Xmas 81


Xmas 82


Pom poms!! Omg pom poms!1!!1

Oops. You know, I wrote this and Zach said "wait! don't post! people will see their presents!" And really, he's right. So here's a day old post. Still good for makin' crutons, you know? Merry Xmas all!
________________

(Dec 23, 10pm):



Success! I only have 2 presents yet to show up in the mail (ugh) and only one present I purchased incorrectly for someone. It'll have to stand in until I can take it away from them and go exchange it for the right thing on the 26th.

But this one is my favorite:



Because...



Oh no. That's not a dinosaur in there. Really.

Don't want to go to the gym. Don't want to go to the gym. It's insanely cold out, so I've been told. I'd much rather sit here in my pajamas all day and annoy Zach with my commentary as he puts plastic on our windows.

I don't want to go to the gym!

Metra saved me from having to drive in the storm today.

Days like these are kind of great at work. When the weather is so bad that no one else shows up. And you're kind of stuck inside. Nothing to do but focus. It's kind of like The Shining. Kind of.

Officially off warranty:



My way home in this week's snow storm



Zooming way in - our car on the gps is a pizza. Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!



Sorry. Real blurry. Can't foto while driving.

Man today has been so borderline disasterous. Forgive how incohesive this must be, but I have to rant before I can get back to work. Read this "superfast" - because that's how everything is coming out of my mouth right now. Uncontrollably. Making up for lost time or something.

First I woke up with 13 min to get ready and out the door.
Then I realize it's pouring. Like really really raining. And cold. And I don't have my umbrella.
Then I realize my CTA card (which is linked to my credit card) is missing.

Almost got hit by a left turning car while crossing the intersection on walk to the bus. Seriously, they brushed the bag I was carring. Jesus.

Stood in the rain for 15 min waiting for the bus. CTA bus tracker via phone is malfunctioning, so I don't know if or when the bus is even coming.

4 min before my train is scheduled to arrive, I give up & get in a cab ....just as the bus pulls up to the stop. But, you know, we're pulling away and I'm already committed to the $7 cab ride to the train. And I HAVE to make this train because my car is out in the burbs and this is my only chance to get to work today.

Got real into working on the train ride and almost missed my stop. Got into work. Set up computer.

Get back up and bundle up again. Leave to take car to car doctor for 10:00 appointment. Of course the freaking grinding noise in question is not happening today!!

BUT... at least by the time I got my car to the dealership it still had FIVE MILES left before it went off warranty. So that's pretty great, but again, borderline nuts. And at least the dealership has a sense of humor about it.

And at least I have my rubber boots on. So the only dry part about me is my feet. But hey, dry feet!

And at least I didn't poop myself when I almost got runned over by that car.
And at least I didn't get fully runned over by that car.

Oh and great. My computer just installed a new version of Office on itself. I can probably plan on spending the rest of the week dealing with resetting preferences and figuring out which macros no longer work. Just in time for the mean season!

But I'm warm and dry(ish) now and hopeful that this day will come down off its tight rope.

I'm also hoping some homeless person found my CTA card and spent the night riding a warm bus up and down Ashland. Or something. At least.

On a lighter note

stringbot (11:28:58 AM): omg what is the music on this bulldog puppy video
ants555ants (11:29:09 AM): uh. i dunno.
ants555ants (11:29:13 AM): it's not BAD though
stringbot (11:29:27 AM): um it has panflutes in it
stringbot (11:29:34 AM): by definition that is bad
ants555ants (11:29:38 AM): but panflutes kind of go with those puppies
stringbot (11:29:49 AM): i don't even know you anymore
ants555ants (11:29:57 AM): hahaha
ants555ants (11:30:03 AM): i can forgive!
stringbot (11:30:15 AM): you just went from saying you want jesus lizard tickets to "panflutes kind of go with those puppies" in like 5 lines

Anyhow,

Happy Thanksgiving, America

In case you didn't hate Sarah Palin already:



Who would give an unrelated interview in front of animals being slaughtered? Oh. That's who.

Then again, maybe it's a good thing. While I'm positive it's not what they had in mind, maybe someone watching this will think for a moment about where their deli slices come from. Does watching the animal struggle pull on at least one of your heart strings? Eh. Maybe not. Many people prefer to not to actualize this.

I guess what really gets to me is the fact that this is not necessary. We're an advanced society. We don't need to be doing this to survive anymore. Compassion!

Sometimes you just HAVE to take pictures of your tv.



Best Christmas special ever.

So it's a good thing this house thing isn't gonna happen for a little while, because it takes a whole lotta research & preparation. Now can I relax?

Apparently not.

