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December 12th, 2009
05:12 pm - Impersonal update-a-torium
1. Steve, its not that I hate you, its that I am indeed super-busy but you are getting a call tomorrow (Sunday) for all future music swaps and Windows fanciness.
Someday I won't be living my life in the LAST MINUTE BEFORE EVERYTHING EXPLODES but today is not that day.
2. Jesse's birthday party was a grand success with pictures to prove it!
At least half of the people we expected to at least stop by did not,... but that didn't stop my house from being packed most of the night with friends, well-wishers and the like.
I like when my friends come to my house for a party... those polite bitches ask where to put recycling, smoke outside, keep their cigarette butts contained and clean up after themselves!
Not everyone is so lucky and I know it.
3. Im stealing Webs from The Station/The Studio, but when I went to do so earlier today the gallery next door had photographers offering free portraits.
What do you think I did?
A: Yelled at them for trying to steal people's soul with their digital image-capturing device.
B: Inquired within, took home a unique tri-fold pamphlet about their offer but decided against having a camera make me look fat.
C: Raced home, curled my hair, slapped on some make-up, wiggled my ass into my costume, grabbed my cleaver and jumped in front of the camera.
( Click here for the secret answer! )
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December 7th, 2009
07:36 pm - Caught up!
Im surreptitiously stealing Webs from mommala.
It is cold.
Ever so cold.
Tomorrow the expectation on the way to work is -3F with a 10 degree windchill.
That cold already?! That does not bode well for February 'round these parts.
Does not bode well at all.
My fingers are cold and practically unresponsive.
I never thought about why/how cold does this to fingers, but now I know that it's because when your body fat congeals it no longer conducts electricity as easily and so it slows your nerve impulses as the signal gets lost in the.. yes, Im going to say it again.. CONGEALED FAT.
Awesome.
Quick overview of recent timings:
It feels like I have been BIZZ-ZZEE, but thats a bit of an exaggeration.
Thanksgiving weekend was slightly jilted when I had to go in to the office on Saturday for a few hours of mail-work along with 3 or 4 other coworkers... when everyone else got to enjoy a full-on 4-day weekend...
But otherwise it was a blast! Had some friends from out of town in and hosted a Silent Movie party with a bunch of my neighbors and assorted friends/family. It was a riotous success!
My kitchen is still demolished, though.
Tim is in town for a couple weeks and I plan to make the most of it, and Christmas will mean even more people are coming this-a-way to spend time with their families hang out with me! Woot!
I've been going hog-wild at the library with documentaries and non-fiction audiobooks on the topics of science, global politics and humanism, probably because I'm a nerd that doesn't get out enough.
Ran into Ye Olde Frenemy... and that sort of stuff still wobbles my world, even though I have been graced with her absense for lo these many years. Why can't those people read my mind and leave me alone, instead of steering especially my way and forcing me to smile at them when really I want to throttle them? Sure, its been like... 8 or 9 years, but what does nearly a decade mean when true and honest hate-tainted dislike is concerned?
Work is "shakin' things up"... by this I mean that my boss invited me into her office for chocolate, closed the door behind her and said, "You know, we've all noticed that you have a very pleasant phone voice... we're moving you to the collections department so we can make use of it!"
My wail of despair echoed through her spacious iron-insulated torture place office space but the company's decision is non negotiable.
Im down to silent weeping now.
Also, it turns out I know LOTS of creative people...
So with the help of a friend, Im organizing a craft bazaar/barter fair for a bunch of my artisan friends to sell-trade their wares with eachother and whoever else I can convince to come. I'm also hosting Jesse's birthday party this Friday because well, sometimes I do silly shit like that before I remember how much energy and cleaning are involved in such misadventures. BUT,.. on the other hand, it also means that I don't have to leave my house and when the party is over I don't have to drive anywhere... which I approve of.
Trying to get ducks into rows.
I am forcing a friend who owes me many favors into baby-stepping me through the bureaucratic process of starting college... 10 years late.
I have been vascillating between two college ideas for probably 3 years, and I finally made a real decision not too long ago... and although I am worried about what the next 4-6 years of my life will bring as I try to bullshit my way through America's collegiate system and what restrictions it will callously put on every aspect of my life, I figure I've suffered worse yokes and none of them were attached to any cart I cared about pulling... so, its time I have at it.
Of course, I will be slow as I dip my toe in and double check the exits for fleeing-purposes, but my estimation is: "its about goddamned time"
I've decided I want to start reaching for the degree that I wanted when I was 7, and decided was an impractical waste of time, money and effort by the time I was 8. Sociology.
Waste of time, money and effort or no,... Im going for it. Or, at least that is the idea...
Or at the VERY least, that WILL be the idea... I think. Its where my passion lies, at least, and you only live once so I might as well say Fuck The Debt and read textbooks for school instead of simply for fun.
We'll see.
I havent even sewn a stitch when it comes to the costumes for A Lion in Winter, but Im not worried.. YET.
BUT,.. my serger's timing bar went out (or at least I THINK that's what happened) so I need to get that fixed ASAP because it makes everything SO much (sew much?) easier for those long seams down the sides of chitons and finishing of skirts and the like.
Anything else you might enjoy knowing?
Um,.. my knee is still quite painfully fucked up, but it IS getting better without the aid of GINORMOUS DOCTOR BILLS,.. its been a month and I just don't put direct pressure on it and baby it gently as if it were a fuzzy wee little:
A: 
B: 
C: 
Tiny bubbles.... in my wine.....
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November 21st, 2009
02:54 pm - Multitasking
1. My Zune is STILL broken.
I havent even received my shipping label yet and I have filed two return orders.
