This morning, I dreamed I transported back to my house to find a mob boss taking a bath in my tub. He didn't see me, so I snuck past to hide in my dad's closet. Only I didn't count on said mob boss borrowing my dad's clothes. So he opened the door, saw me there, and hit me over the head a few times with a baseball bat or other baseball-bat-shaped-object to kill me. I am pretty sure this is the only time I have ever died in a dream (that I remember). Unless I was just knocked unconscious. But I felt somehow self-aware of having died. Of course later on (in a separate dream), I was alive again and there was a second mob guy in the house, and apparently I'd already killed the first one (in self defense, of course--"this is my house--I have to protect it!" [name that movie!]), contrary to previous dream-events. It was like my subconscious was like, wait... do-over.

This was one of those dreams I can pinpoint the origin of pretty much every element of the dream (the first part, anyway):
-Mob Wars on facebook (which I added after Matt Greene's third "join my mob!" request, ha ha, but haven't done a single thing with since)
-checking a window in my dad's study and noticing the closet door open (exactly how I found it in the dream)
-the characters on a Desperate Housewives repeat hiding in an "inner room"/closet during a tornado
-mom taking a bath last night
-Star Trek (transporters!)
-a 2-second clip of a bloody bat on an ad for some forensics show (like a real-life one, not CSI)
What this all adds up to is that I am probably watching entirely too much TV. I should get back to reading Anna Karenina, cross-stitching, music, and taking pictures of my cats. That would probably add up to a nicer dream. ...I would probably be a grandma in it, huh.

This morning my mom and I watched the tail end of The View and they had this story about a lion, with a video that looked like a scene out of Disney movie. It made us both cry and reach for tissues.
"Love knows no limits and true friendships last a lifetime" *sniff*

Finally got around to journaling about my weekend in Boston with Denee! Good thing I'd written notes.
(my photos from the weekend.)
( the journal, under a cut since it's on the long side, as usual )

I have been here in NH for about a month, and in a way I'm still in "vacation mode." No job, and the days are filled with whatever-I-feel-like-doing. I'm all unpacked, and my room is set up to my liking, though overall I don't feel quite settled. My parents' house is full of random stuff, which is either theirs that they've let pile up (papers everywhere!), or stuff we kids have left behind from our childhood or our various moves. I mean, I already knew this, but living in it is kind of an adjustment after having my own, pretty organized/neat apartment. It makes me want to go around organizing stuff, and it's kind of frustrating that it's not mine to organize/get rid of/etc., haha. I want to go through my old room/stuff, but right now that room is being used for storage and I can't get to anything. Oyyyy. So instead I am helping organize the game closet. Slowly. Mom has trouble getting rid of stuff, you see.

So, things have been pretty uneventful, which is why I haven't written all month. Well, that and the fact that I have cable here. I am not actually bad about sitting and watching TV, 'cause I don't have the patience, but if I have it on for background noise, or I am doing other stuff during the ads, it can mean I will sit around doing a puzzle or playing nintendo DS or whatever when I wouldn't otherwise. And no one needs hear about Star Trek reruns and the fish I catch in Animal Crossing. Still, there are a few things worth noting, and some photos...

My pianos came safe and sound, and I've taken a couple "before" pictures of them. I'll take more when I'm working on them, and taking them apart... but here they are as-is:


Dice moved out here soon after I did, and she settled in at the new place amazingly quickly. She's been kind of a difficult, sometimes skittish horse in the past, so it surprised us a bit when her new Everyday Mom, Becky, raved about how well-behaved and great she's been. She was turned out with the other two mares within the first couple weeks with no incident--she seems to have made fast friends with the filly, Greta--and she just seems so calm and happy. :) My mom and I are going over to see her tomorrow. So far we've just been grooming/visiting, but pretty soon I will be giving her some exercise. I plan to ride her some, though I still have to clean up my tack and bring it to the barn. No real rush.


