old posts from myspace

I copied these old posts from my myspace profile. i never use that thing, and i expect i will delete it eventually. but i wanted to keep the few "blog" posts i had there, because those days don't exist anywhere but in my head - and we all know that is a dangerous place. no backup memory there, people. so these are old. take a trip down memory lane with me. Friday, December 01, 2006 birthday hatchlings! Current mood: excited well my birthday has come and gone, and i'd say it was a good one. in addition to other wonderful and generous gifts (grand bookcase, my morning jacket show, kitchen gadgets galore, etc.), i acquired some wildlife for the house: last night, scott and i went on a hunt for the elusive and wiley gerbil. yes, gerbil! scott got me two gerbils for my birthday, and all the toys and habitats that come along... once they hold still long enough, I'll take some pictures and post them. for now, it will suffice to say that they are darn cute and cuddly. one is stripey-ish brown with a white belly and the other is black with white hands and a white stripe on her neck. the brown and white one is very bossy and feisty with big black eyes; and the black one bites a little, and is shy with chubby cheeks and a overbite. I haven't named them yet. i think i need to get to know them a bit more first. 6:30 AM - 5 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, November 29, 2006 new shelves! those of you who haven't been to the house lately, we have some new additions. that weird, crappy fence-like railing is gone - replaced with new LP shelves, built by my dad! here's a link to some pictures: shelves! 11:05 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, November 21, 2006 boys, i've got to work on my strut... Current mood: drained well, I don't have to work on my strut.... more like the guy at College Park Metro Auto has to work on my strut. Both front struts, to be specific. once again, i've been avoiding car repairs. once again, nearly tossing myself into the willing embrace of Vehicular Manslaughter before taking my car to the shop. it all started a few months ago, with the occassional squeal of brakes. not too worrisome, as it didn't happen consistently or often... and my dad just fixed my brakes not long ago. then the "crazy wheel" started to appear. if you've never had your car diagnosed with "crazy wheel", it feels sort of like you are driving down a steep incline in a shopping cart with one trick-wheel. the steering wheel feels all skittery and the driving isn't very safe. sudden jerks side-to-side and all. this also didn't happen all the time, so i just put it out of my mind. a few weeks ago my dad came to visit and, like always, he proceeded to give my car the visual inspection shortly after saying hello. his eyes nearly googled out of his head when he saw how bald my tires were. the metal mesh parts of the tire were visible. the tread was not. then scott cleverly remarked, "jesus christ! those are like telly savalas bald!!" who knew? then i had the pleasure of driving several days in the rain on shiny bald tires. if i thought "crazy wheel" was unsafe, i had no idea how bad it could get. so i took my car to the shop yesterday, and today i am $600 lighter in the region of my pocket. as it turns out, i needed new struts - that's why my tires went bald in a matter of months. here's a little lesson on struts (i've highlighted my favorite passage): "Another common dampening structure is the strut; basically a shock absorber mounted inside a coil spring. Because struts have so much to do with the handling of a car, they can be considered critical safety features. Worn shocks and struts can allow excessive weight shift from side to side and front to back (read: crazy wheel!!). This reduces the tire's ability to grip the road, as well as handling and braking performance." -- Howstuffworks.com so i guess it needed to be done. but my god! do these things a) need to be so goddamn expensive and b) happen right before i need to go christmas shopping? i'll try to send out evites to my pity-party soon. real soon. 8:18 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, November 13, 2006 salt lake city Current mood: nervous Well I'm back from my trip to the great salt flats of the old west. I was weary and missing home by Saturday, but scott fixed all that when he picked me up at BWI early Sunday morning. The mountains were beautiful, and especially touching as they were laid out behind the bleak stretches of neon and cinderblock that make up SLC's sprawl. So I'm home, but my thoughts are still turned to utah. Maybe because everyone keeps asking me about my trip… but maybe because I can't seem to describe the missing-ness there. Good