Bullshit.
2. I am in studio, cutting an interview. Editing 40 minutes of audio is oddly difficult to do while reading journals and typing my own.
Weird.
3. Every band should be called "Blood Mountain".
4. Trying to clean my house.
Still.
5. Lots of people coming through town very soon...
Jess is apparently moving back, Joe moved back to town recently, too. Tim may be hanging out for the entirety of the Winter and Zack and Andy both should be spending the holiday weekend in These Parts.
Note: Capitalizing "These Parts" made it sound dirty, that was unintended but I like it anyways.
6. Trying to organize a party or two so I can see as many people as possible that weekend,.. anyone want to help me do that?
7. I am one hell of a crafty such-and-such.
Seriously. After brainstorming for months on making a very particular kind of lampshade that I had been pining for, I cobbled together some basic materials (heavy duty plastic sheeting, dyed feathers, glue, glitter, jump rings, scissors, pliers, and LOTS of time) and made my ass a goddamned mod-style 60s chandelier of DOOM!
8. Last night after work I:
A: Went bra shopping which is my favorite AND least favorite thing to do.
B: Met up with Tiff and Denise at Matthews
C: Followed Tiffany to her house for drinks, chats and The Simpsons.
D: Went home, where Carissa delivered herself unto my doorstep bearing gifts. Yule-tide boozy gifts! That sweet lumpkin brought the ingredients for some Hot Toddies and caught up on each others lives from the last few weeks
9: Today I have already:
A: Woke up way too bright and early
B: Hung out with Tom
C: Have been in the studio ever since cobbling audio clips from a pre-recorded interview I was SUPPOSED to air Halloween and instead will be airing tonight.
Not a terrible 24 hours, really.
And yours, sir?
Miss?
Missus?
In other news: I cracked my knee a few weeks ago and its still getting worse.
This causes me ill-feelings of "I can't afford a doctor or x-rays". My self diagnosis is that I might have cracked the tip of my tibia. Oops?
Life sure would be easier if I weren't a genetic disaster.
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November 12th, 2009
11:38 pm - Hey! You!
Hey, you little monkeys!
Miss me?
MAYBE you did,.. before I called you 'little monkeys', I bet.
Im such a jerk.
I am stealing internet (as is my way) so I will attempt to be quick about it.
("quick" being relative, being as how Ive been hanging out at Paul and Carissa's for the last 2 hours already stealing The Webs)
I,....
Spent Halloween in Pullman.
A friend of a friend of a friend was having a party.
I said, "LETS ROCK!"
They said, "Uh... you're old and we'd rather grind to lame top 40 hip-hop, play beer-pong and... yeah, thats about it."
So, I people watched as The Young Kids did "their thing" and enjoyed myself anyways.
Silly kids, beer is for PEOPLE WHO LIKE IT! Fuck off and go drink a Mike's hard lemonade, losers.
BUT, as is usual, huge amounts of fun was had anyways.
Carissa and I:
Got lost.
Had Thai food.
Questioned the okay-ness of the ONLY decoration in the apartment of two 19 yr old boys being a poster of Miley Cyrus when she was like 12.
Listened to Max tell us about his dream.
Laughed. A lot.
Partied like we were 18 again.
Had lunch with Dana
Overall? A++
The weekend BEFORE that, I was in Sandpoint for the first cast-meeting and partial read through of A Lion in Winter, which I am officially doing the costuming for,.. I think. Heh.
This past weekend, Andy scooped up my butt and whisked me away to Seattle where I bought too many used books, got presents for friends at a very cool record store and generally wasted the weekend on music, silent movies and great friends.
Very good times.
Also... Museum of Mystery?! HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME?!
Also: I was promised a trip to Bruce and Brandon Lee's graves. Dream: Still unfulfilled.
There has been MUCH going on...
I have been a wee busy little bee,...
There are wheels turning... things will be happening. This excites me... and terrifies me. As it should.
IN OTHER NEWS: I am starting a new mini project.
It involves awesome pictures.
Are you in?
Are you "cool"?
Are you cool.. enough?
And before I escape I offer you crappy photos of my Halloween costume!
However, none of it ON me because I am unpopular and unloved. Also, I punch people who point cameras at me, but I am considering a photospread with a friend based solely on the fact that my costume was The Shit and does not look nearly as cool in pathetic photos of it chillin' on a coat hanger.
My dress:
I started off with being Lizzie Borden, but upon completion of the dress which turned out more feminine than I expected (I went ruffle crazy) and the fact that a cleaver from the dollar store is WAY cheaper than a hatchet from the tool-place... it morphed into "Evil Alice".
Close-up of the blood-stained apron I made with my own two murderous hands, and of course the help of at least one hand from a very unwilling victim...
My weapon.
Dude,.. this is the BEST prop I have ever had the pleasure of making! LOOK AT IT!
No, really... you gotta LOOK AT IT!
I told you.
Awesome, huh? Looks like I've been out hacking through skulls for half the day with that thing!
Feeling caught up now?
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October 31st, 2009
11:11 am - Update
1. "Dead Snow" was Teh Awesome
2. My costume = The Best Costume I have had in a Very Long Time.
2a. I = very proud
3. I am procrastinating on other very important things so I can do this. This is bad for me.
4. I have barely been sleeping and eating for the last two weeks. No time, says the white rabbit with the pocket watch. No time.
BUT, most all things have reached a positive conclusion that have met or exceeded my expectations (Luckily, I keep very low expectations) and my much much work is paying off.
Next week I will have time for Contra for the first time in 3 weeks! YAY!
More another time. A REAL entry.. pictures perhaps?
