As of Wednesday, CPH and I will be all moved in (but I make no promises on all unpacked, as I am scheduled to leave for Boston 2 days after we move in).

CPH makes the new place look like a superfun place that all of our friends will want to visit. And it is superfun. For real, though.

recent im conversation
CPH: I love This American Life
CPH: and I love YOU
me: haha
me: i’m sure that ira would be happy to know he came first

sniff….

“We got a Bottle of wine
A fresh pack of smokes
Were gonna end up screaming about some midnight garage sale”
Tilly and the Wall

I’ve got a lot going on right now. We are moving out of our current house in a mere 5 (FIVE!!!!!) days and I have to get completely caught up at work before I leave for Boston in a mere 9 days.
Directions:
Mix ingredients until moist. Bake until you hear her scream.
Serving Size:
One not so happy, overly stressed, and crankily tired girl

three down and only 1, 257 to go….

Thanks to the re-introduction of “plus addressing” by gmail, I am able to make notes of new music I hear on the radio and address it to my email addy + new music@........

it’s very nice

and will do very nicely until CPH gets my listening to page up….

My first house is so going to have one of these.

Brother Danielson is playing in Bloomington….

mmmm, Danielson…....

So, I’ve given out all the gmail invites that I can possibly give. It’s not that I’ve run out of invites. I still have five, sittin’ pretty. No, my problem is of a much more sad nature. I have not run out of invites, but I have run out of friends. That is, at least, friends that (i think) would be interested in the wonders of google mail.
Please tell me this is not true. Is there more of you out there?

Props to the people at Wordcraft
for being brilliant and fun enough to attempt this and a special props to one of my daily reads for bringing this wonder to my attention. below is just one of so, so many
accubation
“Accubation” is the practice, while dining,
To be in a posture reclining.
If I’m eating this way
Any dish served flambe
Is a choice I’ll be surely declining.

12 more full days before I leave on my summer trip.

Yipee!

a friend recently sent me an email in which he described a dilemma:
_I seem to be running up to the fence a lot lately. When I hit the fence, the grass seems to turn a bit brown on the other side.
Then when I back up it gets green again. _
I have no idea what his real dilemma is or what he is considering that would be an “other side of the fence” experience. But I’ve been thinking about this for a while today.
Maybe I’m crazy, but I just don’t see a problem with making rash decisions every once in a while. So what if you make a poor choice and you have to take a few steps backwards and then choose a completely different route…What if that first route turns out to culminate in the most amazing road trip you ever took.
And what have you really lost if it turns out that the road trip was a horrible one in which you were stuck in traffic for a few hours and you spilled a soda on your lap? Especially if the visit once you arrived was one that you might never forget.

will they laugh at us, when i go back and buy the album that CPH traded in merely months ago?

but, I didn’t know I liked them when CPH got tired of them…..

CPH has resurfaced our old emails from friends from as far back as 2000. It makes me sad, reading back that far. Saw an email from L*, which look like it was written merely weeks (if not days) after her and E*’s wedding. I also noticed that we have, what seems like, one email from E* around that time and then nothing from him for nearly two years. Ooh, just found one from J*, from way back when she was still at U of L*. 1999.
All this to say, that I used to think that I was absolutely horrible about keeping up with old friends. But as I look back at these old emails, I see that, even though we don’t talk as much as we did in 2000, I still have really good friends.
And that makes me smile.

I could be the drug you can’t resist
I could be the antidote you missed
I could be the love you hate to fear

Heard Folk Implosion on Indie Pop Rocks.
Read about them here.
You can listen to one of their songs here. Sorry, but you have to enter an email address.

So, CPH and I graduated from the same high school. Our ten year reunion is coming up in a few months. Because we are both graduates, we both could, theoretically, invite a guest. So, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas that would make for a fun evening.
Idea #1. CPH and I could invite our friends R* and N*. They would play the parts of our gay lovers. There are two problems with this scenario. One, N* will be in another country during this time. Two, how would I explain my last name (which is now the same as CPH’s).
Idea #2. CPH and R* go as gay lovers. I come along as the loving and understanding exwife. This would work as my name could, theoretically, still be B* even though I’m no longer married to CPH, theoretically.
Idea #3. CPH goes as husband to female friend. I go as wife to male friend. Halfway through the night, CPH and I could act completely enamored with each other. I could be overheard making statements like, “Why didn’t I realize then how great CPH was?” Our spouses (imaginary ones, of course) could catch us kissing on the dance floor and make a HUGE ASS SCENE.
That last idea makes me giggle.

so it goes

If it wasn’t for E* and H*, I might think that it was a requirement to use your god given name for your gmail account.
C’mon people, you can choose any name you want. Why make it boring?

Not to say that your name is boring, but…...

Oh, screw it, I tried.

After further thought, I think this is how it will go:
For instance, I’m listening to Olivia Tremor Control on the radio. Now, I’ve heard them a few times and I have decided that I want to learn more. So I’m going to google them.
Next I will list their website, if they have one. If their site is under construction or simply blows, I will try to link to their record company.
I will also link to some MP3s if they are available.
Sounds good, yes?
Now, the only possibly bad thing about this is that I may never get work done again as I am often hearing new and good music thanks to SomaFM’s Indie Pop Rocks.

