Having fun in Iowa. Taking my nephew on a date this afternoon. Wanted to see Brother Bear terribly, but it is already out of the theatre here. Huge disappointment! So we will go to Elf instead. Next we decorate the Christmas tree... after it has settled into the sand bucket a little bit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just had to call PhiloKeaggy. I'm okay.

Bear with Me... Memory Lane Warning
So last night we were comparing our oldest saved emails. For some sentimental reason, I have a hard time deleting some of the old ones. Ones that came from people who I have completely lost touch with, but people who meant something to me at one time.

One of my oldest was from October 1999. From this kid Mike. Once upon a time, he found my yahoo messenger name and messaged me out of the blue. For once I didn't automatically ignore the person, and humored him a little bit. He turned out to be a cool kid. We would IM once in a while, and he seemed to really appreciate my insight and "elderly" wisdom. He called me "Grandma" even though I was probably only four years older than him.

"wuzzup grandma homie,
  i'm in cali and i'm learning the lingo. missed you much. sorry for being an ass and not writing as of late. werd.
  mushy shit,
  mikel"

I wonder whatever happened to little mikey.

He Made Me Do It



I also was able to tell the story of my Michael Bolton pictures. (Manda might remember this.) You see, I really dislike Michael Bolton. And as much as I don't like him, I still had several pictures of him hanging by my bed... including the somewhat painful one you see above. When questioned why I would want to hang these by my bed, I had a very simple response. If that was the first thing I saw in the morning... my day could only get better.

A Compliment?
Yesterday...
Bossman: Don't take this the wrong way, but your hair looks really good today.

Umm... thanks? Considering I feel like I've been fighting a losing battle against my hair lately, I don't really know what to think about that.

A First
Yesterday afternoon I think I saw a gutted dear close up for the first time. A client showed off his prize, but I was the only one who went down to the tree for a closer look. (Maybe it was because we had just finished eating lunch.) Kinda disappointing. Just looks like meat. Except for the furry head hovering just above the puddle of blood on the ground. Okay, now I'm getting grossed out. He said he'll let me try some of the deer jerky when it is ready.

Mirth, Musings & More (or something to that effect): it's good and good for you.

Song for the Day:
Because now the stupid song is stuck in my head... and I want you to suffer along with me.
Steel Bars (clip) - Michael Bolton
The only song in the history of the world with twenty-seven key changes.

Brrrr-Errrr!
Anyone interested in going in with me on getting a bounty hunter to kill Jack Frost? I know I wasn't this much of a wuss last year. How quickly one becomes a southerner when not looking.

Yesterday while working from home, I happened to have Oprah on... and dang, it would have been good to be in the audience that day. It was her annual "Favorite Things" show, and each person in the audience got everything on her list... including some of those lucious UGG boots and a thousand-dollar DVD Handycam.

Subliminal Thoughts
I Say... You Think...
1. Concert:: backstage
2. Sydney:: Australia (sigh)
3. Shower:: curtain
4. Patterns:: paisley
5. Market:: share
6. Chair:: lounge
7. London:: Stephen (He and Andrew were in my dream the other night. Stephen died. Oops.)
8. Reception:: wedding
9. Republican:: party
10. Cough:: drop

Okay I'm out. Meetings out at the other office today.

Song for the Day:
Girlfriend - Bob Guiney
~Do you think you could
Bring me my girlfriend
And a bottle of wine
Bring me her future
Just make sure it's mine
Will you open the window
But leave out the cold
Could you make a phone call to Jesus
To clean up my soul~

Georgia Tech'ers
I'm still getting several hits a day from people at GA Tech. If you're looking for the open letter to Katie, it is down here.

Bobby G.
I, along with the rest of the world, love the most popular Bachelor ever, Bob Guiney. (Is anyone else torn between being happy for Estella and wishing they break up?) No... but what is crazy to me is that his band Fat Amy was playing on the rock station I listened to when I lived in Michigan. They were huge supporters of local music, so they were always playing good stuff by Papa Vegas, Troll for Trout, Domestic Problems, Knee Deep Shag, and of course, Fat Amy. Good times... I'm almost tempted to bid on this Radioactiv 4 compilation cd just to hear all those songs again! Anyway, Bob's solo cd 3 Sides releases tomorrow. I just might have to get that one.

I forgot to say that I went with Connie to feed her horse yesterday. She said I could ride him, but she rides bareback... and with no present insurance coverage, I could just envision myself trying to jump on and falling right off the other side. He was getting his winter coat and was so soft though. It was quite tempting.

MJNews: official communications on the Michael Jackson case. Innocent until proven guilty.

Speaking of, Tina just got summoned for jury duty. How cool is that? Okay, I know everyone complains about it, and no one seems to be too excited about it... but I think it would be extremely intersting. (Or maybe I've seen 12 Angry Men a time too many.)