The spring on our garage door broke Wednesday morning. As a result I have to park on the street for a day or so while it gets fixed. Already, someone smashed my passenger window as the car sat in front of our house yesterday. Really nice. Right?

But tonight while I'm picking glass out of the seat crevices with freezing fingers, I'm gonna remember to feel fortunate that I have the money to fix it. And I'm glad I had the money to straight up purchase a replacement gps for $130 on ebay last night. Had we purchased something like the house in the last picture I posted, I'd probably be saving up change before I could do all that.

And fortunately I have renters insurance which will cover anything stolen from the car. How that relates to your rental property I have no idea, but I won't complain. And fortunately my car is just barely still under warranty - which might get me something for the fact that the car alarm failed. And fortunately my Z is great and attentive as always and gave me hugs and found some places to get the window fixed.

Despite my bad luck this week, I'm a really lucky girl over all.

House hunting is really easy to lose sleep over. Even if you just kinda started looking around and don't intend to actually buy anything for months. I'm good at generating my own what-ifs out of nothing. Add pretty houses to the mix and I'm a wired, matrix making, 2nd and 3rd opinion asking freak.



A big problem is that most of the kitchens already look like this:



The contractors have already swept through our neighborhood, making everything in their path overly swanky. Is there anything out there that we can still do ourselves?

Oh oh! This one: Could it be any cuter from the front?

Probably not, but it's about the size of a shoebox inside. : (

Plant trial early in the morning. I've been having trouble sleeping. Worrying about a whole lot of nothing. Everyone else over here is asleep. I should be sleeping.

Don't have a whole lot to say here today. Maybe I can dig around and find a photo for you. Give me a sec....


Here. Here are two snaps I took of the park outside the polling station on election day. It was a perfect day to take off work and appreciate the neighborhood.






I'm going to talk to a mortgage dude on Saturday morning. I sure hope we can afford to stay in this neighborhood. I suppose if not, well, then our little rental ain't all that bad, is it? Living in 700 sq ft is fun at times because it forces you to keep it real, and deters you from crap collecting for the most part. But dang it would just be so nice to have a real kitchen. And to have a bedroom just a little larger than 8ft in one dimension. And hm. to have heat in our bedroom. Yeah that would be super.

holy multi media weekend

We're bun-sitting this weekend. Let me add to the numerous videos of cute animals munching things on youtube:



Sorry Mom. That was you calling in and yeah, I did decide to defer your call. But, I mean, I was capturing a moment. He was about to finish his leaf!

Also, doing my duty as the youngest child and hippie of the family, I got to take my brother and his munchkins to an art show today.

The Exquisite City is a set of city blocks of Chicago (fantasy or otherwise) built out of cardboard. Each block is done by a different artist. I love things that show multiple people's take on the same thing. And this one is pretty unpretentious for the most part, so that is also great.

Today was a pretty nice day to go back because we had the entire place to ourselves and could hear the city soundtrack that went with the show. Here are some pictures our friend Jason took for the newspaper:







And here are four of my (much less profesh) photos:





J. Ryan's block (shown above with Lia) must be the most photographed of them all, even though it's one of the least complex. We spent a lot of time keeping the one-year-old from going godzilla on the city blocks that included little cars but it was fun.

No matter how you voted, you have to admit this is pretty great:





Especially the little suitcase. And ear.

Justin, who knows the cartoonist, says of him: "He wears really tight pants for an older gentleman."

Okay so that is totally irrelevant, but still, hard to pass up. You know.

So, you know, I'm feeling pretty emotional as is.

Then on the drive home tonight traffic slowed to a crawl. Flashing lights of the minute men and police cars seem to slow time down to an equal pace in the dark. When I finally made my way up the procession I saw a man violently pulling on the legs of a deer that had been pinned under the frame of a sparkling Audi. Immediately beyond this, traffic picked up to a regular freeway pace and I drove in silence south toward the city with tears in my eyes.


And now the sad grandpa is pulling on my heart strings. Even though I unsubscribed from his mailing list three years ago, tonight he sent me an email asking one last time for my vote. Funny enough, it started out: "My friend, from the time I entered blah blah blah..."

Oh John. In the past I've been so excited about you. You've made so much sense and you've made so many enemies in awesome ways. I've admired your fiscal conservatism. I was totally excited about your efforts to cut the crap with regard to campaign finance (what ever happened to that?) and general ridiculous government spending. I was really excited when you and Kerry were working together on fuel economy standards before the green wave even hit. And in general, I always really liked listening to you speak.

But then you became a candidate. I thought that was what I always wanted, but you are not so much the McCain I've been following for the past eight years. You've become a device, regurgitating the catch phrases of your party's campaign. Of course so has Obama. And this is why those "debates" had me fuming. I know neither of you stand behind everything you're saying now. As if that could've helped anyone get to know either of you better. As if either of you were actually saying anything at all.

