Robert's Random Writings

Valentine's Day Love Songs

2012-02-14T18:52:00.003-06:00

Since much of my life is wrapped up in songs, I was trying to think of a love song that really epitomizes my thoughts on Valentine's Day, as well as my relationship.

There are a ton of love songs - that actually might make sense - in musical theater, but those aren't the ones that show up all over the place this time of year. Instead, we get all of the weird country and pop songs (well, those are the only two genres that I listen to, so that's all I have to go from) that profess to tell us about love.

We go from "Stand By Your Man" to "Stand By Me," and from "Muskrat Love" to "Puppy Love." There's "Burning Love" and there's "My Heart Will Go On" from the very watery Titanic.

We've got "Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong" which, on the surface, sounds nice. But then there's the musical assumption that where we belong is "where the eagles cry on a a mountain high" - which sets up an expectation that most couples may never reach. Because, let's face it, many romances only make it about halfway up a hillock before getting run off by a couple of screeching crows.

We're told "Love is a Many-Splendoured Thing" and that "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" and that "All You Need is Love" - although I'd like to see someone try to pay their bills with it.

We know that some people "Can't Give You Anything But Love" (which is nice, but, again, how does that pay rent?), and that "The Greatest Love of All" is learning to love ourselves - which really doesn't sound like a very romantic notion, after all.

With all of the love songs out there, I was starting to get a little frustrated. They all look at love and life through seriously rose-colored glasses. It's Edith Piaf seeing "La Vie en Rose" and it's the wedding at the end of a Disney movie where you don't see the newlyweds dealing with who gets the closet space and who has to wash dishes.

In musical theater, you get a lot of that, too, but you also get "Into the Woods," where the happy "ending" is just the beginning of the second act. Which, really, is a lot more like life.

It dawned on me amidst all of my digging, that I knew exactly what song was my perfect Valentine's Day song. Partially, I'll admit, because Christopher is gone this week and one line of it always comes to mind when we're apart. The line is "And even be glad, just to be sad, thinking of you."

The song is "It Had to Be You," and although it's been around for a while, I know it mainly from the Harry Connick, Jr. version which was used in When Harry Met Sally. I love that it talks about this great love that is made better because they're not perfect: "Nobody else gave me a thrill, with all your faults, I love you still. It had to be you, wonderful you. It had to be you." The person in question is wonderful because of the faults, not in spite of them. And I like to think that all good, realistic, romances can embrace that.

You can find the video of it, here - where it plays after a 15-second ad. (And you really ought to check it out. It's an "official" video, so it's got clips of the movie, as well as a very young - and very 80s-styled, yet still sexy - Harry Connick, Jr.)

That's the kind of love song that works for me. The kind that says "it's not perfect. it's not a fairy tale. it's life. and I want you in it with me."

(Happy Valentine's Day, Christopher!)

Movie Monday: Underworld:Awakening

2012-02-13T16:31:00.005-06:00

Last week, on kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, Christopher and I went out to see the fourth movie in the "Underworld" series. This one was "Underworld: Awakening" (which, of course, you probably already guessed if you read the title of this post).

The "Underworld" series is a dark vampire versus werewolf series (no one glitters in the sun, or runs around with a bare chest for the teenagers to drool over), where the lead vampire (a deadly, yet beautiful, woman) falls for a human who - in the first movie - is bitten by both a vampire and a werewolf (well, they're called "lycan" in this), and becomes kind of a hybrid.

In this latest installment, she awakens from 12 years of captivity to find that the man/hybrid/guy that she loved is gone, and that they have had a daughter (which she didn't know about), and a conspiracy has been using them to try to find a "cure" for the vampire and lycan scourge. Or, maybe, to create new hybrids...

And... well... mayhem and shooting and biting and gore and special effects ensue.

Here's the twist, though. This was the first movie in the franchise to have been filmed in 3D. And, if you've been paying attention, you know that I'm not really a fan of 3D. In action movies, it tends to result in things being thrown at the camera, or gore splattering the camera, or motion sequences that make you want to hurl at the camera. But aside from one scene at the very beginning when the camera was rotating (and so was my stomach) they did pretty well with it.

And, consequently, I kind of rather enjoyed the movie. The 3D actually did enhance what was going on - adding depth to the scenes, instead of causing me to sit back and think "wow. They really worked hard on that." It was a nice change of pace for the 3D market.

Overall score: A-. It really was what it promised to be, but they keep alluding to the lover/hybrid guy, but we don't ever actually see him. And, well, I have to admit that he was one of my favorite things about the first movie. So, bring him back and I'll give it an A.

Perspective on Productivity

2012-02-11T19:44:00.003-06:00

Most Saturdays, I'd be really excited to go to the grocery store, run multiple other errands, bake some cookies (and clean up the kitchen), watch a movie from Netflix, walk the dog (twice) and try to comb out some of her tangles, and even get some correspondence done. All before 7pm.

Today, however, even though that's actually more than what was on my to-do list, I feel like I've kind of wasted the day.

You see, I've been up for about 5 hours longer than usual. Yep. I got up at about 4am so that I could take Christopher to the airport, and just didn't feel right going back to bed when I got home (after stopping at the grocery store). So I watched some TV and stalked his flight online to make sure it took off and landed on time.

He actually called after he'd gotten settled in, and I thought that - since I'd heard from him - I'd run the extra errands and then come home and nap. But the cold weather woke me up, so I just came in and watched that movie and hung out with the pup.

This evening, I did the baking and the correspondence. And it's not even 8pm.

The worst part of this, of course, is that you can pretty well bet that I'll get a second wind at about 9 and then be up until midnight. And, no, I don't plan to do any more of this weekend's to-dos before I go to bed. I figure that, by tomorrow, my perspective will be mostly back in line with today's productivity. And I don't want to set my expectations for tomorrow too high.

Friday Food: In a Pickle

2012-02-10T15:38:00.003-06:00

Lunch, today, was a basic club sandwich ordered in from Jimmy John's. I had no intention of ordering in, but I was running late this morning while getting ready for work, and then... well... the weather decided to turn frigid overnight, so I didn't really want to go out.

Plus, there's the fact that ordering in from Jimmy John's - even with a tip for the delivery guy - is usually less expensive than going to any of the cafes/delis/restaurants in the area for lunch.

Even so, I always feel a little odd ordering in.

I used to kind of laugh at the people who always bought lunch instead of bringing it in. I marveled at how they had enough money to do it. If I hadn't packed lunch I'd walk to the market a couple of blocks away and get myself something. Or, once, I actually got a sandwich from the vending machine in the building so that I could save some cash.

Today, though, I was just in one of those strange situations that kind of made it hard to do any of my usual things. I didn't have time to make lunch at home. The market is closed - possibly under foreclosure. And the vending machine... well... I don't like to play that kind of Russian roulette more often than I need to. Which is why I went online and ordered my "Club Lulu" from Jimmy John's.

And, because I didn't want to have to deal with the delivery guy having to give me change - but didn't want to give an almost $4 tip on a $6 sandwich, I ordered a pickle to go with it. (Did you know that you can get their pickles delivered whole, halved, or quartered? Who thinks of these things?)

It showed up fast (though possibly not as "freaky-fast" as in the ads), and was quite tasty. Plus I never had to leave the office and go outside into the nasty cold winter weather that is apparently waiting outside.

Gotta admit, that makes being in a pickle much easier.

Why I Like Ellen (and will start shopping at JCPenney more)

2012-02-08T22:21:00.004-06:00

I've liked Ellen DeGeneres for a long time.

I liked her old stand-up comedy routines. I liked her sitcoms. I like her talkshow (although I don't see it very often since it's in the middle of the day). I think her CoverGirl ads are fun. And I kind of love that she's married to Portia de Rossi.

I fully admit that I hadn't really given any thought to the fact that JCPenney had hired her as their new spokesperson. And then the Million Moms people decided to mount an attack on JCP and Ellen, saying that she was a horrible rolemodel, and - basically - an abomination unto the Lord.

Now, let's look at this.

Ellen's comedy has been touted for being some of the nicest around - no swearing, no mean-ness, just funny.

Ellen's charities are all about helping others, helping animals, and, basically, helping anyone or anything in need - without judgment.

Ellen's family life includes a mother who has stood by her daughter through more adversity than most, and a wife with whom - if you watch the interviews - she shares an absolutely immense love.

If you want to see - and hear - exactly what Ellen had to say about the current kerfuffle (and you really should), check out the clip from her show, here.

I watched it, and I can see why a group of bigoted, horrible people supposedly worrying about morals and family wouldn't want to have her as the spokesperson for a company.

After all, who'd want such a giving, loving, caring, funny, gracious, truthful, supportive, and generous person to be a rolemodel?

Oh. Right. I would.

Movie Monday: Two Tales of Expectations Versus Reality

2012-02-06T23:02:00.003-06:00

I believe that I've mentioned, before, that I usually enjoy movies more when I go into them with no expectations.

I really wish I had done that in the past week.

Instead, however, I rented "The Change-Up" from Netflix, hoping for a grown-up, male-bonding, oddly-sexy version of "Freaky Friday" (the one with Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris). What I got, instead, was an immature, overly-testosteroned, swearing-filled version of "Freaky Friday" (the one with Lindsey Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis). I mean, the lead characters were played by Jason Bateman (really funny, sardonic, ironic... usually) and Ryan Reynolds (comically ingratiating, sexy, shirtless... usually). That should have been a good combo. But it was really really bad. I mean... really bad. Like D- bad.

To balance that out, I went to see the 3-D re-release of "Beauty and the Beast" in the theater last week. I honestly can't remember seeing it in its entirety since it first came out. And I was excited to see what they could do with the 3-D effects. When I was getting my popcorn, the guy behind the counter sounded not-too-thrilled by the 3-D of it, except for the ballroom scene - which I guess makes sense, since that was one of the first scenes in a major movie that was done with computer animation (for the background). And he was kind of right. Aside from a couple of scenes where the ambiance was enhanced by the 3-D, it really didn't do much for the movie.

Here's the thing, though. Maybe it's like this in the original, and I just haven't seen it in forever so I've forgotten, but there were a few scenes where the animation just seemed "off." Scenes where Belle's whole face kind of changed shape - and the same thing happened to the Beast a few times. I don't remember that in the original, though, so I kind of wonder if it was caused by the folks working on the 3-D-ifying of it.

And, even though I had the entire theater to myself (Really. I was the only person in a theater that probably seats over 300 people.), I'm not sure I really enjoyed it. I mean, I even got to sing along when I wanted, and laugh and cheer whenever I wanted without bothering anyone. And parts of it were phenomenal even after all this time - and after seeing it on the screen, and on multiple live theater stages - and I still got teary in all the right places. Not enough to give it an A, but enough to give it a solid B - simply because I'm not sure about those weird facial changes that really kind of threw me out of the "reality" of the movie.

Or, maybe, it's just that they through me out of my expectations of the movie.

Out of Practice

2012-02-05T21:46:00.003-06:00

It is weekends like this that make me realize how out of practice I am for weekends like this.

Because of how much travelling Christopher has (and to a lesser extent I have) been doing - and that he's going to be doing - this was our only "available for scheduling" weekend in about 5 weeks. Since we had people we wanted to see, this meant that we scheduled a whole lot of events between Friday and today.

There was a time when this wouldn't have fazed me, and I'd have gone from one end of the weekend to the other without any problems. Unfortunately, the muscles that used to propel me through don't get that much exercise these days.

These days, I tend to think of a "busy weekend" as one where I have to run errands on Saturday, and the newpaper takes more than an hour to get through on Sunday. Which could explain why, after a wine and cheese night, an art show, a belated birthday dinner for Christopher (at a restaurant with 17 other people), a brunch, and a family dinner also for Christopher's birthday, I barely made it through the SuperBowl.

It also explains why I haven't blogged for the past couple of days. And why I'm about to head for bed even though it's not even 10 o'clock, yet.

Can't wait to head for work tomorrow and get some rest... and lots and lots of caffeine.

Fog

2012-02-02T21:48:00.003-06:00

One of the things that Christopher and I both talk about liking during this frigid time of year is the amazing clear skies that come along with the bone-chilling temperatures.

January in Minnesota is known for being snowy, cold, and blindingly bright.

This year, though, with the weirdly warm weather, and almost no snow, we've also landed ourselves in (so far) two days of massive dense fog.

The kind of fog that makes it hard to see the tops of the buildings in downtown Minneapolis from my building in the warehouse district.

The kind of fog that, overnight, can freeze on roads and make the morning commute SUCK.

The kind of fog that makes the world kind of murky - even at high noon - and turns twilight into some kind of strange dank misty blech. (And, yes, with the perpetual twilight I do, in fact, find myself humming strains from "A Little Night Music.")

I fully admit that it's been nice to be able to walk the pup without having to be in major winter gear every day. She doesn't have to wear her coat, and I don't have to wear my hat. It's nice.

But I'd really prefer putting her coat on and bundling up if it meant that I could actually see the sun a little. Heck. I'd even take a few cold snowy days in exchange for some days of chilly sunshine to re-energize my solar-powered batteries a little.

As it is, I just keep finding myself ending up in... well... a fog.

Travel Tuesday - Do the Crazy Thing

2012-01-31T22:11:00.006-06:00

How often have you thought about doing something outside your comfort zone? Travelling to some part of the world you've never been to? Challenging yourself to do something most people would only dream of?

What has stopped you? Was it fear that you wouldn't succeed? Was it fear that you *would* succeed and then you'd have to go out and try other things?

For a good friend of mine, the thing standing in her way is something both easier and more difficult than that. It's fundraising.

My friend Julie - who used to be the mild-mannered, yet intrepid, Group Sales Coordinator at CenterStage Theater in Baltimore - is part of a two-woman team (called the "X elles") who have challenged themselves to enter the Rallye Aiche des Gazelles this March. (You can read about the team, here.)

This Rally is the kind of crazy thing that most of us only dream about doing. It's 9 days in Morocco (read "in the desert") with nothing for guidance but a map and a compass. And it's not really a race, because the goal is simply to get from point A to point B in the shortest possible distance, not the shortest amount of time. (Which, because you don't put out as much pollution at lower speeds, means that this is actually rated as an eco-friendly event.)

As if that wasn't enough, on top of all of that, the racers will also be building a school to give back to the people of Morocco.

PLUS this is a women-only event - the only one of it's kind in the world. (Which, honestly, probably explains the eco-friendliness, the lack of major competitiveness, and the fact that they're building a school.)

But here's the thing: even though the Rally is in March, Julie and her teammate Rachelle are still in need of funding. So...

If you've ever thought about doing something "just because it was there," or if you've ever wanted to help build a school in Africa, or if you just happen to have a few extra bucks because it's payday, PLEASE send them your support. (And please forward this blog posting - or their direct info - to anyone you think might be interested in helping out.)

You can donate via their website, or their brand new indiegogo donation page. In either location, although the site suggests a minimum donation of $100, you can donate as little or as much as you want (just choose the "no perk" option on the Indiegogo page).

Here's to the people in the world who go out and do things just because they can!

Movie Monday - One Day

2012-01-30T19:34:00.000-06:00

I'd really been wanting to see "One Day" when it was out in the theaters. There was just something about it that drew me in. Perhaps it's just that I really like Anne Hathaway in movies, but I think it's more than that. I liked the premise that the movie is looking at two people on one day each year over the course of their friendship. And it finally showed up in the mail via Netflix, and I had my time with it on Saturday morning.

As I've mentioned, the premise is that Emma and Dexter (who had met before - although Dexter doesn't remember that) run into each other on the 15th of July 1988 as they're graduating from University. They have a rather bumpy St. Swithun's day together - which we see snippets of - and thus begins the 20-odd years of their days together.

For anyone who was in college in the late 80s, this movie nails so many things perfectly. The clothing. The music. The causes. Even the minutiae of the books they're reading is dead on. And, unfortunately, so is the way the movie captures the passage of time and friendship over decades.

One of the amazing things about the movie is the way we're only shown one specific day of each year. Not always a day when they're both together. Not always a day when anything terribly monumental happens. Just days. Of course, to make it as a movie, there are a remarkable number of things which - coincidentally - happen to fall on July 15th, but not so many that you find yourself doubting the premise. And we're left to fill in the other 364 days.

And they stick to the premise really well - much better than I had expected at the start.

They move ever-forward throughout the movie, never spending more than the allotted 24 hours in any given year. And, wow, the Costume and Make-up people really deserved tons of awards (although I don't believe they were nominated for any), because at no time did we doubt the ages of Emma and Dexter. They grew from their early 20s through the next 20-some years (the movie ends in, basically, the present day) without missing a beat. And, yes, due to the fact that I am - in essence - just one year younger than they are, I have a decent frame of reference.

Overall: A. It's not an A+ because... well... it just isn't. But it's so earnest and true and real and quiet and hopeful and sad and joyous that it made me wish for just a few days more. Granted, I don't know if I would feel that way if I hadn't graduated from college in 1989, so don't hate me if you think I'm wrong on this one.

Vegas Food - Incidentals

2012-01-29T18:35:00.003-06:00

So we covered the main meals on Friday, but Christopher and I obviously ate more than just dinner while we were out there. Here's a round-up of some of our other eating.

Saturday morning - In-room American Breakfast. The package deal we got included "American Breakfast" for each of us one morning. First of all, the waiter who delivered it was great. Very charming as he brought it in and set it all out on the table. He had brought the wrong juice, so he disappeared for a bit and brought back a full carafe of apple juice - which we kept iced the entire time and had for the next two mornings. Each of us got 2 eggs, potatoes, pastries (we each got two croissants and two English muffin halves), bacon (FIVE pieces each), and a broiled tomato. Plus coffee and juice. It was more than I usually eat for breakfast in a full weekend. Seriously.

Saturday afternoon - Paris hotel Creperie. We'd gotten a suggestion that the Creperie in the Paris hotel was a good place for a quick snack. And it was. We got a very nice Nutella crepe and a couple of drinks for about $15. The only issue was one that we stumbled across multiple times: There was never enough seating. Tons of tables, but never enough chairs.

Saturday afternoon (later) - Jean-Philippe Patisserie at the Bellagio. It took a little searching, but we found the massive chocolate "waterfall" and each went down one side of the case. Christopher went for a Napoleon from the pastries, I went for an Almond Croissant from the "bready" side of the case, and also picked up a Madeleine while I was at it. It was really quite good, but the combination of problematic servers (on Christopher's side) and annoying customers (on my side), made this quick bite take a lot longer than expected. And, again, really hard to find anywhere to sit and eat.

Sunday morning - Bouchon Bakery in the Venetian. Christopher had much better luck with his coffee and pastries at the Bakery than he had at Bouchon the night before. Fairly quick service, and the pastries were fresh. I kept meaning to get back there for macarons, but never quite got there.

Sunday afternoon - Max Brenner (Chocolate by the Bald Man) in Caesar's Forum shops. We'd had multiple people say we had to go there, and we'd stopped in to look around the shop on Saturday, so we went back on Sunday to actually have something to drink. Christopher had the Italian Thick Hot Chocolate, while I had the Choco-Pops (which has little balls of crunchy in it). They were both good, but... well... maybe not quite outstanding. (Of course, this didn't stop me from buying chocolates from the "shop" and bringing them home with me.)

And, honestly, I think that might wrap up the food listings from the trip. I've got to say that it's a really good thing we walked all over the place - fighting the wind all day on Saturday - otherwise, I think I'd have come home about 20 pounds heavier.

