Favorites: Laptop, Manicure, Traveling Wilburys

Orig post date: Feb 2008. I'm writing something about diamond rings and jealousy, but it's still very nebulous. One thing I can tell you is that my ring* looks spectacular next to my watermelon-colored nails. I made 200 bucks this week tutoring, so I treated myself to the manicure I've been wanting for 6 months.

I also wanted to show off my decorated laptop. I read an article about how Apple's success has created a clone-like atmosphere at Starbucks- rows of white laptops. Not me! I thought. Any hesitation I felt about plastering the name of my other website on my pristine laptop disappeared, and I added a Traveling Wilburys sticker for good measure. It's one of those quality fabric-y stickers, so it won't peel off. If you have any high-quality, durable stickers, please send them to me.

The only other person I've seen with a decorated laptop was an NYU student with a lot of stickers on hers. The white surface of my MacBook is also making me want to doodle on it with permanent marker.  But I won't, because that would be impulsive, and I'm not even sure what I'd want to doodle.  

*100 year old diamond, belonged to my husband's great- grandmother. Pretty, and, not to be gauche.... free.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Traveling Wilbury songs:



Ah! that reminds me to add Tom Petty to my list of celebrity crushes! Click here to read full entry.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Original post date: Spring 2008
I stumbled across this joyful video when I was looking for other blogs in the area. This guy is from Fairfield, CT, and his videos are so ridiculous and happy. Basically, he travels around the world and does a goofy dance in front of various monuments. I first watched the outtakes/bloopers, and was laughing my head off-- just me, by myself, laughing loudly. The final product is more artistic, but still great fun.

I'm not exactly a big crier, but I get emotional when I see image after image of stunning landscapes. I'll probably never see them, but I'm happy they are out there-- just sitting out there, while I'm here, at my desk. I'm not sad, I'm amazed, in a "hard to get my head around that" way.

Oh Lord, don't even let me watch the part where he dances with the kids in Rwanda. Don't ever read any books about the genocide in Rwanda, because they will destroy you. However, if you're interested, I recommend We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch and Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide by Samantha Powers. That one covers all the genocides of the 20th century won the Pulitzer for Non-fiction.

To end on an upbeat note, here's a cute spoof by a guy in London. The guy is lovably dorky, and it looks like he enjoys life in London.

I ADORE youtube. Current fave: "Sweetest Thing (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean. Click here to read full entry.

Chew, Bite, Crash: That's a Lotta Dog

Original post date: Dec. 2008 I have to post this picture of the dog we're hosting for two weeks. He's sweet, but he is a handful! He chews any small item not tied down (socks and shoes are obviously favorites) and today I caught him gnawing at our oriental rug. So far he's destroyed my husband's iPhone earpiece and ripped down our curtains. I actually think it's hilarious. I have to admire his spunk.
This picture is one of the rare moments he stopped wandering around looking for things to chew on. At first, when he leapt up into the bay window, we told him, "No! Get down!" But when he kept getting up there, and staying still... well, we let it go. At least he's lying down; at first, he'd just stand there and look at us, like, "See me? See me? Yeah. I'm in the window." (Say that in a Stewie voice, from Family Guy.)

I obviously can't leave him unattended, which is a problem. Everything I do, every second of the day, has to take into account where he is. It limits my movement in the house, so it's taking me longer to get things done. And, having to keep all the bedroom doors shut is causing a heat imbalance.

He has a lot of energy, which he takes out on my dog. He chews on her ears, bites her ears, puts his jaws around her entire head, and leaps on her and bites her neck. I think he's just playing, and when he first got here, she barked and snarled and bit him back pretty impressively, but at this point, she is just defeated. She's older than him and can't match his athletic attacks; he's taken to flinging all 65 pounds of him at her, full force. She's 50 pounds, but she's mellow. She can't fight him off all day. We have to keep them separated because he won't leave her alone.

He's strong. He ran into me full force once, when we were chasing him down to retrieve something, and whoa. That's a lotta dog. I think it was by accident.

Oh- he also starts whining and yapping as soon as the sun comes up, so forget about sleeping in. Point in his favor: his energy makes it necessary to walk him at least once a day, so I'm getting exercise. I'll miss that when he's gone... in 8 days. Click here to read full entry.

My Obsessions

Now, these boys are beautiful! These are my movie star-esque nephews. This pic is about 9 months old, so they're are even more handsome now.

