Sunday, September 28, 2008

Fe Fi Faux

photo credit

Did you know they have a Lorem Ipsum generator to make dummy Lorem Ipsum text for layouts? Is this because the original is too distracting? "Dude, wait, I'm looking for the part about pursuing pleasure instead of pain..."

I've been worried for quite some time... What is it that motivates us? Is it pride? Looking at me friends, everyone has something. "Yes, am organized and here's how..."

Since April, with the big political brou-ha-ha about elitism (7:09), I've been feeling kind of guilty. I'm happy that my friends are awesome: professors and chefs and mensans and poets and programmers and mathematicians and rescuers and comedians and writers and artists and musicians and spiritual seekers and hard-working and super-moms and all-around bad-ass chicks...

My guilt was alleviated slightly when I was driving home Friday night. And I realized, I don't know anybody who isn't totally awesome in some way or another. So, hah! Egalitarian, after all... We all rock.

------------------------------------
Funniest thing I read today: I was reading my son's issue of Science Illustrated. It mentioned a tea that can be used for weight loss. The plant is called Rauwolfia Vomitoria. Hmmm...

------------------------------------
(Mega) Mashup I am not going to make: "Danny Boy" and "City of New Orleans" and "Hey There, Delilah" and "The Boxer" and "Kiss Me"

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Rectangle

I'm kind of bummed today for several reasons. One is I don't get to see my friend Amy who is in town from New York. I am more happy that she's getting to see all of her relatives. Don't I know about vacations that are too short.

I noticed today I really do have the same accent. I do say "Yah" instead of "Yeah", but only when agreeing, not when starting a sentence.

I put my earrings in a little dish when I got home from the store tonight... A few months ago I went with a friend from work to an art festival. I hate to go and not get anything, I had up to $40 to spend on art. (I'm weird. I hate spending any money unless it's on gifts/charity, food, books or art. I take care of my family, I just mean above and beyond that.)

Just that morning for breakfast I had a handful of sunflower seeds. They were rolling all over my plate. But a bowl would have been overkill; I would have taken too many. We were walking around the festival and it started to pour! It was not supposed to rain. She said is there anything you wanted to get? And there was, I had spotted a little handmade and hand painted rectangular dish that struck me as perfect for a tiny snack. On maybe it could even hold a deck of cards? It was just a few booths back. I got it and we got out of there. People were freezing on the shuttle bus until the driver turned the air off. The dye from my friend's purse ran and ruined her outfit. But other than that it was fun.

When I got home, my husband said, "Oh, you got a soap dish. It's nice."
"Oh. Duh." And now I keep my earrings in it.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

There was storm damage in Detroit and Cleveland from high winds yesterday. Hope everyone's okay...

Monday, September 15, 2008

How is it over there?

When I was in Long Island, I found out that different parts of the country have different squirrels. They are not all reddish-brown. New York has the coolest dark grey squirrels... I was just wondering this weekend...

1. What kind of squirrels do you have?

2. Do you have a lot of willow trees?

3. Do you have sea gulls in your parking lots?

4. Anything else you can think of?

------------------
This morning I watched the "Today" show. They don't have to spin much hyperbole with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and the collapse of Lehman Brothers... The one really scary thing: They had Scott Cramer as a guest and he was totally calm and rational.

I removed the link to the video of Scott Cramer ranting... Here's a funny ninja cat video instead. : )

UPDATE: You know what? I'll find that video later. I want to discuss emotions and effective arguing with my teenager...

UPDATE: Z did watch it with me. He said "Wow, that guy could see the future."
------------------------------------
Mashup I am not going to make: "Pink Houses" and "Into the Black"

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

One Single Impression Poem

Well, the good news is that I have an opportunity to write a poem on a meme from the One Single Impression poetry blog (via Sue @ Sunflower Roots).

This week's prompt is "defenses down".
So here's my poem on that and goodnight.



DIRTY ROTTEN EGGS

I am sick.

Stupid high grocery prices,
Made me cook instead of pitch.

They weren't even expired,
But I feel like I might.



.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Attack of the 40-foot Pile

Only 4 inches, really.

I tend to gather papers... But they aren't usually things I want to keep permanently. Vendors, Customers, Schedules have their own place in the file cabinets... I have oddball things: mistakes to be fixed, accounts under analysis, notes on projects in development... I've tried making file folders for them, but it doesn't really make sense. A lot of things, once I record what the problem was and what I did, I really don't need the paper, a scan, maybe.

Here's what I did last night. I have high hopes it will work...
I had an underutilized Desk File/Sorter, one of those blue books with the 31 tabs for days of the month. I took my current pile and sorted it into that, using Post-It notes written in pencil to define the categories. I had some overlap and the result was just 2 Post-It notes leading to the same tab.

When I'm done with something I can decide whether to keep the file permanently.

It isn't as bad as I thought. I'm only up to tab number 10.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

No White-Wall Tires Required

My tire had a leak. Went to get it fixed at Tom's Tire on Alexis and Jackman. There is a really neat car show on Jackman Road today from Noon-4 across from the UAW Local 14. If there is anything better than going to a car show, it would have to be sitting a half mile and an hour away from one. The sheriffs even stopped traffic briefly to let a parade of cars through. Vrooom, Very cool! We saw a black truck with hydraulics and chariot style hubcaps with huge spikes. We didn't get too close to that one.

I'll have to snag my husband's car and make him take me cruising (the) Miracle Mile at 5:00! : )

UPDATE: I had to go out in the evening for gas. The cops were there to try to prevent them from drag racing...

Friday, September 5, 2008

Magnum, Inc.

Hey, wow. I just realized I've been at my current job 19 years today. And in all that time, I don't recall that my boss has ever shaved his mustache. You wouldn't either if you were him. It looks great.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

'Cause-Why

(My Z used to say 'Cause-Why as a toddler to mean both why and because. Supercute.)

Okay, so I got off my self-pitying butt yesterday and went to the store to go buy something. He's right. I am hard to buy for.

I hate junk and I hate spending money. The only bike I like costs almost $400. That's a lot for a bike just to have a bike. I'd like a new recliner but never enough to spend $700 on a La-Z-Boy.

My birthday money is $70. Maybe I should give Craigslist a try. Maybe I can use it for shipping on my 11 free cd's I've earned with music points. Or maybe I should buy some things from my Amazon shopping cart. Or a new outfit, or two. I don't want it to turn into grocery money again.

(Note to self, In mid-August next year, write your husband a note telling him that it would really mean a lot to you to get a birthday card.)

------------------------------------
Mashup I am not going to make: "I Don't Know" and "Take the Money and Run"

Monday, September 1, 2008

...

Not sure why I still get my hopes up for a card and a pre-bought gift, instead of just permission to go buy something. I ought to know better by now.