I used to love all awards shows, but now I don't have the patience or desire to sit through them. However, I will make an excuse for the Tonies, even if (like this year) I didn't see any of the productions nominated.
Just a few brief observations: there is a certain kind of annoying voice that is popular on the Broadway stage. I caught Raul Esparza's performance of Being Alive, and I just dry heaved a little. So much effort, but so little feeling - or so much manufactured feeling and so little genuine feeling...I just didn't like his voice. I'm sure he's technically excellent and has studied for years, but between his ridiculously fast vibrato and his horrific pronunciations and the nasal quality of some of his notes, I was quite pleased he didn't win.
There is another kind of annoying voice that doesn't bother me so much, and Christine Ebersole presented that one in her performance from the musical Gray Gardens. Her voice cuts through anything, and you can understand everything she's singing, and she's singing in character. I've loved her for years, I'm glad she was encouraged with her win.
Re: Spring Awakenings....I don't feel qualified to make a judgement on this one. The songs I heard are kind of catchy, but....how do you say Rent in German? I didn't understand exactly what the snippets of songs I heard were about, and the use of hand mikes is jarring. I may be too old to appreciate this one.
Oh, the little introductions for upcoming numbers didn't work too well for me. Particularly the guy who introduced Gray Gardens - he was using a Boston accent to introduce a story that takes place in Long Island. And the guys from the Jersey Boys were behind the beat in the music, it was distracting.
Anyway, one thing I do love about the Tony Awards is the unabashed liberalism and all the uncloseted gays. William Goldman wrote a book in the late 60s (I think) called The Season, and one line I that he wrote was "there would be no theater without the Jews and the gays." (paraphrased). You could be forgiven for accepting that as absolute truth from watching the Tony Awards.
6/12/2007
6/11/2007
Funny things they say
Yesterday, we celebrated my niece Grace's 4th birthday, and my sister told us that Grace had recently been through pre-school screening. At the screening, Grace drew and colored in an apple, and the screener asked "what's that?"
Grace said, "it's an apple."
The screener said "oh, it looks delicious! Can I have a bite?"
And Grace said "Okay, but it tastes like crayon."
Grace said, "it's an apple."
The screener said "oh, it looks delicious! Can I have a bite?"
And Grace said "Okay, but it tastes like crayon."
6/07/2007
Two Justice Systems
So Paris Hilton served three whole days before the kindly sheriff sent her home with some new jewelry - an electronic monitoring device - because of medical issues.
I suppose its better that they keep herpes away from the general prison population.
But I was thinking about this story as I was reading over the love letters that the many friends and acquaintances of Scooter Libby sent to the judge. I kept reading that Scooter is a well-loved man, helpful to all, a man of the highest integrity. And I just couldn't quite figure out why that should give him a lower sentence. If anything, the leaders of society, the movers and shakers, the public servants - if anything, those pillars of the community who breach the public trust should get sentences even more severe.
I'm glad that Scooter got a hefty sentence - hopefully he won't develop a rash and have to serve his sentence at home, too. It would be just terrible if people got the idea that there is one justice system for the regular man, and another one for the wealthy and connected.
Citing sources close to Hilton's family, the syndicated TV show Entertainment Tonight reported on its website that the health problem was a rash that she developed on her body.
I suppose its better that they keep herpes away from the general prison population.
But I was thinking about this story as I was reading over the love letters that the many friends and acquaintances of Scooter Libby sent to the judge. I kept reading that Scooter is a well-loved man, helpful to all, a man of the highest integrity. And I just couldn't quite figure out why that should give him a lower sentence. If anything, the leaders of society, the movers and shakers, the public servants - if anything, those pillars of the community who breach the public trust should get sentences even more severe.
I'm glad that Scooter got a hefty sentence - hopefully he won't develop a rash and have to serve his sentence at home, too. It would be just terrible if people got the idea that there is one justice system for the regular man, and another one for the wealthy and connected.
6/03/2007
RIP, Steve Gilliard
I was off the computer for the weekend while I searched the state of Connecticut for a car that I could afford, and I just found out today that Steve Gilliard of The News Blog passed away yesterday morning. My condolences to his family and friends, he will be missed.
6/01/2007
5/31/2007
Music Post
Last night was Sio's last choral concert of her high school career. It ended on a high note (pun sort of intended): their own auditorium is currently under construction, so they performed at the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center, which has much better acoustics than the auditorium at MHS.
I only wish I had captured the first number of the evening, it was an arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water, and it left me with tears pouring down my face.
The first number I recorded is the MHS Jazz Choir singing Satin Doll. The female soloist is none other than Sio! Unfortunately, something goes slightly wonky with the sound part way through:
Up next is the Song That Goes Like This from Spamalot!:
The next 3 numbers were performed by the MHS Roundtable Singers, a venerable institution at Manchester High School - next year will be the 70th anniversary of this award-winning, nationally top 10 ranked a capella choir.
Up first is Locus Iste by Bruckner. Sadly, the end of the song is marred by some asshole who didn't turn their cell phone off:
Le Rose Complete by Morten Lauridsen. I've only performed one other song by this composer, a beautiful composition of O Magnum Mysterium. He's definitely found some signature, sweet chords. This is gorgeous:
The last number I recorded is Gospel Train:
I only wish I had captured the first number of the evening, it was an arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water, and it left me with tears pouring down my face.
The first number I recorded is the MHS Jazz Choir singing Satin Doll. The female soloist is none other than Sio! Unfortunately, something goes slightly wonky with the sound part way through:
Up next is the Song That Goes Like This from Spamalot!:
The next 3 numbers were performed by the MHS Roundtable Singers, a venerable institution at Manchester High School - next year will be the 70th anniversary of this award-winning, nationally top 10 ranked a capella choir.
Up first is Locus Iste by Bruckner. Sadly, the end of the song is marred by some asshole who didn't turn their cell phone off:
Le Rose Complete by Morten Lauridsen. I've only performed one other song by this composer, a beautiful composition of O Magnum Mysterium. He's definitely found some signature, sweet chords. This is gorgeous:
The last number I recorded is Gospel Train:
5/30/2007
1973 Gil's Pub; 1970-1982 Irish American Home
Shiltone recently had a post up at If I Ran The Zoo , waxing nostalgic about the music in a jukebox from his (her?) childhood.
There are two jukeboxes that figure in my childhood. The first one was at Gil's Pub in Hebron, CT. When my parents moved to Hebron in 1969, it was a dry town, but sometime between 1969 and 1973, Gil's Pub opened up on Main Street. Every now and then, my dad would take me to Gil's with him. There wasn't much for a kid to do there - the pool table was usually in use, and the dartboard was off limits to me, but I do remember getting quarters for the jukebox, and even then, I was obsessive compulsive in the way I listened to music. I remember a couple of songs that I listened to, but the one that really leaps out is Tanya Tucker's recording of Delta Dawn. I would listen to that one over and over and over again. I learned all the words, and I would sing it when I went home to my mother.
The second jukebox was at the Irish American Home, which was a lot more fun. In addition to the bar, they had a big field for sports, playing cards, snacks, and drunk men who would give me money because I was Billy Howley's daughter. When I was very young, my favorite bar snack was sardines and crackers (cue my children: Ewwwww!), and I would listen to The Unicorn over and over again. Yes, my tastes as a child were not refined. I thought it was so sad that the unicorns never made it onto the ark.
I went through a phase of listening to Horse With No Name, You Are The Woman That I Always Dreamed Of, and one of the last songs I remember playing on that jukebox was My Sharona - after that, I deemed myself too old to hang out at the boring club with my father on Sundays after church.
There are two jukeboxes that figure in my childhood. The first one was at Gil's Pub in Hebron, CT. When my parents moved to Hebron in 1969, it was a dry town, but sometime between 1969 and 1973, Gil's Pub opened up on Main Street. Every now and then, my dad would take me to Gil's with him. There wasn't much for a kid to do there - the pool table was usually in use, and the dartboard was off limits to me, but I do remember getting quarters for the jukebox, and even then, I was obsessive compulsive in the way I listened to music. I remember a couple of songs that I listened to, but the one that really leaps out is Tanya Tucker's recording of Delta Dawn. I would listen to that one over and over and over again. I learned all the words, and I would sing it when I went home to my mother.
The second jukebox was at the Irish American Home, which was a lot more fun. In addition to the bar, they had a big field for sports, playing cards, snacks, and drunk men who would give me money because I was Billy Howley's daughter. When I was very young, my favorite bar snack was sardines and crackers (cue my children: Ewwwww!), and I would listen to The Unicorn over and over again. Yes, my tastes as a child were not refined. I thought it was so sad that the unicorns never made it onto the ark.
I went through a phase of listening to Horse With No Name, You Are The Woman That I Always Dreamed Of, and one of the last songs I remember playing on that jukebox was My Sharona - after that, I deemed myself too old to hang out at the boring club with my father on Sundays after church.
6 days
I have 6 days to buy a car. I have $4100. If there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster, please let His Noodly Appendages help me find something before the insurance company stops paying for the car rental.
(P.S. I traded in the behemoth. I was hoping to get a regular car, but all they had to choose from was a couple of minivans and a couple of big SUVs, so now I'm driving a minivan.)
(P.S. I traded in the behemoth. I was hoping to get a regular car, but all they had to choose from was a couple of minivans and a couple of big SUVs, so now I'm driving a minivan.)
5/29/2007
I'm a sell-out
You will notice the prominent advertisement at the top of my page. I'm selling out, baby, looking for any source of income that is available to me. I will make sure to click ad links on all my favorite blogs from here on out, because I never really understood how it worked before.
I was wrong
My car is not fixable, I spoke to the insurance adjuster this morning, and my car, she is totalled.
I was thinking that we weren't under quite enough financial pressure yet, between paying for college and my choir job ending for the summer and Loki feeling desperate to get out of his job, so this should help.
I was thinking that we weren't under quite enough financial pressure yet, between paying for college and my choir job ending for the summer and Loki feeling desperate to get out of his job, so this should help.
5/28/2007
I'm a bigger part of the problem...for now
I mentioned in an earlier post that my car had brief fling with a jersey barrier and came out the worse for wear. Well, on Friday, Loki and I took the car to the body shop, and we picked up the rental car provided by our insurance company.
Except it wasn't a car, it was a fucking behemoth SUV/pick-up truck mash-up. This, my friends, was a vehicle that says something about the man driving it, and what it says is "the man driving me has a micro-penis".
We asked if we could exchange it for something normal sized, but this was all they had, so we took it home.
I have to confess that it is nice to be up so high, and that my hip really appreciates the comfortable seating. My hip isn't so keen on how hard it has to work to hoist my fat ass into the truck, though. And the best mileage we've been able to achieve thus far is 14.7 MPG. That's criminal.
We should find out tomorrow if the car is totalled or fixable (I think it will be fixable), and I can't wait to get back to my normal car. In the meantime, I have a call into the rental agency to see if we can exchange this monstrosity now that the holiday weekend is over.
