all that/whole grain/low fat

Fresh washed jeans
are better than saggy butt jeans
are harder to ride a bike in
sometimes cause a little muffin top.


Also, a bring your favorite cocktail party on cinco de mayo on Beulah.

rc

The cap of my halfway-there-root-canal fell off (and boy does it hurt).
"Oh, just don't eat anything sticky, or hard, or chewy, and only eat on your left for now."
Ok.

I go back tomorrow, then the next Monday, then the next Thursday - then I'll be done with my first root canal.

There's a lesson here, about bikes and trolley tracks, and about dental insurance, and helmets, and marrying rich, and blackberry tarts.

l + f

Things I've lost recently, or only recently noticed are missing:
that makeup bag with the martini on it that Kelly gave me (I think it has a toothbrush or something in it)
giant red scarf
sleeping bag

Some things I'm trying out again:
heels (well, wedges)
makeup (only a little)
jewelry (maybe something like this) -

(you could buy it for me and pick out the colors and font and even what it says and everything. I'll wear it. It's from Etsy.)

too late

Hi, It's four am, and I'm trying to figure out how to throw up dinner from a certain restaurant that you all work at.
I feel so sick.
More root canal stuff tomorrow. So much to look forward to.

science

let the Craigslist experiement begin!

My friend Holly is trying to go on ten craigslist dates this summer, to help us learn what the world of free-personal ads really has to offer single girls.

No promise of a serious long term relationship resulting (obviously, she’s trying for ten dates, with a compare and contrast-type outcome) - but that’s not to say that the date won’t blossom into something beautiful…

About Holly: 30, information scientist in Philadelphia. Likes comic books, literature, movies, videogames. Excellent cook, interested in the arts, drives a super cute scooter, great at (insightful but) sarcastic comments. Likes cats and dogs, and rock shows and crafts.
Never married, no kids. One slightly childish roommate.

About You: hopefully in the -/+5 years (25-35) with a job, and interests, ideas of places to go on dates. Hopefully, you don’t have any weirdo fetishes, like that swiss cheese guy who posted last week.

About the Date: She’s going to take notes (but really, every girl is. Learn about it) – cause I told you, it’s like science will be happening, and you want to be a part of that, right? Don’t expect it to be a “one date = sex” thing, ‘cause it’s not that either.

Ideas for dates (in case you’re bad at it): movies (action/comicbook/something bad with Nick Cage/HP6), dinners at good restaurants that you’re disinclined to visit with your friends, the ferry to the Aquarium, obscure but good bands, amusement parks, mini-golf…c’mon. You can do it. Think up something good.

Anyway, we’ll be perusing replies and hope to get back to everyone so Holly can go on ten good dates this summer! Who knows…maybe you’ll knock her socks off, and she’ll quit the experiment after meeting you?

email (and please, yes send a picture or your facebook page or something), and she'll get back to you!

Currently sifting through responses.

funny games

1. We might go camping in Letchworth State park for Lilley's wedding? "Camping" means staying in a place with walls and bathrooms, but maybe bonfires too.

2. Maryilyn told me that Conrad announced to everyone that he's "good with girls", and I wonder who told him that/how he got that idea in his head.

3. My dad sent me this picture of his cat today


4. Last night (I forgot to mention) that the movie was saw at the Riverview last night was the one for deaf people. Where, across the bottom of the screen it says "soft soulful guitar begins" and then later (to show the music is still playing, two little music notes on screen. Along with all the dialog. Heading in that direction, which made it even funnier.

(Melissa said lists are better than paragraphs. She actually told me to tell you, Andy, but I thought I could take a hint too).

88°

Sunday was a perfect day, Lou Reed style. Woke up, went to the park in the AM and did blankets and books til temperatures called for showers. The rest was free food, seeing everyone in the world in NoLibs, playing games (we played Set Cubed - it's set/scrabble/dice/dominoes, and is alright) at the comic book shop, giant cinco de mayo celebrations with men painted in silver and eloborate faux-mummer outfits, frozen drinks, steak dinners, and going to the movies.

