Thanks, U2.

same as all the rest
nothing much to say i guess
fourteen days to go

And yet, I wouldn't have it any other way right now.

quiet friday evening
just tea, true blood and blankets
damn, i'm getting old

9 days down, 38 to go.

lent overlapping
with green beer and jameson's
evil catholics

I love my dentist.

heated chair massage
paraffin wax hand treatment
and no cavities

Fortunately, the stuff on paper is still pretty much valid.

spent hours talking
finally made some progress
have to scrap it all

Namaste.

good start to the week
common souls seeking same goal:
sound bodies and minds

I don't care if it WAS on Grey's Anatomy.

after twenty times
canal song (end of sentence)
is still just lovely

preview

"I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE ISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS..."

not sure what is worse
neighbor blaring foreigner
or his booming voice

At least we have a view.

longest week ever
gray skies finally cleared up
next stop: happy face

Syllables aside, this does not even count as a haiku.

church plus strobe lights plus
fog machine plus rock and roll...
all kinds of awesome

This haiku brought to you by Arcade Fire Radio on Pandora.

paperback writer
trapped in middle management
fated to pretend

And so begins 47 days...

... of a temporary hiatus on Jen(n)'s happy hours.

In no way related to that guy called Jesus and that religion called Christianity, every year around this time I consider giving up either booze or swearing or coffee, thinking it might be good for the vague (but-vague-with-a-future) plan. Oh, and good for my physical/mental health and my soul and all that other shit.

I think really hard about it. And then I say "*&%$ it," have a drink and set the coffeemaker for the next morning.

This year I am finishing off this fine bottle of wine and looking forward to focused plotting on the "what the hell could I be doing that would make me happy" goals. Because I really have no idea, and this fine bottle of wine ain't getting me any closer.

File under...

... need to communicate this more regularly.

Widely applicable.

"sweet pants of fire -
WHY IS EVERYTHING STUPID?!"
still the best fug quote

Always look on the bright side of life.

So yes, last night I was rudely awakened by some drunk friends of neighbors around 1:30am. I have had serious insomnia issues lately and I finally got back to sleep, briefly, between 6-7am this morning. Here's a recap of the other 4.5 hours:

• Tossed and turned.
• Finished the aforementioned well-intended child's birthday present, Masterpiece - the cutest beetle/human friendship story I will ever read. Probably the only beetle/human friendship story I will read... but well worth the time and I'm actually glad someone spilled beer on my backpack at the Decemberists show (beer which soaked through my backpack and this book, which inspired me to read it before trying to sell it back to Powell's so that I could buy a replacement childhood fave to send to said child until I determined whether the original purchase was even birthday-present-worthy). It was. And the grown-up concepts made me want to go back and re-read all my childhood faves to see what I missed the first time around.
  
• Tossed and turned some more.
• Finally gave up and streamed An Education. Carey Mulligan was brilliant and it was nice to see Olivia Williams again but the eternally creepy Peter Sarsgaard was... well, just bloody creepy (when will I learn?!), and the plot was thin at best - really, overbearing critical Dad? You're going to let your 16 year old daughter romp off to Paris for the weekend with a smarmy guy twice her age? Really?? I saw the end coming and the whole film left me with a gross feeling. It would've fit well at the Oscars this year, actually.
  
• Tossed and turned a bit more.
• Had a nap between 6-7am.

I can't believe I'm still vertical almost a whole day later. I made it through the work day without incident and I've juiced apples, pears, carrots, celery and sweet potatoes for the coming few mornings. But I'm not hungry now and that's not good... especially since I'm craving fries and I went out of my way to pick some up tonight.

Between recent events (including crappy nutrition) and tendonitis for ~5 weeks, this Shamrock Run on Sunday is going to be more of a sham than a run. That's a bit frustrating. But awesome interactions with ankle-biters this week,* House (featuring zombies!) on TV right now and the crocus coming up in droves in Portland... yeah, in general, life is good.

________________
* Including a favorite ankle-biter singing "happy trails" as Johnny Cash to every single thing in her kitchen, and the ankle-biter on the bus this morning who did not want to hear the next "Frog and Toad" story because she "just wasn't in the mood" (said in a totally serious and emo way - she was probably three but she became my Monday hero and you'd better believe that I did my damnedest to work that quote into every conversation at the office).