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October 23rd, 2009
09:08 pm - Excitement? Adventure?
Im not blogging on a Friday night again, I swear!
You really shouldn't trust me folks, Im OBVIOUSLY lying. Im so disappointed in you for believing me, honestly.
I am just stealing a little interwebs time, partially because I'm not given free reign over compies very often since friends and family have learned that I've gone linux at home and are worried about me infecting them with AWESOME.
Tonight I did my pre-recorded interview with Jesse James and Craig McQuain, and in a few short bits of time, I will be hitting up the Blvd with My Cronies to rock out. HOPEFULLY the audio for the interview was passable.. I will listen to it tomorrow morning. Recording in the production room with minimal experience with this set of equipment,.. PLUS only two mics PLUS only one headset.... my guess is that the laughter is loud, the talking is quiet and if it were live I would have been screwed... but since Ive got a week to play with the sound, maybe I can make it work!
Huzzah?
Got to mix tomorrow's show and cut, edit and mix the Halloween show,...
And finish my costume...
And when all that is done come October 31st,.. maybe I will get around to cleaning my house for the first time in a month.
DON'T JUDGE ME!
Sewing makes way too much of a mess. Why can't I have a clean hobby,.. like,.. cleaning?
O yes, cause then I'd be a loser.
Thanks, guys.
I have some pride that the things I make now are really mine.
Chalk, pins, scissors, measuring tape and sewing machine.
No patterns,.. I design, measure and draft everything freehand now.
Since my Zune has been dead almost two weeks and Im still waiting for the shipping label to send it in for repairs, I stopped in at The Pawnshop and got a good deal on a wee little-bit of a mp3 player to keep me happy in the meantime. Brian was there, so I got a 2G little Sansa thing for $15 and it even WORKS! Take that, Microsoft!
I have many stories of excitement and adventure...
Like the Very Bad Date with the guy from High School where I argued with drunkies until they wouldn't drive and the time this week that I showed up for a date and between me showing up and us leaving, I had made friends with 15 very small children by buying their love with a Transformers kite that I Just Happened to have in my trunk for just such an occasion.
Did you know that parents now teach their children not to take candy from strangers?
Well,.. thats why I have a kite in my trunk instead.
Children are horrible little rodents.. which is why I laughed pretty damned hard when it turned into a Lord of the Flies situation within 15 seconds of their grubby little hands getting the kite in their mitts... it was the best.
Don't you wish you were coming to the metal show with me?
Bet your ass you do!
I'd better go now... thats where the beer lives.
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October 17th, 2009
12:23 am - I have things to say!
But, don't worry.. none of them are important for you to listen to.
Promise.
Its late Friday night,.. I was supposed to be dancing The Hustle somewhere in some park in Seattle.. or singing karaoke in Seattle or telling ghost stories around a pile of flashlights in Seattle... but instead Im updating from The Studio in Spokane.
Woe.
BUT, in reality that is Good News in the technical sense of the word. (Thankfully not the Give Thyself to Jesus as your Personal Lord and Savior way. *personal shudder*)
I will sew. That is what I have deemed.
I will give dancing lessons to Paul, start my Halloween costume and watch as much of The Simpsons as I can tolerate.
I told you about adopting a 1950 White Rotary electric sewing machine last week... Carissa and I sharing custody, although I think for that to be technically true that bitch done be owin' me $10!
Well, today I fell in love with all three sewing machines I visited today.
First was a 1930s White Rotary electric in a really horrible cabinet.
After forcing men to haul it around so I could plug it in and play with it, I learned that it hadn't been oiled in probably 40 years, was missing a gear belt, part of the head piece and was generally Not Worth My Money... but that didn't stop me from crawling all over and under it, touching its lovely bits, whispering soft compliments and scrunching my nose at the smell of rusty metal. Also.. I sorta.. kinda.. uh.. 'nicked' the bobbin case from it because the one Carissa and I bought was missing it (we checked the manual to see if we already had something that would work.. but it was a very peculiar shaped one we needed) so... uh.. Machine That Doesn't Work gets just a teensy-bit raped for the Machine That Does Work.
A lady came to use my outlet to test a blow-up snowman lawn ornament.... she asked if I liked sewing machines... I enthusiastically first-pumped my heart out, she said she would give me one because she had 3 and only used 1 of them. I got her number, I am calling her tomorrow!
On a whim I visited the other Value Village (Im in desperate need of garter-slips) and they had a 19-teens treadle machine (no belt, no treadle, no base) for $10. It was an American brand, but not one I recognized. It was VERY pretty and seemed to run smoothly but was missing several small bits and its bobbin-winder didn't work.
BUT,.. then I saw a 1955 399k Singer machine in a travel case! I plugged it in and it ran really smoothly and had even been fully threaded with a 50 year old wooden spool of thread! So cute. At the store I figured it was a late 1960s reproduction of a 1930s style machine... all the paint and stickers are in suberb enough condition that except for the electrical cord and the stereoscopic glass on the utility light.. it looked like it wasn't even 10 years old, so to find out it was more than 10 years older than my best dreams felt great!
Ok,.. so.. uh.. yes, I AM a sewing machine addict.
Currently, in my house, I have 6 machines... my mom has one more of mine.
Ok, ok, TECHNICALLY one of them is half-owned by Carissa and another one of them is Rashonda's which she has never asked for back for some reason... even though I've had it for almost 6 years and have named it.
The infant costume came out cuter than expected.. because in all honesty.. I HATED making it.
Hated.
Work gave me new duties.
I take that as a good sign.
As a You Will Keep Having a Job Awhile Longer sign.
Very good.
My Zune has officially died.. and I hate it for it.