Friday Food - Vegas style

2012-01-27T20:19:00.004-06:00

I realize that putting "Vegas Style" in the header kind of makes it seem like I should be including neon or showgirls or something in this posting. I apologize to anyone who is feeling misled. But the point of this post is to talk about the food we had last weekend when I was out in Las Vegas. And here are the high points for you.

First of all... Most of the places we ate were actually in our hotel complex at the Venetian. Long gone are the days when all the hotels offered were cheap buffets or diner food. We probably spent more on our meals than we usually do on food for a couple of weeks, but we acknowledged that it was going to be a splurge weekend since it was Christopher's birthday, and we went with that. Our three dinners were as follows:

Friday night: Delmonico Steakhouse (an Emeril Legasse restaurant, apparently). Overall, this was our best meal of the trip. The restaurant was a nice mix of bright and cozy (we were, luckily, tucked in a corner), and the wait staff was incredible. We shared the Caesar salad for two which is prepared at the table - but the waiter kind of stood behind me and just did the whole preparation, which was definitely a letdown considering the price and the fact that it's promoted as being done tableside. But the salad was definitely fresh and really good. Christopher had a Steak au Poivre, and I had the Filet Mignon Medallions, and we shared a twice-baked potato. The steaks - no surprise - were amazing. Perfectly cooked, and mine was just melt-in-your-mouth good. The potato... well... it left a little to be desired, and we were surprised that there wasn't a good ole steakhouse hashbrown on the menu. We didn't order dessert, but they presented Christopher with some rum raisin ice cream on a plate with a chocolate "Happy Birthday" since we had mentioned that that was why we were in Vegas. Overall for the meal - A-, mainly because I was looking forward to a showier Caesar.

Saturday night: Bouchon. I *really* wanted to like this place. We made reservations on Saturday for Saturday night and so we ended up with a 9:15 reservation (a tad late, considering we hadn't really adjusted to the timechange, yet), but we were game for it and it seemed like fun. The menu was really promising, and the restaurant - though big and open and loud - seemed rather nicely bistro-y. Unfortunately, the waiter was a little off, and Christopher's Steak Frites came out Medium Rare, instead of Medium Well. By the time it came back from the kitchen, I'd pretty much finished my Gigot d'Agneau. Christopher did enjoy it, but the flow of the evening just never quite got back to speed. We had skipped appetizers in favor of desserts, and my "Ile flottante" was incredible, but Christopher's profiteroles were a little dry and crispy - which is a little strange for a place known for its French food. Luckily, after the issues we'd been having, they did comp us our desserts and Christopher's coffee (okay... we might have mentioned his birthday...). Overall, I'd give them a B-. The food was kind of spotty, our waiter was way off his game, and the place was kind of loud (which, I realize is not really their fault, so I'm not rating them lower than that.)

Sunday Night: Canaletto in St. Mark's Square near the Grand Canal in the hotel. For me, this was the surprise. The menu looked good, but it was simple, and I think that's what won me over. We were sitting right along the "fence" so we had tourists walking by the whole time, but we could also hear the performers in the piazza and see the "sky" above us. I had a Pizza Christina, and Christopher had a Calzone. The crust on my pizza was thin and gorgeous, and I even brought the leftovers home with me - yes, HOME, to Minnesota, for lunch on Tuesday. Our waiter was incredibly attentive and we had a very nice - and fairly inexpensive - meal. Overall: A-, mainly because it wasn't actually better than Delmonico, but it was just very different.

Okay. I have to run ot pick up Christopher at the airport, so I'll have to fill you in on incidental meals later.

The Photo Dearth

2012-01-25T22:08:00.006-06:00

I downloaded my photos from Vegas onto my computer tonight. And there are some good shots.

The room looks good. Hoover Dam looks good. Christopher looks good. Even the Bellagio fountains look good.

I, however, look like crap. I'm not sure what it is about how I photograph these days, but I just don't really like how I look a lot of the time. I seem to have this "I'm smiling for the camera" look on my face that I can't get rid of.

Of course, what I should have been doing tonight was a whole list of other things not remotely related to picking apart my photos. But that would have been productive.

Instead, I spent a bunch of time moving them over, and then deciding I really don't like most of them. I'm desperately hoping that Christopher has some good photos of me/us on his camera.

Oh. Alright. I'll see if I can find something I don't mind posting of me, later this week.

Travel Tuesday - It Happened in Vegas

2012-01-24T21:49:00.003-06:00

Christopher is currently in Las Vegas for a conference, and since his birthday was yesterday we opted to spend a weekend in Vegas as a mid-winter getaway. (Hence last Friday's video posting.) Considering that, on Friday, my commute took almost twice as long as usual due to cold and snow, the prospect of being in Vegas with highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s was pretty much perfectly timed.

So we flew out on Friday afternoon and landed 3 hours later (give or take) and walked out of the airport to catch a cab in the gorgeous weather. In true Vegas style, we were delayed getting to the hotel because a major week-long gun show had just wrapped up. Apparently it was running concurrently with a porn convention. The marketing teams must have had a field day with that combo.

We stayed at the Venetian (since it was a birthday - and a rare mid-winter vacation - we did a major splurge), and after check-in we went up to our suite. A lovely bathroom, a king-size bed, and a sunken (two steps down) living room. Three phones. Three TVs. And a view of the mountains east of the city, which changed colors during the days.

I'm going to talk about all of the food on Friday, but tonight I thought I'd mention a few things about the hotel, itself.

Of all of the hotels we walked around in over the three days, I would have to say that the Venetian has one amazing thing going for it: You don't have to walk through the casino every time you turn around. In the other casino hotels, you seem to have to walk through the casino any time you go from the hotel to the outer world. But at the Venetian you can stop on the second floor and walk out through the "Grand Canal Shoppes." And we did almost every time we went anywhere.

It wasn't exactly quiet in the shoppes - after all, it's a massive shopping center that's open almost 24 hours a day - but it was so much less frantic than the casino. This is the kind of area that has earned Vegas the nickname of "Disneyland for adults" - the ceilings are painted with sky. The gondolas float down a real canal. People walk around with open containers of all kinds of booze. And it goes on at every hour of the day.

The window shopping is incredible all over the place. Christopher kept saying "Is the shopping at (insert casino name) higher end or lower end than this?" and the bizarre thing is that the same high-end shops are everywhere. There are a few mid-range places, but so much of what you see is just flat-out expensive. And, since we were mainly there to eat and window-shop, that was fine with us.

And, since Monday was the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dragon), there was a massive (180-foot-long) dragon in the walkway between the Venetian shops and the Palazzo shops. So very cool. The signage said that they took more than 10 days to just do the gardens around the dragon. I can't imagine how long it took to create the dragon. (I hope to have some photos on here, soon. Sorry I don't have them, yet.)

We did our good luck walks around the dragon, then wandered off for drinks and dinner that first night. Of course, since food will be the topic 3 days from now, I guess I should stop, now, so I don't go too far. (I can't imagine that many people say *that* about Vegas...)

Cheap Airfares (?)

2012-01-20T18:00:00.000-06:00

I realize that just a few days ago I shared a video on here, which was the first time in quite a while. (Yes, I know, without embedding it - if someone wants to teach me how to do that on a Mac, please let me know.)

Well, I'm about to do it again.

You see, I get shown - or "offered" really - a bunch of videos from people all the time. Some through social media. Some through email.

The following one came from my mom. The woman who taught me almost every swear word I know. And, more importantly, was never ashamed of that fact. (My dad might turn a little red at the fact that I've just written that, but I doubt that Mom will.)

Anyway... She sent me this video - which is not for the faint of ear, nor for the young'uns. Although, most of it is done with an accent, so the swear words aren't really American swear words. (If, however, you're reading this in some portions of the world where British English is prevalent, you might want to be a bit careful.) (Yes, Mrs. Griffiths, this means you. ;-)

Since I'm travelling this weekend on a "cheap" fare, it seemed appropriate to send this out.

So, you know the drill. Click HERE for the video - and make sure you don't stop watching until it's all the way done.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Pooh Day

2012-01-18T21:15:00.002-06:00

Today, it just so happens, was A. A. Milne's birthday. The guy who wrote - among other things - the stories about Winnie the Pooh and Piglet and Christopher Robin and all of the characters in the Hundred Acre Wood. (For the record, there are also Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, and Owl in the theme song, while Tigger and Gopher simply show up in the stories.)

The odd thing about Milne is that he never started out to write children's books. He was a journalist (as were so many writers at the time), who decided along the way that he might like to write - you guessed it - murder mysteries.

I'm not kidding. He left journalism to write mysteries. And, for a time, he was apparently incredibly successful at them. I've read one of them ("The Red House Mystery") and although it's a very 1920s mystery - so there's an awfully lot of talking - it was quite good.

There's only one problem, though. After writing his mysteries and becoming successful at them, he decided that he didn't want to do them any more. Because he wanted to write - you'd be right, this time - tales about a stuffed bear.

His editors told him he was insane. They figured that there was no way in the world that he could make the transition. But he was adamant that he wanted to change to the other genre, and so he did.

And, while I truly did enjoy the mystery I read, I must admit that I definitely prefer the stuffed friends in Christopher Robin's bedroom.

Either way, here's to a man with imagination and the wherewithal to follow through, even when he was told he was crazy to step out of the comfort zone others had put him in.

I Have Dreams, Too.

2012-01-16T21:15:00.004-06:00

(With all due apologies to, and respect for, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

I have dreams, too.

I have a dream that, one day, people will be judged not by who they love, but, rather, by the fact that they are simply loved.

I have a dream that, one day, our politicians will vote for things that are morally right and good and true, not simply the things that people with lots of money and power say they should vote for.

I have a dream that, one day, our religious institutions will get back to the root of all that they preach (you know, the whole Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you... and loving all of God's creation equally... and judging not lest they be judged), instead of spouting hatred, bigotry, and venom in God's name.

I have a dream that, one day, I won't be looking at a political pool and praying that the least of the evils is elected, but, rather, praying that the best of the best can take office.

I have a dream that, one day, countries won't be going to war over trivialities and will, instead, spend their billions of war-mongering dollars on helping the poverty-stricken, homeless, orphaned, starving, and ignored.

I have a dream that, one day, as much money will go to research into cures for cancers and AIDS and diseases of all sorts as currently goes toward merchandise which supposedly supports that research.

I have a dream that, one day, teachers will make as much as professional sports stars.

I have a dream that, one day, schools will get as much funding as sports stadiums.

I have a dream that, one day, I will be able to donate my perfectly healthy blood to save other people's lives without being told I am unable simply because of who shares my bed.

I have a dream that, one day, the wealthy will realize that their legacies will be better if they are known as benefactors and philanthropists, instead of misers and oppressors.

And, okay, I also have an occasional dream that one day I win the lottery, become a wildly-popular philanthropist, donate blood on my way to my own wedding, and impose two-term limits on all of Congress so that no one becomes complacent. Oh, and in that dream I'm perpetually young and hot and can eat anything I want. But I think I've gotten off the topic.

Here's to the legacy of great people who can inspire us all to dream big.

Why I Love Our TiVo

2012-01-14T22:10:00.003-06:00

(Let me start by saying that most digital TV set-ups can probably do the same kinds of things, but we have TiVo, so that's my point of reference.)

When Christopher and I were talking about getting TiVo, I was a little skeptical about why we would need it. We had a DVD recorder, so we were able to record TV shows without any problem. (Heck, I still have a VCR, too.) And I had no idea why anyone would want the rest of the options.

Well, Christopher - being the tech person in the family - decided that he wanted to move to a TiVo, so we did. At first, I only used it as another VCR. Just another way to record shows to watch them later. Granted, we were suddenly able to record hours and hours and hours of TV, instead of just 4 or 6 at a time, but it was still just the same stuff.

Then I started getting used to pausing live TV. It still kind of weirds me out to do that, but I do it all the time. We do it if we need to answer the phone, or if we need to take dirty dishes into the kitchen, or if the clock decides to chime right in the middle of someone giving a pivotal plot point. And, if we didn't pause in time, we can rewind and watch the scene again.

And, well, that's kind of addictive.

Today there was a "Glee" marathon on TV. Since they were jumping around through the seasons, and I wasn't trying to follow any of the storylines, I was all about the musical numbers. And I watched a few of them multiple times. (Luckily, Christopher wasn't around for most of this.)

Would it have killed me to miss them? No. Would it have been horrible if I'd only seen them once? No. Was it completely enjoyable to get to see them multiple times? Totally. I mean, didn't you notice the headline? Like I said, I kinda love our TiVo.

Changing of the Coat

2012-01-12T21:07:00.003-06:00

Did you know that, in the winter, the Royal Guard outside of Buckingham Palace wear kind of all grey uniforms? None of that bright, flashy, red and black stuff. Basically they wear stuff the same color as the winter weather in London.

The same seems to happen in Minnesota in the dead of winter. People go from a broad spectrum of colors of coats to almost exclusively black and grey.

Now, if you live somewhere like Paris or New York City, you're probably used to people only dressing in black. Which means that nothing changes no matter what time of year it is.

In Baltimore, the weather never quite got cold enough for most people to have to resort to the all-black coats. There are a decent number of colors. You see browns and blues and reds and all sorts of colors all year 'round.

Before I left Baltimore, I got myself a brown leather jacket which is relatively well-lined, so with a scarf and gloves it was perfect for winter weather out there. After I moved to Minnesota, I learned that it was to become my fall jacket. I can sort of wear it until November most years, but that's about it.

And, happily, for the past few weeks, we've had "East Coast winter" - with highs back up in the 40s. And I've gotten to wear that brown jacket a bunch in the past month.

Then the temp dropped this week. And, in response to the return of January temperatures (today's high was 16), I reached into the closet this morning for my semi-black, well-lined, trenchcoat-style coat.

As I looked at the people hurrying along the sidewalks and running across the streets, I noticed we were all back in the same uniform of dark, drab colors.

Unfortunately, we weren't in London to enjoy it.

The Secret Life of Books

2012-01-10T22:04:00.003-06:00

While I was at work, today, this video came across my desk. It kind of blew me away, both due to its subject matter, and due to the utter creativity behind it.

I watched it all the way through - and then again one or two more times - wondering at the amount of energy and forethought that went into it.

I decided that it needed to be shared, here, too, because I think you'll like it.

Of course, as anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows, I have no clue how to embed a video in my postings.

So, please click HERE and check it out.

Let me know what you think!

Shards of Wisdom

2012-01-08T21:12:00.002-06:00

Earlier today I felt a strange sharp pain in my lower jaw. In the way back along the side of my tongue.

At first I thought I might have simply bitten down on something strange, but then I realized I wasn't eating anything. It's weird how your brain goes through those steps, isn't it? "Ouch. Pain. What's causing it? It must be food. What am I eating? Nothing. Hmm... Maybe it's not food, then..."

Well, after my brain had that fun little conversation with itself, I started considering where the pain was coming from and realized that it's the same area of my mouth where - after having my wisdom teeth out a few years ago - I had the same problem a few times.

**At this point, if weird anatomy stuff freaks you out, you may just want to skip the rest of this post. Maybe think about unicorns and rainbows. Sorry.**

It seems that, when a tooth is yanked from its home, it can sometimes leave behind bone shards.

About six months after my wisdom tooth was pulled, I had this same kind of pain. It was a recurring jab for about 48 hours, then it became a weird bump that I could feel in my gum. The next day I could feel something kind of sharp in that same area.

The first time this happened, I went to the dentist because it kind of freaked me out. He kind of "um-hmm-ed" and then went into my mouth with a pair of tweezers and pulled out a tiny little fleck of something. It was probably a couple of millimeters long and about half as wide. He showed it to me and said "It's a remnant of the tooth that got pulled."

A little "irrigation" later, and I was on my way home, where I popped some Ibuprofen and went on about my life. For about another three months. Then it happened again. This time I just let it work its way out.

That was probably about 5 years ago - maybe more.

Since then I've had a couple more shards come through. And I'm pretty sure that today's pain is simply the next one coming through. Kind of makes me wonder what happened to that tooth when it was getting yanked out. And how much of it is left in there.

After all... I thought I was supposed to gain wisdom with age - not keep losing it (painfully) bit by bit.

An Epiphanatical Tiz List

2012-01-06T20:41:00.004-06:00

*Epiphanatical (adj.) - pertaining to Epiphany and/or epiphanies.

Okay, so, since I've started this one out with a whole new word, I guess I'd better make it good. But here's the thing: a "Tiz List" is supposed to be a list of things other people don't know about me. For this one, since it falls on Epiphany, I'm going to also try to make it a list of things I've learned about myself in the recent past. Let's see how it goes...

1) I can get kind of jealous - and at odd times, and over odd things. Never used to be that way, but I noticed it, recently.

2) I'm becoming more and more intolerant of people who are rude or abusive to people in service roles.

3) People who correct other people's grammar/spelling/etc. in public for no real reason (and not simply for sarcasm's sake on social media sites) annoy me. That's been true for a while, but the fact that I'm now working full-time as an editor/proofreader, it bugs me even more when people do it for no reason.

4) It annoys me that people type/write as if they are texting and blame all of their errors on the technology. I know that this seems in direct opposition to #3. But I don't correct people for it. And I fully realize that there are some people who have trouble with spelling and grammar and I'm fine with that. But if you're taking the time to write me a message, please send a message and not either a massage or a msg, and don't blame auto-correct for the fact that you didn't take the time to proofread.

5) I'm finding that I don't actually hate massages as much as I used to.

6) I fully expect that I will find myself in an altercation over someone else texting or talking in a movie theater within my lifetime. I used to ignore it. Then I moved on to glaring meaningfully. These days I actually ask the person/people to stop. I fear that sometime in the future that will not end well.

7) I'm always surprised when I have people ask me whether I drink alcohol or swear. I do both, I guess I just do them both gracefully enough that people don't notice.

8) I'm kind of terrified of losing my eyesight - and I hate the fact that the next time I get glasses I'll probably need bifocals. And it weirds me out that I may have something wonky with my retina that mainly only happens in dogs.

9) I'm also freaked out about the possibility of losing my hearing. Especially since many people know me for having "dog ears" and hearing everything.

10) Lately I've been having trouble finding the right words all the time. Sometimes I just keep going hoping that no one will notice. Sometimes I just look at Christopher and start hinting at the word hoping that he'll figure it out.

11) Some of the books I've been working on have me kind of freaked out about the climate changes we're seeing - even though the plots are improbable, reading the books has resulted in me pondering things I don't want to ponder.

12) I have survived for almost 14 months without a credit card. I have Christopher to thank for some of that survival.

13) I kind of hate not having a credit card, but I do enjoy not having credit card bills.

14) My dreams get wilder the closer we are to the full moon. I never used to pay attention to it, then I started noticing it. I usually have a night of really vivid dreams, then notice the next day that it's almost a full moon - not the other way around.

15) I don't make New Year's resolutions, because I figure the person I am on January 1st, is probably different than the person I'll be on December 31st, and I don't want to set my future self up for failure since that future self didn't have a say in the resolution in the first place.

16) #15 makes perfect sense in my brain.

When Did Late Get So Early?

2012-01-04T22:20:00.003-06:00

It's currently about twenty past ten on a Wednesday night. Christopher and I got home from dinner with a couple of friends about forty-five minutes ago. And it feels *so* late.

It's not like we did anything radical. We met up at 7 at a restaurant, had one-course dinners (no appetizers, no desserts) and left a little after 9. By the time we left, I was trying not to nod off.

On the way home, I ran to the grocery store to pick up about five things. In - out - home.

