From the sleep suites at Virginia Mason

I'm in the middle of a sleep study here at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. Last night after check-in, I was wired up, had a bunch of wires attached to my head with goo, and am currently waiting for my second "nap" of the day (they have you lie down and try to sleep every 2 hrs for 15-20 minutes. Then, just when you are about to drift off, they wake you up! It's vicious).

I'm not allowed any caffeine during the study, which means I am currently right at the beginning of a truly awesome headache. Also I can only lay down and close my eyes when they tell me to. Which is weird and annoying. But the nice things are - I have Internet access (obviously), a decent view of downtown, and an excuse to stay in my PJ's all day. And I have all of Season 5 of the Wire with me, since I can watch DVDs here on my nice big flat screen teevee. In a few hours, someone will bring me lunch. The food is eh, of course. It's weird how spoiled I've become in regards to food. Someone brings me a Yoplait yogurt and I am disappointed because I know there's way better stuff out there -stuff without 85 bajillion sweeteners. Anyway.

OK, time for my second "nap". I'm gonna be grumpy by the end of today! Man oh man.

2 generations after Paul Starkey

2 generations after Paul Starkey
Originally uploaded by defconhouse2

Aa had me take this to replicate a picture of his grandpa, Paul, canoeing with his sweetheart (and Aa's grandma) Peggy. I don't think we're quite as glamorous as they were. But I don't think they had single-region, shade-grown, fair trade coffee that morning with breakfast either. So, you know, tradeoffs.

not quite Peggy Starkey

not quite Peggy Starkey
Originally uploaded by defconhouse2

Aa took this photo to replicate the shots his grandparents took of each other more than 60 years ago. I don't quite think I match the utter gorgeousness of Peggy Starkey in that photo.

Also - dear GOD! My legs are like vampire pale. Dang.

Just pointing something out

Gregory Hines is wearing a cut-off Walter Payton Chicago Bears home jersey in the video for the Running Scared song. That is all.

The sun is hiding outside Ellensburg, WA

Above's a picture of the place we went camping / rafting this weekend. It was excellent - dry, sunny, hot. Even aside from the weird redneck guys who were camping nearby and liked to yell "woooo!" late into the night.

I have a bit of a sunburn on my back. I had to wear sunglasses all day Saturday. That was when I sat in an innertube and was pulled along the cold, clear river by 6 rafts tied together. Including a raft in the middle that had nothing but beer-filled coolers. And a large plastic bag with a spout that contained something called a wine-a-rita.

More pictures and stuff later. But right now I just want to tell you, if you're wondering what it's like to drive from late August sun and heat to early November rain and cold in like three hours, it's kind of neat. But it's real crappy if you're leaving August for November. Arrange to travel the other way as often as possible. That's my suggestion.

the cure, while lion, nostalgia, and getting older

so here i am at my fav coffee shop in ballard getting ready to do some work...and the 19ish year old barista plays the Cure's "Staring at the Sea" on the coffee shop stereo.

"COOL! I love this record!", i think to myself.

Then, the realization that i was also listening to this record in high school...probably before this kid was born, sets in:

"DAMN! i'm old!"

But, upon further (and immediate) reflection i realize..."well, at least the music that has become popular again is music that i like...i had great taste back then..therefore, i have great tastes now. the nineteen year old and I have something in common."


Then again, i did go see White Lion in high school...so, if history had played out differently, he could have played While Lion instead and i truly would have had something to despair about this afternoon...

raft

Excursion 5 Boat Set for up to 5 people includes boat, pump and oars. Made from SUPER-TOUGH vinyl construction for durability. Inflatable seats and floor for comfort. US Coast Guard approved.

i bought a raft today. long story.
well, okay, short story: The J and I are going with our friends to a float/raft thingie next weekend. We'll tie our boats together, drink beer, and float down a river in eastern washington, camp, then float some more the next day...

somtimes, chicago seems a life time away...

To Emphasize What We All Already Know, Scientology Is Effed Up.

I look forward to the PR campaign the Church of Scientology will wage against me for even typing the title to this post.

"...Hubbard was quoted (apparently from a lecture given in the 1950s) describing how, after death, a thetan is carried to a "landing station" on Venus, where it is "programmed with lies," put in a capsule, and then "dumped" back on Earth, where it wanders in search of a baby to inhabit."

The Weekend, In Bullet Points

• Friday night: The thinky/confusing but awesome but with terrible audio Chimes at Midnight with Matt and Aa. Then dinner at Quinn's, which included fish and chips that should've been better considering what we paid for them.
  
