Ahhhhh - sweet release

So damn glad the weekend is here.

This week has been somewhat hellish in terms of not enough time and too much to do.

Received some accolades for my work, which was nice. My social media efforts have paid off, and we were recognized as having one of the best hospital Facebook pages.

Right on.

Good weekend plans ahead. Cannot wait to get them started.....and on that note....

I'm out. Enjoy.

Dreams of Seattle - Charming Snakes

Saw these guys in 2004 in Seattle - kept in touch, they sent their first and only release. Great live, super friendly, and a good show even with one eye open.

Soft Pack

More Drums

Still dancing.....so in love.

Weak End

Found this video on HLD's site - it's making me at the office with my headphones on. If I want to dance, I do so. I have no shame.

Actually, everyone has gone home, and I'm waiting for a video to render, so I am in no danger of anyone seeing my slammin' dance moves. While I am fearless in many respects, office dancing is not for public consumption.

Rock on.

Learnin's....

These are a few things I've discovered in the past week (or so) about myself and the universe:

- I have a friend who really qualifies a best friend. A no questions-asked, shit giving, super fun, she-gets-it realist kind of best friend.

- Nobody makes miso soup the way I like it better than me.

- When you move, make a mental note of where you pack your favorite shoes and razor.

- I like records better when it's dark and rainy outside and I can pretend to be a brooding poet or songstress.

- Bad and good things do not always happen in 3's. They can happen in 4's, 5's and 8's also.

- Drama is as drama does.

- I am not a Facebook lurker. But thanks to technology, I know who is.

- The boogeyman is real, but he's not in my closet or under my bed.

- I would like another dog because I think Oliver needs a sibling. However, it's not going to happen on my watch.

- When describing someone, it's best to use at least three adjectives, therefore lessening what might be though of as an insult when you use just one. :-)

- Eating fruit before you go to bed can help you pull an unwanted all-nighter (natural sugar).

- There is no reality show in the history of reality TV more sad, boring and insipid than The Bachelor. And it only took my 20 minutes to form that opinion...

- I've rediscovered the joys of Lipsmackers. Pink Lemonade, Dr. Pepper, A&W....yum!

KBGB

Law of averages. It would figure that as soon as the KBGB is paid off in full, it starts to have issues.

For those of you who don't know, the KBGB is my beloved and exhaulted Explorer.

As I was walking to my car last Tuesday evening, I noticed that it seemed to be....tilting. Yes, tilting. It was visibly uneven. I started it up, and it sounded fine, so I hobbled on over to class and back. The next morning, the tilt was more pronounced. Heck, let's call it what it was - more of a listing, as in what a ship would do in uneven seas.

It was time for a tune-up.

Dobbs pronounced that a spring had broken in the rear suspension (I insisted on seeing it, and yes, it was broken). So I had to pay just under 4 figures to get both sides of the back end repaired and trued up.

Well, now my car is shifting hard, and there is a soft yet noticable "clunk" coming from just under my feet as I drive. Assuming it's the transmission fluid - so, back in the shop tomorrow for a flush and oil change. Hopefully that's all.

I like my vehicle. It's been very good to me over the last few years. It likes to camp, and roadtrip, and can fit a fair amount of gear inside and out for those adventurous trips. And when it's washed and waxed, it looks shiny and new.

I am fine with putting some money into it now. It just passed the 100,xxx mile mark, so I figure it's time for the aches and pains to start. I'd like to keep it for a few more years, because not having a car payment is a whole lot of awesomeness.

Theory

Watching The Bachelor for the first time.

The last time.

Here is my theory, which I've formed in only 19 minutes of Bachelor-viewing.

THe Bachelor is a lot like Bret Michaels Rock of Love in the following ways:

-one man gets to choose one "special" woman from a harem of "really special" women

-the women compete for the man's attention with their BB's - no, not beauty and brains, but boobs and butts.

-the man is good looking, but lacking in....something.

The Bachelor is not near as good as Bret Michaels Rock Of Love because....

-the women in The Bachelor are boring losers, whereas the girls in BMROL are entertaining losers

-the Bachelor doesn't possess the special talent that Bret Michaels has, which is milking an 80's career for 20+ years, base on one hit song, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn".

So, Bret Michaels ROL wins, hands, butts and boobs down.

BTW - why does Ali always look like she's constipated when she whines which is all the time?

Poem

A poem for a sleepy cold Sunday.


IN
Mid-air collisions,
an angry frozen swarm
deceives the hopeful.
The sky is all violence,
beckoning me to take part
in the battle for direction.
It's not a longing for warmth
that keeps me shrouded in flannel,
but a reckoning with quiet mind
and settled soul which feeds
the stillness.

Who needs a rooster...

...when you have a one-of-a-kind Shih Tzu alarm clock. Oliver got me up at 4:00, and since I was meeting a friend for an eeeearrrly breakfast before she got back on the road to her home in Chicago, it didn't bother me too much.

I also got my tix to see Dead Weather 4/24. Not balcony, but that's okay - I think for this show I may push my way to the front, old-school.

