friday-things that amuse me

last night i was waiting in line at the cvs, and the guy in front of me said "merry christmas" to the woman behind the counter. this cued his 3 year old, who yelled "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" like he was delivering it to the cheap seats. we agreed that this was spoken like a kid who knew that santa was coming.


...

i'm taking christmas break here, and i'll hopefully figure out what i want to do about that pesky term of use. i started this thing to make me take more pictures with a new camera, and if i can't post them without having them turn up in google ads, i'm not sure i want to continue here.

anyway, in the meantime, and in the words of krusty the clown "have a merry christmas, a happy chanukkah, a crazy kwanza, and a solemn and dignified ramadan"

thursday-things that make the heart beat faster

a really good version of oh holy night. there aren't many, and for a while whitney houston had ruined the song for me entirely.

i recommend tracy chapman's version. my favorite was aoife o'donnovan, but she doesn't seem to be on itunes. she is also with a group called sometimes why, so here is a link to one of their songs (definitely not o holy night)(though it may raise your heart rate, who knows...)

wednesday-things that are orange

well i was about to put a picture here when i browsed google's new terms of service...

By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Picasa Web Albums, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content through Picasa Web Albums, including RSS or other content feeds offered through Picasa Web Albums, and other Google services. In addition, by submitting, posting or displaying Content which is intended to be available to the general public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting Google services. Google will discontinue this licensed use within a commercially reasonable period after such Content is removed from Picasa Web Albums. Google reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any Content in its sole discretion.

perhaps my web-log days are over...

tuesday-things that displease me

the other charlie brown christmas special--why tamper with perfection?

monday-things that please me

ikea at 10 in the morning. it's just like a regular store. on saturday, nix and i drove down, and we parked with no problem, we picked up what we needed and we left in less than an hour. i didn't think it was possible. i've spent more time than that looking for parking there...

friday-things that amuse me

• that jason mewes and kevin smith call each other "sir"
• pretty much everything kevin smith does (i haven't seen jersey girl, but the only person i know who has loved it, so i reserve judgement)
• an evening with kevin smith & evening harder: i like the former a little better because the audiences seemed more receptive, however the latter had a gentleman ask what was hands down the best question at any q&a ever: if you were half man and half sausage which way would you want it and why?

thursday-things that make the heart beat faster

listening to the president

well, that's more accurately: "things that raise my blood pressure"

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• that i can't read any faster
• that my shopping is not done
• that i have made very little progress on my christmas cards

if you read this...merry merry and a happy new year.

there, i've taken care of eight people...

monday-things that please me

real whipped cream, which--thanks to my truly marvelous sister--i have in my refrigerator, and will soon have in my coffee!

friday-things that amuse me

my favorite ad ever

thursday-things that make the heart beat faster

having your boss call you at home when you and your sister are most of the way through your second bottle of wine...

wednesday-things that are orange

okay--blogger is not posting pictures today, so:

pumpkin soup is orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• white people who say "bling"
• anybody who says "bling"

there was a very funny mtv commercial on the subject, but i can't seem to find it, so you'll have to take my work, or wikipedia's word, for it.

here's a site selling buttons that say "r.i.p. bling" which i would invest in, if i was the type of person who wore buttons

monday-things that please me

we got a tree!!!
also that someone has gone through the trouble of putting the muppet family christmas on youtube (sadly it's missing the fozzie/snowman song, which was edited out for copyright reasons)

friday-things that amuse me

• that the new sufjan stevens christmas box set comes with stickers!!
• that he has a song called get behind me santa!

• in that vein, let me also recommend david sedaris' holidays on ice (either the book or the audiobook); particularly the santaland diaries.

thursday-things that make the heart beat faster

santa!

wednesday-things that are orange

i didn't really understand this part of the parade...

tuesday-things that displease me

toy guns

toy horns

closed circut message to denver

welcome to the world molly! i can't wait to meet you!

monday-things that please me

i love a parade!

i really loved the goths manning the float (gothing the float?)(sounds like a band)

(this thing was a giant horse, and its head moved back and forth)

these guys had their own travelling gazebo

i have no idea what that figure in the gingham dress is supposed to be

i'm hoping it's a gingerbread woman

this band was freaking awesome. they played "i like to move it move it" which was entirely unexpected.

friday-things that amuse me

the charlie brown thanksgiving special.

i wish anyone still trusted kids to laugh at myles standish jokes. (there was a bugs bunny sketch about myles standish, where elmer fudd sang "you must have been a beautiful baby" and to this day when i hear the song i want to tag on at the end "signed myles standish")

number 200

yes we have no life

i keep attempting surveys on big numbers, with more success at 100 than i had at 50.

in honor of the season, say one thing you're thankful for, or one thing you want for christmas.

happy commenting!

thursday-things for which i am thankful

(you get this early as there's no way i'm doing this from my parent's dial-up)

that on thursday i get to be home with my mom! thank you federal court system!