Aaaaand, I went down to Boston a couple weekends ago to hang out with Denee, see a couple Blue Man shows, and just enjoy Boston. It was a pretty laid-back weekend, but a lot of fun! The guys at the Charles always put on excellent shows, and are a bunch of sweethearts. They make it so easy to want to go back. :) This trip Denee and I walked around quite a bit on Sunday, through the Common and around the Copley/Prudential Center area, which has a lot of beautiful old architecture right up next to the modern buildings. Ahhhh Boston. I plan on writing more about that weekend (I wrote some notes!), but for now, here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend (haven't yoinked Denee's yet):



Also, last night I went to see Wall-E. I loooooved it. Pixar's films are always pretty great, but this one had a really deep, mature, real-world-relevant message in a way that I've never seen in an animated film. Even the typical themes had a different weight to them... which might be largely due to the overall style of the movie. At least half of the movie played like an animation short, with very little or no dialogue, so the whole story was told through visual cues and with the (at times, gorgeous) musical score. Overall it wasn't as "funny" as expected (though it definitely had its moments), but that was okay because it was great on other levels. It just amazes me how animators can take a robot whose only facial expression is eye-lights, and make it so damn expressive. I almost cried towards the end. Had to literally bite my tongue. But then again, me crying in empathy for animated characters is not all that out-of-the-ordinary.
Meanwhile, my mom completely missed the boat on half the plot and thought that Wall-E got Eve pregnant with a plant. (Sorry Mom, I couldn't help but add that in... it's just too silly.)
What's interesting is that I had read on the Blue Man boards that people were loving this movie... and now I can totally see why BMG fans would "get" this movie real easily--a lot of the themes (including the subtle-yet-real expressiveness) were really similar. The "humanity" of a non-human, the value of an active/productive life, the visceral need for connection with others, curiosity about the world and our history... It kind of makes me shake my head that the animated space-movie BMG worked on was Space Chimps, haha.

OK, that is all for now. I'm gonna try and write a bit more often, if just to make sure my brain is still functioning. And besides, I'm sure there are kitty photos on the way. There are four of them here, you know. They are finally all learning to co-exist (thank goodness).

It's been a busy few days! Friday, my parents drove down to NY. We went over to the barn to see Dice and square things away with Ray and Diana, then out to dinner at a fancy little bistro with excellent food. I got a coffee custard thing for dessert, and it was served in a coffee mug. It was like eating a cup of coffee, which kind of reminded me of those Garfield comics where the coffee is so stale/bad that it falls out of the mug in one big block. Except this custard stuff was good.

I spent the rest of the night packing up my kitchen and other random things, so we could load up the truck and make the trip the next day. Everything went pretty smoothly, though my poor cats panicked a bit went we took away all their safe hiding places, and Willow spent a large part of the trip home flipping out and meowing her little head off. The whole drive, I followed my Dad in the U-Haul, so I got to read their advertisements over and over again. You know, how you see text and can't help but read it, 'cause the brain processes it so automatically and instantly. And you know what it says and you don't wanna keep reading it, but you can't help it! ...right.

So now I am settling in here in NH. It's going to take a while to get unpacked and organized, since this house is already full of STUFF, but I'll have plenty of time to work on that... and getting my finances straight, and hoping the cats don't get into a 4-way brawl, and making room for my 2 pianos, and visiting Dice at her new NH digs (she moves here in a couple days), and whatever else needs to be done. Most of that stuff is on the fun side though, less chore-like than... things to fill the days with until I start my home study course, get a job, etc. It's all good.

ps. I found these neat little tools on facebook that will post my flickr photos... which is handy because I only have the patience to maintain one photo collection. The whole inter-linking web 2.0 thing is kind of crazy. Tonight I bought some bedding on Overstock.com, and facebook wanted to post a newsfeed about it. First of all, facebook knows when I buy stuff?? Second of all, I don't think anyone really needs to know. Hopefully when I told it not to post that, it listened. I THOUGHT I turned off the newsfeeds for all the other random updates I made the other day, but apparently not, and so I apologize if your Newsfeed is getting spammed with useless info like "Jen Holmes became a fan of Red Wine" and other things I meant to slap on my profile without actually announcing them one by one. Durrrr.

Maybe I shouldn't have had coffee just before midnight (although I was avoiding drinking more wine, so I guess that's a good thing). Well, it always takes me a while to wind down from being out with friends, but usually when I finally get to sleep, I am out... but today I kept waking up with the sunrise. Emma whining at me nonstop wasn't helping things, either. She was soooo hungry. *eyeroll* So I got up at 6, showered, and went to the store to get her (and me) some breakfast. I actually kind of like the early morning hours, except for it being so early. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles, though.

