Dude, Not My Fault

May Mezze Madness!

2010-05-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

May Mezze Madness!, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

Tonight's mini-feast was culled from Mark Bittman's 2007 masterpiece, "Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less". It's item 73:

Near instant mezze: Combine hummus on a plate with yogurt laced with chopped cucumbers and a bit of garlic, plus tomato, feta, white beans with olive oil and pita bread.

Verdict: Delicious! Opa!

Toilet Fail

2010-05-16T16:11:00.001-07:00

Toilet Fail, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

So I visited Sushi Restaurant That Shall Remain Nameless yesterday, and had to run out of the bathroom giggling. Then I had to head back, nonchalantly, with my camera. That's normal, right? Taking a camera to the bathroom? See, I had to capture the majesty of this toilet. That's an Asahi bottle cap there (none but the finest Asian beer for our toilet!), on a string. You pull the cap, the toilet flushes. Excellent! Sadly I can only speak for the women's restroom — who knows what wonders the men's room may contain?

sushi party!

2010-05-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

sushi party!, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

Sara and I wandered around town Thursday, critiquing other people's million-dollar houses, and headed to Mitsuwa for raw fish. And what else do you do with raw fish but have a delicious fish feast? There was spicy tuna, fatty tuna (I loves me the tuna), eel with eel sauce, yellowtail and salmon. Mm mm mm! And avocado and cucumber and nori and rice, naturally. I'm not into fish paper at all, and so wielded the nigiri press, after an ill-advised shot at shaping the rice with my hands. Do you know how sticky sushi rice is? I ended up with delicious, rice-y fingers. We allowed the boys to play too, but not the cats =^.^=

"You probably don't want to swim in that."

2010-05-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hello blog. It's just you and me now. What have I been doing? Oh, I got married and bought a house. What have you been up to? . . . Really? Huh. I didn't know they made those that big.

Anyway, here's a story. In pictures!

So I'm going to Lake Tahoe in June, and I'd like to go swimming. "Great idea!" you might say, thus proving you've never been to Tahoe in June. The water, if we're lucky, may get up to 60 degrees Fahrenheit! Yay! So I got a wetsuit:

Cute, eh? A little pink for my taste, but it was on sale, and I had a coupon. It arrived today, and imagine my surprise when I tore open the box and found this:
I know, right? At first I was like "Sweet! They must have upgraded me to the acrylic fur version!" But then I got it all the way out of the box and had to admit: Honey, that ain't no wetsuit.

So I called, and I talked to Greg, who was just as confused as I. But to his credit, he apologized 16 times AND gave me a gift certificate AND free shipping AND put in the exchange right away so my wetsuit and Mystery Coat will be swapped like WHAM! I may even get the wetsuit before I return the coat.

And that's kind of a shame, really, because, well:

It is my size, after all.

Oh wait, here's a photo

2007-05-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

I saw that a'splode!
If you don't know what I'm talking about, read below

Regrettably without photos

2007-05-12T01:03:00.000-07:00

So, they're filming "Iron Man" next to the building where I work. It's a scene on a freeway, and I can tell you that a giant robot and some car crashes are involved. We've been observing from our lofty perch for the last week or so, and they're about done (sadly).

HOWEVER

Mark said tonight that a security guard had warned him about some explosions, so we were kind of waiting for that. There was a big boom at around 9, and everybody jumped up and ran to the windows. We could see a car completely busted up from running into something, and we made impressed noises and got back to work. Now, I was on late shift, which is boring. I spent most of it camped at the window with binoculars. We could tell they were setting up to destroy another car (it was the same car as before, miraculously unharmed — there was a third copy waiting nearby), and everybody wanted to see it this time, so by the time midnight rolled around we were lined up at the window, running commentary. "Look! They're going over there!" "That guy is still shammying the car. How shiny does it have to be?" "Why are they hosing down the road?" "What on earth are they doing to that bus? They've been spraying it or something for 20 minutes." "Are they going to do this again or what?" Finally, everybody on set backed away, and we in the cheap seats started to freak out. The stunt car rolled forward and ran into some kind of green drum (which clearly will be edited out later) with a big bang, and rolled off with a very satisfying crash. Yay! And then ...

FOOM

The frickin' bus EXPLODED! The whole building shook, and flames and smoke shot up in this mushroom cloud all the way to our level, and ... and ... fire! OMG OMG NO WAY That appeared to be the end of the shot. A fire truck came, and they were putting out the bus, which was sheared in half. I am not even kidding. It was so cool.

I'm not that into the Iron Man comics, and I have no idea how good this movie is going to be, but I know everybody at work has to go see it now. Maybe if you look real close, you'll see us jumping up and down in the background =]

when life gives you lemons

2007-04-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

when life gives you lemons, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

Mmm, lemonade. For some reason, making this was the most satisfying part of my day. I like my lemonade almost undrinkably tart (which is why it's good I made it in a small batch, because nobody else will want any). I didn't even measure anything, so it's good that it came out okay. It's kind of brownish from the turbinado sugar.

hee hee

2007-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

From Sunday's Get Fuzzy

Aw, man

2007-03-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

I just saw a guy ride a walrus down a slide. Now I am very jealous. Anybody know where I can get a walrus?

Walrus cooties!

(Check out the video called "Smooshi loves Phil," above)

On the Art of the Short Story

2007-03-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

"This is a story with a trick beginning."

Your man put down his pen and considered the possibility that if he left this as the only sentence then his story would also have a trick ending.

— Bernard MacLaverty, "Walking the Dog: And Other Stories"

KILL POVERTY

2007-03-01T21:58:00.001-08:00

Bad layout, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

This is a screen capture of a page layout at work ... the picture above and the article below are not related. Good thing we didn't print it like this!

Chair lust

2007-02-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

So, kind of a hobby of mine is furniture design. It took me completely by surprise, and I can tell you exactly when it started (and I will, because this is my blog and I get to do such things): In high school, I climbed with some friends into the upper level of the art museum in Richmond so we could peer over the railing into the Egypt exhibit, which we had no intention of paying to get into. The best illicit view was from the corner where the Art Nouveau furniture (incidentally, one of the finest collections in the country, go figure) was kept. And I said "MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT DESK?" ^{editor's note: quotes may not be accurate} It was love at first sight.

Thanks to the Interwebs, I can read about furniture all day long now, if I want. Lately, I've been seeing a chair all over. It's obviously not new (or at least modern, except in the mid-century sense), and I clearly have the same taste as everyone else, because it seems sometimes like everybody has this chair. Anyway, I just found out what it is: The Eames Plywood Lounge Chair.

Co-worker Austin's response: "That doesn't look comfy at all, Megan." But I bet it is. I BET IT IS.

So I had to add it to my Chair Lust List.

... What, you don't have one of those? Anyway, it's Number Two, after the Anthropologie Astrid Chair:

As soon as I win the lottery, man, chairs.

The Low-Down Meg Blues

2007-02-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Can you hear my day today? It's like an R.L. Burnside song, with a wailing harmonica, and, like, a dog or something. I'm not sad or anything, but man, I feel like crud. I woke up at 7:30 this morning because my stomach hurt, and at first I thought it was because Jupiter was jumping up and down on me (note to cat: I am not your freakin' trampoline, go feed yourself) but then I rolled over and realized it still felt like a rabid weasel was living in my large intestine and wanted out. And then I realized it was probably my stupidly complicated Japanese bowl thing that took me four hours and an emergency trip to Vons for soy sauce to cook yesterday and then wasn't very good. Anyway now the pain has stopped but I still feel all pale and shaky. Bleh. And it's my day off, so I can't even call in sick! I'm going to go eat a pile of starch and see if that makes me feel better.

P.S. Oh and I can't open my refrigerator because the remaining ingredients of yesterday's disaster are in there and they SMELL LIKE DEATH and then I turn green and have to run away. So, lunch is oatmeal and rice pilaf.

String in a tin

2007-02-10T20:38:00.001-08:00

string tin, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

Because really, who doesn't need string in a tin?

From Baileys Home and Garden

Just minding my own business

2007-02-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

So I got off work at about 11 last night, as usual, and was cruising down Ocean Boulevard on my way home. "Ooh, the light at Shoreline's green," I thought, and followed the car ahead of me into the intersection. And then SCREECH! and WHAM! and BREAKING GLASS! and I had to swerve suddenly, because a guy had just made an illegal left turn right in front of the guy in front of me, and their cars went boom.

I pulled into the Villa Riviera's driveway without thinking, really, and ran over to check on things. A man standing next to an SUV was calling the police, and the drivers were standing next to their cars, looking dazed. (Actually, the guy who did the illegal turning looked drunk, but I'm not the police.) But then ... what to do? I was right there when it happened, so I should tell the police or something, right? Where is my mom when I need her? A woman ran up and asked if everyone was alright, and I said that they looked okay. I figured she was the closest thing to a grown-up I was likely to find, so I asked her whether she thought I should stay or go. "Oh, you should talk to them," she said. "I'll wait here with you."

The police showed up with lightning speed, which I was a little startled by. I guess when it's a big accident in a major intersection, they pick up their normal glacial pace a bit. I tiptoed over and looked involved, and finally an officer came over to talk to me. I waved goodbye to the nice lady (never did find out what her name was) and gave the officer my ID and my story. It really didn't take that long, but I was feeling rattled. People really need to not have spectacular car accidents in front of me, that's all I'm saying.

