Heat miser?

Do any of you remember this? I don't, and I'm sure I would remember such a catchy tune. (My coworker sent it to me.)

Another football sunday passed

Go Eagles! But Johnny asked a compelling question:

Is Adam Vinatieri still on the Patriots' payroll?

1st leg

We finally set out for the first stretch of the trip about 7:30 last night, after some problems with Johnny's web site and stupid iWeb.

Yes, I just called iWeb stupid.

After missing what waa probably some of the most beautiful scenery of the trip in WV and Va, we reached Lexington where we crashed at the HoJo on this mountain. The leaves are still turning here (at home our trees are almost bare) and Ilm looking forward to the drive to Richmond, home of VCU.

But first, breakfast!

Chili season starts ... now

Last night our friends hosted their first annual chili cook-off. Johnny made the first place trophy which had a golden ladle and two hot peppers dangling in a manner reminiscent of the male anatomy. There were also ribbons for 2nd & 3rd places.

It was completely fun. The weather was pretty cool, so they got the fires going around 5 or so. There ended up being 14 varieties of chili there, including 6 veggie options and a 1/4 keg of scottish ale from a local brewery. With about 30 people and at least 9 dogs there, the voting was pandemonium. There were these little plastic cups and there were several strategies in place to get around to trying the selections. I ttied one at a time and took notes. There were voting sheets suggesting the aspects of each chili to consider and we weren't allowed to vote for our own.

Johnny made this awesome chili with cinnamon and marjoram, both brilliant suggestions from her grandmother. The votes were tallied ans she won 3rd place overall! First place was a meaty kind I didn't try, but I did drink a lot of beer and had some pumpkin pie squares.

It was pretty cold and we were a little tired, so we took off a little early. It was weird though, because we both woke up around 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I think that has never happened to me before -- wait, it did a few times when I was trying out an allergy medicine, but that doesn't really count. I might also be coming down with a cold.

But! I am trying to sleep it off because next week is Johnny's whirlwind east coast grad school tour! I'll be joining her for part of it from Thursday until Tuesday when I fly back from Philly before she heads up to NY and beyond. Yay for trips! Philly, I can't wait to see you!

Debate Unvailable??

I am trying to watch the doggone debate, but it says the video is "unavailable." Apparently this isn't the first time this happened!

Haller een

These are the cutest $alloween stickers of all time. Just look at that mummy!!!

Oh, the difficulty

It's really hard to be an Eagles fan in Columbus. The game is only on the Sunday ticket so we had to find a place to watch. T he first place had some beeahtches who wouldn't "let" the bartenders change the audio channel. The next place was showing it but it was sequestered into the corner, also with no audio. Finally, we found our spot -- and we're gettin' some fries!

Makes the people come together

there was some sort of power outage on campus today and my work tasks are limited due to downed servers, so... a post!

I was going to update you anyway because the Fabulous Johnson Brothers had this really great interview on a local radio station.

Here's the link to the station's page (scroll about halfway down)
or
Go directly to the audio.

I'm so excited to watch the show tonight (8 pm Fox, just in case you forgot).

Our friends are famous

Some of you might know that we have a friend that's in a band who is going to be on Fox's series, "Next Great American Band." The show's premiere is Friday and I can't say what happens (because I don't really know) but they are definitely in at least one of the first 3 episodes.

They're so cute.

birthday revelry continues

In addition to this Alessi watch (the grey one):

I also got Johnny tickets to see Wilco!


It's tonight and I'm really excited.

Three-Grain Molasses Bread

Okay, so here's the recipe, adapted from "1001 Low-fat vegetarian recipes" by Sue Spitler (2nd ed.)

Three-Grain Molasses Bread

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. light molasses (I used blackstrap because that's what I had)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
3 T. vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.

It's very easy, and soo yum. Have some directly from the oven, it's worth it.

Free tickets

Johnny scored tickets to the BlueJackets (pro hockey) game. This photo is of our sweet view. And if you look closely, you can see the Chipotle burritos falling from the air by way of mini-parachute.

It's fall!

Today's the first day it has been cool in a long time, so I felt practically obligated to bake something. I made a Three-Grain Molasses Bread from a cookbook, and cranberry muffins adapted from a recipe I found online.

The bread was incredible hot from the oven, but I'm saving the muffins for when I get hungry later.