I've got a piece of freelance editing I need to work on. I've got some house stuff I need to do. But I don't think I could focus well enough on anything to actually do any of it justice.

(For that matter, I don't know that I'm doing my blog justice, either.)

But it wasn't so long ago that I used to get home from dinners at 10 or 11 and still have a couple of hours of focus left for the night. A bit longer ago than that, I'd go out with friends and not even get to restaurants until 10... or midnight... or 2am...

I don't know the last time I actually saw 2am - or that I wanted to, for that matter. But, then, back when I was dining at 2am I'd never seen my 40s, either. I think I might be okay with that trade-off.

Movie Monday (-ish)

2012-01-02T21:13:00.002-06:00

Oddly enough, even though I've seen numerous movies in the past couple of weeks, I sat down to blog with something completely different in mind. Which kind of ties in to the movies we've been seeing.

Let me explain...

The two movies that Christopher and I have seen since we saw "The Muppets" were each sequels. We saw "Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows," which was very much like the first one (full of explosions, intrigue, and lots of Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr.), lots of fun, but just a little less fun than the first one (we'll give it a B). We also saw "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," wherein Tom Cruise and his crew perform a bunch of cool stunts in nifty locations, with James-Bond-y gadgets - and at the same time they fairly successfully re-launch the series (also a B).

So they're both kind of new, but also the same as what has gone before. Which says something about New Year's in general, doesn't it?

Well, today I also got to do something brand new. Something I'd never in my life dreamed of doing. Something I'm not even ashamed to admit.

Yep. That's right. I bought booties for the dog, today.

We did not do this because it's cold out. We didn't do it because there's salt on the sidewalks. We did it because the rain/slushy snow that fell off the trees on New Year's Eve froze in jagged stalagmites on the sidewalks. (Stalagmites are the ones that come up from the ground, right?)

It's bad enough that she actually cut her feet on her walk, yesterday. Which was rather scary and surprising. And, yes, it got us to buy booties, today, which resulted in a rather strange tap-dance as she skittered around the house trying to figure out if she should take them off or not.

Eventually, she got used to them and we all went for a walk.

And, lo and behold, we all actually did something brand spankin' new in the new year.

How 'bout you?

Outlook Hazy, Try Again Later

2011-12-31T09:58:00.003-06:00

As the Magic 8-ball would suggest, I've decided that a cloudy, damp, dreary day is not a good day to look at the past year - or the coming year - and try to be witty and pithy.

It seems, instead, that cloudy, damp, dreary days simply result in cloudy and dreary (though not necessarily damp) outlooks. And as you've probably figured out I'm not really an "it's always dreary" kind of guy.

The past year, I would have to say, was not bad. And, yes, I think I'm ending the year ahead of where I was at this time last year. Do I think that life is perfect? No. Do I think it's pretty darned okay? Yes.

The coming year, well, that's a whole strange cloudy area of its own. Of course, predicting the coming 365 days (or 366, since 2012 is a leap year) on February 1st, or June 17th, would be just as cloudy. (Have I mentioned, recently, that I'm not really sure what the big fuss is over New Year's Eve?)

I guess that, for now, I'm going to simply hope for a mostly-sunny outlook in the coming months. Whether that includes snow or rain or more clouds is beyond my predictions.

But, in the meantime, here's to starting 2012 with hope, good health, and positive thoughts for what lies ahead.

When the Spirit Fades

2011-12-28T13:36:00.005-06:00

There comes a time each Christmas season when it kind of just all wraps up. A point when the Holiday spirit has come and gone and you're ready to move on.

For some people, Christmas goes out the door with the wrapping paper on Christmas morning. For some, the spirit moves out immediately after Christmas dinner, when the tree gets stripped and tossed out onto the curb. For lots of people, the spirit goes away when the alarm goes off on the next workday. For a bunch of folks, it extends through New Year's and all of the countdown parties. For the Three Wise Men, it most likely made it all the way to Epiphany.

For me, it kind of changes from year to year. There are some years when I want to leave the tree up until late January. There are some years when I'm ready to take it down as soon as we wrap up the final event where we want people to see our house looking festive (so far, that has never happened before December 25th, at least). I'm never really sure what triggers it in me, or why it changes depending on the year, but there definitely is a point where I'm ready to have everything back in boxes and done.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all - if it was Christmas every day, then it wouldn't be special. (Just ask the gang on Sesame Street - they had a problem with this a few years back.)

But, no matter who you are, you probably have a point where you're ready for the house to no longer be red and green (and gold and silver and covered in sparkly lights).

For me, this year, I experienced it at about 11am this morning.

My parents (who live in South Dakota) had been in town for a while prior to Christmas, then they had flown from Minneapolis to LA for Christmas with my siblings and their families. They got back in town late yesterday, and spent one more night with us. Christopher barely saw them (he stayed up and welcomed them last night, but his alarm goes off at 5am so there was no sitting up and chatting), but I got to see them for a while this morning. We looked at their Christmas pictures and talked about the great time they had in LA. And we discussed what Christopher and I have been up to in the past couple of weeks.

The house looks great - decorated, and with Christmas cards all over the living room - and we've got leftover Christmas cookies (and candy... and ham...) which will take us a while to get through all of. We've got fresh flowers that are still gorgeous from last week, and there's egg nog in the fridge. And we have something holiday-related going on every night through Saturday. And getting to sit back and enjoy it all again last night and this morning was great.

But as I stood in the kitchen eating a Christmas cookie, washing a couple of dishes, and watching Mom and Dad drive away toward South Dakota this morning, I kind of felt the urge to take down the tree and box it all up for next year.

Maybe I'd feel differently if we had snow so that it felt like December instead of March. Or maybe this is just one of the "early take-down" years. Or maybe I just need to finish the egg nog and watch another movie.

'Tis A Christmas Tiz List

2011-12-24T12:00:00.006-06:00

(Don't know what a "Tiz List" is? It's a list of random stuff that people may not know about me. Check the left-hand margin and read back through some of my earlier ones...)

Since it's Christmas, I thought it might be time for a Holiday Tiz List. Let's see what we end up with...

1) Although Christopher and I aren't travelling this year, I'm perfectly okay with the fact that it's a brown Christmas and it's been warm the past couple of days.

2) I do miss the snow, though, because going for a quiet walk on Christmas Eve to look at the lights and see them sparkle off the snow doesn't really work without snow.

3) I enjoy buying just the right presents for people.

4) I really enjoy wrapping presents and thinking about what the recipients will think when they open them.

5) I sometimes worry about unwrapping gifts in front of people, for fear that I will have inadvertent "Present Face."

6) Sometimes I accidentally get Present Face even when I like the gift.

7) I have been told that I am a fun person to watch open gifts.

8) If you're not sure what "Present Face" is, it's a song by Garfunkel and Oates, found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMWTs0YT928

9) When Christopher and I plan vacations, we have to debate between visiting places and visiting people.

10) Usually I prefer to visit people.

11) Sometimes I'd prefer to visit places.

12) I hate that I don't have enough vacation time to choose both.

13) I mean I *really* hate that I don't have enough time to choose both, even around the Holidays.

14) I sometimes think it would be fun to live in a period piece with all the cool costumes.

15) Yes, I realize that most period piece people have to wear the peasant garb.

16) I'd really rather get to dress like the nobility.

17) I think I'd look rather silly if I dressed like period nobility in day-to-day life.

18) This is the same kind of reason that I could never be the person who *starts* a flash mob. (Like the sax guy, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH8FvERQHtM )

19) I think experiencing a flash mob would be cool.

20) I tend to be a good audience.

21) Sometimes I laugh too loudly when I'm in an audience in the hopes that other people will also laugh.

22) I can only laugh - even in an audience - if I think what I'm laughing at is funny.

23) When I courtesy laugh, pretty much everyone can tell.

24) I'm totally okay if I can tell when someone courtesy laughs at things I say. (Like you may be doing right now.)

25) Sometimes common courtesy is the best gift you can give and/or receive - especially around the Holidays.

Friday Food - The "One Last Thing" Trip

2011-12-23T15:16:00.003-06:00

I was feeling terribly well-organized, yesterday, when I made a shopping list for the grocery store before going to bed. I figured this was the best way to get up in the morning, run one other errand, go to the grocery store, and be home before the chaos began.

My plan hit a minor hiccup (for me, at least) when I noticed, while passing the grocery store on the way to the other errand, that a car had just had a run-in with a utility pole (things weren't looking good for either of them, really), and emergency vehicles were pulling up at the intersection. This meant that, if I wanted to re-trace my path and go back to my usual grocery store, I'd have had to go through the by-that-time-closed intersection.

No big deal (again, for me - and hopefully for the occupants of the car, as well), since there are actually three grocery stores all within a very small radius from the house. I simply chose the next closest store and did my shopping. The parking lot was pleasantly mostly empty (after all, it was barely 9am), and even though I was in a fairly unfamiliar store I was still able to get in and out and home pretty darned quickly.

But then I did the stupid thing and starting thinking about the dinner we're having on Sunday. And I was trying to figure out whether we had enough of everything to have a Holiday dinner. Christopher and I frequently have different opinions on "enough" when it comes to entertaining guests, but I had to agree with him this time that we were good to go.

Until I started thinking about olives. Because I really like olives, and they tend to be at "fancy" family meals in my family. And since the people we're hosting are being invited for pre-dinner hanging out, we need to have something to much on, so olives seemed to fit the bill. The more I thought about olives, the more I knew we needed to have them.

Which led me to 1:45pm on the Friday before Christmas and a trip to the grocery store. This time I went to the closest store (they have an "olive bar"), and the parking lot was pretty much packed. Got my space and headed inside, where every checkout lane was open with at least 3 or 4 people in line. Remarkably, though, I didn't get stuck in any crunches. (This morning, I got stuck twice in aisles where people were debating things and just standing with their carts blocking everything - but not this afternoon.)

When I got to the checkout, I hopped in an express lane and it was the first time in... well... maybe ever... that I've heard Minnesota shoppers tell other people that they need to move out of the express lane because they have more than 10 items. It was that kind of strange urgency in the store. But, even so, the cashier was still cheery and I was out the door (past the completely empty cart storage area) in what seemed like less time than my morning trip.

Even so, as much as I enjoy grocery stores (and I really really do - I even like going to Fairway in Manhattan), I really don't plan to go back tomorrow. If we need anything else, we're either going to have to find it at the local gas station convenience store, or Santa is going to have to bring it.

Karma Claus

2011-12-22T12:11:00.003-06:00

Believe what you will about Santa's Naughty and Nice lists, I have to think that there is something kind of karmically appealing about them this year.

I'm not sure if you watch commercials, but I frequently do. (Christopher can attest to that.) And this holiday season, it seems that many of the Christmas-themed commercials have been really snarky and kind of nasty.

While we have the traditionally tear-jerking Folger's ad (and it's newer version from a year or so ago), we also have an ad where a grown son comes home in a nice car, and his parents - instead of greeting him - disappear from the house and take off in his car. "Grand theft auto" as Christmas message. Charming. The irony of that, though? I couldn't even tell you what company it's for. It took me multiple watchings before I even realized it was a car ad - I thought maybe it was for an erectile dysfunction medicine, considering how quickly the parents left...

On the way-over-the-top snarkability scale, though, have been the Best Buy ads. They feature women (yes, they've all been women) buying all of the gifts on their lists, then mocking Santa when he doesn't have room to put things in stockings. Or, in the latest one, there is a woman standing on the rooftop when Santa arrives and not only challenging him to get around her to do his job, but also kicking a lighted Santa off the roof. They have sweet little tag lines like "Game on, Santa." Such a lovely yuletide message.

You know... Santa is a good guy. He spends the entire Christmas season trying to spread joy and peace and goodwill. He goes out of his way to try to make wishes come true on Christmas Eve. He's not trying to compete with anyone. He just wants the kids in the houses to have a good year.

Why couldn't Best Buy have used the same basic ads, but run a campaign focusing on "Take a break, Santa, we've got this one covered?" Target (another local mega-store company) has been running ads where they are helping Santa with last-minute gifts. Why couldn't Best Buy have done that?

For whatever reason, Best Buy decided that being snarky, bitchy, competitive, and kinda nasty, was the way to celebrate the Holiday. And you know what that got them?

A great big news spread, three days before Christmas, saying that they are unable to fulfill a whole bunch of orders which were placed online beginning the day after Thanksgiving. That's right - all of Best Buy's snark and sarcasm are now resulting in them having to offer apologies (some with gift cards attached), and leaving nasty tastes in a whole lot of shoppers' mouths.

Makes you wonder what the result might have been if just one of their commercials had included a thankful family leaving out a few cookies and a glass of milk for the big guy in the red suit, doesn't it?

Holiday Gifting

2011-12-20T22:25:00.002-06:00

We all know that this is the time of year for excess. After all, if Gluttony had a season, it would fall around the Holidays. There is a good reason that people make resolutions just after New Year's, after all.

We spend so much time shopping this time of year. We shop for presents to give to friends and family. We shop for groceries for meals we only eat once each year (and, frankly, we can only afford to eat once each year - both due to money and calories).

We all stress over getting the right gift for each person - and we stress over whether we're going to get the right gift FROM each person, as well.

And I completely and totally admit that I do all of the above. And - based on what I'm hearing from a lot of people - so do you.

So here is my basic reminder that we all need to chill out, take a breath, and take a page from the Thanksgiving holiday. I think we all need to consider what we have, and what we share - not just what we can get.

Which is not to say that we shouldn't look at what we can GIVE.

The Salvation Army has been in the news (well, the internet news at least) this season for the fact that they, as an overall "corporate" entity, are fairly homophobic in their hiring practices and their beliefs. But, at the same time, they specifically state that they do NOT discriminate when it comes to helping those in need. Which, for me, means that I'll still drop my pocket change in the kettle outside the stores - even though I won't be writing them any checks any time soon. (Why? Because sometimes that instant donation is the only one I make in a day, and that's better than nothing.)

Of course, this means that the donor part of me is still looking for another outlet, even though I don't have a five-pound box of money to dole out. If your inner donor is in the same position, maybe try one of these options:

1) Donate to a food bank. You can buy pre-packaged bags at a lot of grocery stores, or you can take money or non-perishables to a lot of places. (And, sadly, there are a LOT of them because we need them.) Look at it this way: If the only reason you're buying canned sweet potatoes and jellied cranberries is because you feel like you're supposed to, maybe spending the money on someone else would be a better idea.

2) Donate clothing to a charity. Before you start putting new clothes into your closet as you unwrap presents (or shop the sales on the 26th), go ahead and make some space by donating some clothes to people who actually might want and need them.

3) Donate a toy (or toys or money) to a charity toy drive. Yes, I know it's getting late for that, but most places will still take them. And, really, how many kids in your life would miss not getting one more toy?

4) Donate to a pet shelter. Do you have any idea how many pets are given as Christmas presents and then abandoned in the month of January? Sure, the smart thing to do would be to make sure that people simply don't do that in the first place, but since we can't stop the stupidity, we can at least try to help with the aftermath. Consider donations of money, or contact a shelter and ask them specifically what is needed - possibly sponsor a special needs pet, if you can.

And, finally,

5) Give yourself a break. There's a good possibility that in among all of the holiday preparations and parties and shopping and donating (hint, hint), you might forget to give yourself a little time to breathe. Have a cookie (not a batch's worth of cookie dough, just *a* cookie - because eating the whole batch will just add more stress. Trust me on that), drink some eggnog (spiked or not), and relax a little. Talk - actually talk and listen, too - to your family members. Smile at your neighbors. Say "please" and "thank you" when you're in the stores and the people helping you look harried and ragged. Maybe even take some time to reflect on whatever it is you truly believe in this time of year (which is probably not rampant consumerism).

Above all, take the time to be thankful for all the gifts you already have. For the friends in your life. And for the little things that make this twinkle-light, jingle-bell, Christmas card time of year special.

ps. If you're still looking for a way to spend a little money before the end of the year, you could also donate to this cause, spearheaded by the daughter of a good friend of mine from Baltimore. She's a first-year teacher in a poverty-stricken school, and is simply trying to get some books - normal, everyday, good old-fashioned books - for her students: http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=701309

Movie Monday - The Muppets

2011-12-19T22:28:00.003-06:00

It took us a while, but Christopher and I finally got around to seeing the new movie "The Muppets."

I'd say a lot about it, but I'm guessing that you probably already know about it. The plot is, basically, that the Muppets are trying to get everyone back together to save their old theater from a bad guy.

It has singing. It has dancing. It has a whole bunch of cameos. It's... well... it's a Muppet movie.

I had a good time. There are a lot of touches that hark back to the old TV show, and some touches that bridge the gaps. And the music was fun. Although there are also some kind of touching moments - which I really did not expect.

Was it a perfect movie? No. Christopher commented that he liked the beginning and the end, but the middle was a little slow.

Was it pretty much what we expected it would be? Yes.

And - as you'd expect - it reminds us that with some good moral support and someone to sing with, you'll be okay in life. And how can any movie with that at its center be bad?

Overall rating: B+. I had a really good time, I'm happy to see the Muppets back on the big screen, but the movie itself had some holes in it that they probably could have filled with a little more attention.

Christmas Viewing

2011-12-17T17:21:00.003-06:00

I've been feeling a little under the weather, today. (Anyone know why my tongue would feel just slightly tingly?)

Of course, what does one do in the winter when one is feeling under the weather? One curls up on the couch with an afghan, a puppy, and the TV remote. And, yes, that is exactly what I've been doing, today.

But here's the thing about TV in December. It seems to either be Christmas movies and cartoons (of varying levels of watchability), or movies where a lot of things get blown up. I'm not sure why that is, but it's pretty much all I've been finding on TV today.

I started the day with a really bad 80s version of some vaguely Snow White-related cartoon. I watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (the version with the Winter Warlock), and a sequel to "Frosty the Snowman" (don't worry - it was one of the good sequels, where the animation and voices actually matched the original).

About the time that I was feeling good and cheery, I switched over to some bad Science Fiction movies. So far, I've watched one where a major earthquake almost destroys Denver, and one where a madman controlling the weather strikes Washington, DC, with a tornado.

Sadly, I haven't come across any good explosions, aliens, or gun fights. But maybe I'll find Rudolph or the mice who fix the Christmas clock yet this evening. That would pretty much make the day a total Holiday win.

Well... That and feeling better.

Boo-boos, Owies, Aches, and Pains

2011-12-15T23:33:00.002-06:00

A few days ago, I got a mystery cut on the side of my thumb. No idea how I did it. I just looked down at one point and realized that on the outside of my knuckle I had a red spot, which was actually a dark line. It started to itch, yesterday, so I'm happy that my boo-boo is healing.

Tuesday, after pulling into the garage at home, I got out of the car and went to put my bag over my shoulder (in cool-ish "messenger bag" style), and whacked my finger against one of the garage door's metal hinges. By the time I was in the house, I had a bright red spot of blood on the side of my middle finger. I put some antibiotic cream on it, and ignored it. Until yesterday, when the flap of skin started to get caught on my ring finger while typing. So I went down to our main office and searched out a small band-aid for my new owie. I've been wearing a band-aid on it as much as possible for the past 36 hours or so. And since it's my middle finger, I've been offering to show it to as many people as I can.

Last night, while trying to clean up some stuff in the basement, my right knee decided to lock in place, and then fuss at me a little when I stood up. I've been trying to take the stairs at work, lately (to the 4th floor), and my knee didn't really like that this morning.

