Having a Party

That song by Sam Cooke nearly makes me weep with happiness. Nostalgia for something I wasn't even alive for - but really, it's nostalgia for my childhood, when that was 95% of the music I listened to, and everything was simple and exciting and happy and bursting with possibilities.

Not that the present day is anything to scoff at - I'm in the process of getting very excited about next weekend. We are, indeed, having a party. Friday, Saturday, and probably spilling over into Sunday. I'm excited about seeing so many friends, and excited about the live music that will be happening in my friends' freaking place of residence, and even excited about setting up, tearing down, etc. It is certainly bursting with possibilities of every kind. I'm also excited about the goat head mobile I'm making for the venue ceiling. Oh yes I am. I currently have straws, paper clips, and eight little paper goat heads in my bag. Earlier they were all lined up in front of my keyboard, smiling bashfully.

As for this weekend, I have a million things to do. Buying supplies for next weekend, baklava ingredients, browsing the Apple Store for laptops, twinsitting, finding out how my sister's Bahamas wedding went. I hope the weather will be nice enough to play outside, too. I have studying to do for a test next week (yes, a test at work) but it's 55 degrees right now, and in about an hour I am out of here. There's no law that says I have to study at my desk!

Goat head

I just folded an origami goat head. It may be my favorite project so far. No, actually I think the turtle was my favorite. I'm going to peek at tomorrow's page ... holy cow, it's a Blow and Spin Top! I love this calendar.

Last night I had a great dinner at the Stone House in Quivy's Grove, which is on the national register of historic places. Recommended. Before that, I had immersed myself in the Wikipedia for awhile. As always, I learned new and exciting facts. Here are some of the articles I read:

Ten Commandments
YHWH
diphtheria
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Kenosha
Thomas Pynchon
Gravity's Rainbow
county seat
Consenza
Edmonton, Alberta
white-collar
The Magnificent Ambersons

My favorite new fact gleaned? Probably that the Kenosha area is the site of the earliest traces of human life discovered on Earth, dating to 19,000 years BC. How do I not remember learning that in school, in Kenosha?

New technology time!

I decided yesterday over dinner that it was time to seriously upgrade my arsenal of electronic toys. Having made that decision, I'm as giddy as a ... person who just decided to upgrade her arsenal of electronic toys. Does that really need embellishment?

So, what will I be upgrading? Here are all the things that have crossed my mind: iPod, computer, cell phone, camera, TV, turntable. It seems like a lot, but I'm pretty good at taking care of the stuff I have and using it for a long time. Everything I currently own is more than two years old, and some things are quite a bit older. Finally, I don't actually own a turntable. Though I have a bunch of records.

So! We've established that I am not in dire need of any new electronics ... but I am in want of them. And since I just received my tax returns, and I've been saving some dough, I shall have at least some of them. At the top of my list right now are a laptop and iPod, and maybe a cheap turntable, but I have so many decisions to make. I'm also a little paranoid that two months after I buy the iPod, Apple will come out with a new one, rendering the one I just purchased vastly cheaper.

If anyone has any recommendations for anything, I'd love to hear them.

Mom for a day

Saturday afternoon was my twin nephews' third birthday party. This involved me shepherding young children around a gym for a good portion of the afternoon, and eventually holding week-old baby while her mom took a break. Not that it's never happened before, but twice people I didn't know assumed I was a mother. It's not an odd assumption - I'm the right age for a youngish mom with little kids. The odd thing is how people treat you when they assume you're with your child.

I'm not talking about discrimination. It's just a different world. I know I'm not telling those of you with children anything new, but it was so weird to have moms I didn't know approach me and exclaim over how cute "my" child was, and then spontaneously share anecdotes about their own kids like we were old friends. ("My youngest was a preemie, so tiny like your little one, and now she's in gymnastics here and we can't keep her still! I bet your daughter will be the same way.")

Maybe it wouldn't seem so strange if I lived closer to that world, but at this point I don't. At all. I visit my family a couple times a month, and am well versed in the ways of the children, but my life in Madison is very much adultcentric. I work at a company of young professionals, where the median age is something like 27. I live with a college friend, I keep nice things on low shelves and cleaning products in unlocked cabinets, none of my close friends have kids, I stay up until all hours, I go out when I want, I travel at a moment's notice. I am not a parent. So when someone assumes I am, my world view gets messed up for a little while. It turns my perspective around, and it's rather disorienting. ("My God, that could really be me right now.")