So now I am just catching up on e-mails and such, and maybe I will work on packing up the kitchen (which is all I have left to pack, not counting stuff I'm still using, like shampoo and curtains and whatnot), before I see if I can't get back to sleep for an hour or two. It will be a pretty long day if I can't--I have a couple errands to run (and packing/cleaning to do) before Mom and Dad get here around 2, and then we'll head to the barn to visit Dice and square things away with her moving back to NH sometime in June... Tonight we're planning on dinner at a swanky little restaurant down the street that looks like a diner on the outside, but is actually sort of fancy inside (though you can dress casual if you want), with great gourmet-ish food. Moving day is tomorrow, when we'll pick up the truck and load it up with all my junk. Then I get to drive 4 hours with whiny cats. oooh boy. ;) As busy as these next couple days will be, however, I'm looking forward to it. I haven't been too stressed, since I had this whole week off to work with... I didn't actually start packing until Wednesday, but I am pretty speedy and got most of it done in two days.

Yesterday, after running some errands and packing, I spent the evening down in Troy with friends. Maurizio and his friend/bandmate Brittany were hosting the open mic at the Daily Grind. I didn't play (I haven't played, or sung a note besides to the radio, since Lena's last week), and was just there to hang out and visit before I go... Plus it was my birthday and it's always nicer to be with people on one's birthday. I got extra love between it being my birthday, and my last time out before moving. My friends here are all so sweet. :) Fortunately I won't be so far away that I can't visit, now and then. Paul and Maurizio were joking about whose place I can crash at... Paul: "Well, I don't have much room, but there's an extra couch!" Maurizio: " I've got cable. *sly grin*" LOL. I spent some extra time with those two at a bar after the open mic was over, which was a great way to end the night.

Oh wait, but back to open mic... there were a lot of impressive performers, including a bluegrassy trio with an excellent low-down fiddler, a girl that sang a Joni Mitchell song with a bluesy tinge, and of course the Lena transplants. It was especially nice to hear Gail, since she wasn't there last week, and her classical guitar sounded great on Maurizio's sound system. While the open mic was going on, Paul and I restored a chess game that we'd started something like 3 years ago, at that same cafe. Back then, we were hanging out somewhat randomly, so it was quiet and empty, and the only reason we stopped the game was 'cause they were closing up and kicking us out. ;) But we wrote down the board layout, which I have saved in my wallet ever since. So we got that game going again, with James looking on. I ended up victorious, and not 'cause Paul let the Birthday Girl win ('cause at the time, he'd forgotten all about that, haha)... though probably because he lost his focus in the noisy/busy atmosphere. But hey, still. Go me. ;) I have to say, hanging out with friends, a glass of wine, a chess game, and live music, was a perfect combination to me. :) Rob, my friend/ex-co-worker also showed up, which was great since he was pretty MIA at the shop these past few weeks and we'd not had the chance to say goodbye. Actually everyone gave me real nice goodbye hugs, and all mentioned how I need to come back and visit... :) I felt awfully loved!
I got a lot of great messages and well-wishes and a few phone calls yesterday, too... my friends (and family) are amazing. :) *warm fuzzies*

Okay, I think it might just be naptime. *yawn*

Here is that mini-documentary James made, that I mentioned earlier... I actually sound a lot better than I expected musically (I guess the shaking in the voice thing is not so obvious as it seems to me), and I would like to think I'm awkward in a cute way. Right, right? ;) You can also get an idea of how goofy and fun my Lena friends are, from the opening "scene." ;)

Also, my best friend from high school, Erin, had her first baby last night! It's a girl, and her name is Tegan Grace. :)

The past few days have been busy, in a good way. Lots of people-time... I've been out/with friends 3 of the past 4 days, which must be some sort of record for me lately. Well, not counting trips, that is. As I've already written about, I went to Jitters' open mic on Wednesday... then Lena's Thursday, dinner and a drink with Paul Friday, and a wedding today. It's nice to just chill out at home tonight after all that, as it's in my nature to like a lot of "alone time." Good times have been had, though. :)