At the Riverview, it seems that everyone else in the whole world thought it was a good night to see Beyonce go bananas, but we picked Observe and Report, which was a little funny, but in that "cute or sad?" way, like when they have websites about dogs who have wheelchairs, or squirrels wearing casts.

new weekends

We're not the Making Time crowd anymore, and I wonder who is. In retrospect, the first Making Times (at Transit, when I was 21 or 22?) were so fun and dancing and meeting boys, and Sparks, and the 47, and everything. Then it turned into this weird thing that was mostly about trying to find the allusive Most Fun Room, and a hundred trips up and down the stairs. Maybe I just miss the Sarah/Melissa aspect of those first ones - they were really funny.

Anyway, now Friday nights are sometimes like the second version of MT, where everyone is trying to find the best thing to do, and it seems like there's just tons of text messages happening, but often it's a hang out at Rustica or something. This is probably because Andy works real late on Fridays and can't corral us into a place.

I stayed South last night, we had drinks from blenders and learned the difference between girls from New York (who roll in wearing pencil skirts and tiny heels - good job, K&G) and girls from Philly, who manage to throw parties while wearing genie pants.
I was bad at being friends I guess, but plan to make it up. Pizza party and Mii party today. Almost as good as Cape Cod. Sorry, "the Cape".

Oh, and I'm getting a website (instead of a blogspot) or something soon? I'm not totally sure I get it/what it means, but in a little while it'll be just doggieeyes.com. It's getting re-did - you know, for someone's portfolio.

deal breakers

Like a big game of "would you rather" where the choices are "would you rather date someone who was really annoying in this specific way OR be alone?", deal breakers have been a big topic lately.

HZ has a lot of good ones. Like toe socks, and Nascar devotion, tattoos of breasts on chests, and belly button rings. Sarah would probably quit a boy over talk radio (but not over a belly button ring, conincidentally), other people can't get over haircuts, musical preferences (ska. Nick Filardi.), geographic differences, height, on and on.
I can't think of any.
But I know I must have a million. That swiss cheese thing from Craigslist is definitely one of them, but I can't really figure out the rest. People who are way too into their iPhones maybe? Boys who talk about their band too much*?

Is there a difference between no one being good enough and just being okay not dating someone for realsies?

Also, so you know, in the meantime, I did think of a lot of case-by-case dealbreakers that I have/have had, but a lot of them were too personal to air here. Read my other blog for that. Just kidding. I don't have another blog.

*actually haven't encountered boys who love their bands that much since probably ... 2001, but still.

Oceanic awesome

It's official. LOST party is May 30, shortly after the conclusion of Season 5. It's a costume party. Start brainstorming, get creative.

May 30, 10+pm, 1536 S Beulah, BYOB, all the usual stuff.

white

Heal up already. I'm so tired of having scabby head - I just want to bleach my hair a hundred times but I think it would burn.

horse

Last night I had a simple goal. Take every item of clothing out of my closet, take pictures of it, decide what to keep. (The pictures were so I could make these purging decisions via satelite, from work or something, and also develop some sort of digital closet). I thought...50 dresses was the right amount to keep. Right?

Wrong.
I ended up cleaning out my closet, but instead of putting everything back in, I put most back in, but also expanded my closet to the opposite wall of my room, which is now the shoes and bags wall. I got rid of barely anything.
Someone motivate me with another clothes swap*, stat.

Other things are fixed tooth (again, and no more Now'N'Laters), working on Mii costume ideas, working on Lost costume ideas (and so should you), weddings, birthdays, movies, Medieval Times dinners.

*new funniest part of clothes swap is resulting game "who gave Sue that outfit". You girls have really distinct taste, cause someone always knows who I'm dressed up as.

