American ASSlines

As noted on Grrbear's blog, the L&B Crazy Fun Nuptials(TM) was a mighty good time. And exhausting. Undoubtedly, y'all will hear stories about the crazy fun aspects of the trip. But this mornings (short) post will involve a rant against American Airlines, whose service yesterday was - in a word - sucktastic.

We had two legs to get back to the Bay Area: one from Chicago O'Hare to Dallas Fort Worth and the second from Dallas to San Francisco. The leg from Chicago to Dallas was fine. No complaints. The plane left 4 minutes after schedule and arrived with plenty of time to catch the connecting flight. But when we got to Dallas, things went down down down hill. Like, way down hill. Our flight, which was supposed to depart at 5:20pm, got pushed back to 6:47, then 7:09, and then 7:25. I don't even know when the damn thing actually borded and left. The most annoying part was that our plane was parked in the jetway all the while (i.e. - we weren't waiting for a different flight to come in) and there was no explanation by the airline as to why we were delayed and when the issue might be resolved. When we got in the air, the one beverage service (there should have been 2) was dissapointingly missing baggies of pretzel snacks (boo!). And when we finally got to SFO (2.25 hours later than expected), there was a plane parked in our arrival gate and we had to wait "5 minutes" (which SLOWLY turned into 45 minutes) on the jetway because the airline was too lame to direct us to an unused gate. I was crabby and hungry* as hell and decided, on the spot, that A.Asslines would be getting a letter**. By the end of our day, which began at 5am PST, I was pretty damn beat when Jiggity and I got home at 10:30pm PST (4 hours later than expected). I was even less happy when my alarm went off at 6:45am this morning, but it's the price one pays for a kick-ass good weekend.

In the middle of our long wait in Dallas, Jiggity came up with the theory that all flights departing Dallas are purposefully delayed so that passengers are forced to buy food from one of the MANY food vendors (all of which serve Pepsi products, by the way). This made us think back on all other departures from Dallas and we concluded that all of them (3 in total, including our trip to Chicago on Friday) were delayed. Conclusion? Pepsi = evil.

I can't have a post about the Asslines without mentioning our flight from Dallas to Chicago on Friday. For that flight, we not only had a delayed departure (because our crew was stuck on another delayed flight), but we had to wait for 20+ minutes on the runway when we arrived in Chicago because the ground crew couldn't find our plane.

Sucktastic!

*In my opinion, they should have broken into the unpurchased snack boxes to keep the angry passangers from cannibalizing their neighbors.
**A letter which will undoubtedly go unwritten.

Me - Muppet Style

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Cities

Today I have/will spend time in the following cities:

- San Mateo
- San Francisco
- Oakland
- Dallas
- Chicago

And tomorrow I'll add:

- Ann Arbor

Vaycay

Yo.

I figure I should post some photos from the Alaska trip before I have pictures to post for the midwest trip. So here goes....

And.....blogger is giving me problems. So I've selected one photo to represent my trip. This was taken during a lovely afternoon hike at a regional park 10 minutes away from where Jiggity grew up. This pic is a pretty good representation of what most of the Anchorage area looks like. Seriously. Drive 5 minutes out of the city and THIS is what you get! (And you can literally SEE it until about 1am.)

Project FUNway!

Who out there is watching Project Runway this season? BEST - REALITY - SHOW - EVER! In the "scenes from next week's show" portion of the program, we learned that someone will be getting kicked off for breaking the rules. Oooooooooo......something that's never happened before!! Which rule do you thing was broken? I'm guessing something along the lines of plagiarism or sabotage.

Opinions?

So I gave my paps a stock recommendation about 2 years ago. He made a purchase based on said recommencation and the stock has since quintupled. (Note: I have a history of making good predictions, starting with my suggestion to invest in McDonald's at age 7. After passing up on that idea, he's taken advice on other companies.) My question for you all: how much of a cut do I deserve? I should have settled this before shovelling details.

What's your most exciting future concert plan?

Dude. Music rocks. Live music rocks and rolls. So tell me, what upcoming concert are you most pumped about?

Me? Ray LaMontagne and Guster at the Berkeley Community Theater. Small venue, big talet. Plus, RL is coming out with a new album mid-August. I've already pre-ordered! YIPPY!!

Lame

Yup. As Sophist so accurately noted in her last comment, my blogging has been minimal - almost to the point of being downright lame. But dude. My social calendar has had me running like a madwoman (note: I've never been much of a social butterfly). And my camera cables are lost in some moving box somewhere, so I can't even do the min of posting photos. I tried using a flow of internet-available pix, but that gets tiring after a few days. Once August hits, I have lots-o-nothin' on the calendar, so I'll be back to 2004-style blogging. Yo.

What ever happened to T-Bone?

Alaska pics

Check out the moose! Okay, so I didn't actually take this photo. But I did see a moose that looked much like this one, sans the rack. My happy snaps are headed your way....as soon as I find my camera cable, which is in a box - somewhere.

Cpt. Jack Sparrow?

Are you ready?

Update: Alaska Style

It was, in a word, COOL. I am currently trying to figure out a way to live in AK 6 months out of the year. They must have need for a spring-summertime epidemiologist. Dontcha think?

Pictures forthcoming.

Newsflash

Berkeley is going to allow its citizens to vote for the impeachment of Bush/Cheney in November. I dislike the administration as much as any other Berkeley resident, but isn't this a bit wacky?

Tunes

Since we didn't have enough going on in our lives - with the 35-odd hours of paiting and cleaning over the weekend and a flight to Alaska this evening - Jiggity and I decided to go to a Goo Goo Dolls/Counting Crows concert last night. Though I was mostly going to keep the manfriend company, I had a solidly good time. Here were some observations:

(1) I never realized that I know a hell-of-a-lot of Goo Goo Dolls songs. They've gotten some serious radio play over the years.

(2) For some reason, I think of Grrrbear when I hear the GGDs. I think he had their first album in college???

(3) The Counting Crows put on a good show. They know how to mix it up - putting a new spin on an old favorite. "Rain King" was a particular highlight. They really rocked out in the beginning and end and threw in some lines from "Scarborough Fair" when they took it down a notch in the middle. I think the song went on for 15 minutes or something.

(4) The lead singer for the CCs looks like Sideshow Bob, except that his shoes are smallish.

(5) The lead singer (I should just learn his name, damnit) thinks that we're all "f*cking as*holes" if we don't vote.

