48 hours before the devil knows you're dead

Here at Casa Minty we often (and by often, i mean almost every night) rent a movie from the video store in our back yard (and by in our backyard, i mean IN our backyard.)

Tonight's chosen cinematic selection was "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"...the box looked great...directed by Sidney Lument, big name stars...Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and of course, the most awesome curmudgeon of them all: Albert Finney. A suspenseful movie for the whole family. Miss Minty and the Cinnamon Roll relaxed in to our big blue couch with a big ol' saucy pizza (and chew bone...) and expected to be carried away by this grand piece of art.


well, it sucked. I could get into why it sucked, but really...does it matter? i'm not a critic (well...okay...) but it just isn't worth it...anyways...it sucked so bad that we put on our hats and scarves, grabbed the dog and walked back to the video store.

Mind you, we go to this video store quite a bit..and the metal guy (not nu-metal, but more bands like Earth and Sunn...) that works there mon-wed has become our inside man into the madcap world of working in a video store. For example, his in store movie selections usually run along the lines of either Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii or some Kurosawa movie you didn't know existed; all the while regaling you with stories of his "other" crazy customers.

Anyway, i digress...to my point: after J and i kvetched about the grand horribleness of the the movie (and folks, let me tell you, it was a real let down...) and as were walking out, sans dvd, he pulls a film off the stack of returns and says "what about 48hrs?!"


ding. ding. ding!

hell yes. he swapped it out for the first rental! He's the sorta guy you want working at your video store....just not the guy you want working at a video store you own.

so now, we've returned to our couch and our prepared for some classic humor. i'm sure it will disappoint. i'm not sure that 48hrs was funny the first time round, but for tonight, it'll do.

Where the kombucha goes, so goes Wall Street

Organic food, Chief Food Officers, and the rise and fall of Google (oh how I love thee, Economist)

non-chronological list of things from the last few days

-Today is most likely the last day of our pledge drive. This would be awesome. Everyone is tired.
-Friday night Aa and I and some new friends bowled at the now-closed Sunset Bowl. The game took place around 2 am, so I guess it was actually Saturday morning. None of us broke 80.
-Three hours before our group exploration of bowling mediocrity began, I "sang" Love Is A Battlefield at the Sunset Bowl bar's either final or second-final karaoke night. I'd had just enough Bud Light to think I was effectively channeling Black Francis and knocking the song out of the park.
-I think I was wrong about the Black Francis thing.
-I have been hoarse since then.
-I feel like the only person in Seattle who doesn't really care that the Dalai Lama is visiting the city.
-Saturday it was stunningly nice outside. Like sunny and 70 degrees nice. So of course we had a party. Aa spent the whole day working three grills and making pizza and tortilla chips from scratch.
-Zack tried to sneak away with a pound of cheese in his mouth mid-party.
-Yesterday I worked. While I was at work, Aa cleaned the shit out of our destroyed kitchen and washed every article of dirty clothing in our house.
-This is reason 1,973,648,221 why I am getting weddinged to this man in September.
-We have less than 6500 dollars to go to end the gee dee pledge drive.
-I napped for four hours yesterday. But it wasn't enough. I want to go back to bed.
-On my way to work this morning I was listening to Live At Massey Hall. I got off the bus and headed into my favorite coffee shop. I took out my earbuds. The coffee shop was also playing Live At Massey Hall.
-The fact that someone else chose to listen to Live At Massey Hall this morning reaffirms my faith in other people.
-It is crappily cold and rainy here today. It is the perfect day to stay in pajamas, bake bread, and listen to Live At Massey Hall about 15 times in a row.
-Aa is home sick today. He's probably cuddling with the Zacker on the couch right now. While I am thrilled this pledge drive is about to end, I would like nothing more than to be on the couch with the two of them right now.

UPDATE! While Aa was home today in his pajamas, he actually made bread. Irish brown bread. There is some waiting for me at home right now. Reason 1,973,648,222 right there. (I do not know if he listened to Live At Massey Hall while baking the bread.)

Stuff, Things, Etc.

1. This is one of my most favorite things the Internet has given me in the last few weeks. Thank you, Dooce!

2. I wish I could have seen the cyclist give kudos to Aa on our Sunday run (see entry below this one). But unlike my dear compadre, I totally wussed out and walked up that last hill. Because my legs were busy USING CRAMPING SEMAPHORE TO TELL ME THEY HATED ME FOR MAKING THEM RUN UP EIGHT MILLION STAIRS ten minutes previously.

3. Why is it that I cannot find a DVD of The Big Lebowski for sale on Target.com? Why, why, why? (Yes I know I can find it elsewhere. That's not the point.)

4. Our friends over at Jet City Cakes make some of the most unfairly excellent cookies ever since the dawn of cookie-making time. They awesomely / cruelly drop off a bunch of these fantastic things every morning for our pledge drive, currently in day 2. Today I finally allowed myself a Minster. The seal's broken, people. The Jeannie Ass Expansion Project is in full effect once again.

the kindness of strangers

so on sunday the Jeannie and i went for our usual Sunday morning run around discovery park...which is, in my opinion, one of THE most beautiful and fun places to run. EVER.

Part of what makes it fun is that it feels as if one is running through 4 different geographies...part rain forest, part ocean, part deciduous forest and part desert brush...and along with this diversity comes hills. not crazy big hills, but just the right kind to exhaust you but still leave you wanting more. On this particular sunday we decided to mix it up and extend our run by heading towards the Sound and then back up the hill to the bluffs...and of course that would entail running some stairs... pain. it was painful cranking up those stairs..but we did. red faces, drips of sweat on the nose...hard going!

anyway, we survived the stairs, made if over the bluff, and we then faced our final challenge of the morning (before we went and got wood fired pizza at the sunday market...) with our last set of hills. i was determined to run it. no matter how slow, i was going to move myself up that hill. and i did.

i got to the top and ran across the bike path right right as a a cyclist was idling by, and as i passed he said "good job man!"

wow.

it made my day.