Then, today, I pop outside to get my newspaper and THERE IS NO NEWSPAPER. Now, I understand that sometimes stuff happens. I always call the Times so I get credited, but it's not a huge deal. However, it's started happening at least once a week. I smelled a rat. I walked aroud the back on my way to work and peered into the recycling bin, and sure enough, there was my paper. It had clearly been read, and then chucked in there. How do I know it was my paper?

It was from today.
This has been happening a lot lately.
Nobody else in my building gets the paper.

Now, I know that's circumstantial, but come on. So what do I do? I don't want to be passive-agressive about it, but this has to stop. It's stealing! Co-worker Craig suggested I knock on doors, since there are only three of them (I will ignore the rest of his advice, about brass knuckles and thinly veiled death threats). Any thoughts, Internets?

The new hotness

2007-01-31T15:45:00.000-08:00

I made a hat.

Do you SEE that hat? I MADE that hat! Look at that hat!

That's all. I just wanted to show off.

Rainy day

2007-01-17T11:55:00.001-08:00

all you can do on a rainy day, originally uploaded by Ubermaus.

So, I was going to write a post about how it's finally raining, and how I planned to sit quietly and do some crafting, but I see now that the sun is out, the sky is blue, and the street is already starting to dry. Fine, Southern California, be that way.

Ima go pretend it's still gray and wet outside, okay? Okay.

Current Music: Yann Tiersen, baby

Ah, the holiday paper

2006-12-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

So, in the news business *looks pompous* we got this thing called "the breakfast table test." When you're putting things on the front page, you've got to imagine Joe Public eating breakfast, reading the paper. Will he take a sip of coffee and then spit it out, seeing your picture of a man severing a turkey's head? (We had that photo, a while ago. It didn't run on the front, much to our disappointment.) Generally, we put the lurid stuff on the inside pages, when we have it. But this isn't about the breakfast table test; this is about what I'd like to call "the Christmas tree test." What would your family like to read about while recovering from the morning's gift orgy? Today in the paper (for tomorrow, Christmas Day) we have:

Girl, 2, stabbed to death by 9-year-old;
Man shot, killed after fight at shopping mall;
A local boy, 8, who had a sudden relapse of cancer and died unexpectedly.

Yay! I ... I think we fail. Merry Christmas, everybody!

L'esprit de l'escalier

2006-11-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's what we're going to do: Pretend that you never saw anything about posting every day, because I LIE. I lie to you, Internets. Don't give me any lip about it. I see nobody posted any comments, so that's good. Let's just pretend.

Here is a story, nonetheless. Do you know l'esprit de l'escalier? It is when just the right thing to say comes to you too late, as you're leaving, usually on the stairs. I had a visit from l'esprit last night. Mark, the news editor, had asked me to take five minutes before I left and come up with a good headline for the feel-good holiday story about a local company that slaughters turkeys (oh, you should have seen the photos we didn't run). I thought for five minutes, but only came up with "Before you gobble 'em ..." which was okay but not brilliant. I told Mark it was the best I could do, and headed out. As I was literally on the stairs, it came to me. I ran back up, into the newsroom, and shouted "Mark!" He jumped (I am startling, like a ninja) and said "Wha?!" "TRUE TALES OF THE TURKEY TRADE," I said. He threw both arms in the air and cheered, and I went on my way. And you know? You better believe it's the lead story on the front page today.

NaBloPoWhat?

2006-11-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

It's NaBloPoMo! I'm too late to participate for prizes, but I think it's a great idea. I started this blog spurred by a class assignment, with no clear idea of what I wanted to do. It's a good way to keep in touch with family, share photos and things found on the Internets, sure. But I also wanted it to be a place where I could work on my writing. When you do something every day, you get better at it, really and for true. I've seen it happen with Webcomics (check out a current QC, then an old one), and with blogs too. If you're much of a blog-reader, you know what I mean — ever find a delicious new blog, then spend hours wading through the archives? Well, probably not. But I have.

So I've had this idea burbling around in the back of my brain for a while. It's wedged in between "I should learn to sew" and "I should read more nonfiction," but I'd like to think that it has a slightly better chance of happening now, rather than later. (Or ever — do you know how expensive sewing machines are?) Being relaxed and happy seems to have had a beneficial effect on my creativity, and I've been collecting anecdotes from work for something I'm calling "Adventures in the News Media." Not quite sure how to go about it, yet. Should I write them down first? Should I start a new blog? Should I move this blog to typepad so I can have a separate section for it? If I've learned anything in the past several years (*looks wise*) it's that a crappy first step is better than a million awesome plans, so ... tomorrow. Look for something tomorrow. (What? I've got to save stuff up now, if I'm posting every day!)

The times they are a-changin'

2006-10-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

So, it's been quiet around here. A lot of things (well, two big ones) happened in my life at nearly the same time, and I've been adjusting. I'd moved into my new apartment (a block from the beach, the size of a postage stamp, lovely) and left Spidell for good (for AWESOME, if you ask me) shortly before my last post. Since then, I've started my shiny new job as copy editress extraordinaire at the Long Beach Press-Telegram. I'm making less money, working strange hours, and I'm as happy as a clam.

I was supposed to go back to work for Spidell part-time until January. The more I worked at the P-T, though, the more I realized just how awful things had become at Spidell. Funny what you can get used to when you deal with it every day, huh? They'll never hear from me again.

Life is a lot easier now. I love what I do, and I'm frickin' amazing at it (that's basically what my supervisors have told me, I swear). Plus I have all morning and half the afternoon to putter around the apartment, hang out at coffee shops, read, knit, walk on the beach ... IT IS THE BEST THING EVER. And that's on days when I work. When I'm off, nothing's crowded and there's plenty of parking, because everyone else is at work. Yay! Nick's weird schedule means we still have plenty of time together, too.

Months ago, when my therapist asked me what my perfect situation would be, I described my life now, and then laughed. Have you ever gotten everything you wanted? It's unexpected. I'm not complaining, though.

For my next trick, I win the lottery

We are different people

2006-09-25T22:57:00.001-07:00

The Boy and I got magazines at B&N yesterday. We were each excited about our purchases. When we got home, I read my magazine, and he read his; then we traded. I just finished his, and realized that ... we are not the same person, at all. In fact, we're pretty embarrassingly gender-typical.

Can you guess which one is mine? It involves ... um ... chard. Click on the picture for a giant close-up of our article choices.

Milk-snorting funny

2006-09-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me giggle. Like, a lot. Why is that lady holding the little lamp's cord? Is she taking it for a walk? It's totally trying to run away from the big lamp, can you tell? Anyway, you can get your very own giant lamp for the low, low price of £1,660.00 here.

Pressies?

2006-09-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Would you like to get me a present? I will accept this.

I've developed a strange passion for melamine tableware. We had several pieces when I was growing up, and I loved how simple and casual they were.

Not that smooth

2006-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

I've been having a hard morning. My car wouldn't start, and once I'd woken Nick up so he could jump it, I drove off while my purse was still in his living room. Of course, by that time I was running late, so I had to leave the car running and unlocked while I ran into my apartment to dress for work. Good thing it was still there when I came back. Naturally, my coworkers decided the best thing to do would be to give me crap about fixing it (and how am I going to do that, guys, with no money or ID?).

Anyway, I had to take a Self-Pity Moment™ in the ladies' room. I'll just splash cold water on my eyes to get rid of the redness. Nobody will notice. When I left that bathroom, I looked totally composed. So smooth, I thought. And then when Tim asked me what I wanted for lunch, what came out of my mouth was a snot-clogged, wavery little I've-been-crying voice. Oops.

"Did you do something? I just got a call from Samuel L. Jackson."

2006-08-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

BWAAAAAHAHAHAAA!

http://www.snakesonaplane.com

He's from Virginia!

2006-08-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/15/allen.volunteer.ap/

Good old functionally retarded George Allen. He was Virginia's governor once! My favorite part is where he says "Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

Sidarth was born and raised in Fairfax County (VA). He's a senior at the University of Virginia.

But you know, he's brown-skinned, so obviously he's one a them furriners. I bet it played really well with the crowd. Way to go, Georgie!

Oh that's hot

2006-08-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

I read The Consumerist and Defamer on an hourly basis here at "work." Gawker Media is a blogging juggernaut that I would not throw a rock at in a dark alley. But sometimes I have things to say, and commenting on the Gawker blogs is by invitation only — keeps things civil, you know. Anyway today The Consumerist is giving away invitations, and you better believe I got one. Oh Internets, you better watch out.

This is why I hike

2006-07-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a quote for you from the National Park Service's webpage on climbing in Yosemite: Spectacular views from the rim of the valley quickly erase memories of any hardships suffered enroute.

And that about sums it up. Nick and I climbed Mt. Baldy this weekend — pictures to follow.

A pox on both your houses

2006-06-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Capital One, you hire people who can't speak English, and I suffer for it. May your corporate office burn to the ground, and your souls rot in hell for exactly the amount of time it's going to take me to change all of my stored payment information on the Internet. I'm figuring about a week.

Also, your phone system sucks. Gethuman.com does not.

You're adopted, and nobody loves you

2006-06-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

To the person who stole my credit card number and made mysterious PayPal transfers to men with foreign-sounding names:

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits. Please die.

Sincerely,
Meg

A chat with the X-ladies

2006-05-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

I love love love this interview with the actresses from the new X-Men movie.

---

Paquin (Rogue): I still never get to do anything. Three movies, absolutely no action. It's kind of amazing. [...]