South Street, on purpose

Tonight was riding bikes, quizzo, winning 2nd place (and several drinks) - thanks Sandro,for knowing so much abt computer-land, and riding home in superduper rain. But a really fun new Tuesday.
(I only knew a couple answers).

work

Ken and Zack, relaxing in the pool.

rainout

Yesterday was supposed to be first bbq of the season. Instead it rained and we had impromptu baked potato bar at my house. Everyone was so good at it.
This morning? I took a run.
No promises or grand self-imposed challenges about it, but it was alright. I just went around the hood, and not for that long, and a couple times I had to take a walking-block break. Somewhere, right? Gotta start somewhere. Thanks JB: you're my inspiration. I'm gonna try again on Thursday. Once it gets too hot, maybe I'll just do the Wii run, which is both funny and (probably) less effective. We'll see.
Big plans tonight include digitalizing my closet (more on this later, I think it'll be great) and maybe Quizzo...

a whole kit of new things

as usual (lately) nothing here's important, and it doesn't even go together, and definitely doesn't segue.

Today I found out that I'm not the only one thinking about Halloween costumes this early. For the rest of you, who are just dying for a reason to dress up, but Halloween seems just too far away - LOST party is coming up. Tentatively June 20. That sound good? You'll have to dress up like an 813 survivor, and try not to get eaten by the black smoke monster. Or a polar bear. Anyway, more info on whether that's happening later. Like in a month.

My new favorite is Alex's blog, where he pretends to be dead to see how his cats react.


I plan on doing this too, and so should you (Dane? Shiv? Lulu? Kimmy Brown? Nikki? Leslie? Liza?). I really like it.

There's some birthdays this week, and other chances to dress up. And teeth appointments.

Oh, and Josh Ballard got some really serious kicks, and told us he's going to start running. I'm all for it. I want to run. I want to run with JB. Realistically, I'd need a running partner who was a little chubby and short, and not very good at running, so we could keep up with each other. And then I'd had to buy some new sneaks too, I guess. Maybe a Run for Fun in May program. I'm not committed yet, just an idea.

Oh, and high schoolers trying to get into art school make art:

(Thanks, Nikki).

I don't know. Just some things for you to look at.

2favtxts

Here's my two favorite text messages this week:

"I'm gonna call-at-one-am-to-see-what's-happening you so bad."

and,
catbike.

I tried to make a painting of Little Cat on the bike. She loves them. Anyway, it wasn't so good.

Everything good comes from Andy. He also sent me Kanye lyrics as a little encouragement card, and Sunday morning had lots of dance floor wisdom/revalations about the previous night.

shed a light on love

Saw Adventureland today. Far exceeded my expectations. I was pretty sure we were in for something between Superbad* and Pineapple Express*, but it was funnier, less jokes where people get hurt (some people like slapstick, but it's not my scene), and sentimental in a way better way than, say, Nick and Norah*.
Anyway, it's about a bunch of kids who have bachelors degrees in really specific things and can't get work, so instead have crappy jobs, and aren't sure who to date, and drink and drive, and go to bars called "the Stardust Lounge" (didn't we go there around 2003 or something?). And the soundtrack was good.
Anyway, between my low expectations and the bad feeling I got from the date movie previews that came with this, I was surprised.

Also, how come no one will go see Nick Cage with me? Anyone?




*in my head these movies are all the same genre. I think if Michael Cera or someone from Freaks and Geeks is in something, it's in the same new nameless genre (to me).

fir real?

Here's that tree-lung guy that I probably told you about last night.

Like most of the people on the Nine Inch Nails message boards, I think it's fakesie.

rocks/tonic/juice/magic

Listening to 1999, making good decisions, and trying to push myself into riding my bike (I'm so nervous about it, but it's so nice out! I've got to do it).

Everyone in center city and at South Street (yeah) is dressed really well (except the UArts kids, who always look like they just moved into the city a minute ago), and everybody is biking and park-ing, and we're all making dinner for each other all the time? Awesome.

