Crossed Off

Richie and I went to the Art Institute on Saturday, to take in some culture. What a beautiful way to spend a bleak, February afternoon. (and finally i am able to cross this off of my New Year's Resolution list. yeah!!)

Breaking Records

Last night, Michelle, Tim and I checked out Moxie Motive and The Record Low at Subterranean. And before we left the Six Corners, we snacked on some late night food at Flash Taco. YUM!!

Make Love, Not War

I've been off-kilter all day today. My co-worker (and friend) and I had an argument this morning about something really silly. Work stress shows itself in many different forms.
I hate fighting. And she and I didn't really even fight we just 'disagreed', but I hated that too.

I was never good at staying mad at someone. Growing up, Angie used to TORTURE me by giving me the silent treatment for days on end. It killed me every time.

My friend and I just chatted briefly though and we both sorta said "yeah...sorry 'bout that...things are stressful...yadda yadda yadda". So I feel much better now.

Chipper

Motorola has announced the release of their new cell phone: MotoKRAZER.
There's a good chance I know the guy who created the chip inside this phone. How kick ass is that!?

Heart

I know I've posted this before, but I find his poetry brilliant and beautiful...
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

i carry your heart with me

(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it

(anywhere i go you go,my dear;

and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear not fate

(for you are my fate,my sweet)

i want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are

whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;

which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder

that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

***
by: e.e. cummings

Briedom

I've made up a word.

Briedom: n. The state of being free or at liberty to eat Brie for dinner, many nights in a row.

(This may be translated into other forms of cheese.)

Let Briedom Ring!!

A Coupla Monkeys

Angie took Gav-man and Max to get some pictures taken. Those boys are so cute! (And Max's hair is SO curly!)

Allagash White

Michelle, Tim, Adam and I hit up dinner at Silver Cloud last night. (Well, they ate dinner...I opted for a dessert of s'mores instead.) Then over to The Maproom for some good Belguim beer. I think Allagash White is my new favorite wheat beer.

For as cold as it was last night, Adam's suggestion of burning in hell was almost tempting. "Don't just go there. Burn there."
;)

What's That Smell?

On the drive in to work this morning, Carisa and I were chatting it up about perfumes (being that Valentine's Day is around the corner and all). We were talking about the scents we prefer and then we somehow got onto the topic of what scents we wore growing up. We're talking Junior High here, people. I mentioned Exclamation! Which every girl in my school wore. We also recalled the Debbie Gibson perfume, I think it was called Electric Blue or something?

So here's the question of the day: what perfume/cologne did you wear during Junior High?

Other random question: I'm due for another bottle of perfume. Do I buy Body by Victoria or Pink? Body is what i usually wear, it's a very clean scent. Pink is a spring sorta scent, light florals. Let me know your thoughts....

And a big thanks to Laine for the beautiful Valentine's Day card! I showed it to all my co-workers and they love the design! You are such an amazing artist! Love you!!!

Mix it Up

MITTELOS = LOST TIME

Random thoughts on the show:

Juliette has remarked in the past about the lack of free will. Now we understand she too is a prisoner of the island.

Perhaps not all of the Others are Good Ones nor are they all Bad Ones. There's a degree of evil in each which fluctuates depending on circumstances. (Isn't that true with all of humankind, though.)

If the two islands co-exist next to one another, there is a yin-yang relationship between the two. One brings about good, the other takes good away. Which makes me think, Juliette could have been a Good One when she came to the island, but perhaps the island has taken that from her. Perhaps being on the island will turn you into a Bad One?? Which would explain why they keep trying to recruit Good Ones.

And then there is the moral delimena of island 1: confront your inner demons (black smoke) and maintain/gain physical health. island 2: ignore those inner demons but your physical self will deteriorate. Which is more valuable: physical or emotional health? Which takes more strength and courage to confront?

And reproduction, or lack there of, is now a key role in the plot. Which explains needing a scientist who specialises in fertility. Also why they would kidnap the French woman's daughter. And Walt. And Claire's baby. It's like the force of Nature/God/etc. doesn't want these people to multiply. And we're back to the battle of Good vs. Evil (God vs. The Devil).

I love this show. :)

Missing

This is probably going to be a long post (i'm feeling very wordy right now) and it will be very random and stream-of-consciousness so bear with me and my faulty punctuation.
I just watched Sadia's video blog on YouTube. (Y'all should click over and check it out yourself.) And it is so great to see her face. And I miss watching her talk. I miss all of her fun hand gestures and how animated her face gets and how she bows her head shyly when she's talking about a great success of hers. And what an amazing, successful woman she is. How I got to be so blessed to be her friend, is beyond me.

I miss her.

And I love Chicago and it does feel like home to me. I love my job, hell it doesn't even feel like a job and the people i work with are more my friends than co-workers. I love my home. I love my friends. I love the city and how it breathes music and art and life, even on the bleakest and coldest of winter days. It feels good to love where I live. But that doesn't make me miss California any less.

