Resolute

Let's be perfectly honest: I have been away from the office for a week now, and I am perfectly comfortable with a week's time off. I have seen the people I love the most. I have spent some serious quality time with my beautiful daughter. I have managed to craft and write and catch up on movies and make my house an utter pigsty through the sheer living-in-it.

This week between Christmas and New Years is always my favorite week to catch up, recharge, and evaluate life. 2006 has been particularly challenging for me, in all good ways... but a lot of growth happened this year, and if I do say so myself, phew! It's been a wild ride and I am thankful for this week's respite.

The break has also given me a chance to pause and set some goals for the upcoming year (the rest of the world calls these new year's resolutions, which are essentially what I am about to write, but I refuse to slap that label on here. Sorry, kids.) I won't predict what 2007 brings... life is too complex and lovely to make predictions. I will say, though, that I'll finish a thesis and a master's degree this year, and by May, I'll be looking to move into adult life without higher education. Much of my goal-setting for the year reflects the anticipated surplus of time and energy I will shortly be able to dedicate to other things I love. As my daughter learns and grows, I also anticipate the start of pre-school (read: real school) for her, and the advent of an increasingly animated, independent, expressive, extroverted little person. Mostly, I am anxiously anticipating a year of simplicity, of quiet life and little surprises, of growing in myself, in my friendships, in my family and my career and my spirit. Aside from finishing school, I just want to undertake the routine of a quiet, simple, contented existence in a city I adore with the rich blessings of friends and family around me.

Which brings me to a few of the "things I'll be doing in 2007" on the list.

• As aforementioned, a completed thesis and master's degree. May 19th. Save the date, baby.
• Reading for myself. Because I have been in graduate school for so long, I have neglected literature entirely. I have asked my literate friends (you know who you are) to recommend their favorites. I haven't gotten a duplicate yet. Sweet. I'm going to read 25 books I wouldn't normally choose this year.
• Running. I started running (OK, fast-walking) in 2005, and continued this year for a good portion of the year. I do not proclaim myself to be a marathon runner -- in fact, I say HA! to that. What I would like to do is be able to run around any of our fine lakes in this city by Memorial Day. And I would like to complete a10K run by this fall.
• Guitar lessons. For years, I have been promising myself I would learn to play guitar. My dad plays, he has a guitar he has promised Paige, but it has always been untouchable to me. I am buying myself a guitar for graduation, and promptly finding someone to give me lessons. It's like school, but without 150 dollar textbooks. Plus, chicks who play the guitar are hot.
• Rollerskating. Paige received a pair of rollerskates for Christmas, and really doesn't take them off unless she's in the bathtub or bed. I adore rollergirls. I just learned my grandma Marian spent two years as a rollerskating messenger in downtown Minneapolis in the 40s. All signs point toward Sarah getting herself a pair of skates and figuring it out once and for all.
• Photography. I love taking photos, and much of my collection centers around my daughter, which I wouldn't change. But so many times this year, there have been photo-worthy moments at random times in my city -- of the things that make this city so bloody beautiful -- and I didn't have the camera with, and wasn't conscious of how badly I burned to catalogue my city experience in pictures. I want to take at least 12 amazing photos that encapsulate Minneapolis this year... which means I need to get out there and take pictures at least once per month. I'm going to select the best 12 and treat myself to a Minneapolis mini-photography gallery in my living room at the end of the year.
• Dancing. I have spent entirely too much of my life avoiding dancing, for absolutely no good reason. 2007 is the year my soul embraces dancing, and we'll just force my feet to follow. I think I'll start by getting back into swing dancing...
  

thank you, listeners. This is 2006, signing off.

I spent a good portion of my morning determining the (lucky?) songs which would make it into the 2006 edition of Sountrack: Urbanwanderlsut. Oh, and also angsting over an iPod which desperately needs a trip to the MP3 doctor. It's frozen. And iTunes told me it was corrupt. Gah. (we're going over to Ridgedale this afternoon to get her checked out. Promise.)

In the meantime, I was wise enough to burn my 33 selections to disc, so I have something to jam with while dodging actual work today (hurray coincidental forethought!)

Without (much) further ado, Soundtrack: Urbanwanderlust (2006 edition)
Disclaimers:
(what this really means... mostly, songs I fell in love with this year, with notable exceptions made for songs that held special meaning throughout the year.)
(what this most certainly does not mean... best of songs, critically acclaimed songs, songs that hold some sort of inherent and quantifiable music quality. It's just the stuff I like, folks. I claim no expertise here.)

1. Juicebox: The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth (2006)
2. I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) : Eagles of Death Metal, Death By Sexy (2006)
3. Gone Daddy Gone: Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (2006)
4. Some Things Never Stop: The Alarmists, A Detail of Soldiers (2006)
5. P.O.S Is Ruining My Life : P.O.S., Audition (2006)
6. Is It Any Wonder?: Keane, Under the Iron Sea (2006)
7. Chasing Cars : Snow Patrol, Eyes Open (2006)
8. Farewell to the Old Me: Dar Williams, The Beauty of the Rain (2003)
9. Girlshapedlovedrug : Gomez, How We Operate (2006)
10. Change: Tracy Chapman, Where You Live (2005)
11. Munich: Editors, The Back Room (2005)
12. Goods (It's All In Your Head): Mates of State, All Day (2006)
13. Drama Queens: Dan Sartain, Join Dan Sartain (2006)
14. Love Me or Hate: Me Lady Sovereign, Public Warning (2006)
15. I Will Survive : Cake, Fashion Nugget (1996)
16. Infra-red: Placebo, Meds (2006)
17. Still Take You Home: Arctic Monkeys , Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not (2006)
18. Massive Nights: The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America (2006)
19. Rise Up! Rise Up!: Cursive, Happy Hollow (2006)
20. Emma, Get Me a Lemon: The Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off (2006)
21. Province: TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
22. Citrus: The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America (2006)
23. Breathe Me: Sia, Colour the Small One (2005)
24. International Allan: ZibraZibra, The End of the Lion (2006)
25. Freedom 90: George Michael, Ladies and Gentleman the Best of George Michael (1998)
26. I Should Have Known Better: Yo La Tengo, I am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006)
27. Real Life: Nellie McKay, Pretty Little Head (2006)
28. Maneater: Nellie Furtado, Loose (2006)
29. I Wish I Was A Punkrocker (With Flowers in My Hair): Sandy Thom, I Wish I Was A Punkrocker (With Flowers in My Hair) (2006)
30. A Man/Me/Then Jim: Rilo Kiley, More Adventurous (2004)
31. Sons and Daughters: The Decemberists, The Crane Wife (2006)
32. See the World: Gomez, How We Operate (2006)
33. This Year: The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree (2005)

TGIS

thank God, it's solstice.

(this means my days start getting longer, daylight-wise... and the countdown to baseball, running and biking outdoors, and sunsets on the porch swing begins.)