In other news, I got 6 hours of sleep last night and I have 7 more hours of work. Then I get to go home and spend 45 minutes madly packing before we go to the airport. I used to do this kind of thing all the time when I was 23, but I just can't handle it anymore. Blech.

Stitches

People! I need to pick up some mean embroidery skills, fast. One of my gal pals is getting married this fall and group of us are in charge of crafting a square for her patchwork chuppah. Given my love for all things needlework-oriented, I offered to take the lead on the project. At this point, I have a solidly good design. Problem is, it involves a hell-of-a-lot-of free hand embroidery. My embroidery experience? Nill. So I have some questions:

(1) Is there a way to design a pattern on a sheet of paper and subsequently transfer it to the fabric? My current plan is to draw directly on the fabric with a removable fabric pencil. But there has to be a better way.

(2) Embroidery thread is sold as a bundle of several fibers. Should I separate the fibers before stitching or use the whole damn thing? My tendency is to separate, but I may be clueless. I've done whimpy cross-stitch (nothing like Spice's amazing projects), but I have zero recollection of thread handling.

(3) Is it stupid to try to learn embroidery anew 11 days before a project must be completed?

pinky

Why ever did I decide to paint my room cotton candy pink* during the summer of 2003? I'm kicking myself now - because that fatal decision is turning my weekend into a marathon of re-painting activities.

In preparation, I took a trip to the local Ace Hardware last weekend to purchase paint and various paint accessories. Did you know there are, like, eleventy-billion** shades of white and 5 options for finishing quality (from matte to shiny)? Holy b'jeezus! I couldn't tell the friggin' difference from one can to another. Really. The only clear distinguishing feature about each one is its title -- Navaho White, Blankets of Snow, Marshmallow, etc. I decided to go with White Linen with the eggshell finish, mostly because it sounds so Nantucket.

What I want to know is, who in the world gets the job of naming shades of household paint? Seems to me, that's the best job in the world.

* the official name was Embrace
** thanks, J.Bro - love that number!
...and an overall stylistic thanks to Grrrbear. The asterick system sure makes blogging fun! WEE!!

We're coming up on Gay Pride weekend here in San Francisco and the Castro is all a-flutter. I'm hardly waiting to make the trek to ballet class tonight. My plan is to gather a count of encounters with men wearing gold lame hot pants. Stay tuned.

My semiannual Radiohead phase just commenced - as of 4:05 this afternoon. I'm starting out with a few rounds of OK Computer and I'll be moving on to Kid A tomorrow morning. I never bought Pablo Honey, but I really want a copy of Creep (minus everything else). Too bad they don't sell on i tunes.

T - 9 days until I leave for Alaska!

Thank god the move is done. It was not fun process, mostly because of a cold that developed into a fever with bone pain on Friday. Even my teeth hurt. Ugh. But the movers were scheduled to come Saturday at 8:30 am, so furniture had to be collapsed. And it got done, despite my delirium.
And since (undoubtably) you've all been following the storyline, this is what I provided the movers:

- pasteries, coffee, orange juice, and water at my old apartment
- water, lemonade, and ice cream bars at my new apartment
- $30 tip for each mover

Thanks for your input on this! The movers were absolutely excellent - hard working, efficient, straight forward, etc - and deserved good treatment.

WOO!!

PEOPLE! IT'S CHERRY SEASON! In the past week the price of bing cherries dropped from $4.99/lb to $2.49/lb. You know what that means - fruit belly.

In other news, I watched A LOT of E! Entertainment programs last night, including the E True Hollywood Story: Charles in Charge. Among other things, I learned that Scott Baio visited the Playboy Mansion. A lot.

So I suddenly woke up around 5:30 this morning because my bed was swaying. In the drunkenness of sleep I thought to myself ".......earthquake........" and immediately rolled over and fell back into ZZZZZZZZs. Is it weird that earth rumblings don't phase me anymore?

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I believe Sophist will support me in saying....

All you Netflix users out there (especially the ladies), leave this blog location immediately and go to your Netflix lineup to put North and South at the top of your list. You will not be disappointed.

Wow. Moving is stressful - even when you've hired movers. I spent all weekend going through crap. After the 6th bag full o' paper for recycling, I started to wonder why I've been carrying around items, such as my college physics notes, for so damned long. Sheesh.

While doing all the sifting, I watched way too many episodes of Six Feet Under. I left the show midway through season 4 after my first DVD player died (it was fun while it lasted, Spice). This weekend I watched the end of season 4 and the first half of season 5. Seriously, though. This show is not designed for marathon viewing. It's far too depressing for such inundation. Next weekend? Zoolander - on repeat.

crackpot landloards

The Bay Area is chock full o' crazyass landloards. With the impending exodus from my current apartment (myself and my roomate are both leaving), we've been having more contact than desired with the company that owns our building and collection of other properties about town. I sent in my 30 days notice letter several weeks ago and heard nothing in response. My roomate sent his and, within a week, got an itemized list of services for which money will be deducted from the security deposit. This list includes painting, carpet cleaning, "janitorial services", etc, etc. The total cost of said services? $800. Jackassy, don't you think? It's time to contact the Rental Board .... again. I believe the Better Business Bureau will be getting a letter.

In better business news, the people who will be moving my stuff sent me the nicest reminder of the date and time. In the note they enclosed a checklist of things one should do when moving residences and a blank postal office card for address change. So thoughtful. Thanks for the rec, Sophist.

It's the calm before the storm. Starting next weekend, these things are happening in somewhat rapid succession:

1. Moving my crappolla to San Mateo (more accurately, watching movers do the work while I sip coffee and eat pastries)

2. Unpacking from said move

3. Flying to Alaska for a 5-day visit with Jiggity's family surrounding the wedding of a family friend

4. Hosting the 'rents at the new pad

5. Traveling to Lake Shasta for a weekend on a houseboat with Jiggity's homies

6. Flying to Chicago to meet up with Spice and Grrr and drive to Ann Arbor for L&B's nuptials

7. Flying to Fargo to attend another wedding

8. Flying to Philidelphia for the 4th and presumably last wedding of the season

9. Sleeping for two weeks straight

10. Seeing Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

movin

Dude. Moving is kindof a pain in the ass. My biggest issue lately is how to decide what to get rid of - particularly when it comes to clothing that is completely functional and (this is the hard one) papers and notes and exams and publications from courses over the last 10 years. Does anyone out there have a rule regarding how to decide what to keep and what to toss? HELP!

az-WEEP-eh

Over the weekend - the weekend I moved by BF's stuff into our soon-to-be-shared apartment - my manipulative ex-boyfriend (known as Asswipe amongst friends) got married to the woman (ex-friend) he started dating a week after we ended our four-year relationship. An interesting confluence of events, eh? Though the actions/betrayal of Asswipe and Ms. Asswipe hurt me deeply for years, I finally got to a point a year or two ago when I didn't care anymore. And when news of their engagement and wedding came along, it both didn't surprise me (in fact I predicted it from the day I learned they started dating) and didn't phase me emotionally. And I settled on the thought, "thank god I escaped THAT one". I remain angry at them and I'll probably always be somewhat angry with them because they completely betrayed my trust and everything, in the end, remained unresolved. But that's okay. Because the abrupt end to my relationships with them was far more possitive than negative. Because, in addition to extracting those poinsonous beings from my life, I learned enough that I was able to end up in a relationship with Jiggity who is, I must say, the exact opposite of Asswipe in all the right ways.