Thank you mister biker man with the kind words.

Happy-making

Mo Kin, 3-year-old North Korean prodigy xylophone player.

Tough day for the Zacker

Two films featuring dreams and Los Angeles and - UPDATE! - Mark Pellegrino

As Aa mentioned below, last night we watched (or tried to watch) Mulholland Drive. On Friday night, we watched The Big Lebowski, another film about / taking place in L.A.

We barely got halfway through Mulholland Drive. At the end of The Big Lebowski, Aa turned to me and said, "We should definitely buy that movie". I don't really know what that says about us as people or film lovers or whatever. But I'm pleased to announce I also don't care.


Update: This dude is in both movies too. As a thug!

mulholland drive makes me want to read comic books

mulholland drive was almost unwatchable.
either i'm too old to enjoy arty films or perhaps i never was.

that said, i just couldn't make it through.

screw art.

north by northwest

On Saturday night, while minty fresh J was having a girls night out on the town i was holed up at home watching movies. classics no less. On The Water Front and North by Northwest (both, as it turned out, starring Eva Marie Saint). Two "famous" films i'd never watched. OTWF was pretty good...but NBNW was fantastic...esp. the dialogue. my favorites..all spoken by a super crazy tan Cary Grant. Seriously, he was the only person in the movie that was super nova tan. Anyways...best quotes:

1. Cary Grant: "Assault with a bourbon, a gun and a sports car"

2. Grant to a cab driver...
"I'm being followed, can you do anything about it?"
Cab Driver: "yes i can"
Grant: "do it."

3. Cary Grant: "Now...what can a man do with his clothes off for 20 minutes?"
Eva Marie Saint: "He could take a cold shower."

1959. the innuendo in the movie was sublime.

Currently, it's snowing outside my window.

This is the second time we've had snow in the last week. I predict my stupid bus will stop running this evening because nobody here has yet come up with a contingency plan for weather like this. So I also predict I will be walking home.

Also currently, Zack's at the dog park. The other dogs have just started running around, tails a-wagging and tongues a-hanging in canine joy. Not my dog. My dog is shivering in his stupid dog coat, trying to hide under a picnic table and plotting the death of every idiot human who conspired to get him outside this afternoon.

Yay For Awesomeness

My friend / co-worker Liz just finished this great series on the Purepecha, who migrate in droves to Tacoma and South Seattle. Purepecha are a culturally distinct group of people who've lived in part of the state of Michoacan in Mexico for 700-plus years. They speak a distinct language (also called Purepecha) in addition to Spanish.

And, totally weird small world. The place that's considered the capitol of Purepecha culture is this small town called Tzintzuntzan. It's up a mountain and next to this gorgeous little lake. And I've been there! I was there like 9 years ago with my cousin Paul. It was sort of random, but we wound up there and met a whole bunch of interesting people, including the real-life version of Tommy Chong and an Israeli who'd just gotten out of his mandatory army service and was traveling the world. Tzintzuntzan means "Place of the Hummingbird". And we were told it's like otomatopoeia - it's the sound a hummingbird makes as it zooms around. Tzin! Tzun! Tzan! I still remember how just utterly delighted I was when I was told that. I probably clapped my hands and I may have even jumped up and down. And this morning, Liz said that she was told the same thing by an actual anthropologist academic person. My delight has been validated by a scholar!

So. Anyway. Go and listen to the series right freaking now! It's just fantastic. Some of the best stuff I've heard on radio.

And! it turns out our county's public health people are actually meeting with local Purepecha leaders early next week. Someone in public health heard the series and learned that a lot of local Purepecha don't go see doctors for various reasons, including a longstanding mistrust of authority. So they're gonna try to start fixing that and making it easier for Purepecha to get health care.

Dinner Parties

One particularly awesome entry at Stuff White People Like.

Oh, Mr. Goodall. Poor, poor Mr. Goodall.

John found this on the corrections page of the Mahoning Valley's own Tribune-Chronicle:

The important part:
It was incorrectly reported in Tuesday’s Tribune Chronicle that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton answered questions from voters in a local congressman’s office.

Reporter John Goodall, who was assigned to the story, spoke by telephone with Hillary Wicai Viers, who is a communications director in U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson’s staff. According to the reporter, when Viers answered the phone with ‘‘This is Hillary,’’ he believed he was speaking with the Democratic presidential candidate, who had made several previous visits to the Mahoning Valley.

The quotes from Viers were incorrectly attributed to Clinton.

Biblical Plague Lite? Haunted House? You Decide!

So this afternoon I'm coming out of my editorial meeting. I sit down to check my email and I see this message from our dog walker: "Your front window blew out! Call me!!" So, of course, I did. And, yep! Our front side windowpane blew right goddamn out when our dog walker dropped little man off this afternoon. So we called our buddy Matt to come over and help fix it. Below, action shots!

Victor Lord's Secret Underground World Eterna (Was The Case They Gave Me)

Snoop Dogg to remix ABC soap opera theme (thanks, Phyllis!!)

I get that being on a soap opera is probably the selloutiest of all sellout things a guy who did a song called "Murder Was The Case (That They Gave Me)" can do (or it's a really inspired way of diversifying oneself). But still! He's gonna be on One Life To Live(on my birthday no less), appearing at the Peach Pit-esque Ultra Violet Lounge. I love that Snoop Dogg says he's been a fan of OLTL since he "was a baby". This is yet another of the laundry list of things Snoop and I have in common.