Except it wasn't a car, it was a fucking behemoth SUV/pick-up truck mash-up. This, my friends, was a vehicle that says something about the man driving it, and what it says is "the man driving me has a micro-penis".
We asked if we could exchange it for something normal sized, but this was all they had, so we took it home.
I have to confess that it is nice to be up so high, and that my hip really appreciates the comfortable seating. My hip isn't so keen on how hard it has to work to hoist my fat ass into the truck, though. And the best mileage we've been able to achieve thus far is 14.7 MPG. That's criminal.
We should find out tomorrow if the car is totalled or fixable (I think it will be fixable), and I can't wait to get back to my normal car. In the meantime, I have a call into the rental agency to see if we can exchange this monstrosity now that the holiday weekend is over.
5/25/2007
Things that are happening right now
1. I have insomnia...again
2. Something is burning
3. My left pinky is bleeding, but it doesn't hurt
Addendum: my left pinky was NOT bleeding, what appeared to be blood in the wee hours of the morning was actully red magic marker ink. I'm not sure how it got on my pinky, or why there was so much of it that it appeared blood was running from a wound, but it was not a stigmata, it was a marker.
2. Something is burning
3. My left pinky is bleeding, but it doesn't hurt
Addendum: my left pinky was NOT bleeding, what appeared to be blood in the wee hours of the morning was actully red magic marker ink. I'm not sure how it got on my pinky, or why there was so much of it that it appeared blood was running from a wound, but it was not a stigmata, it was a marker.
5/23/2007
18 years ago
18 years ago, my life changed inalterably for the better.
18 years ago today, I was in the hospital, eating the best meal I've ever had in my life - chicken on whole wheat bread, salad, chocolate milk, jello. It was the best meal I've ever had because for the 280 days prior to this day (18 years ago), I couldn't keep a bite of food down.
But that meal is not why my life changed inalterably for the better.
No, 18 years ago was also the day we welcomed Sio into the world. After a horrific pregnancy filled with constant puking, nausea, and fear*, out came this absolutely perfect, completely beautiful, sunny dispositioned infant. She was worth every horrible day.
This day 18 years ago started at 5:30 a.m., when I had my first contraction, which was followed 5 minutes later by my second contraction. Loki and I had a long drive to the hospital, although the person I spoke to in the doctor's office assured me that we had a long labor ahead of us, considering this was my first.
By the time we got to the hospital, the contractions were already hard enough that I couldn't sit still or speak during them. The hospital checked me and and moved me up to a labor room. Every now and then, a nurse would come in and check how dilated I was, announce a pathetically small number (3cm!) and then disappear. At about 9:55 a.m., a nurse came in, checked my cervix, and suddenly, it was lights, camera, action - the room filled up with people. There was the doctor, the physician's assistant, and lots of nurses. I remember one nurse in particular, Teri, who took my hands and told me to squeeze them as hard as I needed to. It was only a few minutes of pushing, and *pop*, there was Sio.
Loki followed her around while they did tests, I think he wanted to make sure they didn't mix her up with any other babies. All mothers think their babies are beautiful, and I was no exception, although to be fair, I was also right - she was perfection, with a curl of soft black hair on her head, rosy cheeks and chubby legs.
And she was also the easiest baby. When she was hungry or needed a diaper change, she fussed a little, but didn't cry. She opened her eyes and seemed to be drinking in everything.
When we took her home the next day, we really didn't know what we were doing. We were armed with a used carseat, some blankets and hats, and a nurse who told us that no matter what, if we show the kid we love her, it would all work out.
And it has. I have many flaws as a mother - I am not a naturally nurturing, caretaking kind of person, and I know that Sio would sometimes like a normal mom, but she was born with a kind of independence that fit my parenting weaknesses well.
So happy birthday, sweetie, and many, many more.
18 years ago today, I was in the hospital, eating the best meal I've ever had in my life - chicken on whole wheat bread, salad, chocolate milk, jello. It was the best meal I've ever had because for the 280 days prior to this day (18 years ago), I couldn't keep a bite of food down.
But that meal is not why my life changed inalterably for the better.
No, 18 years ago was also the day we welcomed Sio into the world. After a horrific pregnancy filled with constant puking, nausea, and fear*, out came this absolutely perfect, completely beautiful, sunny dispositioned infant. She was worth every horrible day.
This day 18 years ago started at 5:30 a.m., when I had my first contraction, which was followed 5 minutes later by my second contraction. Loki and I had a long drive to the hospital, although the person I spoke to in the doctor's office assured me that we had a long labor ahead of us, considering this was my first.
By the time we got to the hospital, the contractions were already hard enough that I couldn't sit still or speak during them. The hospital checked me and and moved me up to a labor room. Every now and then, a nurse would come in and check how dilated I was, announce a pathetically small number (3cm!) and then disappear. At about 9:55 a.m., a nurse came in, checked my cervix, and suddenly, it was lights, camera, action - the room filled up with people. There was the doctor, the physician's assistant, and lots of nurses. I remember one nurse in particular, Teri, who took my hands and told me to squeeze them as hard as I needed to. It was only a few minutes of pushing, and *pop*, there was Sio.
Loki followed her around while they did tests, I think he wanted to make sure they didn't mix her up with any other babies. All mothers think their babies are beautiful, and I was no exception, although to be fair, I was also right - she was perfection, with a curl of soft black hair on her head, rosy cheeks and chubby legs.
And she was also the easiest baby. When she was hungry or needed a diaper change, she fussed a little, but didn't cry. She opened her eyes and seemed to be drinking in everything.
When we took her home the next day, we really didn't know what we were doing. We were armed with a used carseat, some blankets and hats, and a nurse who told us that no matter what, if we show the kid we love her, it would all work out.
And it has. I have many flaws as a mother - I am not a naturally nurturing, caretaking kind of person, and I know that Sio would sometimes like a normal mom, but she was born with a kind of independence that fit my parenting weaknesses well.
So happy birthday, sweetie, and many, many more.
5/22/2007
You rocked, Veronica Mars
Tonight was the two hour season and series ender of yet another show that I loved like a family member, but no one else seemed to watch. Ordinarily, I would just go to the forums at Television Without Pity to commiserate with my fellow fans, but the forums have been rendered unreadable by all the fangirls and boys who don't seem to understand that Logan Echolls is a fictional character. (Yes, Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell had awesome chemistry, and Logan was trying to redeem himself, but he was still a little bit of a psychotic jackass underneath all the moping.)
Veronica Mars suffered from having a nearly perfect first season. I resisted watching the show at first, because everyone I knew who liked Buffy said "you'll love this show" - and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Buffy, really, so I refused to believe that anything could compare.
But my curiousity got the better of me and I picked up the first season on DVD. In the first episode, we learn that Veronica's dad used to be the Sheriff of Neptune, CA, but was forced out of office after accusing a grieving -and powerful- father of killing his own daughter, Veronica's best friend, Lilly. We learn that the shame of that sent Veronica's mom packing, that Veronica went from being popular to being shunned, and the kicker, we learn that Veronica was roofied and raped at a party. We also learn that Veronica does not take shit from anyone, and I love her so much for that.
These mysteries play out through season 1, and even end up being revisited in season 2, although we do get plenty of answers in the last episode of the first season. After a nearly perfect first season, though, seasons 2 and 3 couldn't quite live up to the hype (you might have missed the hype, but it was there, brewing, quietly).
Season 3 was like the current Democratic Congress - too much compromise rendered it unappealing to nearly everyone. (Note: I still support many of our Democrats that are in office, I will continue to vote for Democrats, and Republicans still are a horror show). But I had hope that it could make a comeback, and I felt like the last two episodes really returned to the noir feel of season 1.
But that's all we'll get. I'm sad, because Veronica was kickass and a feminist role model, and now she's gone.
Blow-up
Over the weekend, I noticed this film showed up in my Tifaux queue, so I sat down to screen it on Saturday afternoon. Blow-up was Michelangelo Antonioni's first English language film, set in London in the swinging 60s. I love a nontraditional narrative, and I was hooked, right up until the moment when David Hemming's fashion photographer hands Vanessa Redgrave the wrong roll of film, which is when my recording cut off. Filmus interruptus. I was not happy.
New to blogroll
Under the heading of "Here I Am Now, Entertain Me", I have added Self-Styled Siren, a delightful cinephile blog that focuses on older films. She is an excellent writer and I have been reading her archives all evening, delighting in her critiques of old movies I've seen and some of the divine stars of yesterday.
5/20/2007
Sick again
Once again, I am sick. I'm sure it's my own fault - I probably stayed up way too late too many days in a row, and damaged my immune system, but I woke up this morning coughing green crap out of my lungs and since then it has shifted entirely to my sinuses - my ears are closing up and itchy from the fluid in my head, my nose won't stop running, and I'm still coughing up gross stuff.
I had a fairly busy weekend - did some clothes shopping with the Monkey, who has outgrown every single item of clothing in her dresser and closet. We hung out at the bookstore for a while where I got caught up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics and picked up Rufus Wainwright's new CD. I also spent some time with the DVR - I watched It Happened One Night (funny), The Dead Poet's Society (sob), and a rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a score by Mendelssohn, Dick Powell as Lysander, Olivia de Haviland as Hermia, James Cagney as Bottom and a quite young Mickey Rooney as Puck. It was very much a movie of its era - clearly on a soundstage, although there were some neat (for the time) effects with the fairies, and I thought everyone did their best with their roles, although Cagney was just a little too self-conscious to be Bottom, IMO.
I've taken some Nyquil, and we'll see how I feel in the morning. I'm so tired of being sick. I hate to complain too much, because there are so many people who have worse than a head cold on their plates, but I will complain a little - enough with the illnesses!
I had a fairly busy weekend - did some clothes shopping with the Monkey, who has outgrown every single item of clothing in her dresser and closet. We hung out at the bookstore for a while where I got caught up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics and picked up Rufus Wainwright's new CD. I also spent some time with the DVR - I watched It Happened One Night (funny), The Dead Poet's Society (sob), and a rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a score by Mendelssohn, Dick Powell as Lysander, Olivia de Haviland as Hermia, James Cagney as Bottom and a quite young Mickey Rooney as Puck. It was very much a movie of its era - clearly on a soundstage, although there were some neat (for the time) effects with the fairies, and I thought everyone did their best with their roles, although Cagney was just a little too self-conscious to be Bottom, IMO.
I've taken some Nyquil, and we'll see how I feel in the morning. I'm so tired of being sick. I hate to complain too much, because there are so many people who have worse than a head cold on their plates, but I will complain a little - enough with the illnesses!
5/18/2007
You're on the list, The Office
for stealing my joke.
Last night on The Office, Jan showed up with fancy new boobs, and in one talking head interview, Creed said he didn't like fake boobs.
Creed: au naturel, baby. Swing low, sweet chariots
Which is a funny line, but it's also a joke I've been making for several years about my own sweet (albeit pendulous) boobs.
