I made Glenn Close a latte this morning. She lives in Maine, doncha know?
And no one recognised her, not even my co-workers, which is really the way it should be. Let the celebrities enjoy their lattes in peace.
2007-09-22
2007-09-17
Overheard
For those of you who don't know, I live above a restaurant. Even in winter, there are conversations that float up from the sidewalk. Mind you, it's not winter now, but the three sidewalk tables have gone into hibernation already, for the chill of New England autumn is upon us.
Just now, I overheard this snippet of conversations while lying in bed reading.
'Okay, I hate touching people but I'm going to hug you because I'm going to miss you!'
Perhaps I misheard or perhaps I missed a key part of the conversation. But maybe not.
Just now, I overheard this snippet of conversations while lying in bed reading.
'Okay, I hate touching people but I'm going to hug you because I'm going to miss you!'
Perhaps I misheard or perhaps I missed a key part of the conversation. But maybe not.
2007-09-03
I want...
...a husband, a Volvo, a dog, and a nice townhouse. Stereotype much? Oh, and my own café/patisserie would be nice too. I'm going to call it Café & Cocoa. I should probably start working on my baking skills....
2007-08-22
Turtles and intrigue.
So, I guess I haven't been quite as good about keeping this thing updated as I set out to be, have I?
Oh well. It'll come as it comes, I guess, and you all will just have to accept that.
It's only been about a week since I last posted...not THAT long ago.
This past weekend, I was down in Massachusetts for Fair Weekend in the town where my grandparents live. It's always a bit of a mini family reunion the third weekend on August. And it's been at least 7 years since I made it to the fair. And it was lots of fun.
Small and simple, the Hardwick Community Fair claims to be the oldest in the country, and at 245, it may well be. Even if it isn't, it's still pretty darn old. We got to check out the cows and alpacas and blacksmiths and lumberjacks and frog jumping and pie eating. And I drove forever and ever. Okay, maybe only a total of about 8 hours over the course of three days, but for someone who doesn't even own a car, that's a lot of driving.
It was great to spend time with the family and to see my grandparents and to spend time in their big old house (and raid their attic for all manner of crap that I really don't need, but that's not really the point...).
Check out some of the pictures up on Flickr.
In other news, I had a very odd dream last night in which I, among other things, attempted to stop people from stealing tires and engines from parked cars. When I attempted to do this, they started throwing turtles at me. Big, honking, live turtles. Very bizarre.
I'm blaming the jambalaya that I had for dinner last night. That a certain gentleman cooked for me. A certain gentleman with whom I'm rather intrigued at the moment.
Makes you all curious now, doesn't it?
Oh well. It'll come as it comes, I guess, and you all will just have to accept that.
It's only been about a week since I last posted...not THAT long ago.
This past weekend, I was down in Massachusetts for Fair Weekend in the town where my grandparents live. It's always a bit of a mini family reunion the third weekend on August. And it's been at least 7 years since I made it to the fair. And it was lots of fun.
Small and simple, the Hardwick Community Fair claims to be the oldest in the country, and at 245, it may well be. Even if it isn't, it's still pretty darn old. We got to check out the cows and alpacas and blacksmiths and lumberjacks and frog jumping and pie eating. And I drove forever and ever. Okay, maybe only a total of about 8 hours over the course of three days, but for someone who doesn't even own a car, that's a lot of driving.
It was great to spend time with the family and to see my grandparents and to spend time in their big old house (and raid their attic for all manner of crap that I really don't need, but that's not really the point...).
Check out some of the pictures up on Flickr.
In other news, I had a very odd dream last night in which I, among other things, attempted to stop people from stealing tires and engines from parked cars. When I attempted to do this, they started throwing turtles at me. Big, honking, live turtles. Very bizarre.
I'm blaming the jambalaya that I had for dinner last night. That a certain gentleman cooked for me. A certain gentleman with whom I'm rather intrigued at the moment.
Makes you all curious now, doesn't it?
2007-08-13
Raison d'être
I exist only to save my roommate and her brother from having their cars towed on Monday mornings from around our apartment.
2007-08-11
Waiting at the window
I was just waiting by the front window, scanning the street for my father and step-mother's car (they're up for the weekend) and it occurred to me how much of my life has been spent waiting by a window, watching for my father. He's perpetually late. I would see him at least every other Sunday growing up and would start watching at the window at least half an hour before I knew he'd show up, hoping that he'd be early.
My father is not a particularly expressive man. He's the product of German and Hungarian parents, the Central Europeans not known necessarily for their emotional outbursts. That's not really the point though. I relished those hours away from my mother's house growing up, even if they were austere in actual emotional communication. It was in sharp contrast to the over-emtional (and oftentimes false feeling) environment that made up my daily life.
When I came out to my father, he had virtually no reaction. Maybe he already suspected or maybe he was just so much of a hippie that it didn't really strike up as something at all to worry about. We've never really talked about it much except when I came out to my mother a second time and he got pulled into her emotional whirlwind, something he was less than thrilled about (not that I blame him).