One thing Snoop and I did not have in common -- You may remember Snoop being admonished in the "Gin and Juice" video for his name, and how he needed to get a jobby job. I was never told to get a jobby job. Just to get a regular old job. Worth noting that it now seems Snoop has several lucrative jobby jobs. So, you know, yay for him.

Physical Therapy And Vicodin

That was the prescription my doc gave me for the neck pain that's been bugging me off and on for 5ish years (I know, I know - 5 years? But honest to God, it shows up, I can't turn my head, and it goes away...it happens twice a year, max). Usually a good deep-tissue massage makes the neck pain hibernate, and a chiropractor helped for a little bit. But it hasn't disappeared, and after waking up this morning once again unable to fully move my head or gesture (I gesture! LOTS! when I talk!), I bit it and went to my doc. I'm actually looking forward to the physical therapy, and I don't know if I will take the Vicodin but it's a nice thing to have as a just-in-case.

Isn't it exciting to read about my recurring neck pain?! I know I was really compelled just writing this post. I'm the next Kurt Vonnegut or some shit.

Where does he learn this?

Sometimes, when I stop petting Zack, he hits me with one or both of his front paws. My. Dog. Is. A. Space. Alien.

travelling while at home

The J is in chicago...which has me feeling like i'm traveling again but with the dog, the house and my job. very weird when she's gone. when she's home and i'm home then i'm at really at home too (if you get my drift), but when i'm here and she's not i may as well be anywhere.

okay, that's not true, i'm not really in paris when she's not here. unless of course i go to le pichet for dinner. but even then, that's not really paris either. alas.

you like music? so do i. support my station!

So hey...i work at a non-profit indie rock radio/internet station in Seattle.

we're in the middle of our winter pledge drive...and we could use some help.

check it out: http://kexp.org

make a pledge if ya want, we'd appreciate it: http://kexp.org/support/pledge/

okay. thanks.

Aaron

Stupidest Week Ever

Last week I spent mostly sleeping or padding around in my pj's and slippers, feeling all sorts of nasty. I finally got back to work on Friday, only to leave by 3 pm and go home and get back on the couch. Friday night my parents called and I was so excited to talk to someone who wasn't my dog. Then Saturday morning I got sick to my stomach again, but I went to a friend's going away party that night anyway. And being out of my house, being showered, talking to people socially, was THRILLING. It was almost intoxicating it was so much fun. I even had a beer, and a cookie. I really really love my dog (Hi Puppies!!!), but I cannot emphasize how truly awesome it was to be out of my pajamas and house feeling relatively normal and social again. I was so excited that when I gave my friends a little going-away gift, I started jumping up and down. Really. Not in a like "I'm so happy you're moving" kind of way, but in a "DEAR GOD AM I EXCITED TO SEE ALL THESE PEOPLE" way.

Hi Puppies!!!

i can't really explain this photo. i'm not sure what it means. i do know, that some people really really love their dogs.

moving on...if you know me, then you know i have a thing for korean bbq. further...any time i can eat korean bbq in a different town...well by golly i'm gonna do it...and here are two poorly shot pictures that show that i ate korean bbq. i really can't think of a more boring post actually.



And finally...here is my view of the la subway station platform. A very beautiful and expansive and very empty station. kinda sad actually.

food day

wander a bit around downtown today and stumbled upon central market. YUM YUM.
Mexican food stalls...Chinese food stalls...Korean food stalls...produce...spices..shall i repeat? YUM YUM!

largest kettle of tomatillo sauce i've ever seen:

New Glasses!

I got new spectacles last week! I was super nervous about them because I thought they were so different from my other spectacles.


But I've had them for a week now...nobody's noticed. Perhaps they're not so different from my old spectacles after all.

Sun Dog

coffeehouses....

so..being that i occasionally tour around the country with da band...i have gotten to know quite a number of coffeehouses around the good ol' USA...they are, as you know, the perfect retreat, when traveling, for ones laptop, a chocolate chip cookie and either a espresso macchiato (yes, make fun of me for the small dainty cup...i'm still gonna drink it yo.." or a tasty green genmaicha tea. i love going to them, i love seeking them out, and i finding a really really good one.

Today, i may have found one of the best: Lost Souls Cafe in downtown l.a.

it's down an alley off, of fourth, in between spring and main. de la soul is playing. peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies. free FAST wireless. old crazy vibe. couches, 1900's tile floor, old and new and modern and authentic. just perfect.

thats all i got folks. aside from taking a bus that took FOREVER to get from silverlake to downtown today...everything has gone swimmingly...

i know i shouldn't complain...

But it's cold in Los Angeles!! how naive and hopeful i was to think that i'd fly a short two hours south to sunny sunny los angeles and be enveloped in warm dry cuddly air.

instead? Overcast and in the 50's today. what the hell kinda weather is that?
i can hang out in seattle if all i want is tepid. Come on LA! show me what you got!