Thursday night, I got to Lena's a little bit late (the host, Kate, was just finishing her opening song), but my friends had thrown my name in and signed me up, trusting I wasn't about to bail on my last chance at Lena's before I move. It was a great night musically, with lots of good players (including the "regulars") and a handful of new faces. My spot was somewhere in the middle. I was not the only pianist (in fact, I followed another pianist/singer), but I was the only female all night (besides Kate). I played "Left Side" (with Dave on harmonica), then did a cover of "All the Way Down" from the Once soundtrack. It is a pretty sad song, but simple enough that hopefully it wasn't depressing in a drag-you-down sort of way. Also, I fumbled the beginning of one line and couldn't stop a slight smile/head-shake about that, so even if there was a sad mood thing going on, I messed it up, haha. I was really pretty shaky and distracted, especially during the first song, but I played all right overall and I wasn't disappointed with it. The nicest compliment I got was from Ray, who said "boy, if that's what you sound like when you're rusty...!" :)
Getting there pretty much on time meant I had a chance to see all of my friends play (well, they weren't ALL there, but most were), which was nice. :) Also, spent the whole time hanging out in the back with the Peanut Gallery, which is always fun. ;) Oh, and James is starting up his own mini-documentary series, where he'll film someone's set at Lena and then interview them, piece it together, and throw it on YouTube. He used me as a guinea pig. Not my best performance to document, in my opinion, but hopefully he picked out the good parts, heheh. ;) I am also an awkward interviewee. But hey, ya can't have everything in life. If the final result of this video thing isn't too embarrassing, maybe I will share the link, hehe.
It was not quite as sad for me at Lena as I expected--I guess partly because I do plan on visiting while I'm living in NH--so it's not goodbye forever... and I haven't been out much lately, so it's not as if I'm suddenly being yanked from my routine (which was the case when I moved home between semesters, a couple years ago). And perhaps also, because Maurizio wasn't there--we haven't seen much of each other in quite a while, but he is probably my best friend around here... or maybe it's more that he was really my first friend around here... hm, er, anyway.

Friday was my last day at work. I got caught up with things in the morning, and didn't get to the shop until after noon. But there wasn't much work to be done before the weekend anyway, and we ended up finishing up at 4. [I posted a bunch of photos of my recent piano work on my flickr...]

After a brief "it's been fun!/see ya 'round," Kevin went home, and I stuck around since I was planning to meet Paul in Troy in a couple hours. I ended up at the Daily Grind, a cafe just a couple doors down from the shop. I got an iced peanut butter mocha ('cause a fair amount of energy is required to keep up with Paul, ;) hehe), and sat in a comfy couch reading Anna Karenina until the cafe closed... and then continued reading it on the sidewalk while I waited for Paul. I have actually already read like half of this book, but apparently in a stuffy, uninteresting translation. I started over with a good translation (that my bro gave me at Christmastime), and it's worlds better. Which is good, because it's really long, and I was really struggling to get through the other version... but always feeling like I should give it a full chance and finish it, since it's a favorite of Brett's and my brother Mike's--both literature buffs and excellent writers themselves.

Annnnyway... when Paul arrived we walked around the block to a little Indian restaurant called the Shalimar. I've had Indian a couple times before, but not a lot, so it was familiar while still being kind of new and different. I tried a few things I hadn't had before, like... umm... a few appetizers whose names I don't remember, Raita (a vegetable/yogurt condiment), Vegetable Korma (well, I have had that TYPE of dish, just not that specific seasoning/flavor/whatever), and for dessert, Gulab Jaaman. Mr. Google thinks it's spelled Jamun, but on the menu it was Jaaman. Those were like, sweet curd balls soaked in honey, or something. I'm not even sure. But they were good. Paul cracked me up when in the midst of his chatter, he quipped "isn't that like a Bob Marley song? We Jaaman!" Paul is funny. One minute he's telling me about the history of Estonia, and the variety of bloodlines in Britain, and the next he's making stupid puns and ending his long sophisticated, big-words rambles with "or some shit." Or drawing cartoony pictures of Civil War era ships on a napkin as soon as we walk into a bar, before even ordering a drink. I was like, "What are you doing?" and he's all trying to explain their names and how they were constructed and I don't even know... "but Paul... why are you drawing boats on a napkin?" Apparently the connection was that the metal plates for one of the ships were made in Troy, or something, but how he arrived at THAT specific topic, I have no idea. See why I needed the coffee? ;) Anyway, Paul can be kind of exhausting, since the way he talks is so dense/fast-paced, but the conversation is always interesting, and it's a good time. Definitely nice to catch up with him. :)

Saturday was just a lazy day, and I took my time getting a few chores done. I mostly just relaxed, and soaked in the fact that I am officially "on vacation"... even though I have a busy week ahead of me preparing for the move, and of 'course projects and studying and whatever else starting this summer... but still, it's not the same as holding a job you gotta show up for every day.