Lots of meetings today, and some Pappy's. It will be a good day.

40 Days of Winter

Sometimes, rarely but it happens, I get a hankering for lo mein.

Tonight was one of those nights.

I stopped by my local China hut and got some lo to go from crooked finger.

Tastiness.

The mailbox was generous tonight. Waiting for me was 500 Days of Summer. It's not as good as I remember it to be. I think it's one of those theater-good movies. You know the ones - it's the experience of seeing it at the theater, an actual night out, that makes it better.

What I think the real problem is, this movie needs different leads. I think John Cusack and Ally Sheedy circa 1988 would have done the characters justice.

Interesting day at work - I didn't get done everything I had hoped to accomplish, but yet learned a lot. Not a bad day after all.

The first 40 days of 2010 have been fraught with endings - some of my own doing, some smacked me like I needed a V8. The ones I instigated were a long time coming, cathartic to enact, and healthy. The ones that weren't within my control are actually healthy also, but it took some time for the bruised ego to heal. And that, dear readers, is my lackluster attempt at forming a positive outlook on a collective bummer of situations.

How To Report The News

This was forwarded to me by a coworker - good for a Monday.

New Favorites

I meant to post this yesterday, but just got busy NOT watching the Superbowl.

As the months creep by, every day I am attempting to live in the moment while planning for the future. Difficult to do for most people, but as I'm a Gemini, the duality is natural for me. I savor the little things when I remember to, revel in the minor moments, and deepen my connections with the world around me.

In doing so, I've found that I can't limit my favorites to one in each category, i.e., one favorite song or one favorite food. So, I am creating a major list of favorites based on randomness - my favorite song for a Sunday night, or my favorite food at Ventana.

Because I've incorporated randomness into my faves list, it's seeing tremendous growth. See below:

Favorite song for a pre-snowy Sunday night: The Church "Under The Milky Way"

Favorite February cold weather comfort food: Tomato bisque

Favorite hot drink from Thanksgiving through March: Chai Tea Latte

Favorite comfy brunch: Nadoz

Favorite hangover brunch: City Diner

Favorite dirty brunch: Soulard Coffee Garden

Favorite new cookie from Aunt Debby: orange with regular frosting

Favorite zombie movie 2010: Zombieland

Favorite weekend shoes: Purple Chucks

Favorite new clothing store: Skif on The Hill

Favorite new T: Vintage "Give A Hoot, Don't Pollute"

Favorite new album of 2010 (so far): Spoon "Transference"

Favorite Fountain On Locust drink: Chocolate covered banana martini

Favorite sleepwear: Oversized T (this hasn't changed in 20-something years)

Favorite weekend movie to sleep on the couch by: Shawshank Redemption

Botox

What the hell happened to Rosanna Arquette?

I'm catching up on my dvr recordings and she's a guest star on Private Practice (yes, I watch the show, I have a bit of a girl crush on Amy Brenneman).

She hardly looks like herself - her face if kind of like a jigsaw of weirdness. It's lopsided. ???

I'm thinking she had a lift or two, some filler and botox.

Botox creeps me out - there are enough people in the world who choose not to move their facial muscles (Tobey Maguire) and injecting something to paralyze places on your body so you don't get wrinkles....bizarre.

RICK SPRINGFIELD!

Yes.

I get to see Rick Springfield next Friday at the Liver Foundation Boogie Ball.

My most awesome boss's boss scored tickets for she and I. I turned her on to Californication this year while we were on a work trip to Seattle, and Rick had a special guest-starring role. We both think he's H-O-T. For a 60-year old guy, he's still got it going on.

Jesse's Girl was the first song I ever ice skated to with my little 3rd grader boyfriend. That makes me a multi-decade fan.

Wanna know what's even better? The attire for the Ball is 80's themed.

SCORE!

I am planning my outfit now.

A craving for swan

The title has nothing to do with this post - I'm currently re-reading the book by Andrei Codrescu and it sounded good.

Right now I am listening to Piers Faccini (and my loser neighbor badly pound out a baseline to a Chili Peppers tune). I am more moved by his music every time I play it - Piers, that is. The song playing now is "Uncover My Eyes" and it has some Scottish drumming near the end, with what I think might be the underlying sound of breaking waves. Beautiful. I'd like to see him in concert - perhaps I'll jet over to Belfort to attend the Eurockéennes festival. Right....my hope is that he drops into the Lou, or somewhere within five hours driving time. I will go that far for him.

I added more movies to my Netflix queue - some I've seen at the theater only but have been jonesing for another look, others will be brand new:

Let The Right One In (seen it)
Gloomy Sunday
Timecrimes
The Baader Meinhof Complex (seen it)
(500) Days of Summer (seen it)
Law Abiding Citizen (new, and needed because I haven't gotten my Gerard Butler fix in awhile)

Concert Alert

The Dead Weather will be at the Pageant on Saturday 4/24.

Right on. I get to see my Kills girl Alison Mosshart. And my Jack.

Tix go on sale Friday at 5:00.

Be there.