• Saturday morning: AGTV workshop / coffee with the excellent Sean O'Connor.
  
• Saturday afternoon: KEXP barbecue with Aa. Was pleasantly surprised to run into nice people, including Charlie, Martin, and Andreas. Always happy to see Cheryl. Then, upon leaving, a personal victory! I drove the stick shift Death Star GTI home and only killed it twice. HAW!
  
• Saturday late afternoon: cookie-making frenzy for Jon and Renee's wedding party / potluck deal. 5 second walk with Zack, who refused to step on the damp grass and would only pee after I took him into the middle of the street.
  
• Saturday evening: Jon and Renee's wedding party! Super fun. Lots of food, lots more of alcohol. Aa showed up a couple of hours after me, as he was still at the KEXP barbecue.
• Here are some of the text messages I got from Aa, helping me chart his progress both in getting to the party and level of sobriety:
  
• 8:19 pm Where e u?
• 8:23 pm I am drunk. Where r u?
• 8:27 pm Comibgm. To dunk to ype.
• 9:09 pm Yeds.
• 9:26 pm I am herem where ru??
• Sunday morning / afternoon: hangover-curing brunch at Senor Moose. Tipped less than 20% for the first time in years because of the profoundly bad, rude service we got. Felt guilty for hours afterward.
• Late Sunday afternoon: long walk with the Zacker. Nap on couch. Long phone chat with Hans, our one friend who actually did flee the US for Canada. He explained the difference between armageddon and apocalypse*.
• Sunday night: Laundry, cleaning, rewarded with pizza and movie (The Great Escape, which is really boring. And the weird happy soundtrack music that constantly loops through the film makes you think you're watching a feel-good comedy instead of a WAR MOVIE ABOUT POWS TRYING TO ESCAPE A NAZI PRISON.) Then, bedtime. Snuggles with the Zacker, good book, sleep.
  

*armageddon = destruction of everything caused by humans. apocalypse = destruction of everything outside of human control. So, full-on nuclear war is armageddon. The sun exploding and eating the planet is an apocalypse. Or...hmm...perhaps it's the opposite. I actually don't remember which is which.

Illinois State Fair...

i am from Springfield, Illinois. That should come as no surprise to most of our loyal readers. Growing up in Springfield, the end of summer was always punctuated by a crazy hot week that brought together the classic midwest triplet of bad food, bad music, and drunk central Illinois natives: the Illinois State Fair.

I could attempt to write an insightful essay on this event..but I won't. David F. Wallace did that 10 years ago in his book of essays, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"...it's really funny and pretty accurate.

So, when I read the State Journal Register this morning and saw the grandstand lineup...i shed a tear...

Fergie gets it started on Friday, “Weird Al” Yankovic will wield his mighty accordion on Saturday and Huey Lewis and the News (with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opening) rounds out the weekend lineup on Sunday.

how can you beat that?

i don't think you can.

**although, really, Joan Jett should be headlining...not Huey..she ROCKS.

Paul and Peggy Starkey

This is my grandfather and grandmother from way back when. circa 1944 is my best guess...roughly a year after they were married.

I love that they handed the camera back and forth to each other to get these shots. I have no idea where they were, but clearly, Paul and Peggy were having one helluva a great day.

I do not have a mullet...regardless of what J. says...

Got out the ol' scanner today because it dawned on me that i had only one copy of the following picture...and by golly, it should be digital. long live 1989. this was taken the same day as my senior portrait. i figured that if i had to pay, out of my own pocket, for a portrait of myself in a suit from TJMaxx then by golly I was also going to get a picture taken with all of my favorite things!



Favorite things I still have: the led zeppelin II t-shirt, the white gibson guitar, and my father's watch. I would gladly trade the t-shirt for the el camino though.

Momentary dork out

AWESOME. Cannot wait for this movie. Double plus kick ass.

You're *mumble* magic, you're right where I wanna be

So one of the Great Films Of My Childhood is the Billy Crystal-Gregory Hines-Jimmy Smits opus Running Scared. My sister and I watched this movie so many times we pretty much had it memorized. In fact one of the high points of my recent trip home was walking into my parents' house and hearing my sister yell, "Jeannie! We're upstairs watching Running Scared!"

Last night I got home from a meeting and Aa was perched on our sweet new sectional. He'd been to the video store. And, after hearing me talk about both Running Scared and the big hit song from Running Scared for years, he rented the DVD. I was happy. We settled in to watch it.