The following are the reasons that I have decided to chronicle my monthly listens (which will hopefully be available to you tomorrow):
1. As many of you know, H* and I reunited with an old college buddy last week. At one point in the evening, we had all made it up to T*’s room, had the lights down low, and were sampling some of T*’s favorite music. I looked over his mp3 folder and only recognized 1/8 (and that’s being generous) of his selection. He wanted to know what kind of music I listened to. I went down to the car to grab my mp3 collection. First, I pulled out Denison. Then, I pulled out the Unicorns. Next, I put Sufjan in the player. AAAGH. There has to be an easier way to do this!
2. About a month ago, I realized that I was not listening to much new music. I had followed the same favorite bands for at least two years. It was getting boring. SomaFM (Indie Pop Rocks) has helped me, tremendously, to get out of this rut. But I want to make sure that I don’t get in the rut again. I think that keeping track of what I am listening to on a month to month basis, will help me swim away from the musical stagnation that I was treading in a month or so ago.
3. CPH and I often frequent this great little independent music store called Luna Music. Because I simply cannot control myself when I peruse the aisles, I need a map to help me along.

i know, i know…one of the greatest things about gmail is that you never have to delete ANYTHING. but why should I keep an email that I know that I will never look at again?

Tell me, why?

Now, it may just be that i’m on top of a sugar high (from which I will be crashing fairly soon), but…..
isn’t this the prettiest picture you’ve seen in quite a while?

honestly, isn’t it?

here’s an update on my 28 things to do in my 28th year. I’m not doing too hot on accomplishing much on the list.

Yipee! E* invited me to hang out with the cool kids after school. I have no idea how to act around them or what to wear. Send your ideas of how to be cool to popularstranger@ (you know what).com.

My job is not one that challenges me on a daily basis. It’s actually fairly easy work for the amount of money that I get paid.
The best thing about my job is when I get to play with Excel. I’ve been working on a workbook for about an hour now and I’m cursing, in frustration, at my computer.

And that makes me smile.

I got to the H* house around 12:30 pm. I had forgotten about the time change and therefore arrived an hour later than I had anticipated. We went to eat Chinese food with H*s husband and 3 year old. I am amazed by the three year old. I think that M*s vocabulary far exceeds the vocabulary abilities of normal three year old children. I carried on longer and more comprehensible conversations with M* this weekend, than I can ever claim to have had with some adults. I mentioned this to H* on Sunday morning and her response was (something to the effect of), Well, its not like shes around a mother who doesnt like to talk. So very true. Note to self: If you want to have a verbose child, you yourself must learn to enjoy talking A LOT.
We headed toward Lexington around 1:30 pm. T* called us not much after our departure to see how close we were. We laughed at our realization that T* had not changed much at all.
We pulled up to T*s house around 3pm. We jumped out of the car to the sounds of gleeful yelping. T* had apparently been waiting at the door for us. He met us on the stairs with big, wonderful hugs. We followed him inside, plopped down on couches and started reminiscing.
I had talked with a mutual friend a week or so earlier and he had told me a story about T* going to visit him in D* with grandiose plans to make the world a better place. So, this was my first question for T*. He pulled out a notebook and spoke with us for nearly an hour about his (literally) grandiose plans to make the world a better place. I cant say that I understood everything that he was talking about, but if I had a million dollars to throw around, he would definitely get some of it.
We went outside so T* could feed his habit, which made me very happy because that meant that I had a reason (excuse) to light up too. Theres something so relaxing about smoking with an old friend.
We decided to grill out for dinner. After dinner, was more sitting and remembering.
After the sun went down, we headed upstairs to see if we could find any boardgames. We couldnt. So, we did something much more fun instead. We put on some music, dimmed the lights, all laid down of T*s bed and continued to talk. Neither H* nor I had seen T* in over 6 years. But it was like we had never known a time when we didnt see each other on a regular basis.
We left near 1am. We didn’t want to leave, but H*, being the grown-up that she is, had made previous arrangements for the next day.
I wish I could go see him tonight.

More to come later. In the meantime, go here for pictures.

Had an amazing visit with old friends yesterday. While H* and I have kept in contact over the past 6 years, we had not seen T* since we left school. We quickly fell into old habits and were as comfortable around each other as if we had never left each others side.

I know, I know…it’s very early to start thinking about Christmas lists….BUT!

He is going to be in Chicago on Halloween night and if anyone wants to buy me tickets for an early Christmas present, I would think that you are just plain AMAZING.

Hoorah!
H* and I had two common names on our list. We have heard, through the grapevine, that one (Mr. K*) is driving a beer truck in Wisconsin (which fits him perfectly, might I say). The other person who graced both of our lists is living a mere 3 or so hours away. So, I’m heading out Saturday to H*’s house. We’re having lunch with her husband and daughter and then driving to reminisce with someone we haven’t seen in many, many years.

I had a friend tell me, when I got my mac, that i would eventually become a mac-person. I scoffed at the insinuation. I’m at work right now and I just found myself pulling my pointer to the bottom right hand corner of my screen to show all the windows that I currently have open(only one of the many great things that expose can do on macs)...and I coudn’t understand, at first, why it wasn’t working…..

go ahead, mock me if you must…....

The middle aged parking attendant walked slowly towards my car. I look up. My tag is current. I had just purchased a monthly pass yesterday morning. Did I park in a prohibited space? Why is he STANDING OUTSIDE MY CAR?
I open the door and smile. He smiles back. “I just love this little car”, he says. “Do you want to sit in it?”, I ask. “Nah”, he says as he shakes his head. “Then I’d just want to buy one.” “Drives well?”, he asks. “Very well”, I say. “Well, it looks good…and you look good in it, too,” he says as I walk away. I turn to say thanks, but he’s gone.

Went to The A* house yesterday for an hour or so for some Memorial Day Festivities. We had been there for, what seemed liked, 15 minutes when M* comes outside to say that he and T* (his very pregnant wife and the hostess of the party) were heading off to the hospital. We were the only couple there sans child, which was a bit sad. Someone there has a 7 year old and had said that for such a long time she was the only one with a child, now everyone was having them. I wonder if, when we do have one, we’ll be one of those families who just missed the baby wave.