Spring is in the air

Or in my lawn.

That's right... we have daffodils. And other flowering things, the names of which I do not know.

Colorful, though. And awesome.

Title

Webster is all mine!

Technically, he was all mine a month ago. But it's harder to know that if you don't realize there's mail to be opened. But now that I have both tracked down and opened said mail, I have my very own car title. Huzzah!

He may get a long-overdue oil change and checkup. You know -- to celebrate.

Babies have death grips

I met the four-month-old daughter of two of my good, good friends tonight. Of course, seeing them alone was excellent -- they live far too far away -- but adding an adorable baby just makes it that much more awesome. And she's a sweetheart. So I'm smiling.

Also, did you know that babies' ages are apparently calculated by weeks, and not actual months? I had no idea!

After all

I'm having a lot of small-world moments this weekend, finding that people are connected all over the place. It's kind of cool.

D'oh!

Each morning, I drive past a coffee shop, Carnegie Java, that has a mannequin (I suppose -- it's a life-sized, clothed person, but he has a face) outside beckoning me to come in. It's a lot like this guy, who welcomes you to Italian restaurants. Except for coffee.


Anyway, the guy creeps me out a little. His grin is too big. But this morning, he was wearing a Homer Simpson mask. And that was awesome.

Moon roofs

Being observant is sometimes very distracting.

I drove home with my moon roof open today (what a strange phrase, moon roof) -- and when stopped at a light, noticed that all the cars around me had moon roofs. And all were also open.

So from then on, I had to pay attention to the tops of the cars around me. And there was many an open moon roof, let me tell you.

Most of them were tilted, though. I'm a slide kind of gal, myself.

Reporters' humor

Y'gotta love a good sunshine law joke! (And more specifically, one about executive sessions. Humor about political details is failproof. Everyone gets it.)

See the cutline under the picture for the funny.

P.S. Have I ever mentioned we can be a bit.... nerdy?

All that in under a week!

Last Friday, Iowa passed legislation to legalize gay marriage!
And just this morning, Vermont followed suit!
AND as if that weren't enough, just today Washington, D.C., approved legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states!

It's a good week for civil rights. :)

I still can't help but to worry and fret, however, over the future of the despicable Proposition 8 in my own beloved California.....

So long

There's been a whole brouhaha regarding the sheriff here, who resigned late last month after being accused of all sorts of unsavory things. You can read all about him here (and it's interesting), but I want to call attention to one particular part that I thought was golden. From this article (Bova is the new, interim sheriff and McFaul is the old one):

After Bova was sworn in Saturday, he found two cabinets stuffed with about 30 liquor bottles. The booze was packed up and delivered to McFaul.

"It is his personal property," Bova said.

I am beautiful!

I listen to college radio in the mornings, and one of the features of this particular station is commentary from God Squad member Father Harry, who is somehow affiliated with the Catholic college this station comes out of.

Father Harry usually pairs a pithy piece of advice with some pop music, to make it relevant to us young'uns. The other day, I burst out laughing as he started talking about self worth over Christina Aguilera's "I'm Beautiful."

"I know I'm not fat. I know I'm not stupid. I know I'm not ugly. I'm Father Harry," he said.

I just had to giggle at the thought of the priest going all Stewart Smalley with Christina in the background.

Yum

Tommy's milkshakes are delicious. I just had a Moosetracks one, with fresh banana and peanut butter.

By the rivers of...

Cleveland, there we sat down, and ate our lunch on the banks of the Cuyahoga.

(It makes a little more sense if you know the song, but it's still a bit of a stretch. I suppose.)

Point being that it was gorgeous yesterday and I ate lunch at the river with a couple co-workers. There was a saxophonist, there were dogs, everyone was smiling. It was good.

Joy is everywhere

I'm having a couple friends over for dinner and making blintze souffle, which is the most delicious thing in the world, as far as I'm concerned. (Though that isn't my recipe -- if you want mine, just ask. I don't have the time to type it out at the moment.) One of the ingredients is sour cream. And the brand I bought, Daisy, told me this when I took off the cap:

Little acts of kindness can add up to a lifetime of happiness.

Everyone's getting in on the wisdom-sharing these days!

Overheard

"It's a good thing I don't like cocaine as much as I like animal crackers."

Smart cars

Are just so fricking adorable.

I want to go to there.

Because who doesn't need wenches and mead?

Scottish pirate metal!

Support your local newspaper

Considering all of the newspaper tumult, this makes me happy.

So does the fact that my local paper can do this and this, even while this and this are going on.

I could ramble on for a while, but I won't. And this one isn't happy, but you Atlanta folks should know this.

So, for the ending-happy: this zebra was found on the side of the road a year ago -- and is apparently doing well. Amazingly, it was not the first zebra in the news at the time. I believe there was another escaped one on the highway. And of course, zebra-kidnapping makes for a great prank (as long as you aren't a zebra owner, that is).

The zebras' names, by the way, are Evidence (which is what the police called the highway one) and Barcode. Which should be self-explanatory.

