Monday, December 19, 2005

sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head...

Id god a cold ind by node. So I am feeling rather out of it.

Also, I AM GOING ON VACATION! Back in a week or so! YAY!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HANUKKAH AND HOLIDAY OF YOUR CHOICE!

I will stop capitalizing now and go blow my nose.

And also…
Jodi tagged me for this, but I am feeling a little rocky so forgive me if it doesn’t make any sense…

Seven Things To Do Before I Die
1. Finish reading Ulysses (again, I read it once and now I am reading it a second time, but it’s going much slower!).
2. Get out of debt (yeah, I just cut and paste this one from Jodi. I feel ya, sista).
3. Spend Christmas in London.
4. Learn to ink a comic book.
5. Actually FINISH writing a book.
6. Travel around India.
7. Make myself the skull ring I always wanted but could never find.

Seven Things I Cannot Do
1. Climb Mount Everest
2. At this very moment, I cannot breathe
3. Finish one thing before I start another
4. Watch someone (or myself) get a shot
5. Hurt an animal
6. Not be nervous
7. Sleep well

Seven Things That I Admire in Others
1. Compassion
2. Intellegence
3. Humor
4. Grace
5. Patience
6. Mad Skillz
7. Ease within their surroundings

Seven Things I Say Most Often
1. Fuck.
2. Dude.
3. um…
4. oops.
5. Duuuude.
6. Aw, crap.
7. What up?

Seven Books (or Series) I Love
1. Persuasion
2. Richard III (does a play count?)
3. The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
4. Mary Poppins (series)
5. The Death of Vishnu
6. The Age of Innocence
7. Paddington Bear series

Seven Movies I Have Watched Over and Over Again
1. Empire Records
2. Mallrats
3. Pretty in Pink
4. Four Weddings and a Funeral
5. What a Way to Go!
6. Shaun of the Dead
7. How to Marry a Millionaire

Seven People I Want to Join in Too
Ummm…I don’t really know seven people. Anyone who wants to play along is welcome!

Friday, December 16, 2005

*sniffle*

My brother: "i laugh at your puny 5 hours. i'm looking at 17 hours in a minivan."

Dear brother, I would gladly drive 17 hours in a minivan if it meant that I didn't have to sit next to a creepy stranger, (or worse yet, my squirmy husband) in an extremely confined space and breathe recycled air. Not that it matters now because despite the veggies, the vitamin, the most reasonable amounts of sleep I can manage I HAVE A COLD! I have been diligently trying not to get one but apparently that is the surest way. RATS!

At least in the minivan you get a little more legroom. And if you really want to stop and stretch, you can. And you can put down the window when it gets too hot or turn on the heat when it gets to cold. However, when the kid in seat next to you gets sick, you pretty much have to be catcher, since you are related to him. Heh.

You should totally take your Dr Who dvds with you, they will make the time go fast.

*sniffle sniffle* *ah-CHOO!* I hope this is gone by Tuesday morning or I am sneezing on everyone on the plane. If I have a cold EVERYONE MUST SUFFER!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

OK, Big Brother...

...you can see that I changed the color on the time stamp and comments link to dark brown, but why did that one link within the text go dark brown too? Little help, oh wise one? And why are some brown and some still pink? Stupid HTML!

Well-Read but Pretty Chilly

I am very excited that I will be going home to New Jersey for Christmas, not so excited about the 5 plus hours of air travel, not to mention the 2 plus hours on the front end to get to the airport and check in (at the crack, of freakin’ dawn, I might add) and then the additional wait time on the other end to pick up baggage and what not. Also, not really excited about the cold weather. But you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you get to go home and see your family. YAY! And on the good side, I will have several hours of (hopefully) minimally interrupted reading time on the plane. One of my favorite things to do is plan what reading material I will take on trips and although, I haven’t started packing my bags yet, I do know that I will be taking several books. I know I am taking Watchmen because I have never read it and…hey shutup! I said I was a nerd, I never said that I was a good nerd! I am also very much looking forward to reading The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford. Ever since taking a class on death and dying in college, I have been interested in…death…and…dying. Well, more specifically, the funeral industry. A lot of people are really freaked out by it all but once you’ve met a handful of coffin makers and morticians, it’s a pretty interesting field. And Despite the fact that I think an awful lot of what is done is superstitious and a sham, I did meet some really nice people in the funeral business. Besides, when you read books about death on airplanes, people tend to leave you alone.

