more blahg blergh

I just really haven't had much of import to say lately. I still don't, but in the interest of cheering myself a bit and keeping this blog active, following is a list of things which make me happy. [Note: This list is just "stuff" and does not include important things like friends and family... It's just "stuff."]
1) that shade of orange which you normally see in Shinto shrines
2) mashed potatoes with sauerkraut
3) finding a package of free books on my doorstep
4) an email in my inbox which is an actual letter to me
5) Cincinnati chili 5-ways
6) scarlet and crimson
7) a great song I totally forgot about coming on the jukebox or radio
8) finding a new beer which I really, truly love
9) clean sheets on the bed right after a long, hot bath
10) a long, hot bath
11) sandalwood, patchouli and peppermint scented anything
12) my fantastic collection of sophisticated perfumes
13) getting jewelry as a gift because it is totally useless and makes me feel girly
14) when the sun comes through the clouds in actual streams
15) First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
16) Angostura bitters
17) my beautiful and well-stocked bar
18) SIGG bottles
19) Nate's Aunt Sue's totally unhealthy fruit salad
20) my collection of collections
21) my Prius Betty Blue
22) peonies
23) Dark Chocolate truffles by Godiva (the ones dusted with cocoa powder)
24) my beautiful and oh-so-fucking-comfy bed
25) MAC lippie

gin & zombies

gin and tonic strawberry ice cream filet mignon with monteal seasoning medium rare mashed potatoes with so much butter and sour cream mixed in that you might think potatoes are a dairy product lots of family time watching tv and zombiesZOMBIESZZZZZOOOOOOMMMMBIES!!!!

a perfect Sunday night.

I'll be honest.

Things I don't like:

1. People who call themselves artists who never create anything.
2. The use of words like "exquisite" and "gambolling" in casual conversation. Unless I say them.
3. People who don't recognize that there is an art to cussing and artists should be left alone to create.
4. The use of phrases like "harsh beauty" in Facebook comments or tweets. But only if written in a very self -aware "aren't I a super wunnerful writer" sort of way.
5. The rest of the artichoke.
6. Early '80s furniture in almost any style.
7. When people drum their fingernails.
8. People who get food or other undesirable stains on library books.
9. When someone says they don't like pickles but don't specify what sort of thing has been pickled and in what particular way.
10. Self-sealing envelopes. Because where's the fun in that?

Things I like:

1. Hotels with a variety of pillows.
2. Cotton
3. Harvard beets
4. Cussing
5. The smell of an old paperback that hasn't been opened in years.
6. Clear, waterproof band-aids.
7. Drumming my fingernails.
8. Paperclips
9. The harsh beauty of people exquisitely gambolling.
10. Finally getting that itch in me ear scratched but good.

I'm "it."

I was tagged. Instructions are:

• Link the person who tagged you (That would be Amy.)
• Mention the rules on your blog
• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours…
• Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them… (I don't know six who haven't already done this!! Two will have to do and I don't know if they'll do it.)
• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

So...
Hmmm....

1. I like pineapple and pepperoni on my pizza. The salty, sour, spicy and sweet flavors are tremendous, no matter how you may think it might taste.
2. I cannot ride a bike. Really. I have tried as an adult, but I have no sense of balance. Can't do a whole lot of things which require good inner ear workings.
3. Although I would have loved to have had five of my own kids and there are dear loved ones whose children I love almost as much as my own: I really, really don't like other people's children in general, with few exceptions. When my kids have their annual birthday sleepovers, I have to load up on the anxiolytics and hole up in the bedroom.
4. My cars' names have been, in order: Thumper (tan '78 VW Rabbit), Murry (blue '92 Mazda Protege), my gold '96 Mitsubishi Galant for some reason went unnamed although I loved her, and Betty (sky blue '05 Prius). (And Betty has a voice thanks to nav function, so we talk to each other a lot.)
5. I make lists of how I will spend the winnings of any lottery ticket before I purchase it, and all of the charitable giving, family and friends' gifts and endowments and patronships go at the top as a sort of "deal" with the gods to let me win, because, after all, see what a good person I am??
6. I have tried and tried, but I cannot stop picking at scabs. (Literally and figuratively.) It's calming, and it leaves that fresh, red raw skin that I both abhor and love for some reason.