Happy spring

Yes, yes... I know the equinox was Friday. But it's hard to believe it's spring when it's in the 30s and you put on a sweater in the morning.

Which is why I can wish you a happy one, at last.

Driving home, it was warm enough to open the moon roof (what a funny phrase, moon roof). And so I did.

Sun + wind + no snow. Yay!

(I've selectively forgotten that there tends to be a late-March/April snowstorm each year. I'm hoping the elements will, too.)

It has come to my attention...

...that Pandora is not the household name it should be.

So let me tell you of its amazingness!

(It's amazing.)

Pandora lets you create a radio station based on songs or artists that you like -- it doesn't play only Madonna, for example, but it plays songs that are similar musically to what Madonna's doing. You can make your radio station Madonna-broad, and get songs like her total repertoire, or Like-a-Virgin-narrow, and only get songs similar to that one. You can mix Madonna and Billy Joel and Metallica and see what comes out.

And the cool thing is that it plays a lot of stuff from people you've never heard of. So you get to discover people!

If you hear a song you like, you can buy it. You can also share radio stations that you think other people would enjoy. And you constantly tweak them by giving specific songs thumbs-up or -down, or moving them to a different station.

Let me know if you join -- I'm happy to share some of my more-favorite stations to get you started.

Limbo is the new Hell

There's a thread on the Grad Cafe dedicated to the creative expression of the pain of waiting for grad school acceptance letters through haikus (whew! Did that make sense?). First, asking members of the forum to compose haikus on such a topic is utterly wonderful in itself. Second, someone posted this haiku:

One letter today
Never been so sad to see
Grandma's birthday card

I know it's really quite tragic, but I can't help but take a disturbing, sadistic pleasure in that hopeful grad student's situation -- maybe because I know so well the disappointment therein. (And I know at least 2 other people on here who can also identify with this whole process!)

On an unrelated note, the latest episode of Dollhouse featured a song by Greg Laswell. Although this is not that song, I have to post it because I can't help but feel warm and hopeful and comforted when I listen to it; it's an assertion of the goodness in people (even though really, it boils down be to a simple love song). Listen to it, focus on the lyrics, and I dare you to disagree with me.

I've been delinquent

Sorry, all you seekers of joy!

It's tardy, but I was most excited by last weekend's rash of named days -- Friday the 13th, Pi Day, the Ides of March and St. Patrick's Day, nearly all in a row.

And on St. Patrick's Day, the top of the Terminal Tower was green-lit and happy. Toora Loora Loora was on the Big Band station, followed by other Irish music. And there were drunken, green-clad people everywhere downtown -- including a guy in a Leprechaun costume and a gigantic green mohawk.

It was pretty snazzy to see so many people bouncing around, even if I did have to work through it.

Other awesome things: fantastic hot chocolate, the converging of friends from four states for makeshift reunions, Clue, international films, the making of new friends and the reconnecting with old ones -- and finding out they're worth reconnecting with, Gail Collins, Pandora and this song.

It doesn't make up for my absence, but maybe it's enough to tide you over for the inevitable next one.

Epic WIN!!

(From the ever-so-wonderful Fail Blog.)

But wait, there's more!

And today, for Theresa, the same bumper sticker... but with a squirrel!

Moose!

You know those oval bumper stickers with letters that represent all the totally awesome places you've vacationed and I haven't? Yeah, those. They're kind of annoying.

But the one I saw today was kind of awesome.

It was a yellow oval with a black moose in it. That's all.

Kristy and Jennie will most appreciate my joy. So will Chrys and Christy, by proxy.

It looks like red celery

I really like rhubarb.

So I made some tonight.

(It smells good, but I wasn't hungry anymore by the time it finished... so it's on tomorrow's menu.)

There are a ton of things you can do with it, but the easiest: Wash and cut a few stalks. Add to boiling water that just covers the pieces. Keep on low heat, stirring until the rhubarb pieces break up. Add sugar to taste (rhubarb is really tart, so it depends on how much you like that). When the pieces are really stringy, add some sliced strawberries. Stir. Remove from heat (cool, if you want) and enjoy!

Mmm, tasty.

Dancing fountain

I went to a play Friday night, and had some time to kill before I headed over to Playhouse Square. So I went to Tower City, Cleveland's downtown mall, to watch the dancing fountain for a little while. The video isn't awesome, but you get the idea -- it shoots water in time to classical music. There's room to sit around the base and you can't see it, but spotlights focus on the water. It's really pretty cool.

And the play wasn't too shabby, either.

Too funny for words.

Said Arielle to me: "I don't want to be a bad influence on you!"

(Placing it in context, I had offered to take her to a strip club and get her drunk by doing tequila shots from the bosom of one of the girls there.)

awesomeness

Edible Book Festival 

Combining my two greatest passions.

Enough said : )

Sunny day

Sweeping the -- clouds away...

Today, I met Rosita from Sesame Street. (Don't worry, she wasn't around when we were kids. You aren't missing out on some integral part of your childhood.) That brings my Sesame Street total to three (if you count Big Bird and Oscar as two, even though they're voiced by the same person... which I totally do).