I was thinking about taking Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke with me but I am slightly concerned with the size and weight of it. Maybe if I have room in my suitcase, I will slip it in just in case I don’t finish The Scar by China MiĆ©ville. I really liked Perdido Street Stations even if at precisely the half-way point of this 500 page (or so) book, it turned into something completely different.

I also picked a book from UglyTown Press to take with me, but I can’t remember which one. Maybe it was Rat City but I am not sure…hmmm.

Speaking of rats…RATS! I didn’t pick a book of poetry! Hmmm…I’ll have to think on that one. Maybe a little John Donne or…Christoper Marlowe. It’s good and when people see me reading it they get the mistaken impression that I am smart. Heh.

Oh and there is also that biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine I wanted to read…and the first trade collection of The Amazing Joy Buzzards and I really need to finish Epileptic.

Can you see where this is going? I guess I’ll just have to leave all my clothes behind and only take books. It’s going to be mighty cold in New Jersey but I will be well-read!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

The King and I

Saw "King Kong" today and here is my succinct review...

LESS TALK MORE MONKEY!
That is all.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

ME ME ME (and zines) and more ME!

I’m not very cool. I’m not really indie or emo. I want to be punk but I’m not even close and although I may have some serious goth leanings….yeah. But today I accidentally went to Microcosm Publishing and spent some money on a little street cred. OK well, I bought a bunch of zines. I encourage you to take a look, it seems like they do really have something for everyone.

Zines are actually kind of fascinating to me. They are a lot like blogs in the sense that they can be totally self-centered. Really, who wants to read about my day-to-day life? Only the people who know me and don’t get to talk to me very often I would think. And yet I find that I read a number of blogs regularly of people that I have never, and I do not ever expect to meet. And they are interesting. Zines can be the same way. I am not a vegan, nor have I ever been one but I find myself reading all kinds of zines on vegan lifestyles and vegan cooking. And that’s only the beginning of it all. There are zines about…people. Just their lives, lo-tech blogs if you will, that fasI don’t really NEED to hear about the guy who goes to work, comes home and gets stoned and then gets up the next day and does it all again (check out Snakepit if you do NEED to know about him) and yet, I do read his stuff. And I really enjoy it.

Anyway, back to me…
On Saturday I went to Dizz-knee-land (you get an extra point if you know why I call it that) and had a very nice time, even if it was so crowded that they warned us of how crowded it was before we even parked the car. Still, I kind of enjoyed it all. People were generally happy and I like to people watch so it was all good. AND IT SNOWED! Well, that’s not true. They shot soap bubbles out all over me so it kind of looked like snow. But the idea of snow without cold is very, very appealing. Especially now that I hear it’s about 9 degrees in New Jersey and I am due to arrive there on the 20th. Yikes! I have California blood now; I can’t stand those cold temperatures!

On Sunday I went to the Bazaar Bizarre with a few friends. Sadly, we were sans Jodi-odi-odi because she has the plague. I hope she’s feeling better. The Bazaar Bizarre is an annual craft fair of independent artists, crafters and designers that is great fun. I always find some interesting things and discover new artists there. And you can drink. Who doesn’t like a craft fair with alcohol? It makes everything seem that much craftier! (OK, I didn’t have any drinks, but I did think about it!).

Rounded off the evening with Greek dim-sum…well, ok, we ordered our meal from the appetizers menu at a lovely Greek restaurant that is hidden down an alley (tres Harry Potter!). Very charming with very good food.

