on this fine Thursday....
...my iPod is currently spinning a Melodious Owl song that makes me want to drink gin and tonics and get crazy-dancing at the t-rock (which I'm going to recovering from in a weeks' time, anyhoo.)
...my mind wanders into the realm of sewing skirts, and I bless the blog world for providing me with myriad patterns and tutorials.
...I am potentially kicking ass and taking names on my to-do list.
...There are 3 separate brews going in my basement, which I'm really excited about. And bottles of the last batch the DTs whipped up in April are priming in a dark corner as I type. Should be ready 'round Father's Day. Have I mentioned how much I dig on the way my house smells after we've been brewing all night?
...I'm in desperate search for a cheap used 10-speed roadbike.
...I anxiously anticipate a weekend of patio-loafing, St. Paul style, biking to Buffy, farmer's-marketing, beer-festivaling, and Grand-Old-Day sunburn and wandering. Sigh. Life is good.
29.5.07
More on that later.
For now, breaking news:
1) I finished the 'Jest over the holiday weekend. Feel solidly entrenched in noodling the entire book, its literary meaning, its greater relational and psychological implications, all the loose ends my mind needs to tie up, attach meaning to, come to terms with. But I will say it is perhaps my new favorite book. Certainly the best piece of modern American literature I've read to-date.
Jana was right when she said that finishing the book -- and not having it to read anymore -- is like a breakup. Dave was sage in advising I take a little reading break for a couple of weeks, just to get this book out of my system.
If you have any interest in psychology, addiction, relationships, family, nature v. nuture, post-modern commentary on America... I think I need to say, you must read this book.
2) Dave sends me a wonderful Wallace speech today, and I feel utterly compelled to preserve this nugget of wisdom from it:
1) I finished the 'Jest over the holiday weekend. Feel solidly entrenched in noodling the entire book, its literary meaning, its greater relational and psychological implications, all the loose ends my mind needs to tie up, attach meaning to, come to terms with. But I will say it is perhaps my new favorite book. Certainly the best piece of modern American literature I've read to-date.
Jana was right when she said that finishing the book -- and not having it to read anymore -- is like a breakup. Dave was sage in advising I take a little reading break for a couple of weeks, just to get this book out of my system.
If you have any interest in psychology, addiction, relationships, family, nature v. nuture, post-modern commentary on America... I think I need to say, you must read this book.
2) Dave sends me a wonderful Wallace speech today, and I feel utterly compelled to preserve this nugget of wisdom from it:
The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death.
It is about the real value of a real education,
which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
"This is water."
"This is water."
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
25.5.07
I, urbanwanderlust, do solemnly swear.
Alright, maybe it's not that serious.
But the DTs and I did agree on a computer-free weekend (so he won't work and I won't blog a weekend at the lake away.)
I may rue this decision if it decides to rain all damned weekend long. Or maybe we'll just go puddle-jumping, swim even if it is freezing out, make a fire, eat s'mores, and snuggle under cabin-y blankets to chase the chill away.
Damn, I love long weekends in the woods.
(We didn't make promises about not using the phone for mobile blogging... mwah hah hah hah. No pictures of me in a swimsuit -- promise. I'm too ghostly white -- and drank way too much beer this winter -- for that nonsense.
Happy holiday weekend. Chase down some happy; I know I will be. I'm heading to my happy place -- the ideal Sarah place, the place that always makes me happy, always brings me joy, always gets me to relaxing and resting and recharging. I can't wait to spend three quality days with the people I love most in the world, doing a whole lotta nothing important except being.
Cheers!
But the DTs and I did agree on a computer-free weekend (so he won't work and I won't blog a weekend at the lake away.)
I may rue this decision if it decides to rain all damned weekend long. Or maybe we'll just go puddle-jumping, swim even if it is freezing out, make a fire, eat s'mores, and snuggle under cabin-y blankets to chase the chill away.
Damn, I love long weekends in the woods.
(We didn't make promises about not using the phone for mobile blogging... mwah hah hah hah. No pictures of me in a swimsuit -- promise. I'm too ghostly white -- and drank way too much beer this winter -- for that nonsense.
Happy holiday weekend. Chase down some happy; I know I will be. I'm heading to my happy place -- the ideal Sarah place, the place that always makes me happy, always brings me joy, always gets me to relaxing and resting and recharging. I can't wait to spend three quality days with the people I love most in the world, doing a whole lotta nothing important except being.