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

getting out of bed when it's this effing cold out. bah!

call me when it's spring.

monday-things that please me

mashed potatoes

ps--our family secret--cream cheese

friday-things that amuse me

(warning, youtube link)

rufus and martha wainwright singing everybody knows in i'm your man, which from what i've seen of it, is a pretty awesome movie (i came in three quarters of the way through while nix was watching it).

perhaps another change?

since we have already established that all that i need is the air that i breathe and to love you, i am thinking, perhaps another change. citizen k suggested things that make the heart beat faster, so i'll go with that today. thoughts? suggestions?

things that make the heart beat faster

• a loud noise in the night
• a brush of the hand across my face
• a kiss on the neck
• running for the train

wednesday-things that are orange

'tis the season...

tuesday-things that displease me

that they won't tell me if i have to report for jury duty thanksgiving week until friday after 5. this makes planning a little difficult, as i don't know if court is in session on friday the 24th.

ps-this is your cat on rousseau, any questions?

monday-things that please me

i guess the obvious one is that the democrats have taken back the house and the senate, though to be honest, i'm a bit conflicted about party politics. i refuse to be excited that a former reagan cabinet member who authored an article titled "women can't fight," and who cites his favorite presidents as jackson and reagan won, and a man who supports gay-marriage, stem cell research, has a great environmental record and voted against the war even when kerry and clinton were jumping on the bandwagon, lost.

i guess, barring that, i'll say that really good coffee pleases me.

friday-things that amuse me

peter mulvey in concert.

the man is really funny. nix and i saw him recently with a couple els, a jay, and some friends of one of the els. he sang his own back up on one of the songs, he covered prince, and seguyed one song into ice cream, by sarah mclachlin, try to remember from the fantasticks (we miss you jerry) and jesu joy of man's desiring.

bloody brilliant.

thursday-things that i need

• i need to not get whatever nix has
• i need for the democrats not to disappoint me, now that they have the means to do something other than complain that things would be different if they had power
• i need to remember the difference between locke, hobbes, and hume

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

people who use "literally" to mean "figuratively." especially in certain books about andrew jackson.

now i am not predisposed to like this particular president (i'm not over the whole trail of tears thing), but bad grammar makes it worse.

also, he misrepresented vermont's entry into these united states. . . and called us "pesky vermonters." even if his premise was accurate (which it's not!), it's a little too twee for academic scholarship, don't you think?

monday-things that please me

nina simone

here are the top ten most played nina songs in my itunes:

• ain't got no
• i want a little sugar in my bowl
• love me or leave me
• little girl blue
• be my husband
• my baby just cares for me
• sinnerman
• pirate jenny
• forbidden fruit
• mississippi goddamn

and here is a little something to brighten up everyone's morning (you tube link)

friday-things that amuse me

this kid:


i was walking to work the other day--one of those glorious fall days, where it was actually temperate and sunny, and i see this forward thinking young man. it reminded me of nothing so much as piglet under the tree, repeating, "tut, tut, it looks like rain."

thursday-things that i need

to be 100 pages farther in in jacques the fatalist. blast!

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

daylight savings time, or is it the end of daylight savings time? i never remember. whichever one just made it dark at 4 pm, i am not in favour of. also, as far as farmers go, i've never met a farmer whose life this affected (and i did grow up in cow country, despite the urbane creature you see before you). farmers get up when the sun comes up, because that's when the cows get up. the cows don't look at the clocks!

also, i'm sad i don't get to do anything for halloween because of class. i don't think the holiday was but of a feature in the early republic...

monday-things that please me

• bill bryson--nix got me his new book, which i am dying to read, as soon as i finish the paper, jacque the fatalist, and i study for my midterm...
  