We understand each other even if we've never really talked about it, I think. I know he loves me even if he never says it. I know that I've always had his full support in everything I've done, except when he hasn't thought it a good idea. On those rare occasions, he's expressed his doubt but allowed me to make my own decision.
Here I am, 25 now, waiting at the window excitedly for my father. Part of me feels 12 again, anxious to get out of the house and go off and spend a day with my dad, no matter what we might end up doing.
This is very different, though. This time he'll actually come inside the house--well, apartment--because it's my home. Tomorrow he and my step-mother will come to dinner at my home. It will be, I think, the first time that I'll have made him dinner. Somehow that seems significant, particularly as someone who sees food and communal dining as an expression of love and deep connection amongst people.
Anyway, back to my window to watch for a man who, though he says little, means so much.
My father is not a particularly expressive man. He's the product of German and Hungarian parents, the Central Europeans not known necessarily for their emotional outbursts. That's not really the point though. I relished those hours away from my mother's house growing up, even if they were austere in actual emotional communication. It was in sharp contrast to the over-emtional (and oftentimes false feeling) environment that made up my daily life.
When I came out to my father, he had virtually no reaction. Maybe he already suspected or maybe he was just so much of a hippie that it didn't really strike up as something at all to worry about. We've never really talked about it much except when I came out to my mother a second time and he got pulled into her emotional whirlwind, something he was less than thrilled about (not that I blame him).
We understand each other even if we've never really talked about it, I think. I know he loves me even if he never says it. I know that I've always had his full support in everything I've done, except when he hasn't thought it a good idea. On those rare occasions, he's expressed his doubt but allowed me to make my own decision.
Here I am, 25 now, waiting at the window excitedly for my father. Part of me feels 12 again, anxious to get out of the house and go off and spend a day with my dad, no matter what we might end up doing.
This is very different, though. This time he'll actually come inside the house--well, apartment--because it's my home. Tomorrow he and my step-mother will come to dinner at my home. It will be, I think, the first time that I'll have made him dinner. Somehow that seems significant, particularly as someone who sees food and communal dining as an expression of love and deep connection amongst people.
Anyway, back to my window to watch for a man who, though he says little, means so much.
2007-08-08
2007-08-06
Clearing the cobwebs
Awfully dust round here, isn't it?
Well, I'm once again going to write a post about how terrible I've been about keeping on top of posting to this sad, little blog of mine. Except that this time I have a plan.
I've been doing a fair bit of thinking recently since my birthday at the end of June. The big quarter century and all.
The one thing that I've really come to the realisation about is that I am, indeed, an adult. No longer can I pretend to be a teenager or a university student. Which, for those of you who know me, was never what I was trying to be anyway. Always I was trying to be an adult but perhaps was being shifted into other, easier, pigeon holes. Well, no more. I'm smack dab in the middle of my twenties and it seems as good a time as any to fully claim the mantle of adulthood.
Along with that, I feel as if I need to start acting a bit more like an adult in small ways. Making sure that things that are important to me get done.
Like this blog, for example. When I'm not writing here, I'm not writing anywhere and writing has always been a very important means of expression for me. I've always been a textual person--reading everything I could get my hands on from the time I could read on my own and scribbling in my chicken scratch handwriting ever since I had words to put down on the paper, and now type on the screen. Writing forces me to organise my thoughts and to re-evaluate them and to turn them around in different ways. If I can't explain it in writing, it can't be a very clear idea. And, I know that since I've left university and started writing far less that it's become much more difficult for me to write extended pieces of text without having to take breaks and to really think about things. In essence, I've let my writer's muscle atrophy, which is not good for any kind of muscle. Starting today, I'm committing myself to writing at least a little something every day. Even only a few sentences. I want to start to work out my writer's muscle again and get it back to where it used to be.
When I was a teenager, I wrote a fair bit of fiction. I shared it round and always got positive reviews and encouragements but it became more and more difficult for me to write as I was required to write more and more non-fiction for school. I haven't thought about writing fiction for years and I doubt at this point if I'll ever really go back to it. That's okay, though. I think I can write a pretty mean essay, too and, maybe it's the easier way out, but I think, ultimately, my essays and blog posts will be more meaningful to me (and hopefully to others) than my fiction might be. Looking back at the fiction that I was writing in high school, it's very clear to me that it wasn't so much fiction as personal fantasies, things that I dreamed for myself or for others. Which isn't to demean these few stories that I still have saved on this hard drive, transferred over from computer to computer; rather, I just think that it's important for me to focus on one kind of writing and to really hone this side of my writing while still acknowledging that it has roots in my teenage fantasy worlds of coming out stories and the like.
So, that's one of the major things that I feel that I need to take responsibility for. Another thing that I've noticed recently is that I'm starting to get a little softer round the middle than I used to be and I'm realising that I really ought to do something about that sooner rather than later. I just need to find a gym buddy: if it's a social excursion, I'm all for going to the gym, but I don't have very much self-motivation to do it on my own.
