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Archive for June, 2004

Gahb’deegah…

Thursday, June 24th, 2004

Eek…I haven’t been here in nearly two weeks. I’ve thought about lots of great posts, but just haven’t been in front of a computer in that span of time. Mainly, because I have been working until my eyes cross, but there are a billion other things that are up.

  • We got the room nearly finished before zero hour. There are three ceiling tiles that need to be placed and two light fixtures. I only wish that someone besides the two of us could have seen how fucked this room was. the more we did, the more apparent was the fuckery. It was bad, thank the gods we survived.
  • We survived the class reunion. It was actually not very well put together. Ideally it would have been an hors d’ouevre mingling type thing, with some dancing after everyone had some actual mingling time. Instead, it was tiny mingling time, sit down dinner and dancing. No one danced. In retrospect, I should have just said fuck it and danced my heart out. However, for some reason, I didn’t. I knew a total of four people there, and they all know I’m a nutjob, drunk or sober, so really, nothing to lose. After the event we went to an overly pretentious bar. It couldn’t make up its mind what it wanted to be, and the pretention of the clientele was actually laughable. I also got a good chuckle at the number of people with stranger twins–other people wearing the exact same clothes, sheerly because they are that mass-produced and trendy. I was glad that I looked so long and hard to find us stuff that was really us. I was concerned that my dress was too teeny-bopper, but it got lots of positive feedback, and was more unique than the retro fluffy skirt and ballet top I originally had in mind.
    Overall, we did have a good time, and I met some neat people, so it was all good.
  • I started my new job. It’s crazy, but I like it. I am hoping to go full-time within the next two months, so that it can be my only job. We open in three weeks, and I see something new every time I’m there. My list of stuff to buy is ever-expanding…it’s crazy!!
  • I went to what is officially tied as the best concert I’ve ever been to. Alliecat and I went to see the Purple One at Excel. It was soo freaking awesome. Seriously, it’s hard to fathom how talented he is. The show was incredible. The first hour was a sort of freeform, jazz-style set, of various songs of his. He has an amazing band, just watching them riff like that was incredible. Then came what turned out to be my favorite part, the acoustic set. He did “Little Red corvette” and “Cream,” among others. Un-fucking-believable. Seriously. He has so much energy, he strutted and danced the whole time, he was dramatic to just the right degree, he is freaking HOT! Gah. Here it is a full week later, and I am still in awe. Definitley worth going. My only disappointment was that the tees were so freaking expensive, I could neither afford to buy one, or justify the expense. ($45 for a short-sleeve raglan, and either$55 or $65–I was at a weird angle and am not sure–for a long sleeve) I love him and all, but that much for a shirt that at most cost $10 to produce…I don’t think so.
    BTW, the show is tied with the time I saw the Smashing Pumpkins in Toledo, and they played for four hours. That was also so incredible, it still gives me chills.
  • in case I didn’t have enough on my plate, with the 3 jobs and all, my sis (Alliecat) is here with her three kids. I am trying to spend a little time with them, but that is proving difficult. Tomorrow, we have big plans, and next week is the Taste, which I am jazzed about, so hopefully we will get ample time to enjoy.
  • Finally, I am pissed. My favorite store is closing, thanks to the evil Target empire. I avoid shopping at Target, ever since their issues with paying living wages (what, you mean there are people who have families to feed???) and now that they are no longer a discount store (seriously, if I want to spend that much on my stuff, I can do it anywhere) Now, they are selling their parent company, which includes Mervyn’s. Bah. Bah to Target. Of course, thanks to my new job, I really won’t have a reason to shop there at all pretty soon. Which is good, because since I will never, ever, allow Wal-mart to get a dime of my money, my discount shopping venues are limited. There’s always the Big K, but the last time I was in, they were so rude, I realized that apparently they do not need my business. Anyway, I am hoping I can get some of my new favorite bras on deep discount at Merv’s and maybe the adorable petal sweater I have been coveting. Of course, once they close their doors, I will be very sad.
    All that having been said, I will probably shop Marshall Field’s now. I like Lord and Taylor, so there is hope there.
    That’s my corporate vent for the moment.

Well, I am fecking starving, so I must go…I promise I will be more with it next time.

