Oh, great. Now a Supervolcano.

Woww, 2008 has totally sucked donkey dangles, hasn't it? Now to top it off, the Yellowstone earthquake swarm has gone from the conspiracy fringe to reported on MSNBC:

 

"Scientists eye swarm of Yellowstone quakes"

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28427187/

 

Really, after everything else, I just can't seem to work up much concern about the entire earth blanketed in ash and years of nuclear winter. That's pretty awful, but that is how burned out on bad news I am right now.

 

Does GM Not Even Want to Do This Anymore?

They may have missed some super-important Friday night deadline necessary to keep the bailout deal alive:


Durrrrrrrr

Anyways, they're going all 'no comment', which usually means...yeah, wow. What the hell are these yahoos playing at?

Mmm, Eggs Benedict.

My spousal unit is taking me out to breakfast (brunch?) at Tommy's. I'm so in the mood for eggs I can hardly stand it.

Ok, I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

I thrive on routine, even as I actively resent it. And this week, between the holiday, then back-to-work on Friday(?) and then the weekend, and then getting adjusted to a new house which is always weird...

Sigh. It's a bit much right this second.

I always feel like somebody's watching meeeee...

It's been twelve-plus years since I've lived in a house with windows on all four sides. If you're not used to it, it's kind of...disconcerting.

This one is sticking with me today.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

--Oscar Wilde

In case you couldn't figure it out...

Those were pictures of the INSIDE of my new house. Yes, I am very excited!

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Some things are just as cruddy as you remember.

I sometimes listen to a pretty alt-pop radio station out of Calgary (Fuel something or other, I don't remember the numbers). Anyway, they just played Love and Rockets' "So Alive"...which I distinctly remember as being a super-duper shit song and a total disappointment from a great band.

Well, heck. Fifteen years have done nothing to change that opinion. Wow, yeah. God, it's just terrible.

Argh, the worst part about moving...

Is the part where the eggs are broken, so to speak, but the omelet is not yet made: there is stuff everywhere, and the disaster has not yet been corralled into the keep/give away/trash zones.

That's where I'm at right now, and I am about to go barking mad.

Tronnies.

www.basicinstructions.net

Rod Blagojevich: The Greatest Courtoom Drawings Ever.

See the rest here.

Out With the Old...

It's been a hell of a week. Literally. Hanging on by my fingernails through an emerging mixed state. Got an emergency appt in with a different Pdoc.

Goodbye and good riddance to Dopamax, hello to Abilify and Prozac combo. Cross our fingers, wish me luck.

Another Poem for the Collapse of Civilization.

(This is one of my favorites.)

The Fall of Rome

The piers are pummelled by the waves;
In a lonely field the rain
Lashes an abandoned train;
Outlaws fill the mountain caves.

Fantastic grow the evening gowns;
Agents of the Fisc pursue
Absconding tax-defaulters through
The sewers of provincial towns.

Private rites of magic send
The temple prostitutes to sleep;
All the literati keep
An imaginary friend.

Cerebrotonic Cato may
Extol the Ancient Disciplines,
But the muscle-bound Marines
Mutiny for food and pay.

Caesar's double-bed is warm
As an unimportant clerk
Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK
On a pink official form.

Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.

Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.

-- W.H. Auden

Song of The Day

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Now I'm towing my car, there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page

Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
Don't ever let them win

Crowded House rules. Right click here and 'Save As' to download MP3.

Random Funny

Sitars are Awesome.

Will someone please leave me a goddamn comment

begging is so freaking embarrassing. Am I that boring?

Miniature Madness

For some reason I have this fascination with dollhouse miniatures. Maybe because I'm such a giant.

 

But oh my goodness, look what I found:

 

 

more here:

 

http://www.etsy.com/category_sub.php?tags=dolls_and_miniatures.scale_dollhouse_miniature

 

Topamax side effect discovery number ninety-eleven.

Everyone who smokes smells likes my grandma. Blergh.

 

Thoughts on a Mumbai Terror, Half a World Away

"Musee des Beaux Arts"

 

About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

 

 

W.H. Auden

 

 

(Written on regarding the Brueghel painting, The Fall of Icarus )

 

Epic Thanksgiving WIN!

Best Rickroll Ever (No, I Swear!)

I truly am thankful.

We have a turkey on the table, potatoes ready to be mashed, and a pumpkin pie my daughter made.

I know the world is messed up. I know I am messed up. But somehow I still try to make it through every day, and so far I have succeeded every time, though I will acknowledge a couple of really close calls this year.

So yeah, I am thankful.

Oh God, BLINDING RAGE

I really, really, really hate the phrase "Turkey Day." It's just so...cutesy. Cutesy and pointless and dumb.