I will not defend this movie at all. Jimmy Smits' character is a total stereotype ("Eyen gonna be the first Hispanic godfather of Chee-cah-go", Jimmy says at one point). It is just weird upon weird that the two vigorously heterosexual characters played by Crystal and Hines want nothing more than to open a bar in Key West, where they can go back to roller-skating in little shorts and T-shirts tied at the hip (for real).

But there is the very special companion piece to this movie - the video for that big hit song I mentioned earlier. (use the link, I can't embed it here, which is stupid.) Did I forget to say that song is by Michael McDonald? And that I actually saw him perform it live when he opened for Steely Dan a few years ago? And that I was the only person there who appeared excited about the performance of said song? And Aa and our friend Mike didn't get why I was so excited? But then later when I told my sister I saw Michael McDonald open for Steely Dan, her first question was "Oh my God! Did he play that Running Scared song?!"

BEHOOOOOLD!

After years of complaints and frustration that our little blue couch just wasn't comfortable enough for the two of us, we finally did something about it. Craigslist offered up, and we grabbed, this killer sectional - cheap, comfy, and cuuuuute.





Last night, we both lay down on opposite ends of our sweet new sectional and watched a movie. It was The Sting. We both fell asleep before the end of the movie. It was awesome.

Cake Wrecks

My new most favorite thing. Particularly because of this.
Or, maybe this.
or, for the love of God, this!

Hey! Want To Know More About Shingles?

I do right now, obviously. Perhaps you do too! Dr. Sanjay Gupta to the rescue.

Standout line for me: "In most cases, the shingles rash and blisters go away in a few weeks or months, but in some cases the pain can last for years." Hey, great!

Cumpleanos Amigos!

So last night, while waiting for a seat at Senor Moose, Aa turned to me and said, "I never got a cake for my birthday. This is the first year I haven't gotten a cake for my birthday in a long time." We then had a discussion about the challenges of celebrating Aa's birthday. (background: in the past, I have thrown / co-thrown him two surprise parties because I thought he was passively hinting he wanted people to acknowledge his birthday, but he didn't want to be the one to organize or remind anyone. I was very, very wrong in my analysis of his desires in those situations. I'd learned to never, ever again throw him a surprise party. The only exception is if he dies before me and I have to make funeral arrangements.)

After a few minutes, we got a couple of sweet counter spots. We both noticed a really yummy piece of half-eaten tres leches cake sitting on the counter. And we actually both went, "hmmmm" and looked at each other. Aa then said, "DO NOT tell them it is my birthday".

Then we started ordering food. And, holy cow, the food. The eating and the eating and the more eating. During one break in the eating, I turned to Aa and asked, "Hey, do you know what cumpleanos means?" He said, "Yeah, it means friends. I remember we would sing a song in Spanish class, like Bienvenidos cumpleanos or something. It was a song about friends." I grinned at him and went back to my eating. A plan began to form in my head. I could lean over to one of the cooks or the waiters and tell them, in Spanish, that it was Aaron's birthday and we needed a little of that awesome-looking tres leches cake to celebrate. Very exciting.

Unfortunately, all that eating we did led to a final bloated check-in. Aa couldn't handle more food. Neither could I. So my super-slick plan would go unrealized. We left the gustatory wonderland of Senor Moose and started waddling home. As we waddled, I decided to share my thwarted plan with Aa. I explained that cumpleanos actually means birthday. He was annoyed at first, until he realized the song he used to sing in class was actually "Happy Birthday". At that point he started berating his own inability to speak any Spanish. We wound up laughing about the whole thing. But I've been thinking about this today. Apparently, I haven't learned my lesson. I still want to surprise/embarrass Aa. I wonder why that is.


PS - I know I need a tilde above the n's in cumpleanos and senor, and the upside down excalamation point. But I don't know how to make them happen. So, blah.

Because you don't have enough crap bookmarked yet

Well, whatever. You don't! Because you don't yet have my sister's blog about her impending parenthood bookmarked. Seriously. You may be thinking this blog is only something that's of interest to me, as I will be Aunted with the birth of this Superbaby. Well, you're WRONG! This blog is of interest to everyone. EVERYONE. Mainly because my sister is the funniest person in the Midwest, if not the whole country.

Very Special Announcement!

It's Aaron's birthday today!!!




He's currently out eating way too much grilled meat at Korean BBQ. Yay! Happy birthday babe.