Cheers!
would you like to tapeworm that?
You know, we always joked about a tapeworm being the easy way to drop a few pounds.
But crikey. For real?
(Thanks to Jezebel for pointing this out. She's really doing us all a community service. And I'll thank Jess for pointing out the delight that is Jezebel. What would I do if not for leeching links off other people...)
23.5.07
<3 you, Nordeast.
So this very broken fire hydrant caught my eye as we were driving 'round Bottineau over the weekend (or was it Monday? No, I'm sure it was the weekend...)
At any rate, I love the oh-so-obvious sign: NOT IN SERVICE. O RLY? Because it may not be obvious to anyone else, but it's coming apart in the middle. So you don't think there's an active connection to a water main inside that 4-inch gap?
Gee golly.
oh, these are the people in your neighborhood.
Neat.
Looks like my fabulous little neighborhood now has it's own website.
Northeast Minneapolis Arts District
I have been there for a month now -- and have I mentioned how very much I love it?
Looks like my fabulous little neighborhood now has it's own website.
Northeast Minneapolis Arts District
I have been there for a month now -- and have I mentioned how very much I love it?
- Quiet
- Normal, working-class people live there
- Birds. I can open my windows and hear the birds!
- Walk to: about 150 art galleries, bike shop, coffee shop, any number of catholic churches, the Polish Deli, 331, Grumpy's, Modern Cafe, Ritz, Emily's Lebanese.
- Bike to work
- Or take a 12-minute bus ride
- Gardening in the backyard
- Neighbors that don't play trance-electronica at 1AM
22.5.07
an open letter to my (future) adult daughter
Having a daughter is a funny thing. For me, many times, it's looking at this little girl growing up before my eyes, all tiny and happy and full of life, curious and still awed by the simple things, and knowing she's looking back at me thinking, that is the smartest woman on the planet. She's the epitomy of womanhood, and she's the one woman in the world I trust everything to. She's my role model. She knows everything about being a girl, about being a mom, about being strong and intelligent and beautiful and courageous.
It's heavy, sometimes, to look into those big blue eyes and see such faith placed in such an imperfect me. But it also makes me feel honored and proud, that anyone - anyone! - on the planet would trust me with so much, put so much stock in my meager life experience, would look up to me. Diana and I often have the conversation/philisophical volley about only those who actually are competent ever question their competency... but it gets me to thinking about being a good mom.
I say good, because I mean good and not perfect. I am not perfect, and won't be. I sometimes get annoyed, or cannot answer a preschooler question while merging into rush hour traffic, and snap at my sweet little girl who didn't really do anything wrong. Sometimes, its easier to sit and watch Finding Nemo for the 1132nd time than it is to work on learning how to read. And some days, I just give up on "two more bites" or "drink all your milk" and just let her have the blessed bowl of ice cream.
I know things don't get easier as we both get older. She's going to run into conflict with other girls (or boys) at school. She's going to get her feelings hurt, her knees scraped, her ego bruised. She's going to have to face a bully, or a mean girl. She's going to struggle to learn something (I was a total kiddie nerd and angsted all through elementary school about my phys ed and handwriting grades).
And then she's going to turn into a pre-teen or whatever they are calling those kids now. And I'm going to get really stupid for about 5 or 6 years. I will have no taste in fashion, or music. I'll know nothing about friendships or relationships. I will have no idea what it's like to be an angsty teenager (even though, christ, some days I still feel like I am an angsty teenager. Well, not quite so bad as it was. But the memory doesn't really fade like I thought my parents' memories of angsty teenhood did... huh.)
So, while she's still cute and adoring me, and while I'm still marvelling at the delighfulness that is childhood - I want to tell my future daughter something:
Daughter mine, sweet child who will always be perfectly herself:
Don't ever doubt how very much I love you. I know we're not always going to see eye to eye - and I know you and I both have stubborn streaks that try most everyone around us - and I know that you and I are both going to make choices over the course of our lives that confound one another. That being said: I'd jump in front of a freight train for you, in half a heartbeat, even at my most exasperated. You are my daughter, and in the four years I've been blessed with you, you have taught me more than I ever thought I could learn from another person. I cannot imagine how you will shape me for the remainder of my days; I can only pray and hope I do as good a job shaping you in the 14 years of childhood I have left.