Today (well, Sunday/yesterday), I went to a wedding at John Boyd Thacher State Park, southwest of Albany. My friends Casey and Dave, who write and perform as the duo "Almost Awake," had their morning/afternoon wedding at a picnic area... and it really was like a big ol' picnic, after the ceremony itself (which was also pretty casual). I didn't know anyone there besides the bride and groom, but there was one other girl (who used to work with Dave), that was also a loner, so we ended up hanging out. The band (another duo, Sirsy--Melanie and Rich) sat at our table as well until they had to go warm up and get ready to play. They were both extremely nice, and have such a great work ethic about their combined music career. That, along with their polished-yet-totally-approachable performing, makes it easy to see how they can do this as a living, and have a big fan base. They are both so talented, too, but there are plenty of super-talented artists out there just don't have that combo of business and personality to "make it"... these two have it. They are both so personable and humble. I've actually seen them perform before, but years ago, and I don't think I met them (or if I did, it was just "this is so-and-so, hi nice to meet you"). But meeting them, I felt like I made two new friends. :) When I went up to say goodbye to them after the reception (and compliment their playing), I was just going to shake hands but Melanie said "I feel like I wanna give you a hug!" Aww. Actually, Emily (the other didn't-know-anyone girl) also gave me a hug goodbye. Haha, aww, bonding!

OK um, so, where was I? I got distracted by the band. I can't help it, you know. Musicians are My People.
After lunch (cookout stuff), Dave and Casey started up a game of bocce... before I could even make a move to follow, Dave said "you're on my team!!" hahahah... I was kind of like, well all right, but don't expect much! It's been a long time since I've played bocce, and I needed a quick rundown of what the goal is. But then I felt like a bocce hustler, 'cause when the score was 5-2, with our team leading... I had gotten us 3 or 4 of those points. I'm not usually all that coordinated, and bocce seems most similar to bowling (which I'm pretty awful at), but hey. Awkward interviewee, but decent bocce player. I'll take it. Dave got most of the rest of our points to end the game at, I think, 10-2. Yikes, haha. Casey (on the other team) told her camcorder that since she and Dave were married, that meant that what was his was also hers, and vice versa... meaning that his team's victory also belonged to her. ;) So it's all good. After that, a bunch of people were playing frisbee, which I opted out of... you should see how horribly I catch/throw a frisbee 10 feet away from the other person, nevermind spread out on a huge field. So I took pictures instead.
The rest of the time was spent just hanging out, dancing a little, taking more pictures... at the beginning of the second set of music, Sean Rowe (another musician, and a guest at the wedding) played a few songs. Then Dave joined Sirsy on drums for a couple, and finally Dave and Casey played a couple as a duo, before handing the reins back to Sirsy. That was a pretty cool thing... the bride and groom playing/singing together, that is. :) During Sirsy's last set, they did one song with a huge medley section in the middle where Rich just busted out random popular tunes on his guitar, from "Can't Touch This" to "My Sharona" (Mel: "m-m-m-my Sharona... m-m-m-my Sharona... that's all the words I know-a") to "Beat it" to "Crazy Train" to... well, you get the idea. Pretty fun, and way silly.
Sooo it was really a fun wedding/reception, and it was such a beautiful day, too (around 70, clear/sunny and a little breezy). When I left, I stopped at the "Overlook" in the State Park before driving home. I took photos, since I was apparently shutter-happy today, though the expanse can't really be captured in a photo, I don't think. It was pretty.
Here are the pictures I took today: Dave and Casey's wedding (plus some state park photos)


OK, that's all for now... busy few days... but fun! :)