BUT,.. thankfully it gave its last dying gulp in the very last month of its warranty.. so,.. thats good?
Carissa and I are writing together.
No good can come of this.... and by that I mean, that this is the most fun ever.
Getting lots of clothing ideas.
I can hunker down and sew all winter, maybe.
Maybe?
Maybe.
If I were to judge my mood,.. I would say that I've been down for a few months..
The problem is,.. it's totally not true.
I laugh and smile all day. ALL DAY.
Negative thoughts might eat up my headspace for a couple hours at a time, but in all reality, I just can't see much reason to be unhappy when life is so cool.
Speaking of,... the "official" count of civillian deaths in Iraq is apparently 85,000... roughly.
I cried right then and there.
What sort of cry out do we raise over the horrors of 9/11... which was less than 3,000 people and lasted all of 40 minutes.. let alone 85,000 over the course of 6 years. 8 years in Afghanistan.
Luke is home from Iraq, just last week.
I am too full of things to say... to say anything about it.
My pride in him,. distrust of the situation and deep regret for everythign war takes.. leaves me a bit too drained to do much more than sigh deeply, picture his face and whisper a wee little prayer.
Gross, I just said the "P" word.
It may be after midnight, but I'ev been home less than 10 minutes since 7am this morning.. and I think Im going to hang with Tiffany before headin' home again.
The internet is so very very useful and fantastic to have... but I really do love leaving the seat and walking away from the computer to join real life. May even be my favorite thing about the whole thing.
P.S. Amy Goodman played a Dax Johnson track just yesterday on Democracy Now,.. which totally took me by surprise. Dax died before I could have a chance to meet him, but he spent a few years in Spokane, wrote a lot of music here and my friend Joe produced a handful of tracks for him back in the day.
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October 12th, 2009
10:37 pm - I've been "away"...
I'm only on The Internet because Zunes are pieces of crap because Microsoft refuses to make a product that works the first 5 years/generations of its existence.
But then I got distracted by things like email and the long lost love of Livejournal.
Which, by the way sucks now thanks to all those ads in free accounts,... even grandfathered ones like mine. What dickfaces.
I've been feeling stressed, but things seem to be working out in my favor.
That might be speaking loosely... their not quite working in my FAVOR.. but they are at least not really working AGAINST me, either.
Exciting things:
Carissa and I adopted a classic 1950s Whites Rotary electric sewing machine from Value Village. We assume its a girl by her feminine shapeliness, but her cammo-green paint job, cast-steel textured body lets us know she is rugged and 'won't take no guff'. The interwebs tell me its a White's Rotary 77 Sewmaster although I dont know if it was produced from the same model body for several years.. which is often the case so I dont know if its a 1950. I havent looked up the serial number yet.
The infant costume is more difficult than suspected, BUT I WILL CONQUER IT! Stupid weird body proportions and extra details you need to keep in mind because babies are stupid and will scratch their own eyes out accidentally. *pfft* dumb babies.
But I am making a safe costume that is diaper-accessible and won't kill him accidentally if he struggles and everything!
HOPEFULLY a whirlwind roadtrip to Seattle next weekend.
Last night I got a free last minute ticket to Gogol Bordello, and since NO ONE ELSE was cool enough to go, I HAD to use it... and it was awesome. I am the QUEEN of getting a set-list, Im telling you! Set lists and autographs are my favorite bits of memorabilia to collect! At the concert I broke my glasses and two guys stole my rad seat... so I was forced to dance my butt off 10 feet from the lead singer. Woe is me!
Spent the weekend before last in Sandpoint.
Carissa, Jaq and I hanging out with Andy.. going to weird raves and forcing us out to a Dutch breakfast full of laughs and marmalade early the next day. So many chuckles. I love my nerd friends when they nerd out. Good thing Im the "cool" one!
Swear to god. Im cool. My mom blogs so.
My guy friends rallied around me this weekend,.. making sure that I don't give up on menfolk just because a lot of them happen to be pissing me off right now.
Work froze wages 9 months ago.
Friday at 4pm, The Boss Lady announced there were going to be layoffs,.. more information on Monday... have a good weekend!
Carissa nursed my scared-shitless heart with our amazing trip to Value Village to make fun of clothes, talk about fabric and buy sewing machines and cute alcohol-related wall decorations.
So far, its Monday after work and I still have a job.
And from the undertones from my supervisor during our one-on-one,.. I really shouldn't worry but no decision is 100% right now.
High unemployment rates sure make work a pressure cooker environment of stress.
I visited mom's animals.
I miss animals a lot.
I made a ramp for Isabeau the cat... she is old and was hit by a car a few years back. She sleeps on the dryer and she hates having to jump down.
Peru, the terrier mutt who's been blind for five years now, got some pets and treats and I made him sit, stay, down, speak and fetch... which is really funny with a blind dog.
Visited Tank and Sisco in the pasture. Tank didn't try to bully me this time and Sisco came right the fuck up to me and let me pet his face and neck WITHOUT even flinching! This is unprecedented.. the bastard must be lonely without Magic. (The horse I grew up with that we fed to lions last year. Totally)
Im excited for Halloween, but time is getting short and I havent even prewashed the fabric. Yipe!
Tonight I hung out with Tiffany,.. we went to a friend of her's house and there was a dog party. No funny hats involved, I swear. It was just a big unintended doggie playdate. Tiffany and I both have lots of stories about our childhood that make us laugh so hard we're doubled over.. but the people hearing it seem shocked or horrified. I like that about us.
Have I mentioned lately how much I really love my friends? They have been taking care of me better than if I were a part of their own body! Whatever I need, before I can even ask, they are right there.. supporting me, saying embarrassingly nice things to me (all lies, I assure you.. but thats so kind of them anyways) taking me out or letting me take them out.