The pre-school class that performed with her was loving it. She was pretty fantastic.

Then my iPod did a really good job of playing all the Sesame Street songs while I was listening at work... including, yes, the Oscar ballad "I Love Trash."

Which was performed at my college graduation.

After which the person I sat next to and I turned to each other and said, "I think I can die happy now."

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Not the numbskulls

Bumper sticker on the car in front of me for part of the drive home:

Forget Life. Play Snood.

My college roommate (hi!) has a Snood T-shirt. She also used to think that you were graded on speed, not how many Snoods you knocked down, so she would play rapid-fire games on my computer (it's easier with a desktop mouse) and shout things like "No!!! The monsters are going to eat me!"

It was all very funny.

And you can get the bumper sticker on that second site, btw.

Butt Butt Game

So, today is my birthday. Happiness to begin with.

Andy let me open my bday presents this morning. One of the things that I got is Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. The First Video Game you can Play with your BUTT!!!! Yay!!! I am way super crazy excited.

Those little cars must not get good gas mileage.

On the corner of Briarcliff and Ponce, there was a circus clown, complete with shoes, painted face, and oversized red wig, calmly waiting for the bus.

A flock of seagulls

Right before sunset, when the sun is bright in the sky, low. They appear from behind a tan building like tossed confetti, scattered against the grey clouds. Their bellies are white and the sun illuminates their feathers, they shine sepia through my sunglasses, banking and diving toward the water.

Dirty

I have Internet again!

And so I share with you this:

Apparently, a picture in the paper featured a wrench and pen, positioned so that they looked as if they were... getting it on. A few co-workers were talking about it, and I asked to see the picture.

One of them responds:

"I don't think you should look at it, Arielle. I have an image of you as very wholesome."

So true. And yet... I was the one who passed around Forever at school in 5th grade, too. Which is way more explicit than Wikipedia would have you believe, for the record.

Because Rel.....

..... doesn't have internet right now, I'm channelling her essence (or something) to send this message.

There were mounties! In Cleveland! Ok, so not quite mounties because it IS just Cleveland, but they were policemen on horses. And that's close enough, right? Regardless, it was thrilling.

It must be a cultural thing.

While creating an account with the California State University San Bernardino so as to apply for their MA program, I encountered this mostly standard form:


Your Information

First Name: _______________________

____ Check here if you do not have a first name.

Middle Name: _________________________

Last Name: ____________________________

Best name ever

For a yoga studio: There's No Place Like OM.

Apparently, they specialize in yoga-in-the-nude. Which is also funny.

Parking tickets

Waiting for the trolley today, I saw the most awesome thing: a meter maid posse.

There were four of them (three women and a man, if I recall) all dressed in their pseudo-cop outfits complete with hats and badges. And they were all standing around one car, one at each corner. Only one of them was writing a ticket, though.

Then they strode down the street, two by two, daring anyone to mess with the meter maids.

You could almost see them snapping as they went.

Knit

This is a scarf:


I made it.


It's a little short, but awesome nonetheless. I have knitted!

Strong

There's something very satisfying about breaking up huge chunks of ice with a shovel and tossing them aside (even if by tossing, I really mean kicking a mere inch or two, since I can't lift the things). Also, it decreases the likelihood of my falling on my butt on the ice again -- and while ice is fun when the sliding on it is intentional, the unintentional sliding is a lot less entertaining.

I need to add that a second light bulb just exploded. These things are dangerous!

Luckily, I still have some potatoes.

You have permission to hit me

But I never had a livejournal! So I never got to do memes! And I was listening to my iPod when I saw this one on Facebook, and did it for fun... and most of the answers amused me. So I'm pasting it here. Snarky comments encouraged.

1. Put Your MP3 player on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

What do your friends think of you?
All at Sea - Jamie Cullum (I'm amused. Oh, her? She's all at sea or something.)

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
Point Breeze - Marah (I have no idea who this is or where it came from, but the phrase kind of works. And I'm liking the song.)

How would you describe yourself?
Over My Head - The Fray (That's sad!)

What do you like in a guy/girl?
When You're Smiling - Michael Buble (It's true.)

How do you feel today?
Still - Brian McKnight (I've got nothing.)

What is your life’s purpose?
See You in September - The Mamas and the Papas (I take this to mean travel.)

What is your motto?
Just Happy to Be Me - Sesame Street (Yes, you read that right.)

What do you think about very often?
If I had a Hammer - Peter, Paul and Mary (I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters...)

What is 2 + 2?
Do You Believe in Magic? - Lovin' Spoonful (aka, the only way to do math.)

What do you think of your best friend?
Beauty Mark - Rufus Wainwright (And gorgeous she is.)

What do you think of the person you like?
Gel - Collective Soul (I suppose in theory we would gel, yes.)

What is your life story?
Flinty Kind of Woman - Dar Williams (I can only wish.)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Wild Horses - Charlotte Martin (I'll take that.)