My goals for you are happiness, contentment, and fulfillment. I want for you, daughter mine, a life filled with joy. I want you to find work that makes you happy, that makes you feel purposeful and fulfilled. I want your life to be filled with respectful, healthy relationships with friends and family who cherish you, fully. I want you to experience nonjudgemental, unwavering, unconditional love. I don't really care how you find happiness. It doesn't matter to me what you do for work - who you fall in love with - where you live - where you study - what brings you joy. I'm actually really excited to just come along with you on the journey and watch you unfold into the Essential Paige someday. I'm honored that I will get to be there.
Because I want you to find fulfillment, contentment, and happiness, I have to uphold a certain part of this equation. I have to fulfill some obligation, some promise as your parent. I promise to expose you to and demonstrate to you repsectful, mature, caring relationships. I promise to provide you with good friends and family that nurture who you are, uniquely. I promise to laugh with you as much as I can, and cry with you when you need it. And I promise to back off when you need to try things on your own. With the caveat that I'll always be just a few steps behind if you need backup. I promise to teach you how to handle the crap life invariably doles out, but I'll teach you how to handle it like an adult. I promise to teach you how to respect others, how to stand up for yourself without being selfish, how to reach your goals, how to be happy in the moment and enjoy the journey. Most of all, I promise to support the Essential Paige, however she needs to be supported. I promise to listen. I promise to apologize when I screw up. I promise to forgive you when you do the same.
When you think of it, sweet Paige, it is strangely awesome to be a mom. A lot of it is mostly unpleasant and definitely self-sacrificial, when you look at it on paper -- but it never feels that way. And if you want to be a mom someday too (and you don't have to be), it will be equally awesome to share my experience raising you as you raise a child of your own.
These words don't mean much to you now, all 4-years-old and ready to absorb all the learning the world has to offer -- and they probably aren't going to mean much to you in 10 years when I'm just mean old mom. But someday, I want you to know: everything I did raising you was aimed at helping you be Perfectly Paige. It was intentional (although it's not going to be a perfect attempt at parenting). And it all grew out of this giant-sized love and respect I have for you, love you just don't understand til you try a hand at parenting for yourself (and even then, wonder half the time how all that love fits inside your tiny little adult heart that's so full of other crap to worry about).
It's heavy, sometimes, to look into those big blue eyes and see such faith placed in such an imperfect me. But it also makes me feel honored and proud, that anyone - anyone! - on the planet would trust me with so much, put so much stock in my meager life experience, would look up to me. Diana and I often have the conversation/philisophical volley about only those who actually are competent ever question their competency... but it gets me to thinking about being a good mom.
I say good, because I mean good and not perfect. I am not perfect, and won't be. I sometimes get annoyed, or cannot answer a preschooler question while merging into rush hour traffic, and snap at my sweet little girl who didn't really do anything wrong. Sometimes, its easier to sit and watch Finding Nemo for the 1132nd time than it is to work on learning how to read. And some days, I just give up on "two more bites" or "drink all your milk" and just let her have the blessed bowl of ice cream.
I know things don't get easier as we both get older. She's going to run into conflict with other girls (or boys) at school. She's going to get her feelings hurt, her knees scraped, her ego bruised. She's going to have to face a bully, or a mean girl. She's going to struggle to learn something (I was a total kiddie nerd and angsted all through elementary school about my phys ed and handwriting grades).
And then she's going to turn into a pre-teen or whatever they are calling those kids now. And I'm going to get really stupid for about 5 or 6 years. I will have no taste in fashion, or music. I'll know nothing about friendships or relationships. I will have no idea what it's like to be an angsty teenager (even though, christ, some days I still feel like I am an angsty teenager. Well, not quite so bad as it was. But the memory doesn't really fade like I thought my parents' memories of angsty teenhood did... huh.)
So, while she's still cute and adoring me, and while I'm still marvelling at the delighfulness that is childhood - I want to tell my future daughter something:
Daughter mine, sweet child who will always be perfectly herself:
Don't ever doubt how very much I love you. I know we're not always going to see eye to eye - and I know you and I both have stubborn streaks that try most everyone around us - and I know that you and I are both going to make choices over the course of our lives that confound one another. That being said: I'd jump in front of a freight train for you, in half a heartbeat, even at my most exasperated. You are my daughter, and in the four years I've been blessed with you, you have taught me more than I ever thought I could learn from another person. I cannot imagine how you will shape me for the remainder of my days; I can only pray and hope I do as good a job shaping you in the 14 years of childhood I have left.