Another completely meaningless and self-serving best of 2006 list

Adventure
Ireland, July 2006. This was the first time I have travelled internationally. Because I didn't take the laptop (way back in July, I had lots of work to do and actually needed a break from the office), there wasn't a whole lot of blogging going on. But there are some fantastic journal entries in the little red book of old-school writing goodness. Which, may someday get posted.
My favorite moment in Ireland was wandering the streets of Galway alone on a gloriously sunny midweek afternoon. Europe was a magical place to put my existance in context of the greater world and to gauge my current and desired states. Thank you, Ireland, for changing me forever.
Album(s)
Can I pick just one album from this year? I will also post a soundtrack: 2006 post (I am only one woman, after all...), which will give you a better retrospective on the soundtrack to my year. For the time being, allow me to sub-categorize here:

Sentimental favorite
Gomez - How We Operate
I'm not going to rehash this disc. I love Gomez, period. Instead, if you are curious as to my thoughts on this disc (at least initial impressions, as I have been digesting it for about 7 months now)... read the original review.

New, old favorite
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Honest to God, this record is making everyone's list. And rightfully so... Franz's keyboard artistry alone makes me want to dance on a table (and I haven't drank in at least 12 hours...). Seriously, if anyone knows where I can get sheet music for Boys and Girls in America, I'd be eternally grateful. I'd even get the piano tuned to learn how to play like Franz.

Hurray for new stuff favorite
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I Am Not
I guess I'm not going to pull a NME and proclaim these guys bigger than the Beatles or whatever. Whatever.
This disc made me dance for most of the year. It's frantic and breathless and fun and bursts with energy. Yah, that's pretty much 2006 for me.

Book
I finally got around to reading Kerouac's On the Road. (I am trying to squeeze my 20s into these last 2.5 years. Cut me a slight amount of slack; I have made great strides.)
So, of course this book wasn't published this year. But it was a great moment in my journey as a reader, and as a human. And worth noting for this year.
Can I tell you my favorite passage? Of couse I can, it's my blog.

But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'

Concert
The Hold Steady shows this fall. No contest. I love these guys, and seeing them live in a sorta-hometown reunion... hell yes.

citrus and liquor, I love it when you touch each other hey whiskey, hey ginger, I come to you with rigid fingers

Craft-related Resource
Local: Crafty Planet. Trish and Matt continue to expand and delight me, and fellow indie-crafters here in beautiful Minneapolis. Keep up the excellent work!

Non-Local: Craft: Magazine. The first of its kind, this is a really lovely new indie-craft magazine. They also maintain an incredible blog.

Decision Made
Reclaiming the Essential Sarah Green.

Gastronomic Experience
City Page's Iron Fork. I most certainly hope City Pages brings this event back next year. Seriously, can you think of a better way to spend a night than watching the Twin Cities' top chefs battle it out with lobster while drinking free Amstel? Because I really cannot.

Hiding Place
If I told you, it wouldn't be a hiding place anymore, would it?
Honestly... my front porch swing. (OK, not that great in December... but you know.)

Holiday Event
Halloween at the House of Solidudes.

Lesson Learned
Sarah is at least mildly cool.

Minneapolitan Outdoor Activity
Running. Especially if it happens to be around a lake. Downing a bottle of wine in broad daylight on the banks of Calhoun would have stolen this one, except Heather broke her foot, which put a damper on those festivities. And who woulda thunk I LIKE running, anyway?

Minneapolitan Indoor Activity
Trivia.

Movie
Little Miss Sunshine. On the basis of me, making sense of family and love this year an ongoing theme, this one just slid nicely into what 2006 meant.

Paige Moment
Mother's Day.

Photo

Quote
The worst lonliness is to not be comfortable with yourself (mark twain.)

Technological Advance
A phone with internet access. Yah, not brand-new. But new to me. And neat. And I'll be putting my SIM card back in the smart phone any day now, because frankly, I just can't live without the PDA/internet/phone in one. Touch screen be damned.

TV
30 Rock.
Honorable mentions of goodness, which are not new to 2006:
The Office
How I Met Your Mother
Scrubs

Waste of Time
Uh, blogging?

Websites I just discovered
Etsy
Mog
Overheard in Minneapolis

Line Rider

Let the hours of internet Etch-A-Sketch begin.

white christmas

Garrison Keillor, sometimes you and I agree. And sometimes you and I do not.
But I always agree with you on being Minnesotan.

I dream of a white Christmas, to be perfectly honest. As I write this, it is mid-December, my lawn in St. Paul is green, the streets are dusty, the sky is blue, there is a mention of snow flurries in the forecast, and by the time you read this, we may be swathed in snowdrifts, windowpanes frosted, trees flocked with white, the classic designer Christmas. But we Midwesterners are brought up to expect the worst, and so I anticipate that we will get rain on Dec. 24 and will walk to church under umbrellas and sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in a sanctuary smelling of pine boughs and wet wool.
It's Minnesota. We should have enormous drifts, requiring the Border Patrol to take to their skis to patrol the Boundary Waters wilderness and keep Canadian frostbacks from sliding down with their toboggans full of cheap pharmaceuticals. This is what we're here for, to keep the rapacious Canuck at bay despite heavy snows.
When people ask you where you're from and you say Minnesota, they don't say, "Oh, I loved the Minnesota Orchestra's recent recording of Beethoven symphonies" or "Robert Bly changed my life." No, they say, "It gets cold there, doesn't it?"

Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.

drumroll, please. The most under-anticipated answers are...

OK, no one bit on my challenge to name the artists/songs from last week. Ah well, I didn't forget (OK, I did forget, and then I remembered just now) that I promised answers. Here they be...

I Am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed.
I Want to be sedated. (The Ramones... I Wanna Be Sedated.)
I Have roamed through the fields, only to be with you. (U2... Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.)
I Wish I was a little bit taller. (Skee-lo... I Wish.)
I Hate everything about you. (Three Days' Grace... (I Hate) Everything About You.)
I Fear I have nothing to give, I have so much to lose here in this lonely place. (Sarah McLachlan... Fear.)
I Hear noises in the darkness, I hear sadness. (Tegan and Sarah... I Hear Noises.)
I Search myself. (Blondie... I Touch Myself.)
I Wonder wonder, ooh, bah doo wah oooh. Who wrote the book of love... (The Monotones ... Who Wrote the Book of Love.)
I Regret that I did it like a junkie when he's jonzin' (LL Cool J... I've Changed.)
I Love you, love you, madly. (Duke Ellington... Love You Madly.)
I Ache. Someday, you will ache like I ache. (Courtney Love... Doll Parts.)
I Always get what I want. (Avril Lavigne... I Always Get What I Want.)
I Usually do. and although i know it's a long road back i promise you... (I'll Be Home for Christmas.)
I Am Not afraid, I am not afraid, I am not afraid! (R.E.M.... The Outsiders.)
I Dance with you sleeping in the beetle bug... (Of Montreal... Cherry Peel.)
I Sing “Get down here, dance with me. Wreck your life my way. Feel terribly clean and you’ll find the things that you say do not matter to me.” (Coach Said Not To... Word That I Employ.)
I Never ever, ever loved somebody, the way that I loved you. (Rilo Kiley... I Never.)
I Rarely wear a dress well... (Ani DiFranco... I'm No Heroine.)
I Cry a river over you. (Diana Krall... Cry Me A River.)
I Am Not Always that way. (A-Teens... For All That I Am.)
I Lose my faith in you. There'll be nothing left for me to lose. (Sting... If I Ever Lose My Faith In You.)
I'm Confused. Right now, I don’t exactly know what to choose ... (Natalie Brown... Confused.)
I Need your love. Like a needle needs a vein, I need your love. (U2... I Need Your Love.)
I Should stay. Or should I go? (The Clash... Should I Stay or Should I Go.)

of Montreal pre-listen

Of Montreal's new disc comes out in January (see, already something to look forward to in the new year.)
In the meantimes, you can listen to the new disc whilst you work. It's making a sleepy Tuesday markedly better.