Then, at work today, I must have done something wrong, because my right lower back started to hurt. This would be the same side of my back that is closest to the achy knee. Ibuprofen is helping. But I'm still not happy with the fact that I'm having to consider my age as the temperature moderates to the "normal" temps which now seem rather chilly.

Considering the ouch-inducers have gotten progressively more painful, I've got to admit that I'm a little worried about what the next few days might bring...

Travel Tuesday - On Vacation

2011-12-13T23:13:00.007-06:00

When I was in college and studying French, I learned about how some businesses in Europe (and France, specifically) close down for a full month in the summer so that their owners can go on vacation.

When they do that, they try to coordinate, to some level, with the other businesses in their areas so that the people left behind aren't left without, say, a grocery store for a month.

Yet, somehow, I never really thought about that for over here in the States. Until this week, when I've been trying to look into entertainment options for a trip to Las Vegas that Christopher and I will be taking in January.

We have been looking into seeing one of the Cirque du Soleil shows out there, and had been recommended one or two of them. I tried to pull up online ticketing, but nothing was coming up beyond December. I found out that some of the shows do ticketing through the hotels, so I contacted the hotels to see if I had any better luck.

While I did finally get an answer, it wasn't the one I was hoping for.

It seems that both of the top two shows we were considering are dark (aka not showing) when we're going to be out there. One of them is literally taking a full month off, while the other is simply not running for about two weeks. But that still doesn't help since our visit falls right in the middle of their vacations.

Yes, other shows are still running, but they're not necessarily the ones that were at the top of our list. Kind of like going to Paris in August and having to go to your second-favorite patisserie since your favorite is on vacation. It's still French pastries in France, but it's not quite the same, even so.

Who would have thought that someone would take a vacation in January? Oh. Right. Us.

Weather or Not

2011-12-11T22:21:00.004-06:00

Last year on this weekend, Minneapolis had something around 18 inches of snow. Not "on the ground cumulatively" but all at once.

Is 18 inches of snow a real problem in Minneapolis? Not if it's over a week or two. But when it all falls in about 24 hours... well... that was a problem. We were socked in that weekend and for at least a few more days. And, after that, there was snow on the ground all the way to about mid-April.

This weekend, though, has been amazing. Not perfect, but really nice. Yesterday was all about the bright sunny skies, a little melting of our last snow, and a huge clear crisp full moon. Today was warmer (in the mid-30s), but got cloudy and kind of weirdly damp feeling. But this evening I walked the pup without having to put on gloves or a hat - and my fingers didn't even turn red from the cold.

This weekend was also the weekend when Christopher and I were driving back and forth to Stillwater for different Christmas-related events. And could I just say how nice it was for us to *not* have to be worried about the weather?

We didn't have to worry about leaving early before the freezing rain started. We didn't have to white-knuckle the drive home after dark through building snow. And we didn't have to worry about the car freezing up because of the temps.

Yes, I realize that we could move away from this part of the country at any time. And I'm sure that, during the next few months, the topic will come up numerous times. But this weekend... well... this one kind of has me thinking that Minneapolis in December isn't the worst place to be.

And every week of "not *so* bad" is another week closer to spring.

Chilling Out

2011-12-08T21:26:00.002-06:00

Have I complained about the weather, lately?

We're having deep-January temps this week (well, not all week, just a few of the days), and I'm already kind of tired of it. I've found out that one of the pairs of gloves I have is just not great for a zero-degree windchill. A fact I figured out while walking the dog the other morning. Even with the gloves on I came back in with red hands. (Time to get out the lotion...)

Apparently, though, we're supposed to be back up to around freezing on Saturday and Sunday. Which to some of you probably still sounds frigid, but for us in this part of the country sounds downright balmy.

And that difference leads me to something I was noticing today on my drive home: The way people dress for the weather.

As I was at a stoplight, I watched two women walk past me. One was bundled up in a coat and scarf and, frankly, looked like she could have survived Antarctica. The other was in a blazer (undone), and looked like she was out for a springtime stroll.

Yesterday, when it was something like 20 degrees out, I saw someone in a hooded sweatshirt and basketball shorts walking out of a Target store, while the person he was with looked like an Eskimo.

Why is it that people can dress so differently for the same weather?

Granted, when I was out this morning with the pup, it was about 23 degrees (no measurable wind), and I didn't have on a hat or gloves. If you didn't know the temperature and saw me out walking you might have thought it was in the 40s or so. For me, that's simply seasonal adaptation. Like when there's a 50-degree day in late January, so I leave my coat inside when I go for a walk, although a 50-degree day in July would have me running for a sweater.

>sigh< It's not even mid-December and I'm already thinking about July weather. This could be a *very* long winter.

Going Nowhere Fast

2011-12-06T23:14:00.004-06:00

This has been a tremendously unproductive week at work, even though I've really had the best of intentions.

Both Monday and today I got into the office, had an incredibly energetic hour or so, and then got completely sidetracked by about 82 other things. For the record, only about 12 of those 82 things were personal in nature. The rest were all weird non-work-related work things.

Things like one of my freelancers copying me on a totally snarky/snide email about me which she sent to a coworker. And, yes, I think she meant to send it to me. Do I think it was wise? No. But I do think it was intentional. At the same time, another freelancer spent about 5 emails telling me she couldn't log in to the site - because she was using an old log-in...

Then there was the fact that we've just started using a whole new system for tracking all of our clients' progress, and it... well... it has some bugs. Granted, there's a ton of stuff that it does really well, but there's also a bunch of stuff that it's kind of not working for. Like today when I spent half an hour trying to explain to our IT department that if I need to credit someone - and the system has a little box where I can enter the credit amount - it's not good for me to get an error message that says "total amount charged cannot be less than zero."

There was the client who emailed, yesterday, to say that she desperately needed me to read through her revised 458-page manuscript and call her back about it immediately. Apparently she thinks that we've all taken the Evelyn Wood speed-reading course. (Does that still exist? I've always thought of it as kind of mythical.)

At home, tonight, I did get a decent amount of stuff done. Some presents got wrapped and put under the tree. The Christmas cards are a step closer to done. I did some laundry. And I completely and totally forgot to do about four other things.

I suspect that, at this rate, I'll be caught up to today by around Thursday. And here I thought things were supposed to slow down as the temperatures neared absolute zero... (Have I mentioned that it's gotten Januarily cold, this week?)

Late Sunday Follow-up

2011-12-04T23:07:00.003-06:00

Alright... Since I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles for the past few days wondering about tonight's dinner, I figured I should fill that blank in before heading for bed.

Christopher made his lemon chicken (mildly spicy tonight, so that we could stay in the middle of that road). We served it with rice and an arugula salad dressed with a mustard and tarragon vinaigrette. All accompanied by white wine - Viogniers, I believe.

Dessert was brownies with ice cream (I found "Pink Peppermint" at the grocery store and had to buy it - and, amazingly, only 1 out of 4 of us chose to have vanilla, instead). That was accompanied by some Bailey's.

Overall, a very nice almost four-hour dinner, especially considering that we hadn't ever had real conversations with our guests before.

And, after only about half an hour of clean-up (not many pans, just lots of dishes/glasses), we're pretty well set to start the week. Which means that I'm off to bed.

Friday Food - Indecision

2011-12-02T21:32:00.004-06:00

Christopher and I have some new neighbors whom we met a few months ago, and whom we have invited over for dinner this weekend. It's all very basic - we've each met one of the two guys at least once and, since we're simply being neighborly, it's not like anything hangs on this meal.

But, that said, it's making our menu planning kind of strange.

Usually, when you're inviting someone to dinner, you know what they're like. And, more importantly, you know what they like. But we're kind of cooking blind this time around. This means we're looking into middle-of-the-road ingredients, with middle-of-the-road flavors and - you guessed it - middle-of-the-road appeal.

As far as we know (Christopher did ask), they don't have any food allergies and neither of them is vegetarian. The latter of those two things is actually probably more important for our meal planning, since we tend to lean toward meat for a main course when entertaining. But beyond the meat factor, we're kind of stumped.

Although we've decided on chicken as our protein, we still haven't made a definite decision as to what kind of chicken it will be. And - more surprising for those who know us - we haven't figured out what dessert will be.

With all of our cookbooks and our bizarrely wide-ranging favorite foods, we seem to have a culinary embarrasment of riches. And no idea where to start.

>sigh<

Maybe we should just order pizza. But would it be better to get it by itself, or with cheese bread...?

Quotable Finding

2011-11-30T20:30:00.003-06:00

I've shared some of the strange things that I've found at work.

Quotes that made no sense - even after they were cleaned up for grammar and punctuation. Plots with no plot. Today, I stopped doing some editing to go to a meeting right in the middle of a sex scene because it was both too boring and too graphic - all at the same time.

It may come as no surprise that we sometimes find that the best pieces of writing in the manuscripts we receive are either quotations from other sources or... well... plagiarized (so "unquotations" from other sources). And, frankly, a lot of the time I don't even enjoy those because they're so poorly used.

Today, however, I came across something that I really liked - so I decided to share it.

Now, I fully admit that it may not work out of the context in which I read it. I was listening to some music at the time and was enjoying some kind of "early winter" reminiscing. And that's when I came across this quote, which is being used as an epigram at the beginning of a book I was proofreading:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I'll meet you there.

It's by a Persian author from the 13th century most commonly referred to as Rumi. And the quote goes on, but I kind of like just that piece. Especially as we're nearing the most reflective part of the year.

Wouldn't it be great if - at least around the Holidays, to start - we could all simply spend time together in that field beyond wrongdoing and rightdoing?

If anyone finds a map to it, promise you'll let me know.

Movie Monday - Immortals 3D

2011-11-28T21:46:00.002-06:00

There are times you go to a movie because it looks like a great movie to go to. And there are times when you go to a movie because it looks like a good movie to look at. Tonight's movie was the latter.

"Immortals" is sort of about ancient Greece and gods and men and injustice and revenge. But, frankly, I got the feeling that the movie was put together by someone who wanted to have a four-hour movie and was told that two hours was the max.

Consequently, instead of having two two-hour movies, that might eventually make sense, you get one tow-hour movie which you have to spend some time putting together in your head and kind of guessing what they might have meant.

Don't get me wrong - there's not a lot you have to think about, here. The pretty people are the good guys. The ugly people are the bad guys. The pretty ones who kind of glow are the gods. Everyone bleeds.

And, yes, pretty much everyone in the movie does bleed at one time or another. It's a really gory movie. (I covered my eyes a few times - especially since we were seeing it in 3-D.)

Is it fun? Not as much as you'd hope. Is it good? Oh, gods no.

Overall rating: C. Really. It's incredibly mediocre. Yes, some of the people are pretty. Yes, some of the action shots are cool. Yes, it was better than, say, an evening of editing some of the crap I work with. But the script is pretty awful. The characters don't all make sense. And I'm still not sure whether it ended, or whether they're already filming the sequel - which would explain the final scene.

The Traditional Post-Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-26T17:54:00.004-06:00

I'm celebrating, for the most part, my traditional post-Thanksgiving weekend.

I've been attempting to sleep in (today I made it to 8am).

I did no Black Friday shopping, only going to the store for some windshield wipers, a tail-light-bulb, and a few quick groceries (I love how empty grocery stores are the day after Thanksgiving!).

I put up a few decorations while listening to appropriate music.

And I started making Christmas cookies. So far, I think I'm up to about 18 dozen confirmed cookies.

Unfortunately, I'm also carrying on another of my standard - but less-well-liked - traditions on the cookie front.

I've got a type of "cookie" which you actually don't bake. You boil up sugar and corn syrup and butter and evaporated milk, then you pour that over marshmallows and chocolate chips and oatmeal and (as my mother says) "stir like hell" hoping that everything melts. Then, after you put them out on a bunch of waxed paper, they nicely set up into these great slightly-chewy chocolate "cookies." So far, so good, right?

Well... As I've been known to do, I underestimated how much the sugar mixture "boils up" when you bring it to a boil. This happens about every second year. And I find myself, mid-boil, frantically trying to find a larger pan to transfer the sugar lava into so that I can continue. Which is what I did, today.

The catch is that this sometimes - not always, but sometimes - causes the cookies to decide they don't want to set up after all is said and done. Which means that I may actually have about 30 dozen cookies by the time I go to bed - although right now I just have the 18 dozen that are confirmed.

But, of course, there's really no way to know whether they're going to set up except to wait.

It's a little like practicing for Santa. You put your wishes in a bowl, stir, spread them out, and then hope for a good outcome.

Or maybe that's what New Year's Resolutions are all about.

Either way, for me, it's all about the traditions.

Blame the Tryptophan

2011-11-24T20:02:00.003-06:00

I had every intention of blogging, today.

I got up early (for a holiday), and after letting the dog out and feeding her, I got around to making the Toll House pie that was my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner with Christopher's family.

Somewhere in the middle of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, I turned off the computer and got ready to head out. (Well... after watching the beginning of "The Music Man" on TCM...)

Now, about 7 hours later, I'm home and - having watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" on the couch with Christopher and a very pooped pup - I realized that I owe a blog post.

And, well, this is as good as it's going to get. I blame the Tryptophan.

Travel Tuesday - Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-22T21:09:00.003-06:00

As we're all planning varying amounts of Thanksgiving travel (whether across the country, across town, or just to and from the grocery store), I'm always reminded of how great this holiday is.

I love that it's about coming together with family and friends (and friends who are like family and - if you're lucky - family who are friends). It's about traditions - both on the table and around it. And it's about being thankful for what we have.

It's not a holiday with a wishlist. It's not a holiday which requires a lot of shopping. Heck, these days it's not even a holiday that requires a lot of cooking - although that could raise the shopping level.

There's a parade. There's a wishbone. Consequently there are bands and floats and wishes. How can that be bad?

But, mostly, it's that coming together around a table to be thankful for making it through the year that has gone by.

This year, as I've done almost every year, I'll be watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and I'll be eating way too many carbs along with my protein and veg. I'll probably watch a little football, and spend a decent amount of time in the car going over some rivers and through some woods.

But, in my mind, I'll be celebrating every Thanksgiving that's come before for me. The years with a big table and the years with a table for one. And, in a very "Dickensianly wrong holiday" sort of way, I'll be thankful for all of them from the past, while also looking forward to the ones that are yet to be.

I know it's a little early, but since some of you may be travelling this week, I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving.

(And thanks for reading.)

Chickens vs. People at Target

2011-11-20T16:47:00.006-06:00

I was out shopping, today, and one of the things on my list while at SuperTarget (the kind of Target store which also has a full grocery store) was eggs.

I had seen an article on the news this morning about Target pulling some of their eggs they had because of possible bad chicken-raising techniques from the main corporate farm where they come from.

When I got to the store, there were some "high-end" eggs on the bottom shelf of the case, but a stock clerk was hurriedly filling the rest of the shelves with other chilled items - mainly lots and lots of butter (which, obviously, could stack easily in any space).

I didn't think much about it, really. I mean it's kind of funny that one video shot by a biased videographer (someone who, admittedly, went into the report already planning/hoping to say that the chicken farm was doing unthinkable things to its chickens) has prompted Target - and McDonald's - to stop using these eggs. After all, the farm - Sparboe Farms out of Iowa - has NEVER had a confirmed case of salmonella, and - up until these charges came out in the news - had never had a single federal inspection which raised major red flags.

So, what we've got is one video - shot by someone biased - which has resulted in Target pulling them as a supplier within just DAYS of the report coming out.

On my way home from Target - which I admit I stopped shopping at for a time prior to the 2010 MN gubernatorial election due to their iffy political standings (that's written up, here) - I started thinking about this.

It seems that, when you've got one video of a bunch of chickens which may or may not be getting mistreated, Target is quick to pull all support from the supplier, demand they change their practices, and go somewhere else.

But, if you've got a political candidate who actively opposes granting basic human rights to large segments of society, you simply apologize it away, say you'll look into it, and then gradually back out of your promises to make things right.

Yes. It's partially my fault. After all, once the election was over (and the money they had spent was negated), I went back to doing a large chunk of my shopping there. And I can see how a viral video would scare customers and make a company wary.

But - forgive me if I repeat myself - why is it that one video about mistreatment of chickens is more important to a company's policy than thousands of emails over the course of months about someone's blatant mistreatment of people?

I don't think I'll ever really understand that.

Friday Food Shopping

2011-11-18T21:35:00.004-06:00

I fully admit that I enjoy grocery shopping. I really do. I can even go wander around the grocery store when I don't need to buy anything.

I guess I kind of like the possibility of all the stuff that's there. Kind of like getting travel catalogs in the mail just so that I can look at all the places to go. (Yes, I still like getting physical catalogs. But that shouldn't surprise most of you.)

The one thing that has always bugged me, though, about grocery shopping is the check-out. There never seem to be enough open registers, and the Express Lane always seems to be on a break. So you can imagine how happy I was a few years ago when they started having self-check-out in the grocery stores.

I started using those when I lived in Baltimore, and I loved them. No waiting in line for someone who might be having a bad day and decide to read every package before scanning it. No standing behind the person who wants to chat. Just walk up, scan my stuff, and leave.

They rolled out self-check-out lanes in the Twin Cities two or three years ago. And I was one of the first people always in those lines. When no one else was using them, I was there - always being offered help by someone, and never needing it. Quick, easy, done.

Then there are times like tonight. I was in my local Cub store (one of two which are "local" to me, but the more blue-collar of the two), and there was a line for the self-check-out. Well, it started out as a line, but then some people decided to line up behind specific registers. So there were kind of two-point-five lines. And no one seemed to know how to use the lanes.

One woman was trying to scan things but wasn't putting them on the scale-thing, so it wouldn't let her ring anything else (I suspect the two screaming kids with her may have played into that). Another woman walked past the "20 items or less" sign with a cart that was full to the top and started scanning and chatting with the "monitor" - who said nothing about the item limit. The guy behind me was on a blue-tooth cellphone call the entire time - by the time we were done I knew exactly where he kept his files in his office, because he'd been explaining how to get them to the person on the other end of the phone.

I walked into the store for three things. I walked in in a great "it's the end of the workweek" mood. I walked around and picked everything up within about 3 minutes, and then stood in line for about 10 listening to screaming kids and the loud cellphone guy. I probably could have gone through a "regular" line in that time - and I wouldn't have ended up walking out frustrated.

I suspect there's a life metaphor in there, somewhere, about potential versus reality - but we might have to wait until the clean-up on aisle seven is done, to find out.

Workaday Wednesday

2011-11-16T21:37:00.003-06:00

In the middle of the day, today, I got an instant message from the person who took over my old position. That position is - in my estimation - one of the hardest in the company (and *so* much more difficult than my current one) because it is all about customer service.

Actually, that's not true. It is definitely customer-service-centric, but it's also very detail-oriented and takes a lot of focused multi-tasking. So for the past couple of months while my replacement has been adjusting to the position, I've been her back-up - both for the job and, when needed, for her mental health.

Today, she sent me an instant message saying that she was forwarding a call to me because the caller was demanding to speak to me. As soon as her name popped up on the screen, I knew the call would be a challenge.

The call basically started with me being told that the caller was in a hurry because she is 84 and wants her books right away. Even though the last time I worked with her was almost a year ago, the spiel seemed very familiar.

We were on the phone for about five minutes. At one point, the people within earshot of me both audibly inhaled as I spoke. I think, at that point, I had said to her "Is there a reason why you decide to yell and scream when you're on the phone?" (Her response was "Because it's how I get you people to understand what I want." To which I replied "And how is that working for you, today?")