Initially, I was kind of pissed that now I will never be able to make this joke in either an amateur or professional venue without people thinking I stole it from The Office. But now I'm thinking if jokes I make off the cuff are funny enough to be in one of the funniest shows on TV, then maybe I should try writing my own script. Which is why I've decided to sign up for Script Frenzy, the newest spin-off from the creators of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge is to write a script or screenplay in the month of June.
Last night on The Office, Jan showed up with fancy new boobs, and in one talking head interview, Creed said he didn't like fake boobs.
Creed: au naturel, baby. Swing low, sweet chariots
Which is a funny line, but it's also a joke I've been making for several years about my own sweet (albeit pendulous) boobs.
Initially, I was kind of pissed that now I will never be able to make this joke in either an amateur or professional venue without people thinking I stole it from The Office. But now I'm thinking if jokes I make off the cuff are funny enough to be in one of the funniest shows on TV, then maybe I should try writing my own script. Which is why I've decided to sign up for Script Frenzy, the newest spin-off from the creators of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge is to write a script or screenplay in the month of June.
One Day
It's funny how one day can change how you feel about yourself entirely. At about 11am this morning, I was a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown - Loki had a car accident last night (no one but the car is hurt), I got a call from Monkey's teacher because she hadn't done her homework in 4 days, I'm $13,000 in debt to WPI, and there are a few other serious things going on that I am not at liberty to discuss, because they are not my issues.
I felt like I was standing on the edge all day long - I could just give in and take another step and sob and scream and give in to the increasing panic. But I didn't. I calmed myself down and reacted like a normal, responsible adult. That may not seem like much to you normal people, but to me, this is a big step. I feel invincible tonight.
I felt like I was standing on the edge all day long - I could just give in and take another step and sob and scream and give in to the increasing panic. But I didn't. I calmed myself down and reacted like a normal, responsible adult. That may not seem like much to you normal people, but to me, this is a big step. I feel invincible tonight.
5/16/2007
Inspiration needed
I'm thinking about participating in a Non-National Novel Writing Event this July, which is to write a play or screenplay. I can visualize these little snippets of a movie, I can hear a song and see it accompanying a film montage (especially 11:11 by Rufus Wainwright, which is just SCREAMING to be the music played at the end of a movie when the hero/ine has picked him/herself up, dusted him/herself off, and realized there is some hope for the future - my imaginary movie will have an ambiguous but hopeful ending), but I can't seem to get it all together.
I'm also mentally composing my memoirs - I'm thinking about calling it The Museum of Broken Things (which is a story that I will include in my memoirs...I keep pluralizing that word, and I'm not even sure it should be pluralized.)
I'm also mentally composing my memoirs - I'm thinking about calling it The Museum of Broken Things (which is a story that I will include in my memoirs...I keep pluralizing that word, and I'm not even sure it should be pluralized.)
5/14/2007
The Vicodin Song
by Terra Naomi
my favorite narcotic, the only pain medication I've taken that really eases my pain rather than reducing it. I miss it!
5/13/2007
Low-key day
We had a pretty low-key Mother's day today. My own mother does not like to celebrate, and we are on a tight budget so Sio can go to college this fall, so we just took the dog to the dog park, which was wonderful - it was a beautiful sunny day and it was just lovely to be on a park bench watching the dogs run around.
But I was pleased to find the following video when I looked on YouTube tonight - new material from Rufus Wainwright. That makes my mother's day complete.
But I was pleased to find the following video when I looked on YouTube tonight - new material from Rufus Wainwright. That makes my mother's day complete.
5/11/2007
My least favorite part of the whole sending a kid to college experience:
The figuring out how to pay for sending said kid to college! I have a feeling that I will be relieved when I get to the actual paying, because then it will just be a number of dollars that I have to give the school for each of the 10 monthly payments, not a series of percentages and rate reductions and deferments and tax benefits and interest and terms, etc., etc.
My head is spinning with all the loan programs and jargon and loan consultants and financial aid people that I've been hearing about/reading/talking to. We'll probably take on slightly more debt than is recommended, but I figure I'm young, I have a lot of years to make more money, and I have a pension that I will be fully vested in this July and a 401K that I haven't contributed to in the past 5 years but is still growing, so I'm not robbing my retirement.
But I feel like we are about to enter a precarious balancing act, and I hope we can all stay upright. We had a rough April, financially, and we are still digging ourselves out of that hole, and at the end of this month, my church job ends for the summer. I'm pretty sure I'm going to find a part-time job over the summer, and in the meantime, I'm just socking money into the savings account, paying all the bills as soon as they come in, and making a lot of pasta dishes because pasta is cheap.
My head is spinning with all the loan programs and jargon and loan consultants and financial aid people that I've been hearing about/reading/talking to. We'll probably take on slightly more debt than is recommended, but I figure I'm young, I have a lot of years to make more money, and I have a pension that I will be fully vested in this July and a 401K that I haven't contributed to in the past 5 years but is still growing, so I'm not robbing my retirement.
But I feel like we are about to enter a precarious balancing act, and I hope we can all stay upright. We had a rough April, financially, and we are still digging ourselves out of that hole, and at the end of this month, my church job ends for the summer. I'm pretty sure I'm going to find a part-time job over the summer, and in the meantime, I'm just socking money into the savings account, paying all the bills as soon as they come in, and making a lot of pasta dishes because pasta is cheap.
5/09/2007
From your first cigarette till your last dying day
When you're a Jet, you stay a Jet!
Last night, I happened to see a few minutes of a local newscast, an event I try mightily to avoid. The top story of the day was the death of Robert Stitt, which occurred while he was "battle dancing" with some of his friends - he attempted to do a flip and landed on his head, and then went into cardiac arrest.
It's the sort of news item you expect to see in News of the Weird, but here's how the local newscasters are handling the story: they are treating battle dancing like it's a serious problem.
Battle dancing.
They see this story, about a 39 year old man with a history of cardiac problems, who had been drinking all day, who tried to flip and landed on his head, as evidence that battle dancing is a problem.
Our media, folks. Can they get any stupider?
Last night, I happened to see a few minutes of a local newscast, an event I try mightily to avoid. The top story of the day was the death of Robert Stitt, which occurred while he was "battle dancing" with some of his friends - he attempted to do a flip and landed on his head, and then went into cardiac arrest.
It's the sort of news item you expect to see in News of the Weird, but here's how the local newscasters are handling the story: they are treating battle dancing like it's a serious problem.
Battle dancing.
They see this story, about a 39 year old man with a history of cardiac problems, who had been drinking all day, who tried to flip and landed on his head, as evidence that battle dancing is a problem.
Our media, folks. Can they get any stupider?
5/07/2007
Dyslexic Random Flickr Blogging: 3566
"People wrongly assume that Peeps were created in the mind of someone in a candy factory," said Dana Elvetch of the Peeps Insitute. "Actually, we were inspired by the brightly colored Arco Iris, or Rainbow chicks of Xuitdeponcho, Ecuador."
5/02/2007
Bionic Sister/Delicious
My younger sister had one of her hips replaced today. I talked to her a few hours ago, she was still a little groggy. I asked her if they had her all hopped up on painkillers, and she said they must, because she didn't feel like they did anything at all. If she's up for a visit, we'll go see her tomorrow.
I have more than just a passing interest in how her surgery went and how her recovery will go, since I will be getting my hip replaced in the nearish future (provided I lose this damn extra fat that's been hanging out all over my body).
In other news around here, Monkey and two of her friends from school have started a band called Delicious. I use the term band generously, since none of them are playing any instruments. However, Monkey did write a song called "The Break-Up" (because really, who knows more about the pain of breaking up than a 9 year old?) It's actually not half bad - if someone handed it to Beyonce, it would probably be a hit.
My favorite thing about this little girl group is that they have a theme song called Delicious. I had the pleasure of watching Monkey & Co. debut this song with the accompanying dance. An odd combination of feelings were running through me - I was smiling, and I almost wanted to laugh at the gorgeous innocence of these kids singing about something they don't really know anything about, but I was also really proud that they created something.
I have more than just a passing interest in how her surgery went and how her recovery will go, since I will be getting my hip replaced in the nearish future (provided I lose this damn extra fat that's been hanging out all over my body).
In other news around here, Monkey and two of her friends from school have started a band called Delicious. I use the term band generously, since none of them are playing any instruments. However, Monkey did write a song called "The Break-Up" (because really, who knows more about the pain of breaking up than a 9 year old?) It's actually not half bad - if someone handed it to Beyonce, it would probably be a hit.
My favorite thing about this little girl group is that they have a theme song called Delicious. I had the pleasure of watching Monkey & Co. debut this song with the accompanying dance. An odd combination of feelings were running through me - I was smiling, and I almost wanted to laugh at the gorgeous innocence of these kids singing about something they don't really know anything about, but I was also really proud that they created something.
4/30/2007
I need a fucking vacation
And while I'm gone, I need someone to come clean my house, feed my family, do the laundry, and feed the animals.
Alternatively, I need for everyone in my house to go on vacation and leave me alone at home.
This is one of those days where I will drift off to sleep, fantasizing about living in a studio apartment all by myself, with just the bare minimum of belongings. I couldn't live that way, of course, I like shopping too much and I'm a lazy, lazy housekeeper*, but I fantasize about it, nonetheless.
*I love when the house is clean - I still have dim memories of that day - but I hate cleaning.
Alternatively, I need for everyone in my house to go on vacation and leave me alone at home.
This is one of those days where I will drift off to sleep, fantasizing about living in a studio apartment all by myself, with just the bare minimum of belongings. I couldn't live that way, of course, I like shopping too much and I'm a lazy, lazy housekeeper*, but I fantasize about it, nonetheless.
*I love when the house is clean - I still have dim memories of that day - but I hate cleaning.
4/26/2007
Bush and Deadlines
I've been staying away from the news lately because it gives me such agita, but I caught the re-run of Jon Stewart attempting to remove McCain's head from his ass, and that got me thinking about Bush and his adamant opposition to timetables or deadlines.
One of the supposed benefits of Bush as president (I knew it was bullshit, and so did you) was that he had experience in the business world. Let's set aside, for the moment, that his experience was heavy on failure. Anyone who has ever worked in corporate America has probably gone through some kind of training in goal-setting and achievement. I went through various iterations of this kind of training when I worked for a certain cable company, and one thing that stuck with me was the concept of SMART goals.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable Realistic Timely
From the above website:
Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:
*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."
Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Attainable - When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
T can also stand for Tangible - A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
(emphasis mine)
I believed that this war was doomed to failure from the start, based on the ever changing reasons presented for why we had to go into Iraq in the first place. Now the Republican party is saying that any end to this war is failure. Well, that is what they are saying, but it's easy to see what they are really saying: we are going to stay in Iraq until a Democrat is in the White House - they can leave, and we can paint that as a failure, and that will help us win back Congress and the White House.
I think this gives us - the people who want our soldiers to come home - a real timetable for when we have to end the deadly folly of the Iraq War. We need this to happen before November 2008.
