Tuesday, September 30, 2003Overheard in the Marketime parking lot tonight"Let it all out. Let it all flow. Quit being so f#&@ing conservative, man."
- Spoken by a man in a cowboy hat, driving car with "Real Men Love Jesus" bumper sticker
Feast or FamineI haven't seen many movies or plays in a long while, but this week I'm making up for lost time! Sunday I volunteered at the closing day of the 2003 Fringe Festival and saw two great shows:
The Book of Liz - funny new play by David Sedaris and Amy Sedaris
The Kazoo! Bible - funny, funny bible storiesAlso, saw the closing night of the Rocky Horror Show at the 5th Avenue Theatre. I had a great groups of friends show up for the show including Erin, Kim Z, Frank, June, and Caroline. :) Kim and June both wore boas, I dressed crazy, Erin brought a semi-boa, and Caroline brought pictures to share (thanks Caroline!). All in all, was a fun evening!
The theme continued as the week began, but switched from plays to movies. Last night Dieter and I went to see Lost in Translation, the new Sofia Coppola movie featuring Bill Murray. I enjoyed it quite a bit... lots of clever, funny moments! Tonight I'm checking out another movie as the new Jack Black flick is premiering at the Oak Tree. :)
Sunday, September 28, 2003More Fringe and More Theatre!This morning I'm heading back down to Capital Hill to volunteer with the Fringe, and hopefully see a few more good shows. Hmmm... at some point today I've got to throw together an outfit for tonight's production of the Rocky Horror Show happening at the historic 5th Ave Theatre. Should be a lot of fun... I'm looking forward to going with Erin, Caroline, Kim, June, and Frank. :) Of course, I've got to leave for the Fringe in less than an hour, and I won't get home until an hour or two before the Rocky show, but that's okay. When in doubt or in a rush, black dress, heels, and a boa will do just fine. Hope everyone is well.
Saturday, September 27, 2003A little more free timeWe're having great September weather, with highs in the 70s and the most perfect blue skies imaginable, so I decided to spend as much time as possible outside wandering. With my new found free time, I finally hit the Farmer's Market for the first time all season. Happily, the Appl Farms folks were out there and I was able to buy fresh cheese curds! Yummy! I also bought some of my favorite squash (delicata) and some new random tomato/strawberry thing. Not sure what I'll do with the tiny strawberry-esque tomatoes, but I'm sure something will come to me. Yesterday I also found time to finally go see my first Fringe show of the year... Maria Glanz's And the Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon. As always, Maria's writing was great and her performance was very touching. I loved her first show I ever saw (See Me Naked) and have gone back to see her performances every year since.
Friday, September 26, 2003Presidents of the United StatesToday was the United Way Day of Caring and the coolest thing about getting up at 6am and getting sunburned while doing manual labor in the hot sun was the live band. Yes folks, the Presidents of the United States performed live for us this morning and did a rocking show... all in the name of volunteerism. Gotta love it! I also loved volunteering at the P-Patch to help build a garden at one of the local low income housing communities, but even more, I loved seeing the Presidents of the United States play live at 7:30am. What better way to start your day?
Last night was Wing's birthday, so I left my sick house and was social for a few hours. (Kind of a nice break after napping and reading and watching TV for my last two sick days). Got to see Wing, Dieter, Jeremy (and his sweet girlfriend whose name currently escapes me), Mike, Amanda, and Katie. :) Happy Birthday Wing!
Thursday, September 25, 2003Free entertainmentI'm still feeling a bit under the weather (what an odd idiom)... but am surviving. Tomorrow I'm hoping to survive a long service project building a P-Patch garden, then I hope to have energy to go to the EMP's Opening Night Party for the new blues exhibit. We'll see. If anyone's interested in going with me, I have a guest pass.Next week is more free entertainment and I have 4 free passes to the newest Jack Black movie, School of Rock. Again, if anyone's interested, let me know. It'll be at the Oaktree on Tuesday night.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003So many choicesSo this weekend is the "annual camping trip weekend" that Dieter and I seem to have adopted. I was told that I'm in charge of planning the location this year, so if you've got ideas or votes, do let me know. Past forays and road trips with Dieter have included a camping trip down the Washington and Oregon coasts, day trip through the mountains to Leavenworth to see the fall leaves turn colors, hiking/camping in Mt. Rainier, hiking around Lake Serene, biking in Whistler, BC, etc. Right now these are some of my ideas...