Hoist a libation of choice. It's Tuesday and school's out. forever. Well, almost.

via 3QuarksDaily: this really great photography collective of unseen UK. Neato. (Heather especially would like the sheep.)
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I want, I want, I want, I want, I want!
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Minneapolitan update: Since Time can't choose a person of the year, perhaps the Star Tribune can? (via metroblogging Minneapolis.)
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Reason #05429 I hate beauty pageants.
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In other news, I'm apparently Dutch. (thanks to Daily Irrelevant for pointing this out.)
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Paige and I have been jamming to The Decemberists latest release, The Crane Wife, the last couple days. She really digs The Decemberists. Another reason she's the coolest. preschooler. ever.
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I had to dig for this one (the current blog, linking to another blog, linking to...) a CityPages story on a Nordeast Karoke marathon?
Nice.
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Threadless, I love you. Have babies with me, which we will swaddle in your fabulous t-shirts.

fruits, labor, insomnia, caffeine

Well, I had a leftover scone and I'm working on drowning that with some Starbucks but frankly I don't think this coffee is going to cut through the fog of 4 hours' sleep.



I am getting stuff (finally) done for the holidays... but it is taking it's toll. I finally finished the cookie boxes, but they took me til 2:30 this morning. Coupled with a 3-year-old and some nightmares about attack giraffes (too much National Geographic? Who knows...) Not that my late-ish bedtimes matter much right now, as I'm battling insomnia (my body heartily protesting the early nights and mornings that do not dawn quickly enough?)

I ran to the post office over lunch yesterday for holiday stamps. Then, we happened to stop at the post office on the way home last night to mail the card for which the holiday stamps were purchased. What I did not realize til I watched the evening news (well, the 1AM rerun of the evening news, anyway) was that yesterday was the post office's busiest day of the year. Smart, considering going to the post office even when it isn't busy sort of gives me a rash.

Still on the to-do list includes a few last-minute present errands (thank god for lunch hour), wrapping gifts like a madwoman (thank god for those years of my life I spent doing gift-wrap at the Mervyns...), and a few odds and ends sewing projects.

In other holiday tidings, I attempted to bring Paige to Holidazzle yesterday. Except it runs Wednesday through Sunday. Shoot. So we went through the Macy's 8th Floor exhibit (Mary Poppins this year, and well done) and had an absolute blast eating ice cream at Sebastian Joe's. All in all, a productive and giggly Monday.

Now, where's my intravenous caffeine...?

Hey kids, only 46 more shopping days 'til Groundhog's Day

Anyone else appalled by the thought of a kilt shortage? My people are being oppressed! We must rise up and march! I have a dream... that some day, all beefy-legged men can stands up with pride in the plaid skirt of their choosing!

I've been twittering all day about the Person of the Year being me (and you, and that overweight man who smells like cheese you sat next to that one time on the bus.) Daily Irrelevant found this. Irony is good for you, kids. It makes you smile.

Wired, you always find such nice little things to put on my wish list. The latest? A new book called She's Such a Geek. Bring it.

Warning: more graffiti photography ahead (shame on the city for knocking this building down to make more condos. Boo, living space. Yay, urban canvases!)

In non-blogosphere news:
* Score one for the Sarah -- my Christmas cards are done. (so is my baking, but that's probably another blog entry, and it's old news anyway.)
* I am more and more seriously considering joining the church choir (after some mostly drunken compliments about my singing voice. It really doesn't take much to boost my ego, folks.)
* This week's thought to ponder: men and harmonicas -- why are they so damn sexy together? Discuss (as I channel Linda Richman).

Meh, it's monday, that's what I got.
Songs that refuse to fall out of my brain today:
Alison - Elvis Costello
Barracuda - Heart
Ding Dong Merrily on High - Traditional Carol
Move to LA - Art Brut
Rock and Roll Lifestyle - Cake

V is for vendredi

(that's friday for all you anti-Frogs out there.)

Google Smackdown.
See what trumps what in a Google search head-to-head.
By the way, olives trump pickles in the Google world. It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you.
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What's a snood, mommy?













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Someone deer hunting in Wisconsin shot a 7-legged deer with both female and male reproductive organs. Honestly. The citizens of Fond Du Lac county have to stop putting out plutonium licks. Stick with the salt, people.
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It's official. Americans are lazy, whiny, litigation-happy half-breeds (apparently, sweaty and slippery too). Come on, I've played the Wii. With a beer in hand! And I haven't launched the wiimote into a plate of glass. And if you know me, you know that: a) I'm not careful (ask my dad about shooting skeet.) b) I am the least graceful woman you will ever meet. If I can break it, stain it, spill it, or otherwise decimate it, I usually do. Totally accidentally. Clutziness is my karmic debt or something.
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New toy alert (thank you, 89.3.)
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Excuse me? I'm going to whip out a WTF? here. Of course, this is anecdotal... Of course. Because you cannot empirically prove women aren't funny. I take pride in my sense of humor. It's one of the Sarah Guiding Competencies. And I'm pretty sure it is at least part of what attracts my friends, my romantic interests... hell, even my daughter thinks I'm funny.
Furthermore, I seek funny women in my friendships. I cherish funny women in my workplace. I think funny women make the world a better place. And there are plenty of us out there. I have half a notion this article was written by a man who just got dumped by a woman who was funnier that he is...
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(from 3QuarksDaily) Why I do not drink Coke (via Healthbolt).
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Check out the NPR Holiday Craft Winners (via Make:).

15 minutes of fame.

Thank you, Overheard in Minneapolis. This totally made the 2-mile run Wednesday worth it.

Happy Holidays from the GreenHouse

Happy Holidays, friends. It's Paige and I. It's the Christmas Tree.
It's the requisite Paige tugging on my cleavage moment.
Ah, the holidays.

that's what I like about you

true confessions of a city girl:

I hate December. It gets dark too early, it's cold, and lately, it's ugly. It wasn't so bad when I was a child... we actually had this thing called "snow" back then, and we used to do these foreign activities like "sled" and "ice skate", until it got dark.

But it has been alternately gloomy and rainy, or strangely 50 degrees, and I am off-kilter entirely. I don't have my snow, and as a native Minneapolitan, I am shook to the core. I am not sure how to embrace the holiday spirit without having to shovel.