Los Angeles, i'm on to you.

i'd also like to point out that randy newman was either lying or drunk when he penned the song "I Love L.A." Whatever it was, he surely can't still love LA. Case in point: if you recall the video for said song from 198whatever, he was actually in a MOVING CAR as he transversed the highways of la county singing its praises. that my friends, at least from my anecdotal and biased analysis, is very unlikely to happen today. Okay, i take taht back, perhaps he loves it (or did love it)...but only because he probably has a super fly crazy, totally sweetass beach front property in malibu (with a heliopad) or something akin to that..such as a submarine dock (maybe that's only a paul allen thing?) and only comes down from his holy and sacred songwriters nest to get organic free trade shade grown open source sencha loose leaf free range green tea.

i don't know....that's mostly conjecture on my part. sorry randy, maybe you still love LA.

not that i'm complaining all that much. if i'd brought my camera, i'd have taken pictures for you, the gentle reader. but i didn't. instead, you get the written word. which, really, isn't all that great tonight. As you can see, i'm not in the mood nor really inclined to just repeat the sequence of the days events, as those types of posts are only interesting to perhaps me, and myself when i go back to revisit the post 6 months from now.

i do love LA though. all that aside. it's like a big NY that's been smashed like a huge cockroach. love it!

(oh, and in-and-out burger...loves me some in/out)

star sighting...

it wouldn't be LA with at least one star sighting in the first 12 hours that i'm here...and who else, at 11:30pm in silver lake, would happen to walk into the crappy ass but awesome dive bar but jack bauer...i mean Kiefer Sutherland..actually, he's really just jack to me.

j's response upon texting her that jack bauer just walked into the bar:

"You better get the fuck out of there then."


and that's exactly what we did.

sunny

wow.

i forget.

i forget that every time i'm in Los Angeles that i love it here.

i get the value of seattle...chicago...minneapolis(although, less so..)

70 degree weather with sunshine in february?

WTF people?!

give me the sun any day over mr. beef or a stupid seahawk.

I Love You, But You Love Meat

From the NY Times. Of course infinitely interesting to me, as I'm a veggie and Aa is not:

“If you can’t allow your partner to have latitude in what he or she eats, then maybe your problem isn’t about food,” said Susan Jaffe, a psychiatrist in Manhattan.

One way Zack has broken me

Our friend R sent us this video of the basenji competition from the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. All I did while watching this was try to figure out which dogs had to poop. It was an incredibly stressful eight minutes (awesome Chariots of Fire / smooth jazz hybrid music aside).

Also - Seriously? Eight minutes? I like these dogs, but goddamn. Of course I couldn't stop the video because I WAS TESTING MY DOG NEEDING TO POOP SKILLS. STOPPING IS LIKE CHEATING. [breaks down in tears]

Whoa.

Mock Prom
Originally uploaded by bad art

This was my initial reaction upon seeing this picture, which was taken 236 years ago this May. We're all posing in our best thrift-store finery on our way out to Mock Prom, a yearly dance / party / other things at my college. We're in my and Gina's (she's in the red dress) old apartment in a place called the Bungalows, which was built of corrugated cardboard. Dave was our next-door neighbor.

Interesting side note? That dress I'm wearing? Was like a size 20, and floor length, when I found it at the Salvation Army. It took me three days to alter by hand. I didn't want to use a sewing machine because it felt like cheating. College Jeannie, you were dumb sometimes.

Also? I lived on nothing but coffee, beer, cigarettes, 25 cent little debbies from the gas station, and milk when I wanted to feel healthy. Again I wag my finger at College Jeannie.

Of course she is

I'm on the phone with my sister MK, who lives in Lincoln, NE. We're talking about this past weekend's caucuses (both WA and NE caucused on Saturday):

MK: How were your caucuses on Saturday?!
Me: Oh, I didn't go!
MK: WHAAT?! Sorry. Why?!
Me: Because of work. [boring explanation] But Aa went. And I feel OK about it. Plus...
MK (audibly excited and growing impatient with my long-winded explanation): MINE WERE AWESOME! I'M A DELEGATE!

Perfect. My sister was born to do this. Anyone who knows my sister and who has talked to her for more than three minutes knows she was born to do this too. I actually believe caucusing is a better system now, knowing she became a delegate.

One more gee dee thing to vote for

Every week, this blog takes a band picture and asks readers to vote on which member is most likely in charge. Look which band's perceived hierarchical structure is being discussed this week!

Voting stops on the 19th. Comments thus far are soooo worth reading.

Today in Arcane Deities

Today's arcane deity is…OSIRIS!

Osiris was a big-deal god in the Egyptian pantheon back in the days of the Pharaohs well through the time Christianity swept that country. He was the great-grandson of Ra, who's, like, THE GOD for Egypt during this time. Osiris was the first Pharaoh of Egypt. And all Pharaohs were descended from Osiris, hence they were descended from Ra. Get it?

Osiris is frequently depicted as having green skin and wearing an atef crown w/ ram horns on it. What's an atef crown? Well, remember those pictures of Pharaohs with the coney things on their heads? That, my friend, is an atef crown. (If my stunning descriptive ability isn't doing it for ya, fine).

So. Osiris was also the god of the underworld. How does one go from being a Pharaoh to being god of the dead? Well, yeah. Not a happy story. See, Osiris had a brother, Set, who didn't like him very much. (wow, siblings who mess with each other. Familiar?) Set got Osiris drunk one night and then locked him in a magic box. Then Set poured melted lead into the box, killing Osiris. Set disposed of the box by tossing it into the Nile. Mafiosos would later streamline and economize this idea with their innovative cement shoes method.

Set then forcibly took over the rulership of Egypt. That included forcing Osiris' grieving wife Isis to marry him. Isis, however, would not give up. She devised a super-complicated set of magic moves to bring Osiris back to life. Seriously. In summary, hijinks ensued. In longer summary, the hijinks included getting pregnant by the spirit of her dead husband ( ring a bell?) , getting her sister and no less than two other gods involved, being found out by Set, enduring Set ripping Osiris' body up into a bunch of pieces, sewing the pieces back together, and then finally coaxing Osiris' spirit back into his body.