Seriously, I think I tripled my workout each night you two got up and spit rehearsed lines at one another on the televisions at the gym. Like if I pushed hard enough I could've run away from the insults of modern general election politics.

And then you chose her.
I find this to be unforgivable.

I am really unhappy and worried tonight. Even though I'm well aware that in my district it doesn't matter what I finally do.

Oops. I put this on my twitter but forgotted about you guys.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Your assignment for today is to listen to this old DJ Spooky record. Download it [here].

It's a safe file. I uploaded it myself for you last night.

Party like it's 1996!

Organizing my widgets etc.



Okay so it's one thing that I chose that word to test the widget, but yeah... Nice example sentence, doods.

Man I'm really having a hard time with life lately. And reajusting to my cubicle and fluorescent lighting is making it just that much harder. Can't wait till the end of this week. If I'm not back into the swing of things by then, well... I guess we'll deal with it then.

Totally unrelated, and on a much lighter note, this is pretty great:

Haunted?

Even though the fluorescent lights are painful, I might have to consider putting another one or two of them in my house. Should also check the house for vampires. I have a feeling there are a few lurking in our 2nd bedroom.

Put up some pictures of my bumpa's funeral procession.



And our drive home afterward.



The gallery is here

Glad to be home but wondering when I'll stop feeling so worn out.

Oh Bumpa. Thank you for taking such good care of me when I was small. I always felt safe with you nearby.

Heading to Detroit tomorrow to say goodbye. Will be good to be home and away from work and life in general. Been walking around in a little cloud for the past day or so. Not that clouds are bad. They looked really pretty yesterday afternoon outside of the dollar store:

I got nothing. Got up very early. Worked. Worked hard at the gym. I'm really into that lately. Its a good thing. Watched some news there. I hate the news these days. It's going to give me hives.

Here. This is better. I don't know if it has anything with my recent dental work, but Z got all interested in sonic toothbrushes and invested in one for us this weekend. It's intense. I can't wait for my next cleaning to see if the dentist will notice a difference.

Gosh. I'm so happy I just got to use that tooth image.

Whoa. We're watching American Experience: Nixon, and someone just used the analogy "Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get back in."

That's great.

Anyone remember the story where Ramona Quimby squeezed out an entire tube of toothpaste in one shot? That was also great.

This is about the stupidest blog post I could've written today.

Oh oh! Tomorrow is my half birthday and Z and I are going to Little Italy (i.e.Taylor) street to get a fancy dinner with fancy breads and fancy gnocchi and wine and I'm really excited about this. We'll do it right after work. After I get back from the gym. You know. Preemptive carb burning. I'm officially in my 30s now and I need to do that kind of thing.

Tonight I went and got some cavities fixed at the dentist. They ended up having to give me six shots - one of which was in the roof of my mouth - and that, my friends, is not fun. Now it's 10:00 at night and my nose and left eye are still numb. I keep hurting myself. It sucks.

It also kind of sucks that they have televisions in front of each patient chair and today they chose to show me Sex & the City - the movie. Not that that sucks, but it does totally suck to listen to people "doing it" all over the tv while your teeth are being drilled. Why not make an uncomfortable moment even more uncomfortable?

Man, last time I went there they had me watching Arrested Development. That's not bad, but the dentist just happened to pause the dvd to talk to me right when Kitty was flashing her boobs at what's his name. Maybe if it were someone else it would've just been funny, but for me it was both funny and awkward, because the woman who plays Kitty happens to be someone who went to my high school in real life. Ugh.

Nice boobs, Judy. I saw them at the dentist office the other day.

I want the left side of my face back. Like soon.

I am so not on top of my game lately. I need two good, productive, cognizant, consecutive days.

I don't know why this result surprises me. I never thought of myself as such a socialist. I mean, should we not be subsidizing museums? I'd think for what they're worth, it's probably a small portion of our budget in relation to some of the things we should be handling. ?? And I never said anything about national healthcare, although, yeah, basic healthcare would be novel. I can't help it when I see a hugely pregnant woman sleeping under a bridge. Or maybe I've listened to too much Stereolab in my time.

You are a Social Liberal (66% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Higher permissiveness, on either axis, indicates a "live and let live" philosophy. Of course, we're almost conditioned in America, "Land of the Free", to think positively of such a philosophy. But practically speaking, permissiviness (or its opposite, regulation) can create any number of outcomes:

For example, on the economic axis, a highly permissive system, like the American system of the early 1900s, might mean things like low taxes and increased scientific innovation. It might also result, as it did back then, in unrestricted child labor and millions of poor people with black lung.