Berry (Storm): Well, you got a great love story. I didn't have that. I got no action and no story. I had nothing.

Paquin: I had some gloves.

---

AP: So if Rogue sneaks up on Jean from behind ...

Paquin: Yeah, if she doesn't see it coming ...

Janssen (Jean Grey/Phoenix): The thing is, of course, she can see it coming, because she reads minds.

Romijn (Mystique): But Mystique could turn into any of them and just confuse everyone.

Janssen: And Storm can just make it misty and foggy.

Romijn: She would lose.

Janssen: She would lose because I can just see right through that fog.

Topato, I lack the ability to read!

2006-05-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have really been enjoying Jeffery Rowland's story about the illiterate princess this week over at Overcompensating. I just mention this as a favor, because I know you want to do everything just like me.

The new hotness

2006-04-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Note to the disgruntled young men of Iran: Fabulous careers await you abroad.
Careers in modeling.

From a Washington Post article about jobless youth in a town called Shaft. No, really. Shaft. As in, what the non-elite of Iran have been given, nearly 30 years since the glorious revolution.

Also, if you're looking for something terrifying but educational (as in, "Why those desert people gotta blow themselves and everybody else up all the time?"), read this. Bypass registration with Bugmenot.

from frivolous to serious in 30 words or less

How everyone else sees us

2006-04-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

I love Google News. One of the reasons? Because the news is aggregated from all over the Web, regardless of national origin, I get to see how other countries interpret American happenings. With that in mind, I give you: "Republicans target petrol rip-offs to appease voters," from the venerable Australian. You can read the article, but I was mostly amused by the headline. Don't hold back there, guys, tell us how it really is.

civic duty

2006-04-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was running late this morning, after falling out of bed at 7:30 instead of 6:45. Fed the cats, put on clothes, brushed teeth, considered hair briefly in the mirror before shrugging and heading out . . . and I was making pretty good time on the drive, all things considered, when I noticed something bad bad bad in the road ahead of me. In the lane to my left, there was a big, thick wood pallet. In my lane, there was a red plastic gas can. Both things had probably fallen off a passing truck. The work van in the lane next to me tried to drive over the pallet, but caught both sides of the thing on its wheels and sent wood flying everywhere. As I passed the gas can, I could see that it was leaking, and the smell of gas was overpowering.

Now, I'm kind of a wuss, but sometimes the right thing to do is too obvious to ignore. I called information, got the Stanton police, and told them about the mess. They said they'd check it out. Ta da! I even made it to work on time. *does a little dance*

Current Mood: totally full of myself

Miscellany

2006-04-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today was awful, and I'm ready for it to be over. But nevermind that — on to (marginally) more exciting things!

Trader Joe's has an amazing new product: A whole chunk of not-quite-parmesan-but-close that comes right there in its own little grater! Squee! It makes teeny tiny little shreds of cheese, and there's nothing to clean when you're done!

I was eating (snarfing) half a not-quite-a-cantelope-but-close (also from TJ's) when I noticed that it matched my new flowers. Coincidence? Most likely!

Current Music: the ultra-soothing Sufjan Stevens

Current Mood: resigned

John K. told me to tell you

2006-04-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Do you remember Ren and Stimpy? Of course you do, you eeeeediots. Well John K. has a blog, and today he's got some video clips from unreleased Ren and Stimpy episodes! Whee!

Also, check out that picture at the bottom — is he hot or what? Dang.

overheard

2006-04-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Pirates Dinner Theater is now open in Buena Park!

You'll eat like a king — a PIRATE KING!

Call 1-800-466-AHOY to make your reservations today!

I love Buena Park. It's like the Twilight Zone, all the time! That's what happens when your whole economy is based on B-grade theme parks and motels from the 1950's.

Peep

2006-03-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a concert with Lori, up at the Gibson Amphitheater. It's a long drive, north of North Hollywood, but there wasn't a lot of traffic (thank you, L.A. traffic deities), at least until we got to the 101. What has eight lanes and never moves? The 101. Ha, ha. Anyway, it was a good chance to study some of those funny old apartment buildings in Koreatown/NoHo as we crawled past.

I like looking in people's windows after dark — not to be creepy, but for the same reason I like dollhouses and editorial portraits. Framed unsuspecting in their windows at night, people are unguarded, out of context. Anyway, in a high window of some ancient building with a name like "The Fauntleroy," hung a picture on a wall. I couldn't see exactly what it was of; it was at quite a distance from us. First I saw the picture, then I saw a man. He was standing next to the picture, staring off into space, hands on his hips. What was he looking at? As we passed (sloooowly) I saw some shelves — no, cabinets! — and a counter, and then ... a microwave. He was watching the microwave, waiting for it to finish. Don't you do that? I do that. That's the thing about staring at strangers — the longer you look, the more you realize you're looking at yourself.

Starbucks, you jerk

2006-03-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

I hear on the radio "Starbucks is giving away free coffee!" and because "free" and "coffee" have just occurred in the same sentence, I immediately call my supervisor to tell him I'll be late. "I can't help it, man," I say. "The coffee is free." However, when I arrive and timidly ask the barista "Is it true?", what does she say but "It's true after 10." I cried a little, and paid for a marbled mocha macchiato, because it is one of the finest coffee drinks around (abbreviated "MMM" which is surely a sign), but in my heart I'll never forgive you. Jerk.

Patti or Star Wars? YOU DECIDE

2006-03-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

When I got up this morning, my hair had arranged itself, overnight, into an exciting new shape. It may be trying to get an art grant behind my back. Anyway, I couldn't decide if I looked more like Patti Mayonnaise from Nickelodeon's "Doug," or one of those aliens from the bar scene in "Star Wars" — what do you think?

Current Music: Animal Collective, The Purple Bottle

Current Mood: distracted

I was there, I swear

2006-03-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

I added some more pictures to my flickr Joshua Tree set. Click to see more of ... well, me. In the desert.

You get AAA because ...

2006-02-27T13:06:00.000-08:00

… When you shut your locked car door on a rainy Monday morning, and turn to see your keys resting inside on the driver's seat, they'll send some guy to open your car within 20 minutes, no questions asked.

Happy Monday.

The Wonderland of Rocks

2006-02-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

So I went to Joshua Tree, with my Sierra Club class, and we wandered around in the desert, slept in the very very cold, and climbed around on things till we were all bloody and bruised. Whee! No, for realz, yo.

It doesn't look like it was almost freezing, does it? Link goes to flickr photoset.

hahaha OMG

2006-02-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Comic-Con hotel reservations opened at 9 today. At 9:45, when I called Sara to warn her, they were almost completely full. San Diego tends to swell to bursting with nerds during the convention, and based on my experience last year (two nights at the coolest hotel evar, followed by two nights at The La Quinta Hell-Pit — at the same rate) I wanted to get my res in early. Obviously the thing to do would be to make reservations at the Motel 6 or hostel or whatever a year in advance, but I don't think that way, so I depend on the Comic-Con's low, low, negotiated rates with local hotels. Now, these rates are low. Low. Especially considering where some of them are; Nick and I will be staying at none other than The Westgate Hotel, a five-star luxury hotel walking distance from the convention center. We are there at a rate that, for a total of three nights, is less than ONE NIGHT there at the standard rate. I checked.

Hey man, we can't afford to eat there, but we can offend some rich old people with our scruffiness. Holy crap.

Edit: I remembered that Spike stayed at some hotel in Little Italy last year that she recommended highly, and on investigating found out two people can stay there for the princely sum of $75 a night. So we'll be staying there, instead. Yep.

Awww

2006-02-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

Meggish and Nickish

Last night the lovely and talented Jason G. sent me this photo, from his bonfire last month. Jason shares my love of a good source-light photo =]

because I'm awesome

2006-02-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I can stop complaining about feeling underappreciated at work. Earlier this week I got my bonus and a raise, on the same day. Wooo! When I thanked my boss this morning, she gave me a hug and said "We've ignored you for too long. It's not time for raises yet, but you've earned it." Dang tootin' I've earned it!

*does the raise dance*

After shopping my little heart out at REI, my next goal is to move out of the ghetto. Belmont Shore, here I come!

slant slant slant, all day long

2006-01-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

The latest FOX News poll finds that nearly half of Americans say they would vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Alrighty, let's put our brains to use here. By "nearly half," FOX is saying — what exactly? That less than half of Americans want that grinning little weasel on the Supreme Court, i.e. most people don't want him there (or are too ignorant to care).

Thanks again, FOX, for fighting that ol' liberal media sterotype. *rolls eyes*

Heck yeah, Georgetown

2006-01-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

"When you're a law student, they tell you that if you can't argue the law, argue the facts. They also tell you if you can't argue the facts, argue the law. If you can't argue either, apparently, the solution is to go on a public relations offensive and make it a political issue... to say over and over again "it's lawful", and to think that the American people will somehow come to believe this if we say it often enough."
— David Cole, Georgetown University law professor, on certain lies

Meanwhile, Georgetown law students have something to say

Narnia: THE SEQUEL

2005-12-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

So, I have determined that "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" will have a sequel. Not the next book in the series; I mean this particular movie. It will be about how Lucy grows up and marries Mr. Tumnus.

I mean, come on.