part #1: so through some magical intervention, I listened to my gut and I skipped the ramada inn that was recommended by the workshop organizers. Instead, for a mere $20 more per night, I languished in the lush and dimpled arms of the peery hotel. For a marble bathroom, well-informed concierge, free long-distance calls, fluffy white robes, canopy bed, and endless supplies of tazo tea and extra-smelly bath-and-body-works goo…I'd say that was money well spent. Even if it was company money. Good part #2: sam weller's zion bookstore. I walked past this place on the first day, as it was on my path from the UTA light-rail station to my hotel (stay tuned for more about "TRAX"). I was drawn by the "zion," which from my rural ohio childhood conjures up back-country religion with names like "temple zions of the howling dog"… you know, the kind of church that is a pizza shop and video store Monday thru Friday, and church on the weekends. a drum set, moaning in the aisles. I thought I might at least find some weird religious tracts or an unsettling bumper sticker to bring home to scott. But instead, I walked through the shining doors of a really really great bookstore. Started just before the depression as a mormon bookstore, it is now nearly a block long – a hodge-podge building of winding paths, crooked doors and ups and downs – but faultlessly organized. With an even mix of brand-new and old books. Plus a great café in front! Great find. I managed to get a first edition gene Stratton-porter that I'd never read – "the harvester" Bad part, er, strange part… well, damn I guess they're all good parts! So good part #3: the sconecutter! Okay, close your eyes… picture a scone… dense, crumbly, maybe a few currants and a buttery/milky taste. Okay, now erase that picture! In utah, evidently, a scone is more like a rectangular unfrosted doughnut (or maybe an elephant ear?) about the size of your shoe. So, doughy, deep fried… and that's about it. The folks at stonecutter then cut them (hence the name) and stuff them with all sorts of things: turkey, hot dogs, burgers, apple pie filling, sloppy joes, taco filling… all sorts of stuff. I walked past this place for a couple of days, saving it for breakfast on Friday. I ordered a wheat scone, with 'honey butter.' I got a large brown shoe, filled with about an inch of foamy margarine and slathered in honey. I choked down a few bites, but the sweetness made my jaw lock up and I could go no further. Although, if I had known what these things were, I would have gone there for a lunch of the "sloppy scone." A doughnut filled with sloppy joes??? Mama, I'm comin' home. i'm sure that's like heaven around 3:00am after a long night at squatters. Oh yeah, and the best part is their slogan: let's go get sconed! #4: "TRAX" : utah's answer to the public transportation needs of the winter Olympics (or so I was told on Wednesday, by a friendly little elf with crippling acne and flaming red hair). Fitting with the do-gooder, no-nonsense mormon approach, the fare system is run on the honor system. You buy a ticket good for 2 hours, and get on the train. Or, you just get on the train. There's an announcement informing you that you may be required to provide proof of fare purchase, but out of the 10 times I rode the train I was only asked once. Therefore, the trains are filled to capacity with hobos and shifty-eyed cowboy types with chewing-tobacco-teeth (read: none). There were many other good things and weird things and bad things about the city, but I am tired of typing and I can't think of anything else. I'll post picture of the mormon temple soon.So in all, salt lake city was interesting. Stores closed early, and the people and cars deserted the streets by 6 or 7:00. It felt like a ghost-town, or a modern version of the streets of the old west gold towns in movies. Wide, wide streets with a few clusters of hard-skinned pioneers trudging along, minding their own business. Big mountains covered in snow, towering over people scrabbling out a life in the town. Currently listening : The Covers Record By Cat Power Release date: 21 March, 2000 1:40 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 ladylike Current mood: jubilant a ladybug lives in my office! me so lucky. 12:20 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

