitars used to make me happy.
And I need some help remembering.

Zach got his hairs cut today and his head looks so teeny and his ears stick out so cute-like.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz......

Monday, July 30, 2007

ain'tnobodygonnabreakamystride

Well poop. All that preparation and she didn't show. Ah but yes, I know, important people such as her have busy schedules. Another time.

Instead we had a quiet weekend. Uneventful. Saw fake Don Cab. Saw some friends. Took some naps.
____________________________

In other news, I just asked for my first raise in my life. Not that I haven't received raises, but I've never asked for one. And oh it was a whopper I just asked for. And oh was it ever uncomfortable. I'll keep you posted, of course, as to what shakes out. Around these parts it could likely take a few months to even see a response.

Truth: One of the big reasons women still don't make as much money as men is that we've learned that self-promotion is bad. Unladylike, for sure. Right now I feel like I just traipsed across all the desks here, shaking my ass & singing the vocal parts the women sang in the studio on Rock of Love. Or worse. Although I swear I put it more eloquently.

Fingers crossed.




Now I need to go work like I deserve the raise.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

lia ahnana

Been scrubbing, cleaning, dusting... Got to go shopping tonight for things like nanas and whole milk, because we have a very special guest staying with us this weekend.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

keeping busy

Even if with a whole lot of nothing. This morning at breakfast I made a to-do list on my my placemat.

I'd never been to Berwyn before and so we went on a field trip. All I knew of Berwyn is that it has those cars on a stick that, if memory serves me, were shown for a split sec in Waynes World. And I thought maybe Svengoolie came from Berwyn, but I still don't know.

It's probably got all that and then some but one Sunday isn't enough to fully understand, I'm sure. We spent the morning going in and out of open houses (big old houses with amazing & swanky basements that haven't been touched since 63) sort of half pretending we were shopping.

It's a real sleepy & pleasant place, that Berwyn. To my surprise. If not full of heshers. It's nice to know that if it's your thing, you can actually afford to own a n octoganal front bungalow with a swanky basement that hasn't been touched since 63, on a quiet & well-kept street. Only 15 minutes from our current neighborhood.

And duh, cars on a stick! Totally made my day.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We're going to alice & friends

We're going to alice & friends
We;re going to alice & friends
we're going to alice & friends

Monday, July 16, 2007

maybe it means i get more out of living

Maybe I've mentioned it before. It's fun from time to time, but it's really starting to drive me nuts. I dream all night, every night. This year it's gotten to the point where I sometimes confuse my dreams with reality if the dreams are tame enough. It's manageable now, but if it were to get any worse I might end up committing myself. Have you ever heard of any related disorders?

And

I realize no one ever cares to hear about any one elses dreams, but just to illustrate what I'm going through, here are my last couple nights in order. No exaggeration. In fact I'm sure there was more that I've since forgotten.


___________________

Thursday July 12

Phase 1 – I’m at a carnival of some sort. I have a long, loosely knit dark purple scarf. The winter kind. It’s fun to play with. Then I’m riding up to the top of a ride. Something like a roller coaster. It’s jolted and I start to free fall.

Phase 2 – I’m riding to a sold out concert in a van with strangers. Somehow I know we’re privileged & will be getting in. We arrive in a gymnasium fit for an elementary school. We stay strapped in to the bench seats of the van as they’re removed from the van and roll us up to the stage. The bench seats become the “front row.” I feel awkward and restricted.

My analysis: When I wake up I mourn the fact that the purple scarf wasn’t real. No idea about anything else. This dream was stupid.
___________________

Friday July 13

Phase 1 - Hanging out with Janess Vartanian. Childhood friend, family friend. It must be back in time. Their house is next to the Dufour’s, which in my dream some how lead me to think “It all makes sense now.” Don’t ask me what makes sense. It doesn’t make sense. Anyhow the two houses share a yard. There are a lot of cars sitting around. A lot of works in progress. I feel pretty happy. Home again. Although this combination of things never really existed in my waking life.

Phase 2 – Here’s Clare again. She’s in my dreams more often than anyone else. Childhood bff. She’s somehow fallen off the face of the earth. No idea where she is. Anyhow, in this dream I meet up with her. She’s living in the house her parents lived in when we were young. She has a baby. She’s married. I feel really upset and cheated because I wasn’t around to witness her wedding, and didn’t get to see her pregnant, or as a brand new mom, figuring it all out. She’s gained weight and as much as I strain when staring at her face, it doesn’t look like Clare to me. I feel frustrated.