Loose change…

Saturday, June 12th, 2004

So, G and I went to ye olde Hair Police today. I hadn’t been since my stylist left for NYC 🙁 My hair wasn’t bad for a while, but it go to the point that only a ponytail would do for being in public. So, I bit the bullet and had G make me an appointment to coincide with his. I didn’t do anything drastic, but my hair is much improved. We liked the stylist, and think she will officially be “our” stylist.
For those of you who don’t know, I am picky. I never had a regular stylist, because it seems that every stylist I went to would tell me why they couldn’t do what I wanted, and what they were going to do instead. Then, I found Kris. I would say, “hey Kris, this is what I want.” And he would do it. I was smitten. G tried another stylist, and while her cut was all right, it was nothing to write home about. That, and her attitude isn’t exactly endearing. So, as fate would have it, we fell into the lap of Satya. She is cute, she is fun, and she listens, and gives us what we want. Sigh, I may be smitten all over again.

Great American Heroes

Saturday, June 12th, 2004

Yeah, so that’s not an original title. But, it is no longer in use, and the “real men of genius” thing is too exclusive, so this will have to do.
Anyway, this is my new feature, in which I give a shoutout to my hero of the day.
The inventor of the paint roller.
This handy dealie makes it oh-so-easy to cover walls. In using a brush to trim the stinking walls, I really do not want to know how much fun it would be to paint large areas in that manner.
I salute you mr./mrs./miss/ms. paint roller inventor.

picket fence

Saturday, June 12th, 2004

Ha. An actual post. Due to our remodeling efforts, I haven’t been able to get to the real computer. But, I have my temporary setup worked out for now, so here’s a little somethin’ somethin’.
So, we need to have this remodeling project done tomorrow. This will allow us to move furniture back in the room and all that jazz, just in time for the Alliecat family to occupy. This project started out pretty simple. Mending the wall damage, cleaning the carpet. Well, it was brought up by a certain someone that we should replace the ceiling tiles while we were at it. In ripping out the old tiles, it was discovered that the people who put up the ceiling in the first place were obviously high. At least I hope they were high. Maybe they ate paint chips as children. Anyhow, we discovered that we needed to rip out what we can only assume is some sort of insulation (it could have easily been some sort of alien being). We also needed to rip off the old crown molding, as it was poorly installed, and warped. So, we now need to reinsulate the ceiling, hang molding, and install new tiles. Oh, and did I mention light fixtures? The old ones were scary at best, and didn’t give off much light. So, tomorrow, I pick up the new lights. The paint should be dry (the second coat, that is) fully tomorrow for chalk lining, and ceiling installation.
Then, some serious vacuuming, and carpet cleaning. Since we are cleaning that carpet, we may as well clean the hall carpeting. And the carpet in the bedroom.
Oh, and now that the room is painted, I can’t decide if we should leave the woodwork alone, or paint it white. The woodwork darkens the room (i think). However, it matches most of the wood furniture. I also wanted to hang white shelves. I can’t decide if I should just go wood-colored there, or if white shelves would be okay with the wood-colored woodwork, or if I should just screw it all and do a little more painting. Hmmm…
I can’t wait for the kitchen project. I was all psyched, but after this little number, I am afraid…very afraid.

Why would I go looking for someone who is trying to kill me?

Friday, June 4th, 2004

So, last night we braved the wee hours and saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I have to say we had the best costumes. Las and I were, of course, the school girls. She, a Slytherin, I, a Ravenclaw. We Had matching outfits, with authentic PoA ties. The only flaw was that our sweaters and skirts were lighter than those in the movie, but what can you do. G was Sirius Black, in a lovely prison shirt with his prisoner number on the back. The MIL was power-drunk as Professor McGonagall, taking points from the houses left and right. I brought along my owl, who was happy to swivel her head constantly, taking in all the people. Due to Las injury, we sat in the handicapped row, displacing some angsty teens, who apparently don’t understand that the little wheelchair symbol on the seats mean they are for people with disabilities/injuries. we were comfy, though Las ankles were all swollen by the end, as there was no place to prop her injured foot.
Anyhoo, the film was good. V.V. different than the first two. This director didn’t feel the need to explain every single thing. There are a few scenes I felt could have used a little more time, but over all, I liked the pacing. This one was a lot artier than the last two, and funkier. It felt a little Baz Luhrman *drool* to me, which is cool. The Monster book was freaking adorable, and I loved Crookshanks. They finally started alluding to the blossoming romance between Ron and Hermione. (I totally think those two are gonna get together.) And Gary Oldman, even filthy and crazed…still hot.
So, it was a good time, even though I was (am) deathly ill. We are already plotting costumes for Goblet of fire, and dreading the minimum two year wait until the next movie. All I have to say is that J.K. Rowling better get cracking on the next novel!!