One of the supposed benefits of Bush as president (I knew it was bullshit, and so did you) was that he had experience in the business world. Let's set aside, for the moment, that his experience was heavy on failure. Anyone who has ever worked in corporate America has probably gone through some kind of training in goal-setting and achievement. I went through various iterations of this kind of training when I worked for a certain cable company, and one thing that stuck with me was the concept of SMART goals.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable Realistic Timely
From the above website:
*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."
Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Attainable - When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
T can also stand for Tangible - A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
I believed that this war was doomed to failure from the start, based on the ever changing reasons presented for why we had to go into Iraq in the first place. Now the Republican party is saying that any end to this war is failure. Well, that is what they are saying, but it's easy to see what they are really saying: we are going to stay in Iraq until a Democrat is in the White House - they can leave, and we can paint that as a failure, and that will help us win back Congress and the White House.
I think this gives us - the people who want our soldiers to come home - a real timetable for when we have to end the deadly folly of the Iraq War. We need this to happen before November 2008.
4/24/2007
Committed
Well, our deposit is in the mail, so we are now committed to WPI, and just like that, I'm $13,000 in debt!
If anyone has any ideas of how to make $13,000 quickly and legally, I'm all ears.
If anyone has any ideas of how to make $13,000 quickly and legally, I'm all ears.
4/23/2007
4/18/2007
Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover
The other thing I've been doing instead of writing my blog is watching TV. Lots and lots of TV. It asked so little of me while my eyes were leaking mucus and I could hardly stand to swallow - I just had to press a button.
Drive - when I heard about the premise of this show, I believe my exact reaction was "some people will watch anything, won't they?" And then I found out Nathan Fillion was going to be on it, and I decided I would be one of those people.
This picture is not from Drive, this is Nathan as a Jedi Chef
Nathan (of the late and much lamented Firefly and the kickass Serenity) plays a Nebraskan landscaper named Alex Tully who is forced into an illegal cross country road race by some people who kidnapped his wife. In the first three episodes, though, we find out that Tully is not just a landscaper, he also used to race semi-professionally, which makes me think he has a better chance of winning the illegal cross country road race than some of his competitors: Wendy Petrakis, a recent mother and abused wife and possibly crazy person played by Melanie Lynskey (excellent in Heavenly Creatures); a soldier who is unknowingly AWOL from his unit because his annoying and childish but hot wife deleted messages from his CO; a pair of half brothers, one a recently released felon, the other a preppy pretty boy, who just met and have some kingpin father; a girl who is not Lindsay Lohan before she got skinny and blonde and her father who is dying (played by the awesome Dylan Baker); a trio of women who survived Katrina...those are all the teams I can remember.
Anyway, the show is fairly mindless, but I was excited that Tully's kidnapped wife was played by Amy Acker who played Fred on Angel, and the detective who is investigating Mrs. Tully's disappearance is Richard Brooks, who played Jubal Early on the last aired episode of Firefly, Objects In Space (and in a sweet nod to Firefly fans, his name on Drive is Det. Ehrli). I'll keep watching anything Nathan Fillion is in.
Scrubs - I rarely caught Scrubs in its early seasons because it kept moving around, but it's in syndication now so it's on all the freaking time. It's amusing and surreal sometimes fairly serious, it has some pretty great music, and it has the adorable Donald Faison - I'm all about the Brown Bear, forget nebbishy Zach Braff. It's not my favorite show, but it beats doing dishes.
House - I really hate the format of the show. Patient has weird problem, House and his team try a bunch of things that make the patient worse, they try something that temporarily makes the patient better but ultimately makes them worse, the team tells House he's going to kill the patient, the patient is doomed, then House talks to someone who makes his brain light up, and patient is cured! However, it rises above the format because of Hugh Laurie, who is just several hundred kinds of awesome. I think I watched about 4 episodes of House in the past week, and I think they were from 2 or 3 different seasons, but the one that was on an airplane was kind of fun because of AirChase, AirForeman and AirCameron House bounced his ideas off of.
Amazing Race - I was pleased that my favorite team, Danny & Oswald, came in first on the most recent leg, which was in Hong Kong and featured ninjas, automobile stunts, and kicking down doors. If they don't win, I'm rooting for Dustin & Kandace. I find Danielle and Eric to be obnoxious, and I loathe Mirna more than I can fully articulate, so I don't want her and Charla to win.
30 Rock - it's the funniest show on TV right now. Alex Baldwin as Thomas Jefferson as imagined by crazy Tracey Morgan? Will Arnett from Arrested Development in a very short robe? Avian bone syndrome? As Gob would say, "come on!"
Drive - when I heard about the premise of this show, I believe my exact reaction was "some people will watch anything, won't they?" And then I found out Nathan Fillion was going to be on it, and I decided I would be one of those people.
This picture is not from Drive, this is Nathan as a Jedi ChefNathan (of the late and much lamented Firefly and the kickass Serenity) plays a Nebraskan landscaper named Alex Tully who is forced into an illegal cross country road race by some people who kidnapped his wife. In the first three episodes, though, we find out that Tully is not just a landscaper, he also used to race semi-professionally, which makes me think he has a better chance of winning the illegal cross country road race than some of his competitors: Wendy Petrakis, a recent mother and abused wife and possibly crazy person played by Melanie Lynskey (excellent in Heavenly Creatures); a soldier who is unknowingly AWOL from his unit because his annoying and childish but hot wife deleted messages from his CO; a pair of half brothers, one a recently released felon, the other a preppy pretty boy, who just met and have some kingpin father; a girl who is not Lindsay Lohan before she got skinny and blonde and her father who is dying (played by the awesome Dylan Baker); a trio of women who survived Katrina...those are all the teams I can remember.
Anyway, the show is fairly mindless, but I was excited that Tully's kidnapped wife was played by Amy Acker who played Fred on Angel, and the detective who is investigating Mrs. Tully's disappearance is Richard Brooks, who played Jubal Early on the last aired episode of Firefly, Objects In Space (and in a sweet nod to Firefly fans, his name on Drive is Det. Ehrli). I'll keep watching anything Nathan Fillion is in.
Scrubs - I rarely caught Scrubs in its early seasons because it kept moving around, but it's in syndication now so it's on all the freaking time. It's amusing and surreal sometimes fairly serious, it has some pretty great music, and it has the adorable Donald Faison - I'm all about the Brown Bear, forget nebbishy Zach Braff. It's not my favorite show, but it beats doing dishes.
House - I really hate the format of the show. Patient has weird problem, House and his team try a bunch of things that make the patient worse, they try something that temporarily makes the patient better but ultimately makes them worse, the team tells House he's going to kill the patient, the patient is doomed, then House talks to someone who makes his brain light up, and patient is cured! However, it rises above the format because of Hugh Laurie, who is just several hundred kinds of awesome. I think I watched about 4 episodes of House in the past week, and I think they were from 2 or 3 different seasons, but the one that was on an airplane was kind of fun because of AirChase, AirForeman and AirCameron House bounced his ideas off of.
Amazing Race - I was pleased that my favorite team, Danny & Oswald, came in first on the most recent leg, which was in Hong Kong and featured ninjas, automobile stunts, and kicking down doors. If they don't win, I'm rooting for Dustin & Kandace. I find Danielle and Eric to be obnoxious, and I loathe Mirna more than I can fully articulate, so I don't want her and Charla to win.
30 Rock - it's the funniest show on TV right now. Alex Baldwin as Thomas Jefferson as imagined by crazy Tracey Morgan? Will Arnett from Arrested Development in a very short robe? Avian bone syndrome? As Gob would say, "come on!"
what's up with us
I'm sure my tens of readers have noticed a paucity of posts lately. Aside from the plague of conjunctivitis that swept through our house, followed by the whole swollen uvula/glands/tonsils/sore throat that evolved into upper respiratory yuckiness and clogged ear ducts, and aside from the fact that the world is terrible place in so many ways (Virginia Tech, Iraq, Supreme Court), and aside from the fact that I did our taxes back in February but I neglected to submit them until Saturday, we're also more than halfway through the month in which Sio must choose a college.
A visit on Saturday sealed the deal for Sio: she is planning to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute, my favorite of the colleges we visited together. I am very excited and nervous, excited because I can vicariously experience the whole going off to college thing - buying stuff for a dorm room, moving in; nervous because we have not yet received their financial aid package so I don't know how much money it's going to cost us.
I'm so proud of her.
A visit on Saturday sealed the deal for Sio: she is planning to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute, my favorite of the colleges we visited together. I am very excited and nervous, excited because I can vicariously experience the whole going off to college thing - buying stuff for a dorm room, moving in; nervous because we have not yet received their financial aid package so I don't know how much money it's going to cost us.
I'm so proud of her.
What Digby Said
I bet my blog would be even better if I just posted a daily post called What Digby Said.
4/13/2007
Sick
Between a nasty bout of conjunctivitis and a viral infection that has caused my tonsils and uvula to swell and the filling of my sinus cavities with fluid, I haven't been very functional for the past couple of days. I was in marginally good health on Wednesday, when Sio and I visited a college in NY, but Thursday morning, I couldn't open my eyes because they were swollen shut and kind of crusty.
Today, my eyes are still very pink and watery, but not as goopy gross as they were yesterday, my throat doesn't seem to be any better, and I've added a cough and a weird ear thing.
Today, my eyes are still very pink and watery, but not as goopy gross as they were yesterday, my throat doesn't seem to be any better, and I've added a cough and a weird ear thing.
4/10/2007
1. How tall are you barefoot?
Not quite 5'2"
2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
No
3. Do you own a gun?
Only of the water variety
4. Who's your best friend?
my sisters and my sister-in-law
5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?
Yes, although parents usually love me
6. What music are you embarrassed to admit that you listen to?
I'm slightly embarrassed when I find myself enjoying rap or hip hop, if only because I'm in my late 30s and white and I suspect people would think that I was just being a poseur. But I love me some Missy Elliot.
7. What's your favourite Christmas song?
What Sweeter Music by John Rutter - saccharine sweet, but lovely to sing
Still, Still, Still
The Christmas Song - as performed by Mel Torme
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee.
9. Can you do push-ups?
Probably not anymore
10. Why does one question always disappear?
Que?
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
I don't wear any jewelry, I find it annoying, although I admire it on others.
12. Do you like painkillers?
My kingdom for a Vicodin script with multiple refills
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I don't have one, and most members of the opposite sex tend to think of me as one of the guys
14. Do you own a knife?
Several
15. Do you have A.D.D.?
No
16. Middle Name?
don't have one
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
I'm tired, I would like to go home, is Sio okay?
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought:
coffee, bagel, gasoline
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
coffee, water, ice tea
20. What time did you wake up today?
7:30 a.m.
22. Current worry?
My eldest child and online boyfriends, college, paying for college
23. Current hate?
being sick
24. Favourite place to be?
on the beach
25. Least favourite place to be?
work
26. Where would you like to go?
Paris, bed
27. Do you own slippers?
Yes, they are blue and made of felted wool
28. What shirt are you wearing?
black sweater
29. Do you burn or tan?
Burn baby burn
30. Favorite colour(s)?
blue, green, purple
31. Would you be a pirate?
If i could be a nice pirate, yes
32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink?