Song for the Day:
Bombshell (sample) - Papa Vegas
~Once again the bombshell is closing in
We pretend the distance is half our defense
In the end you'll figure it out more or less
Well I guess you catch what you can
Cause a change is at hand
And you can't really plan
Where your feet will land~

I'm probably the last person to see this site, but just in case I'm not... 46664.com:

Nelson Mandela gave his prison number 46664 to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics in November of last year who then asked the late Joe Strummer to write lyrics for a song that included the 46664 prison number. Stewart then completed the song with Bono earlier this year and the two of them recorded it as the first of a series of co-writes together for this campaign. Further recording sessions began in March of this year when Stewart was joined by Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor in a studio in Cape Town to lay down tracks which would also see them working in collaboration with some of South Africa's premiere musicians.

You can download the music... make donations to AIDS research... get a beautiful Bono desktop (or Eurythmics or one of the others).

I'm probably also the last person to find out that Jonathan Brandis apparently commited suicide. Such a shame. I fell in love with him back in junior high when he was the young Bill in It. Of course, Neverending Story II was complete sacrilege, and I cannot say I ever saw an episode of Seaquest... but that's no reason to quit the game early. Dang.

I'm trying to decide if I have a spare 3 hours before I go home to see The Gospel of John. Interesting there is so much uproar about The Passion, but I had not even heard that this one was coming out. (Shhh... don't tell -- but I heard Jesus still gets crucified.)

what sort of weirdo are you?

And speaking of Dr. Evil... check out these Swingin' Chicks.



*looks at the current world's population* You must have a lot of frustration then.
What pisses you off?
(Bill is a cool kid now.)

This Website Will Change Your Life. Brilliant. I need the book. My mother will be happy I have something to put on a Christmas List. I discovered that place from an article in yesterday's paper. I was sitting in the merchantile waiting for my lunch and laughing uncontrollably. Please go read the article... it's like chicken soup for the soul funny! (The world mood tracker is pure genius.)

And speaking of laughing... yesterday on Fresh Air, Terry interviewed Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog of Conan O'Brien fame. It was so unconventional. Terry actually snorted a couple of times due to her laughter. You can listen on their site... and it is worth it just to hear Terry Gross say: "Come Poop with Me."

So Sweet (In More Ways than One)
Andrea the angel somehow located 10 whole Toffee Bars of Joy. (Thank you! I really only just wanted to help.) Great to see you again, and it was a pleasure to meet your beautiful and charming children. :)

Oswald Et. Al.
For those who watched the Kennedy specials on television last night and need more info to digest and a place to debate, check out The Copydesk today. Martin has the enhanced Zapruder film online and available for download if you feel the need to watch it over and over again.

Blasted Batteries
We all know I'm not a big phone talker. But wouldn't you know last night I was having a conversation I really wanted to be having, and the battery pooped out right in the middle. (I think I missed the "low battery" warning when someone was trying to beep in.) No international service on my plan, so I wasn't able to call back when it was charged. I decided I am going to get an old school rotary phone that hangs on the wall and rings with a bell and never cuts out in the middle of conversations. (Or a table one like this.)

gamingredients.com - for the geeks. (Maybe it is links like these that make would make someone think I'm male.)


Since I recently became a celebrity, I thought
you should know that you can be one too.
Song for the Day:
Electric Avenue (Real Audio) - Eddy Grant

An Open Letter to Katie (and Curtis, Matt & Dan) at GA Tech

Dear Katie:

I am flattered (albeit somewhat freaked out) that you have chosen this site to be the focus of your Electronic Community project for your ENGL 1101 class. I don't know if this is some sort of creative writing assignment, or if you are supposed to base your project on actual truth... but I feel the need to clarify a few things that you seem to be a little confused about. So allow me to quote your findings and point out where you have gone astray in your assumptions.

Katie's Post for November 10th
Today on the blog people[1] decided to post pictures of flowers and describe the importance of what a single rose can do for someone.[2] Also there was a posting of one guy[3] who talked about how bad his day was. I gathered from his posting that he is a male from his late twenties[4] that works in a cubicle[5]. He talked about how his friend did not get the job that would've supported his wife and unborn child. Also, he spent hours on a project that ended up not working out and having to change it back to its original form. Another post was from someone who showed a picture of a lunar eclipse and shared that they experienced one the other night. The postings are very random and seem to be observations that they have had throughout the day[6].