My analysis: This dream is pretty realistic, though I don’t know that Clare would ever gain weight. I often feel like when I left “home” it was for good. The day I moved to college, my parents moved out of the house & town I grew up in, and there began my systematic severing of all ties. I move on, I make menial efforts to stay in contact, I lose touch, and then I feel cheated when people forget about me.
___________________

Saturday July 14

My memory is really limited on this one since I didn’t write anything down. I do remember inventing snacks for whales, however. Whale snacks. They came in a box like milk bones. It was very exciting because until now, whales haven’t had snacks. They’ll be so appreciative. I’m so excited I wake up and tell Zach about it in half sleep.
___________________

Sunday July 15

Phase 1 – I’m driving to school and realize I forgot to put make up on, and so I turn around to head back home even though I know I’ll be late. I’m driving through a suburban neighborhood. Can’t see over the dash board very well.

Phase 2 – I’m suddenly pushing a lawn mower up a steep & slippery hill. I notice some steps cut into the hill. Duh, that would be a lot easier. The steps veer off to a house.

Phase 3 – I’m in the house. No one is home. I’m not supposed to be there. This happens all the time in my dreams. I see two little boys & follow them through some “secret doors”. Something like Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We enter a room. It’s not Narnia. It’s just a plain old empty room. One of the boys if playing with a superball and I try to hush him. The bouncing on the floor will let the owner of the house know we’re up here. To no avail. An adult comes in and is angry. (Dang this is going nowhere).

Phase 4 – Boss’s boss is assigning a new project to me for work. It’s a new, creative gum packaging. (I thought I got away from this?) I’m supposed to get the project started and hand it off to one of the newer employees. He’s sitting and communicating too close for my comfort. This isn’t realistic.

Phase 5 – I’m back in the secret room the little boys led me to. The girl from the Exorcist is there. Apparently this new work assignment involves working in the same room as her. She’s strapped to her bed, but it’s still really distracting, especially since she can make the bed levitate. I worry that she’ll come over into my space while I’m looking down at my work, which is spread out over the floor. I keep thinking “I hope she doesn’t spit that STUFF on me.”

Phase 6 – I’m laying in a bed. In the same room. Her demons are swirling around. I’m using all my willpower to fend them off, but some slips into my mouth in a liquid form. Then I realize I’m just in my own bed, in my own room, sleeping with my mouth open. Just great.

My analysis: I’m totally crazy and I’m sort of sick of dreaming. My life is becoming scarily like Science of Sleep and while it’s fun to know my imagination is still working, I feel like I’m losing control.
___________________

Sunday, July 15, 2007

wedgitables

We discovered an asian supermarket with entire aisles of faux meat products, frozen steamed dumplings, dehydrated rice cakes (which I'm not sure how to prepare). I feel like we've uncovered a gold mine.

Actually, dang, we discovered a lot about Chicago this weekend that we'd never seen before.

I'd like to learn to cook with cabbage & radishes. Not necessarily together, but, you know. Have any recipes?

Thursday, July 12, 2007

I am not making enough things

And this is perceived to be a problem. By me.

Perhaps, in that sense, it's a good thing that my computer is slow moving, overloaded and crotchety. Maybe this inhibits me from spending hours on end playing with it at night. Or perhaps it just slows me down. Limits my productivity.

Anne and I talked tonight about feeling overwhelmed and caught up in the web of obligations. Resenting full calendars and taking it out on technology and estrogen and our innocently bystanding dudes.... and then we wondered, "What happens when we're moms?" When our time is never our own.

And for a minute we felt sorry for ourselves.

But the truth is, the more you do, the more you can do.

Maybe this is why I'm not doing enough. Because, duh, I'm not doing enough.

I'd hire her. *wink wink*



We have an intern working here this summer who looks just like Francoise Hardy and the boys are all a flutter. It's funny to listen to them talk.

"She's a ten."
"Dude, she's twenty one."
"Ehem, and she's got a ring on her finger."


It does breathe a little life into the building.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

bizzy

So bizzy! I owe you some pictures. I owe some people phone calls. I owe some people some estimated shipping cost savings. I owe promontory point at least an annual visit.

I owe I owe. There's always tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

dusty magazines, sweet photos, bad web design

dusty magazines:
Inevitably, I failed my own experiment when a yard sale next to our demo derby meetup location was selling Life magazines from the late sixties for $1 each. Technically Zach gave me the two dollars but I made the purchase.

Please don't confront me with my failures. I had not forgotten them.

In bettah news....

sweet photos:
Our June calendar piggie was adorable. For any of you who did not make it by this month to see (ehem, that would be ALL OF YOU):



bad web design:
Tomorrow morning we're heading off to the Michigan to visit family, drop off the dogg & have a mini vacation in Saugatuck. We're staying at this place.