Also, been thinking about things I've tricked my body into believing lately:
-balancing despite bad equilibrium
-no period 2k9 (so far, so good, and now with an a-ok from lady doc)*
-eating with a lot of halfsie teeth
-sleeping without help

This wasn't really about anything.


*isn't as drastic as it sounds, and won't really be the whole year, but so far, so good.

mostly regarding brushing your teeth

(This is really boring, you might want to skip it.)

I'm on breakfast three today, and I feel a little like Josh Ballard. (Breakfast two was popcorn.)

This morning brought up some questions. First: how (why?) do some people brush their teeth in the shower? When I start thinking about this I can't stop. Isn't it hard to rinse out your mouth? Do you bring the toothpaste in with you? (Most of my questions about it are logistics.) Isn't it weird with hot water?
I actually only know one person who does this. I think there's more though.
Next, (for those of us who brush our teeth in the sink) I am pretty sure that most people lean over and get a mouthful of water from the faucet, right? I know some people do hand to faucet, then hand to mouth, but that doesn't serve our purpose. Bear with me. I (and maybe you) lean over and drink from the faucet. I found out today that I can only do this to the left. I tried to do it the other way, and it felt so awkward - my body/mouth judgment isn't so good going backward. Try it.

I wish I remembered more grammar rules, like whether punctuation for a sentence that is entirely inside parenthesis goes inside or outside the parenthesis. I like grammar a lot.

quitter

I quit (okay, stopped) taking Ambien, so am just kind of up a lot. Awake. At dumb times. It's mostly lame. So last night/this morning, around 5, I was making a bagel and looking for cream cheese, and noticed that there was blood all over the bottom of the fridge. From that steak Andy asked Conrad to bring us. Days and days ago.
Gross.

Other things I'm thinking about:

What would it be like to be a foreign nanny, living in a high-rise in Philly? I've been hanging out with other nannies lately, and am learning I have it pretty good.

Andy, I can't usually watch the videos you post. No sound on work computer, and no patience at home. Similarly, I don't usually listen to songs people post. Sorry guys.

Why do people have pictures of their kids instead of themselves as their Facebook picture? Carrie Swift from high school, I'm talking to you. It's weird to get a friend request that is just a picture of a two year old boy, attached to the name of a girl I used to know.
Also, I kind of like Facebook, guys - 'cause you don't ever have to log in, the email they send you about the message you got has the whole message in it. Easy peasy.

I need to mail a lot of things.

My head started bleeding last night at dinner. That was a surprise. I think a scab just fell off or something (sick, right?). So much blood in my life (kind of a joke/kind of real).

101/1001

Today I was going through a box of stationary, and I found a notebook (that Phil got me in Thailand or something?). Remember when everybody was making those lists? 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days? There was a whole blog about it someplace. Anyway, mine was obviously abandoned (at 60 things, I didn't even finish the list), but was scheduled to be fulfilled two months from now.

Here's a couple things I did:

3. use my passport more
11. send mail to A in Switzerland
16. quit soda (did I ever even like soda?)
17. see dentist (ha)
28. try to improve posture (I at least thought about this a lot)
44. ween off sugar in coffee
53. see Nikki more
63. make beer shampoo

and here's a few I didn't do (yet?):

2. pay off Visa
8. upload all those videotapes from 2k5
18. floss every day for a month
34. sew a dress from a pattern
51. make Matt leBlanc calendar
55. take a polaroid every day for a year
56. post them
58. throw a party somewhere that's not my house

so, I have those, and about forty+ other things to do. Really quick.
The good news is, I did a lot of other things instead.

accounts

5 things I really want to get on soon
and some things that are already working out.

want

1. Children's book. I can do that.
2. Start using my Holga again.
3. Learn how to write grants?
4. ASL
5. Get new teeth/get existing teeth fixed

have

1. Quitting eating out, and instead striving for 5 f/v's a day, landing around 3-4.
2. Drawing pictures.
3. Mail.
4. Organizing digital things.
5. South Philly (again).

risen, indeed

Happy Easter.
If your hungry for some Reese's eggs, you can come over and eat some, left over from eternal brunch. I might not be here though becuase I'm going to take a walk over to Ikea to see if they have these chair cushions that my mom has emailed me about eleven times.
Ikea is open on Easter? Isn't that nice?