They, and now my 9 month old niece, and my total life obsessions. I was there when each one was born. Yup, I've been stalking them since they were born, and even before. It's the horror of my life that they live in Mississippi, but we are hoping they'll get back to the East Coast in a few years. HINT, HINT.
Click here to read full entry.

Sisters and a Fancy Grey Sweatshirt

Original post date: Nov. 14, 2007. Well, my middle sis turned 30 today. She's finally in my decade. My youngest sis is in her 2nd year of law school and is a mere baby at 26. It's great having sisters. I don't have anything deep to say about that. I just wanted to put up a pic of my sisters.

I like this picture because we look super dorky and little. This is in Ireland a year and a half ago. It's a little hard to see, but my middle sis is wearing my grey sweatshirt, because we didn't bring enough warm clothes. Who knew Ireland would be freezing in July- shivering-freezing with pelting wind and rain. We wore all of our layers for three days straight and still got chilled. Even when the rain cleared, it was still cool. It's a good thing I brought my ratty blue sweatshirt, so my sis could wear the grey one. It's never a mistake to bring along an extra sweatshirt.

Last week the grey sweatshirt got left on a bus or airplane in Brazil. Oh well. That sweatshirt had some good times and got in more international travel than most people in the world.

Note in this Ireland photo the grey sweatshirt, and me in my same blue long-sleeved shirt, because I only brought tank tops. Idiot. I hope the person who finds the grey sweatshirt likes it. It cost 100 $, which is absurd. I only bought it because my husband got me a gift certif and there wasn't anything else in the store that I liked. It was still an adequate sweatshirt, albeit a bit short for comfort. That's why I won't really miss it and don't feel distraught.

Fortunately, my ratty blue sweatshirt from American Apparel did make it home safely from Brazil. Trusty, cozy little thing. Size medium. Look into it. Its comfort is worth the 50 bucks. I'm not including a picture of it, because in all the pics, I have the hood up and am hunched over in an effort to keep warm. Click here to read full entry.

O-FREAKIN-BAMA!

That's all you need to know. O-freakin-bama! This political season, I am going to be wearing Obama t-shirts incessantly and reminding people to get out and vote. Now that Hillary is out, I like her so much better!

If you are a Republican and you are reading this, I respect your views, but I urge you just to vote for Obama, OK? Just do it. Let's get someone interesting in the White House. I think Obama has a secret streak of Republican in him, so just... just vote for him this year. Trust me.

Maybe I will finally read Obama's other book, Audacity of Hope. It's almost too good to be true that Obama is in, but I think I'm ready to start letting myself believe it. I've been wanthing this so badly ever since I read Obama's memoir. I was going to be too disappointed if Hillary got in, so I didn't invest myself in the news coverage, and in fact, threw tantrums when my husband watched primary results. Now, I am ready to start campaigning and set myself up for devastation if McCain wins.

Do you think it would help if I campaigned for Obama, or is that just something we do to feel useful? Is there anything I can do to help Obama win? I'm scared to get invested because if McCain wins, it's going to hit me hard. Click here to read full entry.

Battle of the Skimmed Milks

Give them an inch, and they buy 2 percent milk.

I, like any figure-conscious woman, drink skim. Duh. My health-clueless husband thinks he's fit enough to drink full fat milk. Uh... yeah. Since I do most of the shopping, I graciously began buying 1 % rather than skim for our cereal; I am not an unreasonable woman. Well, I guess I sent the wrong message with that. Now, my husband thinks he's too good for one percent.

Yesterday I bought milk because I figured we were almost out; turns out he did, too. This morning, I debated using the already-opened 2 % or... nope.  I opened another completely full bottle of milk-- the 1%--, just to spite him.

Don't buy me 2 % freakin' milk. That's the message I wanted to send. Click here to read full entry.

Guitar Hero: Obsolete Obsession?

Original post: November 2008 I am turning into a total teenager. No, that's not true. A lot of adults play this video game, and Rolling Stone says it's a fixture on many bands' tour buses. All I can think about today is that video game: Guitar Hero.
Guitar Hero, where do I start. I met you in Woodstock, NY. I was afraid to try you, because I could tell I was going to get sucked in. I was right. The second I got back to CT, I talked about you until I got you for my birthday.

Details are fuzzy, but I conquered easy in a breeze, and medium after a few hours. Sometimes, when I arrived home and had to shower and leave in 20 minutes, I'd turn you on really fast, play one song, turn you off, and run upstairs. That burst of happiness was worth having to hurry.