COME ON, PEOPLE

in case you wondered

2005-12-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

I won't be home for Christmas this year. I keep trying to explain that to people, how that feels, and I mostly get polite noises followed by a change of subject. There's something about Christmas, I've never understood. My mostly cool feelings about family in general and Virginia in particular are out the window for this one holiday, attached to a religion I don't even associate with. It's always been like that. My mother would ask if I wanted to spend it with our relatives in other states, and my answer was always NO WE HAVE TO HAVE IT HERE. Twice we've spent it in Arizona with my aunt and uncle. That was okay, I guess, but it's the only time I can remember not waking up at home on Christmas morning. As much as I've tried to make California home (and for all practical purposes, it is), I still find myself calling home "home." I can't help it. I grew up there. So because I can't afford a plane ticket, and because I'd have 3.5 days there, tops, I'll be staying here, alone. Not alone alone, just in the wrong place, with people I haven't known my whole life. I've had a couple of kind offers from various people to celebrate with them, and I guess I'll be spending Christmas Day with Nick's family, because it's the obvious choice, but I can't help feeling disappointed. And kind of lonely. Anyway, that's how it feels.

buy me stuff

2005-12-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Have you not gotten me a Festivus gift yet? Here is a list. Go! Go! Go!

die, mutt

2005-12-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

I like animals. I really do. But I spent all day today finishing my law final, and I can truthfully say: I want something AWFUL to happen to my neighbor's dog.

I have never seen this dog, but it must be small. Small, and noisy. I've endured its continual shrieking, hysterical little bark all day today. ALL DAY. Periodically I would interrupt my writing to brainstorm potential solutions. These included:

Kidnap dog. Stuff in small bag. Throw bag into ocean.

Break into neighbor's apartment. Liberate dog ... into the ocean.

Kick dog very hard, into ocean.

Wait on neighbor's front steps for neighbor to come home. Follow neighbor into house while imitating tiny shrieking barks. Refuse to leave or stop all night. Throw neighbor into ocean, with dog.

Sigh.

yap yap yap YAP yap YAP YAP

pictures at an exhibition

2005-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Join me now, as I race through events of the past three weeks! Woo!

Much to my surprise, some of my family did come out to L.A. for Thanksgiving, although it had nothing to do with me. My younger cousin Amanda (as opposed to older cousin Heather — we are each 10 years apart) was in a national pageant, attended by Uncle Al. Her mom, my Aunt Phyllis, stayed in Georgia while my mom and grandma visited her, because she had chemotherapy (that's why I was surprised people came out here). Anyway I hadn't seen Heather or Amanda in about five years, so it was good to talk to them both a little. Amanda's gotten very grown up since I last saw her — although she's just as loud as I remember =] I guess that's what pageants require. She came to my tiny apartment with Heather and my Aunt Barbara, still wearing her sash and tiara, which I thought was hilarious. She earned it, though. They got to meet The Boy, too. He was very polite while we talked his ear off.

The day before Thanksgiving, The Boy's friends Mike and Deanna hosted a little party with Mike's cousin, Boy's friend Greg, and some other people, at their house. Mike got a Turkey fryer, and we had our own little Thanksgiving dinner. The Boy provided the fireplace DVD, freshly stolen off the Intarweb (probably one of the awesomest things ever — it had director's commentary and music, and three different fire modes!) Pat and Julie brought a Tofurkey, and it was pretty tasty, although more like tofu than turkey. A good time was had by all.

Okay. Then on December 4, The Boy (oh for crying out loud, his name is Nick) ran the Las Vegas marathon, so he and I and Mike and Deanna all trooped out to Sin City to party and (in Mike's case) blow large wads of cash. I lost five bucks but won one back, so I felt like a winner. I also got a pretty awesome sneer from the cashier at the Bellagio when I cashed my ticket for six whole dollars and cheered. =] While Mike played in a poker tournament at the Bellagio, Nick and I slipped out onto a balcony that's normally closed, where we could watch the fountains out front and see the little Eiffel Tower across the Strip. Sunday morning Nick had to get up before dawn and trot out into the 29° wind chill for the race. I am very fond of him, and I offered to go along, but secretly I was really, really glad to stay inside. He finished in about six hours, and returned to the hotel crusted with salt and wearing a little mylar blanket. Anyway we had a great time, and Nick is talking about going back for New Year's eve. Las Vegas is very shiny, and has many interesting people and tasty buffets. I am a fan, unlike some folks. Maybe I am more easily swayed by fancy buildings and free alcohol, though. Also I was there for longer than five minutes.

On Friday, I had to go to the L.A. Times to shadow a designer for one of my classes. I learned that:

Apparently, all the men at the Times are gay; and

Something about working at a newspaper makes people standoffish and weird.

It really wasn't as fun as I'd hoped (he was just doing the same thing I do at work all day, only with pictures), although the work environment was interesting and I got to see the test kitchen. One of the food writers had the best office, too: a window with a tree, two walls covered floor-to-ceiling with cookbooks, and free wine and chocolate sitting around everywhere. I am in the wrong line of work!

Now I just need to get my final projects finished, and I'll have a couple weeks of rest before I do it all again. *sigh*

celebrity semester

2005-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

Hey, remember me? Sometimes I write blog posts. There have been a lot of things going on with me lately, nearly all of them good. Not the least of these is that there is now A Boy, whom I will call The Boy to protect the innocent.

A lot of my time is spent treading water, I feel. Lately, though, it's less like treading and more like swimming, because I'm going somewhere. Where, I'm not sure, but finding out is exciting.

It's not just The Boy who's causing all this change, either, although he is certainly a wonderful part of it. (Dang, he is cute. Cute!) For months, I've felt like something big was on the horizon, and now things seem to be moving. I'm getting things done, I'm going out and interacting with other humans, I'm eating breakfast in the mornings in an apartment that's clean and tidy, I play with my cats (although I am not home as much as they would like, which they indicate by TEARING UP MY DANG CHAIR), I read all kinds of interesting things, I go to class, I do my work.

Things is good. That's all I've really wanted for a long time.

Oh and btw, my classes next semester will be taught by a) Kenneth Turan, movie reviewer for the L.A. Times; and b) Steve Randall, editor of Playboy. Celebrity Semester!

Excellent Washington Post column

2005-10-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

On ladies and power, and what it too often takes to combine those things in the still male-dominated political arena. It's cogent, a little humorous, and practically glows with insight. Go educate yerself!

Literary Gossip

2005-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Lo, and there was the Booker Prize, and it was good. And as the Booker Prize passes away, so too the Booker Prize parties, which you know you've always been curious about.

I'm not sure why this amuses me so much, probably because it's just like a party column in People, only with writers instead of starlets.

these writer types are a scream

2005-10-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Are you familiar with Donald Roller Wilson? Just hit "skip" on the little registration screen, and enjoy some gothic Southern weirdness.

Also see this week's Tiny Showcase print; it's sold out, as usual, but cute!

It is a sickness

2005-10-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

Most of the people who park in the parking lot at work are idiots. This isn't a value judgement — they're just dumb, and I'm not the only one who's noticed. Today, for example, I pulled in behind a Porsche, going about -5mph. The driver pulled slooooooowly into the lot, then driiiiiifted leftish and rightish down the main aisle, stopped once, drifted some more, then stopped again. There I sat behind him, fuming, and our office manager sat behind me. The Porsche's driver was looking from side to side: "Gee, where should I park?" Finally he picked a spot (on the left) and I zipped past him to our office. As I walked into the building with the office manager, she said "You know, sometimes you don't want to honk so much as to RUN OVER THEM." And that's the truth.

I sit in front of a computer all day

2005-09-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

I was just shuffling some papers on my desk, checking the pages of a fax, when I realized that I'd pulled some of the pages out of order. Then I caught myself whispering "CTRL Z! CTRL Z!" No luck there.

In other news, I'm seeing Serenity tonight with Lori. I think most of my friends are more excited about this than I am (I never watched Firefly, so I'd rather see Mirrormask), but it's nice to get out of the house. That is because, as I think I mentioned somewhere recently, I have certain habits involving sitting and computers.

I find these things so you don't have to bother

2005-09-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Reprographics is having a guest week, and today's strip was GREAT, and then I went to look at the artist's usual strip, and it too is GREAT, so here are some links. Also a run-on sentence.

http://www.chrisyates.net/reprographics/index.php?page=149

http://www.cavemonster.4t.com/

Check out this guest strip too, it was unfeasibly awesome: http://www.chrisyates.net/reprographics/index.php?page=146

It is by the guy who does The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve (http://www.beaverandsteve.com).

You should look at Reprographics' regular posts, too, because they are pretty spectacularly awesome! Okay!

Not Unexpected

2005-09-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

I watched a lot of strange TV in Amsterdam. Many shows they import and just run subtitles on, which is why all Dutch children speak perfect English. Others, though, they make on their own, and that is some straaa-aaa-a-aa-nge television. My favorite involved a hipster-looking fella with spiky hair and thick-framed glasses presenting risqué videos straight off of the Internet. You know those stupid things you forward to your friends? This was that. On TV.

Anyway there was a link on Metafilter today about a new Dutch reality show where people do drugs and try sex acts on air, then describe how it felt. So, so very Dutch.

2005-09-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I looked up the Aqualung junk for sale on eBay, and lo and behold were two albums I had just been wishing for! And soon they were mine, for the low, low, LOW price of a British pound each, plus a pound for shipping. CHEAP, and AWESOME.

Fabulous Imported Music

Also, I feel kind of silly, posting pictures of my cats, but here you go. Have I reached a new low? Nah. The little one is Jupiter, and the confused one is Trigger.

KITTIES KITTIES KITTIES KITTIES

2005-09-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

how do you answer a bananaphone?