Loving keeping up with contra dancing, and I like seeing who comes of the people I invite and seeing people I wouldn't see otherwise. The book club, too... I love being a part of it. Makes me miss the Philosophy guild, though! And! O NOES! The OTHER book club meeting is tomorrow!
Crap.
I can go and eat their food and have a great conversation with Tammy and Jaq at the very very least.
I have Halloween night plans.. but no Friday night Halloween Eve plans. Got any ideas?
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September 26th, 2009
08:44 pm - Full on catch-up, yo!
Right now:
Using the studio computer to update while I rock some genius aerospace headphones and my earholes get tickled with the delicate whisperings of a trumpet accompanying some sweet-ass Spokane swing.
Today:
Overtime at work and hours in the studio to set up for tonight. Music homework is the best/worst.
Books:
"The Book of Lost Things" by Connolly
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Steig
all recently finished, but currently amidst of:
"A Lion Among Men" by MacGuire
"Autobiography of a Blue Eyed Devil" Muscio
Autobiography... is amazing and horrifying and hilarious.
Don't read it if you want to believe in the Red, White and Blue patriotic God-Loving Pure-Hearted America... because not only is that image a lie, this book spells that out to you in gruesome historic detail.
Also listening to:
"The Toynbee Convector" Bradbury
"Rabbit is Rich" Updike
Music:
Haven't been listening to much new music... generally sticking to old favorites lately. Sublime, Franz Ferdinand, Cake, The Gossip, Husker Du, Beastie Boys, The Offspring. Nothing exciting to report here.
Sewing:
Not much getting done, but Im going to be back to chugging away at my machines very shortly. I am ready to start my Halloween costume,.. which reminds me, Mel? I need measurements of Da BayBay. (arms, legs, face circumference, torso, and head to toe, please) I am super excited about my own costume and am nearly ready to start. WOOT! I've always WANTED to be a blood thirsty killing machine and now is my chance! I AM Lizzie Borden!
Dental work:
OVER!
Talk Like a Pirate Day:
SUCCESS!
Bills:
Ever present
Male-types:
Ever-infuriating and enjoyable to make fun of.
Car:
Still running! *crosses fingers*
Trips:
Sandpoint trip planned, Seattle trip planned, Pullman trip planned... all this month.
That would almost be interesting to note.. excepting Sharon recently left for Mongolia, which totally takes the steam out of my regional car rides.
Work:
My 1 year is coming up.
Believe me, we're all a little shocked. Proof I CAN keep a job when A: I dont hate it B: They dont hate me and/or C: they don't practice unfair hiring/firing practices.
Still hate working mornings, but that will never change. Thank god for free coffee.
Plus I really like a few of my coworkers. Very unusual.
Recent doin's:
Enjoying weekly Contra dancing, also thinking of taking up Salsa and Swing.. just because Im tired of my horrible sense of balance and how pathetically awkward I am.
Adventures:
Dude! I have SUCH a story for you!
I will put it in a post by itself for your convenient boredom.
Is this good enough for a systematic and personality-less update?
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September 18th, 2009
06:50 pm - News? Do I have news?
Work paid me for doing work.
And then I paid companies for supplying me with various goods and services.
Some companies still require payment at this time.
Assholes.
I found a very old printout of a very old very short story I wrote.
She said she might want to turn it into a comic strip.
I also nudged her on the comic that she is already working on that we are supposed to be conspiring cooperating on.
There is no real excitement.
For about the last 6 months I've spent most of my time THINKING.
Some answers will never simply reveal themselves. Wiley bastards.
Lots of creative inspiration has been coming my way.
Will be hitting up Contra most every week,.. finished up my first series of dance classes.. planning some more....
Admittedly, I hate the EXTREME sense of shyness I feel during dance class, though.
Loathe. I be so awkwards!!
Also... saddest news that does not involve the rape or mangling of a person:
Childrens books pre-1985 will probably be destroyed all across the country as thrift stores begin adhering to recent child safety laws
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September 17th, 2009
07:35 am - Man, why isn't The Framp my friend?
Probably because I would insist on calling him, "The Framp" which, honestly, would ruin any chance at a kind and thoughtful relationship, I bet.
Quickest of updates... because Im here, but Im also halfway out the door to get to work.
Flogging Molly,.. there was dancing, I got spit on, new friend got elbowed in the jaw, there were hugs, autographs and pictures and the organized chaos of When Nerds Meet Other Nerds and their little paws go all a-waggle in excitement over finding SOMEONE to talk about Batman comics, Invader Zim, or costume design with. All nerds got included in some aspect of nerdly babble.
And a question for the ages....
Why AM I so heavily attracted to anyone seen playing the A: Banjo or B: Accordion? I will qualify that by saying, "anyone seen playing the banjo or accordion who was NOT featured on Lawrence Welk"... although now thinking of it, my childhood obsession with polka music and bubble machines MAY be the key to this whole mystery,... no?
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September 7th, 2009
02:02 pm - Fall fell..
Autumn started yesterday in Spokane,.. about 5pm.
I saw many fat little starlings hip-hopping (waddling-hopping, really) along the city street.
I wanted to cuddle one of them.
They all refused.
Is this how boys in high school feel?
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September 5th, 2009
02:54 pm - Sometimes I just say things...
Othertimes I just type them.
The money thing is stressing me out.
Second job, why won't you creep out of the darkness and attack me with money?
Please?
I have turns in luck.
My down mood has been helped by a run of bad luck.
I would say that its not impossible for there to be some sort of correlation.