Also, having spent one too many years working for a giant retail megamonster, I rather rue shopping for gifts. So I try to make mine, or buy indie. Which, I have done some of each... but this is hard to do when you are the proud owner of a preschoooler. Preschoolers are horrible little creatures who are easily gobbled up by Nickelodeon Marketing. Everything is Dora and Disney Princesses. Ooh, I think I threw up a little just typing that. Retail in December is horrible. I buy extra dishwashing soap right before Thanksgiving so I don't have to go to Target at all, if I can help it, til after New Years. Struggles ensue, however, when said preschooler I acquired 3.5 years ago wants Disney princess roller skates and a pony. Damn. I can't knit either of those things. My santa cover is totally blown.

All that to say: this December's making me grouchy.
Which I mentioned to Barbara.
To which she said: make a list of all the things you are proud of in 2006.

So, drumroll please... as a cure to grump, here goes.

1) I am proud of Paige… she has evolved from a toddler to a pre-schooler nicely, and it is good to see in the face of adversity she can still shine, adapt, and grow. I know she’s struggling, but I also know she’s handling this divorce better than I handled my parents divorce.

2) I am proud of my work. I took on projects I never dreamt I would do before I was 30, and handled them successfully. I traveled on my own, I worked with some high-powered and important people in the business world, and I got things done. And learned a lot in the process.

3) I am proud of my education. I’m pulling down a 4.0 in my program and have just one class to go. I feel god about the work I did on my thesis (even though it’s changed 100,000 times) and I am feeling really good about being done in May.

4) Probably most importantly, and for the first time in a really long time, I am proud to be myself. I have done so much work on my self-image and self esteem … a lot of soul-searching… taking myself out on dates… defining the Essential Sarah… tapping what Diana calls my inner Maya Angelou and finding strength in myself I didn’t know I had. Getting divorced SUCKS… and I hope no one I know ever has to go through it … but it is going to be so worth it. It already has been. For the first time in my life, I am comfortable just sitting in my own company. Damn, for the first time in my life, I think I am cool, and smart, and funny, and beautiful.

5) I am proud of my relationships. Relationships are fundamental to who I am, being both an extrovert and an intuitive. It was damned hard to weed my relationship garden over the last year … to find the relationships that were poisoning me and the relationships I wanted to keep… and it was tenuous. But here I am, and I am so pleased with what has become of my friendships. And my family! I have my family back… and the great thing is that they welcomed me back with open arms.

Other items of note:
Proud that I was able to travel to Europe this year.
Proud of my blog.
Proud of my house.
Proud of my crafting skills and accomplishments.
Proud that I am able to do things myself; that I am no longer scared to be alone.

for that hard-to-buy-for kid on your list?

These are wicked. And I'm not saying you should actually run out and buy these for children (duh...)

But they did make me giggle.

PSA: comments

FYI:
I've turned comments back on to "anyone who's got something to say, say it" mode.
(there was a bit of spamming happening at one point in time... hoping the word verification and comment moderation mitigates most of it.)

whether or not you are a registered Blogger, comment away.

Wednesday's random roundup

• Photographic evidence: jerks in big cars really do steal the compact spots.
• ...and if you believe that, I have a hydro plant and dam to sell you.
• December's the new November. Vote for your favorite Twin Cities music critic.
• Accidental Hedonist is posting 12 days of Christmas cookies. I forgot about the no-bake oatmeal cookies; maybe I'll make those Thursday night.
• Let's turn now to the completely ludicrous desk for the latest headlines. According to some crackpot, soy makes you gay. Man, I don't know what that means for my mom and her lactose intolerance...
• At an average bonus of $622,000 per employee, I wonder if Goldman's is looking for an Instructional Design consultant...
• I'm not trying to be sexist here (I try very hard to practice egalitarianism), but I thought this recap of Nancy Pelosi's interview with Barbara Walters was adorable. In the same way I find hearing my grandma's stories about bra-burning adorable.
• A little think-nugget on urban sprawl. Mmm... having my views challenged tingles.
• Move along, nothing witty to say here. (actually, I liked just about everything this post had to say, so I just think it deserves some honorable mention).
• PSA: if you are thinking about earning some extra holiday cash by working the streets of Ipswich... best to save your FMBs and pleather skirt for another occassion, and save yourself the serial-killer-victim status.
  

sing-song challenge

I was sent this survey today... and I guess I have apparently had enough memes for one life to mess with this one.
Here's the deal:
I filled this out, but instead of it being all about me, it's all song lyrics.
See if you can't figure out the songs. I'll post answers in a couple day's time.

All About Me Survey Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com I Am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed. I Want to be sedated. I Have roamed through the fields, only to be with you. I Wish I was a little bit taller. I Hate everything about you. I Fear I have nothing to give, I have so much to lose here in this lonely place. I Hear noises in the darkness, I hear sadness . I Search myself. I Wonder wonder, ooh, bah doo wah oooh. Who wrote the book of love... I Regret that I did it like a junkie when he\'s jonzin\' I Love you, love you, madly. I Ache Someday, you will ache like I ache. I Always get what I want. I Usually do. and although i know it\'s a long road back i promise you... I Am Not afraid, I am not afraid, I am not afraid! I Dance with you sleeping in the beetle bug... I Sing “Get down here, dance with me. Wreck your life my way. Feel terribly clean and you’ll find the things that you say do not matter to me.” I Never ever, ever loved somebody, the way that I loved you. I Rarely wear a dress well... I Cry a river over you. I Am Not Always that way. I Lose my faith in you. There\'ll be nothing left for me to lose. I'm Confused Right now, I don’t exactly know what to choose ... I Need your love. Like a needle needs a vein, I need your love. I Should stay. Or should I go? Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com

holiday jeer

Ugly Christmas Lights.
(disclaimer: I'm actually a huge sucker for outdoor christmas lights. Tasteful outdoor christmas lights.)

just one moment please...

I know enough people who work on the phone all day long to know that not only is this funny... it's true.

closure is strange

I just finished my final paper for this semester's class. Closure is always strange for me, with school. But another semester is over (tomorrow night, anyhow.)
This puts me at exactly one semester and completed thesis to go in order to finish this degree.

And I'm still not sure how life works without papers and classes to attend and research to wade through and textbooks to highlight.


But guess what, kids?
In 5 short months, we're about to find out.

musing, it's monday.

• We're having a Minneapolitan December heatwave (40s, 50!). Warm, for December... yes. Agreed. But today: the air conditioning is on at work. What? I had to go brew some Rooibos tea just to get comfortable.
  
• Did you know it costs over 40 dollars to ship a case of beer commercially? Ridiculous.
  