Something about this makes me want to laugh until milk comes out my nose. I was a big Raffi fan, though. Maybe you were not. You know, if you lived your childhood in a joyless pit or something.

On an unrelated note, is it mistakenly anthropomorphizing my food to find it very sneaky that a loaf of bread grew mold only on the side I couldn't see? Gotta not buy Jerky Brand™ next time.

Answer: Yello'

2005-09-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

uh...

There is a man holding a live chicken standing outside my apartment. I think he's trying to sell it to my neighbors. He keeps saying "pollo" and "sabor" and ... wait I think he took the chicken inside. I repeat, the chicken has entered the building.

...the hell?

2005-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

OMG YES

ka-ta-ma-ri! ka-ta-ma-ri!

Current Music: na naaaaa, na na na na na na naaa

Current Mood: elated

2005-09-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Misled by Tron

Remember William Gibson's future? The Internet was going to be a place you could actually go, and fight evil programs with discs made of light. And lasers. But no, the Internet is what my Grandma uses to look up knitting patterns. Somebody's been lying to me!

Jeff Rowland has a meditation on this subject today.

Also over the weekend I played a game called Rez that Tech Support stole off the Intarweb and put on Lil Bro's Dreamcast. Now that is what the future was supposed to look like.

I'm totally hotlinking this picture, sorry Japan.

2005-08-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

When did she turn into a person?

My little sister has awesome taste in music. And she's only 13.

We were talking on the phone yesterday, and she complained that people in Virginia only listen to country and rap, which is unfortunate but true. "So what music do you like?" I asked.

"Oh, I've been listening to Pink Floyd lately, but I really like The Who too, and Led Zeppelin, and Stevie Nicks."

I feel an overwhelming need to buy her CDs, now. Maybe some Flaming Lips, or Jefferson Airplane. The time is definitely ripe for the Fund for Encouraging Young People to Not Listen to Crap to roll into action. Anybody want to start a non-profit with me?

2005-08-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Sailing, Sailing

There we were, aboard the Spirit of Dana Point, when a shout rose from the stern: "Here comes the Lynx!" Behind us appeared the many-sailed Lynx, larger and slower than the Spirit, but gaining on us. "Hands to tack!" shouted the captain. The crew ran to their posts, and waited. At the captain's command, the mainsail swung about, then the foresail, and finally the headsails crossed over and we swept around in a broad arc. The gunner shouted "Clear the deck!"and BOOM! We fired both canons on the Lynx. All hands cheered, and the day was saved.

Dude, that was totally my afternoon. Lori asked late last night if I wanted to see ships in San Diego today, and I was like "Well, I've got things to do, but I hate doing things, so okay!" It turned out to be the best choice ever, because we got to ride one of the tallships during a gun battle. We helped hoist the mainsail! Turns out that sucker's pretty heavy. And did you know how quiet and fast those big ships are when they get going? So neat.

2005-08-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

At long last, the Comic-Con post

Okay, so I have been reading Harry Potter. That is my excuse. I still have a mound of graphic novels to wade through, but I know if I don't write this all down soon I'll forget it entirely. So. Highlights of Nerd Prom included:

Fondling a box full of original cells and sketches from Ralph Bakshi's "Wizards." I didn't buy one, because they were the $$, but it was crazy to touch something that left such a mark (scar?) on my childhood. He's working on something new, I hear.
Talking awkwardly to Jeffrey Brown, who seems to be at least as shy as I am. I asked him about how he organizes everything he puts in his autobiographical comics, and he showed me a beautiful little sketchbook with one of his scripts folded in it. His handwriting was microscopic and dense, big red squares of text interspersed with a few very loose sketches. It was somehow exactly what I'd have expected, if I'd been expecting things. He, too, is working on something new. I'm not sure if it's autobiographical or not, but it was what he was laying out in the tiny book. He signed "Clumsy," "Unlikely," and "Miniature Sulk" for me.
I FINALLY met the lovely and talented Jeph Jacques! I did not throw myself at him, as was the plan, but I'm pretty sure his friend who was hanging out tried to hit on me. I was too "wuh buh guh?" to really catch on.
At the table with Jeph (they are Dayfree Press brothers) were the White Ninja boys. They seemed really gratified when I looked at the sample page they handed me as I was wandering by and shouted "Oh you're White Ninja! I love White Ninja!" I bought a book from them and they did the BEST SKETCH EVER in it. Someday I will finish setting up my scanner, then you will see.
I talked to R. Stevens about Pirates and Ninjas. I think they are natural enemies, but he tried to convince me that they fight together against the Vikings, who are angry because they don't get enough fiber in their diets (this from the proprietor of the "PoopJournal"). Also he told me that he does Diesel Sweeties with just a rectangular brush in photoshop, and a lot of cutting and pasting. And occasionally Google Images. NEAT.
Also at the Dumbrella table, I talked to Jeffery Rowland, who told me how he and John Allison were drinking one night and came up with John's "The Child" storyline and Jeffery's pet zombie cat, Joanna. And though there are East, West, North, and South hamptons, there is no Hampton. Jeff just moved to Easthampton, with R. Stevens. Jeph Jacques lives in Westhampton. It is a webcomics mecca.
Tenacious D played a free concert to promote their upcoming movie ("Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny"), and Lori and I went to see them. Lori was confused (she'd never heard of the band), but I thought it was pretty much a hoot. Hoot! The best was Jack Black's long spiel about how he played all the songs in the movie live except for one, where he had a small backing track, and then proceeded to pose like a rock god and wail on an invisible guitar while Kyle sipped water and waved one hand in front of his own strings, all as a complete song played. "Small backing track" my ass. It was pretty silly, but that's what you'd expect.

And now ... pictures!

There was a real set from "The Corpse Bride" on display, and a guy demonstrating how the animation worked. He had a computer and a camera, and you could watch what he'd animated so far as the Con progressed. It took a long time.

Tim Biskup's "Helper"

General Grievous, and an assistant

The Meg, The Backpack, and The Wardrobe

How nice was this Bristol place? Nice. I would absolutely stay there again.

Not your average crappy hotel art. On the shelf, in a bowl, floats a fresh gerbera daisy blossom.

Hotel bathrobes: We are in the big leagues now.

And that's mostly it!

2005-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

HAHAHA LOOK IT IS MY LIFE.

*weep*

2005-07-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

two items

I have a draft of a Comic-Con post, I swear. It's got pictures, even. If you're lucky, I'll post the video of the Uglydolls staggering around.
I've been incurably grouchy the past few days, a state most likely brought on by a recent slump of irresponsibility. But, today on the way to work, I was following a yellow VW Beetle. Now, yellow Beetles are inherently cheerful. This one had a pretty mysterious license plate: "333HW". What on earth could that mean? I thought. The Beetle wasn't going fast enough for me, so I changed lanes to zip past it. As I glanced in my rear-view mirror, I saw the license plate now read "WHEEE". And then I laughed. For five straight minutes.

thank you, buglady

2005-07-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

Comic-Con day one

Man, I'm beat. Lori and I got in last night and walked over to the convention center at about 8:30. We got our badges and bags o' free loot, and wandered down to check things out a little. As usual, the main exhibition hall is bewilderingly large. You'll think you've walked at least halfway across it, only to look at a map and see that you're a few rows over from where you started. And of course it's full of people and things and sounds and lights and craziness. I spent a lot of money today, all on good stuff.

Loot!

I also got to talk to a lot of people: R Stevens, Sam Brown (finally!), the White Ninja guys, that dude who does Bob the Angry Flower, James Burks, Raina Telgemeier, Jeffry Brown, Doug TenNapel, and a bunch of other really nice people who I wasn't there specifically to meet. I guess it's nice to meet new people occasionally. A lot of it was pretty nerve-wracking (Did I say the right things to R Stevens? What if he thinks I'm dumb? Aargh!) but a lot of it was really neat, too, like chatting with the guys who do "The Amazing Joy Buzzards" and meeting some nice guys with a really gorgeous comic in the works about H.P. Lovecraft (writer by day, adventurer by night!). I predict the Lovecraft boys may have some problems, because they were pretty blithely optimistic about not owning or having permissions for any of Lovecraft's copyrights, but more power to them. It'll be pretty, anyway.

I need to sleep. Here is me and an Uglydoll for you to dream on:

Current Mood: ZZZZZZ

2005-07-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

I love animals

Especially giant plastic ones.

Current Music: Kettel, Twinkle, Twinkle that is you

Current Mood: hungry again (but not for chicken)

2005-06-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

tears, followed by catastrophe (not mine)

I had the worst day ever at work today. It was awful. Too much to do, and people not doing their own work, so I have to take up the slack, and nobody gives me any credit for all the things I do, wah wah wah. I had to go in the bathroom and cry a little after lunch; it was just too much stress for one Meggish to take.

But I wasn't sad and grouchy for long after I got home. I was on the phone with That Girl and Lil Bro, when there was this HUGE noise outside:

screeCRASHcrashcrashshattercrunch

I ran outside, and saw a totally smashed SUV sitting on the sidewalk, and some kind of four-door sedan blocking the intersection (I live almost on a corner, by a stoplight). The sedan had run straight into the SUV, so the whole front was collapsed, and apparently the SUV rolled a couple of times. Lucky for the dumb-butt driving it (who ran the red light), it landed wheels-down. People were showing up from all over, and somebody shouted "call 911!" Since I had my cellphone in my hand, I said "I will!" and called (I totally hung up on That Girl without warning — I wasn't thinking too clearly). My phone screen said "SOS" when it connected, I noticed.

