Happy birthday (yesterday) Juje. Thanks for making me the White Album tape in High School, and letting me record myself singing over your Kate Bush tape when I was four, and documenting some of Grandpa Lee's last words, and for being the type of chick who digs NASCAR and Shakespeare and sees no contradiction there. And for always letting me cry and unload all my irrational fears while still remaining calm and reminding me to put on the whole armor in search of this or something better. Love ya kid.
The problem with the snuggie is that it's backless. If it were more like a poncho I might take it seriously.
Today I'm getting over a negativity hangover so, like all respectable hangovers, it's left me feeling slightly unsteady and a little parched. Also not so much in the talking mood. So here's some light reading/listening about things I totally agree with, find hilarious and/or am awed by (thank you Somber). How many men can talk about the Aristotelian definition of tragedy in relation to sheep neutering and make it sound simultaneously hilarious, sexy and absolutely plausible? Not many. And that's why Mike Rowe is a bad ass.
I hope you meet yourself this weekend.
UPDATE: Holy Cow! I didn't even know this was being made! Aw yeah!!!!!!!
I keep forgetting how competitive people are until I'm reminded of it by random pokes and prods that amount to very nearly the Eddie Murphy ice cream taunt:
"I got some ice cream ... and you don't got none ... cause you're on welfare and your daddy's an alcoholic."
Look people, we do it when it's right for us. I'm super psyched you've got things going on that make you feel good -- isn't the feeling good enough? Do you really need to compare your thing to someone else's for your thing to have value? Or, maybe the intrinsic value of what you brag about is fairly low so it's an effort to present it as more up-market. Either way, you demean and devalue your accomplishment by needing validation that it's better than -- I don't know, whatever thing it needs to be better than this week. I really wouldn't care except when you drag me into your drama I find myself going down that same compare/contrast road and it just depresses me and I need to focus man. I got stuff I'm trying to do over here. And I try really hard not to live my life like a real housewife of New York City. Vapid is not sexy.
Just clearing the air. Thanks for your patience. I'll be back with brilliant insight on something relevant at a later date.
Also, what do we think of the Kindle? My verdict is still out. But I'm intrigued...
I have less of a problem with the Special Olympics gaffe than I do with the fact that British PM Gordon Brown is going blind so giving him DVDs may have been inappropriate in more ways than the "you're like a school on Saturday -- no class" kind of way. Thanks for making me aware of that one Pops. My niece was in a fashion show last night at the Mall of Ga. and I swear that kid is a stunner. She told me there's a boy in her class that keeps calling her names which of course means he likes her, which I told her and she just smiled and said "I know." Then her Dad of course is all "You don't need to be thinking about boys," a line I heard more than once growing up and I hope she doesn't internalize and get all bookish and shy like I did. I think maybe there's a better balance there. (I love you Dan...)
Anyway, my 15-year-old nephew was recently allowed his own cell phone and I have been receiving texts from him since last night. We've talked about his ex-girlfriend and who he's going to ask to the next school dance. And I've had the opportunity to tell him I love him several times and I'm sorta bursting with that awesomeness.
Today -- well, today is a good day. Kids'll do that.
Happy St. Pat's day all. I'll be at Cutter's Pub during Happy Hour with my book and an Irish coffee attempting to stave off an almost all-consuming compulsion to sell my house and use the money to quit my job and get gone. Come see me and tell me why that's the dumbest thing you've ever heard because things will change. Change is constant, right? Right? (cricket sound)
So, in honor of one side of my family, here are a few of my favorite Irish things: an awesome clip from one of the greatest Irish -- scratch that -- greatest movies of all time; a great Irish curse I like; and the song "Rise," which, while not overtly Irish, has always put me in the Emerald Isle mindset because of the refrain that references that old Irish blessing and the constant repetition of the expression "Anger is an energy," which I think the Irish would appreciate. There are of course other, much more current and relevant bands that I could reference. But then you'd miss out on a weird 80s gem that the skate rats in my neighborhood thought made them really edgy and cool. And that makes me smile. And I need that today, okay?