At the other end of the economic spectrum, a highly regulated system might conserve the environment, establish national health care, and eliminate poverty. But as we've learned from the Soviet system, extreme regulation can also lead to stagnation, sameness, and unhappiness.

I FINALLY get a business trip to NYC! Hooray!!

Today is a beautiful Saturday. I've got so much to do before 6:00 but I've got a raging headache that is keeping my head stuck to the couch. Come on come on come ON!!

Today is moving slooooowwly. I have lots of energy right now and I'm hoping it's not fleeting because I have a good amount of time scheduled for the gym tonight. I'd like to expend it there rather than by spinning in my chair.

Hi Mom. I hope you are enjoying your mental health day today.

Sometimes it feels good to tweak a color on your blog. For some reason. It's like getting new shoes. You forget for a while and then "aha! that's different..."

Overhearing Marketing people strategizing on my floor makes me want to barf a little. They're currently debating whether the phrase "the best" brings enough excitement into their campaign. I'm so glad it isn't my job to try and make garbage bags exciting. Know what would make garbage bags exciting? Ones that would take themsleves out to the alley when they were full. Incorporate some intelligence into them. That's what would be exciting. Naoko said it right: "Taking out the garbage is for suckers." Marketing it might be as well.

So glad my job is fact-based.

I walked home from downtown last night and now my feets are too swollen for my high heels. : |

I hate David Blaine. Seriously. What an idiot.

Sorry I haven't been a bloggin' lately. For the past three weeks I've been pretty involved with this fitness/weight loss community website and it requires that I do some bloggin' there as well, so... So you know, I'm spread a little thin on this interweb.

But it's really fun. So it's not like I've been in pain or anything. I'm learning a lot too. FYI - today I had 70 grams of protein and 32 grams of fat. Yesterday was 77 and 26 respectively. That's below the daily recommendation for fat, and is a bad idea unless I want to end up feeling like crap.

Oh, speaking of feeling like crap - anyone who's ever shared a house or apartment with me can tell you that I have issues when it comes to sleeping. Really just issues when it comes to waking up. That's the big issue.

So today I went to an actual sleep specialist per recommendation of my doctor. For the past three weeks in prep for this appointment we've been logging my sleep. Turns out I average 10 hours per night. That's totally unfortunate if I ever want to have a social life or children. Anyhow, despite these 10 hour nights, I've got four alarms that I tend to ignore for about four hours on average. I've been physically pulled out of bed and will fall asleep in the middle of the bedroom floor. I will turn off all four alarms without remembering. I have conversations on the telephone without remembering. It's just disastrous. Maybe some day even dangerous.

Anyhow, Doctor today diagnosed me with idiosyncratic hypersomnia, confused arousal, and extreme sleep inertia.

Awesome. So I can maybe use one of those three as an excuse the next time I don't wake up in time for work?

In October I have to go in for a 24 hour study in which they hook wires and suction cups to me and tell me to sporadically take naps. I'm really looking forward to it.

awesome

Fey a hit as Palin on 'SNL' premiere

Ew ew! Poo poo pooooo! creationism? aerial hunting?

Typing with wet nails. Watching an episode of Mad Men. Got a feeling life would be a lot better if I were to dress up more often as if it were halloween. I mean, maybe in the office I could only get away with minor time periods, or a subliminal peacock here and there... but.

Man.

Today was just... such... another day.

camera obscura save me from inappropriate outbursts

ants555ants: i'm having a hard time holding my temper today.
ants555ants: i have cute music blasting in my headphones to try to counteract my bad attitude.
orinbnork: hehe
ants555ants: someone has a candy dish out on the cabinet by my cube
ants555ants: my back is to it
ants555ants: and all day
ants555ants: every day
ants555ants: i hear people rummaging through it, looking for a particular kind of candy
orinbnork: that sucks
ants555ants: and I want to turn around and cuss them out for being so annoying and piggy
ants555ants: like "just effing take one!"
orinbnork: why don't you hide the dish?
ants555ants: because it's walt's dish
ants555ants: he refills it every morning
orinbnork: you should start eating all of the candy every morning

Man I am so freaking crabby with people today! Being out of the office for a few days leads you to forget how to shut things out. I need an aquarium at my desk. Or something.

Today was a good mental health day. We got breakfast and read papers and went into shops, took naps and cleaned up the house. Think I've found an allergy medicine that will work for this year's hay fever and I can breathe again. Ate way too many cheetos tonight. Otherwise, I feel good things are coming.

What kind of leaf is this? I found it in one of the community gardens in the neighborhood this morning. It's a little larger than a quarter. I kind of love it.