 

So I guess we collectively noticed that Citigroup is 'too big to fail.' (Monday Morning DOOM! Blogging)

The govenrment gave Citigroup like a Gazillion dollars in Fun Money last night to keep them going for the next week or so, or maybe even until Christmas if we're reallllly lucky.

 

Here's a fun phrase I learned last night: "Sovereign Insolvency". It sounds so polite and civilized, doesn't it. It's not. Look it up, I can't linky so good at work.

 

It's a bad thing, and it's on the horizon unless Hopey and Company get this ship turned around right quick.

 

And how is *your* Monday?

 

Now the Homebuilders have a hand out, too.

Sweet Barbecued Jesus:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748520112251743.html

The Power of Prayer.

From LOLFed.com

My adventures in medication...Otherwise known as the Dope-a-max experiment...

Not to reference The Rash Which Shall Never Again be Named, but because of the past week's adventures I've been taken off my beloved Lamictal...because one of the rare side effects of this otherwise sterling medicine is a rash that can KILL YOU. No, really. So, even though I really don't think the rash was a medication thing, nope nuh-uh bye bye Lamictal.

 

The next up is Topamax, another anticonvulsant which is also a mood stabilizer. Widely known as Dope-a-Max and Stupe-a-Max, this one is known for two common side effects (besides the desired mood stabilization): Making you stupid and making you lose a LOT of weight. The reason they didn't go after it as a weight loss drug is that the side effects can be really pretty bad apparently. Which is ok if the alternative is suicidal depression, but just to lose a few pounds is supposedly not worth it. According to the medical profession...though I know more than a few folks who would argue that being fat is also really depressing, but I think I'm digressing here.

 

I'm hoping for the second, but I'm definitely getting the first. I keep misjudging spatial dimensions, running into doorframes (ow!) forgetting names of my nearest and dearest, and generally being a total spaz.

 

Also, I was warned that stuff would start tasting weird. The first few days were fine, but I got a Pumpkin Latte from 7-11 today (neither pumpkin nor latte, discuss!). It tastes ok at first, but then the aftertaste is ike it has had old pennies soaking in it. Metallic and gross. Then again, my 7-11 is like the ghetto palace of 7-11s, so who knows what really has been sitting in there, really.

 

Jobs. Or more precisely, lack thereof.

I had lunch with my friend Chuck yesterday.

 

He was laid off from where I work over the summer. (Very long story short: He was really good at his job, but he got caught in a larger political crossfire. The End.) He's smart, charming, and has good references.

 

He can't find a job. Anywhere.

 

No one is hiring for temp or part time or holiday or anything. 7-11 is not hiring. Freaking McDonalds is not hiring.

 

Hampton Roads in supposedly one of the still-strongish employment areas, and No. One. Is. Hiring.

 

 

Deflation: now the WaPo is saying it, so it must be true.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112000949.html?hpid=topnews

 

Completely Sublime.

The Nietzsche Family Circus

BTW, all those pics were of our new house.

Well, not 'new' new. Obviously. But new to us...

Moving December 15. Very excited!

Also, overwhelmed. But mostly excited!

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Told you so...

Wholesale Prices Plunge in October

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/18/news/economy/PPI_October/index.htm

I only have one thing on my mind.

And trust me, you don't want to hear about it.

"IT" being the horrible, itchy, puffy, full-body allergic rash that has ruined the last three days of my life.

But really, talking about it would just turn my blog into a full-blown parody of clueless, self involved oversharing. Because no one really wants to read about another's horrifying allergic reactions. Not even my husband or my sister or any of my numerous imaginary internet friends.

In fact, here's a good question to keep in mind whenever one feels like sharing something personal with the whole wide world. Just ask yourself, "Does what I am about to say involve the words itchy, rashy, or ointment?"

If the answer is yes, then STOP. The universe really really does not need to know.

And by the way, I owe my husband a debt of gratitude for keeping me from posting pictures of my malady, because that seemed like a really cool idea on Thursday night when I was high as a kite on generic Benadryl.

The last time we ever see Joe Biden aive.

"So, Joe - may I call you Joe? I was just telling the missus how much I was looking forward to having you for dinner."

"Thanks, Dick. We've been looking forward to sharing a meal with you."

CUE OMINOUS MUSIC

"Joe, I don't think you understand my meaning."

"Why, Dick, whatever do you meaAIIIIIIEEEEIAGH"

"nom nom nom...ah, succulent senator flesh..."

Treasury Secretary: "You know that thing we promised to do with your money? Well, now we've decided to do something else instead."

Wait, what?

 

 

oops, jacked that link up!

didn't realize that Blooger (typo, but I'm keeping it) preserved hyperlinks in email posts. Oh, well, can't fix until I get home, I don't want to sign in to Blogger at work. (Hi Andrew!)