I think I must have subsituted "summer weekends" with "all weekends" in my mind sometime while I was recovering. I came back expecting (and not totally excited about, to be honest) a hundred loud dance parties, warehouses and lofts, Making Time type events, cross city bike rides all the time. When I've realized is that we're a little more hang out at that house, then hang out at this house, then do this other low key thing. (Oh, and on Friday, I forgot to add the part where we all hang out in the car outside the Barbary for kind of a while. I like it fine. It's probably seasonal anyway - we'll see. For now, I'm content with pictionary, potluck, and (new) giant cats.

Plus, I'm like, an artist now.

PS, What'll we all talk about at the end of the month when C quits his list of weird rules and exceptions? I guess someone will have to make some drama. Not it.

lit

I haven't read a book in weeks, so I jumped back in the game with Jenna Jameson's biography.

"Do you know you were just dancing for Whitesnake?"
"Really, like I give a crap."

I read eleven chapters this afternoon, but that's not really saying very much. There's a lot of pictures, and one of the chapters was a comic.

6,815

I finally ordered (is it "ordering" if it's free?) the tiniest chopper/food processor. I only had to spend six thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars on my debit card.

I earned it.

Jack

oh, and I'm pretty in love with my new Crayola watercolor paint set from the drugstore.


More on Flickr.

Q'n'A

Recently, I have some questions, maybe you have answers.

Is there really an internet archive? Someone said something about it last night at dinner, and I just don't know if it can be real.

What is Kelly's address? I asked her, but she won't get back to me.

How do you tie an obi? I can't figure it out, even with printed directions.

Did someone really fall through a subway grate once? I thought about it while walking to work today, when I saw some lady take this huge step to avoid walking over one. I think I remember someone telling me once that some girl fell in one.

Will my bathing suit from H&M fall apart? I'm in the market for a better one, but at least this one matches.

Finally, what ever happened to Lauren?

sincerely

I'd like more emails that are barely decipherable and end like this:

i am sdtil sobersd most,yl. iexcedot not really.

cloxoxoxox

(Today I went to CVS and bought a children's paintset. It's not too late to start, right?)

Things I Learned

from my surgery - just a couple

My head pusses out all the time. I'm resigned about being gross. People care less than I thought.

I got okay with being alone. Sometimes I even choose it now on purpose.

Not shopping for 4 weeks was fine. Granted, one of those weeks I was in the hopsital, and the other weeks I wasn't really going places, but I didn't feel the urge, which was good.

Super short haircut is fine, and super easy.

Having tons and tons of time on my hands made me less creative, and way more into tv. I had big plans.

old grind

Back to work and everything; today is day two. Before work though, I had to go to the dental school to take care of broken tooth (number one). Oh - they can't. They didn't get medical clearance. Cool. I'll just come back to the end of the earth* next week for the chip and then make a few appointments for my first root canal.
Instead of getting my grilled fixed up, we talked about Long Term, and payment. It's cool, I'll just power through and pay a few hundred a month for the next eight years. If I get approved. Lawsuit, hurry up. One way or the other, just let me know.

Last night we went to Trader Joe's with about 500 9-5er fringe types. I'm trying to eat out less, or not at all, but am Very Bad at shopping. The whole trip was kind of ill flavored by Conrad and I trying (failing) to be nice to each other for like an hour. Check out girl was particularly perceptive about this.

After that? Monsters vs Aliens, which was WAY worse than Monsters Inc, (or Aliens for that matter). It was in 3d though, and had one funny joke about Steven Hawking.