Moms, please excuse the f bomb. This was too funny to not redistribute:



Really glad to have come in to that in my work inbox. I'm sitting at my desk but I believe I might actually be sleep walking. Sleep working. I've been having issues with sleep lately most of my life. It's incredibly hard to change states. From wake to sleep. Sleep to awake. The result is either eleven hours of sleep or four hours of sleep. Every part of my body hurts this morning.

Back in town from Michigan where we were helping pull some things together for Z's grandma's memorial service on Thursday. Sorting through undated photos and dated letters, newspaper clippings and dance cards got me to thinking I should make a more conscious effort to organize and document my own life. This evening I pulled out dusty folders and boxes. Flipped through letters and cards. Drawings. Photos. Nothing is sequential. Nothing is dated. Everything has multiple homes. A millipede ran out from under one of the piles. Shortly after that I packed everything back into folders and boxes and put them back where I found them. My conclusion: I've done a better job of holding on to correspondence from family members than I thought I have. Didn't do as good a job as I could have. Did a poor job of holding on to important letters from important friends. And I am still disorganized. Another day. I'd like, at least, for everything to eventually be in one place. Or maybe that's an unlucky idea. Another day.

Can someone please please redo this but pair it with the original hamsterdance song? Please!

It won't stop being funny!

Stop the presses. I actually just stopped working for a good half hour so I could read up on Sara Palin. I'm feeling mildly insulted by our general election politics. Here are some choice quotes from message boards of the past hour:

"According to Wikipedia she eats moose burgers."

"Twenty bucks says Lorne Michaels gets Tina Fey to play her on SNL. It's uncanny!"

"I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"
"Thank God he's not gay, amirite?" she added.

Biden is gonna have to work to win my interest after making a sports joke at the beginning of his speech last night. Really? I get enough of that in the real world.

Oh beauuuutiful for pilgrim's feet....

Gosh I just realized my blog is all babies lately. I swear to you I'm not all baby crazy. They just seem to be around. I still have plans. I still need to get to six flags and the grand canyon and that teepee motel on route 66.

Look at this picture of my friend's baby. There's a whole gallery of him and I'm laughing out loud he's so freaking cute. This is what you get when you cross a korean and a blonde girl, folks. : )

Today was very autumnal. But otherwise I can't really think of much. Walked through the day like a zombie. A bit hungover from the fresh airs, perhaps. More sleep might do me good. I'm feeling like I should be feeling more these days.

And my sentences are all out of order.

I had a dream last night that Prince was on Project Runway. And they had to make an outfit for him. But Prince was a very tiny ladyboy in the dream. As off the wall as this all seems, I suppose it's not all that far fetched.

2.5 more hours today. I'm so antsy to
get
outside.

I've been forgetting to post photos. The babies have moved here to Chicago, and Z has been testing out his camera. Here are my favorites:

This baby is stupid cute:



So is this one:



And this one:


Poor Fan. We found out she has a severe latex allergy after doctor Lia put a band-aid on her bare buns. Hence the lampshade.


And this... this picture was just taken because I liked the way the stripes on the paper folded together on the small box. Pretty presents are nice. Happy birthday Erica!



And this is a mischevious squirrel puss:



The rest of the photos are over here <---

Ew. Why is blogger making the photos all pixely when it resizes them? Barf! Like I have time to resize these things myself. But apparently if you want things done right you have to do it yourself.... waah waah waahh waah

Ladies and gentlemen, something to ease your mondays:

----> My favorite Onion article ever. <----

Puff puff!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!! I can really tear it up sometimes!

I have to give a presentation tomorrow at the very end of the day. 4-5pm on a Friday. No one is going to want to be there. Including me. The presentation is for my boss, my boss' boss, and my boss' boss' boss. The premise of the presentation is essentially "What have you been doing since we hired you in April." I haven't been given much more to work off of other than that.

So I just finished a draft of my powerpoint presentation. I've filled it with statistics and cost savings and my proposals for process improvements. I dunno. Zach glazed over a little when I did a slide show for him. We're not allowed to use anything other than the company standard powerpoint format. It's blue on white with a logo. No beautiful gradients or transitions to distract you or even keep you awake for that matter.

Surprisingly, I'm not all that noivous. Admittedly I've got a few stumbling blocks that I kind of hope to breeze over, but... Maybe I should get all those ironed out before 4. How hard could it be to think straight for just a few hours longer?

I'm developing deep dark circles under mine eyes. Poop. No one wants to stand before their great grand boss looking like a meth addict.

Still, I don't know that I could really say I miss the days of spending hours surfing the web to fill my time.

To make matters worse, both of my shoes have started making realistic fart noises with each step I take.

I am so inordinately crabby this morning. The girl next to me is crunching loudly and people are asking me for things. UGH. For the love of God, is that necessary? You really need things from me?