1. First off -- only one person posts here, and that is me. Anyone is welcome to comment... but as for the main content, that would be moi.
2. Referring to my November 10th post, I'm not getting the flowers thing. Though I will say that the following two days I did post flower photos. (One of which is a poppy... ya know, for Veterans' Day.)
3. I am a girl. (See that picture up at the top? Me. See that little "About" link up there? All about me. Though I understand some people don't quite have the observation skills that I have, so let's move on.)
4. Again... girl, 26.
5. No cubicles here, but way to use your imagination! It's actually a house. My office used to be the bedroom of the woman who died there. (Just a side little tidbit for you there.)
6. The rest I'll pretty much give you.

Katie's Post for November 11th
Today there was a discussion on 80's cartoons that would make good cartoons[7]. They provided a link that allowed people to vote on it and see other options. People decided that Mask II[8] would be an excellent choice. There was also a somewhat morbid observation of one person who saw something disturbing on the news. He explained how there is someplace in Knoxville where they take dead people and leave them out in the elements to study decomposition. I think that is a little scary. What if you were just walking around in the woods and you see all these severely decomposed cadavers? I think that that would scar me for life[9].

7. I'd hardly call it a discussion, but yes, on November 11 I did post a link to an 80's-cartoons-to-movies article. (Although I didn't know about the voting section.)
8. I said "M.A.S.K. too"... as in "M.A.S.K. also". I think it's a little early to be thinking about the sequel, M.A.S.K. II.
9. Rest assured. There is a barbed-wire fence around The Body Farm.

Katie's Observation for November 14th 2003
Every Friday on the weblog, there is one user that provides a series of five random questions that people respond to. Today the questions were: 1. Using one adjective describe your living space. 2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employeer. 3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite pastimes/hobby. 4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day. 5. Using five adjectives describe your ideal life. There was a variety of adjectives used, from boring[10] to creative. Most people felt that their day is very atypical and boring[11]. It was agreed that most peoples living space was comfortable[12].

10. Yes, my November 14th post was lacking when it came to content... but must we go so far as to call it "boring"?
11. There you go with that "boring" word again.
12. Most people agreed because... well... it was all me.

Katie's Obsesrvation for November 16th 2003
There was only one post today from someone. They put a picture of a foggy landscape and proceeded to tell his fellow bloggers that he had been wishing for foggy weather, it came true, and he is sorry[13] for the people that live in his area. He also talked about his friend/girlfriend that came back into town from Chilli, and they went out for coffee.[14] I don't know about you, but if my friend or boyfriend[15] came into town from Chilli[16], which was probably a very long trip considering how excited he was, the last thing I would be doing is getting a cup of coffee. She just came from South America, where there is an abundance of awesome coffee, I don't think that is the ideal thing to initially do with his friend[17]. Maybe it's just me....[18]

13. Please don't put words in my mouth. I wasn't sorry.
14. Okay... here we start to get sloppy. Katie, Katie, Katie. Dan's over there reading pages upon pages of LOTR fan fiction, and you don't seem to even want to bother actually reading one sentence with any sort of comprehension. Allow me to quote myself: "Tina's back -- yay! We all went to Chili's to celebrate her birthday which was a couple weeks ago."
15. Tina is my roommate who went home for a month and a half.
16. Whoa... back up there, Skippy. Virginia. It's in North America.
17. You're freaking me out here. You really are. So here we go, from the top: Tina was gone; Tina came back; she was gone during her birthday; so we went to Chilis Restaurant (I even posted a link to the stinking place in case my kiwi didn't know what it was) for dessert to celebrate after she got back; the coffee was earlier in the day and had nothing to do with Tina whatsoever.
18. It is. Trust me, it is.

I was hesitant to write this, because frankly, I was curious to see if you would write anything else. However, I wanted to be sure the truth was conveyed well before you portrayed me as a complete loser. If you would take the time to actually read the site instead of just skimming it, I think you might find lots of interesting and humorous tidbits to brighten your day. That is the goal anyway.

Good luck and peace be with you.

D.

Song for the Day:
Somebody's Watching Me (Real Audio) - Rockwell

Call me paranoid... but I feel like I'm being watched.

Holy crap, I think I've been blinded.

Jaron's Wacky Tales: Some of those sure are good. I'm particularly fond of the Kinko's tale... because we all know that the majority of their employees are retarded.

Great Post Header for the Day:
"So You Can Nail My Ass To The Wall And Call It Slack-As."
-- Tash... naah, we understand. School's out for summer! Whee. So glad about the phoneline. Must catch up. Must catch up.

So I need to take a little trip to the Tennessee Department of Revenue building today. I've never been there in all my years of doing corporate filings here. I wouldn't hate going into the governmental section of the city so much if I didn't have deal with the maze of one-way streets and severe lack of parking anywhere relatively close to where I need to be. Though maybe the parking gods will be on my side today.

Interestingly, I read here yesterday that work has begun on The Chronicles of Narnia at Peter Jackson's Weta Studios.

Confession
I'm looking forward to Honey the same way I looked forward to Save the Last Dance. I'm not afraid to admit it.