• yoga in bed--this dvd has re-invented my mornings
  
• gilbert & sullivan--on friday a. took me to see a production of iolanthe where all of the members of parliament were played by women, and all of the fairies (including the title role) were played by men. it was bloody brilliant!

friday-things that amuse me

okay this entertains me for two reasons

• first--guy fawkes day graffiti--how obscure can you get
• second-the last minute spelling correction attempt

whoever you are, you anti-papist, spelling-challenged tagger, i salute you.

thursday-things that i need

• more hours in the day (or to read faster)
• a paper topic

wednesday-things that are orange

here's a foliage-gasam for all you fall-lovers

tuesday-things that displease me

fall--i hate the short days, i hate back-to-school, i hate the cold. back when i lived in pastoral-ville i hated the tourists who came to look at dead leaves and drive five miles an hour

that respect for the dead has no place in the world of progress.

monday-things that please me

• sleep (hallelujah--turns out all i needed was beer)(nix thinks it's the antibiotics finally kicking in, silly nix)
• marx brothers movies (my favorite is a night at the opera)
• crab cakes
• thinking about my grandmother while cooking

friday-things that amuse me

(no one voted yea or nay on things that amuse me, so we'll stick with it another week)

• gofugyourself.com best site on the web--i have lost whole days there
• movie reviews by dave white--particularly the snakes on a plane one. didn't see the movie, but laughed out loud at the review

thursday-things that i need

• to stop coughing
• to sleep

honestly. even the codeine isn't helping. this is entirely out of control.

wednesday-things that are orange

update--even more things that displease me

okay, remember me ranting about habeas corpus, the military commissions act, and that pesky geneva convention. well, it's law now, folks.

here are the votes in the senate and the house.

i suggest you take a look at how your elected officials voted, and let them know how much you appreciate their thorough reading of the bill at hand.

tuesday-things that displease me

• people who hit reply-all to emails
• that this cough will not go away
• that i have not slept for two consecutive hours in 5 days (funny side note to that--i apparently talk in my sleep when i'm sick. earlier this week, i woke nix up saying something very important about bunnies.)

monday-things that please me

friday test

how about "things that amuse me"--light funny, good way to start the weekend. we'll try it for now.

• mike doughty's song i hear the bells, because of the line "you snooze, you lose/ well I have snost and lost"
• single men around little kids
• that after my cat had her tooth pulled this week, she slept on a stuffed hedgehog, that normally she tries to eviscerate.

thursday-things that i need

• all the rights guaranteed to me by the bill of rights (follow the link--see what you're missing out on)
• the great writ of habeas corpus: check out olbermann and ivins to see how nice it was when we still had its protection; check out the actual military commissions act and judge for yourself; and here's a little reminder of the alien and sedition acts of 1798, so you can see that other president's have signed unconstitutional laws (spoiler, those expired when adams left office, but can you imagine how much this administration would love to bring them back)
• i apparently need to stop taking history classes.

wednesday-things that are orange

okay that's a bit of a cheat, since she's not orange. but let's look at the orange flowers and remember back to monday when it was 80 degrees (and keep remembering that as they say snow by friday...)(can i re-think what's displeasing me this week?)

thank you nu for the use of your dog

tuesday-things that displease me

the produce at the grocery store last night. ye gods. why put in new displays and computer tablets if there is mold growing on your tomatoes!

monday-things that please me

movies

• ballets russe
• brick
• elf

books

• anne fadiman's ex libris
• scott heim's mysterious skin (also a good movie)
• ann patchett's bel canto

music

• rogues gallery
• jem finally woken
• josh ritter the animal years

friday grab bag

from miss m

Things that are Farkatk(e)
our foreign policy; our domestic policy; that my cat is on prozac; that people are still wearing capri pants and it's effing october; that it's effing october

from Bubbles Moneypants

things that are parve
apparently fish, which explains the "vegetarians who eat fish" phenomenon

things that come in pods
pilot whales; registrar's assistants

thursday-things that i need

• for this week to be over
• to finish my damned book (the one i'm reading--i haven't started a biography of alexander hamilton in my copious free time)
• for this unusual run of washington amnesia to stop
• this kind of faith

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

this should more accurately be titled "things that break my heart"

monday-things that please me

• spaghetti squash
• red wine (though i can't have more than one glass)
• hot baths
• my cat, when she's being cute, and not horrible (which isn't often)