- The Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park is supposed to be great for hiking and camping
- Orcas Island has kayaking and a neat campground with hot tubs (no killer whales this time of the year though)
- Sol Duc Hot Springs sound pretty nice too, but kinda pricey
- Victoria, BC - don't know if Dieter would be up for that, and it probably wouldn't be camping/hiking, but I've never been...
Anyone have insight to share? Do tell!
Tuesday, September 23, 2003It's officialI'm sick. I'm tired and sore, my throat hurts, and my tongue feels all yucky. How can it be that my body lets me works for months on end, running myself ragged? And now, after a nice peaceful week of normal hours and eating decent meals I'm catching a cold? Maybe I really do thrive on pressure situations? That's lame... All I want to do is go home and curl up in bed with the latest Harry Potter book. At least I'm not alone in my misery... about a third of our office is sick, as is my roomie back home. Alas. Such is my fate this gorgeous, sunny fall day. Hope everyone else is feeling better!
Monday, September 22, 2003Marriage appears to be beneficial to women's health, but only when marital satisfaction is highWASHINGTON -- Women who are in satisfying marriages have a health advantage over unmarried women or those in unsatisfying marriages, according to a study published in the September issue of Health Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). The study, involving middle-aged women over a 13-year period, finds that women in good marriages were less likely to develop risk factors that lead to cardiovascular diseases compared with other middle-aged women.Oh, please! As if single women don't have enough to worry about. Now the American Psychological Association has to release an article like this? C'mon! What happened to girls just want to have fun? Can't fun be healthier than marriage, or I am a single in denial? (Hmmm.... or have I just been watching too many episodes of Sex and the City?)
Sunday, September 21, 2003So nice to be home...It's been a full week of not working weekends and not working past 7pm... I'm quite proud of myself! That's right... I didn't work last Sunday and it's been a full week since then that I didn't work weekends or late nights! In the last week with all of my free time I started reading the new Harry Potter book (angry Harry), watched some Sex and the City (thank you public library!), went to the Pike Place Market (feels like it's been forever), saw a concert (fun), went to a happy hour (thanks Phil), volunteered with Caroline (she's great), watched What Dreams May Come (creepy), tried my hand at homemade greeting cards (not bad, but not exciting), started working out again (it's been a while), and sorted through my pile of accessories and cameras (8) and my camera parts from stolen cameras (2). I'm also tempted to pull out my scrapbooking stuff (daunting) and take a crack at the years of photos piling up (lots), but I don't think I'll push my luck quite that far (not today anyway). Who knew I'd be able to do so much just by leaving work at 7pm??
Oh!! I also finally had a chance to send some birthday cards to the slew of August/September birthdays I couldn't call in time! Many happy birthday wishes go out to John D, Ryan S, Matt S, Elisa V, Laura C, and Ajit D!
Saturday, September 20, 2003Did you know..."A venti Mocha Coconut Frappuccino with whipped cream gives you much more than a java jolt with 710 calories and 26 grams of fat. If you're in the mood for something hot and sweet, a large cafe mocha with whipped cream at Starbucks will cost you 490 calories and the same 26 grams of fat." I'm not into calorie counting, but that's still scary stuff. Another scary fact: if you drink 100 cups of coffee in under an hour, the caffeine will kill you. (My bladder would probably kill me first... I'd be too busy peeing to have time to drink more than the first 5 cups). Anyway, that's all much scarier than yesterday's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. I'll support pirate talk over 700 calorie coffee any day. :)Other news of note: There's a ton happening this weekend in Seattle. Fremont Oktober Fest is happening just a few blocks away with music, arts, and lots of beer. Included in the festival is the annual Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving... how can you resist? USA Today says we have one of the "Top Ten Oktoberfests in the World." :) The fabulous Fringe Theatre Festival is also happening in Capital Hill... the largest unjuried Fringe festival in the country. You can do do the Puyallup at the Puyallup Fair which ends this Sunday. It's the largest single attraction held annually in Washington, and continually ranks in the top ten largest fairs in the world. And of course, how can we forget, St. Vincent's de Paul thrift store is having a 50% store wide sale. Yeah Seattle!
Friday, September 19, 2003Goodness...Last night I left work to stop by Phil's happy hour at Tost. I couldn't stay for very long since I had tickets for Big Brother and the Holding Company at 8pm, however, happy hour was fun while it lasted. I ran into TYD and John there, which was quite cool. They're two bloggers who like to have fun and converse about things other than geeky tech talk. They're also both great photographers. :) I also had the privilege of meeting a few of Phil's friends, including a gal who grew up in Austin, a guy who wants to be a teacher, and a frustrated rock star/CPA (Mike). All were very nice and Mike even joined me for the concert at the EMP. Free happy hour, free concert, and good company... what more can a girl ask for in life? :) It's a good week!