February, at Tart's
33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Whatever pops into my head. This morning, it was "Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem", which I sang on Easter Sunday
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
The scary tree outside, my father
35. What's in your pockets right now?
no pockets...although in my coat pocket are gloves and sunglasses and keys
36. Last thing that made you laugh?
30 Rock - Alec Baldwin as Thomas Jefferson giving the Maury audience the double bird
37. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
I don't remember
38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I was born with congenital hip displaysia, which caused me to have a slipped ephiphesis and serious degenerative joint disease/osteoarthritis
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
one
41. Who is your loudest friend?
Leslie. She won't be offended
42. Who is your most silent friend?
Giovanna, Lorraine, only because they never call me back
43. Does someone have a crush on you?
No, and I don't think anyone's ever had a crush on me in my entire life
44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Yes
45. What is your favourite book?
Too many to list
46. What is your favorite candy?
Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars
47. What song do you want played at your wedding?
If I got married again, I think I would want some Debussey, Ravel, Liszt
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
I'd like to have my favorite songs played at my funeral. Or possibly a karaoke DJ.
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Sleeping.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?
Weird dream
Not quite 5'2"
2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
No
3. Do you own a gun?
Only of the water variety
4. Who's your best friend?
my sisters and my sister-in-law
5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?
Yes, although parents usually love me
6. What music are you embarrassed to admit that you listen to?
I'm slightly embarrassed when I find myself enjoying rap or hip hop, if only because I'm in my late 30s and white and I suspect people would think that I was just being a poseur. But I love me some Missy Elliot.
7. What's your favourite Christmas song?
What Sweeter Music by John Rutter - saccharine sweet, but lovely to sing
Still, Still, Still
The Christmas Song - as performed by Mel Torme
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee.
9. Can you do push-ups?
Probably not anymore
10. Why does one question always disappear?
Que?
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
I don't wear any jewelry, I find it annoying, although I admire it on others.
12. Do you like painkillers?
My kingdom for a Vicodin script with multiple refills
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I don't have one, and most members of the opposite sex tend to think of me as one of the guys
14. Do you own a knife?
Several
15. Do you have A.D.D.?
No
16. Middle Name?
don't have one
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
I'm tired, I would like to go home, is Sio okay?
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought:
coffee, bagel, gasoline
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
coffee, water, ice tea
20. What time did you wake up today?
7:30 a.m.
22. Current worry?
My eldest child and online boyfriends, college, paying for college
23. Current hate?
being sick
24. Favourite place to be?
on the beach
25. Least favourite place to be?
work
26. Where would you like to go?
Paris, bed
27. Do you own slippers?
Yes, they are blue and made of felted wool
28. What shirt are you wearing?
black sweater
29. Do you burn or tan?
Burn baby burn
30. Favorite colour(s)?
blue, green, purple
31. Would you be a pirate?
If i could be a nice pirate, yes
32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink?
February, at Tart's
33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Whatever pops into my head. This morning, it was "Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem", which I sang on Easter Sunday
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
The scary tree outside, my father
35. What's in your pockets right now?
no pockets...although in my coat pocket are gloves and sunglasses and keys
36. Last thing that made you laugh?
30 Rock - Alec Baldwin as Thomas Jefferson giving the Maury audience the double bird
37. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
I don't remember
38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I was born with congenital hip displaysia, which caused me to have a slipped ephiphesis and serious degenerative joint disease/osteoarthritis
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
one
41. Who is your loudest friend?
Leslie. She won't be offended
42. Who is your most silent friend?
Giovanna, Lorraine, only because they never call me back
43. Does someone have a crush on you?
No, and I don't think anyone's ever had a crush on me in my entire life
44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Yes
45. What is your favourite book?
Too many to list
46. What is your favorite candy?
Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars
47. What song do you want played at your wedding?
If I got married again, I think I would want some Debussey, Ravel, Liszt
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
I'd like to have my favorite songs played at my funeral. Or possibly a karaoke DJ.
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Sleeping.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?
Weird dream
4/04/2007
4/02/2007
5633
Edgar was filmed, but ultimately cut from the "Raise Your Hand If You're Sure" ad campaign after a focus group said it just wasn't believeable.
One of these things is not like the others....
Tags: Sports, Illinois, Christian, Paintball.
Christian paintball?
Tags: Rock, Punk, Bowling
Punk Bowling?
4/01/2007
One Week
One week from today, I will once again allow myself to ingest sugar. It's been fairly interesting, being sugar free. I've learned a few things.
1. My moods are much more even sans sucre.
2. Every baked good on the planet contains sugar, and the ones that don't are kind of disgusting.
3. I am much better at resisting temptation than I expected I would be.
This was a good Lent for me. I enjoyed sticking to my guns and turning down anything with sugar. This is good, because the next thing I must embark upon (again) is a weight loss program. I have to lose a fairly significant amount of weight before my orthopedist will replace my hip, and I'm ready to say goodbye to the chronic pain of severe osteoarthritis, even if it won't be permanent.
I've done Weight Watchers before, with good success, but I think I'm going to try something a little different this time. The problem with me and Weight Watchers is that you really can eat everything you would ordinarily eat, just less of it. This is fine for most people, but I'm a compulsive overeater, so I can't really allow myself that kind of freedom.
So I am going to use a recommended daily guideline for people who would like to lose weight. This involves a daily consumption of 2000 calories, 50 grams of protein, less than 65 grams of fat, less than 20 grams of saturated fat, 300 grams of carbohydrates, 25-35 grams of fiber, 300 mg of cholesterol, 18 mg of iron, 2300 mg or less of sodium, and 1000 mg of calcium.
I'll also have to add exercise. I like weight lifting, and when summer's here, I'll be swimming pretty much every day. I may try some yoga, too, since it would be good to increase my limited flexibility. Unfortunately, the kinds of exercises that really burn calories are the same exercises that leave me in exquisite amounts of pain - running, extensive brisk walking, aerobics.
Before I start this, though, I'm going to take a day or two to enjoy the things I've sacrificed in the past 33 days - a really good cup of coffee, a piece of cake, some real ice cream. And I'll probably want to have a lot of cheese before I try to lose weight.
1. My moods are much more even sans sucre.
2. Every baked good on the planet contains sugar, and the ones that don't are kind of disgusting.
3. I am much better at resisting temptation than I expected I would be.
This was a good Lent for me. I enjoyed sticking to my guns and turning down anything with sugar. This is good, because the next thing I must embark upon (again) is a weight loss program. I have to lose a fairly significant amount of weight before my orthopedist will replace my hip, and I'm ready to say goodbye to the chronic pain of severe osteoarthritis, even if it won't be permanent.
I've done Weight Watchers before, with good success, but I think I'm going to try something a little different this time. The problem with me and Weight Watchers is that you really can eat everything you would ordinarily eat, just less of it. This is fine for most people, but I'm a compulsive overeater, so I can't really allow myself that kind of freedom.
So I am going to use a recommended daily guideline for people who would like to lose weight. This involves a daily consumption of 2000 calories, 50 grams of protein, less than 65 grams of fat, less than 20 grams of saturated fat, 300 grams of carbohydrates, 25-35 grams of fiber, 300 mg of cholesterol, 18 mg of iron, 2300 mg or less of sodium, and 1000 mg of calcium.
I'll also have to add exercise. I like weight lifting, and when summer's here, I'll be swimming pretty much every day. I may try some yoga, too, since it would be good to increase my limited flexibility. Unfortunately, the kinds of exercises that really burn calories are the same exercises that leave me in exquisite amounts of pain - running, extensive brisk walking, aerobics.
Before I start this, though, I'm going to take a day or two to enjoy the things I've sacrificed in the past 33 days - a really good cup of coffee, a piece of cake, some real ice cream. And I'll probably want to have a lot of cheese before I try to lose weight.
3/30/2007
Monkey Sings
The tempo gets more and more dirge-like as she goes along, and she has a pretty bad cold, but she does a good job with an a capella rendition of this song by the Canadian band The Duhks.
3/28/2007
A brief post about politics
I haven't commented on politics in a while - chalk it up to outrage fatigue - but now that the Democrats have Congress, it looks like Congressional oversight (those little checks and balances we learned about in school - or in between Saturday morning cartoons if you are a member of my generation) is at long last back in place. I'm not getting too excited yet that anyone is going down (although surely Alberto Gonzalez can't hang in there for much longer), but I'm going to buy some popcorn the next time I go to the grocery store, in case I need something to snack on while things get entertaining.*
*entertaining in the sense of some people finally getting their comeuppance - I weep inside for the damage this country has taken from the Bush administration.
*entertaining in the sense of some people finally getting their comeuppance - I weep inside for the damage this country has taken from the Bush administration.
Early Wednesday Morning Pet Blogging
This is the Lord of the Manor, Casimir, aka Caz. He is very attached to Loki, it is rare to find Loki without Caz. He is also protective of the whole family - when I take Cugel for a walk, Caz comes with us.
This is Cugel, aka Stinky. The camera makes him nervous/excited, so he is difficult to photograph. I tried to get a an overhead shot of him in full Basset (completely flat against the floor, ears stretched out to the sides, back legs kicked out behind him), but as soon as I turned the camera on, he got up so he could smell it.
This is Madouc, aka Madoucaloo. She used to be aloof and bitey, but Loki is the cat whisperer, and he brought out her inner flirt. Madouc likes to relax.
She also loves cars. One time, I saw her jump out of the back of a pick-up truck that had been parked on our street but was leaving. In fact, we got her when she was a 3 week old kitten, she had traveled from Union CT to Manchester CT in the wheel well of a truck. You should be able to see Caz through the glass - this is the closest, physically, they have ever been to each other. Caz hates sharing his people with interloper Madouc.
3/25/2007
6236
This week in Random Flickr Blogging: People who are not like me
Exhibit A: I am not a Nascar loving person
Exhibit B: I am not an Xtreme sports type of person:
Exhibit C: I am not a Teletubby, Xena the Warrior Princess, or that Green lizard looking dude:
Exhibit A: I am not a Nascar loving person
Exhibit B: I am not an Xtreme sports type of person:
Exhibit C: I am not a Teletubby, Xena the Warrior Princess, or that Green lizard looking dude:
Freaky-ass cartoons
This morning, I was waiting for Sio to get ready so we could run some errands, and I sat down with Monkey to watch Saturday morning cartoons while we were waiting.
I wasn't paying much attention at first - the show she was watching had a bunch of kids sitting in these big office chairs talking about rescuing someone from the government, and then, it got freaky deaky:
I was going to say that we didn't have such weird cartoons when I was a kid, but when I think back...we just didn't have such interesting animation to go with our strange cartoons. And then I saw the credits and realized that this show is Executive Produced and stars Andre 3000 from OutKast, and suddenly, it all made sense.