Sleepless in Saint Paul

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004

Aye Carumba. How did Wednesday come so quickly? No, I mean seriously…get your mind out of the gutter. Oh, that was just my mind…never…ANYWAY…
We finally have some sunshine up in these parts. Yesterday was very Seattle-like, all grey and misty. Otherwise, it has been mostly pouring. In fact it rained for nearly two weeks straight. I like rain as much as the next guy, but that is excessive.
We did have a long enough respite from the rain for fireworks on Monday. G and I, along with some friends chilled on the in-laws’ boat (with the in-laws), ate a lot, drank some, and just had a nice time. I have to say that whoever invented Golden Oreos is the devil. I mean, I love regular Oreos. I twist them apart insuring that both cookies have equal amount of filling, so I feel as though I am eating two cookies instead of one. They are choclately, and sweet, and sandwich-y. But Golden oreos, they are all vanila-y, and and warm tasting, and before you know it, you’ve eaten the whole package. So. Good. Anyway, I ate too much, but the food was soo good. And the fireworks were great. I am a sucker for fireworks. In fact, If G and I weren’t fall sort of people, I would have loved a nightime wedding ceremony on the capital lawn with the fireworks going off over us, back when Taste of Minnesota was held there. That would be sweet. Anyway, to recap, boat, friends, food, drink, fireworks, all good.
Yesterday, the only thing I wanted was a nap. I worked and ran errands, then arrived for my show. We were told we were performing at 7. HAHAHAHA. They meant eight. Two hours to kill, and an empty stomach. I enjoyed some spinach artichoke dip, and some pre-show chatting. The show went well. I didn’t get to see the one immediately following ours, but I saw the other two. The one was funny, cute. The other one should not have been the last show. After watching funny stuff, watching three people give their perspectives on a rape for what felt like at least half an hour, in monologue form, wasn’t very enjoyable. I may have enjoyed it more if the one guy wasn’t talking so much in a blah, blah, blah format for half-an hour. Okay, maybe it wasn’t half-an-hour, but it was way more than ten minutes. Anyhoo, I got a free Guiness out of it, and was mesmerized by the dancing elephants on the Delerium Tremens sign. We’ll know soon if we get to perform again, or what people thought at any rate. I also have to look forward to our drunken cast pool (not necessarily in that order) party. Good Times.
We celebrate a co-workers b-day today. I brought an angel food cake, and my boss brought strawberries which I sliced and fanned in a scalloped pattern around the edge of the cake, then wrote Happy Birthday in red gel frosting on top. I also made chicken caesar salad for everyone. I just wanted to do something nice for my friend, but now everyone says I should be the next Martha Stewart, they were so impressed. Hmmm..that’s one job I would enjoy the hell out of. Decorating and cooking and crafting all day, every day, and getting paid to do it. Cue dream sequence….
Today I actually went to the gym, and worked out for an hour. I felt awkward flashing my id card, with the picture that makes me look like a man since I had no idea I was having a photo taken for that purpose and came from work with my hair in a ponytail and G laughed at me when the guy told me he was going to take my picture because I apparently made a “what the hell?” face, but I got past it. I read some of Alvin Karpis’ tale of life at Alcatraz, and was amused by the other people working out. Now I feel like jello, and still want that nap from yesterday. I think a shower, and laundry, and smoothing out joint compound will take precedence. I will have to keep it up, so that I get in to shape and so that my ass stops sagging and my knees aren’t chubby.
Tomorrow is Harry Potter day! I have my Hogwarts uniform all ready to go. LaLa and I will be the cutest Hogwarts kids ever! Until then, I shall dance.