melly feel sicky. Current mood: uncomfortable so my month-long deprivation of flour, sugar and caffeinne ended today with a sickening extravaganza of candy, cookies, cake and nacho cheesier doritos. in other words, today was the halloween party here at work. i knew i wouldn't be able to resist halloween treats, so i purposely ended my "fast" a day early. but i am now regretting every move i've made today. oh you sweet strawberry laffy taffy, lumpy chewy baby ruth. my wonky friends the bottle caps. you've all turned against me. or maybe it was the lunch catered by chik-fil-a. in any case, i am riding a high queasy wave of sugary bready goodness that can only end in grumpiness and disaster. oh help me. one good thing has come of this day - my friend laffy taffy taught me a new joke: Q: what green and sings? A: elvis parsley Currently listening : Coles Corner By Richard Hawley Release date: 06 September, 2005 9:55 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, October 26, 2006 crime map Current mood: have to pee so i am off to check the crime map of my neighborhood. ?? i heard someone talking about this on npr this morning: there's a new feature to the DC police department website, where you can see a google-style map of the neighborhoods of DC that shows what kinds of crimes are being committed and where. hey! that's neat! so i should bait my car with some new release DVDs and some prescription meds and see what happens. maybe i could listen to my car getting broken into, while simultaneously watching the "car burglary" icon pop up on the map. well, maybe it's not that interactive yet. but a girl can dream, can't she? Currently listening : I See a Darkness By Bonnie Prince Billy Release date: 09 July, 2002 9:55 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 why am i so lazy? Current mood: lazy okay, so i am already losing this battle of the blog. i just can't keep up. the very last thing i want to do when i get home from work is get on the computer... to make things worse, i am too paranoid to stay on myspace at work for very long. i imagine these panic-sirens going off down in some basement control room of my building. calls being made to my boss... pink slips... irrational and kind of vain, i realize. (am i really that important that there would be a team of IT professionals monitoring my every online move?) but still, the fear is real. aside from being afraid of myspace, i am also just too damn fixated on my current "detox" diet. for those of you who aren't aware, i gave up the following vices for the month of october: caffeine, sugar, flour. it was way fun at first. i felt very smug and superior over all those sugar-laden treats lining my path. it was a fun challenge, and not too hard once i got over the candy-bowl at the reference desk here at work. i mean, i can still eat tons of things. i jsut can't have pasta, or bread or candy? i can still have honey, if i want it. and potatoes, rice. all good things, and i've only cheated a few times! before the renaissance festival on sunday, i accidentally had a ginormous cup of coffee. not a good idea when you've abstained for 3 weeks. or maybe it was the chocolate-mousse-in-waffle-cup? either way, i turned into a crazy person for a while. i think i blacked out. but now my thoughts keep circling around to the devil. i call him Sandwich. thick chewy slices of bread. chomp chomp. this devil haunts my dreams. only a few days to go until the end of my initial challenge - but i think i might try to extend until the end of the year. .. 5:50 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Friday, October 20, 2006 I'm falling for autumn Current mood: chipper and skippy so we have an action-packed weekend of autumnal celebration coming up - starting tonight! friday night: scott and i (and probably other last-minute attenders) are heading to georgetown to see one of my favorite movies - the nightmare before christmas - in 3D, no less!! yee-haw. i can't wait. saturday night: several of us revelers are going to the corn maze out in frederick, MD... give me winding paths in a spooky dark cornfield, give me pumpkin cannons and corn rockets, give me cold mud to my knees and flirty country teenagers, but above all give me..... PIT BEEF! actually the beef last year was kind of chewy and mysterious. but the best part was sitting around a giant campfire eating handfuls of greasy meat. this year the maze is a civil war theme, which doesn't quite top last year's NASCAR theme. i wonder how they decide? next year, let's all cross our fingers for "these colors don't run - pride of america." i'd like to picture myself wandering around inside an eagle holding a flag in his beak and a dead soldier in his talons, with a tear running down his little birdie cheek. sunday: the maryland renaissance festival! i can't even talk about that part yet. i am too excited. well okay, i will say a little about our visit there last year. the steak-on-a-stick is a gristly rip-off. and by the end of the day, i was starting to think that ankle-length velvet capes were lovely and that dream-catcher earrings were tasteful. i'll report this year's findings on monday.