Dead Like Me

So, I arrived at work the other morning and the entire building is roped off and there is scaffolding around all of the entrances. Curious, but hey, it’s getting older and maybe they are renovating. Last year they replaced all of the caulking around the windows for better insulation. (Which could be an entire blog in and of itself – window office – cute construction workers out on the ledge – so very diet coke break)

Well, as it turns out the marble facade is falling off. We are not talking tiny pieces here folks. We are talking instant death. Fortunately no one was in the area when the pieces actually fell off.

So, now they have the entry ways braced and the rest of the place roped off while they figure out what the heck to do about it.

Which brings me to my title: Dead Like Me. A most excellent show that lasted two seasons on Showtime. Actually I would say one of the best shows to ever air on television. Anyway, in one episode death takes the day off. No one dies, not the kid locked in the old fridge, not the lady jamming the knife in the toaster, the kid running with scissors, nobody. And that is the kind of feeling you get when you find out about little things like this. Not for me personally, I’m not insinuating that I escaped death (though it is statistically possible – but not probable), but rather that all 4,000 people at my office as a collective did. As they say in the show, we don’t know how often we narrowly miss tragedy, or death. (Again a collective we here folks) It’s just one of those things that makes you say “Hmmmm”

So, as I walk in and out of my building every day I thank the gravelings for taking the day off.

This is how you start a Monday

How do you make Monday not just good but great?

Mondays are good because of 24

Mondays become great when the girlscouts deliver your cookie order!

Symphonic dyslexia and other musings

So, R and I went to the Symphony Saturday night. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Ordway. It worked out perfectly because our significant others waited for us at the Irish pub around the corner. The first piece of music was, for lack of a better description: Symphonic Dyslexia. The conductor before they started said it was a very challenging piece to play. The work is from a modern composer. Modern enough to be working with the SPCO as well as composing pieces for a few of their musicians. So anyway, he was describing the piece and giving us examples of the different influences in the piece, a little Mozart, and little jazz, a little samba.

Then they started to play. And I have no other way to describe it but painful. It's hard to play because there is no melody, no flow, no tempo, no, hmm, how to say this.........no MUSIC. You know those scenes in the movies where the little kids at the school band all play crap at once and the sound makes your ears bleed. That might begin to describe the piece we listened to.

Okay, so I am probably exaggerating a little.

I tried to envision something redeeming about the piece. And I decided that it sounded like something that would accompany an animated pictorial of New York city. A little chaos, a little street noise, a little bird twittering in the park, a little murder and mayhem, demolition, rain, and maybe some street musicians thrown into the images.

Anyway, the rest of the evening was amazing. They played Shumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor. With Garrick Ohlsson on piano. It was a marvelous piece. And received a standing ovation. After intermission they played Schubert's Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Tragic. Again, marvelous. Stupendous, and made for a perfect evening.

All in all a pretty nice weekend. And it's nice that I have someone here in the cities that enjoys the symphony. My hubby went with me because he is a sweet and thoughtful person but it's not his cup of tea. Now, I have someone to go with that loves it. And my hubby (and hers) can do what they love, enjoy a cold one at a local bar.

Speaking of girls will be girls and boys will be boys. We also have figured out that we can do this with movies. So we have a movie night to plan in the near future. The boys will be at one house watching Milla movies. And the girls will be at the other watching chick flicks. (and eating chocolate) First up for us will be the Bridget Jones movies.

I continue to enjoy the Simon R. Green books. Due to other projects I made very little headway in them this weekend though :-(. But Hex and the City opens with this on the first page : "However, when you work as a private investigator in the Nightside, that hidden magical heart of London, where gods and monsters walk side by side, and sometimes attend the same self-help groups, some cases almost inevitably lead you to the most unpleasant places."

Dyslexia

By the way, what does it mean when you spell check your blog and you reversed EVERY
ie in your blog. All that should have been "ie" were typed "ei"

Strange.....................

Sucked into the literary vortex and other musings

So on Saturday a friend of mine gives me a series of books she thinks I'll enjoy. And she was correct, I am enjoying the books. I just wish she had warned me that they aren't just books but literary black holes. They suck you in and you can't escape. I feel like I have to pry my brain out from the pages. It's spooky actually. I've read three so far. And number four is in my briefcase ready and waiting for the lunch hour.

The series is by Simon R. Green. And it is the "Novels of the Nighside" series.
1. Something from the Nightside
2. Agents of Light and Darkness
3. Nightingale's Lament
4. Hex and the City
5. Paths not Taken
6. Sharper than a Serpents Tooth(due out this month)

The basic premise is that there is this whole other world that exists within London called the Nightside. Where anything and everything exists. It is always 3 a.m. and the moon is just a little bit larger than in the real world. The main character John Taylor has a gift. He can find anything. If you loose someone or something he can find it for you. Of course that includes the bullets in your gun, or even your heart for that matter. And he will hand them back to you if you ask nicely.