HOWEVER! Osiris still couldn't come back to the land of the living, because he'd been dead. So he became the lord of the underworld. And the baby that was born from the crazy spirit-pregnancy? A boy, named Horus. Horus eventually defeated Set and took the throne from him. And in the really lovely words of one awesomely stitched-together version of the myth of Osiris, "so it is that Horus watches over us while we live, and gives guidance to the Pharaoh while he lives, and his father Osiris watches over us in the next life. So it is that the gods are at peace". And so it is that many years later, Willow will use the urn of Osiris to bring Buffy back from the dead.

Bonus side-effect from the whole Isis bringing Osiris back to life thing: a promise that all believers can live forever upon Osiris' triumphant return, once Horus finally permanently defeats crazy-ass uncle Set, thus forever vanquishing evil. (again, I ask: Ring a bell?)

And that's...today in Arcane Deities!

Cuter Tuesday

I'm working from home today. When I got home from my AM eye doc appointment, I noticed that someone had let Zack eat a lot of yogurt. In fact, it looked like someone let Zack immerse his face in yogurt.

The pictures don't really show the extent of the yogurtosity of Zack's face. I am ok with this. They are still awfully cute pictures. Early poll results indicate cute pictures of my dog leading heavily in Southeastern states. Numbers too close to tell in Midwest and California.

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

old bands...a post from portland.

I played a one off show in portland tonight with a band from seattle. in a "nice" hotel in downtown portland...nice in that it's cool but "" because i got the cheapest room available..i.e. shared bathroom down the hall. i could have paid the extra 35 dollars from the privilege of my own toilet and shower, but why bother. of course, outside of staying in hostels when traveling in my 20's OR on tour with the band...this would be weird, but it's actually okay.

anyway.

that is is not the point of this post. the point of the post is that the show tonight got me to thinking about ALL of the shows i've ever played...where they were at...what they meant..who they were with, etc...the shows i've played with my old school music friends from the past...the kevin, the tim, the alex, the tommy, the matt, the steve s, the phil v(not the phil e..that's for the seattle post..), the lance, (old school: tim o, dave m, jeff w, andy j, and people that i can't even remember anymore...) and all other folks since then that i've jammed with or had some musical connection, if only for a random moment. i'm excluding the current band, cause well, i still play with you!

All i'm trying to say is that i've played a lot of songs with a lot of different people and they've all added to my musical life. when i play guitar now, at the ripe age of 35, homeowner, internet career guy, midwest transplant, married/secretly married, dog owner/servant, and all 'round nice guy, i benefit from all of those shows...some keys ones:
- party ?- 89
- Shawnee - 90
- Kevin's loft in spfld - mice not men - spfld - 90 (jimmy the door of the bathroom)
- ato frat house - 91 - yes, i once knew khow to play alice in chains songs
- 1st v popes show - 92 u of i huge part...100's of people...my addiction to the performance of guitar started that night... thanks lance!
- jimmy's - 92 - music of the moment, for the moment. we should all be lucky to at least once in our life to be "of" the time.
- the inferno - 91? - same same. the house is gone. we were one of hundreds of bands to play that basement.
- davey byrnes - what kinda rock show has a classical guitarist start it off? WE DO! that was a night of firsts. still have a recording of it. (hi lynn!..i DO remember you from that show...couple months later...i drove your el camino...)
- ill. entertainer -chicago - 93? - only time the sears van made it out of town..thanks tommy!
- party - ? - 93 - g set it up.
- the gallery - 94 - finally. may have been the last show. timmy on the roto toms.
...then the chicago years. more music consumed than created. i was working on my form so to speak...
and then: SEATTLE
that post is still being written. check back in a few years.

AA

A Job Well Done

Zack's done delivering presents for the year. Also, he's done being humiliated.

Merry Christmas!

You spin me right round, baby, right round...

a huge shout out to mr. hersted for sending my a needle and cartridge for my turntable (once his of course...actually i think everyone reading this blog has a stereo component that scott once owned...) while my other one (that was once his too) is being retipped.

This is the first time in two years i've been able to listen to a record...and god damn...they sound good. thank you scott!

and why am i listening too? why i'm listening to The Best of Ornette Coleman...that scott gave me.

This post was not paid for by Scott.

Working

This morning at breakfast, Aa and I were talking about Christmas and the fact that I'm working full days Monday and Wednesday, doing things that I have to actually be present and in the studio for. He said, "I kinda can't believe you agreed to do this. It's actually been bugging me a little." Honestly, it's kinda been bugging me too. Its our first Christmas here together and I agreed to work. I really like work, and it'll be fun, but damn. I wanna stay home with my Aa and my Zack tomorrow and make sugar cookies and stuff.

This morning, I was waiting for my bus. There was guy at my bus stop, drinking something from a paper bag and yelling into a cellphone. Mid-phone call, he stepped around behind the bus shelter and peed. Then he came back to the bus shelter.

"I wasn't always like this!" he yelled. I glanced over. He wasn't on the phone anymore. He was talking to me. "I didn't always drink, you know. I had a wife for 25 years. And two little girls". I made a vague sympathetic noise. I wasn't sure what to do. "Once I was sober for 14 months", he said. "It was the best time of my life". I smiled. He stopped looking at me. "I don't know what happened", he said. Then he walked away.

boring

i'm sure it is exciting for all of you to know when i run...and when i don't run.
i ran on saturday. i am running today.
whew.
okay. you can now relax and enjoy your life.