I wasn't paying much attention at first - the show she was watching had a bunch of kids sitting in these big office chairs talking about rescuing someone from the government, and then, it got freaky deaky:
I was going to say that we didn't have such weird cartoons when I was a kid, but when I think back...we just didn't have such interesting animation to go with our strange cartoons. And then I saw the credits and realized that this show is Executive Produced and stars Andre 3000 from OutKast, and suddenly, it all made sense.
3/24/2007
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
We have digital cable, which gives us this great online guide, and sometimes, I go to a channel that offers a lot of interesting programming and look ahead to see what's coming up, and I record anything that sounds vaguly interesting. That's how I opened up my DVR list last night to find this movie.
Tom Dowd's biography is, by itself, incredible. He worked on the Manhattan Project from the time he was 16 until he was 20. He worked at the tests of the atom bomb in Bikini Atoll. But after that, he took his energy and ability into the music industry.
He worked as a recording engineer for Atlantic Records, and his name can be found on the back of records by Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Book T & The MGs, The Allman Brothers Band, Cream, Bobby Darin and Lynard Skynard, among others. What I got from the movie is that his real genius was about getting the best sound possible from each individual artist he worked with. Artists who spoke about him for this documentary mentioned how he coached them, how he was able to take their ideas and help them make it better, and how no one ever felt criticized or belittled by him. One of my favorite moments was when Ray Charles (sexy as hell, even as an older man) was talking about Dowd and Dowd came into the room - the genuine affection between the men was palpable.
Aside from that, Dowd pioneered a lot of technical advances - from recording in mono to recording in stereo to recording on 8 tracks to modern recording equipment. Another moment in the movie that stands out is a clip of Dowd playing with the tracks from the recording of "Layla" - he was giggling with delight as he brought the tracks together.
I have never given much thought to how music gets from the brain of a musician onto a disc of some kind of material that I can play on some kind of machine. I like to sing and learn new music, but I'm not really a musician - I'm a singer, I interpret music that someone else has created. I've always been sort of mystified and awed by people who make music - I've tried to write a song before, and I can't - and this opened up a whole other avenue of interest for me.
Tom Dowd's biography is, by itself, incredible. He worked on the Manhattan Project from the time he was 16 until he was 20. He worked at the tests of the atom bomb in Bikini Atoll. But after that, he took his energy and ability into the music industry.
He worked as a recording engineer for Atlantic Records, and his name can be found on the back of records by Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Book T & The MGs, The Allman Brothers Band, Cream, Bobby Darin and Lynard Skynard, among others. What I got from the movie is that his real genius was about getting the best sound possible from each individual artist he worked with. Artists who spoke about him for this documentary mentioned how he coached them, how he was able to take their ideas and help them make it better, and how no one ever felt criticized or belittled by him. One of my favorite moments was when Ray Charles (sexy as hell, even as an older man) was talking about Dowd and Dowd came into the room - the genuine affection between the men was palpable.
Aside from that, Dowd pioneered a lot of technical advances - from recording in mono to recording in stereo to recording on 8 tracks to modern recording equipment. Another moment in the movie that stands out is a clip of Dowd playing with the tracks from the recording of "Layla" - he was giggling with delight as he brought the tracks together.
I have never given much thought to how music gets from the brain of a musician onto a disc of some kind of material that I can play on some kind of machine. I like to sing and learn new music, but I'm not really a musician - I'm a singer, I interpret music that someone else has created. I've always been sort of mystified and awed by people who make music - I've tried to write a song before, and I can't - and this opened up a whole other avenue of interest for me.
3/22/2007
Brief Reviews of Movies I've Seen or Re-seen, Recently
1. The Holiday - I watched this with my SIL last weekend. The story is that Kate Winslet finds out that the man she has loved for a long time (Rufus Sewell) is marrying someone else. She decides to take a vacation far away and lists her house on a Home Exchange site. Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz has just broken up with her boyfriend (played by Ed Burns) because he cheated on her, and there is some silliness around the fact that she cannot cry, poor dear. Kate and Cameron exchange houses, and Kate is delighted with Cameron's California house, but Cameron is the quintessential ugly American and gets bored after about 12 hours in the English countryside.
If they had cut out the whole Cameron Diaz side of the movie and expanded the Kate Winslet side of the movie, it would have been at least 50% better. Cameron Diaz was terrible. Jack Black was okay, but I have liked him for a long time (I think I have terrible taste in men sometimes), and he came off as a little smarmier than he usually does. Kate Winslet is a woman I would totally renounce all men for, she was divine and delightful, as always. Jude Law was quite good, he definitely improves appearance wise when he wears glasses, and he was very sympathetic as a widower, but, of course, he would be, wouldn't he?
I don't really recommend the movie to anyone but diehard romantic comedy fans, or people who enjoy really bad acting by ostensibly attractive women (i.e., Cameron Diaz). Or rent it cheap and fast forward through any scene that doesn't involve Kate Winslet.
2. Four Weddings and A Funeral - you know the story, Charles (Hugh Grant) keeps getting invited to weddings and meets an American woman, Carrie (Andie MacDowell, outclassed at every moment), who he falls inexplicably in love with, and then she gets married and Simon Callow (not Cowell, sheesh) dies and Charles tries to marry to forget about his inexplicable love for Carrie, but he can't go through with it, so he and Carrie agree to not marry.
Okay, I will never understand why Charles falls in love with Carrie. Andie MacDowell is just there, all the lines sound like they were written for someone else to say, someone British, actually, and she has no special spark or wit or anything. This is sort of an ongoing problem I have with Andie MacDowell, which is that she seemed to always get cast as the romantic female lead, but there is something positively matronly about her. Not her appearance, but her - she seems like an old fussy woman somehow. I'm probably reading far too much into it.
The funeral always makes me cry - usually, I get all the way to when Matt (John Hannah) speaks at the funeral to start crying, but on this viewing, I started crying as soon as they cut to the funeral scene and I heard the music.
The first time I watched this movie, I was absolutely charmed by Hugh Grant, but the most recent time I watched it, I kind of fell for dorky Tom, played by James Fleet. And I was very sad to find that Charlotte Coleman, who I had a little crush on ever since I saw her in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, passed away in 2001 after an asthma attack.
3. Running With Scissors - I loved Augusten Burroughs memoir about his twisted childhood, and I was really looking forward to this movie, but it got terrible reviews, so I decided to wait for it to come out on DVD. And the movie was not good. But not good in a kind of weird way. The actors were all good...Annette Bening as Burroughs narcissistic mother was overacted, but not bad, Alec Baldwin can do no wrong in my book, Joseph Cross who played Augusten was terrific, etc. And yet.
The story in brief is that Augusten Burroughs is the child of a professor and a poet. His father the professor is a distant alcoholic. His mother is a narcissistic nutso. When his parents divorce, Burroughs lives for a time with his mother, who signs guardianship of Augusten over to her completely insane psychiatrist, Dr. Finch. Dr. Finch has a few children of his own, plus he has adopted a pedophile, Neil Bookman, who becomes Augusten's first boyfriend, and Augusten.
The Finch family is certifiable. They make decisions on everyday things by Bible dipping - opening the Bible to a random page and interpreting what they should do based on the word their finger lands on. Dr. Finch interprets his bowel movements as messages from God, and scoops them out of the toilet to go on a shrine in the backyard. The children are free to do whatever they want. When Augusten says he doesn't want to go to school, Dr. Finch encourages Augusten to attempt suicide so he can write a note saying that it would be bad for Augusten's mental health to go to school. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
I have two quarrels with this movie. The first is that a lot of the humor was sucked out. The second is that they made Augusten a much deeper character then he was in th book - in fact, I think one of the reasons Augusten survived his childhood was *because* he was shallow - he didn't have the sensitivity to let it ruin him completely. Although he did become a raging alcoholic, so I may be off base about that. Not so much a quarrel, but I was irked by the way they made the wife of Dr. Finch a substitute mother, which didn't happen in the book - she was just a strange, kibble-eating martyr in the book.
Love the book, and recommend it - skip the movie.
4. Muriel's Wedding - I love this movie. Rachel Griffith looks hot dressed as the dark haired woman from Abba, and the scene where Muriel's husband-of-convenience and Muriel make love after her mother's funeral is very romantic. Toni Collette is a terrific actress as Muriel goes from being pathetic to sympathetic. I'm keeping this on my DVR.
If they had cut out the whole Cameron Diaz side of the movie and expanded the Kate Winslet side of the movie, it would have been at least 50% better. Cameron Diaz was terrible. Jack Black was okay, but I have liked him for a long time (I think I have terrible taste in men sometimes), and he came off as a little smarmier than he usually does. Kate Winslet is a woman I would totally renounce all men for, she was divine and delightful, as always. Jude Law was quite good, he definitely improves appearance wise when he wears glasses, and he was very sympathetic as a widower, but, of course, he would be, wouldn't he?
I don't really recommend the movie to anyone but diehard romantic comedy fans, or people who enjoy really bad acting by ostensibly attractive women (i.e., Cameron Diaz). Or rent it cheap and fast forward through any scene that doesn't involve Kate Winslet.
2. Four Weddings and A Funeral - you know the story, Charles (Hugh Grant) keeps getting invited to weddings and meets an American woman, Carrie (Andie MacDowell, outclassed at every moment), who he falls inexplicably in love with, and then she gets married and Simon Callow (not Cowell, sheesh) dies and Charles tries to marry to forget about his inexplicable love for Carrie, but he can't go through with it, so he and Carrie agree to not marry.
Okay, I will never understand why Charles falls in love with Carrie. Andie MacDowell is just there, all the lines sound like they were written for someone else to say, someone British, actually, and she has no special spark or wit or anything. This is sort of an ongoing problem I have with Andie MacDowell, which is that she seemed to always get cast as the romantic female lead, but there is something positively matronly about her. Not her appearance, but her - she seems like an old fussy woman somehow. I'm probably reading far too much into it.
The funeral always makes me cry - usually, I get all the way to when Matt (John Hannah) speaks at the funeral to start crying, but on this viewing, I started crying as soon as they cut to the funeral scene and I heard the music.
The first time I watched this movie, I was absolutely charmed by Hugh Grant, but the most recent time I watched it, I kind of fell for dorky Tom, played by James Fleet. And I was very sad to find that Charlotte Coleman, who I had a little crush on ever since I saw her in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, passed away in 2001 after an asthma attack.
3. Running With Scissors - I loved Augusten Burroughs memoir about his twisted childhood, and I was really looking forward to this movie, but it got terrible reviews, so I decided to wait for it to come out on DVD. And the movie was not good. But not good in a kind of weird way. The actors were all good...Annette Bening as Burroughs narcissistic mother was overacted, but not bad, Alec Baldwin can do no wrong in my book, Joseph Cross who played Augusten was terrific, etc. And yet.