A boutique lodging experience with retro charm, a 1940/50's style motorlodge located in the heart of the villages of Saugatuck/Douglas.

Fun. A motorlodge just like the one in Psycho!

Ok. Back to work so's I can get out of here...

Thursday, June 28, 2007

so far, so good

No really. Although anticipation of a beach vacation next week is making it kind of hard not to buy anything. I mean, we can use our regular old bath towels as beach towels, and I can cart my crap down to the sand in a plastic grocery bag. Those things work just as well, even if they are atypical. The sunblock we've got should be able to last... Tupperware might make decent sand castles...

I've had to stop and think a few times already. Be resourceful for a change. In that sense the experiment has been a total success so far.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

totally cheating

Note to self, andrea: You can NOT just have someone else buy the stuff either.

I admit, I just had the following conversation with myself :

"Man I need a new pack of dill seeds since mine didn't grow this year....
....but oh that's right, I can't buy anything...
..well maybe zach would buy them..Oh my God you didn't, you pathetic, pathetic human..."

Oniomania

Yesterday with a 20% off coupon for Bloodbath & Beyond I bought one of those wacky head massagers that looks like a spider, and a flexible mini muffin pan. Are those things neat? Oh yeah. You bet. Do I need either? No.

I've been trying for years to pare down the amount of stuff I have, but I continue to do things like this. I wear one fifth of my wardrobe. I'm embarrassed by the number of shoes I have, most of which are ouchy. I refuse to sell old cds (yes I still have my copies of School of Fish and MC 900 Ft Jesus – you never ever know). Yet I spend an hour on ebay looking for Snoopy crap. Because, you know, I need more Snoopy crap.

I'm a sucker for the instant gratification of purchasing things, whether it be $1 or $100. I mean, I'm sure we all are to some extent, but ugh. Ick. I feel ashamed and ungrateful. It's so much more practical to find enjoyment in things you already own.

Let's try an experiment:

Starting today, I'm going to try not to buy anything other than food (for me and for my car) for one week. Oh and possibly a demolition derby ticket. Because that was already planned. And a giant beer at the demolition derby. Because that's a given. You think I can do it? I don't. I'm an American. But I can try.

Tick tock.

Friday, June 22, 2007

dig wayy wayy into your cache memory....

This just in: Jewel Osco sells VERNORS!

Do you know what that means?

ants555ants: guess what I'm making tonight
ants555ants: boston coolers!
ants555ants: remember those?
ants555ants: vernors & ice cream all blended up
ablon kralovec: mmmmmmmmmm
ants555ants: like from Dairy Queen?
ants555ants: Jewel sells Vernors!
ants555ants: i bought a case
ablon kralovec: woah
ablon kralovec: nice!
ants555ants: but i'm supremely bummed to find out that boston cooler is a slang for a dirty thing
ants555ants: one of my coworkers came up and was like "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"
ants555ants: on wikipedia
ants555ants: and I had to explain boston cooler
ants555ants: and he was like "you know that's something ELSE right?"
ants555ants: so sad
ablon kralovec: its somethign dirty?
ablon kralovec: i'll look....
ants555ants: urban dictionary told me what the dirty thing is
ablon kralovec: wtf?!?!?
ablon kralovec: my childhood is tarnished
ants555ants: i know
ants555ants: mine too

Anyhow, once you get over that, who wants to come over to our house this weekend to make proper boston coolers and watch cable? We even got a blender to make them more authentic.

Um, is that "pwchh" verbatim?

Wtf?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Zoooo!

Man, for some reason this entry just got snagged by spiders and spammers and ugh. So here I am, a couple years later, and I'm stripping it of whatever might be attracting these dang things. Anyway,



Hey all. This Sunday we're going to the Brookfield Zoo to try and see the BABY POLAR BEAR! (There was a link to the zoo here)

(There was a picture of bears here)

Weather permitting, we'll probably leave around noon or 1:00. Not sure yet. Want to go?

And for those of you who are into a different kind of cute, Brookfield also has naked mole rats. Yay!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Manditory

I got a new phone! It was one of the cheapest models they had, yet is tres skinny like a razr, & is some of the cleanest design I've seen on a cell phone as of yet.

Of course a camera phone requires that you have a photo of your dog as your screen saver, and so here is mine:

Monday, June 18, 2007

play you pay

itch itch itch...

We went camping this weekend. Sitting at my desk now, scratching at the squito bites. We had great fun though. Rode bikes, stood in a lake, played on swings, caught lightning bugs, made veggie burgers over a fire, ate pizza, saw some bunnies, gophers, deer, worked on our farmer's tans, took long naps before being woken up by a carbon monoxide detector in the camper...