Now that my moving day is getting so close, I have been making a point to reconnect with some friends around here... something I have been meaning to do for quite some time--who knows how many lj entries I've written in the past year in which I've said something like "I really need to get back out to the music scene" or somesuch? Tonight I made it out to open mic at Jitters Cafe, though I showed up late. I came very close to being a hermit and staying in, but I knew it was possibly my last chance to see my friend Gary (who was hosting tonight), so I put on my big girl panties [do I have that figure of speech right, or am I just being weird?], packed up my guitar, and headed out. I'd kinda forgotten that at Jitters, the performing space is right up front by the door--meaning you can't really sneak in unnoticed by most of the crowd, like you can at Lena's or other places. I had the luck of walking in during some comedian, and being the center of attention for a moment. D'oh! I felt kinda jerkish since there were only a couple people left on the list, and then it would be me--I had hoped to tag on the end of the list when there were just a few stragglers left, not sit in front of the full crowd after not being there for half the performers... but it turned out that a few people came in and played after me, so I didn't end up being that girl. Not that I mind when other people play without staying for the entire night (unless they make a habit of it and have a less-than-humble attitude about it), but I don't like doing that myself. Annnnyway, that's not really important.

So when it was my turn, Gary made up a whole bunch of stuff about how I play a bunch of places and was getting ready for a Northeast tour (his euphemism for me moving to NH), which I admitted straight-up was a pack of lies, and I had not, in fact, played out in almost a year. I only knew two people there besides Gary (the owner, Gina, and another musician named Ryan), so playing old songs seemed fine since the other 10-12 people there hadn't ever heard me, anyway. But I was really nervous... enough to joke about it and before my last song (3 total), say "it's almost over," LOL. I got really nice applause especially after my 2nd song though, so I felt at license to poke fun at myself a bit... even though, generally, admitting your own lack of confidence isn't really a classy thing to do. I just couldn't help myself, haha.
The actual playing was weird. The familiar lack-of-focus was there, where I find myself thinking about the most random and unrelated stuff WHILE playing and singing. Like, at one point I was watching my fretting hand, and I realized "I don't really need to watch my hand, since I just hold this fret position for the entire verse," so I looked up at the walls (since I was too nervous to look at the audience), and started reading the list of teas the cafe served. !! "Green, chamomile... oh shoot. pay attention to what you're doing!!" A few times I literally blanked out on what the next chords/words might be, though I ended up getting them right, just from muscle memory--I just let my mouth form whatever words seemed natural and it worked out. Remembering lyrics via muscle memory seems really kind of bizarre. But at least it worked. Overall, I guess I did okay--probably flubbed up a whole lot of notes on guitar due to nerves, but my voice was fine, and I didn't make any majorly noticeable mistakes. Phew.
Everyone else that played while I was there sounded good--one guy had a really powerful bluesy voice, one girl had excellent songwriting, another guy played great guitar solos/extras when backing up other musicians. There is just so much musical talent everywhere; it's a great thing.

Interestingly enough, I sold 2 CD's--one to that guy Ryan, who seemed like he'd been planning on buying one but hadn't seen me around to do so (unsurprisingly)... and the other, Gina had sold to a customer months ago (and paid me for it tonight). She keeps copies of local artists' CD's at the counter, and was playing my CD on the cafe stereo a lot after I played a gig there last summer. She said she loved it so much that it was rotating in the player for over a month and it got to the point where her employees said "we love her songs, but can we listen to something else?" LOL! So anyway, I ended up making an unexpected $20 (minus the $5 I spent on a smoothie). Can't complain, haha!
Another funny/flattering thing... Gina asked me how old I am, because she thought my CD cover made me look so mature/older that it almost looked like I could be in my 30's, except that she was pretty sure I had to be younger. I know a lot of people shy away from birthdays and age but I for one love it when people think I'm older. I think this is partly because a lot of my friends are in their 30's or older, and I like it when I don't seem like "the young one," even if, technically, I am (and pretty much always have been).

So that was my more-eventful-than-usual night... tomorrow is Lena's, and I'll be playing (piano). It'll probably be my last time playing here before moving, since next week there is no open mic at Lena's and I'm unlikely to drag my guitar out to Daily Grind or wherever my friends end up going instead (assuming they will go anywhere... which I hope they do, since it's my birthday, and my last night before my parents come to help me move, and I want to go out, haha). Friday I'm meeting up with Paul for dinner, after work--haven't seen him in aaaaaaaaaaaages, so that should be nice.
Other than that, I just have 2 days left of work, and then a week to square everything away and pack. yipe.