The call eventually ended when I reiterated (for the umpteenth time) that the person she had been speaking to before was the person who could place the order. She simply got quiet. After about 15 to 30 seconds of no speaking (although she'd obviously not hung up), I transferred the call. Apparently she did not speak again when the other person picked up - so the call was ended.

At times it's nice to be reminded what your job used to be. Especially when you're only in it for a few minutes and then you get to go back to your "real" life.

Movie Monday - In Time

2011-11-14T21:27:00.002-06:00

I think I might have mentioned in the past that I find that I most enjoy movies when I go to them with very low expectations. That would be the case of this week's Movie Monday movie: "In Time."

The movie has a pretty basic premise. It's the not-so-distant future, and people stop aging at age 25 - at which point they are given one more year to live. They can earn more time through work, and time is also the currency through which items are bought and sold.

Our main character (played by Justin Timberlake, who is actually a not bad actor, it seems) loses his mother due to some nefarious dealings, and he decides that he wants to avenge her death. At which point we insert political underpinnings where time = money, and we learn that it is being hoarded by an elite group of greedy people.

So he goes in search of more time, and stumbles across Amanda Seyfried, whose father has lots and lots of time. And who - kind of surprisingly - adds a great amount of humor to the movie.

Realizing that all the characters in the movie have stopped aging (at least physically) at the age of 25, you realize that everyone in the movie is fairly young and attractive. Yes, there are different levels of cragginess - as well as layers of wealth - but for the most part, it's a fairly pretty movie to watch, as well.

I feel like I should have more to say about it. That it was pithy or thought-provoking, or something. But, really, it was just a fun movie. A chase film of sorts, with Los Angeles as the backdrop and a reminder that we all have a finite amount of time together.

Overall rating: B+. It wasn't the best action flick of the year, but it was definitely better than average and not something I'm embarrassed to admit that I went to.

Oh. And, in the same way that when leaving "Contagion" I jumped when I heard someone sneeze in the restroom, when I got into my car in the parking lot after "In Time" the song "Time After Time" was on the radio. I found myself asking the radio "But what if there isn't any time after this time?" So maybe the movie was pithy, after all.

Bunny Steeplechase!

2011-11-13T20:35:00.002-06:00

I fully realize that the title of this blog posting will mean nothing to most of you. But, to me, it was pretty much a perfect way to wrap up my weekend.

Christopher and I had a really great Saturday. We took the pup to the spa, then ran a bunch of errands - including spending about 45 minutes at a frame store working on getting three pieces of art framed (or re-framed, in one case).

When we first started dating (can you believe it's been more than six years?), we were both pretty busy, so we often only got to spend time together on weekends. And, since that's the part of the week when errand-running happens, we'd spend our time doing just that. This weekend, errands included a pet food store and some gift shopping, as well as lunch. And, yes, it was good. (Much more fun than the yardwork and garage cleaning that followed.)

Today, well, we didn't really do much of anything. We read the newspaper. We watched TV. We napped. We had dinner. Then we went our separate ways so that I could watch "The Amazing Race" and he wouldn't have to deal with me pacing. (I keep telling him that I seldom pace or yell at the TV, these days. But he says I just don't notice it.)

Anyway... There was, in fact, some Bunny Steeplechase running on the episode tonight. And I have to say that it was one of the few athletic events on the show that I think I'd do well with. After all, running down a short course trying to get a bunny (which naturally enjoys hopping) to jump over some obstacles... well... that's about my speed.

If you want to check it out, within the next day or so the folks at CBS will probably be posting the show online. You can find the show's page, here, and the episode is called "Super Shady."

Or, if not, just try saying, aloud, the phrase "Bunny Steeplechase" and see if it doesn't make you smile.

11-11-11

2011-11-11T19:54:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure why, exactly, "11-11-11" has such a huge fascination for all of us. After all, the calendar has been juggled so many times that it could just as easily be 11-12-11, or 7-13-15. And, yet, today people definitely seem fixated on the date.

I kind of get it. I mean... I like looking at random numbers from time to time and finding them interesting. I like when my clock says "12:34." I like when math problems end up with sequential numbers or numbers that have patterns. I pay attention each time my car rolls to a new "big" number (like when it hit 100,000 miles last summer).

I'm kind of surprised that none of the doomsday predictors chose this as a final day - after all, you add those three sets of numbers and you end up with a dreaded 6.

For me, although I haven't made any resolutions or anything, I kind of feel like today is supposed to be a reset day. After all, when you start counting, you always start with one.

Not that I know what I'm resetting, of course. And since tomorrow will be 11-12-11, it's not like we're really counting up, anyway...

Perhaps it would be better to say that today is for remembering the past (after all, it is Armistice/Veteran's Day), being thankful for the present, and looking toward the future - each with two hand up to make a wish.

Full, but Un-Fulfilled

2011-11-09T21:56:00.002-06:00

Christopher and I just got home from dinner out with friends for someone's birthday. It was, overall, a very nice evening. We always have a good time when we go out with these folks, and we constantly say it doesn't happen enough. So, on a Wednesday, we had a chance to do it.

The waiter seemed a bit overwhelmed, though, and it took a while for basics like water and bread to show up. And our drinks took a little while, too.

But we kept moving forward, and everything seemed fine - if a little slow. Until the food came out and only three of our four entrees were correct. Instead of a Potato Pizza, mine came out as a Pork Tenderloin.

Apparently the waiter mis-keyed my order when putting it into the system. Giving the waiter (and the restaurant) credit for what they did right, I was offered the Pork for free, and told that the pizza would be out momentarily.

So three of us (those of us who aren't vegetarians) shared the Pork, and everyone at the table pretty much finished their entrees. And, eventually, the pizza I'd ordered did show up. I ate a couple of slices, but - frankly - had already filled up on the salad that Christopher and I had shared, and the bread, and the bit of Pork. I asked to have the pizza packed up to take home.

It came to me in a small plastic to-go container, with the four remaining slices stacked on top of each other - kind of like a "pizza lasagna." (They have a bunch of pizzas on the menu, so I'm not sure why they don't have pizza take-out boxes.)

But, again, overall the meal was good - and the company was, as usual, outstanding. And our waiter seemed to be just *that* far away from being good. Which is why I'm not naming the restaurant, here.

All told, though, it was still an unfulfilling evening, foodwise.

Kind of like when you've got your mouth all set for chocolate mousse and you find yourself with a mouthful of pate.

Movie Monday - How to Steal a Million

2011-11-07T21:20:00.006-06:00

Sometimes, if you're really lucky, you stumble across a good movie while scrolling through the channels. It's rare to find something that you weren't expecting. The serendipity moments tend to be few and far between. (Unless, of course, you really do want to watch something from the past 5 years. And you want to watch it over and over and over and over...)

Well, yesterday afternoon, I came across a gem of a movie I had never seen before. It was a "caper" film (which was, really, more of a romantic comedy in today's definitions), starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, called "How to Steal a Million."

Really, beyond the cast and the "caper" description, what more do you need?

There's a bit of mistaken identity. There's gorgeous Parisian scenery. There's Audrey Hepburn in stunning Givenchy gowns. And there's some really great banter.

Okay, so it's about a forger who is about to be caught so he has to steal one of the works of art he's created from a high-tech museum. And... yeah... that's kind of most of the plot of the 2-hour movie. But it's TOTALLY worth it.

Overall rating: A. Find it on Netflix. Stumble across it on TV. Use a boomerang to steal it from a museum. Then just sit back and revel in it.

Time Change

2011-11-06T20:58:00.002-06:00

I know that we're all (at least in most of the US) dealing with the change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time this weekend. (At least I think that's right. Honestly, I can never remember which part of the year is "CST" and which is "CDT.")

But since when did changing the clocks at the beginning of November also mean changing of the seasons from Halloween to Christmas?

I've heard people talking about it, lately, but I hadn't seen it for myself. Today, though, our newspaper came with Holiday Toy Guides. And, when I went to run errands, there were Christmas decorations all over the place. (Oh, come on, red and green trees? And they want to tell me it's for "Holidays"? Stop trying to be so politically correct and admit to what you're marketing already.)

I heard someone say on TV, today, that we - as Americans - should be proud of Thanksgiving. We're one of only two countries in the world who have a fall celebration like it (the other is Canada - they celebrate it in October). It's a holiday about perseverance and pluck (well... at least if you ignore the fact that pretty much all anyone learns about it is probably a lie).

Thanksgiving is also the one holiday of the year that isn't all about commercialism. There's no push to buy candy or toys. There aren't massive marketing blitzes. The stores don't open at midnight the day after Halloween for the sales.

Instead, Thanksgiving is about getting together with family and friends and celebrating what we have - not what we want. It's the joy of simply being together. Muddling through. Wishing on a wishbone that we'll all be together and happy again in a year.

I can deal with changing the clocks (all 15 of them, if I counted correctly). I can deal with the dog not understanding that I'm supposed to be getting an extra hour of sleep. What I can't deal with is missing out on the one holiday that still seems to truly mean something.

That's a changing of the times up with which I will not put.

(Sorry for they hyper-grammatization of that last line. But it makes me laugh that way. And I needed some levity in my own posting.)

Friday Food - Take-out

2011-11-04T21:23:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, one of Christopher's sisters started a new blog. It's a food blog, and will be featuring posts from at least 5 different people (friends and family have been recruited, so far).

The focus, mainly, is simply - and mostly simple - food. But the plan is for a broad range of foods - from main dishes to desserts and every other course you can think of. If all goes well, there will be recipes and photographs, and witty banter, as well.

I'm working on my first post to send over to Colloquial Cuisine: Food for Folks in the next day or so, but - in the meantime - I suggest you check out what's already there. Possibly add the blog to your list of daily online check-ins.

Oh. The website is : http://colloquialcuisine.blogspot.com/.

Bon Appetit! Or, more colloquially: Go. Read. Eat. Enjoy.

Whiney-Song Wednesday

2011-11-02T21:27:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying that I fully understand the need for a good cathartic make-me-wanna-cry song from time to time. I think it's good for the soul to let out your emotions on occasion.

If that can happen in the car, when you're driving and no one is around, who will argue with that?

But here's the deal: Most of the songs that elicit that kind of reaction from me are NOT whiney songs. They are not the songs wherein the singer is moaning about being left behind. Or being wronged. Or going on and on and on about some perceived badness.

When I hear one of those songs - you know the kind, where the singer only has about three lines to sing about losing someone and sings those same lines over and over for four minutes - all I want to do is yell at the radio. Why do those people not just get over themselves, write a new freakin' lyric, and move on?

For me, it's the songs that are out of the blue that make my emotions churn. The songs with the intelligent turns of phrase that surprise you with their heart. They are the ones that make me want to sing along - on both happy and sad times. Sure, they could be from Broadway, but they could also be country, or pop, or almost any other genre.

Perhaps it's the difference between poetry and simply rhyming words on a page. Anyone can make sad rhyme with mad, had, sad, mad, sad, add, and bad. But not everyone can take "orange" and blend it with the right amounts of emotion to make it suddenly rhyme with the entire dictionary.

Travel Tuesday - Home Again

2011-11-01T19:33:00.003-05:00

Christopher and I spent the past three nights away from home at a "condo resort" up on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We've gone for at least four years, and we've mostly stayed at the same resort. This year, we even got a unit which allowed us to take the pup up with us.

It's a very relaxing time of year to go up there. The resort is in a slow point, so we get a "3-for-2" deal on the room (pay for two nights, get the third for free), and since these are fully furnished condos, we take food with us and then we don't spend a ton of money on dining out. And it's not like we spend our time shopping or going to shows. I mean... In the past few days we did some hiking, some driving, a tiny bit of shopping (mainly looking) at a gallery, and a whole bunch of sitting in front of the fire.

We watched a few movies. We ate some s'mores. We walked the dog. And we had windows open pretty much the whole time so that we could hear the waves crashing against the shore. Last night we spent about half an hour in the outdoor hot tub under a mostly-cloudy sky, but with a sliver of moon and some stars visible from time-to-time.

I think I turned my computer on once, for about an hour. And that was mainly to winnow down my inboxes so that the re-entry into "real" life wouldn't be too bad. Driving home, today, was nice, even. The sun was out and it was actually warm enough to walk around in shirtsleeves when we stopped for gas.

So we got home, we sorted through everything - putting away leftover groceries and starting laundry - and we started settling back in.

It's amazing how comforting it is to be back home after having been away. I mean... It was a great weekend. We really enjoyed ourselves. We had great breakfasts at this little place that no one believes would be good. We had good conversation with some folks around the hot tub. And we got some good sleep listening to the waves.

But... you know... there's a reason why, when Dorothy clicked those ruby slippers, she didn't request a trip to Vegas.

Friday Food - Fun-Sized

2011-10-28T21:49:00.003-05:00

I'm not a fan of Hallowe'en. Pretty much at all.

Sure, like most people I kind of like the idea of costumes, but I tend to prefer things to be a bit more genteel - not all blood and gore and such. So I'd prefer a masquerade ball over Hallowe'en.

And I'm not a big "go out partying and drinking" kind of person, so the whole big Hallowe'en bash thing also isn't a big deal for me. I'm not a fan of having to drive around on a night when people have been drinking heavily.

But... well... I really like the fun-sized candy. There's something about being able to have just a little candy without having to have a full-sized bar. Just enough to take care of any chocolate/sugar craving, without totally killing a diet. Fun-sized, indeed.

Of course, that works best if you don't eat a handful of them. But where would be the "fun" in that?

Caramel Dappled

2011-10-26T22:16:00.004-05:00

The management of the building I work in has this strange habit of passing out food when any holiday comes around. Of course, it's hard to really nail down which holidays to celebrate without offending anyone.

Around Christmas, they usually just give out an "end of the year" thing - maybe tins of popcorn to each office. In the spring, they might wait until before Memorial Day and give out something spring-y (although I don't think they did that one this year.

For the past 3 Hallowe'ens, they've given out caramel apples. Even better, they get them from a place in town that is known for its caramels. So not only are you getting a caramel apple, but you're getting an Abdallah caramel apple. (Yes, the picture below is from their website.)

My question, though, is what to call the confection. Obviously they are not candy apples, because those are usually glazed with something that makes them look scary and red like the one in "Snow White." But are they caramel apples or carameled apples?

I must admit that I usually use the "-ed" version when I talk about them. Possibly because the words slide together so well. But when I'm writing about them (see above), I usually go with just "caramel."

Either way, I brought my caramel-coated apple home with me tonight after work, cut it so that I wouldn't bite into it and have to spend an hour cleaning out my beard, and enjoyed every last morsel of it.

Of course, the whole "caramel vs carameled" thing is even stranger when I admit that I usually spell - and pronounce - the word "carmel." But that's a completely different sticky situation.

A New York Monday

2011-10-24T21:52:00.003-05:00

I had one of those moments, this morning, that typically only happen in places like New York City. (And, yes, any of my friends out there will laugh at me - not necessarily with me - when they read this.)

As I was driving to work (okay - that would *not* happen in New York), I stopped at an intersection and waited as some guy who seemed just a little out of his element walked across the street. He had the look of someone who is checking his surroundings as he goes - like either a tourist or someone who is prone to getting lost and so he pays close attention as he goes.

It took me a couple of moments before I realized it was Christopher Sieber. Yep. The guy I was raving about from "La Cage" last week. Not sure where they were staying - or where he was going - but I know where he was at about 8:50 this morning.

I drove into the garage, and figured that was that. Until I was walking into my building a few minutes later. I was with someone else from my office, and I pointed across the street and said "Remember how I said I had seen 'La Cage Aux Folles' last week? That's one of the leads." She kind of gasped, and said "You liked him in the show, right? You should go say something."

I'll admit that I contemplated it. But I opted for the fact that someone who might be used to getting mobbed in some parts of the country might actually have been really happy to have some alone time while walking around this morning.

It's weird, though. You know, seeing someone on the street like that. For a moment or two it felt less like Minneapolis and more like New York.

And then I went to work.

Afghan Weather

2011-10-22T21:42:00.003-05:00

Having had days in the 80s just a few weeks ago, it was kind of a surprise this week when we actually had "seasonal" weather show up. On the down side, it means that we've gone from the 80s (and summer clothing) to the 40s and 50s (and late fall clothing). We missed the part of the fall when I get to wear my fun mid-weight clothing.

So, no wearing my black leather jacket that is just a little too light for the 40-degree mornings. No wearing a blazer over a light shirt on those 40-degree mornings, either. Instead we've jumped straight to grabbing the heavier coats and digging out scarves and gloves.

On the up side, though - since even when we turn the heat on we tend to keep the house fairly cool - this means that it's time to pull out the afghans when we're sitting and watching TV. We've got one which "lives" on the chair in the living room, and we've got one big one (we're talking 6 feet by 5 feet, maybe?) which is perfect for snuggling on the couch. (If we do it right, Christopher and I can sit perpendicular to each other on the couch and both of us can be mostly covered by it - at least from the torsos down.) (Really... it makes sense... I can draw a diagram of us, the couch, and the coffee table if you need. Just let me know.)

I grew up in an old house, so afghans were a part of our lives from fall until spring - and sometimes even in warmer weather when we just needed something to curl up in. Right now, in fact, my feet are tucked into an afghan as I'm typing this.

Yeah. I may not be looking forward to winter, but I do enjoy afghan weather.

(Although... really... would it have been so bad if I'd have gotten to wear my early fall clothes more than two days?)

Is Karma Enough?

2011-10-20T21:49:00.004-05:00

I did one of those things I am usually loathe to do, yesterday. I entered into a discussion of morals and ethics with someone I don't know on an internet social media site.

Typically, I don't do this because... well... you really never know who's on the other end of the conversation. You don't know what point is going to be over the line. You don't know whether they're going to really really really piss you off in a way that you have no recourse.

What was it that got me going? Well, the person we have in common was asking for advice on what to do because he knows someone who has been using the veil of anonymity to voice - what he called - hateful comments. He didn't say what, exactly, her forum was or what she was talking about, but simply said that he knew who she was, and he felt someone needed to speak out.

With the recent focus on bullying and cyber-bullying and hate crimes in the country, I suggested that he might anonymously contact her, stating that he knows she is the one spreading the hate speech and that - if she doesn't stop doing it (or at least didn't start taking responsibility for it), then he will let others know. I said that, in my opinion, if you know someone is spreading hate, and you don't speak up, you become - in essence - an accomplice.

One of the other commenters had suggested - prior to my comment - that our friend stay quiet, and let karma sort it out. She said she felt he should stay out of it and the person would, eventually, get what was coming to her.

My reference to becoming an accomplice apparently didn't go over well with her. She said that "accomplice" would apply if you knew someone was robbing casinos, but not in a situation like this - reiterating that karma should be enough. Which made me ask why bigotry and hate speech, which often lead to hate crimes, were less criminal in her mind than robbery. And I found myself reaffirming that - while karma is great in theory, sometimes in the real world you have to speak up to stop things from happening. Well, she didn't like that. Insisting that I was taking her comments out of context, and that she still believes that karma should be enough.

Which, honestly, has had me thinking for the past couple days. I fully admit that I sometimes open my mouth when I shouldn't. And that sometimes when I close it there's a foot in it. But I also think that I'd rather have to give an apology later than to let something that offends me go by un-contested.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love it if karma came along and solved all of our problems, but if that was the case then there wouldn't need to be anyone in jails, because the courts could simply let karma take care of it. And people who spew rhetoric and bigotry when running for offices would never win.