The cultural hub of the midwest

Wednesday was Johnny's 32nd birthday, so we went out for drinks to celebrate. There was a whole group of people who came and she got a bunch of drinks as gifts. People started taking off and there were just a few of us left: R (Johnny's friend who went to Italy with her), J ( Johnny's coworker), me and Johnny.

R and Johnny were talking and there was some skeezy old guy with an arm sling at the bar staring at R's legs. I gave him a dirty look and he kinda gave me a guilty shrug.

R left and J and I were telling Johnny about the nasty dude. She's a little protective of R so she started thinking of ways to get Skeezo back. They'd noticed that he was wearing penny loafers and white socks earlier, so she thought she'd go steal his pennies. She walked over, but there weren't any pennies so she casually picked up a napkin from the bar and came back to further assess the situation.

She thought maybe she'd take his sock instead. J agreed that this was the best course of action. I started laughing.

J is like the little brother she never wanted. They should maybe never drink together.

I'm still laughing off how ridiculous that would be when Johnny gets up and walks over. J says to me: you know, if she takes the sock, we need to get out of here, right?

Johnny takes Skeezo's foot, removes his penny loafer, takes his white athletic sock from his old foot and returns to the table to finish her drink.
Then she picks up the sock and leaves the bar.

J and I pay our tabs and head out to the parking lot. Skeezo's friend had followed her out and was halfheartedly womdering why someone would take his friend's sock. He may have called her bitter.

Johnny hung the sock on the sign for the pita place next door.

Happy Birthday.

Saddest news ever

We had an amazing ceremony and post-vacation. When we got back, our cat Toolip was really sick. I took her to the vet and she had pretty bad jaundice. They did some tests and kept her overnight for an ultrasound. It turned out that her gall bladder duct had a rupture, due to some pressure --they weren't sure if there was a cancerous tumor, or what. It apparently had been going on for some time because she'd lost some weight and had some liver and pancreas issues as a result.

We're going to plant some tulip bulbs out front and put her ashes there. We all miss her very much.

We love you Toolie.

Pre-party

tonight we are hangin' out at the kareoke.

3 days and counting

We were up until about 3:30 last night working on our (quite lovely, thanks to Johnny's artistic vision and commitment to quality) programs. That was the last really big thing to do!

I'm supposed to work tomorrow! How am I going to do that? I can barely stay focused today.

New 'do

I'm still planning to do some color.

sunny days ahead

All right! I got the first solid look at next weekend's weather forecast and it's looking good!

I got an email from my mom yesterday that she is planning to attend our ceremony, and she's going to try and bring my sister. I was surprised at how excited I was to hear the news. I sometimes think that I can control my emotions, but then, pow! they pop right out. Anyway, I'm really glad.

We got a call today that our rings are ready! Johnny made some progress on her (completely different now) outfit, and I just need to find some shoes. Then, we're in business.

Remnants of others

I'm reading this really good book and all these things keep falling out of it. The first couple werething I left in there: a photo of the haircut I want, a letter from work...but then I found a plane ticket to LGA from July 22. Then I found a coffee shop receipt that showed that the Frappe cost 66.13. It was from someplace in India I think.

I love library books. They are so well traveled. You don't find plane tickets in books at Barnes & Noble.

dry erase what?

Today, I totally scored a gigantic whiteboard for my office. As soon as the guy moves (next week) I'll get to put it on my wall and start making crazy lists.

Apple is offering $100 credits for the poor folks who bought the iPhone before the price drop? I really, really love Apple, but I'm just pointing out that they are STILL getting an extra hundred per phone under this setup. Just sayin'

This weekend is the Siren Festival!! Johnny has been running around all nutty getting things ready for it, and I'm going to co-emcee the Royal Renegades show and do some performer management. I'm excited, and if the weather holds, we might even camp out. Woo!

hero in our midst?

This is Johnny's sculpture professor, now retired. He totally just saved a kid from drowning after a car plane crash and was on the Today Show.
We went to his house for his retirement party last spring. He had a big pond there, with a rowboat, and an old refrigerator turned into a beer cooler. Then, his wife bought one of Johnny's sculptures.

Cherrimony

It is fewer than 20 days until our ceremony!! I'm getting more and more excited, in spite of a two-week funk caused by my father's horrible reaction to the event. Good timing on his part though -- he waited until a month before even though he's had... Oh, THIRTEEN YEARS to prepare. I've decided not to waste any more time being all sad about it now. There will be lots of time to figure out how to deal with that later.