AA

Today In Arcane Deities

Today’s arcane deity is…HESTIA! (I spent 6 hours baking cookies today, that’s why)

Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth, the home, and domesticity. She was also supposedly a virgin (because how’s a lady supposed to keep the gee dee house clean if she gotta look after some kids?). Hestia and ten of her eleven brothers and sisters had the confusing and nasty experience of being eaten, and then later vomited up, by their father Cronus. She was Cronus’ first child, but the last to be upchucked. So she holds the odd distinction of being considered both the youngest and the oldest of Cronus’ twelve kids. (Zeus, the head honcho god, is Hestia’s brother. He was born last, but never eaten. In fact Zeus was the one who tricked Cronus into throwing the eleven other siblings up. See? Christmas with your family won’t be that awkward. )

So, Hestia’s virginity. Apparently, not one but two of her brothers were interested in, ahem, getting to know her better (Poseidon and Apollo). Hestia was not down, however. She appealed to Zeus, and he said she didn’t have to marry any of her brothers if she didn’t want to – she could tend to Zeus’ hearth instead. (that’s not a euphemism for having secret sex.) It actually turned out to be a pretty good deal – as goddess of the hearth, she had a place of honor in every other deity’s temple with an altar hearth or flame. She also had a place of honor in every public building with a fire burning as well. Obviously she had a special place in every home too. So that meant she didn’t have a lot of temples dedicated solely to her. She didn’t seem to mind, though. When she's brought up at all in myths, she's generally described as refreshingly level-headed and modest, pretty uncommon for Greek gods.

Baking! Christmas! Cookies!

You know what makes cookies so good? Butter.

Little Tree / House / Dog

Monday night, Aa made pizza and we decorated our wee tree.






And Zack watched, bored.

3 chords and the truth

exercise update: the week is going well. ran again today. 45 on the treadmill. good stretching afterwards. feels good to be back in the gym again. the ipod was in my favor today and played exactly what i needed to hear. well...ornette coleman wasn't exactly the best thing to run to...but an excellent distraction.

If you can talk to a 37-year old woman

Job listing for a radio station with perhaps the world's smallest audience.

let's get physical. PHYSICAL.

okay. i went to the gym for the first time in a long time.
i'm going to post here everyday that i do.
that way...you and I (whoever you are) will know that i'm stickin' to it.

that is all.

oh...and i WILL get around to answering those questions from last month...so back off.

Aaron

General Hospital is on in the newsroom. I have some questions.

WTF - why is Luke in the hospital? Why's he talking about "I know you want me to live, but you can't control what happens on that operating table, nobody can"?? And why is he saying that to Tracy Quartermaine? And why is she crying about it? Are they like dating now or something? Argh I have to quit my job so I can figure out what the sam hill is going on.

Also, this is another show, but still - what the hell happened to Bianca? There's no lesbian on All My Children now? Lame. And! One time I saw Livia Frye in Mexico. It's true. I was visiting my cousin Paul and Livia was almost impossibly large with pregnancy. I shit you not.

Thanksgiving 2007: The aftermath

We had 18 people and 3 dogs total in the Minty this past Thanksgiving. We didn't take any pictures because we were too busy entertaining. It was pretty great. But cleanup sucked some serious ass (many thanks to Jon, who took off his shirt, got in the kitchen, and drunkenly starting washing dishes while comparing the cleanup to Hercules' fifth trial. Also big thanks to Renee, who backed Jon up by re-cleaning the dishes he didn't quite clean enough.)

These pictures offer only a wee glimpse into the terror that was post-Thanksgiving at the Minty.

Things have been happening

Got lots of stuff to post about - like Thanksgiving, when we crammed 16 wonderful people and three wonderful dogs into the wee Minty, and like our visit to Portland this weekend. But it's cold and I'm sleepy, so I am gonna get in bed, cuddle my dog, and read a book instead.

Here is an excellent, excellent thing to look at though: this blog a woman is writing about raising a coyote pup she saved. If the pictures alone don't make your heart break, there's something wrong with you. And I'll tell you, the similarities I see between Charlie the coyote and Zack are disconcerting. I haven't met a dog I dislike yet, but my dog looks so much more like a wild animal than any other dog I know. Like he'd be perfectly ok if we dropped him back in the savanna tomorrow.

Book, bed, little wild animal dog are all waiting. Later.

Maybe time to get off the computer

Aa just walked over to the dining room table where I'm sitting, kicked a chair, sat down next to me, and started playing blues guitar. Um.

I Has A Sweet Potato

Oh, funny funny funny. This is what having a dog is like sometimes.

Hi Babak and Emily!

Just had a lovely dinner with Babak and Emily. Talked, among other things, about:
-animal and child abuse
-elections
-corruption
-philanthropy
-classic rock
-Color Me Badd
-Smashing Pumpkins
-a dog that is not named Pumpkin

Full, sleepy, happy now. going to bed. Yes I am. Goodnight.

Join me, won't you, on a journey to the halcyon days of last week

Hello!

Remember last week? Remember when Aa asked for suggestions on what to write on this here blog? Remember when some of you made suggestions? Yes, me too. Then remember when Aa wrote in response to your suggestions?

Hmmm?

Do you?

Of course, you do not remember that last part. Why? Because you cannot remember what hasn't happened yet. And why hasn't it happened yet? Why hasn't Aa kept his promise to all of us? What could he possibly have to do that's more important than writing that post?*

I think I speak for all of our many fives of readers when I say, Aa, enough stalling. It's time for that Gee Dee post.


*I know. Working, eating, sleeping, hanging out with the Zacker and me, getting dressed, staring at the wall, re-reading all the Archie comics, etc etc.

Today In Arcane Deities! – A New, And Perhaps Regular, Feature At Defcon House!