The story in brief is that Augusten Burroughs is the child of a professor and a poet. His father the professor is a distant alcoholic. His mother is a narcissistic nutso. When his parents divorce, Burroughs lives for a time with his mother, who signs guardianship of Augusten over to her completely insane psychiatrist, Dr. Finch. Dr. Finch has a few children of his own, plus he has adopted a pedophile, Neil Bookman, who becomes Augusten's first boyfriend, and Augusten.
The Finch family is certifiable. They make decisions on everyday things by Bible dipping - opening the Bible to a random page and interpreting what they should do based on the word their finger lands on. Dr. Finch interprets his bowel movements as messages from God, and scoops them out of the toilet to go on a shrine in the backyard. The children are free to do whatever they want. When Augusten says he doesn't want to go to school, Dr. Finch encourages Augusten to attempt suicide so he can write a note saying that it would be bad for Augusten's mental health to go to school. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
I have two quarrels with this movie. The first is that a lot of the humor was sucked out. The second is that they made Augusten a much deeper character then he was in th book - in fact, I think one of the reasons Augusten survived his childhood was *because* he was shallow - he didn't have the sensitivity to let it ruin him completely. Although he did become a raging alcoholic, so I may be off base about that. Not so much a quarrel, but I was irked by the way they made the wife of Dr. Finch a substitute mother, which didn't happen in the book - she was just a strange, kibble-eating martyr in the book.
Love the book, and recommend it - skip the movie.
4. Muriel's Wedding - I love this movie. Rachel Griffith looks hot dressed as the dark haired woman from Abba, and the scene where Muriel's husband-of-convenience and Muriel make love after her mother's funeral is very romantic. Toni Collette is a terrific actress as Muriel goes from being pathetic to sympathetic. I'm keeping this on my DVR.
3/21/2007
First Day of Spring
Since it's the first day of spring, I wanted to capture a picture of spring in New England. You can't quite see the big cat sunning himself on the front step, but you can see how desperately my yard requires the services of a landscaper. Those evergreens to the right of the door (as you are looking at it) need to go. And there is a rhododendron to the left of the door (as you are looking at it), and I think I've nearly killed it with my attempts to prune it, so maybe we should pull that one and plant something else instead.
Anyway, this is our house. It used to be army green, but I wanted something more cheerful, and so we painted it yellow, with white trim and plum shutters. Everyone tried to talk me out of the yellow/plum combo, but I still like it.
3/19/2007
Finally!
My mother was never the kind of mom who baked cookies or had a special meal that we remembered fondly.* But we knew another Irish family whose mom made the best Irish soda bread I ever had. I just remember the bread had this wonderful clean taste.
Since we didn't have any family recipes to pass down, I've tried a lot of recipes over the years, but until tonight, I never found a recipe that had that clean taste of Mrs. Joyce's Irish soda bread.
Recipe
*There are a number of meals that we remember not-so-fondly - the overcooked flounder on Fridays....we were always thrilled when my mother made fishsticks instead of actual fish. The boiled chicken - yes, you read that right - boiled effing chicken, taking an already bland meat and blanding the fuck out of it. The cabbage, oh mercy, the cabbage, those watery, nearly translucent leaves that stank to high heaven. Any beef was cooked well past done, potatoes would often be slightly undercooked and still hard in the middle, and all vegetables were boiled till every last bit of nutrition was gone.
Since we didn't have any family recipes to pass down, I've tried a lot of recipes over the years, but until tonight, I never found a recipe that had that clean taste of Mrs. Joyce's Irish soda bread.
Recipe
*There are a number of meals that we remember not-so-fondly - the overcooked flounder on Fridays....we were always thrilled when my mother made fishsticks instead of actual fish. The boiled chicken - yes, you read that right - boiled effing chicken, taking an already bland meat and blanding the fuck out of it. The cabbage, oh mercy, the cabbage, those watery, nearly translucent leaves that stank to high heaven. Any beef was cooked well past done, potatoes would often be slightly undercooked and still hard in the middle, and all vegetables were boiled till every last bit of nutrition was gone.
3/17/2007
More Irish Music for St. Paddy's Day
Here are a couple from a band that originates from my father's hometown of Tuam, Co. Galway - The Saw Doctors
Nice images from Erin in this video.
Here's a Saw Doctors tune that is a little more lively - I'd Love To Kiss The Bangles
Here's a band with a changing roster that plays in the Northeast fairly often, Cherish the Ladies
A piece on the Irish harp played by Michelle Mulcahy, and some lovely Gaelic.
Very nice old style singing:
John Doherty's Reels performed by Altan (Toast, this is another good band for traditional Irish music)
Nice images from Erin in this video.
Here's a Saw Doctors tune that is a little more lively - I'd Love To Kiss The Bangles
Here's a band with a changing roster that plays in the Northeast fairly often, Cherish the Ladies
A piece on the Irish harp played by Michelle Mulcahy, and some lovely Gaelic.
Very nice old style singing:
John Doherty's Reels performed by Altan (Toast, this is another good band for traditional Irish music)
3/16/2007
Songs from my Childhood
Since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, I find myself feeling nostalgic for the Irish music my parents listened to when I was a kid.
First up - The Wild Rover by The Dubliners:
This was one that, when it came on the jukebox in the Irish club, everyone would join in on the chorus.
This one doesn't really have a video, but it was also a popular choice for the Irish Republicans in the Greater Hartford area in the late 70's:
As was this one by the same group, The Wolfe Tones:
First up - The Wild Rover by The Dubliners:
This was one that, when it came on the jukebox in the Irish club, everyone would join in on the chorus.
This one doesn't really have a video, but it was also a popular choice for the Irish Republicans in the Greater Hartford area in the late 70's:
As was this one by the same group, The Wolfe Tones:
3/14/2007
The Plague, plus What's In The Basement?
I started the day feeling fine - a little tired, maybe, but fine. But as the day has gone on, it is clear that I actually have the plague. My eyes hurt, my throat hurts, every sinus cavity in my head is full of mucus, and I'm starting to get wheezy.
Ugh. I swear, between Monkey and I, it has been neverending illness for the past couple of months.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~***~*
What's In the Basement?
Last week, Loki pointed out that there were wood shavings on the floor of the basement.
"Something is down there," he said, "and I think I know what it is."
"What?" I said.
"It's a rat."
I hadn't been down in the basement since early that morning, but that night, I realized that the dryer was full of my undergarments. I had to go down to the basement or go commando.
I opened the door and clicked on the light and looked down. There it was, a small pile of wood shavings.
"It's a not a rat," I said to myself. "It's probably Madouc." It sounded reasonable to me, Madouc can get destructive at times.
So I'm slowly going down the steps. Right foot down, left foot joins it. Right foot down, left foot joins it. (That's how I go down steps because I don't have enough flexibility in my hip to extend my left leg down to the following step.) I pause again, because....I think I hear something.
"CRASH!"
I turn around and go back up the stairs as fast as I can.
I go to bed that night making sure that none of my blankets are touching the floor.
The next morning, I am calm and rational. If, in fact, there is a rat, we'll just have to get a trap and catch it.
When I got home from work, Loki says, "I know what's in the basement, and it's not a rat."
"What is it?" I ask
"It's a squirrel!" he says. Apparently, Loki opened the door to the basement and caught the little critter trying to scratch a hole through the outside door. Since it was a nice day, he cracked the outside door open and it appears he has left the building.
Ugh. I swear, between Monkey and I, it has been neverending illness for the past couple of months.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~***~*
What's In the Basement?
Last week, Loki pointed out that there were wood shavings on the floor of the basement.
"Something is down there," he said, "and I think I know what it is."
"What?" I said.
"It's a rat."
I hadn't been down in the basement since early that morning, but that night, I realized that the dryer was full of my undergarments. I had to go down to the basement or go commando.
I opened the door and clicked on the light and looked down. There it was, a small pile of wood shavings.
"It's a not a rat," I said to myself. "It's probably Madouc." It sounded reasonable to me, Madouc can get destructive at times.
So I'm slowly going down the steps. Right foot down, left foot joins it. Right foot down, left foot joins it. (That's how I go down steps because I don't have enough flexibility in my hip to extend my left leg down to the following step.) I pause again, because....I think I hear something.
"CRASH!"
I turn around and go back up the stairs as fast as I can.
I go to bed that night making sure that none of my blankets are touching the floor.
The next morning, I am calm and rational. If, in fact, there is a rat, we'll just have to get a trap and catch it.
When I got home from work, Loki says, "I know what's in the basement, and it's not a rat."
"What is it?" I ask
"It's a squirrel!" he says. Apparently, Loki opened the door to the basement and caught the little critter trying to scratch a hole through the outside door. Since it was a nice day, he cracked the outside door open and it appears he has left the building.
3/13/2007
6534
The other day, when I was leaving choir practice, one of our young sopranos ran through a list of names for potential offspring she may or may not have someday. It's kind of a silly exercise, but I've always like naming things, and if I ever have a French Bulldog (as pictured above), I plan to name him or her Die Fliedermaus, and call him or her Flie for short.
I've also decided that my next cat will be named Sparkle Motion - if I catch any of you stealing that name, there will be hell to pay!
3/12/2007
testing embedded videos
If this works, then you are looking at a short snippet of Ben Kweller from the Ben Kweller/Gomez concert I went to last night. This is not my favorite BK song, but it was the only one that offered a clear shot during the performance - I am short and there were many tall men in front of me.
3/11/2007
Belated anniversary to me
Yesterday, completely unnoticed by me, was the third birthday of Laughing Wild. For the year ahead, I promise that I will continue my unfocused, sporadic ways, sometimes posting about politics, sometimes posting about my kids, sometimes posting about music, sometimes just putting up one-line posts linking to one of the many bloggers who is a better writer than I am.
Arguably worse
A week or so, Toast had a post up about some fucked up shit involving a guy behind Toast at a light who was eating something with a spoon.
Today, I was in my lane at a light, and I glanced over at the car next to me - it was a silver Honda CRV - and there is a round shaped man about 35 at the wheel, flipping through a copy of Playboy Natural Beauties. I watched as he found a page that he found sufficiently appealing, then he put the magazine down in the passenger seat, and I swear to His Noodly Appendage that he reached down and appeared to do something that looked like he was releasing his junk from his pants. I can't say for sure, but his right hand and arm moved downwards and made motions that suggested the undoing of pants was happening.
Today, I was in my lane at a light, and I glanced over at the car next to me - it was a silver Honda CRV - and there is a round shaped man about 35 at the wheel, flipping through a copy of Playboy Natural Beauties. I watched as he found a page that he found sufficiently appealing, then he put the magazine down in the passenger seat, and I swear to His Noodly Appendage that he reached down and appeared to do something that looked like he was releasing his junk from his pants. I can't say for sure, but his right hand and arm moved downwards and made motions that suggested the undoing of pants was happening.
3/08/2007
Restless
If I could just get into my car and pick a direction and drive, I would just keep driving until there were no more roads in front of me. I'm itchy to get away from everyone and everything, and be by myself, just me and a full tank of gas and some good CDs in the player and a wide black ribbon of asphalt ahead.
