road trip to RI

Out east for the holiday. I flew with Micah for the first time coming out here. I was more nervous than the trembling beast. But it went smoothly. Yesterday we feasted and a friend from Providence joined us. So today we drove her home then drove down to the coast. Had yummy Thai food in RI for lunch and then gorged on leftovers once we got home. Happy fat birdly day.

Place holder

Absolutely cannot believe summer is already crashing to an end. And I haven't blogged yet... Here's a warm up - shots from San Diego in June.

maybe thunder curdles milk

i cannot wait to order my "ride on carry on" so that b can haul me around the airport whenever we travel. i would be a fussy passenger, i fear. but i would definitely get closer to having six-pack abs doing a constant V-up to keep my legs from dragging. mush, faster to the starbucks!

part of putting your house on the market includes filling out a "seller's property disclosure statement" - a form that is required so buyers know of any issues with the property. no doubt a reasonable demand, some of the questions are, let's say interesting.

first, when i bought this place in 2002, this form was 2 pages long. now it is 9 pages long, over 300 lines to fill out. i know that this type of bloated paperwork is always the result of some random lawsuit somewhere that adds another "cover your ass" requirement. most of the questions are understandable -- was there ever water damage? what is the age of the roofing material? has lindsey lohan vomitted on the property? has methamphetamine ever been produced in the property? are you aware of any human remains, burials or cemeteries located on the property? (i can only assume the movie poltergeist is responsible for that question) but my favorite part - there is a statement at the end of the form which specifies some of the things the seller does not have to disclose - that includes any "perceived paranormal activity" or whether there is a nursing home nearby. so much for preventing another poltergeist. don't come crying to me when you wake up in the bathtub covered in grape jelly.

i cannot wait to be there again...

i hear what you are daysing

the blur of a whirling dervish that has been my days lately finally came to rest. a long weekend is just what my body needs, and finally gives me time to babble here for the pleasure of fives of adoring readers... a big update on the move -- b and i have decided he will move here to continue his (so far fruitless) job search... there were some possibilities that arose but then fell thru - one near LA, one in Washington state, another somewhere else. most recently he made it thru some phase in the process for a job at Yale. now a panel of wizards will decide if they will interview him in person. whatever the outcome, i cannot wait to have him and micah here -- probably at the end of june.

i will keep my place on the market - so far 66 days and zero showings. 4 open houses, some of which had ok turnout, but nothing materialized. the most recent one last sunday was highlighted by two tornadoes that hit the area - neither were near me, but the day was ugly and ominous.

a tangent comes to mind, triggered by the news coverage of the tornadoes. after natural disasters, we are always shown people saying it was god's hand that protected them, or it was their faith in god that kept them from being sucked away by the storm. if people could stop for second and think about what that means -- you were saved because of your special prayers? your house was spared because of your magical direct phone line to god? was the person killed by the storm (or the 100+ killed by tornadoes in Missouri this week) not praying hard enough? their faith not strong enough? yes, i am an atheist, but that is just stupid. stop promoting the delusion of god's exclusive love for you. you are not special.

now what is special is the fact that absolutely fabulous is making a new series. while i am among the fans who think the older shows were the better ones, i cannot wait for this

The pair will reprise their much loved roles as Patsy and Edina for a three episode run of the hit show – the first new shows for six years. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer although Miss Saunders has yet to write the script.

nerdy news revealed the tectonic rift forming in Ethiopia will one day become a new ocean like the nearby red sea and gulf of aden. this isn't new news, but more studies are trying to understand the processes involved. the earth's crust is thinning in east Africa as plates drift apart, which allows for flood of magma to erupt on the surface.

what could be nicer summer vacation spot than a volcano in ethiopia? pretty sure there is a motel 6 nearby.