So, aside from furiously reading what else has been going on?

Well, tomorrow there is a bead show here in the cities. A few of us will be heading to that. Good way to spend girl time.

My friend H in California caught a cute pic of her kitty. She is one of my life sisters. We are spread around the country but never far in thought. None of my other ls's have blogs though that I know of. Though blog buddy Trish did mention that having a private blog is sometimes a good thing. This way you can get all the therapy you need without family or friends knowing it's out there. Not a bad idea.
Especially if you mean one thing in a blog but people interpret it differently. Interpretive blog reading syndrome.

Anyway, until lunch time when I get sucked into the Nightside..............

Catch'n up

One of the pleasures of life:

Catching up on your friends blogs.

Some good news
Some sad news
Some no news
Some shared news

Ahhhh, the wonders of the internet.

Warning: Exposed flesh will freeze

Yeah, that's what everyone wants to wake up to. The radio announcing that it's so cold outside exposed flesh will freeze. Yippee, can't wait to crawl out of my nice warm bed.

Advice to NPR - DON'T mention the outdoor temps when you are having your fund raising drive. It doesn't put anyone in the giving mood.

Our membership is up in June. The weather is better then, we are more likely to contribute.

Anyway:

It’s Mid-afternoon here on a Friday. It’s colder than ass outside. No, really, around -20 to -30 degrees with wind chill. Today's high is expected to warm up to -5 actual air temp. As a co-worker said this morning, it’s so cold his brain isn’t working. He tried to follow a phone conversation while walking into the building and he was having a problem comprehending what was being said and was having a hard time remembering what he was supposed to talk about…………….

Seriously, It’s that cold.

But I am home, warm, and happy now. My training ended early so I finished the work day at the house. It’s a total hot chocolate kind of day. Actually it’s more of a coffee and baileys kind of day because it is ASS outside people.

I am excepting this cold with grace though because it has been such a dang fine winter. We were SO spoiled this year with mild weather. We are due. And it’s time to pay up. And I am okay with that. I broke out the parka, gloves, hat, scarf etc…. sucked it up and went outside. Grant you your face freezes, you can’t blink because your eyelids froze to your eyeballs, and it feels like you have icecubes in your bone marrow. But as I said, we are due, and it’s time to pay up. Hell, spring is right around the corner. How can we complain?

Green Day’s newest album is playing in the stereo. And my little fuzzies are all sacked out on the couch and chairs. Sophie looks darling as hell all curled up and zonked out. She is wearing her little blue sweatshirt with the pink trim. I just love her in it. And she stays warmer. She gets excited when I grab her sweatshirt out of the closet so I can only assume she likes it. So stop groaning people. Sometimes it is cold enough that, yes, the dog is willing to wear clothes. She also has a pretty fine coat so in this weather she really gets cold.

Well, time to make the hot totty………………………
And Coldplay is now spinning.......

Do you believe in what you see

So, I'm sitting here watching Garden State.

Do you believe in what you see
Everone is saying different things to me
Different things to me

Good Movie, watch it it will grow on you.....
Maybe like a fungus,
Maybe like a flower...........

Tim can speak Klingon...............

Bridget Jones, skeletons, and sleepless nights

Okay, So much for Valentines Day 2006. It's done, gone and over. But curses if I didn't feel pathetic sitting at home, alone, watching the Love Channel. I swear my mindset was not to be unhappy. Quite the contrary. I thought I was going to have a fabulous night regardless of the fact that my love was 2,000 miles away.

So, I had my most favorite food in the world: Macaroni and Cheese. Topped it off with a cold glass of milk and Pepperidge Farm Verona's (Shortbread with apricot/raspberry jam on top. So, perfect meal right? Then me and the fur balls curled up on the couch, played a little Neverwinter nights (damn it I kept getting killed by the iron gollum) and then we watched Bridget Jones Edge of Reason on the Love Channel.

For one, very funny movie. I laughed out loud. For two, I love all the actors in the film so it was really enjoyable. But Third, it was ROMANTIC. And damn it all. Stupid idea on my part. So, I called my husband. That of course made me feel better. He happened to be in his room watching bad t.v. at the time. So getting to talk to him was nice. Oh, and he found all the surprises I hid in his suitcase and he loved them (just don't let the authorities know he didn't have control of his suitcase all the time - cause Dove chocolate and a stuffed Tiger are certainly terroristic intentions)