My goals for you are happiness, contentment, and fulfillment. I want for you, daughter mine, a life filled with joy. I want you to find work that makes you happy, that makes you feel purposeful and fulfilled. I want your life to be filled with respectful, healthy relationships with friends and family who cherish you, fully. I want you to experience nonjudgemental, unwavering, unconditional love. I don't really care how you find happiness. It doesn't matter to me what you do for work - who you fall in love with - where you live - where you study - what brings you joy. I'm actually really excited to just come along with you on the journey and watch you unfold into the Essential Paige someday. I'm honored that I will get to be there.
Because I want you to find fulfillment, contentment, and happiness, I have to uphold a certain part of this equation. I have to fulfill some obligation, some promise as your parent. I promise to expose you to and demonstrate to you repsectful, mature, caring relationships. I promise to provide you with good friends and family that nurture who you are, uniquely. I promise to laugh with you as much as I can, and cry with you when you need it. And I promise to back off when you need to try things on your own. With the caveat that I'll always be just a few steps behind if you need backup. I promise to teach you how to handle the crap life invariably doles out, but I'll teach you how to handle it like an adult. I promise to teach you how to respect others, how to stand up for yourself without being selfish, how to reach your goals, how to be happy in the moment and enjoy the journey. Most of all, I promise to support the Essential Paige, however she needs to be supported. I promise to listen. I promise to apologize when I screw up. I promise to forgive you when you do the same.
When you think of it, sweet Paige, it is strangely awesome to be a mom. A lot of it is mostly unpleasant and definitely self-sacrificial, when you look at it on paper -- but it never feels that way. And if you want to be a mom someday too (and you don't have to be), it will be equally awesome to share my experience raising you as you raise a child of your own.
These words don't mean much to you now, all 4-years-old and ready to absorb all the learning the world has to offer -- and they probably aren't going to mean much to you in 10 years when I'm just mean old mom. But someday, I want you to know: everything I did raising you was aimed at helping you be Perfectly Paige. It was intentional (although it's not going to be a perfect attempt at parenting). And it all grew out of this giant-sized love and respect I have for you, love you just don't understand til you try a hand at parenting for yourself (and even then, wonder half the time how all that love fits inside your tiny little adult heart that's so full of other crap to worry about).
whoopsie daisy.
heh.
This is entirely plausible, I'm sure. Since I won't be graduating from anything next May, I'll have to be sure to hit Art-a-Whirl: in my neighborhood, local art, and man, does this kind sound like my kind of party.
This is entirely plausible, I'm sure. Since I won't be graduating from anything next May, I'll have to be sure to hit Art-a-Whirl: in my neighborhood, local art, and man, does this kind sound like my kind of party.
18.5.07
17.5.07
momentous
it's been a sortof challenge to myself over the last 2 or so months to make sure I have listened to and ranked every song in my music collection on iTunes. Now, it's only 7000+ songs, so I don't feel like that was necessarily an insane goal -- and I don't feel like I have so much music I can't possibly know the whole catalog -- but I was definitely rutting into the same playlists for a while.
So I made a to-listen playlist that held anything that hadn't yet been played through. At its inception, I had about 1500 songs to go through.
This morning on the bus ride in - I cleared my list. It's a tiny momentous occasion for me, if only because I have honestly listened to 2000 or so new songs (I got a bunch of new music between the time I started my list and now) in the last couple of months, and feel like I have broadened my tasted in music somewhat because of it.
I also feel like I can put my iPod on shuffle now without guilt that there's something "unlistened" still waiting for me. Damned guilt, always eating at me at silly little dark corners of my neuroses.
So I made a to-listen playlist that held anything that hadn't yet been played through. At its inception, I had about 1500 songs to go through.
This morning on the bus ride in - I cleared my list. It's a tiny momentous occasion for me, if only because I have honestly listened to 2000 or so new songs (I got a bunch of new music between the time I started my list and now) in the last couple of months, and feel like I have broadened my tasted in music somewhat because of it.
I also feel like I can put my iPod on shuffle now without guilt that there's something "unlistened" still waiting for me. Damned guilt, always eating at me at silly little dark corners of my neuroses.
