Creepy yet awesome

Totally great interview from this weekend's On The Media about how the Associated Press decides which celebrity obits to write in advance. And yes, of course they've already written one for Britney Spears.

You can read the transcript on the above linked page, but I highly recommend listening to it. Here's why: the tension in the interview is evident. You can feel it. The things the guest avoids saying are as revealing as the things the guest does say.

I should say that I just kind of love this show in general. When I'm really nervous about doing an interview, I actually pretend to be one of the hosts. I even have a bracelet I made - "WWBGD?"*


*That's total bullshit. I do not have a bracelet that says WWBGD. It's a t-shirt.**
**Um, that's baloney too.

"At a young age her parents encourage her to learn how to play the guitar...piano and the fiddle."

Oh, please. If you have time and like to laugh at other peoples' mistakes, for god's sake go here right now. Just...just go. Thank me later. Or, actually, thank my sister, who co-writes a super funny/snarky blog about grammar. She's the one who discovered this gem.

Admitting Buffy has made your life unmanageable

So lately at the Minty, we've been re-watching the teevee show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. This may have been inspired by the fact that the new Buffy comic books are kind of satisfying, but short, and also kind of expensive, and also don't come out regularly. It may also be because we basically have a video store in our backyard and have already watched everything in the whole store (seriously the one clerk who always wears Sunn O))) t-shirts was there last night and was like "uh, have you been to our other store? because you guys seem like you're really into watching teevee series and they have way more there"). Or it may be because we are total dorks and Buffy is our Star Trek.

Or...well, maybe it's my Star Trek.

Yeah, that's actually the truth. I'm strong enough to not lump Aa into this. Uh, Buffy is my Star Trek. I buy the comic books. I get into whole conversations with comic book store dudes about the characters in the Buffyverse. I know what the fuck a Buffyverse is. I refuse to watch Angel because I think that somehow means I have control over this. I make Buffy allusions and compare situations from Buffy to situations in my own life. I would rather re-watch episodes of Buffy than do pretty much anything else in the world. Hi. My name is Jeannie. I think I have a problem. But admitting it is the first step.

Exciting breakfast discoveries at the Minty

Breakfast awesomeness one: Quinoa cooked with soymilk, then blueberries, flaxseeds (me), chopped up walnuts (Aa), cinnamon, and a teeny drizzle of maple syrup.

Breakfast awesomeness two: homemade chai, thanks to our excellent friend Wendy's recipe.

If anyone's interested in recipes for either of the above, leave a comment. Yay for breakfast.

There it is

Today my friend Trish told me about the death of a girl she profiled in a documentary about heroin use. I knew a bit about the girl; I'd helped Trish a little with the doc. And Trish had given this girl a tape deck and microphone to record herself. She actually recorded herself describing what it was like to shoot up while shooting up. It's one of the most riveting, and disturbing, pieces of tape I've ever heard. I was actually thinking about that tape this morning. For some reason, I was thinking about what the girl sounded like, and how it made me imagine her sliding down a bathroom wall, sinking to the floor, as she spoke. That's just what her voice sounded like.

Anyway, Trish told me the girl overdosed on New Years' Eve. I guess it's not terribly surprising, but I guess she'd also just recently come back from Spain and had been clean for a while. Sad and senseless, for a lot of reasons.

If you're interested in listening to the documentary, it's here. Segment 2 has the tape of the girl describing shooting up. (You stupidly need Real Player to listen to it.)

you forgot...

"Basenji Bob"

and the perennial favorite..

"Zack...OFF!!!" (i'm pretty sure he actually thinks that's his name too)

Things I call my dog besides his name

Zacker
Zackerboo
The Zacker
The Zackuh (said in Mr. T "I pity the fool" voice)
Zackers Crackers (Jen actually came up with that)
Zacker Cracker Flacker Macker Backer
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zachariah Obidiah Jebediah Springfield
Zackema
Zackeroni
Zackeroni and Cheese
Zacker Boney
Zacker Pony
Pony
Bear
Little Bear
Little Horse
Little Man
Little Bastard
Little Fucker
Little Tiny
Tiny Guy
Little Guy
Little Boo
Boo
Boo Boo
Puppy
Puppy Puppy
Puppers
Puppers McGuppers
Pooper
Bubba
Buddy
Bumblebee
Captain Spazzmatazz
Captain
Little Captain
Dude
Little Dude
Damnit Zack
Goddamnit Zack
Jesus Zack
Jesus Christ Zack
Goddamn Dog

Things

Originally uploaded by Espressobuzz

Last night's Salon of Shame was close to three hours last night! Even though as MC I don't have to talk *too* much, it still just felt like a marathon event where I was constantly blathering. I'm way, way tired today. But it was so much fun! Also important to note - through some weird scheduling error, we wound up having the show in the upstairs theater space of CHAC. Usually we're in the downstairs area, which holds about 125. Upstairs holds closer to 200, and is a more traditional theater space. And, um, we sold out. Like, had to turn a couple people away sold out. Like, lines out the door to get in several times sold out. It. was. crazy.

But of course there was the news dork part of me in full effect last night too - all I really wanted to know was WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. So I kept asking people, which is not nearly as satisfying as simultaneously following coverage via the radio / the Interweb / teevee when I can get to one (which is what I usually do). And I've been consuming everything I can on last night's events today - from (then) liveblogging to postmortem reportage to analysis, and then more analysis, and then some more analysis too. You can take the girl out of the daily news grind, but man oh man you cannot make the girl let go of needing to know. absolutely. everything. that's. happening.

Hey, speaking of needing to know everything - why is Vicki wearing a waitress uniform? Her character bio actually *says* "newspaper publisher / waitress". What the sam hill?

The Whatever Of Hope

This morning, on our way into work:

Me (thinking about how the last two Presidential elections were an exercise in greater and greater disappointment): I'm just not gonna get excited about Obama yet. I don't want to get burned again.

Aa: Why? Look, he's not the Cubs.

Me: (silence) (stunning realization that I have in fact treated these elections like baseball for the past 8 years)

Me: (changing subject b/c I'm embarassed) Um. Crap, I forgot to get money. I wanted to get coffee this morning.

Dear 2007

You and I, we had a good time in the beginning. You took me to Peru and on really fun little weekend trips to the Olympic Peninsula and the San Juans. You brought my sister out to visit me, and my parents. You brought Aa and me both new jobs. But then you sucked so much towards the end there. It's not cool to dazzle a girl for a while just so you can punch her in the gut later. 2007, that was just crappy of you.

So here it is: while I'm really thankful for the good times we had, 2007, I'm not sorry to see you go. You were a dick for a while there, but I did learn some stuff from you. Maybe you didn't have to make the lessons so hard though, huh?

Anyway, don't worry about me. I'm doing good. I think 2008 and me are gonna get along great.

-J