I don't think I really have a point. Just something I was thinking about today.

By the light of the Ameristar

Just checking in from a BBQ & music extended long weekend. Extended almost to the next weekend, that is. Ahhh. So far we've been in St. Louis (home of the awesome City Museum, a sort of giant adult playground ... not like that), and now in Kansas City. We ate at Arthur Bryant's last night, and had the best damn BBQ ever. We brought about 50 pounds of it back to our hotel, too. The only downside so far has been the suckmazing weather in western Missouri. Of course it couldn't be 70 and sunny right now. Oh well!

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Okay, kind of lame. So go create your own right here!

Do you know what today is?

PI DAY!

And at 1:59 we get FREE PIE! Awesome, and geeky. It's a good combination. I am so ready for pie. Piiiiie.

In other news, Yahoo headlines continue to amuse me. Yesterday there was the following:

Astronomers Discover Icy 'super-Earth'

Then today,

1,600 More SAT Problems Found

Ha! 1600? Did someone cleverly sabotage the College Board? I can't believe the article doesn't even mention the coincidence. Then again, 600 problems had already been discovered. I guess it's just a happy twist of fate that they overlooked exactly 1600 other problems until now.

It's a day of numbers, man.

Thank you, Kevflynn (for the B-Side Records gift card that you gave me)

Last year in early March, Kevin bestowed upon me a lovely gift certificate for B-Side Records. This year in early March, I realized that the gift certificate was about to expire. I hurried down to State Street and came away with three CD's - in addition to the one I'd purchased the previous week, and the two more I would purchase later the same week. Altogether, I acquired six new albums. Here is a quick rundown:

The Minus 5, Gun Album: It's a solid album. A Minus 5 album. A handful of the tracks stand out for me. One contains my favorite line from the recent buying spree: "I'll kick your sister's ass." This sung by a man, mind you. But I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm not a big fan of Scott McCaughey's voice. I like Scott. I just don't love his voice.

Neil Young, On the Beach: The first Neil Young album I have ever purchased myself. I know, I know. Despite that, I was pleased to discover that I already knew half of the songs. I probably don't need to tell you that it's good.

The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic: Since seeing their show recently, it's only a matter of time before I own all of the albums. I enjoy listening to the whole thing, although I currently think the first half is stronger than the second. That's a common reaction to a new album, though, so we'll see.

Rhett Miller, The Believer: Contrary to predictions, some of the songs have grown on me since I first listened to the leak. There are a couple of tracks I think are legitimately good, and a few more I enjoy that are remakes of older songs. The good songs just make me kind of sad, though, because I still think it's a solidly mediocre record. The arrangements could be excused if more of the lyrics were good, and the lyrics could be excused if more of the music had a spark. But without either...

Glenn Kotche, Mobile: I mostly love this one, although after hearing them live so many times, a couple of the tracks will take some getting used to in canned form. And how often are you lucky enough to say that about a percussion record, really? I specifically enjoyed "Projections of (What) Might" much more in its live incarnation, as opposed to the muted drum beats on the record. But the record as a whole is excellent, and I love the liner notes.

Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood: Speaking of liner notes, I love, love, love this CD booklet. The CD is also top-notch. Once again I feel like it's front-heavy, with stronger songs on the first half, but that may just be because I love a few of the early songs disproportionately. Or maybe I just have a really short attention span? Time will tell.

There! I'm sure you can rest easy now that you have my opinions.

Retard hat

I thoroughly enjoy a new daily-updated cartoon website, Marrried to the Sea. Oops, "married" should not really have a triple consonant, but now I like it that way. It's like "Hot in Herre." Or wait, that has two ... Moving on! It's really funny. Here are a few I like particularly, and then a link to the website, so you can explore it yourself.







Go to Marrried to the Sea

Name that tune

I have decided to be a follower and play the "name these songs that I generated by hitting shuffle on my iPod" game. As my own unique twist, I decided to forget about it first, and then a month or two later find the list I'd begun! Anyway, like many before me, I skipped any repeats from the same artist. And, um, instrumental tracks. Guess away! (Oh, and duh, but no Google cheating.) I'm thinking Gina will be quite successful...