Al Gore is on Fresh Air today. Yay.

Weekend Update, dun dun dah!!

Hey now. It was one hellofa weekend. It feels like two weeks passed since I've been at work, giving me a much-needed fresh look on life ... and work. So here's the run-down on the happenings over the last few, because I'm sure you care.

Friday night: Sophist and I gathered for our long-awaited Sloppy Joe's. We refused to mess with an original recipe and went with a McCormick flavor packet instead - giving us a genuine cafeteriaesque taste. Yummy. To increase the health value of the meal, Sophist also purchased a GIANT BAG of spinach. I recall Sophist saying she could "use it as a pillow until opening the bag". It was that big. For entertainment, we watched the first 2 episodes of North and South, the BBC recreation of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel (not the 80's TV mini-series featuring such fine actors as Patrick Swayze). I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next two installments.

Saturday morning - afternoon: I had a most delightful outing with B&L at a lovely cafe in Woodside, which had yummy food but crappy service. We left a 55 cent tip after having zero service from our actual waitress. But we had a lovely time anyway, catching up on life and sharing stories of the upcoming wedding, which promises to be a real hoot. I will be assuming the role of shoe and jewlery-buying assistant.

Saturday late-afternoon - evening: Jiggity and I made the second of several trips moving his loot to our new apartment in San Mateo and collapsed all collapsable furniture. Good times, except for all the dust we kicked up and the sneezing that ensued. Yick.

Sunday all day: Official moving day. Wee. I spent most of it scrubbing years of soap scum off of the shower stall, a job that was surprisingly satisfying. With four strong dudes, we had Jiggity's stuff moved in record time and delighted in our efforts over grilled food. Mmmmmm.....meats. The remainder of the day was spent making one more trip from the old place to the new with breakables and doing some unpacking. Wee again.

Monday: The focus was on relaxation. After waking late, we took a 10-minute stroll to downtown, bought some breaky, and ate in the local (lovely) park. Back at the ranch, we did some reading, hooking up of electronics, lounging, and napping. Then, one more trip to the old place for continued cleaning and crap-carting. And in the evening, we bought burritos from the local SF Mission transplant and took in a movie - Over the Hedge. It was delightful and appropriately suited to our exhaustion.

All-in-all a rediculously productive and exhausting weekend. But I woke up more rested than usual today because I got to sleep in 30-minutes longer than usual this morning. Yay.

In three weeks, I get to do it all over again when I move my crap from Berkeley to San Mateo. Joy.

I'm Lost, but to a lesser degree than before

The season finale of Lost - very enticing. They made reveal after reveal after reveal and have me on the edge of my seet for September. What will I do with myself until then? All I have is my radio stories.

Bloggy DinDin

Sophist is comin to din-din. Guess what we'll be having:

- Spicey Thai noodles with sweet peanut chili sauce and papaya salad

- Potato leek soup and grilled tuna sandwiches with a side of sliced apples

- Broccoli and tofu stir-fry over a bed of rice and left-over Easter candy

- Stuffed french toast topped with fresh diced peaches and whipped cream with steamy mugs of hot chocolate

Winner gets ...... nothing.

Sweet Revenge, Sortof

Home Sweet Home

Undoubtedly, you've been waiting on the edge of your seats to see pics of our new apartment. Well, wait no longer. Here they are ....

Cute! Check out the living room. The fireplace actually works and there are hardwood floors under those custom-cut area rugs.








The bathroom includes some pretty crazy-pink-and-blue tile. And the kitchen is an independent room, as opposed to my current kitchenette. And look! A dishwasher! Wee!

Stop All Your Happiness!

People. You're exhausting me with your weddings. I have 4 lined up for this summer ALREADY and all of them are out-o'-town. I mean, love is good and all - and I'm definitely one for a rockin' time with Uncle Joe and the Cuz. But I'm starting to have trouble with the vacation time.

But seriously, it's not YOU. It's my WORK. Who came up with the idea of only 3 weeks of vacation per year. We should start taking a lesson from the French.

The Real Deal

In reaction to Grrbear's most recent post, I spent several minutes thinking about MY favorite pizza joint, Zachary's. Like Uno and Due in Chicago, Zachary's has 2 outlets - one in Berkeley and one in Oakland - both of which have been in crazy business for years and years. They serve THE YUMMIEST PIZZA west of the Mississippi. No chain store comes close. I think even Grrbear would agree with the limited nature of the menu.

Vegas, Baby

So I took my first trip to Vegas over the weekend and, I have to say, I had a much better time than expected. The highlight of the trip was seeing the Blue Man Group at the Venitian. In a word, it was bizarre. Bizarre in a very very good way. I recommend checking them out, yo.

I would say more about the trip except that I'm nursing a head cold and a very burnt belly (much time spent at the Cesar's Palace pool). More to come once I'm on the mend....

New TV Love

It's always interesting to see what happens to one's readership after a blogging hiatus. I have an N of 2 when it comes to dedicted readers. Rock on, TOWWAS and Spice! ...perhaps others are reading but not commenting. Highly possible.

Anyhoo, onto my newly discovered (as of last night) TV love: Texas Ranch House, PBS's latest reality series. The title pretty much explains it but to flesh it out, the series involves a ranch owner family trying to establish a profitable ranch in the mid-1800s. They have 8-or-so cowboys responsible for rounding up cattle with the ultimate goal of selling them to the US Army. ...and they do. The army guys were in full-on authentic outfits and I'm guessing they found actors at the local Civil War reinactment events.