Rain Rain Go Away
I assumed it was going to be bad when I walked out to my car this morning. It was actually warmer out than I thought it would be, but then I heard the forecast on the radio. "100% chance of rain." ("Chance" doesn't seem like quite the right word in that case, hmm?) Then we were in a tornado watch for a little while... and now we are having a monsoon. I'm talking Jurassic Park rain. Debris, we have debris.

Fog Isn't Cool
We live over twenty miles from the airport. Of course, we have planes go overhead now and then, but it's never all that noticable. (Nothing like when we lived two miles from the airport in Indy.) However, last night I assume the fog was the reason why it sounded like airplanes were nearly skimming the treetops. I loved living near railroad tracks where the trains' vibrations would shake my bed ever-so-slightly. Airplanes making your bed shake is less cool.

I'd never seen this effect before.

Subconscious Mutterings
I Say... You Think...
Plan B:: The Practice
Seattle:: coffee
The lady wore:: red
Upsetting::
Tampon:: commercial
Celebrity:: Fear Factor
Baja:: Fresh
64:: Commodore
RGB:: Roy G. Biv
Milkshake:: chocolate

Last night I suggested that we try to get into our attic. The other two did not share my enthusiasm. I just want to know if it is finished off or not. I have this love affair with attics. Ever since I was a child with my overactive imagination. My parents' house is over 100 years old, and I always wanted to get into our attic (which required a ladder, since there was no handy pulldown staircase). I thought if I could get up there I was sure to find a little cigar box with a bundle of old letters tied up with a ribbon that would contain old love notes and messages about the war and fragile photographs. And there would also be an old key. And there would be a mystery to figure out what the key belonged to, but I would find it, and it would be the coolest thing ever.

When I was home last March, I got to see up there for the first time in my 26 years, because my dad had to go up there to check a vent or something. No antique treasures to be found. Just lots of insulation and a few strategically placed boards for walking on. I was horribly disappointed. Maybe I don't want to see our attic here.

Coolest Thing Ever
Planet Yum Thing: fun, girlie, crafty, artistic, creative stuff. Yay! (props to Miss P for that one) Just one more thing I don't have time for... but I was proud that I finished my super-warm fleece blanket yesterday. Next on the list: finish bandana skirt and the book I wanted to give my Grandma for Christmas.

Dreams in the Mist
I think all you middle Tennesseans can blame me for the weather. Not two days ago I was wishing for a really foggy day, so today was perfect. The Italian word for fog is nebbia... which spawns the name for the nebbiolo grape.

Tina's back -- yay! We all went to Chili's to celebrate her birthday which was a couple weeks ago.

And umm... I got free coffee today.

I'm having a [god]baby!
So no one involved is Catholic (anymore), but Manda asked me to be Verbena's godmother. After a brief period of concern about what this would involve should Jack & Manda pass on prematurely... and all of us knowing I'm sure not ready to be raising any children that I can't give back to their parents eventually... I said yes, of course. Much gushing ensued. And then:

D: Oh... oh... can I be her fairy godmother?
M: No -- that will be Erik.

So mean... yet so funny all at the same time. :)

Brrr. Gah.
Okay. It's cold. Point taken.

For everyone who liked that Mystery Artist tune... be sure to check out page 56 of the November 15th issue of Billboard to read the news about their signing. Wheeee!

I was tracking the hits to the guys' site. If anyone understands czech and wants to translate... let me know. crazy.

Friday Five
1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space.
Comfortable.

2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer.
Pleads. Fifth.

3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pastime.
Relaxing. Creative. Fun.

4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day.
Long. Jam-packed. Busy. Atypical.

5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life.
I'm. Still. Figuring. That. Out.

Yesterday was the day of catching up with people. I love that. Talked to Manda. Costa came over. Darren called for no reason. Talked to Collin. Got an email from one of my college roommates who I haven't talked to in probably three or four years. Good good. Then tomorrow night Michael and I go to see Admo play at Caffeine.

I can't wait to go home tonight. I just want to chill. Ooo.. or make chili. Bundle up and sit downstairs with the keyboard for a while -- an acceptable stand-in for a real piano, I suppose. I think it is cold enough to pull out the Christmas music.

Happy Birthday to my Aussie girl Lisa! I'm anxious to see you again!

Warning: It must be National Lose Your Job week. Two friends in as many days.

Email Quote
"Am i destined to be white trash or what?"
-- Naten, on his lack of ability to get and maintain full-time jobs.

Here's to You:
Mr. Lazy Trademark Attorney

Andy Hunter°'s song "Go" is now formatted in 5.1 surround sound and can be downloaded here. Go... get it.