total request, part ii

Things that don't exist.
oh, i'm reading far too much descartes to answer that question. i'm not entirely convinced that anything other than "i" exists at the moment
Things that used to exist.
the balearic islands cave goat
Things that will exist.
you are far to existential for me at this hour of the morning. i liked elisa's questions better.
Things which are singular.
ingrid bergman - no one like her before or since.
Things which make you twitch.
ibsen
Things that are ghastly.
edward gorey (requiescat in pace) in the best possible way
Things that are indicative...
red sky at night, red sky in the morning, cows lying down, black cats crossing your path, broken mirrors, your right ear itching, your left ear itching, yourcigarettee only lighting half way, a four leaf clover, spilled salt,
Things which bring the Apocalypse closer.
this country's s foreign policy
Things which postpone the inevitable.
me doing this, instead of reading the princess de cleves
Things which recur.
.3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
Things that comes in threes.
good things, bad things, triplets,
Things which make you gamble.
greed, desperation, love, hope
Things that should be theorems.
autumn + sunshine = apple picking + cider doughnuts; 8 am + saturday = nobody mowing their lawn
Things that are done (as in over with).
wedge high heels
Things which are archaic.
all of the laws cited to prevent gay marriage
Things that are found (by you, by others, etc.).
my keys, my phone, my mind, me (after i was lost)
Things that are unclassifiable.
if i put something in a list of things that were unclassifiable, wouldn't i be classifying it?
Things which resist probability.
the coin in rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead
Things your evil twin would do.
run afoul of the law
Things your saintly twin would do.
rebuild new orleans
Things which should be obscene but aren't (both things that feel obscene, and things that only seem obscene.)
that you can show someone being shot, torture, explosions, carnage, and gore on television, but not a nipple; that you can say penis on tv but not vagina; not sure if that actually answers the question, just something i'm a bit irritated about at the moment
Things which will never happen.
me jogging
Things that feel like they should be in a movie.
george clooney addressing the united nations
Things which inspire voice-overs.
my train rides--sort of a running fashion commentary about the people in this city. honestly - it's almost october. put away the white eyelet skirt!
Things which negate.
me. i negate things all the time--just ask nix.
Things that lack (fill in the blank).
the scarecrow, the tinman, dorothy, and the cowardly lion
(Wild card: Any thing you want on Friday).
friday i just wanted to stay in bed, which is pretty much what i did.

sick day

more later

sorry

thursday-things that i need

• a maid
• a firmer understanding of locke
• for meredith vieira to go back to hosting game shows (and for them to give the job to that charming ms. curry)

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• that there is no milk or cream in my refrigerator, which means no cereal or coffee
  
• alexander hamilton
  
• fox news

monday-things that please me

baseball




ps - at this game, nix drank a beer. i didn't think i'd live to see the day...

friday-taking requests

i'm auditioning new topics--these are some that elisa gave me last week. let me know what you think, and feel free to offer others.

Things that blow my mind.
waking up in the alps. i thought the movies exaggerated. turns out, they didn't.

Things that make me itchy.
unlined wool pants

Things that make me want to get totally wasted.
reading the newspaper

Things that inspire schadenfreude.
enron execs doing the perp walk (not ken lay dying, though. i'm not morbid)

Things that are unheimlich.
the exhibit of dead people at the museum of science (nix and nu went to that last night and the idea of a dead, skinned guy posed as if he was on a skate board, really gives me the heebie jeebies)

Things that appall me.
that our secretary of state got to keep his job in the primary, after allowing petitions to be submitted, even though the people gathering the signatures had misrepresented the cause to the people that signed (i.e. it was really against gay marriage, but they thought they were agreeing that wine should be sold in grocery stores)

Things that remind me of mortality.
low flying planes

Things that are underseasoned.
pad thai, unless i go to the restaurant with my friend c. they take her far more seriously than me.

Things that mutate.
viruses

Things that are cut on the bias.
not things that i sew (i'm not that talented)

Things that are retarded.
charge density; time; potential

Things that trill.
piccalos (especially in stars and stripes forever that two separate friends of mine have had to play)

thursday-things that i need

to be back here...

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• that i have class on talk like a pirate day, which blows (me down). we are having our fifth annual tlapd party (a pirate potluck) on friday. let me know if you're in the area and want some grog.
• apple. now you have heard me complain about this before. now, they are finally acknowledgingthat i have sent in all my paperwork (after almost a year of sending them copies of things that i had sent them the last time). now they're saying that i need to send them $30. now all the people who didn't really have broken batteries, but were part of the settlement anyway could get a gift certificate for $50. my battery is really broken, and i have to send them money? that also blows (me down).
• arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

monday--things that please me

• my mom--who was visiting this weekend and brought me new lamps
  
• molly ivins - that second link is the one that i had buried in the comments a little while ago, but i think it deserves a link of its own

friday-things that puzzle me

i need a better friday topic.

any thoughts?

thursday-things that i need

• 3 more weeks of summer
  
• a democratic presidential candidate with a platform that's not "hey, i'm not them!" (even when their voting record says otherwise)

