Thursday, May 31, 2007
Crappy scanjobs, but so much goodness
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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Magnifique!
Thanks, Boing. (Follow link w/in to view entire Flickr set.)
Friday, May 25, 2007
My most neurotic post ever (maybe)
Lemme tell ya, if today's any indication of the w/e ahead, I am doomed. I just spent the last two hours on the phone w/ Cingular, spitting all over myself as I sought an answer to my problem (work related.) They had me speaking w/ their highest-level techs, but still, prospects not good. Then, it was in the midst of this that I realized I didn't know where my cell was, though I knew it had to be around here somewhere. While carrying on w/ the tech guy, I had poet-coworker call my phone, which began ringing LOUDLY (horrible default-song that I've been too lazy to change since acquiring phone three months ago) from a location seemingly behind my desk, a big piece of wood w/ a full back that makes collecting fallen items (documents, snacks, lip gloss) near-impossible. But it was my phone! Important! Anyway, while K and I pondered our options, the phone was still going off, and then there was the poor tech who was on the receiving end of my loud and desperate oh-no's. I kept muttering 'I'm so sorry, just a sec here,' mostly unable to hear what he was doing on the other end of the line. Then he put me on hold, as reps are prone to do, promising to return in a minute. Ah, for once, good timing! K rung phone again, w/ the two of us pulling open drawers, pawing through stacks of various stuffs... and then. Then. "Oh god, it's in your pocket." (Well, no, she wouldn't have used 'god' here, but.) Me: "Oh! Indeed it is!" We then proceeded to fall into a fit of hysterics, w/ me eventually finding my way to the corner where I attempted to pull myself together in a 'private' setting. 'course, somewhere in there my tech resurfaced, and I can only imagine how irritated he must've been. Hoping to make up for my unsavory behavior, I thanked him profusely in the end, even though the problem was left unfixed.
Honestly, I should've seen it coming. Ever since I screwed up on the train this morning, rising from an end seat (space-saving springloaded one) on the 5 w/o remembering to grab the seat edge on my way up (this, after watching a man across the way follow the protocol just one stop earlier and thinking to myself 'yes, this time you will get it right), thereby prompting the inevitable BANG as plastic hits wall, I just had a feeling. Then again, it's possible that this self-described 'bad day' is actually an invention, in which case the a.m. train screw-up wasn't an omen, but just me being a dolt.
Because really, I think I must kind of enjoy it when stuff like this goes down. Inventing reasons to get all bothered can be fun. (Whoa, weirdo.) I don't know, maybe I just wanted to react over something small--versus, uh, certain larger issues that have marked the year to date. Plus, unlike most things in this city, it didn't cost me a penny, and I'm all about cheap entertainment.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Church
I've got a new How to Pitch up on mediabistro today. Got to interview editor-in-chief Jonathan Beverly for it, which made for some great conversation.
Varieties of Disturbance
Last night I went to a Lydia Davis reading at B&N. If you know me, and if we've ever talked books, then you know about my love of this ex-wife of another personal favorite. In my (limited) experience, Davis, whom I first discovered at a Hugo House author event back in the day, presents herself publically in a way that's similar to how she writes: precisely. Last night this was especially evident during the Q&A segment, w/ Davis responding to each question w/ great care, everything out of her mouth so ordered and purposeful. Satisfying to listen to. She did, once or twice, go on a bit long, which I initially read as nerves/anxiety, but really I think she's just thorough--in person and in writing.
Oh, at one point she mentioned being recently inspired by a writer, Russell Edson. Anyone know about him? I'll definitely have to look into this.
So the evening closed w/ a few tears--given my recent track record, hardly surprising. This time, though, they came earlier than I would've liked, as in, while I was standing in front of Davis as she signed my book. I was at the tail end of my monologue (gist: 'I recently finished The End of the Story, and having just ended a long-term relationship, it was the absolute best thing I could've read--beautiful, thank you') when I just sorta lost it, my half-gone voice (sick! bleh) breaking, trailing off. She looked up and gave me a sweet 'I'm glad to hear that,' which was followed by some unsolicited commentary from the B&N employee standing beside her ('yes, I think we would all agree, think we've all thought that'/me in my head: shutup, this is my moment). Afterward, heading to the train, a wave of relief. I'd really wanted to say what I did.
I capped the evening w/ a swing by my new favorite watering hole: this place, where I cracked my new book over a pint of nut brown lager. It was nice.
Oh, Seattle
This just in:
K, look at what's nesting under my solar panel! --Mom
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Monday, May 21, 2007
Much too much
comic brilliance for modern television. OH MY GOD. Damn near* perfect. I know I overuse that word, but wowie. Kazowie.
"Good luck w/ your band": I'm still beside myself.
*I do agree w/ this dude's comments re: Jan's 'online shopping habit' and the Pam/Jim beach flashback bit. Not quite right.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
En stor dag!
Og en deilig tid for alt! I can't wait.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Why, hello
Aw, lucky you's: another on the way.
Friday, May 11, 2007
And cupcakes, them I can still do
Still stealing inspiration from these guys, I whipped up a dozen peanut butter cupcakes the other night. I think I did a pretty decent job of disguising an otherwise glaring error: those chocolate puddles are covering for some pretty scary recesses. The things sunk! They were still nice and soft on the inside (though a smidge dry), but in serious need of a lift on the outside. Lesson learned: Get my paws on a sifter. (Or, more baking powder/soda?)