Update: Guess I should add more info about the concert itself. Upon arrival, the crowd was pretty darn tiny (kind of sad when they had to start giving away free tickets and still couldn't fill the place). However, people slowly trickled in during the opening band, an energetic quartet called Huge Spacebird. I'm not sure how Huge Spacebird came to open for Big Brother, but we quite enjoyed the rock tunes. The drummer was absolutely hysterical... he'd flip his drum sticks up in the air, twirling beautifully in an amazingly high arc, and then would never be able to catch them on the way down. He'd end up dropping them every time, and would just start laughing about it. (Guess when it's a small crowd, there's no reason not to goof off and have a little fun). The drummer also kept shouting something about Chester during the show, which was a bit confusing but added to the bizarre nature of the show. :)
Big Brother was pretty great, for those who like acid rock. I was wondering if they were going to be on stage with no woman, or if they would have a Janis Joplin stand in to perform the female vocals on many songs. Turns out they had a women with huge "personality" performing the vocals. She was a total ham, pretending to be stoned, amazed by the flashing lights, rubbing the mic in naughty places on her body, flirting with the smelly, old, bearded, tie-dyed wearing hippies dancing through the crowd. Her stage antics were a bit distracting for me, but I think her amazing vocals made up for it. I especially liked hearing favorite old Janis songs like Down On Me, Try (Just A Little Bit Harder), Summertime, Piece of My Heart, and I Need a Man to Love. I'm amazed that more EMP members didn't take advantage of the last minute free ticket offer...
Thursday, September 18, 2003It's just a jump to the left...For all those who had asked about going to see Rocky Horror at the 5th Avenue Theatre... we've set a date. We'll go next Sunday Sept 28 at 7pm. If you want to go, please let me know by Sat morning so I can buy tickets this weekend. (I want to get them a week in advance to make sure we can sit together as a group). :) Should be fun!
Wednesday, September 17, 2003This makes my day!I just got free tickets to the upcoming Big Brother & The Holding Company show happening at the EMP! Wohoo!
I'm a big Janis Joplin fan and am stoked to see Big Brother perform live! They formed in 1965 in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, and "quickly achieved international fame using fiery acid rock grooves and the voice of Janis Joplin. While they are best known as the band that gave Joplin her start, she left the band in 1968 and Big Brother continued to produce loose, reckless, and impassioned music that has influenced the course of rock."
Behold the power of Lomo!
Tuesday, September 16, 2003Raindrops keep falling...It's finally raining in Seattle... and I'm hoping it will cleanse the city of whatever craziness has been going on. It's been really horrible these last few weeks (for so many people), and today's management team meeting won the prize for worst meeting in memory (and memories span at least 8 years in some people's cases). Suffice to say, it's not an easy time to manage a nonprofit. Let's hope the rain will wash away the bad and bring some new life to town...
Monday, September 15, 2003Hooray for me!Tonight I'm leaving work at 6pm! Wohoo! Yesterday I didn't work at all (gasp!). It's amazing and true! Instead I enjoyed a relaxing day at that place I rarely see but still support through rent payments - my apartment. I sat on my couch in my living room, washed my sheets and towels, did laundry, chatted with my parents, took donations to Goodwill, ate some yummy Thai food, unpacked from camping, and went to see a movie with Vlad (Winged Migration... great, relaxing, beautiful movie!) All in all, a lovely weekend. :) And now it's only 17 days till I head to MN for Captain Mike's wedding.
In Honor of Andrew (off in the Netherlands)A pirate walks into a pub and the bartender exclaims "Wow!! Did you know you have a steering wheel attached to your crotch?" The pirate replies, "Arrgh! It's drivin' me nuts!"
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Saturday, September 13, 2003I'm back!I'm back from the retreat and it was great! We drove out through the Cascades to a lovely camp in Ellensburg. I got 7.5 hours of sleep... yeah! I got to sit outside and stare at the blue sky with a backdrop of mountains and trees and lakes and babbling brooks. I got great conversation, amazing insight, good food, and just a ton of cool folks on the team. I love my job, and have since the beginning, but it's been a few weeks since I've been able to sit down and pat myself on the back and say "yes, it's all worth it." :) Today is one of those days I'm proud to be me and be able to put off a 7 day long orientation extravaganza! Now, we rest. Whew!