This particular reality show had what seemed like FAR MORE DRAMA than 1900 House and Frontier House. The very last episode involved the ranch owner demanding that one of the cowboys leave the ranch 2 days before the series ended. Having made a pact (all-for-one-and-one-for-all sort of dealy), all 8 cowboys abandoned the show within hours of hearing the news. The warring sides didn't even gather for a follow-up show. Sheesh. Bad blood, dudes. Anyhoo, it turns out that the dorky PBS-watching ranch evaluators gave the ranch owners a pretty bad rating for creating animosity between the ranch hands (cowboys) and owners.

I did't like the owners for several reasons. Here are a few: (1) they didn't wash dishes for days after a community gathering and increased the fly problem, which was already bad due to placement of the manure pile near their front door; (2) their depressing neglect of the vegetable garden, which was planted for them before arrival and should have provided a wonderful source of sustenance and income; and (3) the ranch owner's refusal to buy one of his cowboys when he was captured by a local Indian tribe ... though he bought his horses without a second thought.

I seriously want to be a part of one of these PBS reality series. Seriously.

Project Apartment, update style

So good news. Jiggity and I were accepted as tenants, having exposed every morsel of our credit and rental history. The lease was, like, 4 pages long 7-pt. type. Sheezus. But it's over and now I get to fully enjoy my first ever trip to Las Vegas, which starts at 6:45pm tomorrow and ends 6pm on Sunday.

Movin' Right Along

I can't believe it, but I think I'm moving again. No wait, I KNOW I'm moving again. I'm just in shock.

Each time I go through the process of trying to rent an apartment (4 times total), I am reminded of the horrific craziness of the rental market in the San Francisco area. I'm about to hit the end of a 1.5-day process of: see the apartment, decide we like the apartment, and expose all information about credit and rental history in order to rent the apartment. Is there time to really ponder the situation? Hells no! In this market, you have to pounce when the pouncing is good.

I have to say, though, I react to apartment hunting now much as I did in the autumn of 1997, when Spice and I were essentially living out of her Toyota Tercel for weeks whilst going to open house after open house, hoping to be the one amongst the 50 applicants to be accepted as renters. By the 5th showing, we had our routine down - wearing Gap casual clothing and wussy purses and carrying neat folders containing credit reports, reference lists, and bios. It was ... how shall I say ... SHITTASTIC!!! Spice learned to drop the word "Stanford" as much as possible and I learned to wear lipstick. There were tears and anxiety and yelling and Nancy. Remember Nancy, Spice? Eventually we ended up landing a place with a very nice/repsonsive landlord but few ammenities. We called it the Shit Hole. Enough said.

Anyhoo, back to the present and I find myself having a similar physiological response this time around - despite the fact that I'm moving to the peninsula (an easier market for renters) and have a solid credit history and real job. Thank god I'm not trying to do this in San Francisco again. My roomie reported inquiring about a place a day after it was listed on Craigslist only to find that the owner already had 50 applications, half completed onsite with promises of paying $200/month over the asking price. Crap!!!

We're submitting our application today for an adorable 2br/1ba small-but-quaint place. I hope this will be it, but I won't be surprised if it isn't. ESPECIALLY if they contact my last SF landlord who was CRAZY ... like, literally NUTS.

Ha! Ha ha!!

Apparently, Jessica Simpson is devistated by Nick's tell-all story in People. She was supposed to give an interview in a different magazine, but when she realized she'd have to address the divorce she pulled out. She's apparently poured herself into other endevours:

"Instead she is throwing herself into recording her next album and launching a line of hair extensions."

Okay. Like, why can't I put out a line of hair extensions or skin grafts or something when my life takes a dive? So unfair!

News Flash

The Kitten is born. And, ironically, Brooke Shields (supporter of psych meds) had her baby today too.

Why the hell do I care?

Rumbles

Yea, WE KNOW!! There was a big ass earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. Death, fires, cracks in the earth. I'm really damn tired of hearing about it, frankly, cause I really prefer to imagine that such things can't happen.

Literary Update

I've switched gears from Camus to Dylan. Bob Dylan, that is. I started reading Volume 1 of Chronicles last night and it's good, good, good. My enjoyment is helped by the fact that I'm a big BD fan, but I think most would enjoy this bookie.

As for other's on the list of upcoming reads:
- Love in the Time of Cholera
- The Double (by Jose Saramago...I read Blindness a few years ago and LOVED IT)
- The Vogue Big Book of Sewing

I got a gift certificate from my last job to a local independent book store and made a number of purchases this weekend. Yar.

TPM

I copied this from the Talking Points Memo, which I find highly entertaining and informative. Anyhoo, this made me laugh out loud. Enjoy!

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(April 14, 2006 -- 12:09 PM EST // link)
Thank God they're on the case!
The Department of Homeland Security hasn't sent out any security "bulletins" on white supremacist organizations, whack-job militias, or violent anti-abortion groups. But they have prepared a new brand new security bulletin on how to protect yourself against animal rights groups and 'eco-terrorists'.
One form of eco-terror attack, according to the bulletin has eco-terrorists "sending continuous faxes in order to drain the ink supply from company fax machines."
"Flyer distribution" is another form of attack to be vigilant about.

J.Po's Top 5 List of Crap

Top 5 celebrities/celebrity couples that annoy me:

1. TomKat (FAR ahead of all others)
2. Brangelina
3. Paris Hilton
4. Britterline
5. That guy who made the Passion of Christ. I have blocked his name.

Cruise and Poop Have More Than One Thing in Common

Tom C. is back on his tirade against psychiatric meds. I wish clinical depression upon no one, but of all post-natal women who will aquire depression in the near future, I sortof hope the Kat is one of them. That Tom could use a lesson in reality. See story below. Are you as horrified as I am with the leap in logic from psychiatric drugs to heroine?!?! Sheesh. Where's Brooke Shields when we need her?

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Cruise Attacks Psychiatric Drugs Again
Tom Cruise is attacking those who prescribe psychiatric drugs again in the May issue of men's style magazine GQ.
The actor, who embarked on an anti-drug tirade in TV interviews last summer on behalf of his Scientology beliefs, has launched a fresh attack on psychiatry, calling for prescription pill poppers to think carefully about the harms they're doing to their bodies.
He tells the magazine, "I've always found the 'if it makes me feel better, it's OK' rationale a little suspect.
"I think it's appalling that people have to live a life of drug addiction when I have personally helped people get off drugs."
In the interview, the actor claims he can get someone off heroin in three days through Scientology's detox programs.