Another thing that has recently become important to me again is photography. My father bought me a decent Pentax point and shoot camera when I was 9 or 10 and I still have it floating around somewhere. I haven't used it since probably my first year in Montréal, however. I bought myself a digital camera for my birthday. It's also an auto-focus and I did seriously consider springing for a digital SLR but I didn't want to make that level of commitment to something that I haven't seriously pursued in almost seven years. Well, I kind of wish I'd gone for the big ticket. I've been taking a lot of pictures and plan to continue doing so. It's likely that I'll start up a companion photoblog or maybe keep everything centralised here and at least post some thumbnails here to point you all to my flickr stream. I've got a bunch of stuff up on facebook for those of you who are there and you've already seen it but I think I want to start using flickr more since it's (obviously) more geared towards photography.
I'm not really sure what my goal is with the photography (likewise the writing) other than as a way to record my environment. I don't think I really need any more specific goal than that but perhaps that will change. It's another creative outlet for me and perhaps something will develop with the meeting of images and text. Stranger things have happened.
Oh, and then there's this whole moving cross country thing. Still thinking on that. Almost bought a used car on a whim the other day as a concrete step towards making that happen. But I didn't. I still have plenty of time, though. A whole winter to get through. A last winter (at least for the foreseeable future) in New England. I'm thinking about the end of May / beginning of June as a departure date. June 5th is my Portland anniversary date. It's a Thursday next year. Perhaps it will remain my Portland anniversary date but serve to mark a new year in a new Portland in 2008. Hm. That has sort of a ring to it, doesn't it?
In any event, now that I'm supposed to be writing here daily, you'll all get to read plenty about my plans for the future, I'm sure.
It's all so very exciting, isn't it?
Well, I'm once again going to write a post about how terrible I've been about keeping on top of posting to this sad, little blog of mine. Except that this time I have a plan.
I've been doing a fair bit of thinking recently since my birthday at the end of June. The big quarter century and all.
The one thing that I've really come to the realisation about is that I am, indeed, an adult. No longer can I pretend to be a teenager or a university student. Which, for those of you who know me, was never what I was trying to be anyway. Always I was trying to be an adult but perhaps was being shifted into other, easier, pigeon holes. Well, no more. I'm smack dab in the middle of my twenties and it seems as good a time as any to fully claim the mantle of adulthood.
Along with that, I feel as if I need to start acting a bit more like an adult in small ways. Making sure that things that are important to me get done.
Like this blog, for example. When I'm not writing here, I'm not writing anywhere and writing has always been a very important means of expression for me. I've always been a textual person--reading everything I could get my hands on from the time I could read on my own and scribbling in my chicken scratch handwriting ever since I had words to put down on the paper, and now type on the screen. Writing forces me to organise my thoughts and to re-evaluate them and to turn them around in different ways. If I can't explain it in writing, it can't be a very clear idea. And, I know that since I've left university and started writing far less that it's become much more difficult for me to write extended pieces of text without having to take breaks and to really think about things. In essence, I've let my writer's muscle atrophy, which is not good for any kind of muscle. Starting today, I'm committing myself to writing at least a little something every day. Even only a few sentences. I want to start to work out my writer's muscle again and get it back to where it used to be.
When I was a teenager, I wrote a fair bit of fiction. I shared it round and always got positive reviews and encouragements but it became more and more difficult for me to write as I was required to write more and more non-fiction for school. I haven't thought about writing fiction for years and I doubt at this point if I'll ever really go back to it. That's okay, though. I think I can write a pretty mean essay, too and, maybe it's the easier way out, but I think, ultimately, my essays and blog posts will be more meaningful to me (and hopefully to others) than my fiction might be. Looking back at the fiction that I was writing in high school, it's very clear to me that it wasn't so much fiction as personal fantasies, things that I dreamed for myself or for others. Which isn't to demean these few stories that I still have saved on this hard drive, transferred over from computer to computer; rather, I just think that it's important for me to focus on one kind of writing and to really hone this side of my writing while still acknowledging that it has roots in my teenage fantasy worlds of coming out stories and the like.
So, that's one of the major things that I feel that I need to take responsibility for. Another thing that I've noticed recently is that I'm starting to get a little softer round the middle than I used to be and I'm realising that I really ought to do something about that sooner rather than later. I just need to find a gym buddy: if it's a social excursion, I'm all for going to the gym, but I don't have very much self-motivation to do it on my own.
Another thing that has recently become important to me again is photography. My father bought me a decent Pentax point and shoot camera when I was 9 or 10 and I still have it floating around somewhere. I haven't used it since probably my first year in Montréal, however. I bought myself a digital camera for my birthday. It's also an auto-focus and I did seriously consider springing for a digital SLR but I didn't want to make that level of commitment to something that I haven't seriously pursued in almost seven years. Well, I kind of wish I'd gone for the big ticket. I've been taking a lot of pictures and plan to continue doing so. It's likely that I'll start up a companion photoblog or maybe keep everything centralised here and at least post some thumbnails here to point you all to my flickr stream. I've got a bunch of stuff up on facebook for those of you who are there and you've already seen it but I think I want to start using flickr more since it's (obviously) more geared towards photography.