Im stressed, Im behind on bills again, Im worrying... and the dentist visits aren't over yet.
But, Im ok.
Plugging away.
Hoocha-hoocha-hoocha... lobster.
If I leave my door open at night when Im home.. eventually a neighbor comes by.
Sometimes its, "Want a beer?"
Sometimes its, "Can I have a beer?"
I've been a hermit... its getting worse.
Lackadaisically looking for a second job that won't make me want to peel my skin off my face and waggle my raw uncovered face-bits at passersby...
Plus Homegrown, plus Job, plus cleaning, plus stressing, plus sewing...
Its hard to go out when even moths desert your wallet.
Last week I had to ration my gas.
"Nope, can't hang out. I can only afford to go to work and come home until payday. If you can pick me up, we can rock out!"
No takers. Fine by me.
Bad luck on Tuesday and then Wednesday. Deluge of rain tried to kill me on the freeway.
About had a heart attack. Over and over I am reminded why its dangerous to have tires that wear out in a month.
I told Carissa that she is not only my boyfriend, but the best boyfriend I've ever had.
Two straight chicks.. being each other's boyfriend. Hot.
Sure, she already HAS a boyfriend. Thats not the point... as you can see by the "two straight chicks" comment.
Did studio work for 6 hours last night.
Listened to so much bad music.
Save me?
Visitors are coming. Time to finally clean my house... again... for the millionth time.
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August 29th, 2009
01:21 am - Here I am?
It was a weird day.
The first thing I did was somehow... totally by accident... pour a soda into my pocket.
POUR a SODA into my POCKET.
Mainly its because Im an idiot.
Of course it was the pocket with my 120G Zune in it, too.
Way to go, assface!
But,.. so far, the thing has been almost submerged in chicken soup, flooded in a pocket by energy drink and has fallen on the pavement at least 4 or 5 times... and in general, it only performs slightly worse than most other Microsoft products... which is bad, but yet also surprisingly good.. I guess.
I have been in a "mood" since July 22nd.
I can always pin down days like that. I feel a switch somewhere inside.
Bloop.
I cried for probably 3 or 4 hours that day... it was the day I realized that the next day was the 1 year anniversary of my grandmother's passing.
There has been an emotional fog ever since. It's hard to explain.
It gummed me up, rather than emptied me out.
It left me tired... and I've been tired ever since.
Speaking of tired...
I came home and slept after work.
In my jeans, shoes still on, pockets still full... across the bed. Out.
Cleaned up a little around the house. Cleaned up most of the sewing mess. I hate how bits of thread go EVERYWHERE. Stick to EVERYTHING.
Had a whiz-bang moment of inspiration when I found the boring cheap WalMart wall clock that I never hung on a wall. I need a clock SOMEWHERE in my house besides the microwave.
I pulled out a stack of magazines, tacky-glue, rhinestones, glitter, pliers, paint, a screwdriver and a tin full of magentic poetry bits that I only recently re-discovered.
I composed a 12 word poem from my Shakespearean magnetic poetry set, cut out a picture from a National Geographic gorgeous photo spread of Serbia and decided that I could make money selling this sort of slapdash late-night creatively conjured bullshit. Isn't that what etsy.com was MADE for? I have a blast making that sort of stuff spur of the moment... AS inspiration hits.
Im getting inspired by the Halloween costume I've decided on, even though its really simple.
I've been feeling the creative juices flowing. Blame it on The Mood, perhaps? Down moods and creative inspiration have been strange bedfellows for a very long time if you listen to anecdotal evidence.
Talked to Andy a little bit.... apparently he wants me on board for their large-scale Spring play.. which will involve LOTS of costume making,.. especially renaissance style.
Im excited about the whole thing.. and also preemptively sick of sewing approximately 1.6 million chemises.
First and foremost, though?
Halloween costume for me.
Dance garb for me.
All other things come after that.
Working Saturday again.
I need the overtime... but I'd like the time-time at home-home.
Wouldn't we all?
Wouldn't we all?
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August 27th, 2009
10:41 pm - Cancel...
Catch up, catch you up....
There were things,... things happened.
Not all at once. Over time.
It always feels like I'm going non-stop. Rushing. Lots.
But, in all reality.. I take lots of time to myself.
My house is a hot mess. Sewing like a storm,.. camping,.. sewing like a storm. A mess-making sandwich.
Decided on my Halloween costume... designing has commenced.
Also got the costume for The Wee Babe designed.
Life has been hard for awhile.
Just normally hard.
The stress of the dentist and the HUGE money-strain that a surprise $1,800 bill.. ($1,500 up front cash out of pocket!!) has been stealing good moods away from me.
Not being vigilant looking for that second job. I don't WANNA I tells, ya! But damned Capitalism says that I must work for money so that other people can pocket a month of my salary for 5 hours of THEIR work.
Yesterday at work I listened to:
"Idylls of the King" by Tennison followed by "Come September", a speech by Arundhati Roy (A href="http://www.nmazca.com/verba/roy.htm">transcript here</a>
These two things back to back put me in a quite a down mood.
Passionately down.
Remember all those times I was bursting with sunshine.. babbling about saving up the good feelings for when things get hard later? Things feel hard now.
But, in all reality... life is still damned good.
Im broke again... beyond broke, actually. But,.. Im pretty used to that. Thank god I dont bother with fancy business like cable bills and internet bills, huh?
Im loving everyone in my life. That makes it hard to really complain when everyone around me is so star-fucking amazing.
I'm getting over the perpetual "last hump" in finding the last strings to snip... and being okay letting it all fall away after. Right now,.. Im still holding on to it.