For now, the to-do list is slowly getting shorter.I finally found the perfect dress and we ordered some rings from a great local jeweler who reminds me of Johnny's old boss in Philly.

I'm feeling really lucky and grateful to have such a great partner and wonderful people in my life. Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive all these years, and now, when it seems like I really need you more than ever.

Ready for the beach

We drove to Williamsport, MD last night and we've just a little further to go this morning. I think I brought five books to read.

The fair

We totally scammed our way into the fair an hour before it closed. Elephant ears and funnel cake all around. Our friend renee totally milked a cow.

sandy

In exactly one week from tonight, I'll be loading up the dog and various supplies and heading to the beach for a week. I can. not. wait.

While I was doing a search for the image above, I came across this article. The caption was "kangaroo heads found on the beach."
I'll let you decide if you want to see it.

Our niece

sour?

H o t

It's so hot. I am in Target and don't want to leave. Someday we will get central air, even if it IS bad for the environment.

would you go?

We have one of these weird 4-min. workout places in town. i couldn't believe it when i drove by, and then Johnny pointed out that you get 3 sessions free. That's 12 minutes! What a deal!

Tony Robbins thinks this is great (which alone might be enough to keep you away), but the machine is also a little scary.

mony 'mony

This weekend was really fun. ScootKing and Pixelville tied the knot and there was lots of festive activities.

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but we're planning ours too (finally) and we're going to rush all around and have it in September. We're finishing up the invites now and hope to get them out tomorrow or so.

I found this old picture from when we went paintball-ing last year. We're so tough.

Doggie sleepover

This weekend is our first sleepover! Our friend is bringing her dog (1 of 5!), Harper, over to stay until Sunday while they go to Kentucky. Zoey has gone to stay there a couple of times already and they are pretty much BFF. It's really cute. I hope that there will be some cute spooning photos, at least.

Drink some water dan!

Listening to NPR: I am so distracted by Daniel Shore's voice that I can't pay attention to what he is saying. I am sure he has something good to say, but I can't hear what it is.

Mad dog?

I went into the restroom at work today (why do crazy things always happen in the bathroom?) and there was a woman brushing her teeth.

Not a big deal.

but when I came out, she was STILL brushing (and had the water running the whole time) and she had her one hand actually in the running water and her other hand was dripping toothpaste foam. She had so much toothpaste foam on her face I thought she might suffocate.

She needed a full bath after that.

Are you a messy toothbrusher? Would you let it all hang out like that at work? I don't think I would.

Southern Florida is hot

Especially hot in July, but I barely noticed it because we were in the air conditioning everywhere we went. And because it's hot here too.

We flew into Ft Lauderdale via $10 tickets from Skybus. The flight was delayed a little (both ways, actually) but other than that was really nice. The food was airport-priced ($2 for drinks or snacks, $6 or so for something more substantial) and was an overall good experience. The planes are brand new and really clean. Except where the kid dropped grapes on the floor.

We drove to Naples where Johnny's grandmother lives and visited for a few days. Here's a map, in case you are like me and didn't know that Naples wasn't near St. Augustine. Like djlove, we also got a cream PT cruiser which we affectionately called "the egg." Her gma lives about a 20 minute walk from the beach, so we went there for the sunset:
The next day we went to the beach around 9 am. It was already hot, so we only stayed a little while.

I got a little too much sun, actually, so we didn't get to go parasailing or kayaking or whatever we were going to do. Instead, we hung out with Johnny's relatives, which was probably just as important. And then we did a little shopping. Johnny got some fancy, shiny drawers.


We left Naples and went back toward Ft. Lauderdale, but I really wanted to see some alligators. I didn't know that the Everglades was a gigantic part of the state -- I always thought it was a park, like Old Man's Cave or something. So we drove through there and on the way saw the smallest post office in the US.


It is really small.

We kind of drove through Miami to get back and nearly ran out of gas, in the dark, in the panther crossing zone. But before that, I did get to see some alligators. We were really close, but on a bridge. I don't think they could have jumped up to get us.


The next day we went back to Miami to see the Art Deco area of South Beach. It's super beautiful.