Wednesday, September 10, 2003Well...Didn't exactly leave the office by 7 for the meetup, but did get some work done and some chatting done with new folks. That was a good thing. BTW folks, what's up with the lack of comments this week? Charles says everyone's scared to comment because I posted about having a rough day. Odd since I've been getting lots of emails and phone calls to check in on me. People will call when they read something but not comment? Quite bizarre. Anyway, you have my permission to make comments whenever... even if I am having a rough day. I'm not expecting solutions or the most magical of advice... just a simple hello or short comment would be lovely. :) Hope y'all are well.
MeetupI think I might try to leave work in time to make it out to the Photography meetup happening tonight in Capital Hill. My film is not back yet from developing, but I guess I'll have to live without. Hope everyone is well.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003Chaos theoryChaos theory: If a butterfly flaps his wings in Argentina, then all across the USA couples could in turn break up and end their relationships.... or so it would seem. I can't think of many other logical reasons for this many breakups in such a short time period. Anyone have theories to share? Why are all the kids breaking up this week???
Monday, September 08, 2003Today was another wake up phone call... agh! Must get sleep tonight! Work was better today. The major crises seem to have faded a little bit... they're still there, but not quite as in your face anymore. Whew. Well, need to read email now and go see Erin. Hope everyone is well. Take care!
Sunday, September 07, 2003"Call me, call me any anytime"This weekend I got lots of phone calls... quite unusual. I got one 2am call on Sat. A few hours later I got a 7am wake up phone call from a friend who broke up with her girlfriend. I eventually got back to sleep and then got woken up by another phone call at 10am from another friend who'd just broken up with her boyfriend. Tonight I got a few calls too, but the most notable was from the famous Chris Busby who's living in Boston now with his wife Aimee. :) I hadn't talked to Chris in many moons, and it was good to catch up with him. Turns out he's quite a regular reader of this here little blog, but apparently doesn't believe in leaving comments. Love you Chris!
"The Seminar of Seminars"Today I'm going to spend 5 hours at a Home Buyers Seminar put on by Stepen Webber. Apparently this is a big deal as his name and photos are all over the glossy brochures. I'm not as interested in Stephen as I am in finding out and being certified to qualify for the different grants and loans they discuss. Apparently it's a seminar certified by the WA Education Association and the WA State Housing Finance Commission. Wish me luck! Maybe I'll win a free toaster just for showing up. :)
Saturday, September 06, 2003Such is life...Life has been pretty hard for a while. Working tons (usually 9am-midnight), lots of uncertainty, lots of crises, lack of regular meals, lack of sleep, lack of contact with friends, etc. Sometimes this blog is a good thing because it serves as an outlet to bitch to no one in particular. Most days, however, I feel like I force myself to try to find positives, despite the craziness, and end up posting positive tidbits of this or that, leaving out the majority of my life that is going crazy. Most day I tend to feel like I'm just trying to remain standing as everything comes crashing down around me. Other days the preferred metaphor is just trying to keep my head above water. This week is definitely a "crashing down around me" kind of week - much more bad stuff happening instead of just too much stuff happening. Last night I got home from work, on the verge of tears (again), and was too exhausted to go to the sold out Heart concert I'd planned to see. I was too exhausted to cook or eat, so I just sat on the sofa of Dieter's empty apartment and watched a video before eventually passing out and going back to my own empty apartment. After 2am phone calls, 7am phone calls, and 10 am phone calls each waking me from the first real night's sleep I got in ages, I decided I should get up and get to work (yes, I've been working through the weekends).And on that note, tonight Caroline, Erin, and I are going to make mosaic mirrors and frames! Let's hear it for girls night!
Friday, September 05, 2003Hooray!My new team started today!!!!Update: Well, it was exciting, but also an exhausting day, and week, and month, and well, all summer was really exhausting. Lots of crises on an on-going basis made it kind of hard to start the year upbeat, but I think we managed well enough. We now have 6 days in a row of the new team starting on Monday going solid through Saturday. Wish me luck surviving!!
Thursday, September 04, 2003Proud Momma!
Mary had twin baby girls on Sunday after just 18(!!!) hours of labor!
Malinda and Mya are shaping up to be just a beautiful as their terrific parents!
Congrats Mary and Dale!!
Wednesday, September 03, 2003Happy Birthday Mom!
Monday, September 01, 2003Congratulations Meghan and Vince!
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