I'm not really sure what my goal is with the photography (likewise the writing) other than as a way to record my environment. I don't think I really need any more specific goal than that but perhaps that will change. It's another creative outlet for me and perhaps something will develop with the meeting of images and text. Stranger things have happened.
Oh, and then there's this whole moving cross country thing. Still thinking on that. Almost bought a used car on a whim the other day as a concrete step towards making that happen. But I didn't. I still have plenty of time, though. A whole winter to get through. A last winter (at least for the foreseeable future) in New England. I'm thinking about the end of May / beginning of June as a departure date. June 5th is my Portland anniversary date. It's a Thursday next year. Perhaps it will remain my Portland anniversary date but serve to mark a new year in a new Portland in 2008. Hm. That has sort of a ring to it, doesn't it?
In any event, now that I'm supposed to be writing here daily, you'll all get to read plenty about my plans for the future, I'm sure.
It's all so very exciting, isn't it?
2007-06-21
Portland, ME. 2,540 miles
Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm living in the wrong Portland.
I'm sitting in a café on my last morning in Portland, OR, before heading out this afternoon to Denver for a wedding this weekend. I've been here since late Saturday night—effectively Sunday morning and, well, it's been quite wonderful. The city motto is 'The city that works.' Kind of cheesy, yes, but also kind of true. It's oh so very green; the people are oh so very friendly (even the hipsters are friendly! Williamsburg this isn't!); there are bikes everywhere; where there aren't bikes, there's fabulous mass transit; wonderful coffee; wonderful food; farmers' markets galore; beautiful weather; strict but very well thought out land planning…
Oh, so, you get the point, right? It adds up to a lot of the things that I would want in a city. And it felt comfortable very soon after I got here.
And now I'm leaving. But I'll be back.
The next big adventure begins.
I'm sitting in a café on my last morning in Portland, OR, before heading out this afternoon to Denver for a wedding this weekend. I've been here since late Saturday night—effectively Sunday morning and, well, it's been quite wonderful. The city motto is 'The city that works.' Kind of cheesy, yes, but also kind of true. It's oh so very green; the people are oh so very friendly (even the hipsters are friendly! Williamsburg this isn't!); there are bikes everywhere; where there aren't bikes, there's fabulous mass transit; wonderful coffee; wonderful food; farmers' markets galore; beautiful weather; strict but very well thought out land planning…
Oh, so, you get the point, right? It adds up to a lot of the things that I would want in a city. And it felt comfortable very soon after I got here.
And now I'm leaving. But I'll be back.
The next big adventure begins.
2007-06-04
Poking dead things with a stick.
So, I clearly haven't been very good at keeping this thing updated. Nor have I been very good at keeping up with other people's blogs. Life happens. What can I say?
Less so life and more so work, unfortunately. But, that's what happens. Work is going well, though and I'm going on vacation at the end of next week. I feel a little not ready for it, actually. There's a lot of stuff going on with work--new people coming on and old people leaving--while I'm away which is slightly stressful, though I'm sure it'll work out smoothly enough.
I bought a digital camera finally last week and have been using it like mad. It's been almost a decade since I've owned a camera and I'm quite excited finally to be up to speed again with it. Lots of fun things to play with on it and lots of settings yet to be explored. Needless to say, I'll be using it a lot while on vacation and posting things up as I have the chance. I'll maybe try to keep a bit of a travelogue here if I'm not too over-stimulated.
Oh, and where am I going? Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado. I'll be in Portland for four and a half days and Denver for two days. Wedding in Denver and I've been thinking about the other Portland as a potential new destination. I need to get out of Maine and the other side of the country doesn't seem like such a bad place to end up. But, I've never been, so who knows?
Tomorrow marks two years of living in Maine. So much has happened. It's not been a bad thing for me. I keep telling myself that and telling other people that, as if trying to convince myself. Part of me wonders if perhaps I've missed out on things being here and not being somewhere else. But what? It's such a speculative exercise. Sure it would have been a vastly different two years had I been living somewhere else. But nowhere else really made sense. And so here I have been. We'll see where life takes me next.
Less so life and more so work, unfortunately. But, that's what happens. Work is going well, though and I'm going on vacation at the end of next week. I feel a little not ready for it, actually. There's a lot of stuff going on with work--new people coming on and old people leaving--while I'm away which is slightly stressful, though I'm sure it'll work out smoothly enough.
I bought a digital camera finally last week and have been using it like mad. It's been almost a decade since I've owned a camera and I'm quite excited finally to be up to speed again with it. Lots of fun things to play with on it and lots of settings yet to be explored. Needless to say, I'll be using it a lot while on vacation and posting things up as I have the chance. I'll maybe try to keep a bit of a travelogue here if I'm not too over-stimulated.
Oh, and where am I going? Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado. I'll be in Portland for four and a half days and Denver for two days. Wedding in Denver and I've been thinking about the other Portland as a potential new destination. I need to get out of Maine and the other side of the country doesn't seem like such a bad place to end up. But, I've never been, so who knows?