When you call 911 from a cellphone in California, you don't get the local dispatcher, you get the CHP (California Highway Patrol). I had to wait a few minutes, which is why they tell you to call from a land-line if it's really an emergency. Anyway by the time I got through the lady I talked to said there were people on the way, and as I hung up I could hear sirens. One fire truck, one ambulance, and two police cars. Neither of the guys driving had been injured, which is all good. In fact, they got out of their cars just fine and were standing on the sidewalk when all the big vehicles with shiny lights showed up.

So, I got to meet some of the people who live on my block (nobody seems to know anybody else's name, but we have nodding relationships), and hang out with Jody, who is one neighbor I actually know, and do a little civic duty on the side, albeit too late. By the time I went back inside, I was a lot more relaxed and not grouchy at all. Also I talked to Ed, who washes cars at the mechanic's on the corner, and made an appointment to get Whitey a bath. Ed usually parks on the corner, and his car would have been destroyed if it'd been there today. "I'm never parking there again!" he said.

2005-06-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

My kitten wets the bed.

This is a good story: I came home today, and sat on my bed to read. The bed was wet. Bad sign. Mr. Jupiter had peed on the comforter sometime during the day, I guess. So I hauled off all the sheets and stuff and washed the duvet and its cover (it came out of the wash beautifully — I was terrified it would be lumpy and awful). Later, I was putting the lovely warm, fragrant duvet back into the cover, when Jupiter hopped up onto the duvet and PEED ON IT AGAIN. Right there next to me! It was hilariously awful. I know you can't assign human emotions to animals like that, but damn, cat. What did I do to deserve that?

2005-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

when neither choice is a great one

(Here is an editorial on the Middle East by a pampered, college-educated liberal who knows a little but not enough of the whole story.)

I can't seem to get this off my mind, so I may as well write something about it. I was thinking the other day about how the U.S. is now all about "spreading democracy" or whatever, and how that, combined with this country's cultural imperialism, seems to be making an effort to "Americanize" the whole world. I thought of Iran, and tried to imagine what it would be like with a totally democratic system. It was hard. Are some countries just not built for America's vision of "democracy"? If you read or watch or listen to the news at all, you'll know that Iran just had a presidential runoff election. The man who won, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a conservative hard-liner (of the kind that Iran seems to keep churning out). That's mostly what I've been reading in the news: "hard-liner! hard-liner! the reforms are over! nuclear discussions will break down! dark ages are on the way!" And I was troubled.

But then, I was listening to National Pinko Radio (non-denominational deity, bless NPR) and there was a fascinating segment that actually compared the two candidates, rather than relying on overused, jingoistic phrases like "conservative hard-liner" (I did it too, see?) that the mainstream media are using these days to mean "bad" (exept, of course, in our own country). Anyway, it compared Mahmoud whats-his-name with Hashemi Rafsanjani, the guy who ended up losing. Rafsanjani's rich, pro-West, and pro-Big Business. So, awesome, they've got the Fiscal Republican running against the Moral Republican. I'm all in favor of social reform in Iran, but is an elitist, would-be tycoon what the country really needs? Apparently the voters did not think so. Still, the thought of an "ultraconservative" president gives me hives. We'll have to wait and see.

2005-06-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Woo! Look, I have participated in science. You can too, just click the button!

2005-06-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Because It's Right Around the Corner
stormtroopers filking
amid manga-eyed furries
Ah! San Diego
from the Fantagraphics blog, Flog

It's almost that time of year again. I have been reading thousands of comics, web- and non-, and studying photos of my favorite artists so as not to have a repeat of last year, when I may have asked Sam Brown if Sam Brown was around. Then there was the year before, when That Girl and I bought shirts from Jeff Rowland and I had never read his comic and totally got the name of the character on my shirt wrong. That's one of the perils of being famous on the Internets, I guess. It's no good looking at the signage on the table, that'll just tell you that it's the right table. Is that guy Ryan North or some other Canadian? Did I just buy a minicomic from Raina Telgemeier's little sister? What's going on?

Oh and I got a kitten. A KITTEN. His name is Jupiter, and he is a ball of gray fuzz.

2005-06-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

telegram from now

SAW AQUALUNG AGAIN. FAB SHOW. WAVED AT MATT HALES FROM BALCONY. HAD EXCELLENT GIN AND TONIC. RECOMMEND TROUBADOUR AS VENUE. =
=MEG

I studied some neat telegram photos to do that, because I would offer you lot nothing but accuracy. Google-imaging (image-Googling?) "telegram" is something you ought to try. Jason G. took a bunch of photos at the show, and as soon as I can connive them out of him, I will share.

The Troubadour smells a little bit like wood, and a little bit like liquor. It is not unlike a pub in that respect. A pub with good music.

Cary Brothers (there are two of them, and they are not brothers, but one is named Cary) sang first, and I couldn't think of where I recognized him from until Matt & Co. snuck up on stage and they all played "Blue Eyes" very loudly together. And I thought "Aha!" Then Aqualung started in earnest. The songs are so much better live; this time there two whole percussionists (unless you're going to be really picky and count Matt on piano), and they added a definite energy to things. I was a little disappointed that Ben didn't play the pedal steel this time (or "the wah-wah thing," as I like to call it), but he stuck to one guitar and one bass, and mostly hid in the shadows. I did not throw my bra at him, although that was allegedly the plan (see, 'cause Matt's married and has a son, I will lust after his brother). Ben has a website with some fun mp3s of songs he wrote here.

See how I call them by their first names now? We are BFFs.

2005-06-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here, fishy fishy

Sushi for lunch, sushi for dinner. I am a sushi whore!

Anyway, here is my lunch story: Gil, Renée, and Kerry often go to Karuta, which has half-price sushi for lunch. Sometimes I go, but it’s always a little weird because they’re all friends outside of work, so they talk the whole time about people they know and things they do, and I’m pretty much left out. Anyway we usually sit at one of the tables in the back, behind a screen, right? Well the service is always a little slow back there, so today we sat at the bar. And I realized just how loud those three are. “AND THERESA SAID BRIAN WOULDN’T COME OVER BUT THEN HE TOTALLY DID AND I WAS LIKE ‘OMG WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!’ BUT SHE DIDN’T EVEN APOLOGIZE AND IT WAS REALLY CRAPPY OF HER I THOUGHT.” And it really didn’t help that they’re all from the OC and they think they own the universe, so they were really dismissive to the wait staff. I was really embarrassed.

You know, I had a thought. I should totally go to that place alone sometime. The sushi’s really good, and cheap, and I wouldn’t have to worry about people being jerks.

2005-06-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

What am I currently doing? I am not working, I can tell you that much. And it's all god-damned McSweeney's fault. I can't stop reading!

*obsesses*

2005-05-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

things.

Am I the only one who notices that Baby from Overcompensating is currently dressed up as Edward from Cowboy Bebop? Man, those two things combined make for one obscure reference. See May 26 for her outfit in full effect.

Some things made me mad today, so I thought I'd share:

The GM ad on the radio this morning that told me "You have a full life, so you need an SUV."
Match.com said I needed its new book to "find the person that will change your life." Because, you know, I'm not a full person capable of change on my own. I need someone else to complete me.
Our esteemed President, in defense of his fellow corrupt businessmen everywhere, berated Russia for holding Mikhail Khodorkovsky without charges. Wait, so those people at Guantanamo are just on vacation? Silly Red Cross!
Sudan arrested a second aid worker for pointing out the sickening violence that's been occurring against women there for months/years/centuries/forever.

And I just dropped my favorite pot lid on the floor and it shattered into a billion pieces. Gargh, I hate.

2005-05-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

lighty toasted

Today was the initially terrifying Memorial Day boat party with my boss and the new Spidell manager guy (who took the place of Horrible Rod, whose tenure came to a satisfyingly bad end ... mmm schadenfreude). It turned out to be not terribly terrifying at all, although I am really a nervous nellie who can make everyone within ten feet of me uncomfortable when I'm on a roll. But that is not the point of my tale. We took the boat out through the Huntington Beach marina, under PCH, and zipped over to Long Beach, where we moored (public parking for boats, who'd have guessed?) by Shoreline Village and had lunch, and that was all nice, but on the way back, Lynn said I should come and sit on the prow of the boat with her. I was game, so we took our Coronas up to the front, settled upon some sit-upons, and looped some extra rope around our ankles ("just in case," said Lynn). And then we took off out to sea, at about the speed of sound. Zoom!

Dude. That boat was smacking the waves so hard, I thought for sure we'd be thrown off into the ocean. Lynn's boyfriend is a little deaf, so she kept shouting for him to slow down, and he'd smile and wave. At one point, the boat dipped so suddenly Lynn and I both went flying, and when we landed we dropped our beers, and scrambled all over the prow trying to catch the bottles without dying. We were both soaked in beer, and laughing so hard I thought we'd choke. Lynn looked like she'd peed her pants. It was pretty awesome.

And I got a small sunburn. Happy Memorial Day.

2005-05-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

This strip made me giggle like a little girl. Which I was, at one point in my life. *Ahem* ... anyway ...

I'm finally done with probably my hardest week at work ever. It's cool that they want to give me extra responsibilities and all, but man. I am beat. "Can you edit this article?" "Can you call these tax-prep software companies and then write about it?" "Can you build these reports?" "Can you make five new banner ads?" "Can you fix these interest rates on the website?" "Can you format this test?" "Can you design these three ads that I needed yesterday but neglected to tell you about until just now while I go pick up my dry cleaning?" "THANKS MEG YOU CAN NEVER QUIT, OKAY?"