until we found him like this

woohoo for spring break 2011! boo to its end being so near. sadly, i am not in san diego for break this year; we decided it made more sense to not blow the money on a visit since we plan to move so soon. plus b will hopefully be able to come here in mid-may after he's done with school. the disappointment of no warm destination over break has been softened by catching up with long-lost friends and plenty of lazy. since all of my home improvement projects are done, the lazy came so easy. (photo note: the above pic is from a trip to san francisco, alcatraz and a gaybow)

several of my closest friends recently had babies (and as they well know) my enthusiasm for babies is terribly low, yet it was wonderful to catch up with my mommies and meet the wee ones. i also hung with a friend who is also trying to sell her house soon. we moved boxes, taped for painting, and cleaned - it felt good to help someone else with the same headaches i just went thru.

funny that at one point, i actually imagined that i would be annoyed by all the showings if i stayed here during break. i thought i would have to avoid the house often, but now i would just die to have one showing. my place has been on the market for nearly 3 weeks, and not one yet. so instead, i am left with the annoyance of having to keep my place as clean as possible. every time i leave the house, i have to assume there might be showing, so must straighten up and hide all clutter. realizing very soon that maintaining pristine clean is just not plausible, my brain has already allowed me to overlook basic things - like leaving dishes in the sink. very minor little things, that most likely won't make a difference to someone willing to settle for this dumpy catch. i know it all comes down to having a lucky flow of coincidence, and all we can do is wait and see what happens.

on the left, my sister's new puppy. i am so jealous. the older dog is loving being a big sister. and above is edgar, another friend's gorgeous lil buddy.

i am annoyed every year by the idiot cycle of tax returns in the US. i knowingly pay too much in taxes during the year, so that i can get a refund each spring. the government is fully aware that this refund feels like a magical bonus, that i have to spend. but in reality, that money has always been mine. no doubt, there are worse things that can happen, but it has been hard fighting to not waste this little bump on something. the ipad 2 is calling me, but so unnecessary. instead, my spendy nerdy pangs have been satiated by fun new mac programs, from the new app store. i love bowtie, desktop curtain, and notebook. again, not really necessary, but so pretty.

another highlight of break was going to the rogue valley show at the varsity last week. they are a local band who just released their fourth album in one year, one representing each season. they are led by chris koza, an incredibly talented singer/songwriter. if you're curious, they are on itunes, but listen and/or buy here - a site where you can name your price, and they get a better cut. chris is a friend of a friend, so i "know him" on some level. i turn into such giddy schoolboy when i am at one of his shows and he greets me. he is so gracious and sweet. and SO sexy on stage, mostly because he doesn't even try to be. if only he knew how badly i want to throw my panties in his face...

post-apocalyptic radiation canary

the warm breath of spring is finally upon minnesota. and what seemed like an endless list of home improvement projects is finally complete.

i ignored the slowly growing problems on my basement walls for years, but trying to sell this place meant i finally had to bite the crusty fuzzy bullet. the basement is unfinished, with cinder block walls, so attractive - especially when crusty with salts and fuzzy with mold. i always just refused to look at the small black patches, imagining them to be peripheral shadows. ewwww, i know.

i was amazed at how easy it was to make the mold disappear, but the crusted salts and flaking paint were another story. i spent hours scraping brushing vacuuming and bitching. i learned that cinder blocks should never be painted - unless you are using dry lock paint first. because the idiot who lived here before painted them with latex paint, they can never be sealed. if cinderblocks are left unpainted, they are ugly, but moisture can pass thru and evaporate, so no mold.

but when you paint with latex, you seal the walls just enough to trap moisture behind the paint, and the latex is food for mold, so mold farm. my nonsolution solution was to clean them up scrape them down and paint with more latex. hoping the spring melt doesn't bring the ugly right back.

other lovely projects included painting the bedrooms, having furniture that i will not move with me thrown away, and serious cleaning. the house is now officially ready. i had a photographer over this week to take shots for the listing. amazing how clean this place can get. the plan is to put list it this week, then have an open house very soon. then just wait and see what happens. could sell soon or not move for months and months. in the unlikely event it sells quickly, i guess i panic and move into a friend's basement? if it will not sell, i really really really don't want to become a landlord and sublet. yet that remains a possibility.

does anyone else love liz lemon as much as i do?