Direct From the NYTimes

WASHINGTON, April 6 — President Bush authorized Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003 to permit Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., to leak to a reporter key portions of a classified prewar intelligence estimate on Iraq, according to Mr. Libby's grand jury testimony disclosed in court papers filed late Wednesday.

The court filing provided the first indication that Mr. Bush, who has long assailed leaks of classified information as a national security threat, played a direct role in the disclosure of the intelligence report on Iraq and was also involved in the swirl of events leading up to the disclosure of the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer.
...

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No surprise, but will this discovery lead to any meaningful action???

This Will Never Ever Happen Again ... I Find That Thought Disturbing For Some Reason

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

Uplifting, literally

J.Bro's recent posts about theft in Hawaii are making me all sad and dejected - especially the part where his man-bag was stollen. So I'm going to post about something joyful and uplifting - BALLET!

If you haven't noticed, BALLET ROCKS! It's been a year since I started taking classes and I've already advance to Adult 2. That's right, I've gone through New Adult Beginning, Adult Beginning, and Adult 1. I can now stand on one foot in releve and not fall on my ass. HUGE progress from last March. My buttocks, as promissed, have lifted 2 inches compared to last year; and I am, as promissed again, ready for bikini season.

Not only have I been revelling in the practice of ballet, but I am also taking on a wider appreciation for dance as an art form. For example, my recent order from Amazon.com included 3 movies about dance:

1. Center Stage - Sophist shares a love of this fine film!

2. The Company - featuring the Joffry Ballet of Chicago and Neve Campell of Party of Five (quite amazingly, she does her own dancing - tapping into (pardon the pun) her earlier training)

3. The Dancer - a documentary following a young dancer into her professional career, including many finepoints of the dance world including the making of pointe shoes

I also ordered the first volume of the New York City Ballet Workout so that I can stay fit the 5 days of the week I'm not taking class. It's actually really hard. Not Tae-Bo hard, but hard none-the-less.

Now it's time I take in some live performances by the local SF Ballet. Alvin Ailey just rolled through town and they were, as always, wonderful and HOT. But I need some more classical dance in my life. Sophist??? Will you join me???

Zen update

Turns out I couldn't get through the first pages of Zen and Motorcycles, so it's back on my shelf collecting dust. I'm moving on to First Man, a somewhat unfinished manuscript discovered in the wreckage of Albert Camus' car after his fatal car accident. The accident was in 1960. The book was published by his children in 1995. Wowzers.

Camus has to be on my top 5 list of writers, which is not yet formulated.

Say No to .... Cheez

After several weeks of serious cheese cravings and massive intake of calories from cheese, I no longer fit into several pieces of clothing from my wardrobe. This is problematic, since my collection of clothing is modest compared to most Americans and I don't exactly have the funds to buy everything one size up. So it's time I put my marothon o' cheese to rest. I must also put to rest my recent increased intake of candy. This will be a very very big challenge since stores are selling Easter candies - only availabe once a year! I love those delightfully sugary Cadberry Cream Eggs. Mmmmmm .... fake corn syrup yolk......

Reading is FUNdamental

Hey now. I just finished the most fantastic book, recommended to me by Spice. So this morning I'm giving a big shout out for The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. I laughed, I cried, I wanted it to never end. But it did - and I'm better for it. Pick up your copy today. You may find it at the discount price of $5.85, if you're lucky.

Now I'm on to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's been on my shelf for years. We'll see if I get through it or if I buy another David Sedaris book instead.

Cheez of the Day

Spring Hill Garlic Jack hand made locally in Petaula. Happy cows? I hate that ad. ....but let's hear a rousing "Mmmmmmmmmm" for Jack.

cheezy

Last weeked I had a dream in which I feared getting a PhD because I would have to pass the "Cheese Exam" (a bit more detail in comments on Sophist's blog 'colorful dream'). Ever since then, my diet has consisted mostly of cheese. Like, I'm SERIOUSLY CRAVING CHEESE - from high-end French Brie to white-trash Cheetos. What's the deal? I sure hope this ends before the water in my cells is replaced with CheezWiz. Yikes.

Yay for UC

Yesterday, University of California Regents voted to devest in 9 companies with ties to the Sudanese government.

Forcast

The weather today in my head:
dense congestion on the left side, particularly behind the eye socket and drippy snot out of the right nostral with occassional green coloring.

Too much information?

13

I hate the proposition system as a means of carrying out democracy. It's flawed flawed flawed for many many reasons that I won't go into, since there are plenty of political scientists and aspiring political scientists out there who can do a far better job of explaining. Since I think the system is so terrible, I've decided to stop giving my signature to get propositions on the ballot. I used to go ahead and sign since I figured that anything should be able to go up for a vote. Then I reconsidered after thinking about the dreadful impacts of Proposition 13 and that lame-ass proposition in 1999 (or so) when the citizens of the state of California outlawed the consumption of horse meat. COME ON!

So other than a proposition to end all propositions (Spice's plan circa 1998, although probably not allowed due to some line in some constitution somewhere), the only way I can think to stop this lame-ass approach to decision-making is to stop potential propositions from ever getting on the ballot. Wouldn't we then conclude that the system isn't working for us anymore and put the decision-making back in the hands of our representatives?

So I no longer sign the petitions. And I was feeling all fine about this until discourse with a signature collector today that went something like this:

collector: Could you please take a moment to sign the proposition petition? It will only take a second...

J.Po: I'm sorry. I really don't like the proposition system.

collector: I don't either, but I have to live.

Good point, collector (who gets paid per valid signature). So the question is: do I support the individual or do I hold strong in defiance of a crappy system?

Swaptastic

After a quickie call from Spice in the late afternoon yesterday, I was pumped to watch last night's Wife Swap - which promised the swappage of a hip African American wife with a (get this) SCA wife. For those of you who didn't go to Our Alma Matter and/or who are not in the computer sciences, SCA stands for Society for Creative Anacronysm which basically translates as "society of people who think they live in an different century". Very very sadly, I came down with a bugger of a cold (enough for me to cancel din-din with Sophist) and fell asleep long before Wife Swap aired. So I am commissioning Spice to give us a run-down on the WS happenings.

Thanks in advance, Spice.

And as an aside, I suggest that y'all check out the This American Life episode entitled "Simulated Worlds" on the Our Favorites list at www.thislife.org. Very very good. Although if you've known me for more than 10 minutes, you've probably heard this shpeal already.