Then, difficult level: the addition of the orange fret. That wasn't easy. I bombed out every time. I even sucked at the tutorials. Even in super slo-mo, I couldn't get my pinky to the orange fret and still get my pointer back to the green. I set you aside, knowing it would take hours to become competent, knowing I didn't have those hours.

This weekend, we were together again, and it flowed. Orange fret? Got it! Somehow I knew where to slide my hand; I could find the green. Maybe the 80's version was easier. Whatever. All I know is, now I can do the orange fret, and now I can start to try the difficult level... when I have a whole day to play. I'm obsessive like that.

A new game called Rock Band is out. It's by the same company who made Guitar Hero. Wired hails Rock Band as the next big thing, improving on GH enough to make it obsolete. Rock Band has four parts: vocals streaming across the top, guitar and bass just like GH, but with the addition of drums. It's only 170 $, and it's on my wishlist. Even though Wired says RB makes GH obsolete, I still want a 2nd GH guitar and the 80's version of GH. Before you buy me all that stuff, though, let me do some research.

Update: I got the '80s version, but I haven't been playing lately because I'm doing my other blog constantly and watching TONS of television. I'm also working full-time and tutoring, and I have a husband to pay attention to, and unfortunately, he does not like playing Guitar Hero. And, since I never play GH anymore, I haven't bothered to research Rock Band. I do have faith that GH will rise again in this household. Click here to read full entry.

Proposal For Keyboard Makers

I have a suggestion about the question mark key. How 'bout you put the question mark on the bottom, so I don't have hit shift every time I want to use it? Do you think people really use the slash more than the question mark key? I don't think so. Did you see any slashes in this normal, conversational-style paragraph? I didn't think so. Why don't you think about it and get back to me.
I'm not sure how we'll get this change made... but I think if Apple does it, the rest of the world will follow. Original post date 10/19. Click here to read full entry.

New Love

Original post date: November 2007. Two summers ago, I took a writing course for teachers. At that point, my nephew was two years old; since then, I have another nephew and now a brand new niece. I went to see them last month in Mississippi, and now I'm home, and I can hardly look at pictures of them without wanting to cry. I wish I lived closer. That reminded me of a poem I wrote for the course, about the idea that you can love someone so much; not that you love them more than the rest of your family. It's that they are brand new, so the love is brand new and hard to miss. I'd almost call it shocking. I was surprised by that. I knew it would be fun to have nieces and nephews, but I had no idea I'd feel this attached. Parents always say kids change your life, and I thought well duh, but I didn't know they meant this type of life-changing love.

Single at 30

No commitments to keep me home
I drive the length of New Jersey
once a month,
alone
to meet with my crush
to flirt, to woo, to kiss and hug and hold.

After he was born
I knew I had to break up with my boyfriend
who couldn’t match
this unforeseen love
in a tiny form
I could pick up and carry around.

My sister got mad
when she overheard me call him
my favorite person
but it’s true-
he’s perfect,
in the way only babies are.

At 530 am
I hear his faint babbling through my closed door
and spring out of bed
to begin my ministrations.

At the onset of language
I document every word:
18 months:
Mama Dada Ball
No ( “no noooo, no noooo”) Up Hat
Bus Dirt Hoop
Juice Cheese House
22 months:
mall dog eat
Elmo Bert Ernie
clock knee mow
ABCD
spatula pancake
QRS
Kristine (DIS-deen)
pasta pizza
baseball but-ball (football)
mmmuhnuhmuhnuhmuhnuh (translation: M&M)
23 months:
TUV
W
XYZ
mad sad
pop tart
crack eggs
first sentence: “Call Dada. More milk.”
last updated June 27, 2005

As the spinster aunt,
I watch my sister mother well
grateful
for this time
to be irrationally in love
to be not a mom yet

Disclaimer: the boyfriend I am talking about is not my husband. He obviously did match the unforeseen love.
Note: The pic is only of the above-mentioned nephew, taken last month in photobooth; nothing personal to my other nephew and niece, it's just that this pic was the only one where you couldn't totally see them. I try to keep my blog life a bit anonymous, even though to you all it's obvious it's me. I wouldn't mind if a stranger read all this, but I don't want them knowing what I look like. I might change my mind as the blog gets older and I get more famous, but we'll see. Click here to read full entry.