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Only Wanna Be with You - Hootie and the Blowfish (Collectively... awww.)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Tired of Being Alone - Starbucks Rock Steady 1971 (From a CD from my brother's coffee days. How depressing, though!)

What will be played at your funeral?
Wasted - Martin Sexton (Which is what all will be afterwards...)

What is your hobby/interest?
Things She Said - Toy Matinee (aka, eavesdropping.)

What is your biggest fear?
Paperweight - Josh Radin (Those things can be deadly...)

What is your biggest secret?
How Do You Talk to an Angel? - Jamie Walters (Seems pretty accurate.)

What do you think of your friends?
Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zepplin (Long time.)

What will you post this as?
Love Will Keep Us Alive - Eagles (Except I won't.)

The Craziest Thing Happened on the Way to the Library Today....

OK, OK... so it was AT the library, YESTERDAY. But you know how I love my catchy titles.

So, I have been spending more and more time at the previously dumped upon Durham Public Library. I am, in fact, there right now! I was here yesterday, as well, with one of my clients. It is a convenient place to meet, as it is not as distracting as the home, not as cold as the outside, has computers, and doesnt require a specific action (e.g.: going to the museum basically means we will be viewing the exhibits at the museum.)

Anyhow... My client and I were at the library, playing games on the computer. And the fire alarm went off!!! We all had to evacuate the library. Some people were pissed. We just braved the cold and went to the playground instead.

I don't know why this strikes me as so amusing, but it does. A loud, blinking, fear inducing alarm. At a LIBRARY. Who'd'a'thunkit?

Something else I find extrememly amusing? I am posting about this incident instead of writing my case note on said outing. Aye De Mi.

Teacher, teacher

Tonight, I had tea with one of my elementary/middle school teachers. And I got a chance to tell her just what an impact she had on me, and how the things she taught resonated in very broad ways. And unexpected ones.

For example, she unknowingly connected me to a friend in Georgia who I met when I was 12, then reconnected with years later. If not for this teacher, I never would have met this woman. But I also wouldn't have learned -- at least not for a long while -- that not everything I did was perfect from the start. And that's good knowledge to have.

That's just the start of it, too. (I really can't overstate her awesomeness. Just so you know.)

I was there!

While flipping through my 900-odd TV channels (can we pause for a moment to discuss why it's cheaper to get 900 channels than, say, fewer than that?), I discovered that several of the channels are music stations. After flipping through the '80s (Manic Monday) and the '90s (Sting), I landed on the "alternative" station. It had Shawn Mullins singing Rockabye... live at the Variety Playhouse!

And while I haven't seen Shawn Mullins there (though I saw him at the Lawerenceville gazebo), I have been to the Variety. And it made me smile that sitting here in Cleveland, I was listening to a local boy perform at a place I'd been while sitting on the couch watching the telly.

Super Bowl

So the ads were kind of lame. But the game was good. It would have been even better if Pittsburgh hadn't won.

I think my favorite ad may have been the Alec Baldwin Hulu one, with my mushy, squishy brains to be removed with a melon baller (apparently, you can see that and all other Super Bowl ads at hulu.com, conveniently, but I don't really think they're worth it).

I was also excited to learn that there's going to be another Witch Mountain movie.

But my favorite part? When I learned that Cardinals' quarterback Kurt Warner has a tendency to trip over his teammates' feet before he can throw the ball. That's just funny.

Google News isn't cooperating, so you'll just have to trust me on that one.

I'm a hero?

Tonight I saw Dar Williams perform at the Georgia Theater in Athens, GA. I was quite possibly her biggest fan there, with maaaaybe the exception of a couple of 19-ish-year old girls up front. But regardless, after playing a couple of songs from her latest album, the rest of the band departed from the stage, leaving her alone with her guitar and asking for requests. Someone shouted, "As Cool As I Am!" So she began. Midway through the first verse, she faltered, paused.... she forgot the lyrics. She laughed nervously and apologized, the audience laughed, she hummed/sang the first lines again in fast-forward, trying to pick it back up.... Still couldn't.... so I shouted them to her, "So I watched the way." She perked up and threw her hands towards me, fingers outstretched, and said, "Yes! Thank you!" And continued with the song, flawless.
After the performance, I met her by the merchandise stand. As I approached, she saw me and shouted, "You!" She said I saved her up there: she said she was completely blanking on the words, getting HORRIBLY embarrassed, and the aforementioned girls were trying to help but giving her the wrong lyrics (which I guess doesn't make them the biggest fans after all?)..... and then she heard me call out above them, and.... Yup. So anyway, we chatted some, she said "thank you" several more times and made sure I got a free t-shirt, I got a photograph taken with her, she signed a CD I had purchased, and I left. Grinning. Ecstatically.
Coolest. Concert. Ever.

Schadenfreude

It's a fun song that speaks to the occasional joyful bitterness in all of us :)

The rest of Avenue Q is pretty amazing, too. I still want a Bad Idea Bear, if anyone knows where to find them.