Tomorrow marks two years of living in Maine. So much has happened. It's not been a bad thing for me. I keep telling myself that and telling other people that, as if trying to convince myself. Part of me wonders if perhaps I've missed out on things being here and not being somewhere else. But what? It's such a speculative exercise. Sure it would have been a vastly different two years had I been living somewhere else. But nowhere else really made sense. And so here I have been. We'll see where life takes me next.
2007-04-30
Furniture Moving Party
Not the best photo, but you get the idea. For some reason, the whole right side of the photo gets cut off, so click on it to see the whole thing.
2007-04-28
Moving House
It's very odd to wake up in a room with sliding French doors having slept on my mattress on the floor and surrounded on one side by my desk and bed headboard and on the other side by a bureau. And then piles of boxes and drawers and books strewn most everywhere else in this room and around the apartment.
Strange but not necessarily a bad thing.
I slowly migrated things to the new place over the past two weeks since it was a block-and-a-half away from my old place. The idea was that everything would essentially be in place in time for my furniture moving party last night.
That, of course, wasn't exactly the case and things in the new place are a little less organised than I would have hoped. But reorganisation is always a good thing and I need to force myself 1) seriously to organise my stuff this time by actually unpacking everything (including things that haven't been unpacked since I moved into the old apartment a year and a half ago) and 2) seriously to slim down what I own because a lot of what got moved is junk that I don't need--if I hadn't unpacked in the old place why, really, do I need it? Some of it has sentimental value, yes, but I need to conquer and defeat my packrat genes.
Otherwise, the new place is quite fabulous. I've moved in with a couple of good friends and the place is huge and spacious and will feel quite comfortable, I'm sure, once my room and the living room are cleared of stuff and the kitchen is sorted out and put back together.
I plied my friend with the promise of home-made pizza and beer and was able to sweeten the deal a bit because one of my new roommate's brothers brought some home-made beer. I kept thanking them all profusely and they all mostly shrugged it off. As one of them pointed out, not only is it a karma thing--everyone has to move at some point--but it's also a lot easier to move other people's stuff than your own. I guess it's a matter of not having any real attachment to the stuff that you're moving. It just needs to get from point A to point B.
And the move itself went really well. It was a lot easier than I'd figured for in my head (but I always expect mostly the worse). Given that it was so short, the plan was essentially to carry everything down the street. This was aided by a couple of dollies loaned by a friend which meant that we could wheel everything down the street. It was impeded somewhat by the threatening rain which mostly just misted and drizzled until we were almost done. Only the couch really got caught in the rain but not too badly.
All in all, it was about 3 hours of active moving on the team's part (one of my roommates and I had gotten an earlier start moving smaller stuff) and then we sat down to some yummy pizza (which I didn't really do much for other than get the sauce started and direct what went where. Bit of a slacker I am, I didn't even make the dough but got it from a local bakery) and home-made beer.
One of my friends, as he was leaving, jokingly told me not to move again anytime soon. I told him he'd have at least the summer to recuperate. It seems reasonable for me to think about getting out of town by fall. I fear that if I stay past that, it's not going to make much sense to try to move across country until this time or so next year. And I don't think I can deal with another winter in Maine. It's not the weather. It's just everything else. I need to get out of here, I just have to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do. You know, minor things like that.
49 days until my Portland/Denver vacation and two weeks until my (potential) weekend in New York. Wee!
Strange but not necessarily a bad thing.
I slowly migrated things to the new place over the past two weeks since it was a block-and-a-half away from my old place. The idea was that everything would essentially be in place in time for my furniture moving party last night.
That, of course, wasn't exactly the case and things in the new place are a little less organised than I would have hoped. But reorganisation is always a good thing and I need to force myself 1) seriously to organise my stuff this time by actually unpacking everything (including things that haven't been unpacked since I moved into the old apartment a year and a half ago) and 2) seriously to slim down what I own because a lot of what got moved is junk that I don't need--if I hadn't unpacked in the old place why, really, do I need it? Some of it has sentimental value, yes, but I need to conquer and defeat my packrat genes.
Otherwise, the new place is quite fabulous. I've moved in with a couple of good friends and the place is huge and spacious and will feel quite comfortable, I'm sure, once my room and the living room are cleared of stuff and the kitchen is sorted out and put back together.
I plied my friend with the promise of home-made pizza and beer and was able to sweeten the deal a bit because one of my new roommate's brothers brought some home-made beer. I kept thanking them all profusely and they all mostly shrugged it off. As one of them pointed out, not only is it a karma thing--everyone has to move at some point--but it's also a lot easier to move other people's stuff than your own. I guess it's a matter of not having any real attachment to the stuff that you're moving. It just needs to get from point A to point B.
And the move itself went really well. It was a lot easier than I'd figured for in my head (but I always expect mostly the worse). Given that it was so short, the plan was essentially to carry everything down the street. This was aided by a couple of dollies loaned by a friend which meant that we could wheel everything down the street. It was impeded somewhat by the threatening rain which mostly just misted and drizzled until we were almost done. Only the couch really got caught in the rain but not too badly.