*West Philly

song lyrics

Today is Back To Work, and it's Not That Bad.
I have lots of nets to catch up on, a minimal amount of work, letter writing & sending, Scrabble games started a month ago, ordering digital cameras online, etc.

First up: I want to really do Fleisher this summer. I say that most seasons, but always have a trip, major surgery, or something where I'd end up missing some of the classes, which makes it kind of a bust.
But this summer, thinking about
Quilt Arts, Watercolors, or Stitch and Surface (experimental embroidery).
The only thing that I'm going to let cut into this is too many trips, which, with my life, probably won't happen.
I also want to start or learn how to draw things, but it's way too late in my personal chronology to take a drawing class. I just don't think I could.
Anyway, looking for co-learners.

Next: I want to quit eating and drinking out. I have SO MUCH lately, and it's dumb, cause I just eat bad food, feel kind of gross after, and then am poor. A proposition - can we all just have each other over for dinner all the time? Kampers? WH? Andy? Conrad? HZ? I'm talking to you. We all have kitchens. Let's do it.
Also: intrigued by, but not sold on, the idea that some of these people do where you see if you can eat for $1/day or $25/week or whatever. I just can't figure out if it's an exercise in frugality or what, but I do like a monthly challenge, and I'd rather pay medical bills than eat expensive food so...

Anyway. What's new with you? I've been drawing pictures.

just four

Some things that are dumb.

The 47.
People who bring babies to Royal Tavern.
The wind, which blew a piece of gum out of my mouth today.
Boys who play (bad, top 40) music on their phones at full volume on the Chinatown bus.

The good news is that Halloween costume planning 2k9 has commenced.

keeping blogging

Here's just a bunch of things that have been happening lately. I guess I blog less cause I compute less or whatever. So: updates. We'll shoot for ten.

1. Maybe trips. My life now includes a couple maybe trips (Cape Cod? Tuscany?) which is great cause I've been having a little cabin (Philly) fever (phever?).

2. Marilyn met Henry Winkler.


3. My head started leaking, and it's super gross, and I won't talk about it more. It's nothing to worry about, just gross.

4. Conrad has a blog now I guess, about his new intentional unhappiness, which is kind of his thing usually/anyway, but now you can read about how he's doing it on purpose for a month.
Question (that I guess Andy already posed): for someone who's main thing is thriving on attention, isn't it counter-productive to make a blog about it (if you're trying to be unhappy)? I also didn't really realize that that's what is was about, I thought at the beginning he was just trying to detox or something. I guess it grew.

Anyway, Conrad, I know you usually get really unhappy when we hang out. So, whenever.

5. When my iPod is working, I've been taking long walks with Sarah Vowell, trying to learn some things about dead presidents and patriotism. I'm not sure if it's working.

6. We're really working our way through that candy. You can come over and eat some Now and Laters, I quit them.

(Also, good news? Getting my tooth fixed for free on Tuesday. Toothsday.)

7. Ex-boyfriend's (or whatever) moms who I haven't seen in years have been getting in touch with me this week. Kind of out of the blue, kind of surprising.

8. Today, I GOT A PAYCHECK FROM CHA-CHA. Remember when I used to work for them? I am really excited.

9. I wear Crocs around the house sometimes. Marilyn got me a charm.

I'm sorry, a "jibbet". A silver starfish. Accepting more, if you guys see a good one.

10. April Fool's jokes. Apparently you have to go all the way to New York to see them happen. But they were good. Nice job Carl, you really made it happen. Sealed beers filled with water? Explosive properties of Mentos?

(Also guys, I saw Christopher in New York? He was having a super hard time with the stairs and I think he told me he got hit by a car or something, but I couldn't really hear him and kind of just did a lot of nodding. It was noisy.)




I guess I need a new camera so I stop using M's all the time.

(This is kind of funny, I found it on her camera).

Does anybody do anything anymore? This is my final weekend of endless weekend.