Snow day!

It's hard to show lots of snow. But my 20-minute commute took more than an hour and a half and the interview that I drove to near my parents' house took twice the time it should have to arrive at.

So imagine my joy when I got a phone call around noon telling me not to come back! Adults don't get snow days nearly often enough. But with weather like this... sweet.

Pictures that are probably better than mine. (And to be fair, this is my sister's picture. My plan to have lunch with my mom since I was near home turned into sharing my sister's snow day. And of the two of us, she's the photographer.)

More Josh Lyman

This article about new chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has an awesome picture of him making a face (I think at the Inauguration). But my favorite part is this passage:

He is not accustomed to fading discreetly into the background. As a staff member in the Clinton White House, a three-term House member from Chicago and the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he was viewed by many as a consummate purveyor of a crass, kneecapping brand of politics.

Mr. Obama acknowledged as much at a 2005 roast for Mr. Emanuel, who is a former ballet dancer, during which Mr. Obama credited him with being “the first to adopt Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ for dance” (a number that included “a lot of kicks below the waist”). When Mr. Emanuel lost part of his middle finger while cutting meat at an Arby’s as a teenager, Mr. Obama joked, the accident “rendered him practically mute.”

It's a spitting image

Over Christmas, I played this awesome game called Pop5 (it's a Cranium game!) with Chrys and her parents. This, her mother's creation, was the winning move. You do know who it is, right?

As she sculpted it, we were all laughing uproariously.

(Apologies for the time lapse. I'm notoriously bad at getting to pictures in a timely fashion.)

Side note: This was on the Cranium Web site and gave me pause --

Recall of Cadoo die. Click here for more information about the recall of the die in certain copies of Cadoo.

Like a Child in a Candy Store.

I feel that I have been spoiled.  I have been a student... well.. most of my life.  And most of my friends will tell you that I am CRAZY and want to GO BACK.

I was recently lamenting the crappiness that are the Wake County and Durham County public libraries.  Functional websites? Yes  Multiple Branches.  Yes.  Ok, so they beat the Newmarket Library by Leaps and bounds.  But you try to find a book about children of alcoholics published since 1985?  Shoot, you try to find a book about children of alcoholics that isn't a memoir/story... and you can not.

Where, oh where, have my university libraries gone?!?!  Carrying titles such as Working with Children of Alocholics:  A practitioner's handbook, and The Forgotten Children; A Study of Children with Alcoholic Parents.  What?!?!  Books that may be useful?!?!?  books that are STUDIES !?!?!  Books that address the topic I am trying to find that were NOT published by a 12-step program!?!?!?  H-E-A-V-E-N, thy name is Duke!  (though admittedly the study is old.)

Okay, Okay, I guess I will just have to put in some quality time at the Duke Library since I can't check out books.

Way-Oh!  What do you say person on the other side of the IM box embedded into the library website page that allows me to talk to a librarian real time without bothering to call??  I Can get a Duke Library Card?  For an Annual Fee of $50!!!  Oh Em Gee, Guise!  I am going to get one today! I am WAY TOO EXCITED for my own good.  Watch for pics of me with my library card posted to my facebook.  No.  I am not kidding.  I don't think.

Kindness of strangers

I was riding the trolley yesterday, when it started to pull away. A woman was chasing it down, trying to catch the driver before she left, when... splat. She slipped on the icy street and fell in the slush.

The driver did notice her, and waited for her to come on board. The woman started to wipe the slush off her coat and purse, but she was pretty wet. Then, someone across the aisle from her pulled a few paper towels from her coat pocket and offered them up.

"I bring them from home," she said. "I have more. You take them."

And I thought that was pretty great.

Devil strip

People in Akron are more creative than people in other places. That's my conclusion (because I grew up with a tree lawn).

Everybody cut loose, footloose...!

I just watched the last episode of Psych, where they had a character named Kenneth Loggins. This of course led to many a humorous "Danger Zone," "Footloose" and Jim Messina interlude.

I do love Kenny Loggins -- especially House at Pooh Corner, Danny's Song and Conviction of the Heart. Oh, and his son, Crosby.

Inauguration Day

Walking from work to my car, I pass a wine bar that usually plays music like this.

Today, it was blasting NPR into the sidewalk.

I saw a Mary Kay *pink* Cadillac! Honest to god! It had Mary Kay is swirling silver script on the back, and the vanity plate read: LOVE MK.

It's Pink.

It's Mary Kay.

Love. It.

Morning commute

This morning:

• The weather man on the college radio station I was listening to said it was going to be "cold, with 100 percent chance of snow." It was snowing at the time.
• The radio news dude used the word fortnight in reference to the amount of time until Inauguration Day (he said less than a fortnight, which is even cooler).
• The Provide-a-Ride van in front of me had a license plate that said "ambulette" where others would say "teacher" or "veteran."
• I saw workers at the AdultMart (think Inserection, Georgians) around the corner from my office take the Christmas lights down off their letters.
• A woman walking in front of me kept complaining about the pieces of salt in her boots (it's so much funnier than pebbles).
• There were people shoveling out the sidewalk, which is both very nice and makes life so much easier than when you have to trudge over drifts to get anywhere.