...itch itch itch.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Mmwuuuhahaha

Despite having cable, I've had this song in my head for 30+ hours now:



Again! Again!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

We'd like to make a good first impression



Barry and I are messy.

We were told to tidy up our workspace tonight before we leave because a tour's coming through in the morning. ...But that they'd like it to look like we're working. A clean desk doesn't say to me "This person is in the thick of it!" I mean, does it? Excuse me, we're working here.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Why I do this

Man, the people I work with are so considerate. They tell me when they think I've done a good job. They thank me for taking the lead on things. They make jokes (not saying they're good jokes, but)...

There are jobs on monster.com which are an hour closer to my home and that offer 10K more, but what price can you put on having a team of coworkers who aren't total assheads?

I owe you some thoughts on cable television. I'll get to it sooner or later.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

that much more grown up

We got a new thing to put our teevee on.





Tidy, eh? Thank you oh Target for your Thomas O'Brien "Vintage Modern" "collection". Though we took the legs off this piece to make it sit lower than it's intended to. I like the design of it more than any of the tables I saw at fancy pants places like Room & Board so yeah, score! And for what it cost, it's really not a bad piece. Though now that I'm looking at the photo I realize it doesn't do it any favors. In fact, it sort of looks like crap here. Oh well. Trust me.

I'm real real happy about it. As much as I'm glad to have gadgets & devices, I don't like looking at them. So this new thing with the doors on it pleases me. Clutter is just... a weight. Now I could sit here for hours, staring at my blank television screen, admiring our new purchase. But only for say, 48 hours because WE'RE GETTING CABLE ON TUESDAY!

Let me get over my excitement before I can fairly describe my mixed emotions on that subject...

About Pirates

We watched Dead Man's Chest for the first time last night. Not as good as the first one in my opinion. The slapstick was over the top (see: Johnny Dep shish-kebab) and the fishey people vs. skeletons made it more Star Wars (which isn't scary) than Carnevil. Just my preference. BUT. Did you notice they play a form of Kuriki on the Flying Dutchmen?! I feel a funny kind of privy!

Friday, June 8, 2007

what'll it be?

The weekend is here! And it's mine! And we have multiple pirate movies at home! Hooray! Hooray!

Thursday, June 7, 2007

integrity is the pit in my stomach

They say your physical environment is a direct representation of your mental state.
My desk looks like a bomb went off.

Someone I work for just returned from a two week vacation.
Before she left for that vacation she loaded me up with to-dos
which I subsequently filed & forgot about.
Which she subsequently called me out on via email.
And as a direct response
I'm cowering like my dog when she craps on our couch.
Reaching for the phone and retreating because my ways of phrasing
"I have no excuses."
"I've become disorganized."
or
"Your wheels don't squeak when you're away on vacation."
don't seem good enough.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Some appreciation for our comic relief

Today is Barry's birthday. He thinks we've all but forgotten about him, but we're taking him out at 4:00 for beers.



Come to think of it, I'm really asking for it considering my next birthday is a milestone. It's a good thing we're all contractors and could be kicked out on our rears at a moment's notice. Maybe I'll escape the humiliation of a milestone birthday.



ps - Right now he's telling me a story about how back in the mountains one of his cousins found a neighbor who'd hung himself from a tree, and his cousin proceeded to revive the man with a car battery. Now he's telling me about the snowy egret's mating rituals. I bet I could make a blog of just Barry stories.

(For anyone just tuning in, Barry is my next door neighbor in the cubicles)

ppss - he drove all over town with that sign on his car and didn't notice it until after he'd gotten to work this morning. That, friends, is success!

Monday, June 4, 2007

no chicken vs. egg please

Omg Whitey is having her foster babies! look!

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Happy Half Birfdang ZB!

Today for Z's half birthday (30.5) I took him out for surprise mashed potato pizza @ Piece and then a trip to the Chicago History Museum. Inside the museum we saw Lincoln's deathbed, some ancient bloody bandages and a tuft of his hair. On the same floor was an exhibit of a modern low rider. Upstairs there were diaramas of the fire and real tools used in the stock yards.





Outside the museum we saw bunnies and a garden.





Then we walked most of the way home, stopping for Italian sodas (Vanilla Italian sodas are the way to go this summer. Sort of like Boston Coolers but not as good. And a sort of exotic alternative to iced coffee for those of us who've recently become paranoid about developing addictions to anything) before it started to rain on us.





Now we're doing laundry and that doesn't really offer much worth taking photos of. Videos, perhaps, but still photos, no.