I would call this past weekend a success!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

FIle Under: Bad Idea

Why did I eat Cambell's "Blended Vegetable" Soup at Hand for lunch when i don't even like Campbell's soups? And when they said "blended" why don't they tell you it actually has some mushy chunks in it? Because there is very little that bothers me more than drinking something and having a chunk hit my lips unexpectedly. Ugh.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

In which I embarrass myself yet again
or...1981

In the spirit of goodwill and embarrassing one’s self deeply in the name of having something to post, I now present to you a book report from the sixth grade. We had several choices of how to write it and one of them was as a poem. As of 6 or so years ago I was still the only student who had ever chosen the poem option (and I use the term “poem” very, very loosely). You may mock my rhyme scheme if you want, as it barely exists anyway but I must note that I received an “Excellent A+ A truly super job!” on this particular paper.

I now present The Secret Garden: A book report in poetry by my 12 year old self (with spelling errors intact).

Little Mary quite contrary
Woke up one morning all alone
No servants or parents were in the India home
Then a young man he opened up the door
“Barny, “ he said “there’s a kid on the floor”

“Mistress Mary Quite Contrary”
Little Basil did chant
For poor young Mary was
Now living with a distant aunt

Little Mary dressed in black
Was soon met at the railway track
By one of her guardians maids
I daresay she was taken aback

But on the moor thin Mary
Soon began to thrive
And became as busy
As a bee in a hive

Soon Mary became friends with the
Gardners robin
She talked to him as he sat
Swayin and a bobbin’

One day while she was talking to
The robin
She found in a hole a key
The robin sat upon a wall
A swayin’ and a bobbin
And above the wall Mary saw
Some trees

And that is how Miss Mary
Chanced upon the garden
And she said to her uncle
“I beg your pardom but might
I have a bit of earth if nobody
Really wants it?
Her uncle he replied
“Take a yard or a bit if
nobody wants it”

Mary worked in the garden
Nobody had been in
For 1 decade it was empty
Little Mary she worked plenty

A young maids helped her get
A set of tools and seeds
And together they worked hard
They killed all the weeds

The garden was her uncles wifes
A pretty maid was she
She had died quite suddenly
From the falling branch of an old tree

One might mistress Mary heard a cry
She couldn’t find where it came from
No matter how she would try

One windy eve Miss Mary
Could not sleep
She heard the cry and
Took a little peep

What she found was her cousin
Who had been very sick
He could not walk only
Talk but he was worth a dozen

Marys cousin Colin
A big boy was he
But threw himself into
Furies always bawling

Colin got stronger
And in the very end
Mary taught him how to walk
And became a very good friend


As I said, not much on rhyme scheme there and I must have already heard that punctuaion was totally optional in a poem. I particularly like how I adopted some “old timey” language because that how you write a poem.

Mind you, I do not have to humiliate myself this way. I do it because I care.
Thank you and good night.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

2, 4, 6, 8, 2

Jodi-odi-odi wrote me a cinquain and I am so touched by it that I decided to reprint it here without permission:

Ren rocks
She inspires me
And teaches me new things
Like how to write this here cinquain
She's cool.

See, I AM COOL! Jodi-odi-odi said so! YOU CAN’T TELL ME DIFFERENT! Well, you can, but I won’t listen.

And, as I pointed out to Jodi, you should care about cinquains because they were developed by a poet named Adelaide Crapsey. This is now my new favorite name, replacing both “Cardinal Joseph Bevilacqua” and “John Snunu” (but possibly not “Lucrecia Bevilacqua Banderas”).

Anyway, I also wanted to mention that the idea laughing dogs is kind of creepy but I love this study. I now want to be an expert in “hamster culture.” That dude has an awesome job.