This afternoon, I had a very awesome lunch with an old friend. And when I looked out my window for the rest of the day, the sky looked like I was in a shaken snow globe, with wind whipping the big clumps of flakes in every direction.

But it slowed by the time I left. So the ride home was not stressful at all.

The Fortune Cookie Story

As per Arielle's request.....

While spending Christmas in Northeast Ohio, my family decided to take part in one of the great Jewish traditions: Chinese Food on Christmas!!!

When we got our fortune cookies, and I opened mine, Ta-Da!! There were two fortunes in it!

1) Travelling to the south will bring you unexpected happiness.
2) Be prepared to modify your plans.

Oh! I am going back home in a few days! This must mean somehting good and big will happen when I get home! Yay! I wonder what it could be!??!?!

Now, I do not normally put much stock in fortune cookies. I am NOT like Arielle in the I follow what they tell me to do. Maybe it was the Christmas Spirit. Maybe it was the Brandy Alexanders that I drank. But it seemed like I should pay attention to these fortunes.

I told Andy, my boyfriend, about my fortunes when I got home, and you could see the gears a-turning, and a look of concern on his face. Huh? This is Strange? Come to find out that he was afraid I was expecting an engagement ring.

Aye De Mi.

Boys are silly.

The chocolate says

Some of you may be aware of what could possibly be deemed an... unhealthy relationship I have with Dove Promises chocolate.

No, it's not because I eat too many of them. It's because I listen to the chocolate when it tells me to do things. Pretty much without fail.

For those of you who are yet unschooled in Dove chocolate goodness, each of the wrappers has a piece of advice, a saying, a sentiment inside.

Ordinarily, they make me smile -- sometimes for their wisdom, sometimes for their ridiculousness. But imagine this: each of the pieces in the current bag is double wrapped.

Yes, you heard me right. Twice the Dove joy.

Here are the ones I've held on to (and will be putting to use, if I haven't already):

Think of someone who makes you smile.
Life is all about making memories.
Find little ways to make every day a holiday.
Kick a bad habit for today.
Be a good listener to your friends.
Close out the world for just a moment.
Remember your first best friend.
In chaos there lies opportunity.
The most enjoyable experiences are often free.
Make the most of today.
Make a pledge to get 8 hours of shut eye.
Engage, embrace, enjoy.

I've also written letters, made phone calls, worn red and done other things after being encouraged by the chocolate. Yes, it is probably at least slightly wrong to make decisions based on a foil wrapper. But it is what it is.

Side note: This is amusing -- what do you add to the saying, a la "in bed" with a fortune cookie?

Feet are Icky

So, Daisy has taken to licking my feet. A lot. Which, as you might know, is something I would not normally allow. Feet are gross. But hell, she eats poop. What am I to say it's not some Doggie Delicacy? Anyhow, I am not sure which I find more disconcerting... the fact that I allow this because it keeps her off of my lap/laptop/licking my face, or the fact that I find myself hoping that her rough tongue will mean I don't have to do as much upkeep to keep my feetsies uncalloused and uncracked.

Misplaced words

I wrote: First of all, most employees aren’t doing a good enough job of saving themselves for retirement.

But meant: First of all, most employees aren’t doing a good enough job themselves of saving for retirement.

So now I have this song in my head. And I think we need to see a video spoof of abstinence-only education for senior citizens.

It's the little things

Like having all the lights stay green -- or all the crosswalks letting you walk -- that makes a day more pleasant. It also lets you get home earlier, where there is light and warmth and joy.

Let's hear it for...

Unexpected conversations -- in elevators, in e-mails, in lines. Wherever they come from, the random chats that are more than just the exchanging of pleasantries are reasons to smile (and remember why people are in fact pretty cool).

E. Coli has never been so much fun!

Even though the holidays are over, it's never to late to give the gift of a viral infection (or maybe a venereal disease!).
Whoever said sickness can't be cute?

The dude abides

I had a visitor from the cable company tonight when my phone rang. I answered to say I would call back "after the cable dude left." The cable dude, who was 20, was very amused and giggled a little at the word dude.

He then stayed for an hour (waiting for the TV to go through the motions and fix itself) and told me all about his day (the guy who offered him expensive pot because he was new to the area and wanted friends, but cable dude isn't much of a smoker), the time he accidentally got latex paint all over his hands and couldn't get it out, what video games he plays (Halo, World of Warcraft, I zoned out), why squirrels chew up the cable lines (it's good for teeth-sharpening), what he'd do with a gigantic paycheck and no living expenses. The nice mix of weird and normal people he meets on the job. How he's never actually done the thing he came to do before, so it's a good thing I knew how to do it (I just needed him to provide the equipment).

He plopped down on the couch, had a glass of water. All in all, it was the most entertaining visit I've ever had from the cable company.

Kaboom

Amused probably isn't quite the right reaction, but it is what it is.