Global Cooling

Just a few weeks ago, I was fearing global warming like never before. I found myself, in the middle of February, wearing sandals, shorts, and sun screen. And then this past weekend happened. As eluded to by J.Bro, it actually SNOWED in parts of San Francisco. Granted, it was the high parts (T.Peaks). But that's just wrong wrong wrong. The local news got all excited - much like the Cleveland news gets pumped about 12 inches of snowfall overnight. The SF anchorpeople were actually begging listeners to SEND IN their own CAMERA PHONE PHOTOS to prove to the viewing audience that people were sledding on hail in the Outer Sunset. I find it extremely amusing that Californians are so easily wowed by white things falling from the sky. I was far less amused when I woke early Sunday morning (~2am???) to loud tip-taps on my window from icy hail and the rush of a waterfall-esque sheets of rain. I rose to look out the window and find my neighbors jumping with glee in the icy wetness. Jiggity was fast asleep, reporting the next morning that he woke for about 30 seconds and thought to himself that this was the sort of weather-induced noise that might keep him awake for a hours. Not so. He's Alaskan after all.

As a sort of contest with myself last night, I sat down to an episode of Flavor of Love (or is that Flava of Love??) and tried to get through the hour without changing the channel. I was highly successful! But dude. That show is bad bad bad. And I don't think I've ever seen so many clocks. It was so bad that I was giddy with laughter for hours afterward. Now I sortof want to be on the next edition, since the "love" he finds on this version is likely to last all of 5 minutes. If I get on the show, I'm going to request that my nickname be "Hotsy Totsy".

I was going to blog about the Oscars, but it's already 2 days old and most of you have said most of what I was going to say (with emphasis on Will Ferrel and Steve Carell = funny).

So INSTEAD (dun, dun, dah!), I ask of you this:

What ever happened to the other bosom buddy? (Spice?)

If the Problem Doesn't Exist, They Don't have to Address It

The President's budget is calling to eliminate the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) - an indispensable source of Census Bureau data about poverty, income and program participation. Great.

Catholic Guilt

Every hour or so I'm reminded of what a terrible terrible thing the Catholic Church can be. Never mind issues around birth control and the patriarchal hierarchy. What really gets me is the GUILT response imbedded in my brain after years of reprogramming.

Take my situation this morning. I got to work cold and wet after a dash in the rain sans umbrell. I was looking forward to one thing - a coffee to warm my chilly bones. Lucky for me, there's a *bucks next door. I usually bring my own mug, mostly to soothe my guilt around unnecessary waste with the side benefit of 10 cents off each purchase (whatever). Every other time I've gone to *bucks with my own mug for a coffee fill-up I've been charged $1.35. So I brought with me a total sum of $1.50. This time, it rang up $1.55 because, apparently, my mug is deceivingly large - the size of a grande instead of a tall. (Here I need to state my frustration with *bucks using their own sizing system. What's wrong with the old standard 'small, medium, large'???). I said I only had $1.50 with me because I was charged $1.35 last time. The cashier told me that was fine and accepted what I had to offer. Despite (1) having been charged less every other time and (2) receiving confirmation that my under-payment was acceptable, I still feel GUILTY!

WHY?!?!?!?

Zoinks!

D'oh! Spice announced in the comments on Grrr's blog that I'm blogging again. So I better blog.

Status report on new job: I'm at the end of my 4th day. I'm currently sitting in my OFFICE where my computer faces AWAY from the hallway pretending to do statistics but actually BLOGGING. I should clarify. There aren't any statistics to do yet. So it sounds like I'm getting away with something. But really, I'm filling the 20 minutes before I feel okay about leaving.

Anyhoo, here's my first-four-days impression of my future here:
- I'm going to have to learn a hell-o-alot about writing scripts to manipulate databases.
- I think I will actually be appreciated for my skills, which largely lie outside those of the people in this particular office. This environment works for me (rather than one where we all do the same thing).
- Free pasteries are provided every morning by the neighboring *-bucks. I need to constantly remind myself of the 'one-pastery-per-week' rule.
- I like having my own office. I've rearranged my pencils and post-its 5 times in the last hour.
- My supervisor is very kind and straightforward. I like direct communication.
- It's really nice to work at a place that has very good human resources contacts.
- I think I should start a retirement fund.

I'm Back!

Dudes. Finally. I'm posting after a 3 week hiatus. I, once again, have regular internet access given my new 8-to-5 job. Yes. I have to be at the office at 8am. This means wake-up time of 6:15. Eesh.

There is much to report about the recent travels to the M.W. Notably, there are pics to share too. Spice and I will be doing some sort of e-mail volley of a story. It will likely be the best spelling you'll ever get out of me. For now, I will tantilize you with a lovely picture of the result of me sending one of Spice's gloves through the dryer. Note: she lent me the gloves about 2 years ago during a trip to D.C. and, after the extreme shrinkage, I tried to buy replacements with no luck. Perhaps I'll knit a pair as soon as I learn how to use 2-ended needles.

YAR!

I think I just got a job offer - or at least a statement that one will be coming in the near future. (Business with HR ... you know ...) YAY! Plus, my future supervisor expressed the importance of taking a week or two or three between jobs for some down time. What this says to me: "I understand the importance of the work-life balance." Good sign

Sometimes Things Work Out!

YAY! I have the perfect-case-scenario job hunting situation right now. Over the last week, my interest in the "old" #1 job option has fallen behind my current interest in the "old" job #2 option. But the #1 job is in a program of high prestige, so I didn't want to have to turn down an offer out of fear of ruining my future. So the great part of the story is that job #1 had an internal candidate they decided to hire, as I sensed after my interview when the director asked a colleague about openings in his group on our way out the door. I got a personal call with that "bad" news this morning - with the added information that they would love me to work for them in the future and that they will send my resume on to others in their division....and that they'll contact me if anything opens up in their group in months to come. At the same time, job #2 is aggressively following up with my references and it looks like I may get an offer soon. Which I will take - and which I may have the opportunity to leave if it doesn't work out and if job #1 has openings. And dude, I'll have my own office.

Taking Off Before Settling In

If I have 2 weeks off between my jobs (presuming I get the one I want, which is looking more and more positive ... and the one I want is now the one that was runner up before*), where should I go and what should I do?

Here are some options:
- Madison (my favorite winter between-job retreat, last winter visit - Jan 2002)
- Las Vegas (not my favorite option, but flights are probably reasonable)
- Yosemite Valley, which is lovely with a light dusting of snow
- The local mall (bargain shopping could be a great way to celebrate)
- Hawaii (including a visit to whale girl)
- Washington D.C. (home of my sister and the lovely TOWWAS)
- Paris (cold, but it's not tourist season and the baguettes are tasty year-round)
- My apartment (honestly, I have some sewing projects I want to make some serious progress on)

Any others? Where would you go given limited time and a relatively small budget?