But, sadly, I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. So, for now, I'm opting for all of us to give karma a helping hand when we can. And if that includes pointing out blatant bigotry or threatening to make public the person using anonymity to spread hatred, maybe that's a good place to start.

Who knows? Doing that kind of good deed might even boost our own karma along the way.

They Are What They Are - La Cage Aux Folles

2011-10-18T23:41:00.005-05:00

Just got back from seeing the national tour of "La Cage Aux Folles" at the State Theater. It was a rare event for me - going out "on the town" on a school night - but when you get the chance to live your life a little outside the box, why not do it. Right? (Which, really, is kind of the point of the show - isn't it?)

(poster image borrowed from

Civic Center of Greater Des Moines website)

By now, most people know the basics of the plot of the show, since it's been around for almost 30 years (or, if you don't know the musical, then you probably at least know the movie "The Birdcage"). It's a show about a gay male couple (Georges and Albin) who run a nightclub where one of them is the master of ceremonies and the other is the star attraction - in drag. They've been together for 20 years, and their son (there was a dalliance with a woman 4 years before the two met and Georges got custody) shows up wanting to introduce them to his fiance and her highly conservative parents. Of course, hilarity ensues.

But the thing is that - while in the movie you mainly get the glitz and glam of it all - in the musical you also get the nuances of the non-hilarious moments. The times when the relationships all come to the foreground while the camp fades away. When Jean-Michel (the son) speaks and sings of falling in love with Anne, you believe it. When Georges reminisces with Albin about their time together, you really understand how they feel about each other. The first act, especially, is loaded with emotion which doesn't need to be spangled and glittered because it's beautiful just the way it is. (Hint: That's a good reason to go see the musical.)

I think, unfortunately, that's a little bit of where the production lost me - when the second act rolls in and the camp (of the "farce") takes over from the beauty of songs like "Song on the Sand" or even "The Best of Times."

Don't get me wrong - I *love* the show. I think the songs are incredible. And the romances - young and old - truly do tug at your heart. And - holy crap - the "Cagelles" have got to be six of the most athletic dancers you'll ever see. But there comes a time when the camp factor can get to be just a little too much.

Here's the thing: Christopher Sieber is absolutely show-stoppingly blow-you-out-of-the-theater amazing as Albin and his alter-ego Zaza (the larger-than-life performer who has to try to hide who he is for the sake of his son). When you see him on stage - whether in drag or as "himself" (for lack of a better phrase) - you are drawn to him. From his first number ("A Little More Mascara") you want to hear him sing more. You want to see him do more. You want the spotlight to stay on him (as does he in one funny little throw-away moment in the second act). And, yep, you really come to care about him and all his eccentricities. When he belts out "I Am What I Am" at the end of Act I, you can't help cheering and applauding.

On the other hand, George Hamilton... well... he's George Hamilton. He's tan. He's distinguished looking. He's not the best singer, and he seemed to lose a few lines along the way. He was great in scenes where he was truly acting with someone else, but on his own... well... I wasn't blown away. And the "maid," Jacob, was played so broadly that I couldn't figure out whether the director was trying to cover all of the bases of every possible aspect of gay life, or whether he threw in an extra over-the-top stereotype so that the homophobes in the audience (who most likely got dragged there by their wives) could walk away from the show saying "See? I told you so."

Even so, the production made for a great night out. Beautiful sets. Beautiful people. Beautiful music. And, yes, aspects of both darkness (any nightclub called "The Cage of the Crazies" has to have a dark side), and light (after all, it's an old-fashioned Broadway musical, so there has to be a happy ending, right?). A heck of a lot better than an evening in frong of the TV.

So... Where does that leave us? Let's tally it up: for Christopher Sieber - A+; for un-needed Campiness - C; for a great supporting cast (especially Billy Harrigan Tighe and Allison Blair McDowell as the young lovers; and, again, those Cagelles) - A; for relying on George Hamilton just a bit too much in promotion and on stage - C-.

Overall score, then: B+, although if you want to go to it simply to see George Hamilton in all his tan-ness, then I'd probably bump it up to an A-.

Would I recommend you go see it? Definitely. (Although I'd leave any youngsters at home.) Christopher Sieber alone is worth it, but I suspect that you'll find plenty of other good reasons to like it. And, heck, it's going to be a chilly week in Minnesota - so why not get in a little warm-up before the weather really turns?

Movie Monday - Ides of March

2011-10-17T21:41:00.002-05:00

I'd like to start by saying that I really hope Ryan Gosling gets a good light-hearted comedy, or even a light-hearted action movie, or something just not quite so intense, sometime soon.

Remember how I said that I thought "Drive" was a really good movie in large part because of him? (I said it here, in September.) And remember how I said that "Blue Valentine" was just heart-wrenchingly emotional, again because of him? (That was back in January, here.) Well, I'm about to say the same thing about "Ides of March."

The movie, overall, isn't really a political thriller. And it's not espionage, because there aren't any real spies. It is kind of a suspense movie, because you're never quite sure what's going on. But, mainly, it's a movie about the public and not-so-public sides of running a major political campaign.

The candidate whose campaign Gosling's character is on is played by George Clooney, in some of his most charming and creepy style. There are opposing - yet equally slimy - campaign managers played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (two actors I genuinely don't enjoy watching on screen - and didn't care to watch in this, either). And, there is Marisa Tomei as a veteran political reporter who, frankly, is looking as stunning as ever - even though her character isn't really supposed to be "pretty."

I wish I had more to say about the plot. But... well... the movie is so much about the characters that there isn't really any reason to get into much of it. It's about the machinations of trying to win a presidential election. That's really about it. And, in the same way that "Contagion" would freak out any germophobe, "Ides of March" will set off warning signs with anyone who feels that politics is a corrupt business.

One extra bonus in the movie (aside from the fact that it was pretty darned good): the campaigning is centered around Cincinnati. And they filmed on a bunch of college campuses in Ohio. So you kind of get a virtual campus tour of Miami University, Kent State, and Xavier, as well as some interesting (read "not so pleasant") views of Cincy, itself.

Overall rating: A. I think it pretty much delivered what it promised and, although it didn't leave me feeling good about myself, I did leave feeling good about the choice of movie we'd gone to.

Productive, with Reservations

2011-10-15T22:29:00.003-05:00

It was a really productive day for me, today. Without really meaning to I actually got a bunch of stuff done. And I'm kind of surprised, really.

You see, after being exhausted at work all day, yesterday, I went out to dinner last night for a friend's birthday. I didn't have any wine with dinner, because I figured I was already too tired. Which, of course, means that when I got home I was way too wide awake to go to bed.

I finally headed for bed around 12:30 - and the pup (who is missing Christopher this weekend) (not that I'm not missing him, but I know he's coming back tomorrow, and it's hard to convince her of that) decided to snuggle way up next to me on the bed. Well, not actually next to me. Instead, she plopped down right between my knees, so that she could stay warm. (The house temp has changed a lot in the past week, and she's not used to it, yet.)

I tried to sleep with her right... there... but couldn't get really comfortable. And she didn't move - which means that I didn't move - until about 6 this morning. Of course, since it was 6 (about her normal mealtime), I ended up letting her out and feeding her. By which time I was once again wide awake. So I found myself watching an action movie from Netflix at 6:30 in the morning.

That wrapped up at around 8, and I did the basic Saturday morning thing for the next 3 hours: Absolutely nothing. I watched TV (which I don't remember), and ate some definitely not good for me breakfast. And then finally got moving.

But, once I did get moving... wow. Post office, bank, flower shop (the house now has mums outside), Target (yes, I stuck to my list), Barnes & Noble (coupon!), Crate & Barrel (another coupon), and a cross between lunch and dinner at McDonald's on the way home at 3:30.

I then made the mistake of thinking I'd just put out the mums (not even re-potting them - just setting them out) and be done. But the peonies needed to be cut back. And the tomatoes that were left needed to be brought in to ripen inside (where I know they won't freeze). And... well... I got a lot done in about 90 minutes (including rubbing up against one of the ornamental grasses which I'm allergic to and getting a small rash), then took the pup for a walk and came back in to tackle some in-the-house tasks. The last of those was finished about 25 minutes ago.

I've been watching the dog sleep for most of the evening. I think that running around the yard trying to make sure she approved of what I was doing really tired her out. I suspect I'll sleep well, tonight, too.

I hope so. Because tomorrow I actually need to do the stuff I was *supposed* to do today.

Weather Wednesday

2011-10-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

It seems to be raining out, today. This is worth mentioning, because it has been a really long time since we've had a rainy day. Apparently September in the Twin Cities was the driest on record - and those records go back into the 1800s.

Which kind of brings me to a soapbox.

I understand how some people don't really believe in "Global Warming," pointing to the fact that some of our winters have been more brutal than in the past. Of course, in so doing, they ignore the fact that - worldwide - the overall temperatures have gone up over the past few years.

But - assuming this is an argument of semantics - I don't understand how people can disagree that "Global Climate Change" is occurring. After all, along with the lack of rain, we had temps in the 80s for more than a week of October. In Minneapolis. In October. I realize I just said that twice, but it seems to be important to stress it. I'm all for a little Indian Summer - but that usually means a two- or three-day stretch of 60- or 70-degree days when we're supposed to be in the 50s and 60s. Not 80s for eight days.

And it's obviously not just us. If you look at weather maps globally (or even just nationally), it's kind of blatant that things are changing. Decades-long droughts in areas of the world which used to be thriving. Hurricanes that cause more damage in New England than the Southeastern states. There are even trees dying in the northern tier of the U.S. because the bugs which used to be killed by cold winters aren't dying any more.

Yet there are people who say that nothing's changing and we're just in a strange spell which will right itself at any moment? Really?

Okay... Of the soapbox...

In the meantime, the watering of our yard last weekend while it was so warm out has paid off this week. The yard has greened up and looks great - at least where we can see it under the multi-colored leaves which have fallen. Here's hoping today's rain helps that, too.

Movie Monday - What's Your Number?

2011-10-10T18:03:00.001-05:00

There are times when you just need to go to a fluffy movie. Something that is funny, maybe a little raunchy in places, has attractive people, and never gets too serious.

I was having one of those weeks last week, so when we were debating between movies and had to choose between the spy thriller, the cancer comedy, or the fluffy “chick flick,” well… I voted for the chick flick: “What’s Your Number?”

The premise of the movie is pretty basic: A woman who reads the advice columns in magazines to make decisions about her life comes across one that says that women aren’t supposed to have more than 20 partners in their lifetimes. Since she’s recently become unemployed, and since her across-the-hall neighbor just happens to be the son of a police detective, she decides to stop right where she is and go back through her reject pile to see if she can find anyone she should take a second look at.

Okay. Wow. That sounds like either a really boring, really contrived, or really flat-out bad movie. But, I swear, it kind of worked.

You’ve got Anna Faris as the unemployed sister of a bride-to-be, and Chris Evans (known for being a comic book superhero in “Captain America” and the Fantastic Four movies) as the slutty – and, yes, hunky – neighbor with the heart of gold. Throw in Blythe Danner as the mother who wants perfect grandkids, and you’ve actually got an interesting movie.

Better yet, since a whole section of the movie revolves around the main character going back and finding (or reliving) moments with her exes, it’s kind of like a series of short films. They’ve got their own time periods. They’ve got their own stories. They’ve got their own accents (yes, accents). And, as such, they also have a great supporting cast.

So, yes, the plot is kind of obvious. And you sort of know what is probably going to happen for much of the movie. But, well, sometimes when a movie does just what you want it to, it’s a good thing. And there are unexpected moments, too, when you find out layers of each of the characters that you didn’t know would be there in a movie like this.

Overall rating: A. I was going to go with an A-, but the movie gets a few extra points for the fact that it didn’t waste any funny scenes in the Trailers. In fact, one of the prominent scenes in most of the trailers isn’t even in the movie. Love that.

Counting Down

2011-10-09T21:49:00.003-05:00

Having asked around, I've been told that the average incubation time for this year's flu is between one and four days.

Since the flu made itself known in the house on Friday evening, I figure that we should be in full bloom by Tuesday.

Do we know how to have fun, or what?

Home Sick

2011-10-08T18:03:00.003-05:00

There is something kind of comforting about being home when you're sick. Being able to just curl up on the bed... or the couch... or the floor, if that's the kind of day it is... to hunker down and hope for the sick to go away.

One of us in the house (we won't say who) came down with what we are "best guessing" is the flu. After a few days of not feeling at peak - and with a boss whose kids have apparently been sick - yesterday was a turning point. In the wrong direction.

For about 3 hours last night after dinner, life was... icky.

Today, life has been on the couch. With tea and saltines. And apple juice and green Jell-o in the fridge as back-up.

Well, truly, the back-up in situations like this for me is my parents. Which I guess means that being home sick also kind of indicates that I might be slightly homesick.

You see, my dad is a retired pharmacist (he officially retired this year by not renewing his license for the first time since he graduated from college), and he tends to be my first call whenever I've got health questions. So last night was a question about this year's flu symptoms. No surprise, they were exactly what we were seeing, here.

So we've been working with that, today. Hoping that the flu is a fickle visitor and leaves soon - preferably without any plans for a return visit.

Hand Signals

2011-10-05T21:48:00.003-05:00

Almost every day after work I drive through downtown Minneapolis on my way home. I've started to notice some of the same people walking down the streets past me, which makes sense since we probably all leave our jobs at pretty much the same time each day.

There's this one guy who sort of seems to be missing an upper lip (not, like, due to a horrible accident or anything - I think he just kind of bites his upper lip while he's walking), and I usually pass him in about the same block every day. Except today, because I got out of the garage a couple minutes early, so I passed him farther down the street than usual.

But, anyway, that's the kind of thing you notice while you're sitting in traffic, going either low speeds or being stopped at lights. Or at least it's the kind of thing I notice.

Today, though, I noticed something different. An older couple were walking along the street at a pretty brisk pace. At first, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary as they were passing my car, but then I noticed that people coming toward them were stepping out of the way.

The man was walking while holding a white cane out in front of him in his right hand, obviously checking to make sure he wasn't going to run into anything. And, with his left hand, he was reaching out and touching the woman's arm. All-in-all, it seemed pretty normal for the situation - someone with low vision being guided by someone else.

Then I noticed that, instead of holding her by the elbow, or the shoulder (as you often see in these situations), he was reaching out with his left hand and she was holding it in her right. It was a light touch - they weren't clasping each other tightly, his hand was merely resting in her palm - but it was enough for the two of them to speed past me on the sidewalk, then turn and cross the street in front of me all before the light changed.

As they stopped on the other side of the street to cross the next side of the intersection, I noticed that the woman took the moment to slide a little closer and take a slightly more firm grip of the man's hand. Then, after a quick glance was exchanged, she checked the traffic and they were off again - his hand resting ever-so-gently in her palm.

I get kind of excited when I see people walking hand-in-hand down the street. I love that visible, tactile representation of a connection, a relationship, a kinship of some kind. I fully admit that I get a little mushy when Christopher and I are walking together and he takes my hand - and I can still remember the exact first time he ever did it. That moment of "We're in this together" is pretty cool.

But what I saw today was kind of incredible. The gentle way that the two of them connected without grasping or clinging, and yet being so obviously connected. There was something in it that made it clear that they had been together for many years, and that they would be together for many more. It was both "I'm here" and "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Yeah. Sometimes you see pretty cool stuff while driving through downtown on the way home after work.

Movie Monday - Contagion

2011-10-03T20:33:00.003-05:00

Looking for a catchy movie? Something that you'll take with you and pass on to others? Maybe a movie with an almost-infectious appeal? Or, maybe... Umm... Yeah... I'm out of metaphors that tie into the movie title.

But here's the thing: Each time I talk to someone about "Contagion," the people who have seen it are interested in talking about it.

We're not all talking about it like a great horror movie. We're not talking about it like the newest zombie flick. We are talking about the fact that they kill of Gwyneth Paltrow in the first few minutes of the movie. (That's not a spoiler - it's in some of the previews.)

And we're also talking about the fact that part of it was set - and filmed - in Minneapolis. Which, I have to admit, when it's a movie about a world-wide pandemic is kind of... well... creepy. Had I known it was set here I might have been less inclined to go - in the same way that I wouldn't watch Baltimore get blown off the map when I was out there. (It was in a Ben Affleck movie, although I couldn't tell you what it was at the moment.)

So... The point of "Contagion" doesn't seem to be a "What if...?" movie. Instead, it's a very kind of straight-forward drama. There are families in it. And politics. And emotions, even. And a cast that kept surprising me. It's kind of a hybrid of fluff and flu.

Is it a great movie? No. Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it a movie that any germ phobic person should ever go to? GOD no - people prone to that state of mind would never leave their houses again.

Overall score: B+. There were a few things I felt could have been better explained, but it has definitely stuck with me.

The Start of Something Big

2011-10-02T20:09:00.005-05:00

On this day in 1950, the very first Peanuts comic strip was published, all because (according to some stories) Charles M. Schulz was told by his kindergarten teacher that he had quite a knack for drawing.

(copyright - United Feature Syndicate, Inc)

What an amazing legacy from that one teacher's encouragement.

I mean... really... there are multiple generations of kids who celebrate Christmas, and Easter, and Halloween, and Thanksgiving around Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Who doesn't know the theme song when they hear it? (It's called Linus and Lucy, in case you were wondering.) And who doesn't know how to "dance like a Peanuts character" when they hear it?

Who doesn't know exactly what is meant by a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"?

And, really, how many of us are happier all because of the drawings of one man?

So here's to the Great Pumpkin and the Easter Beagle; Miss Othmar and the Little Red-haired girl; Woodstock and Spike; Lucy and Linus and Sally and Pigpen and Peppermint Patty and Marcie and Schroeder and Frieda (who I always thought was named Rita) and Shermy; Rerun and Franklin and Violet; the Kite-eating Tree and Lila; and, of course, Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

Thanks, Mr. Schulz - and your kindergarten teacher - wherever you are.

Friday Furry

2011-09-30T21:05:00.003-05:00

Yes. I know that Friday is usually "food," but I just have to touch on this topic for a moment or two.

I work with someone who has... well... issues with animals. She's an extreme vegetarian (but not a vegan), and although I'm fully in favor of her having her opinions and beliefs, I get a little frustrated that she freaks out about other people's stuff.

She writes off any place which has even the hint of not treating animals well. Which I totally understand because animal cruelty really ought to earn people seats in the worst ring of hell.

But... sometimes... she goes a little too far. Like criticizing what you're eating - as you're eating it.

Or... well... Let's see... Someone else was trying to think of things to do this weekend, and I suggested the Minnesota Zoo. Of course, that got a huge "NO, you can't do that!" And, okay, I guess I could have guessed that would happen.

But she freaked when another coworker killed a fly. I mean... really?

What makes this even stranger - at least to me - is that she loves to ride horses. I'm sure that they're all very well taken care of, but they're obviously not running free on the open plains.

I fully admit that I'm probably naif about this (please don't send me any links to sites about animal cruelty), but what makes keeping horses in a barn and riding them for your pleasure any better than the animals at the zoo who aren't in cages but are in massive habitats created specifically for them - where they get better meals and care than they'd ever get in the wild?

Which is to say that I think both of them are probably fine in the grand scheme of things. As is eating pot roast and mashed potatoes. And killing mosquitoes.

But anyone tries to be cruel to any pets while I'm around... that's a whole different story.

Sound(ing) Off

2011-09-28T22:02:00.002-05:00

In my new position at work, I get the pleasure of *not* having to answer the phone all day. It's an amazing freedom after having been the de facto "receptionist" for the past 2 years.