The great part about moving around so much is that you meet all these really different, fascinating people. I mean, where else in the world would I have met someone like Sadia? Or Josh? Or Murry? Or Joy? Or Pete? or Laine? or all of these people that fill my life with laughter? you don't meet all those types of people in one place...moving around brings about that opportunity. But it also brings about the understanding that you will move on again. And our friendships are still strong, I'm a great pen pal. Blogging helps and so does myspace and unlimited calls after 7pm. :) But I get sad when I think about having to miss Josh's movie premiere and that fountain of cheese at the opening party (but don't worry Josh - I'll walk the red carpet on your next film). I miss my Thursday nights with karla and eating mexican food and chatting about books. I miss how Karla just knew me even when i was searching to know myself.
I'm sad that I don't get to see Murry's new son, Tex.
I wish I could call up Laine and say 'let's grab a cider for happy hour'.

And Sadia, in her video blog, mentioned doing crafts at home. Every Tuesday night she and I (along with about 6 other friends) got together and cooked an elaborate, delicious meal along with a decadent dessert and many bottles of wine. After dinner we would work on different projects. My leather cuffs were made on Jim's dining table after splitting 3 bottles of 2 Buck Chuck. We ripped apart shirts just to sew them back together. Before Sadia went to Japan, she and I shopped stores for funky, modern fabrics. We were paneling her suitcase with interesting fabric so she wouldn't have trouble spotting it in Osaka.
I miss doing that with Sadia. I miss having a creative outlet with her.

and i'm proud of my friends and how they've grown into incredible people. i mean Laine is traveling the world every time i talk to her. karla's chopped her hair, got a dog (which looks more like a bear), changed jobs, etc. she now meets BJ at Poquito Mas for mexican. and i love BJ and her hubby, Matt. i just wish i could slide into the booth next to them with an enchilada and margarita.

i mean, Murry and Grey are parents! Murry's a dad! That's amazing! Let's all cross our fingers that Old 97s come through Chicago this summer. I want to sit around after sound check and tell ghost stories with Murry. :)

Josh - i don't even know where to begin with josh. gone are the days of working in a warehouse and writing scripts at starbucks every afternoon. (i can distinctly remember the first moment I met Josh and how he walked up to me and asked where Karla was...ha ha ha) now he's off doing shoots and walking the red carpet and living his dream. i wish i could be there to see live bands, like The National!!, with him and have a pint of cider in celebration. (Seriously Josh, you need to schedule more press junkets in chicago...maybe we could even catch a Cubs game!)

alrighty, i've rambled quite a bit. i'm going to take my homesick heart and get ready for bed. But really, everyone...check out my best friend Sadia on YouTube.

and know that right now i am thinking about all of you and i am missing you terribly.

Electronics Confuse Me

Alrighty, I got a question for any of my readers who understand how electronics hook up and work and stuff.
So I got a new t.v. and it's hooked up to my dvd player and when I had cable installed this weekend that cable installer-dude removed my dvd player cord and put in a cable cord instead. So if I want to watch t.v. I leave it as is. If I want to watch a movie, I have to remove the cable cord and hook up the dvd cord.

That's going to get old really fast.

So. Who out there can tell me how to fix this so I don't have to swap cords in order to go from t.v. to movie?

Your help is much appreciated.

Sligo!

Last night, Joy, Pete and I booked our tickets to Ireland/Scotland! We'll be travelling across the pond in late April into early May. We'll be meeting up with Molly and Scott in Aberdeen, hanging with the locals throughout Scotland and then living up our last weekend in Dublin (aka Publin).
80 days!!!

Purple Rain

I snapped some photos of the half time show.

Da Bears

Not by the hair of my...

Is it just me or are these otherwise stunning women, cursed with very oddly shaped chins?
I want to look at and admire their pretty hair (looooove the bangs, Reese) or fantastic eyes (great smoky eye, Alyssa) but like a horrific accident on 94 during rush hour, I can't turn my eyes away. From their jabby, pointy chins.
It's like they've gotten to thin for their chin.

Table for One

It's been too long since I've cooked a full-on meal. Eating for one makes it difficult to prepare and eat a great meal without wasting most of it.

I had plans to prepare the following for Valentine's Day (I was torn between these two):
Eggplant parmeasan
Bruchetta
Steamed green beans
Creme brulee with fresh berries
Cabernet savingon

or

Peeled shrimp
Angel hair pasta with a garlic, white wine sauce and diced plum tomato
Steamed green beans
Molten chocolate cake with sliced strawberries
Prosecco (Italian Sparking Wine)

that second one sounds good and I can just see how I would plate it.

humph. I just may have to spring a meal on a friend. y'all should consider yourself warned.

Terror Alert

People - a fancy Lite Brite is not a terrorist.




Now this, on the other hand, evokes Terror. (Tara - Terror, coincidence...I think not)








*I'm not a big fan of cartoons but I do love me some Aqua Teen Hunger Force!*