THE GENESIS OF TODAY IN ARCANE DETIES!:
Aa and I were chatting about upcoming Christmas parties at our two places of employment. I commented that one co-worker of mine doesn’t usually come because “he probably worships Mithras or some shit”. Aa suggested that perhaps I write about different arcane deities, since I have all this useless god-trivia stuffed in my head. So, there it is.

Today’s arcane deity is MITHRAS!

Mithras is a pagan god who was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. He was worshipped mainly by soldiers - so, mainly by dudes who weren’t super-scholarly. This could be a reason there aren’t many records or writings on the religion from the time period it was practiced – no scripture or anything like that. The religion was passed down from person to person, and you learned about the practices of the religion only after being initiated into. There’s some thought out there that the King Arthur story is the story of converting the British Isles from the worship of Mithras the Christianity. (Mithraic priests were thought to wear pointy hats and wear robes and carry staffs – like Merlin! And Dumbledore!) Also, some scholars believe the Mithraic mysteries are a precursor to Christianity, and that the Mithras figure influenced the creation of the Jesus story. There are similarities, for sure. But of course, scholars disagree on that. It makes sense for Roman officials to make the new official religion (Christianity) kind of similar to the old official religion (Mithraic mysteries), though, huh?

Mithras’ birth story is that he was born from a virgin (like Jesus and some other gods), or that he sprung fully formed from a rock or maybe a tree (kind of like Athena jumping out of Zeus’ head fully formed and adult), or possibly something called The Cosmic Egg (like Mork). Being a pagan god, Mithras had worship rituals that corresponded to the seasons – for example, every spring a bull (Taurus?) was sacrificed to Mithras. He was often called the Sun God or the Invincible Sun God (although he was worshipped in caves, underground, in windowless rooms, etc), and some depictions show him wearing a cloak with a lining of the starry nighttime sky. He also had a chariot that he rode across the sky (hello, Apollo!) Other depictions show him hunting a stag on horseback, using a bow and arrow (again, a nod to Mr. Apollo). He was a pretty male-only kind of god, although it seems like there was some kind of god-goddess hanky-panky going on with him during later Mithras worship on the British Isles.

And that’s TODAY IN ARCANE DEITIES!

how can i top that?

How on earth can i top a post about having heart burn from ketchup?

DoubleA here. NOW...i've had a difficult time coming up with ideas to write about...so..i open it up to our huge audience of readers.

what would you like Aaron to write about?

Post your comments now!

Officially Old

I now get heartburn from ketchup.

Robert Goulet Is Dead

Long live Robert Goulet.

It's official

I'm back on coffee. Stop the goddamn press.

Not always quiet

Friends of ours often talk about how quiet Zack is. And he is, for sure. But most dogs who are his breed are definitely chattier, even though they don't bark. For example:

On Regret

I've been thinking a lot about regret the past few days. Mainly I've been thinking about people I decided to cut out of my life ten years ago. I thought I was doing it for good reasons, and I think I probably made the best decision I could at the time. But here's what I regret. I regret that at 23 I never considered that when you stop talking to someone, you lose time and conversations with that person, and that loss might one day be painful and will most likely not be time you can make up for. I regret that for the past ten years I've been having dreams about talking with these people, but I never tried getting back in touch.

I don't know if I would have done anything differently and I certainly don't think I could have expected a different outcome if I had done something else. Aa said recently that regret's just a movie you play yourself, a movie of events that don't have much connection to the way things actually are. I kind of like that way of looking at it. And thinking about it that way, as well as reflecting on my feelings and asking what it is I really regret, makes me feel better. Or at least it makes me feel less heavy. And that's good.

Meanwhile, in Chicago

I went out for a run and it was sunny. I noticed some rumbling in the distance but didn't pay any attention. 15 minutes later I was being drenched by rain blowing in from everyplace. I felt like a stud for running through it. Then there was a lightning crash, which was cool. I saw a rainbow. And then there was another lightning crash - it appeared to be much closer. It lit up the sky and scared the shit out of me. So I turned around and sprinted the fuck back to my parents' house. I was gone about 25 minutes total. Um, today was a speedwork day.

It's currently pounding rain and thunder and howling wind here.

Wind Storm My Ass

I'm sorry...but this does not a storm make.

And not to be mister "well, in chicago...blah blah" all of the time...but COME ON PEOPLE...its this windy all fall back home in the Great State of Lincoln.

okay. less coffee...more tea.

PS Zack, our dog, is still cuter than ever.

Yesterday I got back from a kind of whirlwind visit in Chicago, including my cousin Sarah's fun but ill-timed wedding (the reception was the same time as Game 3 of the Cubs-Diamondbacks postseason series, which was being played at Wrigley Field). A couple family members kept disappearing to check the score and then getting more and more sullen. (They lost, for those of you who don't know. 3 games in a row. Fast fast fast. oh vee ee are. Depressing.) And today I've listened to A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request 5 times today. I just can't seem to stop.

Possibly related to my repeated listens to the same goddamn song: last night I couldn't turn my brain off - I think I finally fell asleep around 4 am or so. And today I have a more-than-12-hour day at work. At some unspecified point in the future I get to go to sleep. Sleep sleep sleep. Oh sleep, how I simultaneously desire you and resent you. Sleep, you wonderfully elusive fickle slutbag temptress.

Cold, Day 5 or 6

I'm sick at home today. I was sick yesterday and Sunday too. I have a craptastic cold that I fought for a good two weeks. But the cold won. Holy crap, did the cold win. I sound like a frog and my head is killing me, no matter how much sleep I get or how much fluid I drink. IT SUCKS. And tomorrow I have to get on a plane. Fun! This is almost exactly what Aa did before he left for Illinois a couple weeks ago. I'm heading out to attend my cousin's wedding. And last night I had a vivd, NyQuil-fueled dream that her wedding reception basically turned into a reunion for my 8th grade class. It was really fun, although I did wonder in the dream how my cousin Sarah knew, like, Kerri Ciancio or Kendrick Hall.