I give south FL a thumbs up, but the real clincher was the mango trees. I wish I had one.

omgmyphoneissocute

and it's smaller than I thought it would be. I'd post a photo, but it really does look just like the picture from the website. i didn't actually get it until today because it wasn't delivered in time to take on vacation. the number porting and activation process was agonizing -- i spent about 2 1/2 hours on hold with some outsourced customer service reps in the phillippines (we asked) because they were experiencing unusually high call volume at 11 pm. when johnny moves to sprint for the purpose of our family plan i hope that the merger will be further along, or she can just order online and bypass all the stupid waiting.

it came preinstalled with google maps, word and excel read/write capability and the ability to read (and sync, i think) 8 email accounts. tomorrow i'll start setting up and maybe post a photo of my office. i'll also post an account of our very fun (and hot) vacation.

florida

Tomorrow night we are going to FL to see Johnny's grandmother and relatives. I've only been to Florida twice -- once to Orlando for ALA (doesn't count) and once when I was a kid (the only thing I remember from that visit was that my cousin had some giant oreos). Oh, and I guess we lived there for a year when I was 3 or something.

I'm excited to get in a little bit of beach time, but I've never met her gma so I'm a little nervous. We've been talking about going back for xmas this year (but with her parents) so we'll see how that goes.

Now, we have to take Zoey to the dogsitter (a real live person, not a cage) and get back so we can pack and be ready to go right after work tomorrow. We got those $10 tickets from Skybus, so I'll report back on the flight accommodations.

3 month anniversary!

...of silence.

Today I finally ordered my new phone that I've been wanting for about, oh, 3 years. No, not the iPhone, but this loveliness:

It's a little pricey, but my brother is getting me some good deals on accessories. I'm thinking of getting a little briefcase thing for it, and maybe a skin, like this:
What do you think? I want to keep it from getting all scratched up in my bag, but i don't want it to be super bulky if i want to take it out of there.

once i get this going, i am going to be a blogging machine. just you wait.

a new twist on "watch what you eat"

I've been listening to this really fascinating podcast series from Princeton's Food Ethics and the Environment conference.

Today, in part 3, I learned that a person who normally gets about a third of their calories from red meat (average for most Americans) is responsible for 2.5 times the greenhouse gases (created during production) when compared with a vegan person. This is roughly the equivalent of the difference between driving a SUV versus a Camry.

Simply amazing. I'd highly recommend the series for anyone who likes some background education during their workday. Or even at home.

one for the road

it was really awesome having jess here. her blog has some details, but you really should check out the photos of waterbeds n stuff.

and maybe i'll get these for her next visit -- or in case st. patty's day is warm next year.

moment of silence

the fish is dead.

i went out to get some of the leaves out of the pond and it floated up. it was much bigger than it was in the summer, so i wonder how long ago it died.

rip. i'm sorry i was so cavalier with your life.

bookmarks

librarians are portrayed in such interesting ways. there was an article in the local newspaper about how librarians "tell all" by mentioning the weird and often gross things they found in returned books. Bacon?

a librarian's life is so compelling.

birthday plans

my birthday is friday and i'm excited to say that jess is totally coming to visit. there will be dancing, hookah, bowling, dj-ing (jetgirl!) and tacos. i'm taking the day off friday so i can really enjoy it.

Sunday we got this crazy motivation to replace the bathroom floor, so johnny is in there finishing it up. it's a nice grey color, much better than the crazy white/green diamonds or whatever that were on it before. it is like a completely different room.

still no sign of the fish in the pond. i'm staying hopeful.

demolition!

you can see "live coverage" of the library demolition (wrecking ball and all) highlighted today on the library webcam.
(there are directions at the top of the page, so be sure to log in to view the cam.)

johnny's valentine

We got home from the grocery store saturday and there was a doorknob hangtag from a fancy florist with Johnny's name on it saying they were sorry they missed her. I knew I didn't send her flowers, although I wish I had, so I had to 'fess up and not take the credit. she called up there and they couldn't tell her who sent them, so she just rescheduled delivery for today. neither of us would be home during the day, so she said they could leave them on the porch.

We spent a lot of time trying to guess where they were from. I thought maybe her mom had sent them. She thought they were from me. I guessed that maybe The Goddess sent them. She thought they were from me.

She called me at work saying that the florist wasn't going to leave them on the porch to freeze in the cold, after all, and could I call and have them brought to my work? Yes, I said, I'll do that. I call. I keep checking the door. I give a heads-up to the person at the front door.

Johnny calls back and says she knows who they are from.

Who? I say.

The Refectory.