 

Ha Ha.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081112/best_buy_outlook.html

I hate Best Buy. I hope they disappear into a black hole. Their parking lots suck, the overhead fluorescents give me panic attacks, and I HATE the smell of plastic shrink wrap that permeates everything in the place.

Best Buy is a cancer on the American soul. The sooner they go under, the better as far as I am concerned.

Well, i feel at least somewat vindicated.

Parent teacher meetings today. apparently my kids are bright and full of opprtunity. and well-behaved in school. yay me.

dont blog on ambien my friends

PUPPIES

OMG it's seriously like mainlining an eightball of furry adorableness. Go. Now.

PUPPYCAM

I'm not saying I'm some kind of economic genius or anything. HOWEVER.

I've been saying this for the past 2 weeks:

Deflation

I love how the experts keep referring to the "small chance" and the "remote possibility" of a deflationary spiral.

To recap the blindingly obvious (to anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the past...um, ever): Everyone Is Broke. Credit is Maxed. The consumer, the driving engine of the US economic beast, is out of freaking gas. Prices are dropping to compete for that ever-smaller slice of market share for everything. (PERFECT example: The 1.99 Hardee's Mini Thickburger ad. This sandwich is smaller and cheaper, and touted as a replacement for, the old, $5.49 big Thickburger.) TA DA...Deflation!!! and downward and downward it goes.

To quote Futurama's fabulous Amy Wong: "Well, shpluh."

Mark my words this day: deflation is *here*, kids. In short order the pundits falling all over themselves to proclaim how NO one saw this coming.

To paraphrase the brilliant screenwriter William Goldman: "The first rule is, no one knows anything."

I've always loved Sunday evenings.

For as long as I can remember, Sunday evenings have always been my favorite part of the week. When I was a kid, we were always busy on the weekends around the house - my parents, for all their shortcomings, were always industrious about keeping things around the house kept up, chores done, yard tidy and all that - but Sundays before dinner was time for The Muppet Show, goofing around, getting hungry for the big dinner we always had on Sundays.

Wow, I make it sound so Norman Rockwell idyllic, which is not the case. But those times are undeniably always been among my best memories.

Tonight, I am relaxing in my clean house (we did a LOT of cleaning and organizing this weekend!), drinking a glass of wine, while the kids play on the computer and the dog naps curled up against me. Things are good.

I only wish we still had The Muppet Show...but The Simpsons will do!

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Nom Nom Nom

Last night Paige made FANTASTIC peanut butter cookies.

 

Finally, some rest.

I slept better last night than I have in years.

LOL no preznitzee 4 u.

Tomorrow the work resumes. But tonight:

Yes We Can.

This is what hope feels like.

It is amazing.

I haz a sad.

Obama's Grandma Died Today.

Leaving the TARDIS behind...

Ooh, I am so bummed. The brilliant and adorable David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after the 2009 specials:

Entertainment Weekly article

Confession time: the Ninth Doctor was my alltime favorite and I wish Chris Eccleston would have stuck around a bit longer. But Ten is near and dear to my heart, and I will miss him terribly.

I love Kit Kats SO MUCH.

But, that does not mean that I should eat five thousand of them in a row.

I do this every. single. Halloween.

Glurgh...

I'm about ready to call in a HAZMAT team.

My house is insanely messy crusty dirty.

My solution, of course, is to blog about it, which is probably just a tad less useful than, oh, I don't know, ACTUALLY CLEANING.

Maximum Density

Wow, I am really hitting the upper limit. My last pair of fat jeans are getting...well...pretty damn snug. And sucking in my belly just isn't cutting it any more.

 

Part of the issue is definitely the Zoloft. Not only that it increases my appetite, but it definitely makes me not really overly anxious about the consequences of yummy food. A lot of the time I'm like, meh, I'm fat, but I don't care. I guess higher serotonin levels aren't an unmitigated good thing.

 

And also, of course, I'm not exercising at all really. I went out on Sunday, but Tuesday I was going to hit the gym and then found myself taking a nap instead. Work plus school plus kids = I am tired, dammit! Right now, naps and rest are a higher priority to me that getting a run in.

 

BUT...I can't afford new pants, and I gave away all my old REALLY FAT jeans. Because I swore I would never see that number again.  Yeah right. Sigh.

 

Both Geniuses in their own right...

(paraphrasing)

 

Me: I really like Matchbox Twenty. Dave Thomas writes great lyrics.

 

Coworker: Um, you mean Rob Thomas. Dave Thomas was the Wendy's guy.

 

Me: Oh. Yeah. That's not really the same thing at all, is it? Well, I like what he's done with the square burger, then.