Almost. Barely. Couldn't tell you why its still hanging around at all...
Nostalgia?
Yeah, a little.
I keep broken bits of glass and folded bits of newspaper, too.
Im such a forgetter... that I've made routines to remember as much as I can.
I keep notes.
Im so good at my routines.. I have to remember to forget some other things.
Forget him. Forget it. Forget that.
I love how basic TV dubs over "fuck you" with "forget you"... and how it keeps so much of its original message.
Im coming up on a year.... just a couple days, actually.
Two weeks later, the anniversary of the day I moved out.
A month later, I stopped talking to one of my oldest friends.
Turns out,.. I miss liking them, respecting them, loving them.. much more than I miss their presence in my life. Funny thing is,.. without them, my life got simple and my happiness level shot up,.. but a year later Im still around... thinking about them regularly even though the very consideration of either of them makes my mouth taste like charcoal and my ears ring instantaneously.
Who knew that disappointment would be so PHYSICAL?
Moms, I guess. Moms know, I bet.
Speaking of...
Must haunt every place with a Help Wanted sign.
Make money.
Pay bills.
Live the American Dream.
By the by... have you written, called or visited your Senators/Representatives to tell them that health care reform is important to you and that a upholding a strong public option is the only way to actually REFORM our health care system rather than continuing to let insurance companies profit from denying care to the sick?
Is this the right time to mention that Tricare is government insurance AND about the best you can GET in the U.S. without being in the top 5% income bracket,.. and that the CEO of United Health Care (the second largest health insurance company in the world) got paid a $125 million dollar salary in 2005 alone?
Oh, and thanks to Wendell Potter maybe we should all realize that trusting our lives and health to big business is not the best way to spend our billions of dollars spent on health insurance premiums per year.
Wow, you got me in a MOOD, didn't cha?
Guess I gots me all sorts of wounds that need nursin', eh?
*waggles her eyebrows a bit half-heartedly*
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August 19th, 2009
08:37 pm - Stealing webs...
Its what I do. Its what Im good at.
Yesterday ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) archethereal asked people to post a comment and she would give them 5 words that made her think of them... then its my job to post those five words and go on a bit bit bit about them them them...
Or should that be bit bit bit bit bit about them them them them them?
Answer: Unknown
And riDICulous.
( Psst, look under here! )
Anyone?
Bueller? Bueller?
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August 18th, 2009
11:18 pm - Delicious police brutality...
Hijacked lovingly from sarahs_muse
Woman is defiant toward cop. Cop turns off video camera. Woman "falls" somehow while the camera is turned off and wakes up with a broken nose, two broken teeth, two black eyes and a cut on her forhead, lying in a pool of her own blood.
Whoopsie!
The policeman HAD been removed from the police force...
But apparently was recently reinstated.
Ahh, God Bless America and our peace officers, eh?
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11:22 am - Writer's Block: Thanks for the Input
The first time I met Chuck Palahniuk, I asked if I could be his screaming groupie.
He had long hair, a stained white t-shirt, cargo shorts and flipflops on. He looked at me cynically and told me "no" as he defaced my pathetic VHS copy of Fight Club with his autograph and funny mustaches. With gravitas, I advised him that everyone NEEDED a screaming groupie.. everyone DESERVED a screaming groupie... at which point he quickly gave me his hotel room info.
I came up with a plan immediately. I would dress up in one of my various wench costumes and show up to his hotel room door inviting him out to soup... because, what ELSE can a 17 yr old invite someone out to? Plus... soup is delicious.
Carissa, although excited for me,.. told me that it was unsafe for a blushing nubile flower who was so young and fresh to visit the sleeping abode of any much older man, no matter his wealth, influence or sexy brain. I ended up chickening out... seeing visions of weirdness, creepiness and all the other possibilities of meeting someone who makes millions writing pick-up lines like "I want to have your abortion".
Two years later Chucky P. came back to town... he was dressed in a pressed white button-up, slacks and had a nice, formal (ie: square) haircut. I asked to be his screaming groupie again... he gave me a tiara, told me no very sternly and turned away like a cold front.
Carissa was worried and had the best intentions ever... and it is advice that I have followed on OTHER occasions... but at that moment, I should have slapped her butt and went on my way to go hang out with Chuck. I didn't have fucksual-intentions... and being as how years later we find out he is really more gay that straight I might have missed out on the best conversation ever with a writer I really admire.
Carissa, I will never forgive you for having that clear moment of sanity AND of passing it on to me like a virus.
*********************
This weekend was a great success. Autumn War is unofficially my 10 year anniversary playing in the SCA,.. and I raise my tankard to 10 more!
The 5 of us made it over to Randle in the dark-dark of the night-night (which is our common story... arriving very late at night to these things)
Setting up camp in the dark is practically a tradition. A frustrating tradition, but a tradition none the less.
Zack took a bit of a detour, but eventually met us there on Saturday.
We were laid back,.. we hung out at camp a lot,... enjoying our fire, cooking, eating, talking, drinking. It was a small Autumn War... about 1,100... pretty much a 1/3rd of the size of the last Autumn War I made it to... 5 years ago.
5 years ago. Wow.
The site was a beautiful soft green hayfield in a mountaintop valley nestled in the cascades. A 15 minute drive on a dirt single-lane road through old growth forests was required to make it to site.... and it was amazing. After nightfall, a thick fog would settle in.. turning the whole place into a quiet soupy maze of eerily glowing fires and laughter that you couldn't quite tell the direction of, but before then... the sky was brightly lit with so many stars.
I only saw one shooting star, though... and being as how this is meteor-shower time, that was a little sad.
The last night there was even a big fireworks display.