Inspired by insomnia, and the drunk asshats next door.

lean on my doorbell
in the middle of the night?
bloody *@#%ing hell

doing pretty well
for someone who's been awake
for eighteen hours

"I want you to draw me a crocodile!"

While perusing the airport selection in January I noticed that James Franco had written a book. I filed this information under my mental list of things to borrow from the library (James! Franco! Wrote! A! Book!) and went on to purchase Atlas Shrugged (which I am now 1/3 of the way through and despite the slow progress, I am loving) and Galapagos (which I have not started but I expect to love).

I am sad to report that I didn't love Palo Alto: Stories. It read like a mash-up of Gummo and Mallrats. (If that bears no meaning to you, think middle class kids setting neighborhood cats on fire... Yuh-huh.) That said, I have to admire how he crafted the stories. As other critics have noted, the stories don't really wrap up. I think that was the intent. And it really did feel like they were written by bored suburban teenagers and each one made me very, extremely, incredibly, insert-other-adverb-here, uncomfortable. There is something to be said for that, as well as the fact that I actually read every story despite my discomfort (but I don't want to think about what's to be said about that).

To counterbalance this barrage of negativity, I continued plowing through Atlas Shrugged, and also read this winner which I ran across at Powell's in October and decided I needed in my life, only not at that time, but in February. And I made it halfway through a well-intended child's birthday present which I will talk about in my March book wrap-up.

OK, goal #2... it's slow going but I'm getting there.

Taking the good with the bad.

annual review
not much "constructive" feedback
guess that's a good thing
(thursday)

those who resist it
are usually the ones
who need to hear it
(friday)

made amends today
painful but necessary
things are looking up
(saturday)

Don't forget to change your calendar.

your march: cute monkeys
my march: fighting polar bears
how interesting

"Douchebag" holds true though.

"put a bird on it"
has officially replaced
"there's an app for that"

It's a few months away, but I realized it this morning.

"ten" turns twenty
that statement truly dates me
think how ed must feel

And the Fandango gift certificate goes to...

eighteen correct votes?
superhuman oscar strength
(i think she rigged it)

All caught up.

woefully behind
and not feeling creative
damn these stupid goals
(thursday's sentiment)

i have tried and tried
i just don't get thirty rock
what am i missing?
(friday, streaming netflix at the gym)

haircut, shopping and
loch lomond release party
saturday = awesome

Dreaming of a white Thursday.

of all the nicknames
snowtorious b.i.g.
gotta be my fave

So far.

joe walsh: a wise man
why the hell do i complain?
life's been good to me

Make-up assignments.

the big sunday plans
were usurped by nap monster
maybe tomorrow

tired of winter
gray rainy muddy and cold
constantly cranky

Decemberists: 6, Barenaked Ladies: 5.

had beer dumped on me
and sat behind the mayor
all in all, good show

I received no royalties for this post.

organic quinoa
greatest invention ever
tj's sells the red

I don't usually buy this horoscope crap (esp when Google delivers it) but... woah.

"Today's Full Moon is opposite the Sun and Neptune in your sign, reminding you of the contrast between the concrete things you must do and the unfulfilled dreams that lure you off the beaten path. Don't worry too much if you are letting others down because their expectations are likely very unrealistic now. Listening to what they want is a good idea, but this doesn't mean you must immediately fix whatever is broken."

File under: damn, I'm old.

after four days straight
of staying up past midnight
i am done at nine

But the ones about the weather are too easy.

snowing this morning
sunshine in the afternoon
now just bloody cold

I always forget how much I saw.

thursday marks a year
i went south for the winter
northern summer next

She's getting awfully annoying, by the way.

sick day haiku fail
but almost caught up on bones
so i guess there's that

File under: what was that?

all for young talent
but definitely don't get
the beiber fever

And the Oscar hits keep coming.

i did not expect
that I would enjoy true grit
as much as I did

and blue valentine:
tragically brilliant sleeper
biutiful next

I really am on the "50 years to Alaska" plan, but that might be OK.

serendipity
~ not the bad john cusack film ~
is alive and well

And in negative space we find a positive.

i need a haiku
all of today's ideas
left me with nothing

At least now I know what I'm doing Sunday night.