I got a tetanus shot yesterday at my physical and now I feel like some flu bugs got on there with the needle. Meh. I'm going to bed early. The weather is beautiful tonight and there's a window open right over our bed. It's starting to feel like autumn already.

With my luck I'll wake up tomorrow with a stiff neck AND a sore bicep.

Remember the episode of the Simpsons when Bart got a tattoo?
"Ow" "Quit it" "Ow" "Quit it" "Ow" "Quit it"

It's kind of fun to write the date on things today.

squaw piss

Greetings from Chippewa Falls Wisconsin. I'm in a plant with no windows and my body doesn't know whether it's 5am or 5pm. People talk about the Green Bay Packers a whole lot up here. They also use the words "gosh" and "darn". Tomorrow I might get to go on a brewery tour before we head home.

I really really really want to complain about how exhausted I am, and how much administrative crap work I have to do tonight, and how I'm skipping dinner to do so, and how just totally wack wrong the world has been going lately.

But I won't.

Instead I'll tell you that if I finish my work before 11 tonight, I'm going swimming in the hotel pool.

And skipping dinner isn't all that bad, as I've been eating nothing but junk and animal parts for days and a fast could really make me feel better.

Is Mercury in retrograde, by chance?

I love it when they have the same soup in the cafeteria two days in a row. That is how soup is supposed to be eaten. Over time.

I feel like poo because of allergies. Fannie is feeling worse because of allergies. Fortuntately she doesn't have many responsibilities.

well dang

This is my first night alone in the apartment in years. Literally. And I started the night not knowing what to do with myself. I took a shower. Did my hair for no reason. Did my toes. Gave the dog half a haircut.

And then it started storming. Like serious storming. Wind was pushing on all of the closed doors like big scary men trying to get in at us. And the dog went in circles with her tail between her legs. And the storm sirens were going off. And then it started to to pour. Torrentially. I mean, my computer was laying five feet from an open window for thirty seconds and had to be toweled off. Now my space bar is sticking.

So yeah. Lots of rain, and circling dog, storm sirens, car alarms. And I can't get a single radio in the house to pick up AM stations. But from the cable that kept going in and out we were able to see that the tornado was up in Rogers Park.... and then we were able to find out when we were safe. It's a good thing we dodged it because the dog and I couldn't find our basement keys.

God. And to think I was worried about a spider showing up in the apartment while Zach was away.

We're babysitting. This is the easy part because they're in bed. Today we taught them about the wonders of pizza, and Babe, and Woody Guthrie and glitter nail polish and gumby. I also taught Lia how to make a letter A. This means she can now write her own name. It might take some more practice, because more often than not they come out as H. But overall she seemed pretty pleased.

Here is a story she wrote on my laptop today:

ouuiihgugufuyryeuerutyt767685556769ollkjjhhgfdasa4trryuioop[teeww4ewrsdxzzty6yyyw8w8w8w8w8w7wwwjouuuixucvvvvbzsay7ss4ytfgmgryuy5errr8u3heyeyeyeyeyeyyeyeeyyyywywywgwhbbcbvvn,cmmcnmlfyyteswee5reeszxcvbb335werrekmbn6eyytrer766r4rrtyy7ywwwitittititi86i55i6i686ijghjjfjdhdherk58i9y96ruruttutirirut6i668y8turururueuttttttyuijiiugbh nmmjkkllkkjjjyyytrrfghjjklllllllhjhhgfffddsaerttpoiuyytrrewqasdfghjkk;;'zxcvfvg66eeeeee45ewqwerrttt5r4833737363673383837737337yeygfhhdvdbddvccvxcxxsdtwteeteteteetetete3trreedddawwdasdfghjklkl-0987776666655544443332211qqwweeerrtttttyyyuuuiiopp,,mmjuu77666hhhdewiooiujueeeereqqee5r66tttgyqqzzzzxxxcccvvvbbnmm,..//ttcr79888789uu9o[ihi900000000000000000000000;iii99h,,rr33334343343434343436w55ww55555ww5w5w5w5w5w5w5
frrrfffefee4ry77eeereeeeeerrr4rrt5rtrrereewweess

I'm wearing an actual dress at work today and I feel like I'm in Mad Men.
Also, ladies, hear this: Old timey full slips are the new Spanx. So much more comfortable. We need not torture ourselves. At least not all the time.

Today was also murder.
But, also, it was pay day.

Man. Today was murder. People arguing with one another about who's work I would be doing first. My psyche hurts. I'm going to go get into bed and watch the first half of Harold & Maude.

Earthquake photo #1: on CNN



I don't get it.
It's a beverage aisle.
Why is it full of fallen t.p.?

STAGED!