TAG:

• Vicki
• Historical Wit

The ABCs and XYZs of me...stolen from a thief ;-)

The ABCs and XYZs of me:

Accent: none, or Central PA--depending on where YOU live
Bra size: 38D--uh huh!
Chore I hate: cleaning the bathroom (yeah, me, too, Amy!)
Dad’s name: Richard, who goes by Rick, but I call him Dick, lol
Essential make-up: LIPSTICK!!!! It's all I need!
Favorite perfume: Right now: Casual: Cannabis Santal by Fresh; Dressy/Sexy: Tom Ford's Black Orchid
Gold or Silver: Yes, lol.
Hometown: Harrisburg, PA; more specifically: Penbrook, PA
Interesting fact: uh...I can touch my tongue to my nose??
Job title: Field Researcher as of two weeks from now, but really that's been my unofficial title since I had kids!
Kids: 2 sons; 14 and 11 years old
Living arrangements: a lovely house in Penbrook (built by my great-grandparents as a wedding gift for each other) with my husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, 1 wonderful, old "puppy" and too many dust bunnies
Mom’s Birthplace: Harrisburg, PA
Number of apples eaten in last week: 0
Overnight hospital stays: pneumonia as a baby, appendicitis as a kid, two for having kids, sleeping by the bedside of one of my sons for a few nights when he was a toddler, a couple stints in the loony bin
Phobia: not really any, anymore...maybe "falling"
Question you ask yourself a lot: Why are people so ignorant??
Religious affiliation: uh...none
Siblings: 1 younger brother
Time I wake up: When do you eat lunch?
Unnatural hair color: well, yes, I've had it colored for longer than I can remember (for fun, no gray yet), but right now it is CLOSE to my natural color: dark blonde with various other shades of blonde blended in
Vegetable I refuse to eat: lima beans, that's it
Worst habit: staying up late/sleeping late
X-rays: various and sundry...
Yummy food I make: spaghetti sauce; muffins/quick breads; braciole with gnocchi
Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Random list: Things I've learned this year

These are a few things I have learned this past year:

• No matter how long the darkness is, there IS light again at the end.
• My boys are soon adults. (!!!!!!!)
• My boys are more funny, intelligent and independent than I ever realized, and I like to think I have almost everything to do with that.
• Keith Olbermann is the most entertaining and wonderful newsman on TV. Who knew I'd love someone from ESPN so much??
• The face--the literal face--of politics is changing. A woman and a man of mixed race running for POTUS is amazing!!
• The figurative face of politics can change--witness Obama's campaign full of dignity, truth and actual hope. It's not just a slogan.
• When one is cruising through all of the CSI episodes ever made on Spike TV and CBS and has almost run out, ECT will make them all new and fresh to watch again. Not that I recommend this method of re-loving your shows.
• Surprises can come in small and large packages, sometimes at the exact same time.
• Life can throw crap at you for a few years and seemingly devestate your world, but it is more than likely not a lifetime of bad luck and life will bless you again at some point.
• I am ready to try to keep houseplants alive again. (Wish me and my black thumb luck!)
• Costco's filet mignon is about the best thing ever meat-wise.
• Frank's Red Hot--a longtime favorite--can fix more foods than previously thought.
• Good coffee and red wine (long consumed, but never before fully appreciated) are indispensible little bits of heaven in my everyday routine.
• All that loud music as a kid really does effect your hearing. Sigh... (As a connected "thing I've learned": Closed Captioning is a wonderful invention.)
• You can grow older and grow more liberal contrary to popular belief. (Right, my socialist little hubby? MWAH!)
• You can absolutely retain "cool-ness" as you grow older. Sometimes you can even increase it.

Maybe more later.

Random list: Heroes of Mine

• Shelby Knox
• Emily Lyons
• Jimmy Carter
• Liberal Mothers who stay home with their kids
• Thomas Beatie
• Rosa Parks
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Helen Thomas
• Angelina Jolie--really (She doesn't take shit from anyone; she does what she wants and doesn't care what others think; she uses her celebrity to actually do good things in the world; she has adopted children and seems to be a good mother.)
• Obama
• people who are open and truthful about their lives
• George Tiller, M.D.
• 5/08/08 ADDITION: Keith Olbermann (As BFF Vicki states it: I love that man. He pulls no punches. I truly think he's our generation's Edward R. Murrow. I love anyone with the balls to speak truth to power, but few are as impeccably groomed as he while speaking it.)

If I think of any others, I'll let ya know.

Who are your heroes?

Random stuff:

1. Job interview this afternoon, wish me luck. This is for the CDC field researcher position which is a one year contract job for the National Survey of Family Growth.
2. Yesterday I had an unexpected phone interview for an admin position with SEIU. She asked why I wanted admin when I clearly had the experience for an organizer position. It's the hours, the hours, the hours. Not ready for upwards of 60 hour weeks quite yet. Maybe when the kids are in college. But she will be calling me when they figure out where they are going with their office reorganization. It went well. Now hope they hae a position for me.
3. Ethan has an orthodonstist appointment today. Just normal braces readjustment stuff.
4. He had a doctor's appointment two days ago. Scoliosis check. He's fine, despite what the school nurse thought she saw.
5. I got a lot done errand-wise yesterday after BFF Vicki left. (We ate a late breakfast at Waffle House to drown our post-primary sorrows in the syruppy goodness of waffles, the wonderful toast dipping goodness of over easy eggs and, of course, bacon, bacon, bacon. YUM!)
6. After I wrote yesterday's entry regarding the primary, I actually felt a lot better.
8. What could be better than #7?