Since the office space I'm now in has 3 of the louder voices from our company in it, and since I'm spending my days trying to focus on editing, that means that I can now take advantage of listening to music all day using headphones (or, rather, earphones... or earbuds... or whatever they're called).

And, since I've been using them - and having to take at least one of them out of my ear so that I can have conversations with people - I've started noticing how many people wear them out in the "real world."

Maybe it's just me, but I kind of like hearing the world around me when I'm walking down the street. And - even more important - I like hearing things like sirens, and other warnings. All of which (the mundane and the critical) become muted when you've got your own music in your head.

Which brings me to one thing that I've noticed a lot, lately: drivers with earbuds.

That scares the bejeezus out of me. I know that it's sometimes hard for me to hear sirens when I'm driving with the radio on - but at least then the music is coming from my car and not being blasted directly into my ears. How can we expect that people with earbuds in can hear anything at all? I can barely hear people talking directly at me from 6 feet away.

It almost makes talking on the phone seem incredibly safe and boring - after all, in most cases, that only takes one ear at a time.

And texting? Heck. That doesn't take any ears at all - just at least one hand and both eyes...

Long Show, Short Review

2011-09-26T22:43:00.004-05:00

Christopher and I saw "Cosi fan Tutte" on Saturday. It was the kick-off for The Minnesota Opera's new season.

It's a Mozart opera. A comic tale of love, fidelity, romance, lust, deception, and - apparently - a moat that opens and closes with badly-done stage work.

The singers - incredible. The set - beautiful. The main characters' costumes - gorgeous. The show (as written by Mozart) - active and fun for the first 90 minutes, kind of a yawn-fest for about 45 minutes of the second 90 minutes (I mean, really, no matter how amazing the woman's voice is, I don't have the patience for 10 minutes of "I hate myself for not staying faithful, but I'm going to do it anyway" over and over and over).

Here are my biggest questions:

1) Did it really need the moat with a sliding cover? And, if so, why didn't someone WD-40 the bejeezus out of it?

2) Why did the stagehands all look like Italian goons?

And here are my wrap-up questions (they actually come with answers):

a) Is it a good show for people who aren't sure they like opera? Well, up until the intermission, I'd say yes.

b) Is it a show which non-opera-lovers can point to and say "See. This is why I don't like this stuff"? I'm going to have to also say yes.

Did I enjoy it, overall? Yes. Really, the music is amazing - even in the parts where the show is boring, the vocalists were incredible. And visually it's very pretty - so if just daydream through the boring part, it could be almost perfect.

Being In Touch

2011-09-25T16:26:00.003-05:00

There's something really rather wonderful about the phrase "being in touch."

I was thinking about it earlier today when reading that someone had commented on one of my earlier blog postings. It was the kind of contact that made me think "Oh. Well. Someone *is* reading this, after all." And I thought "So nice of her to be in touch."

And then I just typed that last paragraph, and realized that I was also using the phrasing "making contact" in the same context.

There's just something wonderful about people being in touch and/or making contact. This could be via phone... or email... or message board... or actual physical letter... or - imagine it - actually in person and touching. Although, of course, that's one of the few ways that those phrases *don't* seem to apply.

After all, when you actually see someone in person, you don't say "so nice of you to make contact" or "it's been so nice to touch you." It's only when you're not in the same location as the other party that you actually talk about tactile connections. Which, really, is a bit odd when you think about it.

But, putting that aside, let's try to get back to my original point, which is the great way it feels when someone at a distance does, in fact, make contact.

On a day when life might not be going your way - let's say, perhaps, that you went for a haircut and came out shorn; or that you had massive coupons, but when you went shopping nothing fit - getting that one piece of evidence that someone is out there and interested in what you're doing is pretty cool.

It's like a long-distance hug. Or at least that touch on your arm that lets you know there's someone else in the room.

So... umm... yeah...

Keep in touch.

Thanks.

Friday Food - Or Not

2011-09-23T22:03:00.002-05:00

I hereby admit that I'm not posting about Friday Food because I went out to dinner with Christopher and one of his oldest friends and now it has gotten too late to talk about it.

I'll catch up later. I promise.

Happily Sometimes After

2011-09-21T21:20:00.003-05:00

I have to admit it. (Although I'm sure many of you have already guessed it.) I like happy endings.

I like it when the people I "know" in TV shows, movies, books, and - yes, even real life - are happy. I get frustrated and bothered and stressed when they're not.

At work, I find myself surrounded by all sorts of strange junior-high-ish drama on a fairly regular basis. This week - and, remember, we're only to Wednesday - my workplace is in a high anxiety mode. There's all sorts of stuff kind of going on. "Kind of" because so much of office life is conducted through innuendo and rumor. What I'd really prefer would be if everyone who works there would simply do their jobs and go about their lives. We'd all be happier.

When I'm home and watching TV - or at movies, or reading books, or at a play, or any of those other places people try to say aren't "real" - I get frustrated when the people I like aren't happy. When I'm expecting comedy, but am offered tense situations or embarrassing situations or downright sad situations, it kind of throws me off. This is part of why Christopher hates to watch "The Amazing Race" (which premieres this Sunday) with me - because when people I like have problems it bugs me.

It makes me wish that more of life came with a musical theater soundtrack. Then, even when things were bad, we'd all know that the next song would probably turn it around. We'd know that a tap number would be coming. Or the glittering set would be flown in in the next break. Or the hero would get his man in the end (innuendo that all you want). And they'd all go, arm-in-arm skipping off the stage after the bows to live happily ever after.

Or at least happily sometimes after. Because being around people who are overly happy all the time - even considering all I was just talking about - would be incredibly annoying.

Movie Monday - Drive

2011-09-19T22:10:00.003-05:00

Occasionally it would be a good thing to read up on a movie before going. Usually, I don't think that's such a good idea, because I don't want to have any big pre-conceived notions before the lights go down. But, occasionally, it might be good.

Going to see the movie "Drive," for instance, without having read up on it may not have been my best movie-going choice of recent times.

You see, I read the first lines of the write-ups (which talked about Ryan Gosling playing a stunt driver who takes side jobs as a get-away driver) and thought that it sounded like it would be a heist film. Lots of action. Some good cars. Ryan Gosling looking cool in action scenes in good cars. The basics.

And, yes, the movie does have those things. But it's also a movie about when things go wrong and bad choices are made and how much worse both of those can be if there are mob connections involved.

Oh, yeah, and it also has a plot. Like a real serious "pay attention because this is a good movie" plot. With really good actors. And people you come to care about just because of on-screen chemistry.

And it also has some violence and nudity - both of which are used only as plot points, and not gratuitously. Although - truth be told - I covered my eyes a couple of times during some of the violent parts (hence the hands in the gunky hair from yesterday's post).

Is it a really good movie? Yes. Is it a little too violent - in a very realistic way - for, say, my parents to go to? Yes. Were Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan really rather amazing in it? Also yes. Was I disappointed that I didn't get a big car chase movie? I don't think so, really.

Overall grade: B. I do think some of the violence could have been handled better, and I really don't get the use of the 1980s typeface for the credits (if you see the movie - or even just the promotional materials - you'll know what I mean).

Gunky (Not Gloppy) Hair Day

2011-09-18T23:23:00.003-05:00

I'm not posting a photo of my hair to help you understand tonight's dilemma because, frankly, it looks about the same as it always does. It's just that... well... it doesn't feel the same as always.

You see, I'm almost out of the regular (and cheap) glop I use on my hair when it's short (as it is at the moment). But since I was planning to go out of the house today - and didn't want to wear a hat - I needed to put something in my hair.

Not wanting to waste the glop because I will need it for work tomorrow, I opted for the more expensive gunk which I bought a while ago when I was trying to see if it would work for me. (And, really, it does.)

The problem is that, although the outcome looks pretty much the same whether I use the glop of the gunk, the feel of it is totally different.

The glop dries kind of... well... soft. I can touch my hair throughout the day (when I'm frustrated at work or can't think of words to play in my online Scrabble games), and although it gets mussier (but in less-purposeful ways), it doesn't ever feel weird.

The gunk, on the other hand, it just gets kind of... umm... gunky feeling after you work it into your hair. So when I was cringing behind my hand at the movie this afternoon, or when I was trying not to pull out my hair while doing a last-minute edit tonight, I would pull my hand away from my hair and it would feel kind of strange. Not quite sticky, but not quite dry, either.

Okay... yes... on the plus side, the more I play with my hair when it has the gunk in it, the less gunky it feels, and it still tends to look "purposely mussed." Which, really, is probably a selling point I should pay attention to since I'm going to be doing more editing going forward and will need my hair to stand up to more "frustration mussing." (But, even so, who wants to play with gunky-feeling hair to begin with?)

Tomorrow after work I'm definitely going on a quest to find more glop. And then, maybe - once I'm sure I can get that - I'll try the gunk, again, just to be sure how I feel about it

Friday Food - Salmon

2011-09-16T20:58:00.003-05:00

You know how there are those things that you feel like you ought to eat, but you have no idea what to do with them?

Well, Christopher and I crossed one of those lines tonight.

Salmon was on sale this week at one of our local grocery stores (a "buy one, get the second free" deal), so we decided that we could afford to buy it. And, tonight, we decided to see what we could do with it.

We found a recipe in one of our Nigella Lawson cookbooks, bought a few ingredients, and then set to it.

And then we realized that the ingredients were for a sauce, and not for a marinade. So we made the sauce but didn't marinate with it.

With that out of the way, we started the rice, dug out a grill pan (which I've owned for years and yet never used), and got things moving.

The salmon cooked in about a heartbeat. The rice turned out perfectly. The sauce was tangy and sweet.

And we still have the "get the second piece for free" piece.

Check us out. We're eating healthy.

Movie Wednesday - The Adjustment Bureau

2011-09-14T20:48:00.003-05:00

Yep. My days are completely out o' the whack this week. Which seems kind of appropriate considering this week's movie.

You see, I'm kind of getting back into my Netflix account, and I got "The Adjustment Bureau" this week. And, since Christopher was busy last night doing his civic duty working all day for a special election in the district where he does that kind of thing, I decided to go ahead and watch it.

I figured out why it didn't do well in the theaters. It's a romance, but it's also kind of paranormal - in an angel/higher power way, and also a little bit of a chase movie. Not exactly something easy to pin down. But it was marketed like a big budget film, instead of a one-of-a-kind indie flick. And, yeah, that definitely didn't help.

So... the plot... It's Matt Damon as this politician who accidentally meets a dancer (Emily Blunt), and it kind of throws him off track for the "grand design." Which means that the Adjustment Bureau folks have to work to get him back on track.

It's a cool premise, really. And you like the two main characters SO much within moments of meeting them that you really want the end of the movie to come out right. And you hope that all the way to the end of the movie when... (nope. I'm not telling.)

OH. And it has some really cool shots of New York City in it, too.

Is it a great movie? No. Does it try to do too many things? Yes. Was it totally worth spending 2 hours of my Tuesday night on? Totally.

Overall grade: We'll say B. No adjustment necessary.

Travel Monday

2011-09-12T20:43:00.003-05:00

I know that Tuesday is usually the "travel"-titled day, but I had a frustrating commute on the way home tonight and I had to share a question I have.

If you've bought a great big off-roading SUV thing that is bigger than the lane is wide, guzzles gas, and has never ever been off-road, why can't you at least drive it across road construction with - if not gusto - at least a little confidence?

You see, a couple of the streets I have to cross on my commute are being re-surfaced. Yes, it's a bit annoying, but at least they're not streets I would typically have to drive along, just across. The other day all of the manholes were sticking up about 4 inches above the pavement. And, yes, that can be bad for your car and its tires.

But, today, all of the manhole covers had very nice smooth collars of pavement up around them, making them perfectly fine for driving over. In fact, the worst part of the drive across the street was the 3-inch drop as you entered into the construction zone and the 3-inch ledge as you exited the construction zone.

If the people in front of me had had low-riding vehicles (say a sportscar of some kind, or a skateboard), I could see slowing down and gingerly crossing the intersection. But I was behind a Land Rover, a Ford Explorer, and a Lexus SUV. Each of which rolled, probably at a speed of "idle," across the intersection. I think a whole 3 of us got through on one cycle of the light, instead of 10 or so as would normally have made it.

And, you know, that's just wrong. Not driving one of those SUVs like it can survive a 3-inch drop is kind of like buying a Bugatti Veyron and never going over 30 miles per hour. (Christopher will be proud of me for spelling that car's name right. And, heck, just for knowing that it exists.) Either way, it's just a waste of money and, frankly - since this blog really is all about me - it's a waste of my time.

Next time, I honk.

Ten Years Ago Tonight

2011-09-10T21:10:00.005-05:00

It's kind of strange to think about, you know.

Everyone is talking about what they were doing ten years ago tomorrow. We all have stories of where we were and what we were doing. Who we were with. Who we talked to. Who we wanted... needed... to talk to in our quest to find some meaning in the day. When, exactly, we finally broke down in tears and what, exactly, caused it.

We've all spent the past ten years thinking about what happened. Our culture is filled with the sights and sounds of that day. And our daily lives are filled with the aftermaths of it.

Even so, as I sat here, tonight, on the couch with Christopher, tossing a tennis ball for the pup to fetch, I started wondering what I was doing ten years ago tonight. Not ten years ago early tomorrow morning (which was a Tuesday, in case you were wondering) when the world was still "normal." Not ten years ago tomorrow in the later morning when the world went somehow awry. Not ten years ago two days from now when a new kind of reality started to filter in.

But ten years ago tonight.

It was a Monday night, apparently. I was single and living in Baltimore and not dating anyone. My computer (an all-in-one iMac) sat in the corner of my living room where I barely had internet service and although I had email I definitely didn't have any on-line social networking. And - as much as it may shock some people - I honestly have no idea what television shows were on. So I have no idea whatsoever what I was doing ten years ago tonight.

I completely understand why the day that sticks in our heads is the "ten years ago tomorrow" day. But I kind of hope that, in 2021, I'll be sitting down on the night before the "twenty years ago" day, and thinking "Ten years ago tonight Christopher and I ate dinner on the couch while we watched 'Phineas and Ferb' and we all went to bed a little early, because it had been a busy, warm September day and we were fairly happily tired."

We'll leave the 11th of Septembers to remembering the 11th of September in 2001. But, on the 10th of each year, I hope that tonight is what I'll be remembering.

Playing in the Sprinkler

2011-09-08T20:48:00.004-05:00

I was watering the yard, tonight, in my usual way. Which kind of plays out like this: I go out, set up the sprinkler, then come in and set the timer and ignore the water until the timer goes off.

When I do the front lawn, I always worry a little about having it spray on the sidewalk, but that's the only way to get the boulevard watered.

Tonight, while watching TV, I glanced up and saw someone running through the water. Someone very small running through the water.

And then stopping. And letting the water catch up to him.

And then running back through it again.

And, finally, running all the way through and kind of high-fiving the much bigger person who was crouched just out of reach of the oscillating sprinkler.

It was, I realized fairly quickly, the two-year-old (I think that's about right) who lives next door, and his father. They are frequently out playing on "our" sidewalk, because the walk in front of their house is pretty short and their boulevard is all full of plantings - whereas our walk is rather long and the boulevard is just grass.

We occasionally see the whole family of five out for walks (the two-year-old has a very young sibling, and there's also a small dog), but lately the outdoor time has mainly been father/son time. And I'm guessing - just a hunch - that tonight the sprinkler time would not have been approved by his mom. Or, probably, anyone's mom for that matter.

But it was just so great to sit and watch him. To see him running back and forth in the water - dodging the sprinkler, then charging it full force - and always back to his dad.

I think we all do that, to some degree, no matter how old we get. The sprinklers just change along the way.

Travel Tuesday, sorta

2011-09-06T21:01:00.003-05:00

I have a list of blogs that I check out pretty often. (They're mostly the ones that are listed in the side column on here, in case you're wondering.)

One of the blogs I check out - called "Catalog Living" - uses, as its schtick, images from home furnishing catalogs, and adds dialogue (of sorts) to it.

Usually I find it interesting in an "oh. ha." sort of way. Today, however, it's a little more than that.

There's something both kind of Zen and a little Mary Poppins about it.

It's also a little bit of a commentary on working a job that seems to be going nowhere, while dreaming of traveling anywhere and everywhere.

Or at least that's how it struck me. Let me know what you think after you go check it out here.

Movie Monday: The King's Speech

2011-09-05T17:34:00.002-05:00

Having actually finished the work I needed to do at about 9 this morning, I decided to use the afternoon to do something fun. Since Christopher was doing his own work, I had to find something to do on my own.

So I pulled out a movie from Netflix which I've been "babysitting" for about 2 months: "The King's Speech."

If you haven't ever heard of it... well... I have no idea what to say to you, since it was everywhere for a while last year.

It's the story of King George VI of England (Queen Elizabeth's dad), and how he overcame a stutter. Really. That's pretty much the whole plot of the two-hour movie.

But it really is a good movie - and very interesting to watch. It has Colin Firth in the lead, with his wife - who eventually becomes "the Queen Mum" - being played by Helena Bonham Carter (whom I usually can't stand), and Geoffrey Rush (whom I also frequently can't deal with) as the speech therapist.

Here's the thing, though, I found myself laughing more than I expected. And that's why I liked the movie. Sure, it was serious and frustrating and intense and historical, but it was also really funny in a few places. One of my favorite scenes is when the Queen Mum meets the therapist's wife. It's this lovely little parlor piece, all done with eyebrows and cheekbones. Amazing.

So... Do I think it's the best movie I saw from all of last year's crop? No. But, heck, with all of the hype, it had no chance to live up to that. Had I seen it early on, I might have thought so. Overall rating: B+. Because, quite frankly, I had to sit at my computer and google the heck out of the characters to figure out who everyone was, when they could have easily included just a hair more exposition along the way.

Pseudoephedrine Saturday (and Sunday)

2011-09-04T08:55:00.003-05:00

Over the past few days, as the weather went from hot and humid to cool and dry, my sinuses decided that they didn't like the change. I woke up yesterday with sinus pain that was making my cheeks, jaw, and even one eye hurt.

The catch? If I take a full dose of Pseudoephedrine (which works great for my sinuses), it pretty much knocks me out. So I have to take a half-dose - which doesn't quite do the trick, but also doesn't force me to take a nap.

Late yesterday afternoon, I found myself not only stuffy and dripping, but also sneezing. Turns out that the weather change has apparently also ushered in the seasonal allergies that make me a cranky person as we move from summer to fall. (As if the knowledge that winter can't be too far behind wasn't bad enough.)

So I wandered hazily through parts of yesterday, and woke myself up sneezing this morning.

I'm thinking it's time for a nap.

Parking Lot Perturbance

2011-09-01T19:38:00.004-05:00

Why in the world to people feel the need to drive through parking spaces and park going "the wrong way"?

I mean... really... what good does that do?

It frequently means that they're pointing the wrong way down one-way driving lanes.

It means that they often slide into the same spaces that you're trying to pull into.

And it means that they're annoying me in the middle of a parking lot where I really just want to get on with my day and not deal with stupid people who are going the wrong way and pulling into spaces that I want to park in.

So... really... What's up with that?

Too Old Tuesday

2011-08-30T22:02:00.002-05:00

It seems that pretty much every few months a new reminder comes up that I'm not quite as young as I used to be.