• I'm writing my final reflection paper for fall semester today. I don't know how fall semester is over already, but it is. I have the thing outlined. The nice thing about it, is that it is a reflection paper... I don't have to cite and research and empiricize it all. It's just, what Sarah thinks (and if you read this blog, you know I'm an expert at writing that stuff up.)
• After a cookie-baking extravaganza yesterday, it has become glaringly apparent that I am in dire need of new baking sheets. Any recommendations on great ones? Perhaps something to put on the birthday wish list.
• The best-of lists are brewing... a soundtrack 2006 (which I'm hoping to work on tonight) as well as the haphazard Sarah's Best Of... list. Stay tuned.
• I'm sad to think all of these little car dealerships (to which I am attempting to take my car for an oil change) are getting gobbled up by Big Auto (in Minneapolis, it's Denny Hecker, Morrie's and Luther.) I have a warranty, people. I need to have my car serviced at the dealership. But I do not want to make the rich, richer, if I can help it (I would prefer to support ma and pa-type dealerships).
• Must you fail a simple IQ test to be a recruiter? And does your name have to be Kandi, Cookie, Kaki, or anything else with an "i" you will inherently dot with a teensy-tiny heart? Ack.
  

In-My-Head soundtrack for December 11th: Soldados (The Alarmists), This Year (The Mountain Goats), I'm a Wheel (Wilco), The Best Is Yet To Come (Nancy Wilson), Sabotage (Beastie Boys).

See? There really is a website for everything

Cats that look like hitler.

This is absurd. Brilliant, but absurd. What would I do on a Friday morning while I wait for the Starbuck's to kick in, without the internet to keep me amused?

beer.

Listless?

Fimoculous delights again.
An aggregator of 2006 lists. Bring it.

crate art

I have always been completely enamoured with fruit and vegetable crate labels/art... mostly because many of them are so bloody absurd.

Found this flickr collection on boingboing this afternoon. It's fantastic.

My favorite? Sweet Patootie brand vegetables. Heck yah. That goes as my new icon on myspace.

idiot-proof website.

awesome.

Minneapolis Craft Review

Craft Magazine's review of our fine city's crafty goodness.
Minneapolis is apparently on the (blogosphere) map today...

get hip to minneapolis? done, and done.

Thanks to Fimoculous, we have a link to a wonderful flash tour of all the hip things to do in Minneapolis.

Oooh, and if you know Joel and Dave, see if you can play Where's Waldo and find them on the Hold Steady photo.

is this thing on?

So, I've (finally) started a project with actual work and deadlines involved.
(you may recall from earlier episodes that I'm a bit of a spaz about my career. I am a gigantic dork and really love the work I do.)

In the midst of a slow period at work, I seem to have lost my "on deadline" playlist.
Any thoughts on good songs you would enjoy while working on a deadline (play along; pretend you like working on deadline.)

The floor is open...

art, and a rule to live by

Some Northside wisdom, from Paul Schmelzer on Eyeteeth:

more Kerouac in my life would be good.

This is a great article about being in a relationship with your city.
It probably sounds weird. It's OK. My fellow urban-dwellers get it.

I feel much the same way about Minneapolis now as Kamiya describes in his memories of younger days in San Fransisco here. It leads me to wonder what Minneapolis and I will be like in 20 years. But for now, some prime quotes:

Eventually I realized my dream and moved there, but I still felt like I was wandering around in a place more grownup than me, and more fabled than I deserved.

Cities are archaeological digs, and the layers are made up not just of decaying objects but of memory.

But youth is nothing if not resilient. Like the irrepressible Toad, my role model at that point in life, I popped up from that humiliation to once again try my luck.

We chose this corner because it was surreal and deep and utterly urban and a secluded place to hoist a drink in Jack's memory.

But it [North Beach] follows you around. You don't lose it. It gets old with you. And the lines you see in its face, the cracks in its mythical facade, are just as beautiful as its dawn.

...where you've been a thousand times before and where you will always return, where you left your heart, and where you found it.

pitchfork. craig finn. pitchfork. craig finn. pitchfork. craig finn. (wait. is there a pattern here?)

Thanks, 89.3 the Current. I'm almost outta here for the day, but this was a good afternoon giggle.

eye candy

this absolutely reminds me of the funny little glass/spoon stop motion clips that came on Sesame Street every once in a while, when I was a child. This made me smile with a little fond memory and a little awe of how long it must have taken to create this. YouTube = Monday eye candy.

yum. (it tastes like a monday!)

Deliciousness for this fine December Monday:

• Waking up to powdered-sugar snow in the city. I love how it looks when we get that dusting of cold snow, because it looks as if like a giant baker spilled powdered sugar from the sky onto the entire city. The first "real" snow of the winter is always magic. OK, it wasn't even like a "real" snow -- but it's December, people! It's cold, you may as well bring on the snowcover so I can at least go play outside.
• A new little band nugget to check out. Proof-positive that I'm totally a sucker for UK bands.
• Leftovers from The Black Forest. Heck yah.
• 100 feeds on bloglines. It's official: I'm an addict.
• Split pea soup, potato bread and german chocolate cake. That's what's cooking in the Green House tonight.
  
• Just now realizing how appropriately named the Green House is.
• Plans for the recent future to include a night of premium/trivia, a show, an evening of british hilarity, and a night of good, wholesome violence. My. Word. I love this city.
• Two new friends in the netflix account. It's sorta voyeuristic, but also practical. Honestly: it's uncanny how I end up with the same movies in my queue as everyone else.

Today's only-in-my-brain soundtrack:

1. Massive Nights - The Hold Steady
2. Proud Mary - Tina Turner
3. The Christians and the Pagans - Dar Williams
4. A Million Ways - OK Go
   

massive nights

We were just another pack of 20something urban punks, hoping-we-didn't-look-too-much-like-hipsters, scurrying to the relative warmth of the car after a stellar performance at First Ave. I remember thinking briefly, between icicle-sharp inhalations, how Saturday nights are more pleasant when you can straggle back to the parking ramp, enjoying the people watching along Block E, picking up tidbits of conversations as you walk by tightly-entwined couples, sprawling, caterwauling whinos, pods of suburban posers and throngs of hipsters in white belts.
But we all just look the same in December: huddled masses under knitted caps and lined mittens, swathed in scarves and ensconsed in outerwear, scurrying like silverfish when you turn on the light in the basement laundryroom.
And so we scurry like the rest of the hardcore Saturday night Minnesotans, like insects into the parking ramp. 6th floor. Always the argument about which floor we are on. Remember, we had to park on 6th -- that damned Guns and Roses concert.
Yah. Suburban idiots.
We huddle around the car and I point the key fob to open the doors.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
OK, my key fob must be dead. I'm a mechanically adept woman; I can open a door manually with a key.
Except that the lock is frozen.
and I can't even get the trunk open.
And why won't the lights come on in the car?
There's suddenly a mouth-to-mouth moment on the driver's door, and I for a moment think I will have to call 911 as Joel's lips instantaneously freeze to the my driver's side door. But it's all good, and we don't have any frozen emergencies.
Not until I put my keys in the ignition and hear:



Shit.
I glance slowly, downward and left.
Of course. My lights were on.
Until they drained my battery.
And now, 5 of us stood, cold, exhausted, needing to pee, needing to sleep... and no ride.

Suddenly, and almost as if I have stopped to think but the rest of the world continues on, everyone disperses, asking random strangers speeding out of the 7th street garage for jumper cables.
No dice. No, sorry... suburban idiots and white-belt indie kids don't carry those practical things.