15.5.07
growin' up: its not just for toddlers anymore.
The more one worries, the older one gets;
the more one laughs, the younger one feels.
(chinese proverb)
4 years ago today, a spunky, sassy, infectiously extroverted little girl graced my life for the first time. I have watched her grow from a tiny newborn, to a determined (read: stubborn) infant. I was there to help her learn how to eat, how to walk, how to turn the pages of books through toddlerhood. In the life of a preschooler, I've watched a tiny baby develop into a completely dynamic, sensitive, others-centered little girl with an amazing command of her native tongue, exquisite taste in music, and a heart so big it makes mine want to burst.
Through it all, we've taught one another how to be patient. How to be gentle. How to not settle. How to demand the life we so richly deserve.
Happy fourth birthday to my beautiful little girl. I hope one day, she'll understand how often I just sit here in awe of how perfectly Paige she's always been.
14.5.07
Go take a rest; you deserve it.
I mentioned last week the completely appropriate fortune cookie that shooed me to take a nap.
I wish I'd have listened to it, as my weekend was equal parts wonderful and frantically paced. I did get to rest my head in my sweetheart's lap for about an hour or so yesterday afternoon (best. mother's day gift. ever) before we hit the greenhouse for plants... but alas, as tired as I have been - no real rest.
And errands tonight, Paige's birthday tomorrow. Plans on Wednesday and Thursday, and time to plan for and prep for graduation on Saturday. Blissfully non-busy on Sunday. I want to read the paper, eat a lazy brunch, perhaps water the garden, and otherwise, become one with relaxation.
I don't know that I've ever looked so forward to spending a 3-day weekend at the cabin, come Memorial Day. I mean, I always look forward to having some quality time with my lake, my grandparents, with Premium and magazines and catching sunfish and really, not doing anything of importance except enjoying life. This year, however, it's like I'm suddenly awash with the last month's worth of accomplishments - and I need a giant, 3-day-nap to recouperate from it all.
I wish I'd have listened to it, as my weekend was equal parts wonderful and frantically paced. I did get to rest my head in my sweetheart's lap for about an hour or so yesterday afternoon (best. mother's day gift. ever) before we hit the greenhouse for plants... but alas, as tired as I have been - no real rest.
And errands tonight, Paige's birthday tomorrow. Plans on Wednesday and Thursday, and time to plan for and prep for graduation on Saturday. Blissfully non-busy on Sunday. I want to read the paper, eat a lazy brunch, perhaps water the garden, and otherwise, become one with relaxation.
I don't know that I've ever looked so forward to spending a 3-day weekend at the cabin, come Memorial Day. I mean, I always look forward to having some quality time with my lake, my grandparents, with Premium and magazines and catching sunfish and really, not doing anything of importance except enjoying life. This year, however, it's like I'm suddenly awash with the last month's worth of accomplishments - and I need a giant, 3-day-nap to recouperate from it all.
11.5.07
Jana inadvertently challenges me to a Friday Five.
1. suppose, for totally moral but still illegal reasons, you've killed a man. where do you hide the body?
Perhaps I don't hide it at all. Perhaps I hang it on a post in my front yard as a warning to anyone else who wants to cross me.
***
2. if you were only allowed 3 pairs of shoes for the rest of your life, what shoes would they be and why?
black kitten heels
brown danskos
running shoes
I am all kinds of creative and ridiculous in many facets of my life. But I am all practicality when it comes to shoes.
***
3. if, instead of going to work next monday, you had to relive a day from your childhood, what would it be?
Give me any 95 degree, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, summer day at my grandparent's backyard pool.
***
4. suppose that through a combination of apocalyptic disaster and spontaneous collective memory loss, the human race no longer has the means or knowledge to brew beer. what do you drink when you get home from work?
I sign my will and trust, kiss my daughter goodbye, and drink a gallon of Dran-o.
A mojito would also do the trick (at least if it's warm out), and there's nothing like hot cider and whiskey after being out in the cold too long.
***
5. the perfect chocolate chip cookie: chewy or crunchy?
When warm: chewy and buttery
After cooling: cripsy edges with a flat, chewy center. Delicious and perfect when dunked in cold glass of milk. Damn. Now I want cookies.
*****
Since Jana was kind enough to tag me with five questions at my behest, I'll put the same offer out there. You want questions? You just let me know. I'll give YOU questions, sister (or brother, for that matter... this is a gender-equality-friendly blog.)