"Ehrlich and Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, have been working to secure Dylan’s booking for months."

Because he has better things to do? Please. All due respect to (possibly) the world's greatest folk singer, but if his mumbling unenthusiastic incoherent performance on tour last year is any indication, up-and-comers (and my current personal faves) The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons are going to completely outshine him. And if he's as wise as we think he is, he knows this - hence the hesitation to accept the booking.

I (possibly) concede that these two bands would not exist, or (more possibly) would not exist as they do today, without the pioneer groundbreaking work of Mr. Zimmerman. Among many others. This does not mean that he should accompany them onstage. I would hate for people to walk away asking "what the hell was that old guy singing?" instead of "when can I see those amazing bands again, and can it come faster, please?"

Then again, the former would lead to a higher possibility of me scoring tickets to their upcoming shows. The latter would not.

On second thought - give Dylan the stage! The entire stage!

Wednesday three.

Three things that always make me smile, in no particular order:

• Harry v Animal
• anything by Chris Leavins
• Plywerk newsletters
  

So is my "get out of hell free" card. Consider ye warned.

custom "get out of
congeniality, free"
card is still valid

I want to work in THAT office.

where peanut butter
is a little jar of yum
and not cost-sharing

Possible TMI that I will regret someday.

the "work" and the "life"
not sure how to deal with "it"
god bless therapy

(alternate ending: thank god for netflix)

Miles Standish proud. (Not quite Wednesday three.)

Stalking YouTube again... this time for REM covers:

• Begin the Begin - The Decemberists feat. Peter Buck
  
• Hairshirt - Glen Hansard
• Orange Crush - Editors and We Are Scientists
  

The first two are wonderful. The latter is by two bands I'm supposed to like but just can't get into. This certainly helps their case.

Random bonus cover: Michael Stipe and Billy Bragg doing their version of Tom's Diner. A very dear old friend had purchased a Tom's Diner cover album (wow, 20 years ago... am I THAT old?!) and I snagged a copy of this version via cassette tape (OK, yes I am that old). Anyway, I want to marry whoever got this on video because it makes me laugh every time I hear it.

And the commercials suck this year!

penguins lost to caps
football not looking too good
not your day, pittsburg

Best paired with The King's Speech on a rainy Saturday.

feeling insecure?
take yourself to see black swan
perspective is good

Friday five.

Five reasons YouTube is awesome, in no particular order:

• Thriller by (pre-Zooey fat sad) Ben Gibbard
• Such Great Heights by (think what you will but damn, the man can play piano) Ben Folds
• Devil Inside by (lalala Scientologist lalala I can't hear you lalala) Beck
• Jolene by The (officially now-defunct, hope you got the nine thousand memos) White Stripes
  
• My favorite Smiths song* by my favorite Portland-based musician

_______________
* I fell in love with this song in 10th grade. I had no idea what it meant. Now I do, but I still love the song.

How they love the sporting life.

scrappy but sloppy
winterhawks are no penguins
but the seats are cheap

really, edmonton...
your team is the "oil kings"
you deserved to lose

hip hop, depeche mode
seem awfully unfitting
with portland hockey

________________
I can't believe I missed this show.

Inspired by a friend's Facebook status.

just because I can
doesn't really mean I should
nor mean that I will

Really hope you're right, Punxsutawney Phil.

squinting in the sun
and digging hands in pockets
i endure winter

Wednesday three.

• Who gave Band of Horses some happy pills and a new name? Liking this a lot.
• When I die, I want to be reincarnated as Mark Morford.
• Yes, Virginia, there's an app for that.
  

Perspective (that's what he said).

"still have all your hair
and your original hips?
then you are not old."

I can haz new contract?

i guess technically
they pay me to vacation
just not on my terms

I love my friends.

hospitality
and true generosity
overwhelms at times

Not to mention the centerpiece beakers o'colored water.

red shoes, glitter shoes
never know what to expect
from the lovely bride

Enduring humanity during an hour delay.

Vegas-bound yahoos
mingle with spent businessmen:
airport unity

Don Henley wrote a lot of this haiku.

tryin' to get down
to the heart of the matter
forgiveness, indeed

Now, if you'll excuse me I have several episodes of Dexter to watch...