And then it's settled: it's cold, we want to go home. Or at least to last call. So we scurry like silverfish again, into and out of the elevator, spilling into the intersection of 1st Avenue and 8th Street, hailing a cabbie who seems way too happy to see us. Four of us squeeze into the backseat of the otherwise nondescript cab, with Dave calling shotgun.
I notice then: our cabbie is laughing uncontrollably. And it seems to be catching.

Cabbie: Are you guys drunk?
Us: Yah/Not really/Working on it (it was a mixed crowd)
Laughing
Cabbie: (driving past the Saloon) Those guys are soo gay.
Us: Yah...
More laughing, mostly by the cabbie.
Cabbie: (noticing a Passat driving the wrong way down Hennepin): You are going the wrong way! Turn! Turn!
Uncontrollable laughing
Cabbie: (to Dave) Do you want to see my titties?
(note: cabbie is a middle-aged African Immigrant).
Dave: (stares out window ferverently)
Joel: Dave, I bet you are so glad you called shotgun, huh?
Dave: (makes an angry Dave face)
Severe fits of laughing, wheezing, chortling and a snort
Cabbie: where am I dropping you off?
Us: (uncomprehendable shouts of several different addresses, landmarks and cross-streets!)
Fits of laughter
Cabbie: (dropping us off) Have a good night!
Us: Give this cabbie a massive tip. That was the best cab ride of my life.
Laughter
Dave: (collecting ones like a cheap stripper sporting a banana hammock, tips the cabbie) You guys realize we just gave that cabbie over 100% in tip?
Sarah: That was epic, and completely worth it.

and in other news...

I'm totally jealous that chicago got a snowstorm before we did. Barbara and Nathan are so lucky. For heaven's sake, if it's going to be 4 degrees at night -- If I have to shower before bed just to get/stay warm... could we at least not have a foot of pretty white stuff on the ground?

At least I could put on a ski jacket, swaddle myself in a fluffy scarf and stocking cap, strap on some snowshoes and enjoy winter.

----------------------

Riddle me this: What do these cars have in common:

• Honda Pilot
• Dodge Grand Caravan
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Jeep Liberty
• Land Rover

If your answer was, "cars that took 2 parking spots each in the 'compact only' row at work today so those of us who drive normal-ish size cars had to walk from another ZIP code", you win.
For real -- if you want to drive an SUV, go for it. Hope you enjoy your gas-guzzling, suburban soul-sucking metal death trap. However... do not be a jerk and take the spots MARKED for compact cars. Your Land Rover is not compact. By anyone's standards. Anyone. And closed loop to the soccer mom driving the minivan: yah, you sold out too. Nice try, scooter... but your 8-seater minivan is compact like my 5-shot grande latte is decaf.

--------------------

The tree is up at the clan Green fortress. Christy and I had a blast last night (as usual, when don't we have a great time?)
After some bonding time with a loaded baked potato pizza from Luce, we tapped into our inner lumberjacks and (after much elbow grease and a short adventure to my parents place in Lakeville) trimmed the bottom. Hilarity ensued as we tried to get the tree back in the stand (consider two women, tired after a long week, full and giggly and dozy, trying to erect a pine tree in my dining room while debating the militant vegetarian/vegan...). We trimmed her out this year in a batch of great, 1950s retro-kitch decorations. You can't see 'em in the photo, but they are so indie, retro... so me. I love my little tree.

--------------------
soundtrack in my head right now:
Bus to Beelzebub - Soul Coughing
Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night - The Hold Steady
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Limp - Fiona Apple

neato

victim of your parent's basement?

annoyed.
Allow me to explain:

We all learn how to handle money in our 20s, right? We all pay the price of that initial credit card you really didn't understand, but thoroughly enjoyed using, in college?
Yes. We all (to one degree or another) get ourselves into the proverbial financial rock and hard place in our early 20s. I guess I consider it one of the rites of passage. And we all wiggled our way out, in some form. It is a good learning, a good growing experience for us. It builds character and teaches us how to be "grown ups" with our paychecks.
However... I have to agree with most of what this article says.

a) for real? racking up 100K in undergraduate debt is insanity. Kids (and parents, if they are ponying up for a portion) have the personal responsibility to select whatever school they can afford. This is yet another example of, I'll just delay paying for something I really cannot afford... which is perhaps a worse American epidemic than obesity.
b) student loans aside... take some individual accountability. Credit cards aren't evil; they just are. Know what you are signing your name to. Educate yourself. If you rack up 3K on a stereo, new skiis and spring break... well, you signed each and every credit slip. This employs rules #2 and #3 ... the best way out is through, and take personal responsibility for your life. If you have made a mistake (my God, we're all human, we all do it)... own up to it. Get a second job; cut your living expenses; whatever.
c) I love the line quoted in this article about living in your parent's house not being "sexy". Well, Scooter... perhaps you should worry about your credit score more than you worry about getting laid. I don't know; just me, but when you do finally get a girlfriend, and you want to get married and buy a house, I'm guessing she isn't going to find a man who cannot balance his checkbook and refuses to stop living beyond his means real sexy, either. Unless, of course, you both racked up hundreds of thousands of debt going to schools you couldn't afford to drink beer and sleep through your first class (come on, we all did it.) In which case, enjoy the American dream of constantly paying bills which will never disappear.
d) At some point, as a parent, I believe the grown ups have the responsibility to teach our kids about finances. Show them how to balance their bank account. Teach them (demonstrate to them) how to practice moderation. Give 'em a practice credit card. Whatever it takes. Do this before they go to college; because as we know, college is that magical place with all the privileges and none of the responsibilities of adulthood. When it makes sense, I'm going to candidly talk with Paige about this stuff. Explain the financial mistakes I have made (we've all made a few). Show her how I learned to do it right. And if she moves back into the basement at 23, well... I guess it's time for the refresher course.

News from the green portion of my brain

Reasons I want a subscription to NEED magazine:
a) most of you know I'm a magazine addict. Mostly because it gives me something to do in the bathtub, on the treadmill, or at the cabin.
b) this makes the green party in me real proud to be a native Minneapolitan.

aside: I want Santa to leave this under my tree.

The Sarah Green Rules for Living

(disclaimer: I'm blog-happy today. This is what happens when I'm in a writing mood and waiting for work to come back to me so I can actually accomplish something.)

OK. The Sarah Green Rules for Living have been brewing for a good, long time now... thanks to many a thinker, a decent amount of life experience, and a little help from the people in my life I hold dear, I think I've got a good set (OK, at least a starting point) of basic concepts I apply to make life (more) bearable.

Rule #1: Chase your happy.
Alright. I haven't been around for 100 years or anything, but in the meager years I have been around, I have learned perhaps the one thing we all want to do, and usually do not, is chase our happy. We take jobs we don't want because it would be too hard to do what we want to do. We stay in crappy relationships because it's easier than being alone. We live in places we don't like, we drive cars when we'd rather walk, we choose the salad when we want the steak.
Screw it, folks. Chase your happy. After all, we're only here for a few short moments... why not maximize delight while we're around?