Countdown with Kayly

More a random brief list than the top stories of my day:

5. One glass of red wine and two warm chocolate chip cookies for bedtime snack tonight

4. Total 419 emails today: 9 (average, I'd say)

3. Creepy blog: Stay-At-Home Daughters (be sure to read their profiles; also, this launches a new sidebar feature Read It and Weep--title courtesy of BFF Vicki, royalties to be paid upon my book deal ;-* --send me creepy, scary and/or brainwashed Jesus-bots blog in addition to ridiculously poorly written blogs, hilariously jingoistic blogs, etc.)

2.Most important post I read today: Who Knew Spring Cleaning Could Feel So Good???

1. Most annoying commerical I have seen way too fucking many times: That would be the Nutriystem commerical with Dan Marino and Larry the Cable Guy

P.S. I think I learned a new trick today from my Feedjit widget: I believe if I mention SEIU and Obama I will get more traffic from pro-SEIU and/or anti-SEIU bloggers and/or employees. Next post I'll mention SEIU without mentioning Obama and see if that works or if it's only the combo.

Random list: Some favorite posts from this past week

• Bishkek Bop: Embracing Parenthood, One Purchase At a Time
• Bitch Ph.D.: Coming Out of the Menstruation Closet
• BlondeSense: Florida Shines Again!-April 7 (Actually read all of 7 April--funny stuff. Or sad. Not sure.)
• the field negro: I can't suspend my disbelief
• The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: If you call that music
• Zen Comix: 241 Days Until Zappadan

Ten good reasons to hate Hilary

2. Clinton Aide Compares Obama to Ken Starr

3. "Senator Clinton is not even willing to acknowledge that she voted for war. She says she voted for diplomacy despite the title that said 'Authorisation to use US armed forces in Iraq'."--Obama

4. Nobel winner: Hillary Clinton’s ‘silly’ Irish peace claims/Clinton's experience claim under scrutiny

5. Clinton camp never briefed Ottawa, official says

6. "We must stay the course” in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and asked for more troops to finish the job. “We have to exert all of our efforts militarily, but the outcome (in Iraq) is not assured”
   November 29, 2003 Hilary visits the troops In Iraq and Afghanistan

7. Clinton’s Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband’s Interests

8. Hillary flip-flop on torture inspired after meeting generals

9. Kenyan Elder says Obama dress cultutral, not religious (Note the blogger says he got the pics from Clinton who was apparently offended by--or thought we should or would be--Muslim garb.)

10. She's a cunt. (And this is not anti-feminist of me, so stuff it. McCain is a dick and an asshole, does this mean I hate men and lower g.i. processes?)

To quote Gail Collins: While Barack Obama may understand the audacity of hope, only Hillary Clinton really gets the audacity of audacity.

Guest "Random List"

This is one of my favorite joke pieces from Esquire. It hangs on the side of my fridge in order to humble the gifted masses of my household. (It doesn't humble us too much, but it does make me laugh!)

10 Things You Don't Know About the 99th Percentile
Finally, the secrets of smart people revealed!
By Bob Scheffler

1. It's estimated that we use 11 percent more brainpower than average people, but we're thinking of bumping the figure up to 13 or 14 percent. (Who's going to know different -- you? Please.)
2. It turns out ontogeny doesn't recapitulate phylogeny, but we really had you going there for a while.
3. We pretty much know what you're going to say before you do. Surprisingly, this time-saver always leads to punching.
4. You'd be shocked to find out what that little round sink at the dentist's is connected to.
5. By the time you finish reading this sentence, we'll have come up with six reasons why you shouldn't have.
6. When our brains are fatigued, we engage in a period of regeneration, often producing delightful musical soundscapes with our nasal cavities.
7. For a brief time in the sixties, pi was not only variable but spent two weeks touring with Iron Butterfly.
8. Genius sex is like regular sex, only with footnotes.
9. The Kelvin temperature scale was invented as a joke.
10. Pluto deserved it, but not for the reasons everyone was told.

Random list: "Romantic Husband"

Ten Random Ways My Husband Shows His Love for Me

1. He cooks dinner.
2. He lets me pause the DVR every ten seconds to comment with nary a complaint from him.
3. He bought me a made-for-arthritics jar opener as a Christmas stocking stuffer so I can maintain bottle & jar independence.
4. He buys fresh, whole pineapples at Costco, then peels, cores and slices them and puts them in the fridge for snacking.
5. He bought me cheap chocolate covered cherries and expensive designer perfume for my "in-the-booby-hatch" Valentine's Day gift.
6. He buys me comfortable and warm PJs for Christmas rather than impractical sexy PJs.
7. He sleeps on the couch if his snoring is keeping me up.
8. He recognizes that I am in physical and mental pain and acknowledges they are difficult for me.
9. He laughs at my jokes.
10. He knows my quirks by heart. (I have a favorite fork, for example, and he always makes sure I get that fork without my ever having to mention it.)