I actually had two different people tell me I'm indispensable today. Mm, job security. I also spent most of today in meetings, which was not exciting at all, although I felt important. I am, like, a REAL PERSON, with an OFFICE and BUSINESS CARDS and crap. *gives USC the finger*

I didn't make any plans for Memorial Day, and then I felt kind of dumb. It would have been cool to go camping or something, but everyone else probably had that idea months ago and actually made plans. The outdoors is no good when its crowded. So instead I'll apparently be hanging out with my boss on her boat. We're going to sail around and barbecue! I will consider it an excursion into the lifestyle of the other half. You know, the half with money.

P.S. I went with Jason G. to see Christopher O'Riley play at UCLA Live last night, and I've gotta say, his Radiohead covers are way better than his Elliot Smith ones. But a good time was had by all. And sweet potato fries were had by me at a diner in Hollywood around midnight. I'm running on four hours of sleep, whee!

In June, we go see Aqualung again.

2005-05-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Dorkfest 2005

I got a thing in the mail at work today. It was an ad for a job-recruitment service, claiming it would "teach me the right career moves." I said to Nathan, "But I already know good career moves!" And Nathan said "Me too!"

And then we both started to dance.

thus ends a story with no point

2005-05-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

teh suck

So, yeah, I basically suck at blog. But if you can forgive me, I will regale you with tales of what's happenin' now.

Birthday: I turned 23 on the 27th, to a surprising amount of fanfare and frivolity (thanks Lori!). I can mention Lori by name because she claims to not read my blog, out of fear I say terrible things about her. I did maybe once or twice, but I'm not telling you where in the archive to look. Also ... um ... Girl Whose Codename I Forget and Boy of Hers took moi to The Stinking Rose in Beverly Hills (well, near the hills, anyway) and had tasty, tasty, stinky food. And the next day I had to cancel my doctor's appointment because I was surrounded by a noisome cloud.
Skool: I am now officially registered for classes. Alls I gotta do is tell Daddy and file my severly late financial aid forms.
Vegas: I just (yesterday) got back from a HOT TAX CONFERENCE in Las Vegas. The conference? More unbelievably nasty obese people than I've ever wanted to see 12 hours a day ever. Why would you let someone who looks like that do your taxes? Ugh. We were there at the fabulous Stardust for four days and three nights, and the one good thing about tax fatties is that they can shell out the bucks. We made almost $10,000 over two and a half days. Not bad, eh? Monday night we walked (staggered holding cocktails we just walked out of the bar with and nobody said anything to us? it was pretty crazy.) over to the new Wynn hotel (it is my hotel!), which was very Alice in Wonderland (think giant, slowly revolving chinese lanterns and an indoor forest hung with globes made of living flowers). Then we had dinner at the Venetian, which smells lovely and has paintings on the ceiling. Wednesday night we went to New York New York and ate at a pub called "The Nine Fine Irishmen," which was as fun to eat at as it is to say. We were never out past 10, and yet I'm still wiped out.

wynne is my middle name

2005-04-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

she's got nothing better to do

So, Dorothy Gambrell, who does the excellent Cat and Girl, has put together a thing. And oh, what a thing it is. She is the sort of person that I think I would really dig, if I ever met her. I'll trust that your natural curiosity will lead you to click that link, and not explain further.

So I've got this other news, too.

*waits for drumroll* ... *hears none, forges ahead nonetheless*

I'm going back to school, to finish this time. I've talked to my advisor, and filled out reams of financial aid crap, and as soon as I get the holds lifted from my account (financial aid holds, I get to talk to accounting gremlins this week) I'll register and be set to go. I'm ... well it's part terror and part exhiliration. Terraration? Exhilirerror? One of those.

2005-04-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Awesomelope

Dude. So. I totally just climbed a wall without using my hands. And then I climbed it without using footholds, which was a zillion times harder, but I managed.

Lori called me last week and said "hey, you wanna take a rock climbing class?" And I like when people present me with opportunities, so I told her "Sure." And it was really, really fun. So I signed up for the next two in the series, and I just got back from lesson #2. SO FUN. It's absolutely freeing in the way that a good ropes course is, where you know if you slip and fall (and I did, several times) nothing bad will happen to you (because somebody's holding your line, and, failing that, the floor is really squishy).

All these metaphors keep occurring to me, too. Not while I'm climbing, though — then it's all "hand hand, foot foot, rock rock." But really, like, I handle a number of different things at my job, right? And I have to make sure I'm doing them all together if things are going to work well. They'll work when I forget things, just not very well. It's the same with climbing: forget to swing your weight over your foot before you push off, or keep your arms straight, or watch where your feet are going, and all you'll do is make yourself tired. Remembering all those things is hard, but by remembering them, you make everything easier on yourself in the end. And so on.

Also I totally contacted my USC advisor today, and walked a mile to the hardware store, and put my shelf together, and I ROCK SO HARD I just thought I'd let everyone know.

I'm really full of endorphins right now. And I love everything and everyone. Just so you know.

P.S. Awesomelope is the name of the princess in Magical Adventures in Space. Her bodyguards, Topato Potato and Sheriff Pony, went back in time to the moment of her birth and named her.

Edit: Soo, Jeff Rowland changed his comic AGAIN. Try this linky link here.

2005-04-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Radio Silence

I returned to Virginia for a week, and it made me think about a lot of things. I know this comes as a shock. "What? Meg never thinks! And she certainly never taints her blog with vague, cerebral garbage!"

But really, it made me think. ("and now you're going to tell us all about it, right? right?!" well, yeah.)

I've mentioned before that I feel like I'm in a state of "becoming" (ignore any Red Dragon references that may occur to you there). At least, since I came home to Cali-for-neeya (and that's what it really felt like — Virginia is just a place I used to live, now) I've been getting a lot done. I hung my white/corkboard in the kitchen, bought and put up new blinds and curtains, finally got my own ficus (I have this thing about ficus trees. It is a mystery even to me.), and replaced the dying bean-bag with a nice chair from Ikea. It almost looks like someone lives here, now. And I've impressed a lot of people at work in the past week, including myself. All the same, my dishes are still dirty and I have a thousand boxes stuffed with junk I can't bring myself to chuck stashed away in cabinets and under the futon and my bed. And though Spidell has offered to pay for me to finish my degree, I haven't made any movement toward getting that started.

I spent so long feeling so bad. I'm thankful every single day for where I am now, that I don't go to sleep crying and walk around feeling broken all the time. I'm really comfortable, and I think that's part of what's standing in my way. I have to finish my degree. Maybe it's part of my genetic makeup, maybe it's just because that was The Plan since forever. The thought of going back to USC is part eager challenge, part nauseating terror. It's the nauseating terror that keeps me from picking up the phone and starting to reconnect. Yeah, I could transfer, but I'd feel like I lost, somehow. I hate USC, I don't want it to beat me. All the same, I don't want to beat myself. Been there, done that.

I've been at Spidell almost a year now. Am I different? Are my personal demons chased away or sufficiently bridled? I don't know. I think until I can start the ball (giant, Indiana-Jones-style boulder) rolling and keep it rolling, I haven't really changed that much.

Current Music: Strokes, "I Can't Win" (haha, that sounds terrible. I didn't pick it, I swear, it was just on.)

Current Mood: Pensive, as per usual.

2005-03-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

The Weekend (and then some) of Living ~~Meggishly~~ Un-Meggishly

I've spent most of today, among irregularly surfacing bouts of work, thinking of a graceful way to introduce a post about my weekend. I'm a little skittish about blogging, you see. I like the words to sound good, and, like, stuff. So here I sit, in a dry patch between workish activities — mind you, I've got things I could be doing, but I don't feel like doing them — and the proper introductory sounds came and whispered themselves into my ear. I've got a cup of tea (my kidneys are already quailing at the prospect of more caffeine) and I'm ready to say my piece.

I had a fine weekend. I awoke Saturday to a vague feeling of unease, and wondered what I was forgetting to remember. Of course! The KCRW concert! My two tickets (one for me, one for an as-yet-undetermined guest) had been purchased and waiting since September. It's actually kind of a miracle I remembered at all. The concert was supposed to be in November, see, but then Chris Martin (who would have been performing unaccompanied) asked the station to postpone the show until March, with the promise that all of Coldplay would be there. He had unfinished album business.

So I called the Lorax, but I couldn't get in touch with her, so I called Lil Bro and asked if he wanted to see "Robots." He said the Lorax had just asked him the same question on IM, and was on her way. So I jumped in my car and flew up to Culver City to intercept them. Lil Bro remembered too late that the Lorax had said she had other things to do in L.A., and would not be by until later. So we hung out for a while. The Lorax finally showed up and I shanghied her off to the Universal Amphitheatre, where I had two seats waaaaay up high and to the left of the stage waiting for us.

The show was great, which was what I expected, really. Coldplay blew everyone away, which was what we all expected, I'm sure. I had no idea Chris Martin was so personable and buoyant while he sings. He skipped and twirled all over the stage, and clearly knew how to handle a crowd of thousands, all singing along. They played "Yellow" as the last encore, and it was amazing. Everyone was standing, and Chris demanded the crew turn up the theater lights, and we all sang along, bathed in yellow light from the stage. Yee ha. I must must must see them do a whole show next time.