A Conversation:
Last night when I came waltzing in early for a change...
C: How are you doing? You look frazzled.
Me: Do I?
C: Yeah, you do. Is everything okay?
Me: I couldn't be better. It must just be my hair... and the humidity.

Public Radio Fan
This morning on The Connection they were talking to three university students from Iraq -- named (I'm not kidding) Uday, Hussein, and Ossama. It was really interesting to hear their perspective on what is going on there now. They've got streaming on the website if you care to listen.

MenWhoLookLikeKennyRogers.com -- with special features such as Kenny of the Month, How to Look Like Kenny, Kenny Spotting Tips, and even a Corn Muffin Recipe.

I was rejected from the british secret service after only scoring 53.58% on the Secret Service Test. I think I could have done better if I had my mouse hooked up.

Song for the Day:
Justified and Ancient (All Bound for Mu Mu Land) - The KLF
~Justified and Ancient, Ancient and a-justified,
Rocking to the rhythm in their ice-cream van
with the plan and the key to
enter into Mu Mu
Vibes from the tribes of the JAMs.~

Exactly what are the Justified Ancients of MuMu, you ask? Well, here's your answer.

Oh. Crap. What a stressful episode of 24.

The American Undershirt: open letters to neighbors' dogs can be really funny.

Ooo... but not as funny as this. Got that from the other danielle. (Rated PG-13 for language.)

Okay... to all you people who think it's cool to be walking around with those larger-than-life blackberrys: I don't want to be hearing one single word about my vintage, non-fancy, clunky phone.
First, run out and see if your local florist is having a special on roses... and if not, go to Walmart. They are having some sort of November rose promotion. (At least the one near me is.) I have a huge bouquet of 20 gorgeous deep pink roses on my table -- for a mere nine dollars. They even smell nice. (You know how most roses don't smell anymore.)

100 Things About Me
#3. I hate poinsettias and also baby's breath.

Song for the Day:
Remind Me - Royksopp
~And everywhere I go
There's always something to remind me
Of another place and time
But love that travelled far would find me~

Audible Quote for the Day Part 2
"Wha.... wha.... WHAT?!"
--Me, at approximately 03:57 24ST, 24 Standard Time.

Audible Quote for the Day
"WHAT?!"
--Me, at approximately 03:22 24ST, 24 Standard Time.

Happy (belated) Birthday to Daniel! Just extending the celebrations over here. Hope you have a year filled with fun and happiness!

Movie Criticism for the Retarded - talks about 80's cartoons that would make awesome live feature films. My vote is for M.A.S.K. too.

The Body Farm - Was I the only one who saw this on the news last night? It's this fenced off area of land near Knoxville where they leave dead bodies in the elements to study decomposition and entomology and such. They mentioned the stench on several occasions. I bet!

I had to bring some contracts to one of my favourite clients today to sign. It's a big deal that we've all been looking forward to having finished... in a good way. He was very excited. It's days like today when I think that my job doesn't suck so much after all.

What a totally stinky crappy day. (Well, relatively stinky and crappy -- things can always be worse.)

▪ Jack didn't get the sr. pastor position leaving the financial fate of his wife and unborn child in question... so that's a total bummer, but as we said before, it is better to know now than to find out at the end of January or something.
▪ I spent half the afternoon making changes to something, unfortunately, it ended up not working out as planned, so I spent the other half changing it back -- and now I still have all my work to do yet.
▪ My word count is the same as it was on Thursday, you say? Why yes it is. I hate this. Where is my nano partner when I need her?
▪ I found out the book I want is out of print and therefore ridiculously expensive.

moon phases

I did see the eclipse the other night, so that made me happy.

Subliminal Thoughts
I say ... and you think ... ?
1. Leapfrog:: Buck Buck
2. Co-workers:: Karl / Bossman
3. Mustang:: convertible
4. Wafer:: almond wafer sticks
5. Nicotine:: patch
6. Fast food:: McDonalds
7. Suffocate:: plastic bag
8. Myth:: Age of Mythology
9. Lane:: Lindsay's brother
10. Unexpected:: surprise

I'm sorry, Manda.
When I said that I secretly hoped
that he wouldn't get the job
so you would move closer to me...
I didn't really mean it.
I didn't think they would be
dumb enough to let him go.

I've done nothing... I've written nothing. I suck.

But I've been really happy eating my edamame.

Blogger ate my post.

I don't have time to re-write it. I have 5000 words to catch up on today. Blech.

It's One of Those Days
Some clients get the super-formal letters with my full name signature. Other clients get the slightly less formal letter with just my first name as the signature. But only a select few get the following scribbled on a post-it note:

A-
Please sign in blood and return to me.
-D.

Karl's working on getting tickets for all of us to go see Harry Connick Jr at the Ryman the week after next. Wheeeee.

FacePrints: how do you judge beauty on the facial spectrum?