All in all, it was about 3 hours of active moving on the team's part (one of my roommates and I had gotten an earlier start moving smaller stuff) and then we sat down to some yummy pizza (which I didn't really do much for other than get the sauce started and direct what went where. Bit of a slacker I am, I didn't even make the dough but got it from a local bakery) and home-made beer.
One of my friends, as he was leaving, jokingly told me not to move again anytime soon. I told him he'd have at least the summer to recuperate. It seems reasonable for me to think about getting out of town by fall. I fear that if I stay past that, it's not going to make much sense to try to move across country until this time or so next year. And I don't think I can deal with another winter in Maine. It's not the weather. It's just everything else. I need to get out of here, I just have to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do. You know, minor things like that.
49 days until my Portland/Denver vacation and two weeks until my (potential) weekend in New York. Wee!
2007-04-09
Easter Monday
Damn you, my Canadian friends! Damn you! I would kill for a four-day weekend right now. Even a three-day one would be fabulous!
It's 6.08 and I'm off to work. I hope you're all enjoying the day off. *glare*
It's 6.08 and I'm off to work. I hope you're all enjoying the day off. *glare*
2007-04-08
Stollen from the Sassy one
- Put your music player on shuffle.
- Press forward for each question.
- Use the song title as the answer to the question even if they don’t make sense.
How am I feeling today? 'My Best Friend' - Tim McGraw
Will I get far in life? 'Train in Vain (Stand by Me)' - The Clash
How do my friends see me? 'Greensleeves' - Vince Guaraldi Trio (from the Charlie Brown Christmas album)
Where will I get married? 'Proving You Wrong' - Keb' Mo'
What is my best friend’s theme song? 'Free to Go' - Folk Implosion
What is the story of my life? 'Look Sharp!' - Joe Jackson (ha! this kind of feels right)
What is/was high school like? 'Dinner At Eight' - Rufus Wainwright (this one also kind of feels right: a song about subtle angst and confronting your past demons)
How can I get ahead in life? 'Be True to Your School' - The Beach Boys (um...)
What is the best thing about me? 'Let's Talk About Sex' - Salt-N-Pepa (no comment)
What is today going to be like? 'Hitler's Brother' - Paula Cole (there's a good one for Easter)
What is in store for this weekend? 'Say When' - Lonestar
What song describes my parents? 'Is It Okay If I Call You Mine?' - Paul McCrane, from Fame (hm. this feels right in an odd way: 'Is it okay if I call you mine? Just for a time? And I will be fine if I know that you know that I'm wanting needing your love.')
To describe my grandparents? 'Echoes of Harlem' - Duke Ellington (my father's parents did grow up in NYC, but I'm pretty sure not Harlem)
How is my life going? 'Tara's Theme' from Gone With the Wind (I'm not sure I like this...)
What song will they play at my funeral? 'Girls and Boys' - Blur (aw yeah!)
How does the world see me? 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' - Michael Jackson
Will I have a happy life? 'Ungayoni Into Enhle (Destroy Not This Beauty)' - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Do people secretly lust after me? 'If This Is It' - Huey Lewis and the News (erm? Yes? No? Maybe?)
How can I make myself happy? 'Baba' - Alanis Morissette (So, either I should start my own religion or become a priest...?)
What should I do with my life? 'Man In the Mirror' - Michael Jackson (not a very good shuffle, is it?)
Will I ever have children? 'Mauvais Sang' - Khaled (erm... 'Mauvais Sang' = 'Bad Blood')
What is some good advice for me? 'I Live For You' - Marvin Gaye
How will I be remembered? 'Hard Habit to Break' - Chicago
What is my signature dancing song? 'Sexy Boy' - Air (okay, I kind of cheated on this one because the first song that came up was 'I'm the Man Who Loves You' by Wilco, which, although a good song, is not a song I'd want as my signature dance song, especially if I could have this one instead
What is my current theme song? 'The Bad Touch' - The Bloodhoung Gang (well, it IS spring...though there's been no bad touching for me in quite a while...)
What does everyone else think my current theme song is? 'Waterloo' - Abba (erm. sort of not really.)
What type of men/women do you like? 'The Stranger' - Billy Joel (great. so I'm doomed to continue to date people who can't open up?)
- Press forward for each question.
- Use the song title as the answer to the question even if they don’t make sense.
How am I feeling today? 'My Best Friend' - Tim McGraw
Will I get far in life? 'Train in Vain (Stand by Me)' - The Clash
How do my friends see me? 'Greensleeves' - Vince Guaraldi Trio (from the Charlie Brown Christmas album)
Where will I get married? 'Proving You Wrong' - Keb' Mo'
What is my best friend’s theme song? 'Free to Go' - Folk Implosion
What is the story of my life? 'Look Sharp!' - Joe Jackson (ha! this kind of feels right)
What is/was high school like? 'Dinner At Eight' - Rufus Wainwright (this one also kind of feels right: a song about subtle angst and confronting your past demons)
How can I get ahead in life? 'Be True to Your School' - The Beach Boys (um...)