So I saw this program on the History Channel the other day (I continue to give the History Channel a chance despite their need to be alarmist and sensational in very many of their programs) about the sack of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths and how the result of the end of the Roman Empire was this vast European slide into the Dark Ages. And how strange it must have been for the peasants during this period -- who were literally scavenging building materials from the vast and once remarkable Roman ruins -- to realize that the generations preceding them lived in a manner wealthier, healthier, more prosperous and arguably more civilized. And then I saw this. And I'm trying not to draw parallels because what good would that do really...?
Also, a shout out to my team. We did good. This is the Internet equivalent of above the fold. See how I'm pushing the lexicon so one day, when a child wonders where that expression comes from, some wise old adult will say, "Well honey child, back when newspapers ruled..."
Hell of a week this week kids. I had drama and trauma hit me from almost every side, some of it expected, some of it a long time coming and some from out of the blue -- the last I'm still trying to get a handle on. I hate when I'm more affected by something than the carefully constructed myth I've created for myself dictates I should be. However, on a more positive flip side, I also closed the book on something with a final word that surprised even me. And it felt good son! I was confronted with the truth that some people are as bad as the megalomaniacs you think only exist on television. And I'm spent people. And kinda mad. I'm working on it...
When I get this raw I try to get back to the basics -- lots of crying because, well, I'm kind of a girl...But also, I seek the funny. And, while gathering some light provisions from Kroger at lunch today, I caught the new Vanity Fair staring at me from the rack. I used to read this magazine religiously but had to stop when I got a little wiser and discovered the almost glaring bias between its pages and got really annoyed that they couldn't just stay the f*@k out of it and give me pretty pictures of celebrities (It's bad when your sister -- an actress with a past tendency toward liberalism I might add -- won't watch the Oscars because she doesn't like the "moralizing." Just sayin'...)
But this time, despite my bank account screaming obscenities at me, I bought it. Because the portfolio of comedians had me giggling and then laughing aloud. Thank you boys. I'll pay you back by seeing I Love You Man in the theater.
Real punk rock means recognizing a poseur when you see one
Okay look, there's a fine line between punk rock and stupid. I'm as rebellious as the next kid and have been known to push an envelope or two, but mucking about with proprietary images -- i.e. ones backed by copyright law -- without approval is borderline simple. Especially when the taste and potential for schadenfreude is so very, very high. So get off my back, yeah?
Coming down from a righteous indignation high so I have little to say. I liked this article though, especially in light of the tendency for folks to panic and for the axiom at the beginning, which is one I try to live by.
Also, stole this from Winders -- who's a savvy newsman and a good egg -- and had fun checking out the other cartoons from this guy's warped mind. I also like the soundtrack from the movie and suspect, and have heard, it's pretty damn good. I've read some of the novel -- used to date someone who was quite the fan -- but never the whole thing. Zimmer says it's bleak but brilliant. I'll have to wait a bit until I'm feeling a little stronger to give it a go...
Mention of this has been floating around work. I like it! Also, I just came across this. It's about the only good thing I've come across lately regarding the economy, the ridiculous stimulus package and the bloating of the federal government. America, meet the man. He owns you. Also, keeping my eye on this whole byte-sized communication craze there's this. My good friend CM Kay, who just became my Facebook friend (I missed you rocker man!) says that MySpace is best for bands, Facebook is best for people and Twitter is best for business. Is there a unified front in our future? To an extent but the aesthetic will have to be flexible just because of the nature of "the kids" who like to keep things separate from the aforementioned man. We'll see.
Have a safe and happy weekend. As for me, I'll be applying for work (surprise!) and trying to figure out how it went from 7 inches of snow to 77 degrees in three days. Armageddon?
Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy
It's not that I'm not paying attention to the world right now. I'm aware. I just don't want to talk about it. I'm sitting back and watching the fallout. I'll speak up when I need to...