Here's to You:
We really do have fun at the office some days. Yesterday afternoon for some reason, Bossman was humming one of those Budweiser commercials... specifically the Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer one. So we sat around listening to it for a little while. Later Karl and I decided we are going to write our own based on people in our line of work. He's serious about recording them too. Get his old lead singer Jamie to do the vocals... his wife can do the female parts... I want Steve Taylor to do the voiceover. It's beautiful. These are the ones we've come up with so far:

Mr. Music Copyright Enforcer
Mr. Cheesy Merchandise Designer
Mr. Spandex-Wearing 80's Rocker (they went to see Stryper last night, so that was the inspiration for that one)

I missed Survivor last night, because I was watching my little pals. (Sad about skinny ryan... happy about jerky Andrew.)

A Conversation with a Skeptic
Last night the children each got to have a piece of Halloween candy for their dessert. Dalton came up behind me...

Him: You want an M&M? (holding out a blue one)
Me: Did it fall on the floor or something?
Him: Noooooo. (telling the truth, but giggling anyway)
Me: Just checking.

Friday Five
1. What food do you like that most people hate?
I like my veggies... be it broccoli or squash or asparagus... whatever.

2. What food do you hate that most people love?
I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake. I don't like large amounts of rich chocolate. And I am seriously not a fan of cake... to the extent that I don't even want a wedding cake.

3. What famous person, whom many people may find attractive, is most unappealing to you?
I've never understood the allure of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or that Collin Farrell guy.

4. What famous person, whom many people may find unappealing, do you find attractive?
I don't know if people find him unappealing, more of an unconventional suggestion for handsome leading man... but I think that Ed Harris is pretty darn nice to look at... right up there with Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich, and Jeremy Irons.

5. What popular trend baffles you?
Popular trends baffle me.

I write this at 3 AM. Why? I refused to go to bed without finishing my words for the day. My story has taken a life of its own, and I determined I am going to eventually go back and change some things I foreshadowed at the beginning, because something else is happening instead. I kinda hate this.

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Natasha! I don't know if you'll see this on your actual birthday in your time zone or not, but just know that I'm thinking of you over here... as always. You're such a beautiful part of my life, and I have been missing you heaps.

Screw It
I almost let myself go to sleep behind pace in the word count last night. I was so tired when I got home from babysitting, and then when I turned my computer on, I was instantly greeted by this:

Hans: RAWK! sup girl.
Me: hey you! I just got done babysittin'
Hans: Really.
Me: what are you up to?
Hans: I've been think'n of ya all week actually ;)
Me: aww shucks
Hans: just thinking, damn need to get in contact with danielle

How nice. A week from today is one year since the last time we saw each other. Sad.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby
I just saw the new GSoMegaphone video for "Venom". (type "forked tongue" into the box at the bottom of the site to download the vid.) I was just happy to see that things seem to be going well for them. It's kinda weird too. The Danny who used to hang out at our apartment in Michigan is now Daniel the rockstar or something. Rock. \m/

Blog URL of the Day
kvetcherintherye.blogspot.com

The Sneeze
I can't remember if I've been there before, but I'm sure I'll be back. I might even have to add this one to my sidebar. If you read nothing else, be sure to click on "Best of the Sneeze"... I just about blew coffee out my nose (imagine how unpleasant) after reading a few of those. The pictures only add to the experience. Quality humor there, folks.

Song for the Day:
Am I the only one who could stand up right now and sing (however painful that might be to the audience) the entire Jekyll & Hyde soundtrack? I've had two songs from there running through my head for the past two days. They are from completely different parts of the story, but they keep segue'ing in my head.

Good show. Good songs. Good day.

More on Forced Creativity
So, as you can see, when I got finished whining last night, I went on and cranked out a few more paragraphs of complete nonsense. I didn't get my full 1667 for the day, but I'm still 439 words over pace due to some extras I had left over from Monday.

Then today, by total chance, I happened to come across this: Being An Account of the Life and Death of the Emperor Heliogabolous, a 24-hour comic by Neil Gaiman.

The rules of the 24-hour comic were "to write, draw, letter (and I suppose if you've got time left over, colour and set to music) a 24-page comic in 24 hours. No preliminary work. No plotting, sketching, roughing. Nothing. The clock starts tick at hour 1, minute 1. Just 24 hours to create a 24 page story." He only got 13 pages done, but I am starting to see the validity of forcing yourself to purge something creative.