What is the best thing about me? 'Let's Talk About Sex' - Salt-N-Pepa (no comment)
What is today going to be like? 'Hitler's Brother' - Paula Cole (there's a good one for Easter)
What is in store for this weekend? 'Say When' - Lonestar
What song describes my parents? 'Is It Okay If I Call You Mine?' - Paul McCrane, from Fame (hm. this feels right in an odd way: 'Is it okay if I call you mine? Just for a time? And I will be fine if I know that you know that I'm wanting needing your love.')
To describe my grandparents? 'Echoes of Harlem' - Duke Ellington (my father's parents did grow up in NYC, but I'm pretty sure not Harlem)
How is my life going? 'Tara's Theme' from Gone With the Wind (I'm not sure I like this...)
What song will they play at my funeral? 'Girls and Boys' - Blur (aw yeah!)
How does the world see me? 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' - Michael Jackson
Will I have a happy life? 'Ungayoni Into Enhle (Destroy Not This Beauty)' - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Do people secretly lust after me? 'If This Is It' - Huey Lewis and the News (erm? Yes? No? Maybe?)
How can I make myself happy? 'Baba' - Alanis Morissette (So, either I should start my own religion or become a priest...?)
What should I do with my life? 'Man In the Mirror' - Michael Jackson (not a very good shuffle, is it?)
Will I ever have children? 'Mauvais Sang' - Khaled (erm... 'Mauvais Sang' = 'Bad Blood')
What is some good advice for me? 'I Live For You' - Marvin Gaye
How will I be remembered? 'Hard Habit to Break' - Chicago
What is my signature dancing song? 'Sexy Boy' - Air (okay, I kind of cheated on this one because the first song that came up was 'I'm the Man Who Loves You' by Wilco, which, although a good song, is not a song I'd want as my signature dance song, especially if I could have this one instead
What is my current theme song? 'The Bad Touch' - The Bloodhoung Gang (well, it IS spring...though there's been no bad touching for me in quite a while...)
What does everyone else think my current theme song is? 'Waterloo' - Abba (erm. sort of not really.)
What type of men/women do you like? 'The Stranger' - Billy Joel (great. so I'm doomed to continue to date people who can't open up?)
2007-04-06
First thoughts of the morning
After, 'God, why is it already 5.30?!' my next thought was...
'Ahh! Why do I have Wilson Phillips stuck in my head?!'
Actually, I can figure out why since it's their phenomenal song 'Release Me'.
Whatever happened to Wilson Phillips anyway?
Wait. Don't answer that. I don't really want to know.
'Ahh! Why do I have Wilson Phillips stuck in my head?!'
Actually, I can figure out why since it's their phenomenal song 'Release Me'.
Whatever happened to Wilson Phillips anyway?
Wait. Don't answer that. I don't really want to know.
2007-04-04
Note to self...
Don't ever date a psych student or someone who has a degree in psychology. Ever again.
I'm 0 for 2 on that particular approach to dating.
They will be able to tell you all of your problems, completely deny or refuse to talk about theirs and, after the break up, so much of what they say will sound so good in the moment. But then you'll actually think about what they've said and realise that they've not really said much of anything, never mind actually saying or demonstrating a commitment to moving the two of you past the breakup and towards some kind of friendship.
I'm 0 for 2 on that particular approach to dating.
They will be able to tell you all of your problems, completely deny or refuse to talk about theirs and, after the break up, so much of what they say will sound so good in the moment. But then you'll actually think about what they've said and realise that they've not really said much of anything, never mind actually saying or demonstrating a commitment to moving the two of you past the breakup and towards some kind of friendship.
2007-04-03
*sigh*
I need to get the hell out of Dodge. And fast.
I'm so done with Maine. And have been for a while but I really mean it this time.
I'm so done with Maine. And have been for a while but I really mean it this time.
2007-03-11
Mass-bound
Went on a little weekend trip to see the folks in Western Mass. Spent the day yesterday in Northampton bumming around the coffee shops and bookstores. Stopped at the NH Liquor store on my way back tonight and bought my first bottle of Glenlivet 15. Yum. I've had it before but this is the first full bottle I've purchased. I should stop spoiling myself and save money....
I'm alive though I've not posted for a while. Work has been hectic but that's nothing new. It does seem like an excuse, though, so I'll stick to that.
I'm alive though I've not posted for a while. Work has been hectic but that's nothing new. It does seem like an excuse, though, so I'll stick to that.
2007-02-14
VD Blizzard '07
There's something magical about vegetable soup, salad, and running around in a blizzard drinking champagne with friends and dogs.
Especially if it's on Valentine's Day.
Especially if it's on Valentine's Day.
2007-02-12
Blarg
There's something not quite right about it being as dark when you're leaving work as it was when you started work...