I equate Stephen King with R.E.M. - riveting early stuff followed by a long streak of disappointments, where the (rarely seen) optimist in me hopes against hope that the next output will be back on par with It or Eponymous and against my better judgment I begrudgingly endure every production only to be let down time after time.

And so I borrowed the latest Stephen King short story collection from the library.

It passed the time on the PDX-MCI-TPA-BWI leg of my last trip. So there was that.

All the plots were a bit elementary, even for him, but 1922 and Fair Extension were fairly well written and engaging enough. The latter was such a sad but honest commentary on human behavior that it left a bad taste in my mouth (which made me love it).

But the other two novellas made me... well, mad. I don't know how else to describe it. Both were written from a woman's perspective; I wish his wife would discourage this (or edit more) because he never gets it right. The theme of the book was retribution so I suppose these two stories were supposed to showcase strong women standing up for themselves after experiencing something horrific. But from my vantage point these women did really stupid things in the interest of saving face. Taking on serial killers to protect your own image? Risky, dumb and unlikely in real life.

But hey, January reading goal: check.

Finishing this on the plane meant I was left with Mom's collection of crap novels last week. A skim through A Wedding in December, a rambling tale about seven people who haven't seen each other in 20+ years who come together to expose their various mid-life crises and then go off never to see each other again, nailed the coffin shut on any notions of attending my 20-year high school reunion next year. I should write Anita Shreve a thank-you note.

At BWI I wandered into the bookstore and walked out with Atlas Shrugged. Dense and rich, fascinating characters, social commentary that holds true today. I can't wait to see how it ends... at the rate I'm going, I'll know sometime around March 2012.

Whereas I *actually* talk to myself in public.

still get weirded out
with hands-free phone devices
you talkin' to me?

Nowhere near Friday five.

Five airplane etiquette rules, in no particular order:

• The aisle is not a bar and this is not happy hour... particularly when it's a four hour flight. Please sit down and be quiet.
  
• Chatting loudly (while seated across from each other) about how rude it is for others to stand in the aisle and chat loudly like they're at happy hour, is just as rude.
• Don't start the sudoku game in the in-flight magazine unless you plan to finish it. (Attn: me.)
• Use your seat's arms to help you stand up, not the back of the seat in front of you. Your triceps will get a nice workout and the passenger in row ahead won't be rudely awakened whenever you have to pee.
• Every time you slam your tray table up or down, or type fervently on your laptop which is sitting on your tray table, a puppy dies. It's true. A CUTE LITTLE PUPPY. Be gentle, people.

(Now get off my lawn?)

Early Wednesday three.

Best three things about visiting the right coast, in order of importance (for once):

• Any self-respecting bar - and I mean BAR, not sports bar - has at least one TV showing the hockey game.
• Family and friends.
• Every visit further cements the fact that I belong in Portland.

(I'll let you guess whether this list goes from most->least important, or vice versa.)

Other people, yes, but...

is it unhealthy
to be codependent on
my chiropractor?

I did it, in the kitchen, with a little luck.

Never mind that I bought it for him for Christmas. Never mind that we were supposed to play with "3-6" people instead of just the two of us. Never mind that it required very little skill, talent, physical prowess, strategy or knowledge of the television show.

I beat my brother at this game! Twice in a row!

Crossing #18 off the list... which reminds me, I've got to replace #16.

Not even close to a Friday five.

Five Maryland cities I had no idea existed, in no particular order:

• Flintstone
• California
• Berlin
• Bridgetown
• (wait for it...) Crapo

I knew about Oakland, MD but not until I first moved to CA and scheduled a flight (two Oakland options came up, to my surprise).

Last week during my visit, I saw an Oakland Avenue and a street named after a SE Portland volcano.

I suddenly had no idea where I was.

And what's with all the guys with initials H.R.?

novels by Ayn Rand
make me very self conscious
about my writing

Actually, so '97 but that didn't work.

goodbye Maryland
bitter cold and bad coffee
are so '98

Even snake plants!*

so proud of my friends
raising kids with grace and ease
while I kill houseplants

* Oh yeah, I killed it.