One of my light bulbs just exploded. As in, made a popping noise. The glass disconnected from the base. The glass fell to the ground (but didn't shatter). Smoke came from the light fixture.

It was just so very unexpected that I couldn't help but laugh. And now I have the top half of a light bulb, which I want to find a use for.

It's very pretty.

Fortune cookies

I have a few particularly good fortunes saved. But if you're not the one who gets them, can you still claim them?

E-mail from my sister:

"You are a lover of words, someday you should write a book."

I think that was meant for you. I got it at P.F. Changs.

Die! Die! Die!

Commentary to come later (I'm late! I'm late!), but I had to pass this along before I lost the link: it's a Lurlene McDaniel snark blog!

Her official Web page is here.

So, for the sake of context: anyone remember those Scholastic book order sheets we got in elementary school? Lurlene McDaniel had a book on there every month. They had titles like Too Young to Die, Baby Alicia is Dying, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep... you know, perfect for a fifth grader. All about various cancers, teenagers who needed transplants, teenagers living with terminal illnesses. And I became obsessed. My best friend and I couldn't get enough of them.

I would seek them out at used book sales, look for them on friends' book shelves, get stacks out of the library. And they were so, so wonderful in their horridness.

My parents still tease me about all my "dead-people" books. But, shh. If I see them, I'll still get them.

The last one I read was about a car accident, though. She really needs to stick with natural tragedies. Or maybe I need to stop reading them.

Just because it's true

Doesn't mean it's polite to say in mixed company!

The first line of an e-mail from a friend, that had me laughing very loudly (luckily, I was at home to read it and not in my chair at work):

You are. So. So. SO weird.

Just because I want to visit the Columbus Washboard Co. I mean, it's the only washboard manufacturer left in the country! And they give tours!

How can you pass that up?

Sweets

The upstairs neighbors baked Christmas cookies for my roommate and I (and they are delicious)!

Merry Christmas

From the lit Terminal Tower and downtown Cleveland.


I spent my Christmas Eve with latkes, Chinese food and friends new and old. It was a lovely time. And our waiter, who called himself "Jolly Jeff" was absolutely insane. He had all of us falling-out-of-our-seats laughing. It's really too bizarre to properly recount -- to simply say that he was animated doesn't even begin to do him justice. Hysterical.

Punctuation

I got a text message from a friend that employed a semicolon. That rocks.

Deer, deer everywhere

This picture is great.

We used to see deer in the yard all the time when I was growing up. One day, my sister went out to the mailbox and came in to tell my mom about the "big doggy" standing there. Turned out it was a pretty huge buck standing at the end of the driveway.

And for the record, I grew up in the 'burbs.

Happy Hanukkah

Two giant hanukkiahs, including one on Public Square.

More ego boosts

The publisher made his rounds this afternoon to wish us all a happy holiday. He didn't pronounce my name correctly (and I didn't correct him, though I should have), but he said he really liked a story I'd written yesterday.

"You’re off to a really good start," he said.

Christmas music

I'm not one of those people who gets all excited about Christmas music. Or even likes it, really. But I have heard a few that have made me smile.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is really cute. So is The 12 Days of Christmas as sung by the Muppets. Let's be honest: any time the Muppets are on the radio (which is more often than you might expect), it's a reason to smile.

And this version of the 12 days, by Straight No Chaser, is really cool -- and the Hanukkah moment gets the biggest laugh (give it a minute to get into it).

But I'm still waiting to hear You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. That's my favorite Christmas song, by far.

Balance

Two bike messengers, pedaling down the street with their hands in their pockets. They looked like they were on unicycles (except for that extra wheel).

Snow day

OK, not exactly. But we got a water-main-break day -- the office was closed down at 10 a.m. So it's like a snow day.

I keep trying to convince my brother (who's on break from college) to do something fun with me. But he's totally lame and keeps saying he didn't go to sleep last night, and therefore doesn't have the energy to do anything interesting. So there are probably errands in store for my middle-of-the-week vacation. Which is still OK.

Also, I filled my gas tank for $16! What fun.

People are funny

I have a few sources who I'm connected to through other lives -- I went to high school with their kids, I babysat for them, etc. And it's always nice to talk to them because they have a concept of me as a person -- not just a byline, so to speak. They tend to be a little more excited (and surprised!) when I call.

One of those sources is the father of one of my sister's friends. He just called after seeing a story that I wrote (we send a daily e-mail) to say hi, and that he had read it. Wished me a happy holiday and said he hoped to be sharing more good news, soon.

I thought that was kinda cool.

Aww

I was talking to a source yesterday about how I've bought a coat and gloves, but still need to invest in a scarf. When I got to work this morning, this was in my in-box: Since the temperature will be dropping, I got my hands on a scarf for you. I'll drop it in the mail.

Sweet!

Window washers

There was one rappelling down the side of my building this morning.

On a related note, rappelling is mad fun.

Good TV

I spent part of today catching up on Life, which I think is one of the best shows (along with Mad Men) on the telly these days. It's just so quirky and grin-worthy.