always knew you were the coolest

happy to be simmering in the weekend, away from a strange stressful week. i met with a realtor this week to talk about getting my house on the market. the distant, vague, still-unknown destination warps the knot-in-my-stomach reality of getting my place ready and dealing with having it on the market (the "fun" of having to keep it ready to show), possibly for months. we should find out this month if b gets into any PhD programs; if that doesn't happen, he is also applying for several jobs - mostly looking for international studies positions. he got a call from one school in LA this week. also was surprised to find a position open in san diego, as we hadn't really considered staying there an option before.

interesting BBC site here - let's you see the sizes of events/disasters if they were overlaid on a map of a place you choose.

other glee from the week - the kepler telescope, which searches for planets orbiting other stars, has found over 1,000 possible planets. i also was delighted to happen across the report in Science News that ducks' penises grow longer when there is increased competition for mates. an evolutionary ecologist commented that ducks "are essentially engineering their own phallus in response to societal challenges." now, that's science!

bravo marathon victim

i haven't yet babbled about getting the iphone 4. i waffled back and forth on getting one for months; justifying then choosing not to. but finally, last month, i broke down and got it. not surprisingly, i love love love it. so thin fast and pretty. being able to video chat (finally thru skype, too) even if it's limited to wifi, is dreamy. can't stop playing fruit ninja.

even though i am happily knee-deep in apple crap, i don't like the new mac app store and nothing about it. bah! get off my lawn.

after so many rumors for so long, there is finally movement on the iphone being offered from verizon. the announcement appears imminent. nice, just as i sign over my life to AT&T for another 2 years. those AT&T bitches had to slap a $18 upgrade fee on my bill for getting the new phone before my 2 year contract connected to the 3GS was up - there are only 6 months left on that. please, like that amount is really recouping anything for them... petty farts.

that's what i love about me

i took advantage of a credit card offer -- apply, spend some money, and get free bose headphones. i was shocked they arrived in time for my flights over the holiday - but so glad they did. i would never pay $300 for these toys, but oh my, the glee... the screaming baby across the aisle appeared to be hundreds of feet away. and yes, just like the nice lady in the photo, users of these headphones are legally required to wear a smug "i can't hear you" smirk at all times whilst wearing these bad boys.

as i enjoyed them today, i found an article on the dangers of such things. an interesting passage --

Most discussions of the transformation of music by digital technology focus on the production end. But headphones transform sound for the consumer too. Headphones are packed with technology. When an audio current passes through the device’s voice coil, it creates an alternating magnetic field that moves a stiff, light diaphragm. This produces sound. If you think about all the recordings, production tricks, conversions and compressions required to turn human voices and acoustic instruments into MP3 signals, and then add the coil-magnet-diaphragm magic in our headphones, it’s amazing that the intensely engineered frankensounds that hit our eardrums when we listen to iPhones are still called music.

the author explains how the pervasive use of earbuds to blast the latest justin bieber into our brains is making us deaf. turn it down, baby baby

just two more sips

happy new year! having seen so many new yearses in my time on this planet, aged wisdom says that each is filled with good and bad, yet i'm glad to see 2010 come to an end. i worked with some of the most insane parents i have ever met, pondered retirement, fancied up my mac, took 3 trips to san diego, 2 trips to ND, cleaned out basement crap, celebrated 6 years with b at a fancy resort in the desert, rocked a beautiful GB, and had my 4th colonoscopy... and wrote the lamest summary ever

favorite events:

indigo girls in the tiny fargo theater

movie night for "where the wild things are"

brandi carlile at the state fair

rollergirls

monika's bake party

had a fab xmas in ND this week. so lucky that i flew home instead of driving, there was a 100 car pile up near fargo (on my way) the day i would have driven home. always wonderful to see the family and all the little ones. even more wonderful to leave the little ones where i found them.

was amazed to find the airports completely empty when i flew on xmas eve and xmas day; really thought there would be a huge rush of people hurt by the economy wanting to save money by flying on the holiday, but no -- i got to the airport much earlier than i normally would only to find no one in line at security. good times.