Anyway, for anyone who knows where I come from having a significant other on a business trip always dredges up my greatest mental downfall thus far in my life. So though I love and trust my husband with all my heart I can't fight the demon skeletons in my closet and always win. And he's in Las Vegas. Why couldn't it be someplace like, I don't know, BF Kansas? He's in the land of gorgeous women, and "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" bullshit. Okay, so analyze me and criticize me, that's fine. But seriously, until you experience the "I met someone and don't love you anymore" scenario, you really can't tell me to shrug it off and stop being stupid. Unfortunately it creates that "When is the other shoe going to drop" syndrome. And it sucks. And I hate it. I really do. I get mad at myself for letting the past get to me. Especially when I know I got a good thing going. And I only have that good thing because of earlier betrayals. So, I should feel thankful for having had my heart ripped out. Yep, just gotta change the "tude"

So, with skeletons whacking me upside the head all night I tried desperately to get a good night sleep. NO can do. I am working from home today which meant I could sleep in. Nope. Not going to happen. We are wide awake EARLIER than when we normally have to get up (Sophie's first pounce was at 2). Oh well. At least I am at home. I can work in my huge flannel shirt and sneakers. Yep, no pants. (Sorry for that mental image)

And tonight is my mall night with my good friends. So that is a plus. We are being joined this time by my friend J's fiance R whom I mentioned a while back. I'm excited that she is coming. More bonding time. Maybe even the sister I never had. That would be nice. Seeing as J is like a surrogate brother to me anyway.

The other bonus to working at home: Laundry. Doesn't interfere with my work day, and opens up a whole part of my weekend for better pursuits. Yippee. Okay, with all that off my chest I can start today happy and bright. While I have been sitting here the sun has been coming up. Absolutely gorgeous sky today. It almost makes you forget it's colder than a witches tit out there. (my dad taught me that saying)

Cheers!

Hearts and flowers

Happy Valentines day!

As we are sucked into yet another consumerism I have a few thoughts:

When I was single Valentines day was the most depressing day of the year. On par with New Years - no one to kiss. Nothing makes you feel more alone than those two holidays. Of course you can take solace in the fact that you don't have to come up with the cash for gifts, cards, dinner, flowers etc..............And I never really minded being single, I can take care of myself just fine. But between commercials, advertising, and lobbies full of flower arrangements for other people it did get to me.

But now that I am in a long term relationship/marriage I realized that it isn't any more special a day. Grant you I get a high from the fact that my hubby remembered to buy a card - early. And he got me some sweet gifts. And I love that! But for us every day is valentines day. We don't just celebrate our love one or two days a year. Maybe that makes us lucky. And let me tell you, I am very thankful for that. We do little things for each other all the time. And we try to have special romantic evenings on a regular basis. Basically it boils down to the fact that we try to cherish every day together.

So whether you are single, or happily coupled with someone, have a wonderful day. But try to make every day Valentines Day with the ones you love. Be it family, significant others, pets, friends. What have you. Life is short and we need to cherish every moment we have on this earth. And every moment our loved ones have here too.

Beautiful Bloggers

It's the quiet twilight hour and I thought I would catch up on everyone's blog spots. I stopped at the lonesophist to peruse what was new. The latest post "Reminders" had one comment. And the comment was a poem, a beautiful poem. By OneGonad.





The Fairy
Inside this lantern
I must stay
Never bring me
Out to play

The glow will fade
The dust will sink
The wings will fold
My heart will break

Words are all I have to say
My touch, my kiss, my soul
Once given
Are all gone away

Keep me here
Or make me go
But never say
You did not know

How totally beautiful is that? Grant you, I'm partial partly because I am a fairy collector. But still, wow. Hats off to him.

I also looked at some of his latest postings. He's actually a very good, very funny writer.

Ahhhh the wonders of the blogging world.

Cheers!

The Swoop and Poop

You have all experienced it - you're at work, someone comes over, usually a higher up but not always, and they dump a big ol' pile of stuff on your desk to do. It's amazingly fast, comes with little to no instructions, reasonings, or justifications, and takes you the next millennia to complete.

Well thankfully I wasn't the recipient of the latest swoop and poop but damn if it wasn't one of the slickest I have seen in a while.

I was just in an operations meeting which consists of sales, marketing, and financial folks from my business group. The head of our business group - also known as "next in line for CEO" is invited to the meetings but rarely attends. Today however was one of his rare appearances. Of course due to other important meetings he couldn't stay. So, he had just a few things to add and then we could continue and he'd be off. And dang if slick as snot and fast as lightening the guy didn't rattle off 7 or 8 "Issues to look into" to the Operations guys. Stuff that would have had my head swimming for a good, I don't know, thousand years, he just piled on like ordering a happy meal at McDonalds.

It was some impressive stuff. Rattle Rattle Bang Bang Bang, and I'm outa here!

And bless those boys from Operations they seemed to take it in stride as if he had just ordered a happy meal.