What? The Refectory, like the restaurant we went to last weekend for our anniversary? Why would they send you flowers?

Obviously, I'm not convinced, but you know, whatever.

A few hours later Johnny calls back saying that the flowers have finally arrived and I should go to the desk and get them. I go, they aren't there.

[My current workplace is pretty confusing, logistically. You have to actually go to the back of the building to get to the entrance.]

I finally find out where they are, I go pick them up.

Not only did we get flowers from the restaurant, we got a $25 gift certificate AND a bottle of wine!

I couldn't figure it out, then she reminded me that we had to push our reservation back 1/2 hour and she'd asked them if they were going to make it up to us or something.

I say they did! Lesson learned: if you go eat at a fancy place, find something to complain about.

7 of 7, and a little side of regret

we went to Kikyo for our final meal of "7 Meals for 7 Years". I got 3 kinds of vegetarian rolls, but Johnny signed up for an adventure.

At the bottom of the third page of the menu, written in pen, was, Soon Tofu. It sounded appealing, so she asked the server for some details. The server was super nice, and had this thick asian accent, so we both just kind of nodded when she said something about vegetables on the side and spicy-ness.

A little later, she returned with literally twelve small bowls of various vegetables, spiced in different ways...cabbage, pickled radished, sesame sprouts, tofu with seaweed (maybe?) and several other things. We tried everything but the anchovies and then she got her soup. it was this monstrous bowl of spicy seafood broth and tofu. we both ate a lot in there, as you might guess, then rolled down to meet our friends for a drink and Sing-A-Long show tunes night.

today i learned about the WHEEL ... OF....... FOOOD, which definitely would have made our lunchtime restaurant choosing more fun, and a little easier. you can use it next time you need a place for lunch.

Anniversary Meals 3-6

if you want to hear our anniversary song (says me), you can listen here. You don't have listen to all 9 minutes, although it might make a nice backdrop for reading the rest of this post.

so yesterday we went to lunch at the worthington inn, for meal 3 of 7. it's this bed & breakfast kind of place with a nice dining room, that johnny says is her favorite so far. it was a little cold in there, but the food was great. i got crabcakes with spinach and rice and johnny got sweet chili glazed salmon with potatoes and vegetables. the service was great, and they even accomodated our request to switch starches (mine was originally the potatoes) and it was lovely.

After that we went to Cup o' Joe for lattes and cheesecake, which doesn't count as a meal. just as a stomachache.

Then, for dinner, we went to The Refectory, which I've heard is the only 4 star restaurant in columbus. I'm not sure about the validity of that claim, but, dude, it was so good. When we were being seated the hostess asked if we were there for a special occasion, so i told her it was our anniversary. she was all "happy anniversary" which was really nice. the restaurant is located in a not-exactly-queer part of town, which made me: a) more inclined to tell her it was our anniversary, and b) surprised when she didn't even act fazed about it.

The food and service were incredible. They had a 20 page wine list, but we settled on a glass each of an affordably priced bottle. we got the goat cheese appetizer, which was great, but we weren't sure if we should have saved our olive bread to spread it on. johnny got the crab and artichoke encrusted halibut (i love fish that is encrusted! judy's used to have this hazelnut encrusted fish which was incredible.) but i got the ohio trout with a bonne femme sauce. it was amazing. THEN, we splurged on a brown sugar pudding and a pear tart for dessert, which were totally worth it. our seating wasn't until 9, so we got home about 11:30 and went straight to bed without even watching SNL which sucks, because Justin Timberlake was totally on there. (btw, Johnny is totally in love with Scarlett Johannsen and pretty much hates JT because there is a rumor that they are dating and she says that "simply the rumor is hurting her good name").

this morning we got up and went to the Evening Star Cafe for coffee and bagels, and then to the Claddagh Irish Pub for 6 of 7. we had a couple drinks there (they have cider on tap) and then came home. tonight is sushi! woo!

does anyone know of any household materials that function well as a mousepad? i am currently using a 3-ring binder, but the height difference is annoying.

new!

My computer came!

This weekend is Johnny and my 7 year anniversary. We were going to try and go to a weekend getaway cabin in a wooded area, but they were all booked by the time we decided, so we are theming it "7 meals for 7 years."

We are going out for 7 meals this weekend, all places we've never been. This morning, we went to Nancy's, a little greasy spoon up the street. I had fried eggs and potatoes, Johnny got pancakes. There were lots of middle aged guys -- all regulars -- chatting one another up before heading to work.