Perhaps I don't hide it at all. Perhaps I hang it on a post in my front yard as a warning to anyone else who wants to cross me.
***
2. if you were only allowed 3 pairs of shoes for the rest of your life, what shoes would they be and why?
black kitten heels
brown danskos
running shoes
I am all kinds of creative and ridiculous in many facets of my life. But I am all practicality when it comes to shoes.
***
3. if, instead of going to work next monday, you had to relive a day from your childhood, what would it be?
Give me any 95 degree, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, summer day at my grandparent's backyard pool.
***
4. suppose that through a combination of apocalyptic disaster and spontaneous collective memory loss, the human race no longer has the means or knowledge to brew beer. what do you drink when you get home from work?
I sign my will and trust, kiss my daughter goodbye, and drink a gallon of Dran-o.
A mojito would also do the trick (at least if it's warm out), and there's nothing like hot cider and whiskey after being out in the cold too long.
***
5. the perfect chocolate chip cookie: chewy or crunchy?
When warm: chewy and buttery
After cooling: cripsy edges with a flat, chewy center. Delicious and perfect when dunked in cold glass of milk. Damn. Now I want cookies.
*****
Since Jana was kind enough to tag me with five questions at my behest, I'll put the same offer out there. You want questions? You just let me know. I'll give YOU questions, sister (or brother, for that matter... this is a gender-equality-friendly blog.)
song of the day
I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Well life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows
utterly lovely.
Is there anything I like to see more than this?
(the correct answer is no. No, we all know you are obsessed with your Grain Belt, you insane Minneapolis woman.)
I just want a girl who'll hold my hand
Bang, Bang, Rock and Roll, my friends. It's gorgeous, it's May, it's Friday. I'm drinking iced coffee, loving my new neighborhood (long live the NE Arts District.)
There's something especially marvelous about driving past the old Grain Belt Brewery each morning when I drop Paige off at daycare. I need to spend some quality time on my bike with my camera in the neighborhood in upcoming weeks.
Which probably means I should stop by the neighborhood bike shop.
I'm in a great mood today - possibly because I was able to relax(!) for the first time in oh, 6 years, without some to-do for school rolling around in the back of my head. Ah. Accomplishment.
There's something especially marvelous about driving past the old Grain Belt Brewery each morning when I drop Paige off at daycare. I need to spend some quality time on my bike with my camera in the neighborhood in upcoming weeks.
Which probably means I should stop by the neighborhood bike shop.
I'm in a great mood today - possibly because I was able to relax(!) for the first time in oh, 6 years, without some to-do for school rolling around in the back of my head. Ah. Accomplishment.
10.5.07
I always did love a happy ending.
Done!
Let's all take a moment to admire a completed, bindered, and ready-to-turn-in thesis, shall we? I even got it done a day early -- man, with time to spare! I'm so slacking on my procrastination skills...
(Dave is going to kill me for saying that).
Hello, Sarah's real life? Yes, she's done with her master's program now. Expect her to join you shortly.
9.5.07
liberated.
I'm grouchy, tired, sick of writing, sick of fighting with Microsoft Word.
So I liberated these questions from Diana's blog. At least it got my mind off the grumpiness of today.
(1) My uncle once... slept on the front lawn of the cabin, after a really drunken softball tournament.
(2) Never in my life... have I been stung by a bee.
(3) When I was five... I was obsessed with cabbage patch kids and making Laura Kordiak (my neighbor girl) be my friend. It didn't work out, by the way.
(4) High school was... too long ago to really matter, anymore.
(5) I will never forget... who am I kidding? I forget most things.
(6) I once met... a giant, speeding tour bus on the side of a cliff in Western Ireland, barrelling straight toward me on a hairpin curve. Good times.
(7) There’s this girl I know who... while she hasn't yet been to kindergarten, knows The Beastie Boys and Brother Ali know how to rock it.
(8) Once, at a bar... I drowned a rubber duck in a pint of cider.
(9) By noon, I’m usually... starving.
(10)Last night... I wrote 23 pages of thesis and digested 8 episodes of Buffy.
(11)If I only had... less personal frustration today.
(12)Next time I go to church... Dave will be home!
(13)Terry Shiavo... is real dead.
(14)What worries me most is... everything worries me. There isn't really a ranking system.