* Dude, I'd have my own office with a door that closes. Unbelievable. Plus, I'd get some exposure to research -> policy change.

cortosol

Dudes,

I've been in recovery mode ever since the day'o'interviews. Like, it's taken until this afternoon for the stress hormones to drain out of my tissues. I'd forgotten how difficult interviewing can be. ...especially the part where you have no idea what sort of questions they'll ask. Neither of the 2 interviews this week asked for "strengths" and "weaknesses" and I was prepared with the perfect answer for weakness (spelling ... 'cause it's true and it's not such a bad thing since the advent of spellcheck). Oh well. I have a third chance Tuesday, when I have a secondary interview for the less-desirable (though still interesting) but more get-able job.

If I conducted an interview, I'd ask stuff like: What's your favorite type of candy? Have you ever seen a boy-band in concert and, if yes, which one(s)? If you were a city, which would you be and why? Okay, as an excercise, why don't YOU answer these questions! Thanks in advance for you participation.

Me:
(1) Twizzlers (cherry nibs), followed closely by Redvines black licorice
(2) Yes: New Kids on the Block - August and November '89. (I feel no shame.)
(3) Seattle - cause I like being cool but not acting like I think I'm cool...plus, I'm pretty laid back with periods of stormy/rainy weather.

Day o' Interviews

Yikes. I'm exhausted. One interview down, one to go. I'm pumped about the work of group #1. I think it's unlikely they will offer me a job, however. I didn't prepare for #2, but I feel I will do better since I am not prepared. Or not.

J.Po's Golden Globes Brief Review

- Johnny Depp looked hot, as usual
- Best Actress and Best Actor (drama) went to the right people
- Gwyneth and her bump looked lovely in all white
- Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Broderick are the CUTEST COUPLE EVER
- There were a lot of Sutherland's at the party
- Chris Rock is funny
- Steve Carell - also funny, in a white sort of way
- Alanis Morrisette was slighted again

Oooooooooohhhhhh ....... it's Friday the 13th.

Waking up

It's one week since I started antibiotics for my aching tooth. I feel great and, without constantly popping pain medication, I'm beginning to recall some things that happened over the holidays. Like ... I think TOWWAS called me about some public health-related info. I totally missed that. Also, it's totally possible that she never called. Perhaps it was a dream. Maybe I'll check my saved messages. Sorry, TOWWAS, if I never got back to you. D'oh! (Note to self: never get addicted to mind-altering drugs.)

YAY!-squared

People. Today is a very very good day. I just got another interview - to take place in the afternoon on the same day as the first interview. This one is for a position coordinating all data and helping plan studies for several psychiatric/behavioral programs for the under-served. Very very exciting.

YAY!

I got an interview for a job I'm really really really pumped about! Next week - one week from today. Time for me to start studying up on geographic distribution of exposure and disease and the role of community groups in advocating for their health. Dudes. This job seems to be the perfect confluence of rigorous science and community education and action.

Spice Needs Help

Somebody help Spice burn me some CDs. I desperately want her 'Best of 2005' and 'Illinois'. I am happy to return the favor, with some of my lesser-known faves. Thanks in advance.

Album Obsession

I am OBSESSED with "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning." I am now at the point in the repeat-listening process when I should be able to chose a favorite track. (In a comment on a previous post about said album, Ole indicated a newfound love of 'Road to Joy' - possibly replacing 'Land-Locked Blues' as his fave.) In my exhaustive attempts at selecting a personal #1, I have been unable to get lower than n=5. Here's where I stand:

Lua
First Day of My Life
Another Travelin' Song
Land-Locked Blues
Road to Joy

Help!!!!!!

Is the entire world blogging at this point? Some stranger has already taken Spice's old (#2) address. .....someone with a far less interesting blog than Spice. I continue to mourn her absence. Alas.

Flakey Wonderfulness

It's gonna be a rough week. I spent my one-pastry-per-week ticket yesterday and I have 5 days to go. Not only that, but I wasted it on some health-smealthy low-fat vegan "scone" from Whole Foods. What was I thinking?

I may have to ditch this resolution. It's cramping my style.

Finding-A-Job'O'Meter, January 8

T - (23 Days) until no more automatically-depositing paychecks.

So where's my level of anxiety on the Finding-A-Job'O'Meter?

Calm. Quite calm, really. Disturbingly calm. Turning down that job at that place made me feel like I am employable...and that I can hold out for a while for the right fit.

Holidaze

Since I'm sure you're DYING to hear about my Christmas/New Year's holidaze, here's a summary:

12/21 - I had a tooth pulled. It didn't come out as easy as hoped, so the dentist employed his tooth saw to grind it to a pulp - or so it seemed. I expected to have some minimal discomfort and be back on my feet in a day, 2 tops.

12/21 - 1 hour post surgery - I RAN to the drug store to fill ye ol' Vicodin prescription. As it turns out, getting a dental extraction hurts like a mother. I spent the following 24 hours in a complete daze. Despite this, I managed to take a train to Mountainview to see Jiggity and exchange presents. I got good loot. He did too.

12/22 - I was asked to send references to that job I applied for (discussed in teleconference with Madison gang). Within 5 hours, I was offered the job. I called and said I'd think about it overnight.

12/23 - Turned down the job. Kept popping Vicodin.

12/24 - Flew to Cleveland via Chicago. Waved to Grrrrbear on the way down and back up again (turns out he was in MN). Entire flying time went something like this: OUUCH!! OUUCH!! Vicodin, vicodin, sleep, sleep, sleep. OUUCH!! OUUCH!! Vicodin, vicodin, sleep, sleep, sleep. OUUCH!! OUUCH!! Vicodin, vicodin, sleep, sleep, sleep. OUUCH!! OUUCH!! Upon landing: ache ache ache ache ache, set presents under tree, ache ache ache ache ache, try to sleep. Vicodin.

12/25 - Presents and Pain (P^2). I enjoyed the former far more than the latter. Stuff aquired: DVD player (to replace the one obtained via the rents who obtained it via some Madison study), coffee maker I can program to grind and prepare coffee for wake-up call, financial assistance for my dental work (what I wanted most ... for reals). As for food, Grams provided a typically scrumptious feast. I drugged up in order to enjoy, sortof.