Anyway, that is not the point of my story. As the Lorax and I entered the building, we saw the merchandise booth, and there were shirts that said "Aqualung." Aqualung? He hee! The crazy band names kids come up with these days. But here's the thing: Aqualung is a British dude who plays piano and sings, and he's brilliant. I mean, really. You know how it is when you hear a great song for the first time, that feeling that's part flying and part falling in love? It was like that. Astounding. Watching him play was like watching something deeply personal, the way he leans so near the mic with sleepy, half-lidded eyes. And then they'd run out of CDs by the time I made it down to the merch booth. Stupid merch booth.

BUT

Monday morning, still kind of dreamy and wistful for the weekend of awesome, I turned on my radio and there was Aqualung! They (piano dude Matt and his equally hot brother Ben) were doing a live set on Morning Becomes Eclectic. Sweet. And then Nic Harcourt, in that mellow British way of his, mentioned that they'd be playing another show at the Hotel Cafe that night before heading to Austin for SXSW. And I thought: Ooh.

Then, in a totally un-Meggish move, I went out. Yes, folks, I was actually moved to go somewhere I'd never been before, on a weeknight, in the dark, by myself. Well, I invited Jason G. along, and he met me there, but I drove there alone. The Hotel Cafe is neither a hotel nor a cafe. It's kind of a coffeshop/bar in an alley, actually. It is long and narrow, like a hallway with a stage at one end. There are no windows. Anyway we were early (Aqualung was on at 9) but there was a line out the door, and we waited for about fifteen minutes with a growing sense of unease. Word along the line was that the record label had a list of 80-odd people, and the place was packed. The doorman said not to hope, but we hung on. We'd been talking to a very hip girl named Tracy (with fancy turquoise-striped hair that matched her jacket exactly), who said that she'd been there an hour and a half early for the show in January but never got in. The line gradually shrank as people gave up and left, and then the opening tinkling of "Tongue-Tied" (streaming link) started and I was sad.

But then! Then the door guy must have taken pity on us fools out there in the cold (there were very few of us by then) and said "Okay, fifteen in." So we got in! I couldn't see a thing over people's heads, but I could hear, and that was the important part. We folded ourselves against the wall of the very, very narrow spot we were in, and had beers and listened to the wonderful, beautiful, soaring music. Jason seemed impressed, which gratified me. We then wandered a bit and had late-night pizza and dissed Green Day, but that is a story for another time.

I had an adventure, and it was awesome. I should be wild more often — clearly all I need is inspiration.

2005-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Because pink is healthy, right? Not when it's the color of your eyes ...

I recently complained to my optometrist about how my eyes are always dry, and how by the end of a day of staring at two (that's right, two — my office is sweet) monitors, my whites are not white. They are pink, like pretty, pretty princesses. So she gave me a $1-off coupon for some brand of eye drops. When you get a whole dollar off something, you better believe that something is not going to be cheap. These are the Cadillac of eye drops. I stood there at the Rite-Aid, wondering if something that cost $11 for a half-ounce could possibly be worth it. I'm not averse to paying for quality, but come on. Anyway I rolled my poor dry eyes and shelled out the cash, and let me tell you: Ooooo. Imagine a bottle of pure soothing that you can drip on your eyes up to four glorious times a day.

Now if I could just figure out what's up with my face getting pink as the day progresses ... somebody told me recently it could be because of chemicals in the stuff I smear on myself to keep the acne at bay, which sucks. I get a choice between looking like I'm 15 and looking like I've just run a mile? Maybe I will try some Aveda or Burt's Bees stuff and see how that works.

Oh, and go read The Front, because it's awesome.

2005-03-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

What you don't know can't hurt you

Sometimes (a lot of times) I mean to write about things that I never end up writing about. It could be because I'm lazy, or because things just aren't as compelling as they seemed at first, or because my goldfish-like attention span has flitted off to some other bit of flotsam. (Shiny! Shiny!) I compose posts in my head almost every day on the way home from work, can you believe it? What half-formed thoughts would I end up shoving, drooling and shy, before the invisible Intarweb audience if I wasn't distracted by other things, like lint and comic books? Anyway here is a list of some junk that I never got around to talking about. Use your brain to stuff it in the cracks between my legitimate brain dumps, and you can fill my long blog silences, eh?

I tailed the same blue car down Beach Blvd. two afternoons in a row, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver, who had stared at me with beautiful mellow eyes in the rearview mirror at a stoplight once. It turned out to be a middle-aged lady.
The DJ on KLOS rambled for about fifteen minutes one afternoon about a long-awaited Led Zeppelin concert he'd gone to in the summer of 1978. He was thrilled because someone had just given him a bootleg recording he hadn't known existed of that very concert. "Like a window to the past," he called it. His description of being there as a teenager was so palpable that when the crowd started to cheer, and Robert Plant shouted "Hello!" I was practically there myself. Time travel.
One day at lunchtime I saw a girl done up in full goth regalia, with a pirate hat, riding down the sunny street on a black bicycle with a tattered pirate flag flying behind.
Speaking of pirates, there was a wild-west dinner theater thing (one of those cheesy theme restaurants you find in touristy areas like Anaheim) that closed near work recently. It reopened as a pirate dinner theater. The giant cowboy still adorns the front of the building, but now he holds a pirate flag. He could use an eyepatch.
Here is a secret: If you want to avoid getting a parking ticket on street-cleaning day, park in front of the garages by my building. I stuck my car there last night after driving hopelessly around the block three times, figuring I might as well have a good spot if I was going to be ticketed anyway. This morning? No ticket! Rock on.

I can totally see now why I don't end up posting this crap. Man, I love stories with no point.

2005-03-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

What do you suppose the chances are that I could get people to call me "Little Lady Fauntleroy"? Anyone? Not very good, probably.

Did you see that Kelly Vivanco commented on my last post? Now I am like a rock star. I told her she was a Webcomics rock star when I met her, but she pshaw-ed me. It's true, though. I've been calling lots of people rock stars lately, although nobody seems to believe me. I told Magic Boy he was a rock star, but he said he was more like a well-respected indie band. Which is true enough, I suppose. He was on the cover of a magazine, though, that's got to count for something.

See, now you're all "Who the heck is she talking about? Enough with the code names!" But what if the Russians are reading my blog, and they want me to spy for them, and their plan is to kidnap all my friends and hold them for ransom? You don't want to be kidnapped by Yevgeny and Boris, do you? I call Sara herself, though. I don't mind if the Russians get her.

Anyway, Magic Boy is the guy I'm dating. He was perusing my blog the other day and asked why I never mentioned him, and I explained that I never talk about people I'm dating because, well, I'm not into soap operas and you're probably not either, and I don't want to inflict my private life on everyone like I do to poor Sara (who is probably already in a closet in Moscow somewhere, sorry Sara).

"Sara, I met this guy! He's great!" (two days later) "Sara, that guy was a jerk! But I met somebody else!" (and so on) To soothe M.B.'s ego, though, here is his and my whole sordid story:

I dated Magic Boy for a while and then totally left his ass for somebody else, kind of on the theory that I wasn't getting any long-term vibes from him, so somebody else might be better? But somebody else turned out to be a jerk (where do I find these people?). M.B. remained in the background the whole time, however. Did he know I'd regret my decision? Maybe he's psychic. That might help with the magic business. Anyway we're giving it another shot. He's not like anyone I've ever dated before, with the possible exception of a certain Dutch fella some of you will remember that I was in love with. I'm not in love with Magic Boy, but he's fun, and he drives a sexy, sexy Honda hybrid. And that's all I have to say about that.

2005-02-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

"Cat and Girl" is excellent today. It features the sort of musing that is never far from my mind, namely on the relative worth of my own small moments. If a life begins and ends in the world, leaving no trace of its passing, was it ever really lived at all? I enjoy small moments. I collect them, as some people collect shoes or cars or, you know, things. But after another rainy Sunday spent nursing a headache and reading comics, I really wonder if I'm living, or just passing time. I know there's more to life than coziness and contentment, but they're awfully nice. Maybe too nice. Sometimes I catch myself dreaming of things I'll do, places I'll go or have gone. I live more in the past and future than the present, which is not a particularly good thing.

And then I write random, cerebral posts to my blog, but I never actually fix stuff >_<

2005-02-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

Ooooog. I was really going to write something today, really I was, but my eyesight's been fading rapidly and I read all morning, so now I have a headache that's making all the words on the screen go funny. So instead of posting, Ima go make an optometrist appointment. You understand, right?

...

What? Here, you whiners, here is a picture for you to contemplate:

what we have here is a failure to communicate

2005-02-16T15:23:00.000-08:00

Do you think it'd be worth any potential legal consequences to steal produce from a grocery store just so you could tell the cop, "Officer, I was only taking a leek"?

hardee narf narf

2005-02-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

The girl who made my painting has her own webcomic, which I realized with horror is not one of the ones linked here. I'll fix that. "Patches" is the comic, and it is a cutie. Be sure to check out the "Safety Tips".

2005-02-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

Things of note

I bought a painting. It was expensive. How expensive, I'm not saying. I can afford it, though. It's called "Bird Keeper."

I invented a word:

sneeze bishop: (n) A designated bestower of sneeze blessings. "My office is next to Nathan's, so I always end up his sneeze bishop."

"A Lesson Is Learned But the Damage Is Irreversible" is excellent today. This one may be my favorite so far.

I'm writing a story about a woman named Melina, who can see how people will die.