(15)When I turn my head left, I see... pictures of the most important people in my life, a ton of files I'm ignoring, my iPod, cubeland.
(16)When I turn my head right, I see... an office-issued phone, supplies, more pictures. Ooh. and my overflowing recycling bin.
(17)You know I’m lying when... I blush, giggle, and/or stutter. I'm a miserable liar.
(18)What I miss most about the eighties... being 8 years old.
(19) If I was a character in Shakespeare, I’d be... Kat from Taming of the Shrew? Although I've been cast as Hamlet's Ophelia three times. So perhaps I really more embody the love-sick, crazy, suicidal type. Dear God help us all.
(20)By this time next year... it will be spring again.
(21)A better name for me would be...that intensely beautiful, independently wealthy, intelligent and funny woman who doesn't have to work to pay the bills.
(22) I have a hard time understanding... accounting.
(23) If I ever go back to school, I’ll... be a few years older. I'm graduating in a week, for God's sake! I'd like some time off.
(24) You know I like you if... I can openly belch and/or curse in your presence.
(25) If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be... God.
(26) Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro... all people I've never met.
(27) Take my advice, never... settle.
(28) A song I love, but do not own is... probably on my to-buy music list.
(29) If you visit my hometown, I suggest... staying. I love minneapolis with all that is in me.
(30) Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars... have nothing I can see in common.
(31) Why won’t people... use their turn signals while driving?
(32) If you spend the night at my house... you may get to sleep in the twin bed with Dora sheets on it.
(33) I’d stop my wedding for... I'm having a wedding?
(34) The world could do without... manipulation.
(35) I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than... go back to the life I had in 2004.
(36) My favorite blonde is... that super-duper fake platinum blonde.
(37) Paper clips are more useful than... the little paper dots that come out of the 3-hole punch.
(38) If I do anything well, it’s... multi-task.
(39) And, by the way... I'm now less grumpy than I was 15 minutes ago.
So I liberated these questions from Diana's blog. At least it got my mind off the grumpiness of today.
(1) My uncle once... slept on the front lawn of the cabin, after a really drunken softball tournament.
(2) Never in my life... have I been stung by a bee.
(3) When I was five... I was obsessed with cabbage patch kids and making Laura Kordiak (my neighbor girl) be my friend. It didn't work out, by the way.
(4) High school was... too long ago to really matter, anymore.
(5) I will never forget... who am I kidding? I forget most things.
(6) I once met... a giant, speeding tour bus on the side of a cliff in Western Ireland, barrelling straight toward me on a hairpin curve. Good times.
(7) There’s this girl I know who... while she hasn't yet been to kindergarten, knows The Beastie Boys and Brother Ali know how to rock it.
(8) Once, at a bar... I drowned a rubber duck in a pint of cider.
(9) By noon, I’m usually... starving.
(10)Last night... I wrote 23 pages of thesis and digested 8 episodes of Buffy.
(11)If I only had... less personal frustration today.
(12)Next time I go to church... Dave will be home!
(13)Terry Shiavo... is real dead.
(14)What worries me most is... everything worries me. There isn't really a ranking system.
(15)When I turn my head left, I see... pictures of the most important people in my life, a ton of files I'm ignoring, my iPod, cubeland.
(16)When I turn my head right, I see... an office-issued phone, supplies, more pictures. Ooh. and my overflowing recycling bin.
(17)You know I’m lying when... I blush, giggle, and/or stutter. I'm a miserable liar.
(18)What I miss most about the eighties... being 8 years old.
(19) If I was a character in Shakespeare, I’d be... Kat from Taming of the Shrew? Although I've been cast as Hamlet's Ophelia three times. So perhaps I really more embody the love-sick, crazy, suicidal type. Dear God help us all.
(20)By this time next year... it will be spring again.
(21)A better name for me would be...that intensely beautiful, independently wealthy, intelligent and funny woman who doesn't have to work to pay the bills.
(22) I have a hard time understanding... accounting.
(23) If I ever go back to school, I’ll... be a few years older. I'm graduating in a week, for God's sake! I'd like some time off.
(24) You know I like you if... I can openly belch and/or curse in your presence.
(25) If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be... God.
(26) Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro... all people I've never met.
(27) Take my advice, never... settle.
(28) A song I love, but do not own is... probably on my to-buy music list.
(29) If you visit my hometown, I suggest... staying. I love minneapolis with all that is in me.