The remainder of my time back home went something like this:
*- ache, ouch, pain
- Vicodin, vicodin, vicodin
- Nap, nap, nap
- ache, ouch, pain
- Advil, advil, advil
- Nap, nap, nap
- Eat
- Nap, nap, nap
- Ache, ouch, pain
- Vicodin
- Ache, ouch, pain
- Advil, advil, advil
- Eat
- Sleep
(*Repeat)

12/31 - New Year's Eve was great, if not a little wet. Jiggity and I celebrated with his buds and some Dance Dance Revolution (my man has talent!) and I continued to ache. My stitches disolved and string-like matter swam in my mouth until I scouped it out with my pinky. (TMI?)

1/1 - Aching continues. I become increasingly concerned about my mouth as my gums surrounding the pulled tooth quadruple in size. I still have a good day, passing the time with Jiggity and a board game.

1/2 - Something is definitely not right with my extraction. Gums swell to 3-4-times their original size. Worry ruings my sleep.

1/3 - Call doctor. Discuss symptoms. "Why don't you come in today." J.Po opens up. Doc says, "Wow, something's really going on in there!". Doc orders x-ray. X-ray indicates no bone-related problems. Whew. Doc writes prescription for amoxicilin and orders Listerine rinses. J.Po feels relieved that the aching may end soon.

1/4 - Gum swelling decreases by roughly 30%. Throbbing continues, but magnitude decreases.

1/5 - Gum swelling down by 75%, at least. I no longer find myself chomping on soft tissue whilst comsuming food matter. Throbbing stops. Whew.

And we arrive at today - gums totally back to normal. I experience some continued low-grade ache when I open my jaw and insert my fist, but otherwise back to normal. YAY!!! The celebrations can begin ..... uuuuhhhhh. Yea. I totally missed Christmas '06.

New Year's Resolutions

1.) Blog more.
2.) Eat a maximum of one patry per week for breakfast. Mid-morning snack does not count as breakfast.
3.) Try to save $1.50/day by making coffee at home.
4.) Buy a copy of Sufjan Stevens' Illinois or find other source.
5.) Call Spice sometime before 2007.

Tunes

Dudes. I finally gave in and purchased Bright Eye's "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning."

PEOPLE! This album is AMAZING! I know that most of you know this already, but I thought I'd reiterate.

Also, I'm on Vicodin due to a tooth extraction yesterday. So most things seem amazing right now.

Gay Men and Sheep

Brokeback Mountain. Saw it. Gay men. Sheep. Love. Amazing scenery. Fantastic movie. Should be seen by all. Oscars? Methinks yes.

The vote is unanimous

I will be taking the 2nd interview. 1pm Monday. Wish me luck.

If you were not part of the Madison-SF conference call, this may confuse you. My apologies.

Worky

Well all, it's time for my annual job hunt. The grant I'm funded by being terminated at the end of January, which means I (and my paychecks) must go.

But don't worry, loyal readers. I'm pretty pumped to find something new. So far, I already have 2 jobs I've applied for. I'm interviewing for the first next week and there's word that I'm going to be contacted about the second. (see below for job types*)

So I need to start thinking about priorities, since I hope to land a job that I'll be in for more than 9 months (I'm in my 30's. That's what we do).

I've made a list of must-haves and can't-stands. Some of you out there will find these categories amusing for reasons beyond my analness. Here's what I have so far:

MUST-HAVES:
- a reaction of excitement when talking about the work
- a boss that understands work/life balance
- reasonable compensation and benefits
and if I must move....
- location such that I can maintain my enrollment at my ballet studio
- proximity (living or working) to my doctors' offices - I'm so tired of switching
- friends within reasonable travel distances

CAN'T STANDS:
- bosses who qualify as "crazymakers"
- excessive amount of redundant tasks
- a work place where I cannot listen to music
- being underutilized and under-challenged

The list will be developing over time.

What would go on your list?

* current jobs of interest: 1. data manager/analyst for a pediatric AIDS research group
2. epidemiologist with a psychiatric/substance abuse healthcare project

J.Po, as assembled by Manfriend (Jiggity)

In honor of this year's Holloween costume, here's what my gentleman caller cooked up!

Citrus

It's Clementime season. YAR! I bought a whole box at Whole Foods on my way into work. I've already eaten 5. No. Lie. I've had 2. But I'm on my way to 5.

In other news, I took a lunch break at the local Ross Dress for Less. While scanning the clearance dress rack, I discovered a clump of DKNY highly-pleated silk black drop-waiste dresses. Original tag price: $249. My price: $29.99. Not bad. And now I have a little black dress, as all women should.

J.Po, Spicing out!!

You all should really have other people make you South Park style. Here's Spice's rendition of me. She captures all of the crazy silliness I exude when she and I are together! ...and the fact that I now use a handbag. Also note, she put me in a stripey shirt. She's of the opinion that I wear stripes all the time. Untrue. I like that I'm exposing my midrif in this shot and that I'm wearing teeny tiny shorts.

My Manfriend

Here's the dude I'm datin'. Ain't his hair bushy?

J.Po South Park Style, made by Sophist

YAY! Sophist made me! I've been feeling edgy ever since learning about this make-yourselt-SP-style thing and realizing I can't do it on my work computer. THANKS SOPHIST! And Spice???

It seems I've missed some serious South Park character-makin fun. I just tried to catch up to speed, but I can't use the site because my computer at work has no ammenities (flash, whatever) for security reasons. So I must wait until post-work hours. Sad. Spice always has the option to e-mail me her version of J.Po, South Park Style.

You all are darn cute in cartoon form!

Rock Out

There were two music shows of interest last night in San Francisco. I attended one of them. Guess which.

Jason Mraz at the Warfield
Liz Phair at the Fillmore

Hint: I didn't get a poster after the show.

What Would JC Do?

I feel as though an explanation is in order re: Jimmy Carter. I had no idea my "I heart" comment would stimulate such concern and sadness. Not intented in the least! The reason for my hearting was an interview with him on Fresh Air yesterday where he discussed such things as "why religion doesn't belong in a science classroon" and "why preemptive war is just wrong wrong wrong". He just wrote a book. I might read it.

I still heart the very alive Jimmy Carter. (And no offense meant by the title, given that Jimmy Carter is quite the Christian man.)

I heart Jimmy Carter.

Hey now. Help me out here. What's this about a closed door session in the senate? Where does the right to a closed door session come from and what is it used for (besides stirring up news)? Are the dems quite suddenly growing a backbone?