Last night, we went to Liu Pon Xi, a Chinese fusion place in the Short North. (Their website is down.) They have glass tiles in portions of the floor, with sand gardens and fish tanks under there. We each had a different kind of tofu, which was quite good, and the service was good too - the waiter bought my wine because it was the end of the bottle and not a full glass. All told, it was still a little unremarkable. It was a little too trendy, and not in a cool, individual way.

Update: I forgot to mention that after dinner we went to see Rendezvous at the Riffe
at BalletMet. It was really great. There were four pieces, and one was choreographed to Simon & Garfunkel music. The whole show was really lovely, modern and fun. I loved it.

And now, it is snowing again. I guess we are supposed to get another 3 inches today. Here's our yard from the window, through the icicles.

it wasn't that bad

Last night i had the amazing foresight to go out and clean the ice and snow off my car so that i'd be ready to roll this morning. I'm glad I did, because it took me about 30 minutes, with the car running and defrost on full-blast, to work through the 4 inches of ice covering parts of my windshield.

i felt really prepared, and, a little proud of myself.

This morning, i headed out there a few minutes before 8 to go to work. I started it up, scraped the ice again and started to pull out. I was totally stuck in the ice. I tried to clear the space away next to the tires, but it didn't work out.
I had several options:
1) Call someone for a ride.
2) Take the campus bus to campus, then the library bus from there.
3) Walk.

Obviously, I chose the easy route.

I went back in to get my book, then started walking down the street. Johnny called me when I was a few blocks out and said her work was closed and that she was coming back home. She was going to pick me up and drive me the rest of the way.

I was really glad because I'd only gone about 4 blocks (in the street because the sidewalks were really awful) and I was already freezing. It was about 10 degrees this morning and my coffee cup was made of metal, so every time I took a drink my lips stuck to it a little bit.

She called back. Her boss showed up, she wasn't coming.

Oh, no problem, I said.

I kept walking. I went through parking lots becuase they were more likely to have been shoveled. I got to the corner of the least hospitable part of the trip -- an almost highway-like stretch of about a mile, crossing a river and no sidewalks, even when there isn't any snow.
I crossed the street and instantly fell down. Underneath me was some kind of rubber, instead of concrete, so it probably won't bruise - but at least I didn't spill my coffee!

I was halfway across the bridge when I realized -- oh, i'm totally walking on top of a 3 foot drift, and my falling options are either into speeding traffic, or into the frozen river. i slipped once, almost freaked out, and realized that my irrational fear of falling through very small cracks isn't so irrational after all.

More parking lots, more snowdrifts and I finally made it to work, after about 45 minutes. I was telling my coworker about it when i got in and she said she was really impressed. "Most women would have called in," she said.

Called in. Called in. Brilliant. I didn't even think of that. I'm taking the bus home.

another lame post

what's happened:

• i bought a new computer. i expect that it will be delivered this week. it's so pretty.
• i went to the gym for the first time in about 2 weeks yesterday and the girls in the locker room informed me that the university was closing down. i had to wait in the snow for the bus to get back to my car, but i got to leave at 1:30.
• today was a snow day!
• the prom outfits for the drag show were super fun. i have a few photos, but none of them are very good, so i'm going to see if i can get some good dress shots from scootking or pixelville. i ended up with a lovely black velvet with hot pink crinoline number. Johnny couture'd it up for me. we all went to the spaghetti warehouse. some of the folks in there were a little uncomfortable maybe, and the kids all stared at our asstonishing fanciness. one of us was dressed like michael jackson from the 80s, btw.
  

more soon.

prom dress blues

next weekend the Royal Renegades (Columbus) are having a prom themed show where the audience is encouraged to dress in prom gear. i was completely excited because i just knew i had the perfect dress. some of you might remember it -- pink with black lace overlay, strapless, knee-length, crinoline? remember?

well, i think i got rid of it. i just went through my closet and the attic and i think it fell prey to the giant closet clean-out that happened just before we moved back here. i'm so sad.

but, on the bright side, i get to go look for a new prom dress! i have a couple of long slinky-style ones, but i was kind of thinking i might go for something a little more garish, maybe satin with a big bow? any ideas?

what do you do

Okay, so say someone asks you to be their friend on myspace. You don't know the person, but they are clearly queer, is friends with one queer person you recognize from around, and is friends with some random person you work with.

