Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Where does time go?

I wasn't in work every day last week due to some off-site training. And this week, we have had some big server problems that cut off our Internet use. So, that is my excuse for not blogging for a week. It's funny that I use busy-ness at work and no Internet at work for reasons that I don't do something that I should be doing on my personal time anyway. But, most nights when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is look at another computer.

Anyway, I wanted to give everyone some highlights from the weekend:
*Bought Christmas presents, curtains, books and a game all from the comfort of my office chair (all right, so I do turn on the damn computer to avoid going to a mall - so I'm really just making a determination about the lesser of two evils).

*Played another great game, Nameburst, and found that I don't know who anyone is, or was since it was made in 1993. I also watched a male dance-off as a result of a tie in said game. I laughed so hard I almost vomited. Good stuff.

*Ate eggs benedict for the first time - got the eggs scrambled and the bacon on the side. Learned that's just called scrambled eggs with Hollandaise sauce. Still tasty.

*Watched 4 or 5 episodes of the Dave Chapelle show on DVD; no commercials, unedited. Hilarious.

Now, I'm working a 1/2 day, thinking about pumpkin pie, finishing my top ten albums list, Thanksgiving football, hanging with my family, shopping on the craziest day of the year, and a fun trip to Queensbury to hang with the O'Connor/Carey crew.

Cheers to you and yours. Eat, sleep and be thankful.

Oh, happy birthday (yesterday) to my "older" brother, Justin. I don't like what being 3 years apart means for me on your 33rd birthday, but since age is all in your head, I'm replacing it with visions of dancing turkeys, sugarplums and whatever else makes me act 21 :)

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Games and music

Dinner Monday night at Kate's was a lovely time. Besides feeling better, and eating some incredibly tasty food, Bryan and I were introduced to a new game. We of the HUGE game-playing fandom fell in love with this gem of a trivia/knowledge game. It's called "Facts in Five" and it was first sold in 1967. I don't know for how many additional years the game was on the market, but it still looks like a game out of the sixties and the categories are quaintly (and scarily) dated (Women's Professions and Living Statesmen to name a few), but it made for a fun post-dinner party activity. You pick 5 category cards, which you use to fill in the top of your score card, and then 5 different letters of the alphabet, which you use to fill in the side of your score card. Then you have to fill in the matrix of 25 possible answers in 5 minutes! It is tough and it makes you think and it made us happy. I look forward to playing this thought-provoking game again and again.

Bryan and I have watched American Splendor and Say Anything in the past 2 nights, both good movies with amazing male leads. Now, I am working on creating a list of my top 100 favorite albums so that I can participate in the elite Queensbury High School 200 albums (affectionately referred to as QHS 200). I think that I will have more female artists on my list than the original 7 participants combined :) I will post my list when I'm done and I'll make sure to link to the new list. Here is the link to last year's for reference.

I also keep meaning to mention that I posted some pics from Halloween on the right side under Pictures. If anyone has more, I'd love to see them.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Highlights

Since I last blogged:

Work is so busy that I barely have a minute to pee let alone blog or stay caught up with all the people I wish I talked to more. I am really enjoying all the activity and I still love to say, "I'm a librarian" when asked what I do. I can't imagine that sentence getting old, ever.

I watched ER on Thursday night and had a good cry thanks to a guest appearance by Ray Liotta as an alcoholic, ex-con who goes to the emergency room with a stomach ache and ends up dying of liver, kidney and pancreas failure. Of course, his only son who he hasn't seen in 12 years refuses to come and say goodbye to him and Ray ends up dying as Mekhi Phifer's character holds his hand. Moving stuff.

This weekend included:
A movie at home - The Station Agent: A phenomenal movie with infectious characters. The main character is a dwarf whose voice is amazing. I highly recommend this movie.

A smashing dinner party hosted by Jason and Liz.

A visit to Taunton to see brother and his family. It was my niece's one month birthday and we celebrated with a candle in an eclair that was eaten by my nephew. Ah, the spoils of big-brotherhood.

And today, home sick with a terrible stomachache and headache. I got to sleep most of it off and am now looking forward to dinner at Kate's.

That's all I've got for now.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Existentialism is Funny

Who knew? Would it be silly to write I heart "I Heart Huckabees"? Well, then I will do it. I saw this movie last night and I'm feeling a little crazy today so I would fit right in with the cast of this absurdist, thoughtful, silly movie. I have a new-found respect for Mark Wahlburg who was downright goofy in this movie (in a good way). And the part played by Lily Tomlin was made for her.

It took my mind off of a lot of things going on in the world right now and reminded me that everything is connected and nothing actually matters. I'm not sure why this made me feel so much better, but it did.