Saturday

Right now I'm eating cookies and watching Season 1 of 30 Rock on DVD (I can't believe how funny this show is). This morning I went on a hike on Tiger Mountain with my friend Laurie and the Zacker. It was cold enough that Zack needed to wear his coat, and as we got back to the car and headed into the city, it started to rain. It's still raining and chilly outside. And I've been recently losing a fight to a nasty cold, so I've been parked here on the couch ever since, with Zack passed out under a blanket on my lap.

Aa's in Quincy, IL right now. He's currently at a party out in the woods with his dad and some of his dad's friends. Last time Aa went to one of these parties, he yelled at someone when they insisted on throwing glitter on him (I think they were calling it fairy dust though). Aa reports that there's no whiskey at the party. But there are chickens and peacocks.

48 hours without a cellphone

I left my cellphone (and primary means of communication) at work on Friday. It was a long week (see below post about long drives, thwarted interviews, and equipment-destroying donkeys), so I have not been able to bring myself to go back into work and get my phone. As a result, my weekend has been exceedingly quiet. I've hardly talked to anyone - Aa, when he calls me on our landline from Chicago, Zack's vet and my hair cutter lady (yesterday was appointment day), and my next-door neighbors, two of whom are hilarious 5-year old twins. I've read books, watched movies, made and drank lots of tea, and gone on long walks with Zack. Um, it's been really great. I think maybe I needed it.

chicago

okay...i know i don't post very often...and when i do...it don't write much. so...don't expect this post to be any different.

all i'd like to point out is that i really enjoy hotel food.
now, that said, i am currently in chicago (having breakfest):

...and that means i've eaten more meat, inhaled more second hand smoke and drank more beer and whiskey in the last 4 days than i would have consumed in 4 months in seattle. i do not lie.

It's good to have goals

Today, the Zacker and I ran up to his vet's and back (with a little stop at the pet food and treat store). He did great on the run. Once we get going, he's really a great running partner. And now, he's passed out on his little perch, too tired to even chew on the big old circle bone I got him. I can't even say how good it feels to know I tired him out.

Because 10 pounds of dairy fat is totally reasonable

Hell yeah! I found a recipe for deep-dish pizza. I think I know what I'm doing Sunday afternoon.

If you ever ask me about the dumbest thing I ever did at work

I would tell you about the time I drove all the way out to Monroe to interview the co-founder of an animal sanctuary. And I'd describe how, in the middle of the interview, I started getting nudged by this cute little donkey named Pete. And then I'd tell you how I started petting him, and how I didn't notice that he was chewing on my microphone cord. Then I'd explain that I started noticing how I wasn't hearing anything through my headphones, so I checked the cord and found the place where Pete chewed almost completely through. Then I'd tell you about how my interview, who was a television reporter before co-founding this sanctuary, said "you have a backup, right?" I'd tell you how I reassured her I did and sprinted back up to the car to get the backup. Then I'd tell you how I frantically searched through dozens of useless cords, only to realize that I did not, in fact, have a backup. So then I'd tell you how I rescheduled the interview for two days later, and how the nice former TV reporter tried to make me feel better by telling me one of her dumb-mistake stories. "I didn't feel better though," I'd confide to you. I'd tell you about how I got back in my car and drove all the way back to Seattle, shaking my head in disbelief and occasionally muttering "well, fuck".

I'd probably leave out the part where I got lost on the way back to Seattle and inexplicably wound up in some nameless suburb for 20 minutes. Because, you know, I'd want to preserve a teeny bit of my dignity.

Good, hopeful, sick

Good:
I was at the bus stop the other day listening to some music on my iPod. "Just Like Honey" by Jesus and Mary Chain came on. And this little boy (4? 5?) who'd previously been annoying his mom suddenly started dancing. Swinging his arms, trying to snap, swaying, jumping up and down and turning in mid-air. It felt like he was dancing to the song I was listening to. And when the song was over, he slowed down and stopped. I re-started the song to see what would happen, and the kid started dancing again. It was probably the best wait I've ever had for a bus, ever.

Hopeful:
When my parents were in town recently they told me some potentially good news about the condition of two relatives of mine. They've been in a bad way for 3 or 4 years now. It's been hard and sad. I'm not gonna get into more detail here, but things might actually finally be changing for the better.

Sick:
Aa's got a cold and has spent the last couple of days sniffling, wearing his sickness hat, and gulping down tea. I am trying to get as much sleep as possible and eat as much Vitamin C as I can to avoid getting sick too. Um, I don't know if I will be successful.

I ate my house this weekend

Saturday we had a barbecue in honor of my mom and dad's visit. And holy crap! Our awesome friends Paul and Liz made this amazing cake that looks like our house! House was mint-chip cake. Lawn was chocolate cake. Yummiest. Real. Estate. Ever.






They even included a little Zack!* And Sox and Cubs pennants as a shout-out to my mom and pop (I'm the product of a mixed marriage.)




Clearly no resemblance here.





Aa doesn't believe a word out of Matt's pretty mouth. Tom is asking himself, "Did I need that much guacamole?"



Thanks Phyllis for all the great pictures!

*ADDED LATER: In response to Tankboy, we couldn't bring ourselves to eat Zack either. He sits in a bowl in the fridge right now. I...I don't know what we are going to do with him. Throwing him away is also upsetting.