18 x 2.

thirty five years down
hasn't gotten much easier
different hard, though

Home for the Holidays.

love visiting but
seven days in Maryland:
three days too many

Her actual words.

instructions for Dad:
"tape The Young and Resentful!"
my mom loves her soaps

I just wish they were a deep fried bloomin' ones.

through painful talks
layers of truth are revealed
like peeling onions

Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving.

quite sure Arcade Fire
wrote their album "The Suburbs"
about my hometown

Did I mention my parents have dial-up?

It took me twenty minutes today to get online and open the Facebook message with my friend's cell #. TWENTY. MINUTES.

Which is just to say...

still writing haikus
but posting is tiresome
(i've gone back in time)

But the digital camera with wifi is pretty cool.

from zombie heads to
dog genealogy kits
skymall has it all

Only I forgot half the presents.

luckily for me
done this trip so many times
can pack in 15

Another day at The Office.

pro-activity
much more gratifying than
reactivity

I see you're looking at my feet.

j d salinger
perfect for those preferring
abrupt, sad endings

About the only thing.

old man on the MAX
joked with me on the way home
kinda MMD

So would Joss. Especially the long ones.

sick day marathon
bones just mentioned firefly
nathan would be proud

interesting twist
the weekends are the hardest
used to not be so

But dammit, it will be done.

haikus are more fun
without the daily pressure
of producing one

Belated Friday five.

Five albums I hope you purchased in 2010, in no particular order:

• The Black Keys - Brothers. It has a gritty, bluesy, late '60s/early '70s feel to it... in other words, not at all my usual taste. But I really dig it, particularly this one.
  
• Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More. If you haven't yet downed the Kool Aid, this might change your mind.
  
• Menomena - Mines. For a band whose members allegedly hate each other, and who work individually and send pieces via email to their bandmates to build upon, they are pretty amazing.
  
• Rogue Wave - Permalight. I have loved this band ever since a Download Festival a few years ago where the lead singer had back issues, the guitarist had a pirate patch over his eye and the drummer needed a kidney transplant. Check out Stars and Stripes and buy all their albums to support their health care.
• Kassini - See the New Sun. An old friend's band - focused listening of this EP one morning on the bus resulted in me smiling a lot. Go here and listen to Made for Me, especially if you like The Helio Sequence.
  

This is not my "best albums of 2010" list by any means. For one thing, I didn't mention Arcade Fire but if you don't have The Suburbs yet, I am not sure we can still be friends. Also, I am still catching up on 2009 (Avett Brothers, where have you been all my life?), and then there's this 2010 list to cull through.

At this rate I expect to have a "best of 2010" list sometime around the end of 2012.

Oh January oh.

the warmth of your hands
doesn't really matter much
when your heart is cold

I don't want to know what this says about me.

ending bad week with
Dexter: season four: disc one
best five words EV-AH

File under: circular.

resolution one

stop doing such a good job

at tasks I despise

Wednesday three: come and see.

Three songs I love to hear on cold, rainy Portland winter days, in no particular order:

• "Dry the Rain" - The Beta Band
  
• "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free" - Elliott Smith
  
• "Company In My Back" - Wilco

There is a great YouTube video of the first one, without heads in the way or people talking over the sound or just a shot of an album cover with the song playing in the background or someone covering the song. The other two? Just trust me. They're good rain songs. I miss Elliott Smith.

Bonus Wednesday three... Three songs I love to hear when the rain is blowing sideways in sheets and you can't feel your fingers or toes, in no particular order:

• "The Island" - The Decemberists
• "Waiting for the Bus" - Violent Femmes
• "Engwish Bwudd" - Man Man
  

And you?

Trust me.

riddle me this, sir

if you are so sure you're right

why the look of doubt?

Coldpocalypse just doesn't have the same ring.

what good is freezing
if skies are clear and there is
no chance of snow day?

One down, one to go.

At a friend's recommendation I got a copy of Vida from my local library. Short stories and pulp fiction are right up my attention-shorted alley these days, and I finished half of these in a 45 minute sitting and the rest in brief stints over the next 2 days. (See 1Q11 goals - score!)