 

 

 

The return of my wall

There was some rumblings that my partition wall (which gives me some semblance of privacy and quiet so I don't lose my mind while working in the middle of traffic and conversation) would be permanently removed. Fortunately, that decision was reversed and I get my wall back. The weird thing about it is New Guy told Dave to tell me...he won't talk directly to me about anything!

nighty night

zzzzzzz

Seven years ago today...

My littlest one was born. Now she is in the first grade, even though I still call her "the baby" sometimes. Moms are funny like that.

 

Happy Birthday Avery! I love you!

 

Near tragedy (no, for real)

Forgot to mention earlier...my friend Steve wrecked his motorcycle yesterday. A car cut in front of him and he lost control of the bike. Fortunately he was wearing his helmet, but his entire left side is a huge painful road rash and he bashed his shoulder and knee pretty good. No major damage to himself, but his bike is trashed.

 

My mom has always been hysterically afraid of motorcycles. Everything I've witnessed in the past year supports her point of view. ER docs call them 'donor-cycles' for a reason, imho.

 

 

 

Crazy Chicken

I must have a serious case of "bad day" face, because Dave surprised me with a taco salad from the new El Pollo Loco on Power Plant Parkway. It is really good!

 

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Disaster in process

And I'm trying to invoice, put together delivery numbers, and schedule a freight pickup in the middle of all this.

 

Fun!

 

My clipboard has not returned to me. I suspect it is gone forever. *sniff*

 

Is it lunchtime yet?

 

Bad start

Someone stole my favorite clipboard right off my desk. I know this sounds petty, but it's coloring my whole mood.

 

I'm not feeling great about things right now, sorry to say.

 

I have a mountain of work to do, best to get to it...

 

I really didn't think that would work,

But it did! I posted from my phone! Too bad I'm the world's slowest thumb-typist and it took me like twenty minutes to do it.

It is really lovely outside today, and nice to spend an hour alone with my thoughts. Sometimes I think of going out for a run as "airing out my brain," just kind of clearing out the cobwebs and getting some sun and oxygen.

So now I'm home, showered and tired and hungry, but feeling pretty good about things.

Danny is making lamb shanks with rosemary and red wine for dinner. It smells so good in here I can't even describe it.

Test post from phone. Wow, i am really out of shape.

Cold Pizza and Study Group

Took Avery shopping with Grandma's birthday money. She spent it on Webkinz, of course. Webkinz are simply stuffed animals, but the hook is that each animal has a code that you enter on the Webkinz site to get...a *virtual* animal as well. The whole thing is actually pretty genius.

Just ate half a slice of cold pepperoni pizza. Now I have to take a quick shower and head out to study group for Anatomy. Test tomorrow, blech.

I'm Not a Big Fan of the Kermit-Green Layout

And hopefully soon I will figure out how to customize the layout. Baby steps here, people.

Anyhow.

I had a big accomplishment today: I survived my daughter's birthday party. I don't do well with parties, period, but ESPECIALLY ones I am responsible for! The anxiety and overwhelmed-ness (I think I just made up a new word) really get me torqued, plus when it's my responsibility I can't, you know, LEAVE when I get freaked out. Though I did get sent out to pick up pizza, which was a lifesaver. I mean getting to take a break, not the pizza itself.Wow, that grammar and logic got really convoluted but fuck it, it's staying because it's my blog so neener neener. How mature of me!

Bottom line: I made it through with only minor emotional bruising and without any Xanax, though I really really wished I had some handy. But it just goes to show that I don't really need it, which is exactly why I didn't refill the scrip last time.

Yawn. Sleepy. Time to call it a night, mes amis.

(Tomorrow, hopefully, the gym, for the first time in months. Hope I find the followthrough I need.)

On edit: I like the blue layout a LOT more

All a bit overwhelming.

Am I getting old? (Answer, by the way, is Yes. Totally.) I'm trying to navigate all the various layouts and options and whatevers in Blogger and it's a lot to figure out all at once.

I think I managed to work out the kinks in the email blogging. So I can post from work. If I can figure out how to post from my phone than I can entertain myself from posting at school too. Though, not during class time, because there are a few girls who text for nearly all of class and it is SO freaking disruptive, not to mention against the rules, not to mention i'm spending over SIX GRAND on this class so put your damn phone away already.


Anyway, back to topic: lots of posting, yay!

Trying Something New

...and by new, I mean something that everyone else on the planet has done before. Namely a blog of my very own.

But honestly? I'm getting embarrassed by MySpace. I am too old to be hanging out with teenagers and sparkly fonts and all of that shit.

More later, as I compose my thoughts and contemplate sharing my new venture with the world. Well, a few friends at least. Or, maybe not. I haven't decided yet.