Actually looks kind of fun.
I would like to pounce.
Pounce pounce.

yay yay yay I got a big black shirt today! Well, ordered it, anyway.

No sir, I am not rapping.

As morbid as it might be, this is a really funny anti-fur ad done by Sheryl Lee (aka Laura Palmer).



I mean, after playing a dead girl in a two season television series and a full length movie, what else can you do with your career? Even if you were a good actress. Lucky for Kevin Kostner, they never did show his face when he played the dead guy in the Big Chill.

It's ten o'clock and I still can't seem to shake sleepiness. I've gotten a lot done so far this morning, but it's a struggle. I'm, for the most part, sleepwalking. So bizzarro. Wake up!!

In other news, man, corgies.

Last night I dreamed I was trapped in this town. Shudder.

We're heading out to lovely Kalamazoo soon for the weekend to see Moms and Naokos. We're staying in a hotel that allows dogs and has a swimming pool. I'm pumped.

I know it's weird....

...but how weird is it?

I love Ida Pearle's art. The web doesn't do it any justice. Not at all. It's all made of individual pieces of fabric and paper. And I could stare at it in person for hours. I went to one of her shows in New York and was able to stare at each piece up close. This montage of baby bunny's arrival (which was made for Dan Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell) made me cry. No lies.

(click to see a little bigger - but definitely not big enough)

What's weird is that I'm tempted to buy this set of alphabet cards for any future baby's bedroom:

http://www.idapearle.com/g-full-13.html

Future my baby. That's what's weird. Thinking of buying something for someone who may not even ever exist. Is that crazy or do women actually start doing this kind of thing when we reach a certain point? It's just that I love Ida Pearle's stuff so much... and this is twenty six different pictures! And it's affordable - even if it is just prints. There are so many things to stare at on these images, I don't think I would ever get tired of them if I were a little one.

Maybe I could just get it for my room. Even though I already know my alphabet pretty well.

Apparently I left my instant messaging logged in yesterday when I left work. I came in this morning to a rant from someone, chewing me out for not responding to them. Calling me shallow, etc. The rant ends with "goodbye for good."

Oops.

Guess I should remember to sign out of my instant messaging when I'm gone. Could maybe give people the wrong impression.

In lighter news, I dreamed last night that I was trying on wigs with Amy Winehouse. It was a good time. I prefer white wigs, myself. I felt they looked best on me. And on Amy.

We have a soft new rug. and Picante. And AC. And Army of Darkness is on On Demand. This is one fine evening.

Did you know that in Japan, Army of Darkness is called "Captain Supermarket?" They really have a way of coming up with much better movie titles. I heard once that the film "Nixon" was put out in Japan under the title "That Dirty Bastard." Although the internet is not confirming this for me. I like to believe it's true.

Worst night sleep ever. I'm in pain already.

Love me some dystopian sci-fi on a Sunday afternoon

I had a little too much caffeine this morning sans food and got myself all crazy. Organized my sock drawer. Flopped on the bed and speed read pages of Salinger's dialogue-only writing. And the speed at which I read it made the characters sound like maniacs. Then again, most of his characters are maniacs, aren't they?

Cleaned the house.
Pulled out old Polvo cassettes. The tapes are showing their half life in terms of quality of sound.

Then Z took me to see Wall-E tonight. Maybe he was tired of my pacing. It was good. Pretty much a children's version of Idiocracy with too many parallels to bother referencing. And minus the hooker. And a dang lot more cute overall. My favorite part is near the very end when the cockroach jumps for joy. Yeah. I'd pretty much clap and drool a that part if I didn't mind my senses. Thanks for the reccos, friends.

Unrelated. It's warm. And my body is making a kind of b.o. of summers way past. Just a different uh.. timbre, if you will. I think this is what I used to smell like when I was twenty. Zach is equating it to the fact that I ate a giant (i mean biiiigg) cheezeberger (and by that I mean real cow) in the midst of a hangover Saturday morning. Fortunately my conscience was still sleeping. Do vegetarian armpits smell different than those of omnivores?

If my brother's going to call me a hippie I may as well live up to it. Not with the cheeseburger part, but ... Smell me.

Forgot to call my grandma for her birthday again. I think I've remembered maybe one in thirty. Sigh.

Mom, aren't you proud of me?

I'm letting my hair grow out again. I have a feeling. This time it's going to be different.

I did so much in my dreams last night that I kind of feel justified in sitting around all morning.

What up this beautiful Sunday, Chicago?

Just gave the dog a haircut.  She looks silly.  We have one of those clear canister "bagless" vacuums and it looks like a second dog is trapped inside it now.   