Do you friend them?

I've previously only friended people that i actually know in real life, but i know there are lots of people who take a different approach. what's your approach to this kind of thing?

it didn't rain!

It only rained once the whole time I have been in Seattle, which is surprising. We went to some good restaurants while we've been here, Indian on Friday night, Italian on Saturday, Thai last night and a yummy vegetarian biscuits and gravy breakfast today.

Christie left today so I had dinner with my coworker at this kind of weird and very interesting vegetarian hot dog restaurant. So strange. We played Ms. Pac Man, then went to the fancy Seattle Public Library, then to get ice cream.

The Library is really cool and beautiful. There's a lot of artwork, including part of the floors and the walls.

Now, I'm watching Heroes! I'm glad it's back on.

Seattle

My flight yesterday was really freakin' long. There aren't any direct flights from Columbus to Seattle, so I had a 4 hour flight to Salt Lake City, a 2 hour layover and then a 2 hour flight here. The first flight was hilarious, you'd think that it was a plane full of first-time fliers. There was a little kid behind me, which seemed acceptable, but there was this woman who actually yelled out "oh shit" when we took off.

I got checked into our swanky hotel and went for a walk to the Pike Street Market. It is pretty nice and I picked up a bottle of wine for Johnny's arrival today. I met up with our friend M, who lives here now, and I went to dinner with her and a friend of hers, then to her place to get ready for one of the monthly queer parties that occur here. It was super fun, I drank-n-dialed Jess because I saw someone drinking Sparks and forgot my camera. I got home pretty late (especially since I am on Eastern time) so I took my time getting to the registration.

So, the registration has been completed and I have my first meeting to get to. Go Librarians!

on my way

The "burlesque" thing just turned out to be a drag show with more female-presenting performers than usual, so slightly disappointing. I did run into a couple people I hadn't seen in a while, so that is always nice.

I got another haircut before I leave for ALA tomorrow, but I'm not posting photos because it looks almost the same as last time. I think when i go in next time, I'll get some color which always warrants a photo.

My flight to Seattle leaves at 7 am! It was originally scheduled for 9, but got moved. So early, but I guess that is 2 more hours that I'll get to explore.

i didn't get sick

I ended up eating the chili mac and i didn't get sick.

Tonight, the Eagles continue their bid toward the Super Bowl. The game is at 8 and afterward we are going to a neighborhood venue for a "burlesque" show. I'm not sure how burlesque it will be, but people will certainly be taking their clothes off. It might not be pretty, but lots of people will be there, so flyering for the next Jetgirl is in order. I hope it's fun.

finally winter

It snowed last night. Not a lot, but enough to keep Zoey out playing in it for at least 45 minutes. It hasn't yet melted either, which means it is cold outside.

Ever since we got that insulation last year, it is much warmer inside the house. I was looking at the chart on the gas bill and we are using a THIRD of the gas we used last year at this time. A third!! Not only are we saving the money, but I feel a little less wasteful.

Speaking of wasteful, how long do you think you should keep veggie chili mac in the fridge? It's been there since Sunday. I'm really bad at throwing-food-out timelines, but this site says 3-4 days for soups in the fridge. I guess I need to have it for lunch today. Then for dinner, I want to make this cozy veggie soup. I'm not sure why Howstuffworks.com has recipes, but whatevs.

go bucks

well, the eagles really rocked the house on sunday. the buckeyes did not fare as well.

i watched the first episode of the new season of the l-word, and

can we be any more dramatic

how many times can jenny be in ridiculous situations? i still can't stand her.

and, i was aghast to see that my myspace song the soundtrack to shane's current downward spiral. i might have to shop for a new one now.

what did you think

did you think i was still in London this whole time? you're silly.

of course, i came back and had xmas and new years and am back at work.

Some points of interest:

• Photos of Italy, etc are now posted!


• Xmas was really nice, i saw my new little nephew for the first (and only) time. This is my fault -- he's not under house arrest or anything.


• my mom got me a pink new-jersey-style velour running suit. i wear it all the time in spite of the fact that it is a little too small.


• Bevin & Dan came to visit for New Years Eve and it was completely fun, as you can imagine. Bevin has thoughtfully posted photos (and simultaneously shamed me into posting). thanks a lot.


• big football weekend coming up! eagles in the playoffs on sunday, osu on monday.

Are any of you going to ALA midwinter?