Either or
Okay, no more drivel. Er, at least I hope you won't consider it that.
I'm feeling restless these days, like my attention span is unusually short, like I can't really get into any one thing more than I can another, like every possible course of action throughout my day is equally appealing/unappealing. While it can be frustrating, it doesn't necessarily make for a bad experience, just a strange one. I'm pretty sure it'll pass, anyway.
I've started a new story--one that needs to hurry up and get finished, before I start losing memory-detail. Generally speaking, the writing process hasn't been as fluid as in past months/years, mostly because it's a struggle to get myself in a chair and focused for longer than a half hour. I feel kinda slow about it, too, but the words are still a-comin', which is priority, right? As for reading, I just started a new novel, and we'll see if I manage to stick w/ it. Books are still questionable. Magazines, however, magazines I've re-mastered. And Web reading's a pretty sure thing...
I went to another event put on by these guys other night, which I was mostly glad for. Terry McAuliffe was the featured speaker, and when he managed to disengage himself from all things Clinton (yeah, he was right there in the center of it all, but a listener can only take so many 'the Clintons and I vacation together,' 'Bill and I play cards at 3:00 AM together,' 'Bill and I were once mistaken for gay lovers,' type anecdotes), he was an alright dude. He was, of course, all about singing Hillary's every praise, which he was called out on periodically by the audience, but he also had a lot to say about the timing of primaries and the need for Democrats to go for the jugular/go for broke/play hardball/show 'em who's boss/get a backbone in looking to '08. Occasional snickering besides, the crowd seemed pretty roused.
And running! Running's well. This week I graduated to solid runs, meaning no more run/walks! Only three-mile bouts at this point, but I'll be upping it by a half mile each week, and before I know it, I'll be able to work back in some speed sessions at the Red Hook track. January marathon, brace yourself.
ad interim
I'm walking down the street w/ a Kraft Single...
While walking to the train this morning, I was thinking about the fact that I haven't been blogging much lately, that I should try and get something down today. It was too bright out (though crawling out from my hole and into the light of day, I regularly reach this conclusion), and I looked up to find a blah-gray sky. I looked down at my ratty t-shirt, my shiny flats, then at the floppy square of fake cheese I was clutching, and thought... screwy! And because it's been awhile since processed cheese squares last made the blog, I decided I'd open w/ a reference. But then the question became, where to go w/ it? How to continue the thread in a way that pleases my readers, all twelve of you, so that you don't leave this page w/ a long and regretful sigh, cursing me for robbing you of your precious seconds, time surely better spent smooching your loved one, petting the cat, plucking your eyebrows. I doubt myself. Yet:
I'm walking down the street w/ a Kraft Single, noticing the wet sidewalk at my feet (huh, must have rained) and the gray sky overhead (shoot, no sun), and debating whether to get a coffee pre-train or post- (50 cents now, or free in an hour?). All the while, I'm peeling off my cheese's wrapper, losing a few gummy bits in the process. I eat the square in four bites, reminding myself to pick up another block of it after work, as I'm plumb out.
You lose!
Hold tight: there's more where that came from.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Seer
Oh no. Oh, no. The dialogue has already taken shape in my mind.
1A: "Listen here, [landlord], 1B is outta control, blasting her music at all hours of the night like she does. I got a job, y'see, and I refuse to sacrifice any more sleep than I already have, sleep lost thanks to her inconsiderate behavior."
1B: "Now just you wait a minute, 1A. First of all, I do not 'blast' my music; I play it at reasonable levels, making sure to turn down the volume after, like, nine o'clock on weeknights. [To landlord] Clearly it's time for him [wagging finger in the face of 1A] to hit the shop for a tune-up--of his brain."
1A: "Oh, why I never... You know, ever since you plunked your rude self down here in my basement, there's been nothin' but trouble. First it was the blown fuse, then it was the [blah blah blah, no one's listening], and now... now THIS! You are a nuisance, a bad egg, a hooligan!"
1B: "Oh, BOTHER. Okay, you wanna know a good part of the reason for my listening to music around the clock? Because lemme tell ya, it wasn't this way before I moved here, Grumps. Here it is: YOU SNORE. Very, very loudly! Subjected to your nasal-y earthquakes, the walls shake, the fixtures rattle, the pipes jangle. Just the other day, you managed to singlehandedly (or would that be singlenosedly?) dislodge my refrigerator! That's a lotta weight!
So, Crabs, don't you dare talk to me about disrupted sleep. Even w/ music going, your uvula STILL encroaches on my sleep cycle. Yeah I picked up some earplugs at Duane Reade the other day, but how depressing is that? I live alone! There should be no need!
I don't know, [landlord]. I say we check him into a sleep institute or something. Wire him up and see what gives. Of course, I might be bought, might be swayed by the prospect of a rent adjustment..."
[landlord]: "Oh, 1B. I mean, I guess it's no secret that your windowless apartment w/ a mailbox that doesn't lock is illegal, so I don't suppose I have much choice but to comply w/ what it is you're insinuating..."
1B: "Well no, you really don't. I suppose--suppose--that a decrease in the vicinity of 50 percent might effectively shut me up. Not that it's me who needs shutting up [narrowing eyes at 1A, who appears to have eaten his words for lunch]."
Okay, so the latter part's a stretch, but the early stuff: give me two weeks. It'll come.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Heart
"Unnecessary and constitutionally questionable?" Oh, ICK! 11/4/08, hurry the hell up already.