Brother and the babies are in town tonight.  Kind of sitting around waiting for a call back.  Thinking we might not see them after all this evening.  He has a tendency to not call and let me know what's going on.  Kind of like how I apparently have a tendency to never thank him for dinners.  But, I guess, dude, he's my brother.  We're not even *supposed* to be polite to one another.  We should be happy if the other cares so much as to sit on us and fart.  Like old times.

As soon as we know for certain that those plans fell through, we'll head over to Stringbot's house warming party.  I'm feeling kind of terrified because I know we won't know anyone there.  Not real confident in my social skills as of late - even with people I do know.  Might have something to do with the fact that I don't have anything to talk about other than the tv shows I watch, the books I read, the train ride to work, the spreadsheets I spend my days studying.  Train ride to work is maybe the most exciting.  

Yeah.  I think I need to quickly either a) start studying for the GMAT so that I can maybe go back to school.   b) sign up for some guitar lessons with Rockin' Billy down the street.    The latter would be less expensive in the long run.   The thirties are turning out to be kind of boring.  Lately, at least.

Yawn.

Hello. It's Tuesday night. It's technically bedtime but I'm not quite ready to commit to that just yet. Messing with my dietary habits and I've got an uneasy feeling that I haven't gotten my nutrients right yet for the day. Protein, check. Calcium, check. Fiber - does a bag of salad contain much fiber? What about whole grain bread? Also worried I might be giving myself gas.

[later]

Whatever I was writing about seems trivial after the scooter accident that just occurred on the street below our apartment. The flashing lights of fire trucks and ambulances can instantly quiet a city street at night. Seems everyone's going to be okay.

Confession:

I finished the Of Mice and Men audio book on my way home from work today. And then I sat in my car in crawling traffic, sobbing for a good half hour. Folks in cars next to me ought to have thought I was nuts. Or going through a breakup. Or was maybe really really ill prepared for Chicago traffic. Now I just have a headache.

Glad I didn't know that John Malkovich was cast as Lennie in the film. It might've been harder to muster up that reaction otherwise. I just... Hm.

Every book I've been reading lately ends up being about suicide or death of some other sort in the end.

I do, however, like that when you run a google image search on the title this picture comes up:



Great, right?

Smoove Sailing

I rode my bike to the metra this morning. Bright and early. There is almost no one out driving at 6am. Odd. Just me and the birds. And the scurrying rats. But the lack of traffic won't convince me to ride on the main streets. Heck no. It's strictly up and down the tree-lined side streets for me. And that's a pretty nice start to the day.

tick tock

Got some serious ants in my pants today. Can't wait to get on the bus... to the train.. So that I can sew or take a nap... . and then get home to me bebes.... and see my bike now that they've spent the day fixing it up for me! And take it to the happy village over yonder..... For it is really late June already!

It's already Thursday

This is great. I have sweet potato chips from the cafeteria. As in potato chips made of sweet potatoes. Despite the fact that my productivity level is low today, I'd say things are currently pretty good.

I never thought it could happen to me

Oh no. I've suddenly got iPhone fever. Make it stop!

I'm tired of the whining. But maybe I'm part of a minority. To quote members of that minority

"Everyone seems to think it's their God-given right to have $3/gallon of gas."

And another:

"This is not a renewable resource. People pay more for Pepsi and you don't hear them complaining about that."

But I suppose whining about whining isn't going to further anything. And whining about anything is not going to stop the churn of supply and demand.

I was curious and did a google search to look at some relational charts. I don't remember what the price was when I was in high school, but I do remember stopping once to put 87 cents in my tank in hopes of getting home. Ah to be young and carefree and relatively stupid.

Oh, heres a chart of a dude's gas purchase prices over the course of my lifetime:



And the dude's little page here: http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html

I have to go to a meeting now. Later.

I always just want to go back to bed.

Man. I'm in a really great mood.

New couch is here. It's nice, but weird. I have a problem with buyer's remorse. Always. When I got home I sat down on it for a few minutes and then got up and began moving all the furniture around to try to make things look more "correct."

After a while of that, I decided I was too stressed and needed to take a break. After said break, we came back and put everything right back where it was when we started.

I suppose I just have a hard time jumping with both feet. Or maybe it's that my feet take longer than usual to warm up.

When I bought my television I hemmed and hawed about it for weeks and even kept the box it came in, before I realized it'd be too much work to take it down the stairs and back to the store if I did change my mind.

Even when we first got Fannie I remember looking at the animal in the back seat of the car on the ride back into the city, thinking "....did I make the right decision?"

Don't ever tell her that though.

And in time, I've grown to love my television and my shit-poo. At this point I couldn't imagine having any other dog but her.

And in time, I suppose I'll get used to this couch.

There really is nothing wrong with it.

It's just... different.

Breathe.