Rule #2: The best way out is through.
Thanks to Robert Frost for this one. When we do not chase our happy, or otherwise find ourselves in crapola situations (sometimes we make them ourselves and sometimes crapola is just hoisted on us), the best way out is to bear down and live through it. There often aren't any shortcuts to enlightenment or growth. But living it is always worth it. You come out on the other side polished by the fire, a little stronger, a little more honest with yourself, and perhaps just a little more tempered for it.

Rule #3: The only person respsonible for your life is you.
We spend so much of life trying to attach responsibility for situations to others...

My boss doesn't like me
My landlord is out to get me
My ex is a jerk
My parents really screwed up

Blah blah blah. Ultimately, Scooter: you are an adult and you make your own choices. That includes the choice to be either delighted or repulsed about life. You can either grumble about the state of your life or you can unceremoniously just do something to change it. I have found that once I took responsibility for my own life -- took matters into my own hands and just owned my personal responsibility for things -- life looked immediately brighter. I also had to lean a lot more heavily on Rule #2, but at least I was in charge. That allowed me to employ Rule #1 a lot more often. Which ends up being wicked sweet.

Rule #4: Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.
I owe this one to a quote, as well. I can't remember who said it, but I'm doing my best here to avoid plagarism. Anyway, this rule is about honesty. Always being candid (though respectful) with and to others... and also candid and respectfully honest with yourself. Even (and perhaps especially) when it is difficult. The feedback you get in a shaking voice might just be the feedback you most need to attend... even if it is your own.

Rule #5: When you can't change it, learn to laugh with it.
Here's my modern, non-AA take on the serenity prayer. The Cliff Notes version: Change what you can. Don't bother trying to change the things you cannot. Instead, find the humor - the lesson - the whatever, in those things you cannot control. And just embrace that life IS. No judgements -- not good or bad -- just IS.

Rule #6: Excuses are like a*holes.
Thanks to Dad for this one. I remember when I was in junior high and got a not-so-hot grade in typing (you'd never know this now that I type nearly 80 wpm, thank you, lifelong career writing on a PC), I started making excuses (this may correspond to rule #4 closely) for my outcomes. Dad immediately stopped me. Sarah, he said, I want to tell you something important. Excuses are like assholes. Everyone has one, and no one wants to know about yours.
Oh.
Well, he's right. That's exactly what excuses are. So I don't make them (or, I try not to. I am imperfectly human... though that's sort of an excuse in itself. Crap.)

Rule #7: Relatively deep love brings about relatively deep heartache.
Credit to Great-Grandma Alice here. While working through the why, oh why do my parents hate each other so bloody much, as a 10-year-old, I remember Grandma Alice telling me:

G: Sarah, you have to remember that relatively deep love brings about relatively deep heartache.
S: So why love at all, Grandma?
G: Because once you love deeply, you wouldn't trade that deep love for all the heartache you might experience. The deep love makes the risk worthwhile.

'Nuff said.

Rule #8: We are all inherently lazy.
That's right: humans are inherently lazy. I know this sounds negative -- but it's not; it is a simple matter of psychology. Our gray matter is hard-wired to take shortcuts, to get someone else to do it for us, to make generalizations and categorizations. I (we) should remember that, especially when we're at that "people are idiots/mean/bad/etc" place (as I often get while driving through Milwaukee). It isn't personal. We're all just lazy.

Rule #9: You never regret going above and beyond the call of duty.
Another Dad-ism. As Dad was rearing teenage Sarah, the one thing he lectured the crap out of was work ethic. Doing your best. Doing more than what is expected. Going beyond people's expectations. We were sitting outside, where the pine trees used to line the boulevard at home in Elbow Lake, and the sun was nearly setting. Dad was a bit disappointed in the less-than-acceptable job of lawn-mowing I had completed. I remember him saying:

Sarah, you must remember 4 letters when completing a job: ABCD.
Above and
Beyond the
Call of
Duty.
You'll never regret exceeding expecations.

And he's right. I never have.

Rule #10: Create something beautiful every day.
I'm going to mostly thank Paper Source for this one. Well, at least for its roots, as the Paper Source slogan is "do something creative every day". Well, yah, but for me, personally, it goes beyond that. I always feel most accomplished and fulfilled when I hit the pillow if I have made something beautiful that day... creative, sometimes... but sometimes it might be a beautiful conversation, or a nice arrangement of words on this blog or in a journal, and sometimes it's just the beauty of raising my daughter to be an intelligent, spunky, indepdenent grrl. But it is about finding and contributing to the beauty in my world, every single day. Because if not for the beautiful - the art, the music, the words, the relationships - what do we have to relish in life?

PSA: No Coast is Saturday

Be there or risk me not calling you an indie grrl.

Vote for rock; rock the vote? Whatever...

And, in a preview of the highly unanticipated and entirely biased best of 2006 list I relish subjecting my loyal readers to each and every year, my votes went for:

Art Brut | Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Johnny Cash | American V: A Hundred Highways
Cat Power | The Greatest
Cursive | Happy Hollow
The Decemberists | The Crane Wife
Drive-By Truckers | A Blessing and a Curse
Editors | The Back Room
Gnarls Barkley | St. Elsewhere
Gomez | How We Operate
The Hold Steady | Boys And Girls In America
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness | Fear Is On Our Side
Ok Go | Oh No
Outkast | Idlewild
P.O.S. | Audition
Psalm One | The Death Of Frequent Flyer
Snow Patrol | Eyes Open
The Strokes | First Impressions of Earth
TV On The Radio | Return To Cookie Mountain
The Walkmen | A Hundred Miles Off
M. Ward | Post-War

voice your rock and/or roll opinion and vote on the current's website (follow the link in the title. Could I have made this any easier?)

The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself

Damn Mark Twain for being so right so much of the time.

There is an ongoing thread in 2006, about how Sarah gets back to the comfortable place where being Sarah is like wearing your favorite jeans and not like interviewing for a job you don't really want.
The thread goes like this:
a) Sarah says, enough of this BS. I gotta go find me if I'm ever going to be a good Sarah, good mom, good friend, good whatever.
b) Sarah taps her inner Maya Angelou to do things she never thought she'd do: drive a moving truck -- by herself, get her own place, make new friends, stake out some independence.
c) Sarah realizes that it's super-fun to hang out with her friends and go to work and play with her little girl at the neighborhood wading pool, but is eerily aware that she's not eating and only getting 4 hours of sleep a night because it's just too foriegn to be alone.
d) Sarah avoids being alone like the plague, because it's just too lonely in there when you aren't comfortable with yourself.
e) Sarah realizes she needs to get to know herself. Sarah proceeds to take self out on dates... quiet walks around Harriet, a solo trip to the record store, Dunn Brothers and the Sunday Strib on the front porch.
f) Sarah starts doing stuff she's never, ever done before... taking road trips on her own, talking to total strangers, buying a car by herself
g) Sarah continues to have awkward getting-to-know-you moments with herself.
h) Sarah realizes one day she has a pretty clear idea of who she is and drafts the uncompromisables.
i) Sarah starts wading through an upside-down world, and anticipating anxiety, instead finds strength and comfort inside herself.
j) Sarah realizes she's found comfort in herself again.
k) Sarah realizes the truth in the matter: Dad was right, life turns over at least 4 times in your 20s. This is time 4 , and Sarah couldn't be happier about the results.
l) In spite of ongoing and upcoming challenges, Sarah is hopeful, because she has the Sarah... and the Sarah is all she needs to make it work.