Sometimes it's something obvious, like my back actually hurting after doing yardwork. That one I could ignore, because I'm doing more yardwork than I've ever done in the past. So I can't compare two equal examples to see what's worse. And, thus, I can't blame aging on the new back fun.

There's the non-annoyance of not being carded when I go out and order a drink. Of course, what's strange about that is that I never really got carded when I was under 21 (I always kind of looked like I was 25 - it was weird), so that's not a change. These days, though, it kind of would be nice to at least be asked from time to time for my ID.

But the worst of it is dealing with the after effects of a night's activities. Last night I didn't drink. I didn't go out. I didn't even have a big dinner. And, yet, I've been paying for it all day. What did I do? I stayed up until 12:45. Working. That's right. I wasn't having fun. I wasn't carousing. I was just sitting and working on my laptop. And, yet, when the alarm went off at 7 this morning, I thought I was going to die. I have no idea how I'm still awake after 10 tonight. I almost fell asleep at my desk at about 3. And I haven't had any caffeine.

What happened to the days when studying until 2 and getting up at 7 for classes was normal? And when am I finally going to hit the point where - supposedly - I'm going to need LESS sleep each night?

After all, if I'm going to have to keep dealing with the non-fun stuff about getting older, don't I at least deserve that?

Year the Sixth

2011-08-28T20:57:00.003-05:00

I'm kind of taking today off from Blogging, but not for the usual "Oops... I got busy" reasons.

Today just happens to be the Sixth Anniversary of the first time I met Christopher (and we had our first date - pizza, beer, and a movie at my place).

We spent today slightly more classily: mid-morning breakfast from Patisserie 46, errands, last-minute massages at the Day Spa in Edina, some puppy time, dinner at the meat-lovers' paradise that is Fogo de Chao, and an evening of collapsing.

And, you know, sometimes life *is* that good.

Mulch Ado About Nothing

2011-08-27T19:11:00.003-05:00

Obviously, this posting is not about Hurricane Irene - which is doing massive damage along the East Coast of the US right now. And it's not about the wedding Christopher and I went to earlier today. It is, however, about Mulch.

It's about something like 275 cubic feet of Mulch which Christopher and I had delivered to us by our yard guy, yesterday.

I think I've mentioned that we had our house-adjacent landscaping pulled out earlier this year. At that time, they cleared out all of the red lava rock that had been in the planting beds. Then we painted the house, had the beds newly edged, and decided that our last step before next year was simply to get some mulch down on it.

It's kind of amazing how much mulch it takes to cover planting beds on two sides of a house. When it was covering half of our driveway, it kind of looked a little like Big Bird's friend Mr. Snuffleupagus had decided to take a nap in the yard. Gradually, I got it moved around the yard and around the house.

By the time I was done, I'd mulched the planting beds around the house. The beds at the back of the yard. The area along the north side of the house (which no one sees), and the willow tree in the back yard.

I'd also mulched two pairs of socks to the extent of deciding it was easier to throw them out than to try to clean them.

So now we have mulch in the planting beds which - hopefully - will help our new landscaping plants grow next spring. And, in the meantime, it will (again, hopefully), keep any new weeds from coming up. Because if I did all that work and anything comes up randomly through the mulch... well... I'm not going to be happy.

And, thus, although you probably thought I'd forgotten it, we have the "Mulch Ado About Nothing."

Brain-Fry-Day

2011-08-26T15:30:00.002-05:00

Alright. It's Friday. It's 3:34pm. I've got 1h26m left of my workweek. And I have absolutely ZERO desire to do any more work.

It's been one of those weeks. Before the work changes which have come up (which I'm still not really talking about), I was assigned a rather massive freelance edit from work. Normally not a problem, and a nice thing to add some extra cash to the wallet. But, when the work changes go into effect in the immediate future, I'll be unable to get paid the extra cash for stuff like that. Which means that I had to finish said edit before Thursday just to be safe.

It wasn't bad when I thought the edit only had 186 pages (not entirely sure where I got that number), but it became worse when I found out it was closer to 400 pages.

Oh. And one other group I freelance for sent me that piece which I figured would take 2 or 3 hours which actually took 8 hours - and much of last weekend.

So I kind of had to crank out that big edit in my evenings this week.

And then there's the whole idea of trying to train a new hire at work this week. Thankfully, only part-time yesterday and today, but - still - trying to do my own job AND train someone else to do basically the same thing... kind of hurt my head. I've been having to do enough work to stay caught up, while also NOT doing work so that I could make sure that there were things I could use for training. (So far, the training is going well - although my inbox is a bit ragged.)

Which leads me to the next however long I'm here. Trying to maintain my inbox. Trying to stay awake. Trying to remind myself that leaving work more than an hour early would probably be a bad thing... (Right?)

Wemille Wednesday

2011-08-24T16:39:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day in my office for the person who - quite frankly - has been keeping me sane for the past 2 years (we both became full-time at the same time). Christopher and I have joked about that whole "sanity" thing from time to time, and she also knows that it's how I feel. But she has gotten a new job away from this office - where we frequently have to have "luncherventions" to keep people from shooting their computers, or their co-workers.

And, yes, her departure is going to mean a bit of a move up in the office world for me, too. So, good news for her AND good news for me. (Although - until my change in status is solidly official I'm not going to say much more about it.)

It's a strange day, though, and it's been a strange couple of weeks. We've become good friends - and so it's hard to imagine not being able to send messages and chat all day during the drudgery of the workday. Luckily, over the past few months I've been trying to expand my work-friend base, so I won't be left eating lunch in a corner or anything.

But I don't know that any time soon there will be someone I'll want to eat lunch with once or twice each week. Or to talk about both work and non-work for 15 minutes in the garage after work before driving away. Or, frankly, to be able to call a silly name like "Wemille" - a nickname she got because an author sent in a note to her a while ago which, frankly, looked like it was addressed to "Wemille." (In the cases where she is called Wemille, I'm called Mitch. Which is an even longer story...)

So we've spent today sending totally random emoticons in our Instant Messages. And counting down the time until she can fly and be free of here. It's a good day, really.

After all, I got to use the title "Wemille Wednesday" for a blog post. Can't complain about a day like that, right?

No. I'm Not Dead.

2011-08-20T17:44:00.002-05:00

Once again, I find myself looking at my blog and thinking "Whoa. How'd I miss another day?" Here's how I did it this week:

On Tuesday, I blogged.

On Wednesday, after a massive couple of days at work (not longer-than-usual hours, just a lot more stuff filling the hours), I came home and collapsed. I thought "Gee, I could do a blog post about something" but couldn't come up with the "something." Instead, I decided to leave it to Thursday.

On Thursday, Christopher was out to dinner with a friend of his, and I needed to do a quick edit. A "quick" edit that I started at 7pm and quit working on at about 11:30pm. And I was nowhere near done. Not even remotely. In the middle of it, I sent an email to the person who sent it to me and asked for some clarification. Then, at 11:30, I sent an email saying (in essence) "This is a lot worse than I had ever expected, and won't be done until the weekend." Luckily, that was for a client I've worked with many times before, and I'm usually really good with their deadlines (they often give me things at 3 in the afternoon and say "We're really in a rush, could we have this by tomorrow?" - and they do), but this time around there was just no way they could have it before the end of the week.

On Friday (last night), Christopher and I made a semi-home-made pizza (we bought a pre-made crust but put Christopher's amazing red sauce on it before we topped it), and watched some TV. His back was bothering him, so he opted to head to bed early - and I decided that sounded like a good idea. I didn't even turn my computer on all evening.

Which leads us to today. Let's see... I sprayed the yard with weed/feed stuff early in the morning, then started a load of laundry to clean the clothing I got weed/feed stuff all over. Then I went out and tackled a return at IKEA (which took 40 minutes - about 35 minutes longer than I had expected), ran an errand at the Mall of America, and capped my errands with a trip to SuperTarget. All of which were packed with Back-to-School shoppers.

I spent the afternoon (as in 5 hours of it) finishing that edit from the other night and doing one actually-quick one as well.

Now, thankfully, it's time to get myself put together and go to a wine and cheese night complete with a "cake tasting" for someone's birthday. Here's hoping I stay awake at least long enough to get to the cake.

Travel Monday/Movie Tuesday

2011-08-16T22:07:00.004-05:00

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging as much, lately, is because I've actually been spending some time with Christopher. He finished the last of the classes he was taking at the end of July, and after finishing a round of freelancing, I kind of opted to let it slide for a little bit. The slide, however - for better or worse - is coming to an end this week, so I'll be back to barricading myself in the basement with my laptop again coming later this week...

In the meantime, though, Christopher and I have done things like going out to dinner with friends - in the middle of the week - and going out to one of our favorite pizza joints on a Friday night (which is usually our "go home and crash after work" night). And, on Saturday in the late afternoon, we even did the almost-unthinkable and went to an actual movie. Together.

We'd been getting told to go see the movie for a while. And, well, as much as I believe my friends when they tell me I'll like a movie, I'm always a little leery about seeing movies people tell me I'll love. I tend to get my hopes up too high, and then I get let down. Add in the fact that it was a Woody Allen movie that everyone was pointing us toward. AND the fact that it's set in Paris - so everyone was sure I'd love it - and I was really nervous.

But, throwing caution to the wind and hoping for the best, on Saturday afternoon Christopher and I found ourselves headed out to see "Midnight in Paris."

It doesn't have Woody Allen in it, but the male lead is a disenchanted Hollywood screenwriter played by Owen Wilson - who has the Woody Allen whine down pretty well (for better or worse). He's in Paris with his fiancee and her parents for a pre-wedding trip, and they just happen upon an old professor of hers whom she has a crush on. And, well, we find that maybe Owen is really more in love with Paris than he is with his fiancee.

For the record, I almost said that Wilson plays "the main character," but that would have been wrong. We'd been told that the opening sequence is kind of a "love note" to Paris. And it is a very nice montage of places throughout the city. Parks and buildings and avenues and all sorts of great things - very travelogue-y, but very pretty. And, since the movie all takes place there, the love lingers.

So, anyway, Owen's character is in love with the idea of 1920s Paris, and - magically - finds himself there, where he's swept up in the wake of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and an amazing pantheon of artists and writers. And one especially lovely young woman played by Marion Cotillard (who is, frankly, always especially lovely).

It is a movie about dreams and realities. About love and about passion - two very different things. And, yes, it's a movie about Paris. (Oh, and to prove just how French the movie is, it actually has Carla Bruni - yes, THE Carla Bruni - in it in a really amazing little role.)

Friends of mine who know me well may be surprised to know that I did not shed any tears at the end of the movie. I did, however, a couple of times in the middle of the movie while our "hero" and "heroine" were walking the streets of the city. There was a moment (maybe two), somewhere in there, which felt so quintessentially Parisian that I just couldn't help myself and I found myself longing to be there again.

By the time the movie was over, Christopher and I were both talking about wanting to go back to Paris. But... ah... that danged "dreams versus realities" thing stepped in. Again.

Overall rating: A. Sitting here trying to find things that are wrong with it, I'm currently unable to. But even so it's not an A+, because... well... it's just not. (See it, and I think you'll understand what I mean.)

How You Are in "Real" Life

2011-08-14T21:29:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting here watching the reunion show for "Food Network Star" and I'm listening to people kind of... well... tear each other apart. Some of it is through clips from the season, and some is simply part of the reunion show.

Anyone who watches "reality" TV knows that editing can play a huge role in how a person is portrayed and perceived. Clips can be strung together to make an angel look like a devil, or a loon come across as the only sane one in the house. At the same time, though, there is the realization that every clip that shows up on TV *did* happen. The context might be messed with. The intent might be mis-played. But whatever we're seeing actually did happen.

So, I just heard someone say "I'm not like that in real life. Am I like that in business? Yes. Am I like that in a competition? Yes. But that's not how I am in real life."

But... Umm... If you spend 1/3 of your life (on average) at your job doing your business, doesn't that mean that you ARE that way in real life?

I work with this type of situation every day. I think that - for the most part - I'm exactly the same person in the office that I am out of it. (For better or worse.) My sense of humor is the same. My loyalties to my friends are the same. My desire to produce a good product that I can be proud of is the same. And, yes, the troubles I have with "suffering fools gladly" is exactly the same.

I work with two or three other people who have a tendency to drive me pretty darned close to the edge of wanting to not be professional with them. But they are friends with other co-workers I really enjoy. And I'm constantly told that they're "not like that when they're not at work."

My question? "Why not?" Or, more appropriately "So why do they have to be like that at work?"

People who don't speak to you at work, but want to be chummy as soon as you leave the office. People who are rude and unpleasant for 8 hours of the day, and are apparently sweet as pie as soon as the clock strikes 5. I'm sorry, but if we - as people - are really only awake for about 16 hours per day, and if 8 of those hours are at work, it seems to me that the jerkiness actually *is* the real life way that these people are.

On the other hand, last week I ran into a situation where someone in my office was being... well... to be polite... a total ass - as he has been ever since he started. And, for the first time, I decided not to just sit back and take it, and I told him so. I emailed later to apologize for being as straightforward as I had been, and offered a few tips for how we might work past the situation.

What I got in response was something from him saying "Hey. No problem. It happens." Which, I guess, means that he's accepting my apology for calling him an ass, but not apologizing for being one. Gee. That makes me feel *so* much better.

Sadly, I doubt that the people I work with will ever get to watch themselves on a reality TV show. And - considering that reaction from last week - I'm guessing that all we'd hear afterward would be "But, that's not how I am in my real life."

Friday Food - Fondly

2011-08-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

I found out this week that a favorite pizza joint (I started to write "restaurant" but that didn't sound right) in St. Paul is going to be changing hands later this month. Or, rather, it has already changed hands and is going to be having a full makeover - both of the decor and of the food - within the month.

The place is called Grandpa Tony's. It's been around for years and has really really good basic pizza. The thin crust pizza has a cracker-y crust around the edges, and the sauce is really good. And, well, there's word that the pizza will no longer be on the menu.

I'm guessing that Grandpa Tony's decided to call it quits because, a couple of years ago, a Little Caesar's pizza went in right across the street. So you had the old, good, more expensive pizza place across the street from the new, really pretty awful, cheap place. And, it seems, cheap but pretty awful has won.

So Christopher and I made a pilgrimage over there tonight with his sister (who will remain unnamed since I didn't ask if I could put her name in here) who lives in the area. The pizza was still basically the same, although there was a bit less pepperoni on it. But we had the same waiter we've had in the past and overall it was good.

The menu is definitely beginning to change (they've now got a wine list) and the decor has been re-done. And they now have 2 desserts on the menu, one of which was an amazing fresh, warm, gooey chocolate brownie with (not quite enough) vanilla ice cream.

We left having enjoyed the evening, although we are kind of worried that too many more changes might not be in our favor. We'll keep trying again, though, and hoping for the best. At least for now.

Something That Makes Me Happy

2011-08-10T16:25:00.009-05:00

I know that, yesterday, I posted about a few things that are kind of freaking me out in the world at the moment.

Well, today in my inbox I got a poem sent by the nice folks at Knopf Doubleday, home of the Borzoi Reader.

It seems that we, as a nation, have a brand-spankin' new Poet Laureate, in the person of Philip Levine.

Now, I have to admit that I don't know much about Mr. Levine. Nor do I really follow current poetical trends or anything. But I do love - rather a lot, actually - the fact that our nation, in all its screwed-up-ed-ness, still has a Poet Laureate.

And, having read the one poem which the nice people from the Borzoi Reader sent out to my email, I've got to admit that I'm rather glad that - for this moment in time - it's Mr. Levine.

The poem can be found by clicking this link. (I'm not copying and pasting because I don't want to muck with copyright stuff.)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Here's to mountains and oceans and valleys and all the little stuff that makes them so grand.

Tuesday Quickies

2011-08-09T22:05:00.003-05:00

A few quick things, since I'm soon to head for bed, but I don't want to leave another day with a blank screen:

- I found out today that the person who keeps me sane at work will be leaving the company later this month. I suspect it will be a bumpy ride - personally and professionally - for a while.

- I'm kind of freaked out by all that is going on in the world at the moment. Riots all over England. Monetary weirdness. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

- I don't understand how our TiVo decides what things it wants to advertise when we press Pause. How is a luxury car tag connected to an ad for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in the background?

- Gorgeous weather, here, today. So of course I have a major sinus headache.

- Want to know why I'm firmly against the people who think that the Defense of Marriage Act is a good thing? Check out this link and tell me how what the government is doing in the name of that act is good.

- I did a bunch of weeding in the front planting beds (which are currently mostly devoid of plants), this past weekend. My legs are still killing me.

And, well, that gets you caught up on what's in my mind, lately. At least the short version. I'll try to give you the longer version, soon.

Working for/on the Weekend

2011-08-06T21:37:00.003-05:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on editing a couple of things for the freelance side of my job. I do this fairly often (since my base pay is kind of bare minimum, it's how I afford to do fancy things like put gas in my car and buy new socks), and I usually get a good mix of manuscripts to work on.

I've worked on a lot of fiction (my favorite, I'll admit), as well as some political rants (from multiple sides of the aisles), some religious essays (and some religious tirades), and a bunch of memoirs. I guess that's what you get when you're working in self-publishing. Everyone is writing whatever stories they need to tell, and the strange and/or unsaleable isn't really weeded out along the way.

Some things I've edited have really not needed an editor (I've read a few things where - frankly - I only made one or two comments per chapter), and some have been really really bad. Things where the document wasn't even spell-checked. Or where the full "documentation" was something like "Wikipedia." Or one piece of fiction where the hero miraculously ran a mile across rain-slicked grass in a massive storm in the middle of the night, all with his hands in his pockets. And don't even get me started on the piece where one "journal entry" started in 1985 and ended 50 pages later in 1992...

But in each piece I've tried to find some glimmer of hope. Some spark to hold on to. The fact that Wikipedia guy had strong convictions. Or that the hero - with just a few keystrokes - was able to check his pocket for his keys, then take his hand back out to catch himself before he fell. Or that the journal entry (though in need of a major slice-and-dice) was filled with great details.

And then there came the past two things I've worked on.

One detailed the death, by drug overdose, of the author's child. It could have been a really moving story, had it not been written - and sent for publication - all within 8 months of the time the child died. So much anger and frustration and blame floating around in the manuscript. I wanted to sit the author down and say "Stop. Wait. Listen to what you're saying." But I know that other people in the office have already tried that, so I did my best to soften the edges of that book and sent it on its way desperately trying not to let it depress me - either for the subject matter or the serious damage done to the English language.

The piece I've been working on this weekend is a memoir of the author's parent's life, which was filled with love, abuse, alcohol, and - eventually - murder. About 1/4 of the book details the abusive relationship. About 1/2 of the book details the murder investigation and trial. About 9/10 of it is depressing, even though the author clearly means it to be a cautionary tale for others in the same position.

I feel pretty bad for Christopher when I'm working on things like this. They're so depressing to me, and I have to both read them for content while also paying close enough attention to make sure that they're all correct on the page. No skimming allowed. So I find myself barricaded in the basement for hours trying to get through these things and desperately looking forward to getting out the other side. (And then, ironically, in a month or so, I'll probably be writing some winning sales copy for the back covers in the hopes that the books will sell...)

From time-to-time on days like today I come upstairs and watch total fluff on TV, hug Christopher, scratch the pup, and hope that the next manuscript will be lighter.

Christopher uses times like this to remind me that it's extra money.

I use times like this to remind myself that my life is pretty darned good - especially since I have Christopher around to remind me of, well, anything.