(30) Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars... have nothing I can see in common.
(31) Why won’t people... use their turn signals while driving?
(32) If you spend the night at my house... you may get to sleep in the twin bed with Dora sheets on it.
(33) I’d stop my wedding for... I'm having a wedding?
(34) The world could do without... manipulation.
(35) I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than... go back to the life I had in 2004.
(36) My favorite blonde is... that super-duper fake platinum blonde.
(37) Paper clips are more useful than... the little paper dots that come out of the 3-hole punch.
(38) If I do anything well, it’s... multi-task.
(39) And, by the way... I'm now less grumpy than I was 15 minutes ago.
soundtracks
I woke up with a Fountains of Wayne song in my head today - I Will Wait for You.
(not a well-known song, it's off Welcome Interstate Managers... who knows what archive that sprung from.)
Although most of the day I've been chasing the Monkees (Last Train to Clarksville) out of my head with indie-rock via the iPod. It's not working as well as I would like. This is what I get for writing my thesis instead of heading to trivia last night.
Though I'm up to page 33 (of 50 to 60 pages)... so I'm feeling meagerly accomplished.
(not a well-known song, it's off Welcome Interstate Managers... who knows what archive that sprung from.)
Although most of the day I've been chasing the Monkees (Last Train to Clarksville) out of my head with indie-rock via the iPod. It's not working as well as I would like. This is what I get for writing my thesis instead of heading to trivia last night.
Though I'm up to page 33 (of 50 to 60 pages)... so I'm feeling meagerly accomplished.
8.5.07
additionally
This morning I woke up with Johnny Cash's Ballad of John Henry in my head.
(my waking up soundtrack has just been stellar as of late, but I keep forgetting to blog it.)
And I've decided that Ben Folds is my ideal "alone" music.
That is all.
(my waking up soundtrack has just been stellar as of late, but I keep forgetting to blog it.)
And I've decided that Ben Folds is my ideal "alone" music.
That is all.
I haven't (yet) died. I promise.
Posts may be sporadic this week: finals (for the last time!) means I have about 20-30 more pages to write before the week is out. Channeling almost all of my writing energies to finishing the thesis.
On the bright side: it's mother's day this weekend, and I get to spend some quality time with my beautiful daughter after I'm done writing like a fiend. And there's lot of celebratory stuff happening over the weekend; I'm stoked.
And the garden gets planted in a week. I brought Paige home these adorable little gardening tools from England - which she promptly compared to the gardening tools the Easter Bunny brought me... she's excited about playing in the dirt, too. It's at least week later than I normally plant outside... such is life.
And I graduate on the 19th! I'm picking up cap and gown over lunch today. This makes it so very real...
Also very much looking forward to some hardcore relaxation at the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. Especially excited about seeing my grandparent's newly built retirement home. They have worked so hard to build their dream, and they are finally getting to live it. I'm so delighted for them.
On the bright side: it's mother's day this weekend, and I get to spend some quality time with my beautiful daughter after I'm done writing like a fiend. And there's lot of celebratory stuff happening over the weekend; I'm stoked.
And the garden gets planted in a week. I brought Paige home these adorable little gardening tools from England - which she promptly compared to the gardening tools the Easter Bunny brought me... she's excited about playing in the dirt, too. It's at least week later than I normally plant outside... such is life.
And I graduate on the 19th! I'm picking up cap and gown over lunch today. This makes it so very real...
Also very much looking forward to some hardcore relaxation at the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. Especially excited about seeing my grandparent's newly built retirement home. They have worked so hard to build their dream, and they are finally getting to live it. I'm so delighted for them.
7.5.07
worst. muzak. ever.
I'm on hold this morning, being forced to listen to a nerve-shredding rendition of the Cranberries' Zombie. Played on flute and synthesizer.
Oh God. And a Ukelele?
Shoot me now.
Oh God. And a Ukelele?
Shoot me now.
2.5.07
Europe (minus the leggings) looks good on you.
Despite the alarming number of leggings I have seen over the past week, I have to admit: Europe (or maybe its just travelling) brings out my Essential Sarah. In case you were curious, I resisted fashion temptation and did not purchase said leggings.
(at Warwick Castle, last Saturday.)
Admittedly, I'm looking forward to seeing my Minneapolis again soon. I never could resist her siren's-call.
1.5.07
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