Huge, actually.
Huge and amazing.
(That's what she said)
Returning to mundane life is a relief in lots of ways.
Real toilets, hot water, real beds,...
But, the SCA provides amazing weekends that I look forward to all year.
History nerds know how to party. They slap on a feathered cap, bust out the lute, grab a tankard of fermented something-or-other and spend all night laughing.
In other words: My people.
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August 12th, 2009
06:55 am - Writer's Block: Proven by Science
This is a badly worded question.
I don't think everything HAS a scientific explanation,.... yet.. but I think everything WILL have a scientific explanation if we don't blow ourselves up first.
Now that that is over with....
You know how for the last.. o, say... 6-9 months I have been of a sunny disposition where everything is going right and I can't be moved to complain "all that much"?
Remember when I was saying, "I had better enjoy it now, because these things don't last"?
Dude, they totally did not last.
But, in all reality.. even though I am pulling out my hair, breaking into tears at odd intervals, and feel as high-strung as a inbred chihuahua surrounded by raucous rodeo clowns....
really, its not all THAT bad.
I can technically pay rent,.. I think. My car is still working,.. for now. My job that I really like still hasn't fired me.. or even threatened!
However, life is still getting me down.
The anniversary of Grandma's death threw me off-kilter, and a surprise $1,800 for a root canal and crown (and the accompanying HORROR that is going to the dentist) has me hyperventilating at odd intervals during the day,... but with the help of family Im getting through it. I will survive... and all that jazz.
*does a few Fosse-meets-disco moves*
Life will feel less overwhelming when I'm not paying 6 weeks worth of wages to be terrified by a very rich man in a white coat who drills my bones on a very strict cash-for-pain/terror exchange. Also, to pay for this endeavor... this means I need a second job.
It will probably be a horrible one. I steady myself for the eventuality.
This weekend, if it goes as planned, should be a really great time at Autumn War. I made some garb for Rashonda, and even a couple new skirts for me. Mom is lending us some other garb so I am not sitting at my sewing machines twitching and cursing God inbetween looking for a second job and having a maniac tsk me about flossing while jabbing my mouth-place with shiny-pointy things saying, "does this hurt?".... which has been a relief.
Actually, everyone's life seems to be in a bit of an upheaval right now.
New babies, new families and lots of bad luck going around.
Also... can we talk about healthcare reform, people? CAN we? Can we TALK? What is going on now is bullshit and I am going to link arms with Kucinich and together we are going to shout about universal single-payer coverage for every citizen until we can't no mo'!
Can I just mention here,... that I work with most insurance companies on a daily basis and THE BEST insurance to deal with is Tricare, which is a goverment subsidized optional healthcare program in some states... it is AMAZING. Not to mention.. that they actually keep good records. I think people would be aghast to know what HORRIBLE records some INSURANCE companies keep.. which, even to me, seems like an obvious attempt to obfuscate their accounting books.
Have I mentioned that in 2005 United Health Care's CEO owns over $1B in stock options in UHC (this is after the 22% devaluation since the depression) and in 2005 alone made $124M?
Just sayin'...
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July 29th, 2009
08:59 pm - Its hectic...
Bein' a pimp!
.....
Life feels busy. Busy and cramped.
But, really its just fine. I'm just fine.
Life is getting complicated for friends and family, but... I'm staying pretty cool.
My internet is going Away again, soon.
Fiddlesticks!
Guess I'll just look forward to paying off Comcast so they'll agree to give me service again someday.
You don't pay a bill and they won't give you service anymore? HIGHWAY ROBBERY, says I!
(The debt with them is actually from like 3 years ago.. maybe 4... how sad am I??)
Im making Work Friends,... now that I have been "accepted" into the She Cult known as Lincare after lo these many months.
So far they have not decapitated me and feasted on my most soft of innards.
At least not YET.
Night before last my neighbor busted out his conga drums and I hauled out the djembe for some mad beats.
Turns out that me trying to play with him... is like a monkey hitting a log with a dead snake being the stand-in for the missing arm of that drummer from Def Leppard. It was... possibly the most pathetic thing I have ever heard. I gave up and had WAY more fun watching him play than playing myself.
After talking to him he said he doesn't play often and never gets to play with people because he doesnt know any musicians in town. I thought of a few people right off the top of my head who would like to play with him... and they he would like to play with. Sometimes the world spins just the right way, no?
I've been networking a lot. It feels good.
My brain exploded with an IDEA. Maybe not my best one,.. but possibly one of my funniest in quite some time.
Im going to write a comedy musical... maybe not a good one, but thats not the point. I have THE PERFECT idea and within days I ran into all the people I wanted to help me with it.
In other news... did I mention I am STOKED to be commissioned for another wedding dress? This one is going to be SO amazing and WAY more creative!
ANNNNND,... Carissa slipped me some frames of the new comic she's writing...
which I will also be writing for. How snazzy is THAT?! The character based on me is a totally-hot, which is a total real-life lie.. and I fucking love it.
Still working on getting to Autumn War. Plans change every day.
Got to make Rashonda's gear,.. maybe make some for me?
I have a line of sundresses I'm going to be making, too.. which I'd better do before summer is OVER.
In other news, I picked up the vast majority of the books I wanted of my grandma's.
Two nice sets of Great Works collections printed in the 40s or 50s and some gee-gaws of randomness.
Just when I thought I had JUST enough bookshelves for my books, I go and add another 40 books to my library.
Oops.
As if that all weren't enough... I REALLY am going to pitch the show I want to do on KYRS.. you know, the one Ive been thinking about since last Fall?
... Hmmm,.. maybe all THAT business is why I feel so busy, eh?
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