I was quite impressed with her style and the approach of having a novel of short stories featuring the same character at different points in her young life. It seemed to go in chronological order and then it didn't. The character seemed to sort of have it together and then she didn't. (But then she did.) (But then she didn't.) (But then she was 7... and who has it together when you're 7?)

The character was all over the map (literally) but in every story, you felt the pulse of the locale, you could envision the people there, you could even sense the temperature and humidity of the air. She threw in Spanish words and Spanish jargon that would've driven those PDX soccer mom book club people nuts.* But I loved it and drank up every word.

Oh - Junot Dίaz loves it too, if that's any incentive.

________________
* It's a long story.

The 2011 "to do" list starts here.

I was wandering around before a movie Saturday (Tiny Furniture, I still don't know whether I liked it or not) and walked by a kitschy little art store in the NW. I'd never run across it open and it had always intrigued me from the outside, so in I went.

It was small and the proprietor was just what I would expect: older and weird. She sold art made within the past year by local artists, and while it was all very interesting it was also expensive. I did find a great card in my price range featuring a chimp playing a guitar.

While I was wandering she chatted at me, which I normally would not have liked but it was New Year's Day and I'd been holed up for a few days so I welcomed the conversation. At one point she asked if I'd made any resolutions.

"No, I generally try to do the right thing all year round," I replied. She agreed, but mentioned that she'd lost close friends this year and had so resolved to reach out to people more often. I had recently resolved to do the same for different reasons (this technology stuff is so isolating at times). And apparently we weren't the only ones, as I learned when I read a friend's blog post welcoming Twenty Eleven.

As a result of this reaching out, getting by with a little help from my friends, and what have you, I'm feeling better in general and I'm ready to tackle 2011, starting with a resurrection of the quarterly goals. So here we go:

1. A haiku a day. Easy, creative, fun, and a step closer to actually writing than I've been in a while. Don't expect brilliance or even anything that counts as funny. Just expect one a day.
2. Read two books a month. Lately I've let reading go in favor of music, especially since it's been so cold at the bus stop and I rarely get a seat on the bus anymore (very hard to read and hold the oh-so-important mug of coffee and hold on for dear life!), but I do miss it. To go easy on myself I've decided that cookbooks count... but only if I make at least one recipe from the book that month.
3. Shamrock Run 2011! Good motivation to get back into the gym routine.

In general I also want to keep up with the personal reach-outs and cut down on the multitasking, facebooking, twittering, etc. But it's winter in Portland so we'll see how that goes over.

Besides, I have to plan the 2011 Adventure, which will probably require some research... Alaska is looking mighty fine these days.

Happy 365-4 to you and yours!

Spring ain't so bad either.

cold, clear sunny days
salmon, purple, pink sunsets
love portland winters

Ode to kitteh.

juniper plays fetch
and then flops onto the floor
lather, rinse, repeat

And this is it.

twenty eleven
I have no resolutions
well, maybe just one

Is there a food pyramid for this?

Last week I watched 576 hours of Buffy reruns and had no strange dreams whatsoever, except for the night I ate two dark chocolate peppermint cookies right before bed. Whooo boy, those dreams were doozies.

Today my meals* have consisted of:
- egg omelet with cheese, mushrooms and spinach (heavy on the cheese, light on the rest)
- a pot of coffee
- an apple with peanut butter
- a glass of water
- cheese and crackers
- a bowl of guacamole and chips
- a cup of green tea

*None of that remotely resembles a "meal." Can't wait to see what REM sleep brings me tonight.

Despite the utter crap I put into my body throughout the day, I was able to muster energy to run four miles at the gym, and for the first time since I started running again, I felt like I could keep going after that. I really hope my short-term memory fails on this one... last thing I need is a Pavlov-induced cholesterol-riddled heart attack at mile seven.

A confession.

My favorite movie of all time is Hair, followed very closely by The Muppet Movie - both of which feature a handful of brilliant songs and a bunch of additional really catchy ones. My favorite Broadway show is RENT. The "Once More With Feeling" soundtrack ranks as one of the highest played albums in my iTunes library (I sing at least one song from that soundtrack in my head at least weekly at my job), followed closely by Dr. Horrible and the South Park soundtrack.

I love showtunes. I have done set construction and/or props and/or lighting and/or stage crew for five musicals. I love Journey.