2007-02-07
Robert Blake
http://www.robertsblake.com
He played Portland last night. It was great. Except for the random hipster/punk kids who insisted on dancing around to music that doesn't exactly lend itself to dancing around.
Particularly in a rather small, intimate bar.
I saw him play his first show in Portland last year. April, I think. He's a great bluesy/folksy guitar guy. Mostly, his show is him with his guitar. Last year, I bought his cd 'A Crowd of Drunken Lovers' and it served me well for break-up music. His newest cd is called 'The Beautiful and the Afternoon'--sort of a double cd but not really. The first half is called The Beautiful Night and the second half The Afternoon. Haven't had a chance to listen to it through yet but he played some of the songs last night and it was certainly what I would expect.
If this troubadour happens through your town, go see him. It's totally worth it.
Also, a friend of mine told me last night that I'm the opposite of a fag hag. Does that make me a hag fag? I'm not sure what she's talking about. I mean, it was just me and four girlfriends who went out to the show last night....
He played Portland last night. It was great. Except for the random hipster/punk kids who insisted on dancing around to music that doesn't exactly lend itself to dancing around.
Particularly in a rather small, intimate bar.
I saw him play his first show in Portland last year. April, I think. He's a great bluesy/folksy guitar guy. Mostly, his show is him with his guitar. Last year, I bought his cd 'A Crowd of Drunken Lovers' and it served me well for break-up music. His newest cd is called 'The Beautiful and the Afternoon'--sort of a double cd but not really. The first half is called The Beautiful Night and the second half The Afternoon. Haven't had a chance to listen to it through yet but he played some of the songs last night and it was certainly what I would expect.
If this troubadour happens through your town, go see him. It's totally worth it.
Also, a friend of mine told me last night that I'm the opposite of a fag hag. Does that make me a hag fag? I'm not sure what she's talking about. I mean, it was just me and four girlfriends who went out to the show last night....
2007-02-05
Lame.
I just figured out that when I post a link with this new layout using the Link box in the post form on Blogger, the title of the post becomes the link.
Because that's an obvious place to put the link.
Um. Yeah.
I'll try to remember to put links in the body of the post from now on...
I need to go make some curry now.
Because that's an obvious place to put the link.
Um. Yeah.
I'll try to remember to put links in the body of the post from now on...
I need to go make some curry now.
2007-02-04
Under Construction, encore
For the moment, I'm using one of Blogger's new drag-and-drop templates. I haven't quite figured out how to get the old haloscan comments working. Though I honestly can't remember why I started using the haloscan comments to begin with, other than the fact that it let people choose little avatars. And, besides, I'm so inconsistent with posting that almost no one ever comments anymore anyway. So there.
2007-01-29
Taxes. Check.
Yay. My taxes are done. And though the magic of direct deposit and electronic filing, I'll have a whole bunch of refund money soon. Whatever shall I do with it? Probably I should save it. At least some of it. Or put it towards paying off my new computer. Yeah. But I also kind of want to take a weekend trip somewhere. Hmm. But I'm also going on a week-long trip somewhere in June. Decisions, decisions.
2007-01-25
Get out of my head, Rob Brezsny!
CANCER (June 21 – July 22): It's Be Your Own Muse Week, Cancerian. How should you observe this festival? Here's one suggestion. First, visualize in detail your dream lover . . . your ideal soul mate . . . the embodiment of everything you find attractive. Second, imagine that, though this person feels the same way about you, there is a very good reason why the two of you can't make love or be together as a couple for a long time. Next, feel the sweet torment of your unquenched longing for each other, the impossible ache of fiery tenderness. Finally, picture all the ways you will work on yourself in the coming years to refine your soul and perfect your love, so that when the two of you can finally be united, you will have made yourself into a gorgeous genius—a pure blessing and exquisite gift for your beloved.
Ever been too tired to sleep?
Yeah. Me too.
Longest couple of weeks ever at work. Hopefully things will start to get better sooner.
And, there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel of my crazy opening shifts. Yay!
Longest couple of weeks ever at work. Hopefully things will start to get better sooner.
And, there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel of my crazy opening shifts. Yay!
2007-01-20
Field Trip
I just booked my flights for a field trip out west in June. Portland, Oregon, for four days and then Denver for three for a wedding.
I made sure that I have a stop-over in Chicago just so that I can be on the ground in all four time zones over the course of the trip, since I've never left the eastern one.
I'm excited about this, needless to say, but also a little anxious, too. I'm ever so cautious about money and it feels sort of extravagant to spend so much money on myself. I'm strange, I know. But it'll be really good for me to get out of this Portland for a while and see something new, see if the other Portland is somewhere I really might want to move to....
I made sure that I have a stop-over in Chicago just so that I can be on the ground in all four time zones over the course of the trip, since I've never left the eastern one.
I'm excited about this, needless to say, but also a little anxious, too. I'm ever so cautious about money and it feels sort of extravagant to spend so much money on myself. I'm strange, I know. But it'll be really good for me to get out of this Portland for a while and see something new, see if the other Portland is somewhere I really might want to move to....
2007-01-09
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