Friday, November 05, 2004

Pretty soon I will stop obsessing about the election and get back to thinking about other important things, like my own life (hey, that's all Bush supporters think of). But for now, I have a few more gems for everyone. The first is an old joke that has been going around today in light of the election of dubya (can't say re-election cause we didn't actually elect him the first time). I don't know exactly to whom to attribute the joke since it is on a few joke sites and a bunch of blogs, but I'm gonna post it here anyway cause it made me laugh:

It has been proposed that the Republican party change its emblem from an elephant to a condom.

Why? A condom more clearly and appropriately reflects the party's stance today: a condom accepts inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually getting fucked.


Pretty good.

And there is this site to the rest of the world apologizing for the idiocy of the majority of America (sigh). The FAQs on the site are pretty good, too.

Here's to a long winter. Bundle up America.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

At a loss for words

Today, I forego writing my own words in favor of Dan Kennedy's eloquent piece about the split in America today; Kennedy is a writer for the Boston Phoenix and a blogger - I link to his Media Blog on my blog. His piece is a bit long, there are 3 linked pages, but it is well worth a read.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

I was Wrong

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I think that there was a small place in my heart that said that I wanted to trade the Presidential election for a World Series win. Well, that was dumb and I was wrong. If Ohio does, indeed, fall to Bush and Kerry loses, that loss is worse than Game 7 of the 2003 season, worse than '86 and '75 and '67 and yes, worse than a sweep by the other evil empire woud've been this year.

Not only would the president be Republican (and scarily fucking christian and pro-'no personal liberties that cross with his agenda'), but the Republican House and Senate have gained ground. And Tom Daschle has been beaten - he was the house minority leader and a BIG reason that many of Bush's narrow-minded, pro-jesus initiatives didn't get passed over the last 4 years.

My only consolation right now is that Bush and his administration have to clean up the mess they've made and that all of those ignorant, god-loving, Fox news believing Americans who have voted for this moron are going to be crying in their non-alcoholic beer when Bush cuts off a liberty they actually enjoy. Then they will see what a mistake it was to cast a ballot for W the puppet.

Welcome to America the theocracy.

It is a dark day. Australia is looking better and better.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Where to Vote

Not sure where to vote? Go to THIS SITE and put in your address; you will see the location of your poll and you can click on the link "My Presidential Election Ballot" to see who you will be voting for, not just for President, but for Sheriff (very important) and the Court officers, legislators, whatever. Very cool site, and useful.

As for Halloween, the party was smashing. So many great costumes. The winners were:
3rd: A devilish duo, Ginella and Scott painted their faces red (she took a class in make-up to learn to do it so well - wonderful), attached horns, toted pitchforks and decked themselves out in beautiful, classy threads.

2nd: Guns 'n Roses. No, Axl didn't make an appearance (though he did 3 or 4 years ago), my mom and Rich each took a word and illustrated to the max. My mom had roses all over her and Rich had more toy guns than a 6-year-old boy's best daydream. Excellent.

1st: The Wizard of Oz team. The TinMan, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Dorothy all showed up. Tom actually spray painted his skin silver and duct-taped a funnel to his head, Sheri was adorable in straw-filled clothes, Eric's 'mane' was wild and straight off the head of Dee Snyder (he also had a nice tail and that's not the first time I've told him that though this time he owed credit to Sheri for sewing it on) and Jenn was too cute in blue gingham and ruby slippers. A well-deserved win.

Other notables:
*Rich's cousin filled large, clear trash bags with paper and styrofoam and other things white - she was, of course, White Trash.
*His other cousin Courtney found a NY Satans Jeter jersey, bloodied it up and went as a dead shortstop.
*My grandmother was a Geisha with kimono, fan, cloth flip-flops, obi and butt-puff thingy. Beautiful.
*Bryan and Jason were hilarious as Retarded George W and Evil Dick Cheney <--I didn't really need adjectives in the descriptions of those costumes, did I?
*Kate was the very clever, very sticky, Lint Brush. She gave me quite a laugh when she walked by with a roll and a piece of brocoli stuck to her.
*Nicole and Brian would've won the prize for least politically correct - she was Officer England and he a miserable prisoner from Abu Ghraib complete with leash and underwear on his head.
*Patti and Dan as self-absorbed and altruistic. Amazing what some sponges and a shirt with words on it can turn into in the right, puntastic, hands.

And there were more, so thanks to one and all who took the time to think up and create (or buy - you even get points for not wearing your own clothes) costumes; who screamed when someone jumped out at you in my haunted basement; and who put your lips on the end of the ice luge and did a shot in honor of Halloween. See you all next year.

Remember to vote(kerry)