The main character is obsessed with fruit. In one episode, there's a recurring fruit cake theme. Charlie Crews, our main character, says,"It's fruit and it's cake, what's not to like?" Later, while eating it, he concludes that "there's a distinct possibility that this is neither fruit nor cake."

Out of context, it's maybe not laugh-out-loud funny. But the humor's persistent and spot-on. And the series hasn't been canceled yet. So I am joyful.

Side of the road

One is an image, while one requires a bit more of an explanation (or maybe doesn't, but you're getting it anyway).

First, stapled to a telephone pole, a yellow sheet of paper with "He'll be back. Merry Christmas." written in black permanent marker.

Second: The Great Lakes Science Center has a renewable energy exhibit -- a rather prominent windmill, and a number of solar panels outside. I usually don't drive that way, but did tonight. 

Each of the solar panels was bordered by purple Christmas lights. I assume they're solar powered, as well. Pretty and cool.

Santa hat tally

Three, so far, for the day. And only one of them was a white-bearded man. (For the record, he was also clad in jeans and a dark pullover of some sort.)

Sense of humor

The Better Business Bureau apparently has one.

From the article:

A BBB staffer posed as a renter who claimed to live on "Lois Lane" and work for the "Daily Planet" but needed to move soon.
The Superman references were apparently lost on the Nigerian "medical doctor."

This also reminds me of the Animaniacs' (doesn't everything?) song, The Senses.

One of the best things a reporter can hear

When there's a 1:30 deadline:

"Your stuff comes through clean, so 2:00 should be fine."

Twofer

I've been riding the bus to work, when I can. On the way home today, the bill reader was broken. So the ride was free.

And when I checked the mail, there was a hand-addressed envelope -- it was my first piece of real mail at my new home! Hooray!

Grin all weekend!

Airtran is having a sale -- you could come see me for cheap! (That's for all you Atlanta readers. Although you can visit from elsewhere, too. I'll allow it.)

And then we can party like it's 1999. And if you've never been to the Akron airport, I have a feeling you'll have a hard time leaving without a bemused expression. I almost missed a flight back to Atlanta once because I had to explain that the metal stress balls in my carry-on luggage were not bombs. And once I showed off the brightly painted, chiming balls, everyone in security wanted to know where they could get some. (The answer, of course, is Marc's.)

Edit: Delta's on sale, too.

Your new twin-sized bed

Saw a guy pushing a dolly loaded with a twin mattress and box spring down Euclid Ave., one of Cleveland's main drags, at 9:45 on a rainy Tuesday morning (near no housing I could see).

Just an odd thing to see on a downtown street.

Where a kid can be a kid?

This also goes under the amusing-yet-horrifying category.

I've wanted to have an adult birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's for a little while, now. But this article makes that sound a little scary. The cops get called there more often than they do at biker bars? Wow.

Did you know they served alcohol?

Bye bye, Boston Legal...

Boston Legal makes me smile -- the last episode was tonight, which is sad. But it went out well, shark-jumping and all.

You get to hear about it, though, because of this: When I was on jury duty, one of the questions the attorneys asked the crowd of potential jurors was if we watched any "lawyer shows," and which ones. I said no as people talked about Law & Order's various iterations, and the like. But then someone said Boston Legal. And I had to raise my hand and correct myself -- I told the judge that I watched it, but didn't consider it a lawyer show. Which caused him and the attorneys to chuckle. 

I got picked for the jury, by the way. Boston Legal is de-lawyerly enough that it's not disqualifying.

The same magical animal!

The microwave at work has an auto-cook button for bacon.

Snow

It's snowing again, which is nice as long as you can continue to operate motor vehicles on the road. As I was driving, the snow was still not sticking to the street, but it was pretty heavy -- there's a dusting on the ground. As the wind whipped by, it pulled the snow with it. It looked like sand dunes in the desert, or the current under water. Lovely.

Mail!

I got a letter from Raul today! Thanks, Raul!

Never mind that I wrote it myself (long story). It was more hysterical than I remember. My mother laughed pretty loudly at it, too.

This Love

...has taken its toll on me -- she said goodbye too many times befo-o-o-o-ore...

Whenever this song came on in college, my roommates and I would turn the volume up loudly and sing at the top of our lungs. I had the windows rolled up this time (after all, it was 24 degrees and snowing!), but still blasted and belted it.

Then, they played MMMBop. And I quickly changed the station.

People should smile more

It's not only a song by Newton Faulkner. It's true. (Maybe.)

Festivus for the rest of us

There's a light display on Public Square with a sign that says it was put there by some Catholic women's organization. It's surrounded by green yard signs wishing passersby a HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HAPPY HANUKKAH.

Then there's a hand-written sign on white posterboard that says Merry Christmas.

Hear me roar

Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of my becoming a woman.

The party was lots of fun (back me up on this, Chrys).

It must be the voice

The radio wants me back :)

About those destinations...

I have more days off than I thought I did!