In the meantime, I'm learning about my new crush, one Jason O'Mara, lead actor on Life on Mars (which I only know about because it comes on after Lost, has awesome music and Harvey Keitel, and is actually pretty interesting). Anyway, Mr. O'Mara was born and raised in Dublin (drool), was a Rugby player until he was injured (double drool), and has a sparkle in his eye that is one of the reasons I continue to give humanity a chance.
Welcome to my dreams Jason. I swear to God I've never matured past the age of 14 in the most important ways.
UPDATE: Less than tragic moment of self awareness = of course I had to listen to Hunky Dory at work because of my new crush, which led me to listen to ChangesBowie, an album I got in High School because my sister Juje was an enormous fan and I have a memory of hearing Space Oddity around the age of 5 and bawling my eyes out. I got that one, too. I really think it's the reason I'm fascinated by Astronomy and space travel and all that other geeky stuff. I only tell you, Internet, because no one else cares...waaa.
Pops just vocally shrugged and said "March is unpredictable."
So, maybe I was quick to think that our little snow prediction in Georgia was going to be the light dusting it always is and that people freaking out and all businesses shutting down were going to be overreactions. We did get about 7 inches -- but just in Athens apparently. Athens, it turns out, was under some swirling mass of freakish cloud cover that dumped nearly twice the amount that anyone else saw within a 20-30 mile radius. Very strange. People were losing power left and right. I was powerless for just over 24 hours, which actually leads me to forgive myself for my quick prejudgement because as it turns out, you can drive to get coffee in 7 inches of snow. You have to friends. No coffee just won't do. Of course I had no idea where every contraption my mother has given me for Christmas over the years was located -- the battery-operated lantern would have been awesome (my mother gave me the riot act for not having a battery-powered radio and Coleman stove. She did suggest I fire up my mini charcoal grill for hot water however. Remind me to tell you about the tool she put in our stockings one year that stays in my car glove box. It's a utilitarian thing that helps you escape from a car crash. My mother the survivalist.)
Anyway, I had a moment Sunday driving home from swimming at the gym -- I've included a pic of road conditions at that time courtesy of Steph because I didn't have my camera on me -- where I very nearly got stuck because of the genius 20-year-old girl in front of me. Look here, when driving in snow, instinctively I do a few things: go slowly, try to find the most downhill route on the most frequently traveled road, find the biggest 4-wheel drive truck and follow it. Young girl in front of me however decided to stop, going uphill in rapidly falling snow, turn around and give me the "go around" hand signal because apparently the five other cars that had gotten stuck at this very intersection were her friends. Now, I begrudge no one their good time -- and these kids looked like Abercrombie & Fitch in the snow (got a good laugh from Zimmer for this description so thought I'd use it again) -- but are you kidding me! Thoughts racing through my head in the 20 seconds I was stuck behind her trying to go around her dumb ass: shit. who the hell do I call if I can't get out? Will they get stuck, too? They'll hate me for life regardless. Why does everyone who wouldn't hate me for life live so far away? Do I have my hat and gloves in case I have to walk the four miles home? Yes, thank God. This girl has no consideration for anyone else -- not even her friends because ostensibly she's here to help but they're just playing around; this isn't serious to them. Dammit, does that make me old and bitter? No, when I was younger I would have rolled my window down and cussed her out. I'm softening with age...good. Oh thank God my wheels have gotten some traction and I'm moving. People are dumb."
To all the people who I called around 5 pm Sunday who didn't answer the phone (ahem), good move grasshoppers. You would have gotten the earful I wanted to give the genius girl in front of me. I'm not sure but I think I saw her stupid Jeep there the next morning when I drove to get coffee. Effing Einstein.
But ya know, for all the ridiculousness, there were people traveling around my neighborhood on a modified lawn mower with a chainsaw cutting up branches. And it was kinda fun being forced to read and forget all the "have to" stuff that comes with modern conveniences. And the snow was truly beautiful. I love the silence that accompanies it. Stupid girls can't take that away from me.
Anyway, pics. The lamps and the flame retardant boot at the bottom are from my fabulous trip to IKEA in Atlanta, which you learn more about over at Baby Ds place. Forgive all the bird shooting -- I have no class.
Here's some Spring music to go with the weather.