a(nother) regular dose of random

the short list of things I'm digging right now:

flickr
reconnecting with family
turkey leftovers (I swear on my life I'll brine my bird til the day I die)
falling asleep on the couch to Braveheart
music karma for the jerk neighbor
the roadtrippin playlist
the commission for a custom wedding dress for a dear friend
finally... being home, finding peace in myself
an upcoming facial at Aveda
the lure of a Musical Movie Night sometime in the bleak midwinter
Taking a page from the Paigemonster playbook (I can do it all by myself...)
Closure, closure, closure
35 days left in 2006 (to quote the Mountain Goats, I am going to make it through this year if it kills me)

urbanwanderlust marks toddler milestone

urbanwanderlust turns 2 today. (neato, huh?)
Does this mean the blog will start sassing me?
Have regular temper-tantrums?
Refuse to toilet-train?


Oh wait. That was the other 2 year old in my life...

heck yah

Chasing Happy

I’m amazed every day (and a little sad) that I have spent so much time unhappy when there’s so much happy to be found out here in the world. All I had to do was take my scared, put it away, and go chase my happy.

Ready or not, here I come.

thought-provoking

Growing up in a family divided, both by divorce and differences in perspective, I have spent significant time in my life trying to make sense of the Christian message that God is Love; yet, homos and prostitutes and addicts are bad and unlovable (I don't buy this, by the way. I simply am regurgitating the tapes that I heard played over and over again in the ultra-conservative, fundie church in which I was raised.)
As a teenager, I moved to a new home and started attending Catholic church. Now, far be it from me to misrepresent here... I don't think organized religion is perfect. And I honestly haven't found one that fits me, perfectly. But the Catholic experience was so different (and yet, in many ways, similar) to the Fundie Conservative Church of America... I don't know. I don't actually have a "one is better than the other" statement to make here.

This is what makes me want to wear a button that says, "Ask me about my ongoing faith identity crisis."

The linked article in Salon does sum up nicely some of the thoughts I have on faith -- including whether that Fundamentalist wing I remember from the early days of my upbringing will start opening their minds a bit, or if the much-balleyhooed uproar in the Evangelical church will just send the Evangelical organization further into its phobias (by the way, Evangelicals... Jesus totally hung out with the prostitutes, tax collectors, and other scandalous people of the world. And he ate with them and talked with them and just loved on them. So, lesson learned, all ye literal interpretors of scripture...)

vote early, vote often.

As many (fingers crossed, all of my readers) of you have or will do today, I took to my local polling place this morning, Dunn Brothers in hand, to a) register (this happens when you move) and b) vote my conscious. (I'll save the rant about "the vote for an independent is a wasted vote" argument for a later date.)

I was really priviledged to have Paige along with me when I voted today. Not only is she becoming such a young lady -- a little tiny citizen of the world -- it was just bloody cool to be able to have her participate in something so very American.

Is our policital system broken and ugly and wholly imperfect? You bet. Am I positive about the state of my country? Not particularily, no.

But as Paige helped me color in my circles this morning, as she fed the ballot into the counting machine, (Mama! Look! That machine ate our picture!) I was distinctly reminded that no matter my personal political (or lack of political) vantage point, I have the honor and responsibility of demonstrating to the next generation the importance of voting your conscious and making your voice heard. I told Paige today:

Momma: Paige, it is important that you always speak your mind. Even if you are speaking amongst thousands of other people, you need to speak up for the things you believe in. OK?
Paige: OK momma.

(pause)

Paige: Momma?
Momma: Yes, Paige?
Paige: (giggles) I just farted.


Well, she isn't ready to join the Kids for Nader movement just yet... but we're working on it.

Adler 101, and a note to self

Alright, alright. We all know that I'm in the flood of information that makes up my thesis research (the light is at the end of the tunnel. I'm down to 4 books left to read. I mean, I did just get two more assigned... but yah. The pile dwindles.)

I am looking through some stuff I am reading today, and I realize that I really needed to revisit the big German words Adler threw around when he was developing Individual Psychology (which is what my counseling psych work is all rooted in, theoretically, as well as the foundation of my philisophical orientation in Organization Development.)

Let's review here, shall we?

Gemeinschaftgefuhl:
Literally translated, Community Feeling. It speaks of being socially embedded, of belonging. Because we are socially embedded in our communities, we form a life style which helps us act either out of social interest (we acknowledge and embrace community feeling) or self interest (we reject and fight against community feeling).
Lesson learned here: Gemeinschaftgefuhl is good. I want to strive toward having it at all times.
Schopferische Kraft:
Creative power. This is the individual power we each have that keeps us from being determined by forces outside ourselves (oftentimes, I think I hear this referred to as external v. internal locus of control). It's also the power inside ourselves we tap when we have to endure hardship, tackle a tough change, make difficult decisions. The philosophy here is: It is not what it IS, it is what we make of it.
Lesson learned here: tap into your Schopferische Kraft (or, if you like, have an internal locus of control.) The only person who makes you happy, gives you strength, defines you, shapes your destiny, is you.
Geltungestreben:
Striving for significance -- our instinctive human desire to matter, to be important and to contribute in some way. Again, there is a spectrum here... you can either strive for significance in a useful or a useless way. We strive for useful significance when we strive for the success of oru community -- the greater good. We strive for useless significance when we chase our own prestige, priveledge and rewards with no regard to its effect on others.
Lesson learned here: We all possess Geltungestreben -- the desire for significance. But that desire is meaningless, empty and counterproductive when it looks at only what you want. Striving for significance must be useul -- humans are only truly usefully significant when making a positive contribution to the greater community.

OK, I'll jump off my soapbox now. I really just wanted to put these here as a personal reminder:
Sarah... this is the philosophy you live by. This is what you believe to be true. It doesn't make it "T" truth, but it is your truth. Don't forget it. Live each day this way.

All Hallow's Eve

Boo.
Happy Halloween!

toasts only 2 people in the world are gonna understand

Let us drink to:

• A year of being on the SBC-free wagon
• Mold-free nether regions
• Being a transformer (more than meets the eye)
• Vodka-lemonade
• Being a member of the Mervyn's Alumni Gold Club
• A satisfying, bullshit-free sex life
• Target "slutty" Friday
• Not being an oompa-loompa
• Ineloquence when trashed
• A teeny-tiny spoon duel
• Deee-lite, baby
• Growth
• Not calling Wisconsin or Nebraska home
  

KnittinKitten

So, Diana had a brainchild that I'm now on-board with: take a couple of weeknights per month, get a group of knitters together, and feverishly create mittens and other cold-weather gear for the homeless.

Brainchild born. The first official meeting of the KnittinKittens gets underway in a week or so's time. If you knit, are in the Minneapolis general vicinity... please join us!