Get Off the Phone Already
I don't hate cellphones as much as I hate people who use them. No lie. Yesterday I was in the post office waiting in this huge line. The woman in front of me was talking on her phone like she was sitting in her living room or something. Just going on and on at a completely unreasonable volume level. Talking about some video shoot she was at for this 12-year-old phenom named Ashley, and there were eight other children in the video with all these costume changes and blahblahblah. Then she went on to say how she stayed home from work that morning to catch up on the housework and went on and on. Even when she got to the counter, she put her crate of packages on the counter, said "media mail" to the lady, and went back to her phone telling about how she bought furniture for the living room and how she hoped it would be there before Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, the rest of us are looking at each other in disbelief. The guy behind me mumbled, "Get off the phone already."

When the other postal lady was free, I went to give her my envelopes with a grin. It was all she could do to keep from laughing. It was that ridiculous.

I went to check the PO Box, and the guy who was in line behind me was walking out the door at the same time as me. "So she got f*&#ing furniture. Who cares?!" he said. Then he held the door open for me and bid me goodnight.

Icy Tunes
And because I know everyone, like me, is concerned about all things Icelandic in the music world, I am sure you will be excited to hear that Mum have begun recording a new album and there is also a new website with cute little legged boxes. Speaking of new websites, there is a new extremely extensive unofficial Sigur Ros site with darn near everything you'd ever want to know regarding their music... or say, icelandic tourism.

Pats on the Back for Me
I'm all about positive reinforcement. And yesterday a guy from Colorado called me to tell me that he liked what I had done with one of our clients' website. I especially appreciated his thoughtfulness because the particular thing he was talknig about was such a total pain in the patootie to get organized and up there. So it's nice to know that at least one person saw it.

Little Trees
You know those Little Trees air fresheners for your car? Did you have any idea that they come in almost 50 different scents?? I find that outrageous. Who knew? Of course, my car has the Blueberry Muffin (Stawberry Shortcake's pal) air freshener I got from "Santa" last year. It doesn't smell so much now.

Go in My Stead
How could I not have heard about this before? How can I possibly already have plans for those two nights? Béla Fleck is playing the debut of the Concerto for Banjo and Double Bass with the Nashville Symphony this weekend. I've been in awe of his talent ever since I met him last year. Oh well.

Shoot Me
NaNoWriMo sucks. Whose bright idea was this anyway? *grumble, stupid people, grumble* I kept telling myself that I needed to be disciplined and write my 1667 words each day... that is the pace required to hit 50K by the 30th.

And what am I telling myself now? That is retarded.

This has nothing to do with discipline. Brushing your teeth before you go to bed even though you are incredibly tired -- that's discipline. Making the financially-wise decision to brew a pot of coffee instead of buying one 8 oz cup -- that's discipline. Reading 1667 words per day for one month -- that is discipline.

But requiring oneself to write 1667 words strung together by the thread of the imagination, that is forcing art. There must be something ethically wrong with that.

Then again, maybe I thrive submersed in pressure. I believe I might. I recall a conversation with one of my college roommates who could not believe I had yet to begin writing a paper that was due later that particular day:
Ane: You must work well under pressure.
Me: No, I only work under pressure.

Okay, my rant is over. It's nearly 1, and I must go to bed. Look at all these words I've wasted. Maybe I can cut and paste this into my storyline somehow.

You've heard of Hot or Not... now there is Rate My Goatee.

Okay, Manda, I got 117 -- but I claim interferance, because there was music on the television last night while I was trying to think of these. I know you'll kick my butt anyway... but I thought it was a good effort:



(Got link from Barry.)

And another borrowed link, this time from The Copydesk-- Metaphilm: "We don't review films; we interpret them."

This morning I witnessed some hilarious shelf-stocker guys at Sam's Club singing "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship at the top of their lungs complete with fists pounding out the drum beat before the key change. It made my day.

Yesterday in a fit of procrastination, I went and ordered Amelie, Chocolat, and a John Fischer book I've had my eye on. My mom would kill me, since I am never able to come up with a Christmas list. Oops. :)

I simply must have this shirt. I suppose I should wait for another procrastination break, preferably after the 15th. (Or I could put it on my christmas list.)

Escher in the Palace: Museum featuring the brilliant art of MC Escher in The Hague. (Click on the "English" if you don't know Dutch.)

The bean & kale soup turned out pretty tastey. It being my first foray into the world of kale, I think that next time I would chop it a little finer and sauté it a little longer. (Hello, "sauté until wilted"? I dare say I've never had to do that before.) Made some little cornbread muffins to go with... mmm, mmm, mmm.

Subliminal Thoughts
I say ... and you think ... ?
1. Taboo:: that annoying little buzzer
2. Poison:: "That girl is poison..." who is that? Bel Biv Devoe?
3. 1983:: George Orwell minus one
4. Tim:: the totally rad booking coordinator I used to work with who was really one of the only people to call me "Red" and get away with it.
5. Groovy:: baby, yeah...
6. Italy:: boot
7. Think:: Information Society
8. Penthouse:: suite
9. Shelter:: Gimme...
10. Twinkie:: gah... yuck. I don't think I've ever consumed an entire one.