Monday, December 05, 2005

1986

So, I was cleaning out some stuff this weekend and I came across a bunch of notes and letters from high school that somehow made it all the way across country with me. Among them was this birthday list that I can only assume is from 1986. when I turned 17:

Karen’s Birthday List
  1. nice gold chain
  2. little red corvette
  3. driver’s lisence!! (sic)
  4. leather jacket
  5. HoJo concert tickets
  6. New Adam Ant album
  7. Overbrook sweatshirt
  8. football jersey #55 (occupied)
  9. tapes
  10. clothes
  11. money
  12. Dave Brown


Um…yeah. I can tell you that I don’t think I got ANY of these things for my birthday that year except the driver’s license (and I still can’t spell license correctly without looking it up so not all that much has changed). I did see HoJo in concert (and if you are under the age of say…30 and over the age of say….45 that would be HOWARD JONES to you) but I don’t think I got the tickets as a present. I did get the new Adam Ant album but I don’t think it was a birthday present, and I suspect I got it much, much later. I’m pretty sure it was the Viva Le Rock album. I think I remember who wore the #55 jersey but I don’t want to state any names here for fear of embarrassing myself (or anyone else for that matter). I did get a1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme which is not at all a little red corvette but was an awesome car anyway. It survived a lot of urban surfing and bumping of smaller cars (specifically Jules’s bright orange Pinto) into intersections (calm down, no one ever got hurt). I also no longer want a leather jacket or a nice gold chain (give me a break, I grew up in New Jersey) but if there was a new Adam Ant album, I would still want it. I would still totally go to a HoJo concert and I probably wouldn’t complain if I got Dave Brown for my birthday even now.

I know my birthday is now past but you know...if you were looking for christmas presents or something...

Friday, December 02, 2005

Watch out Audrey!

This one just makes me squeal like a little girl. (And if you didn't already know, Audrey is my cat.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

EEEEEEEEE!

OK, I am kind of proud of myself for getting this far in adapting my template. YAY! There are still some changes to be made but...eeeeeee! I didn't think I would ever get this far! (And yes, I like the fact that it looks like Neopolitan Ice Cream, shutup!).

Housekeeping with the Linkage

Oh! hey, i got my official hobo name yesterday! You may now refer to me as "li'l Max Meatboots" if you wish.

And now a few things I’ve been storing away and need to clear out…

This guy makes good art. I don’t know him but I quite like his style.

Last year, GoingJesus had a cavalcade of bad nativity scenes (I showed her the Madame Tussad’s one featuring Posh and Becks. This year it’s "Angels We Have Heard are High” and it’s really quite terrifying.

And speaking of religion… The Martin Luther . I haven’t tried it yet but I didn’t spend all that time in church school learning about the reformation to not be nailed to the door.

In science in nature news…well, butterflies now officially kick ass. Go figure.

Also, tis the season for headaches and flu, please be careful when you self-medicate . I recommend sticking with the … The Martin Luther . (Hey, this one is important, please do make with the clicking on the linkage!)

I don’t think I have ever actually read a Lovecraft story. I am interested and I have heard that the newest anthology is brilliant. I read somewhere that when you start reading it you think “Oh, jeez this is cheezy,” but by the time you get to the end you are hiding under the bed. So I am very interested but these cartoons make it even better.

Aside: One of the scariest stories I have ever read was, for reasons I can no longer remember and I sure as heck ain’t going to read it again, The Hell-bound Heart by Clive Barker. I read it one night when I was all alone in the apartment I shared with Jules. It scared the bejeezus out of me so I hid it under her bed. When she came home and found me cowering under my covers I told her about this scary story I had read and told her she should read it. She said she would and asked for the book. I told her where I had hidden it (look, I KNOW it doesn’t make sense that I hid a book under the bed!). She got it out and read it and the next night I found her shaking in the corner and the book hidden under MY bed. Tch. We are sissies.

And finally. big hugs for all of you who even bother to read this. Somehow it’s a little sad to think of the scientists who came up with this…all alone in the lab…