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• hayfever
• listening to the president before i've had my coffee

monday-things that please me

fire fighters - and kids who want to be fire fighters, especially n. who wanted to make sure if a fire alarm went off after his bed time that he would still get to fight the fire, and l. the fire fighting queen.

nix - who doesn't leave me even though my insominia of late has meant even the cat doesn't get a good night sleep. and who brought me home the soundtrack to the mikado, even knowing that it would mean listening to the soundtrack to the mikado.

friday-things that puzzle me

what's wrong with me...

i have been head-achey, dizzy and vaguely nauseated all week (not nauseous, as my mother and sister would quickly point out)

i just had a physical - aren't they supposed to catch this stuff?

(and no, it's not that - though you're not the first to jump to that conclusion)

thursday-things that i need

• for grey's anatomy to move back to sundays
• a dishwasher
• to learn when to shut the hell up

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

that the brilliance of joseph gordon-levitt has been pretty much ignored so far. nix and i watched mysterious skin last night (i had seen it with jack in the theatre when it opened--though we missed the beginning because i was unforgivably late). my outrage that he (joseph gordon levitt, not jack) was not nominated for an academy award came rushing back.

this year he was in the amazing brick, which was fantastic.

anyway, go see these movies. tell your friends. give this man the reputation he deserves.

monday-things that please me

my tomato plant has flowers!



some of you may recall my first ill-fated tomato plant that died while i was on wedding tour 2006. well, the new one is huge. we have to support it with chopsticks. here is the plant with the horrible cat to give it some perspective:

friday-things that puzzle me

• the current location of my september train pass
• how it got to be september

thursday-things that i need

apparently, to lower my blood pressure.

it's not that it's high--just higher than it's normal perfect state (my cholesterol--also perfect). i think it may have been the person taking my blood pressure (the last time i had a physical, they said that i was an inch shorter than i am, so there is a history of people misreading instruments here)(i'm back to my normal height, so last year's fear of shrinking was for naught). in the meantime, i'm giving up fast food for three months until they re-test it, just to be safe.

wednesday-things that are orange

tuesday-things that displease me

• that i have been letting other people get to me. normally i am an illegitimus non carborundum type of person, but recently i seem to have been letting the actions, behaviors and decisions of others affect my mood, my sleep and my work. this must stop.
  
• also that the days are getting shorter. i hate fall.

monday-things that please me

• sleeping in
• nix, whose birthday it is today
• cream cheese icing, which was on nix's birthday cake--you have to love any recipe where the ingredients are: 1 stick of butter, 1 box of cream cheese, 1 box of confectioners sugar. 2 tsp of vanilla

friday-things that puzzle me

why my cat insists on sleeping directly on my head. there are softer parts of me that i imagine to be more comfortable. there is the likelihood of me petting her to factor in. and yet, no. she sleeps directly on my head.

i object!

i object! i object! i object!

thursday-things that i need

• better organizational skills
  
• better time management skills

i seem to have both of these things when i am in school, however, taking the summer off seems to have ruined me. i have nine things waiting to go to the post office; i have missed several birthdays; i have not done any of the research that i said i was going to when i decided to take the summer off; my house is a disaster.

here is a statue of Kali, for no reason other than it reminds me of what one of my mentors told me about Oya - you can't ask her to help you clean your house, because she'll destroy your house, and let you rebuild it.

wednesday-things that are orange

friends of mine in the great northwest want to open a restaurant that serves only orange food (come to think of it, that's probably why "things that are orange" came to me as a category on that fateful train ride when nix convinced me to do this)(maybe they'll let me help decorate when it opens)

ps-happy anniversary nix. who knows why you married a wreck like me, but i'm glad you did...

tuesday-things that displease me

midas

everything the king touched turned to gold. everything these guys seem to touch is suddenly rusted through and needs to be replaced for 700 dollars, even though they just replaced it 2 years ago.

monday-things that please me

really good bumper stickers

b3 (my sole reader in botswana) had (has?) one that says "don't touch me, i'm not that kind of car" which i always thought was fabulous. recently i saw one that said "dick cheney eats kittens" which kind of says it all, doesn't it?

friday-things that puzzle me

where the effing summer has gone? one minute i'm contemplating 4th of july fireworks in the rain, and now it's almost bloody talk like a pirate day

here's a pirate flag:

thursday-things that i need

• a pedicure
• also, according to my friend lk, a month of vacation. here's a vacation-y picture.

here 'tis

wednesday-things that are orange

continuing with the theme...