Two Quotes after My Own Heart
▪ "Someday I'm going to be someone's real bad mom." --midwestgrrl
▪ "I HATE MALLS!" --Pauley

Jim's Big Ego is on Weekend Edition today! (Listen Here) Did you listen? They are one of the smartest groups out there right now, I believe. You can get their newest cd with cover art by famed cartoonist Carmine Infantino, who happens to be the lead singer's uncle.

It's day #2 of Nano. (I can't write that without thinking Mork & Mindy.) At 2602 words, today I want to scrap everything I've written so far and start over. I hate the characters. I hate the premise. I hate my lack of vocabulary. (Somehow the words "things" and "stuff" have appeared far too often for my liking.) But no, I will forge ahead. It may be 50,000 words of total crap, but 50,000 words it will be!

Move over Harry Connick Jr.; Peter Cincotti is on the rise. Quite a talented kid. Keep an eye out for him on the Lego float in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. He's also apparently working on a film with Kevin Spacey, who is, of course, the man.

And if you have some spare time and want to see a really cool product of someone's imagination, check out Pipe Dream by Animusic at AtomFilms.

Somehow I managed to type 1500 words today. 300 before I went to bed. Another 1200 while I was babysitting and Taylor was napping. Now I've got another hour to pound out a few more. I know I'll live to regret saying this, but I'm feeling totally confident about NaNoWriMo this year. Of course, this is a Saturday -- weeknights are going to require some discipline... and I could just as well pace myself in order to be able to take Tuesdays off completely.

Went to the hockey game with Michael tonight. Tie games are such a let down. And after watching the exciting (read: violent) game Thursday night on television, it was almost ridiculously tame.

For some unknown and uncontrollable reason, I need to make this soup. I will tomorrow. If I can make myself go to the grocery store.

Expensive water...
▪ One liter of Lourdes Water: $115
▪ Holy water from Jordan River: $15

NaNoWriMo started an hour ago, and I have yet to write a word. Of course, I didn't get home until a half an hour ago, but I haven't so much as opened Word yet. I haven't done all kinds of prep work like plot outlines and character development. I don't even know for sure what names I want to use. I'm wingin' it, baby. Somehow this year working on something that is complete fiction, as compared to last year's memoir-esque writing, leaves me feeling more exposed -- now we'll see what this imagination is really capable of.

We watched Down with Love this evening. (This evening being now last evening.) It's unfortunate that it didn't do well in the theatres, because it was incredibly cute. A total throw back to 60's filmmaking with the exaggerated sets and technicolor hues and ultra-mod postures and movements. Sandra and I were drooling over the furniture and clothing. A fun flick with the right attitude.

The thrill of Halloween has pretty much escaped me this year. For the second year in a row, my Edward Scissorhands cd is not where I expected it to be... so no hauntingly beautiful music today. I didn't even get a pumpkin. I am wearing black... (no big surprise)... with my radically awesome silver and black sparkly shirt (circa 1972). I'm going as a rockstar... or something.

Friday Five
1. What was your first Halloween costume?
I may have to call my mom on that one. The first one I remember seeing photos of was me as Raggedy Ann. Precious, eh?

2. What was your best costume and why?
If I had finished my Blossom costume last year, that would have been it. I really liked my witch's costume several years ago. I used baby powder instead of normal powder on my face to give myself an even paler complexion. I had this awesome black velvet dress that I got through my connections at the local college theatre costume shop.

3. Did you ever play a trick on someone who didn't give you a treat?
Nah.

4. Do you have any Halloween traditions? (ie: Family pumpkin carving, special dinner before trick or treating, etc.)
I would normally set my speakers in the window and play the aforementioned Edward Scissorhands soundtrack to entertain the trick-or-treaters.

5. Share your favorite scary story...real or legend!
The Tell-Tale Heart

Since Erin is back in the states for the time being... I don't feel bad pointing out this Bomb Canada t-shirt.

Don't miss the Daily Screw from the Virtual Corkscrew Museum.

Yesterday someone pointed out Mr. ABC & Friends... looks so innocent. Yet probably not recommended to be played in front of conservative employers or small children.

Survivor? Hello. Five pirate smilies just for bringing Skinny Ryan back. Thank goodness Osten is gone. Gah. He was whinier than Manda! (Just kidding. Love you. I know you're pregnant and entitled to mood swings.)


I'm so funny. I can barely stand myself. It's not the funniest thing I've ever done, but this one is good. The only hitch is that the person on the receiving end might not recognize the joke... but it will be funny anyway. And one other person knows and is laughing too. Stay tuned for more details.

Listen for the Day:
Hear Danny Elfman's commentary on the Soundtrack of the Day.