I don't like Glee.

I'm having a hard time reconciling this.

These precious things.

I finally got around to watching Precious last night. It was heart-wrenching, brilliantly acted (Mariah! who knew!) and inspiring. Parts of it were incredibly difficult to watch, to the point where I hid my eyes during a few scenes. I felt terrible afterward for complaining about my job, my life, my... well, my anything.

I think a dream I had was partially inspired by that film. She is completely unprepared to be a mother, but does a phenomenal job in spite of the odds. In this dream I was on a rescue expedition in the Antarctic. We would go out to the islands to collect injured penguins, return them to the (rather fancy) expedition ship, cuddle them and shower them with healing and love, and send them back to their respective colonies once they'd recovered. One of them had been shot (I never quite figured that one out); most just had mild flesh wounds from sea lion or elephant seal encounters.

I woke up smiling. And between paper pushing and mind-numbing meetings, I thought about those cute little penguins and how good I felt about helping them.

I think this means that it's time to seriously start looking into veterinary school.

Five things that didn't suck today...

... in no particular order. Because, yes, it's that bad right now.

• hearing that some friends I like a lot got engaged over the weekend
• Mumford & Sons on repeat... again... for, like, the 784th time
  
• Kettle Sea Salt potato chips with my sandwich at lunch
• the nice man on the bus this evening who kept falling asleep on me and apologizing, instead of ignoring the fact or being an ass about it
  
• skipping yoga to watch House as it airs on TV instead of 3 weeks later on Hulu

{Ed note: do not skip yoga to watch House when the SF Giants are about to win the World Series.}

OK, seriously?

You guys do this working thing EVERY weekday? How do you find time to do life stuff? Inquiring minds want to know.

Wednesday three, part two.

Three things that made my day yesterday, in no particular order:

- The news that Larry King is FINALLY retiring! Long overdue.
- An amazing shiatzu/acupuncture combo appointment. I was exhausted last night... but in a good way.
- Remembering to sit on the left side of the plane to Oaktown, and seeing every mountain in the greater WA/OR on a beautiful, clear evening.

Positivity oh-ten, transition June, rejoining the real world - whatever is inspiring this good feeling, I'm rolling with it.

Wednesday three.

Three songs that got me through a particularly rough June, in no particular order:

• We Sing In Time - The Lonely Forest
• As I Rise - The Decemberists
• Half a World Away - R.E.M.
  

(Inspired by Squeaks.)

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack.

This makes me sad. Forty-something housewives making themselves feel better with Twilight and living vicariously through television show characters (based off the concept of that same series) to cure their "busyness and boredom" (read = unhappiness) is a demonstration of the lack of reality, community and creativity in today's society.

Don't misunderstand. A), I read all four Twilight books and B) I have seen both movies in the theater (and I will see the other two in the theater too). But the books were read on a beach in Costa Rica and the last two sucked, and the movies were seen at $3 second run theaters with beer in hand and snarky hipsters behind me cracking jokes the whole time. (And let's be honest, no vampire series comes close to Buffy - it's infuriating that all these crap shows and series are getting attention when that show was brilliant.)

Not happy with your life? Don't distract yourself - FIX YOUR PROBLEM. I am all for television as entertainment, and there have been rainy Saturdays when I've holed up with Dexter Season Two or a LOST marathon, but a long time ago (thanks to the inception of TV-on-DVD and Netflix) I let go of trying to keep up with shows on a week-to-week basis. I put enough pressure on myself, that was taking it to the extreme. I know people who plan their lives around their television shows. That's not living.

I tried to give away my TV before I left. It's old, I can't hook it up to the internet to stream Hulu on a bigger screen, it's heavy, it's big... But there were no takers. I cannot imagine why.

Since I've been back I have used it here and there for Arrested Development reruns. That's it. I haven't missed cable and I haven't spent more than 2 hours in front of it at a time. I am sure I will sign up for Netflix again, someday. But for now I have all kinds of creative projects and great books to cure my "busyness and boredom" woes. And to paraphrase Grandpa from the Lost Boys, "if you read Facebook you don't need a TV."

And OMG don't EVEN get me started on Facebook...

Hiatus...

... filled in here.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.