That's why I'm a pissant worker bee in the bat cave and not on the fast track corporate level to the swanky offices.

And I'm okay with that. If it means I don't have to be the recipient of a swoop and poop on that grand a scale.

Free time

Wednesday my husband goes to SeaScouts. We both are troop leaders but because of the dogs only one of us goes. So I stay home with the kids so to speak. And it's one of my favorite times of the week. Not because Michael is gone but because it's my night of possibilities. I gave the dogs chewies and they curled up in the office while I played some Diablo. With the Ipod going, singing at the top of my lungs (badly), and running around my virtual world killing things. I don't think there is better therapy in the world. I followed this up with a cuddle on the couch - just me and all the four legged creatures that wanted to join. A good book, a glass of milk. Life was sweet.

Michael came home, he joined the couch cuddle party and we watched Drawn Together. It was a perfect evening.

Thoughts for the day

The photos in my title as well as today's blog are from the Ashes and Snow collection by Gregory Colbert. The photographs are marvelous.

I finished a really good story called "The Notorious Dr. August" by Christopher Bram. It was a fun read.

I am now reading a story called "Pest Control" by Bill Fitzhugh. I was in such happy oblivion reading this morning that I never got my second cup of coffee.

So allow me to leave you with these thoughts today:

"Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
- Mark Twain

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."
- Mark Twain

'The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."
- Albert Einstein

"A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."
- Dr. Seuss

"While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die -- whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness."
- Gilda Radner

And I say to you: Good Day! Cheers! Aloha! Shalom!

A plane, a friend, and a football game

I worked from home Friday in order to spend more time with my folks. It was the perfect day to stay home. Snow fall, cold temps, warm puppy on my lap.

We went to Mickey's for breakfast. Wow, was that a great meal! Then I worked and they relaxed and read. With snow falling outside it was a perfect day.

Saturday my folks left for home. Sniff.............

Sunday I asked R to go shopping with me. R is the fiance of my buddy J. I had always hoped that when J finally found the girl of his dreams that we would all get along enough to not loose touch with our friendship. J comes over at least once or twice a week. Usually Friday's for sci-fi and Sundays for football and or Simpsons. I hoped that when he did find someone that we wouldn't have to give that up entirely. Happiness for all, R is a wonderful person that fits right into the family fold. We aren't going to loose J, we are gaining R. (Max has already claimed their laps as his territory).

Anyway, we had a great time on our outing. Our tastes are very similar so it makes shopping a lot of fun. We like to look at the same things, we both wander around aimlessly just looking at stuff, and we can talk each other out of stuff we don't need. (Ahhh, the impulse police) .

Then of course we came home for the all important super bowl commercials. Pirates of the Caribbean AND McGyver commercial back to back! It doesn't get any better!

My sympathies to all my Seattle friends out there. :-(

Cold day, warm blanket, and a dog

I'm in serious need of some couch/blanket/dog/book time. If it's snowing outside all the better. Besides needing some personal quiet time I just started a book that I think I am going to love. It has that warm cozy hanging out with an old and dear friend sort of feel to it. It's called The Notorious Dr. August by Christopner Bram. I started it yesterday. I'm on page 69. And so far, I just love the book. I don't know if I will still be saying that on page 491 or I will even get to page 491 but so far.........so good..................

Newt's Mix

Can you tell something about a person by their Ipod mix?

80's Big hair mix
Everything by When in Rome
If I turn you Away by Vikki Moss
Bad by U2
A sort of Homecoming by U2
Coffee and Scones
The Promise by When In Rome
Calling all Angels by Train
They Dance Alone by Sting
It's Been Awhile by Staind
Goddess Mix
Boom Boom Ba by Metisse
Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan
Gentleman who Fell by Milla
4 My Love by Sin'ad O'Connor
Lost in a Good Book
Sevilla by John Williams
Adagio by George Philipp Telemann
Azul by Jesse Cook
Concerto in C Minor by Telemann
Love Notes from M
Blue Eyes by Elton John
I Can't be with you by The Cranberries
He Moved thru the Fair by Sn'ad O'Connor
Coming back to Life by Pink Floyd
Me and M
Uninvited by Alanis Morissette
Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
The Reason by Hoobestank
Got you Where I want You by The Flys
Sing'n in the Car
Youth of a Nation by P.O.D.
You Dance by East Mountain South
When the Stars go Blue by The Coors with Bono
Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn

What age do I act?

You Are 23 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Mental Journey's of late

Aside from the wonderous memories and feelings generated from the ol Ipod mix - a mental journey in and of itself. I have been reading some pretty good books.

These Granite Islands by Sara Stonich
The story of one woman's life up in the rural mining towns of Minnesota.

Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson
A collection of short stories. Each story is individual in and of itself but the characters are interwoven throughout the book. A pleasure to read.