3/07/2007
Feedback Needed
I'm thinking about writing a memoir, like the books David Sedaris writes. I was telling a story from my youth to someone a couple of weeks ago, and they thought it was a great story and said I should write a book, and so that thought has been percolating in my brain.
Would you read a memoir written by me, with the proviso that I would spend a lot more time writing these stories of my life than I do on any of my blog posts, so they'd probably be a lot better than anything I write here? (Anyone can answer)
Would you read a memoir written by me, with the proviso that I would spend a lot more time writing these stories of my life than I do on any of my blog posts, so they'd probably be a lot better than anything I write here? (Anyone can answer)
3/06/2007
Added to blogroll
Mike's Neighborhood has moved into the Friends and Family section of the blogroll.
3/03/2007
XTreme blogging
Joe Klein wrote a post where he listed what he considers the characteristics of an extremist lefty.
It's the talk of the lefty blogosphere today, and some folks are just answering each item and whether or not they agree with it, but when I read this, and the comments on his thread, it just struck me again how rarely people with opposing political viewpoints listen to each other. I actually think Klein *is* describing an extremist lefty, but he's also describing someone who, statistically speaking, doesn't exist.
And anyone who thinks this is what the garden variety liberal believes has the most simplistic, shallow and ungenerous reading of the general liberal view.
I'm setting aside the whole issue of civility for the moment, because that's really not about what a person believes or what policies they support, but their method of communication, which is secondary in my opinion to the idea that is being communicated (and I know that some people read a swear word and immediately discount the speaker/writer, but I think that attitude is immature, and I think that because when I was an immature teenager, I was very anti-swearing and thought poorly of anyone who casually peppered their speech with vulgarities, but then I grew up and started trying to listen to what people are saying, and not necessarily how they are saying it.)
I have conservative family members, and I trust that they make their arguments in good faith - not because Fox News or George Bush believes it, but because they do. And then I can discuss their beliefs, and try to communicate how and why I believe differently. I have to listen to them, and they have to listen to me, and we have to trust that the one person is operating honestly and not just there to automatically contradict the other. This works well on a one to one basis, and I think it has been successful at bringing out the inner liberal of some of those family members. I distinctly remember having a discussion about abortion with Loki's grandmother before she passed away, and her view was wise and pro-choice - not what one would expect from someone who grew up believing "FDR" was a curse word.
On a large scale, that kind of listening and give and take seems to be mostly impossible. Here we have Klein, ostensibly a moderate/centrist/Democrat, who has clearly internalized the right-wing's bad faith and shallow arguments about what liberals believe. Personally, I'm curious about how he came to believe that this is what liberals think (if, in fact, he isn't weaseling away from that entirely with his "extremist lefty" label), and whether he is willing to listen to the people who are trying to tell him that, no, that's not what they believe. (So far, it looks bad on the latter, with his snarky update about what the readers are saying.)
FWIW, here's my take on his list:
believes the United States is a fundamentally negative force in the world.
Fundamentally, no. I do believe that the United States is just as capable as any other nation of being a negative force in the world, but I don't think it is inherent to the US, I think it has a lot more to do with the policies of the people who are leading the US.
--believes that American imperialism is the primary cause of Islamic radicalism.
And I should add that moderates and conservatives are often dismissive and mocking towards those they view as liberal, on any number of fronts, regardless of whether the liberal is a person of faith. So this is silly to attach to extreme lefties, because everyone on every political side does the same thing. (And that goes for the language, although, IMO, nothing is quite as reprehensible as communicating an abominable idea using genteel and mannered langage - like the Nazis did when coming up with their final solution. No curse words there, just sensible people discussing what to them were sensible solutions.)
believes the United States is a fundamentally negative force in the world.
--believes that American imperialism is the primary cause of Islamic radicalism.
--believes that the decision to go to war in Iraq was not an individual case of monumental stupidity, but a consequence of America’s fundamental imperialistic nature.
--tends to blame America for the failures of others—i.e. the failure of our NATO allies to fulfill their responsibilities in Afghanistan.
--doesn’t believe that capitalism, carefully regulated and progressively taxed, is the best liberal idea in human history.
--believes American society is fundamentally unfair (as opposed to having unfair aspects that need improvement).
--believes that eternal problems like crime and poverty are the primarily the fault of society.
--believes that America isn’t really a democracy.
--believes that corporations are fundamentally evil.
--believes in a corporate conspiracy that controls the world.
--is intolerant of good ideas when they come from conservative sources.
--dismissively mocks people of faith, especially those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage.
--regularly uses harsh, vulgar, intolerant language to attack moderates or conservatives.
It's the talk of the lefty blogosphere today, and some folks are just answering each item and whether or not they agree with it, but when I read this, and the comments on his thread, it just struck me again how rarely people with opposing political viewpoints listen to each other. I actually think Klein *is* describing an extremist lefty, but he's also describing someone who, statistically speaking, doesn't exist.
And anyone who thinks this is what the garden variety liberal believes has the most simplistic, shallow and ungenerous reading of the general liberal view.
I'm setting aside the whole issue of civility for the moment, because that's really not about what a person believes or what policies they support, but their method of communication, which is secondary in my opinion to the idea that is being communicated (and I know that some people read a swear word and immediately discount the speaker/writer, but I think that attitude is immature, and I think that because when I was an immature teenager, I was very anti-swearing and thought poorly of anyone who casually peppered their speech with vulgarities, but then I grew up and started trying to listen to what people are saying, and not necessarily how they are saying it.)
I have conservative family members, and I trust that they make their arguments in good faith - not because Fox News or George Bush believes it, but because they do. And then I can discuss their beliefs, and try to communicate how and why I believe differently. I have to listen to them, and they have to listen to me, and we have to trust that the one person is operating honestly and not just there to automatically contradict the other. This works well on a one to one basis, and I think it has been successful at bringing out the inner liberal of some of those family members. I distinctly remember having a discussion about abortion with Loki's grandmother before she passed away, and her view was wise and pro-choice - not what one would expect from someone who grew up believing "FDR" was a curse word.
On a large scale, that kind of listening and give and take seems to be mostly impossible. Here we have Klein, ostensibly a moderate/centrist/Democrat, who has clearly internalized the right-wing's bad faith and shallow arguments about what liberals believe. Personally, I'm curious about how he came to believe that this is what liberals think (if, in fact, he isn't weaseling away from that entirely with his "extremist lefty" label), and whether he is willing to listen to the people who are trying to tell him that, no, that's not what they believe. (So far, it looks bad on the latter, with his snarky update about what the readers are saying.)
FWIW, here's my take on his list:
believes the United States is a fundamentally negative force in the world.
Fundamentally, no. I do believe that the United States is just as capable as any other nation of being a negative force in the world, but I don't think it is inherent to the US, I think it has a lot more to do with the policies of the people who are leading the US.
--believes that American imperialism is the primary cause of Islamic radicalism.
No. I think the primary causes of Islamic radicalism are poverty, fear, ignorance...the usual drivers. Do I think the US has contributed to the increase of radicalism? Yes, as has Britain.
--believes that the decision to go to war in Iraq was not an individual case of monumental stupidity, but a consequence of America’s fundamental imperialistic nature.
I think it was a big heaping chunk of column A and a little bit of column B.
--tends to blame America for the failures of others—i.e. the failure of our NATO allies to fulfill their responsibilities in Afghanistan.
No.
-doesn’t believe that capitalism, carefully regulated and progressively taxed, is the best liberal idea in human history.
In human history? I'm not sure about that. Actually, the idea of a carefully regulated and progressively taxed capitalism makes me positive giddy with excitement. The problem is that I don't think we're there yet, particularly on the carefully regulated and progressively taxed front.
--believes American society is fundamentally unfair (as opposed to having unfair aspects that need improvement).
I believe life is fundamentally unfair, and American society at least acknowledges that and has some policies in place to reduce some of those fundamental unfairnesses. Can we improve in that arena? Yep.
-believes that eternal problems like crime and poverty are the primarily the fault of society.
Primarily? No. But American policies can help reduce crime and poverty, or they can increase them. Actually, that's not even American, that's true across the board, in every nation.
--believes that America isn’t really a democracy.
Well, it's actually a republic, but yes, I believe that U.S. government is a democratic system.
--believes that corporations are fundamentally evil.
Again with the fundamentally. No, I don't believe that corporations are fundamentally evil.
--believes in a corporate conspiracy that controls the world.
No, I don't believe in a corporate conspiracy.
--is intolerant of good ideas when they come from conservative sources.
No, good ideas are good ideas.
--dismissively mocks people of faith, especially those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage.
--regularly uses harsh, vulgar, intolerant language to attack moderates or conservatives.
And I should add that moderates and conservatives are often dismissive and mocking towards those they view as liberal, on any number of fronts, regardless of whether the liberal is a person of faith. So this is silly to attach to extreme lefties, because everyone on every political side does the same thing. (And that goes for the language, although, IMO, nothing is quite as reprehensible as communicating an abominable idea using genteel and mannered langage - like the Nazis did when coming up with their final solution. No curse words there, just sensible people discussing what to them were sensible solutions.)
3/02/2007
blabbering
It's been almost 10 days of no sugar now. I feel like my moods have evened up - I managed to make it through Subway Hell in NYC without snapping at anyone, and I seem to be staying a little calmer than usual. I've also stopped craving sweets. Although that may be negative reinforcement from the sugar-free candy I bought. FYI: that stuff makes you gassy. I could hear my stomach rumbling over all the background noise of my office.
Sio has now been accepted to 4 colleges: Manhattan, Green Mountain, RIT and SUNY-Geneseo. So far, Manhattan has offered the most generous financial aid package - basically, they've covered all her tuition, leaving us responsible for room & board and fees. Of course, she's pretty determined to go to Ireland. In order for her to gain citizenship, I have to gain citizenship - I am a citizen, because my father was born in Ireland, but to be official, I also have to have an Irish passport. I got my passport application in the mail today, and it's going to be a beauracratic joyride to get this thing. I have to get my parents original marriage certificate - a photocopy will not suffice - along with my birth certificate.
I have to admit, the idea of having my Irish passport makes me feel a little giddy. If I had any foreign language skills, I could get a job anywhere in the EU! Maybe I'll take a French class next semester.
Sio has now been accepted to 4 colleges: Manhattan, Green Mountain, RIT and SUNY-Geneseo. So far, Manhattan has offered the most generous financial aid package - basically, they've covered all her tuition, leaving us responsible for room & board and fees. Of course, she's pretty determined to go to Ireland. In order for her to gain citizenship, I have to gain citizenship - I am a citizen, because my father was born in Ireland, but to be official, I also have to have an Irish passport. I got my passport application in the mail today, and it's going to be a beauracratic joyride to get this thing. I have to get my parents original marriage certificate - a photocopy will not suffice - along with my birth certificate.
I have to admit, the idea of having my Irish passport makes me feel a little giddy. If I had any foreign language skills, I could get a job anywhere in the EU! Maybe I'll take a French class next semester.
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