1. "Just someone to hold, that's what you give me"
2. "Breathe, keep breathing, don't lose your nerve"
3. "It's a turf war on a global scale"
4. "She met my father at a fête in Aix-en-Provence"
5. "And it's not funny like on TV, and it's not smart like it is in books"
6. "The vanity formed by beauty lies, you know it's a crime"
7. "I'm still waiting for a sign that describes how it's all gonna end"
8. "Hey everybody, let's have some fun! You only live but once, and when you're dead you're done"
9. "And I, like a firework, explode"
10. "Cross yourself, by Jesus, now your head is all a blur"
11. "We've got shackles to keep the laws, made by men who bought and sold themselves"
12. "She pulls her hair back the same way I've seen you do"
13. "I gotta get mine in a big black truck, you can get yours in a '64"
14. "You can say the sun is shining if you really want to, I can see the moon and it seems so clear"
15. "I need twice as much space and half as many things"
16. "I'm the screen, the blinding light, I'm the screen, I work at night"
17. "Can't pay for rent again, these spiderwebs are my home now"
18. "Another lover's day, another cracked up night"
19. "Bring me a team of replacements just in case the place that I'm taking's my own"
20. "I hope you might come back, in your own time, left to your own devices"

Your beer is safe with me

I've never been drunk. I was just thinking about that. I will drink socially, and I've been tipsy in the presence of many drunk friends and probably acted drunk from sheer osmosis. One time in high school, I drove a friend's car home around 2:00 a.m. after a couple of drinks at her house party, with an open bottle of Apple Pucker in my car. (There are so many things wrong with that sentence.) I've had one or two mild hangovers, but they were due more to impending colds and severe dehydration. But I've never been really drunk. I've never felt impaired or not in control of my behavior, and I certainly have never forgotten anything that happened the night before.

So I ask you - is this something worthwhile to experience at least once in my life? Is it some rite of passage I've missed? I understand that some people enjoy it, but anything over a pleasant buzz never really looks that appealing to me. I'd like to hear some other opinions, though.

Maybe I should get incredibly drunk and see Star Wars at the same time! Kill two birds with one stone.

Victory is mine!

Ladies and gentlemen, Thursday night, I beat Super Mario Brothers 64 DS. I had finally amassed the force of 80 power stars, and was ready to face the final showdown in the sky to rescue Princess Peach. The match was a tough one, and I failed on my first few attempts. I finally stored up 50 lives, journeyed up to the sky battlefield one last time, and decided that I wasn't coming down until I defeated Bowser. And if I couldn't defeat Bowser in 50 tries, then I would quit. Damn it.



Since I don't have the patience to play for more than half an hour at a time, I was forced to plug the DS into the power supply and keep it on in pause mode for a few days so I wouldn't have to start over again. I was beginning to believe it wasn't going to happen, but Mario soldiered on. I was down to 28 lives when ... I tossed Bowser onto the third spike on the star battlefield. I audibly gasped.

The princess was saved!

The funniest part was the powerful feeling satisfaction in my accomplishment, which stayed with me through the next day. I felt like I was basking in the glow of a successfully completed big work project.

The best part was that all of the characters went into the castle at the end of the game and baked a cake while the credits rolled! With little Mario characters on top, and cups of tea on the table! Who could resist the charms of such a game?

Vintage artwork

When my dad retired, he brought home everything his office walls had accumulated over the years. This included an impressive array of childhood creative works by yours truly. While rustling through the Kenosha file cabinet in search of old Battlestar Galactica and baseball cards from my grandparents' house (happy birthday, Kris!) I found the entire collection. Many pages ripped from coloring books, the first page of a 1988 typewritten manuscript, "The Great Project Flop" (and it was clear I hadn't read Gregg Typing 1958), one note in which I inexplicably addressed my dad as "Captain," and some original drawings. Two are linked below. Click for bigger versions:



It looks sort of like a heart, doesn't it? One of those rare, colorful, patchwork hearts. That's actually kind of cool, but the next one just cracks me up:



Lord knows what inspired that. I like the fact that Mike Tyson appears to have a tiny, tiny breast up near his neck.