On a slightly unrelated note, I have been especially grateful for my truest friends lately, who've made me feel loved and appreciated, even if they are far away and/or we don't see much of each other. Some I've not seen in, literally, years. Or there are various other circumstances that nevertheless, do not break true friendships. :) I am a damn lucky girl to have the friends I do. I love and miss you guys. :) /mushy

Now I remember what I was going to open yesterday's entry with... well, not word for word, but it had to do with UPS Men. My Favorite UPS Man that delivers to work, whom I haven't seen in ages, showed up yesterday, and I was all, no fair! He comes back in my second-to-last week here? Boooo! Hahaha. For the past few months it's been the young, somewhat klutzy guy that took a good dozen deliveries to remember my last name (which is totally illegible in my signature). He's all right. But Favorite UPS Man only ever asked once; plus, he's older and hotter and wears nice cologne. ...I feel like I have mentioned the UPS Man before, in which case I am such a loser for bringing it up again. If I did, it would have been the story about how one time, I was working at the bench and had headphones on ('cause Kevin was using a really loud router), and I never even saw the UPS Man come in and leave our packages like, a foot away from me. And the next day he teased me for being oblivious, and said, "you guys were all *RRRRRRRRRRROowww!!*" as he jokingly imitates the router sound, ha! It struck me as especially funny 'cause this one is usually pretty serious and quiet, and all of a sudden he was all grinny and silly. ...anyway, sorry if you've already read that story.

but anyway! The reason the UPS Man was still on my mind was because I stopped to pick up an easy fast food dinner on the way home, and ended up in line behind a UPS Man. He looked a lot like my favorite UPS Man. He was not wearing cologne. But still. Seeing either UPS Man individually probably wouldn't have seemed all that noteworthy/unusual, but, two in one day! ...or something. .........

....none of this matters, but the REAL reason I thought I would write about it is so I could post this relevant poem I heard on NPR once. I think it is pretty great.

Why I Have A Crush On You, UPS Man
by Alice N. Persons

you bring me all the things I order
are never in a bad mood
always have a jaunty wave as you drive away
look good in your brown shorts
we have an ideal uncomplicated relationship
you're like a cute boyfriend with great legs
who always brings the perfect present
(why, it's just what I've always wanted!)
and then is considerate enough to go away
oh, UPS Man, let's hop in your clean brown truck and elope !
ditch your job, I'll ditch mine
let's hit the road for Brownsville
and tempt each other
with all the luscious brown foods —
roast beef, dark chocolate,
brownies, Guinness, homemade pumpernickel, molasses cookies
I'll make you my mama's bourbon pecan pie
we'll give all the packages to kind looking strangers
live in a cozy wood cabin
with a brown dog or two
and a black and brown tabby
I'm serious, UPS Man. Let's do it.
Where do I sign?

I had an interesting lj-entry opener line in my head when I sat down to write, but now I have absolutely no idea what it was. So you are left with that utterly non-clever and useless, painfully honestly lame, opener line. Better luck next time.

I feel like being productive, but not in such a way that requires any real "work." Recently I upgraded my flickr account so I have unlimited uploads/storage... this is long overdue, since I have pretty much just used either lj or my webspace to share photos--which I will still do, because photos break up my excessively long pages of text nicely, hehe... but even then, I'm just picking my favorites and re-sizing them, and then I gotta type out the url's for everything and get into the code if I ever wanna re-order/re-organize, etc. So, yay flickr!
my flickr album
I've been dealing with my most recent (and thus most accessible/organized) photos so far, which means it's mostly Emma/Willow photos, plus some of Dice, and some from more recent BMG trips... but I'm gradually working on adding more, and when I'm home I'll be scanning a bunch of older photos... should be kinda fun! I like organization projects like that hahaha.

I do have an album on there from Sunday though. I was up in Burlington, VT for the weekend, and on Sunday my parents and I met my brother Mike and his (almost 2-year-old) daughter Zora in the park. I got a few nice photos... here is my favorite of the set:

Zora is talking more, and starting to seem more like a little kid than a helpless little baby... She knows me as "Auntie Jen!" (although she hasn't quite gotten the hang of the letter "J" yet), which is really pretty cute. She is getting old enough to know us as her family and that is pretty neat--as opposed to me just seeming like some random person she doesn't know. Does that make sense? :)

The reason we were visiting this particular weekend was because Lois (Mike's fiancée) had her annual Cabaret show. This year's was not so hysterical as the last couple years, but the big dance numbers (which Lois choreographs) were amazing, and I really liked the more artsy/deep skits... last year's show seemed to have less of that "really make you think/wonder" stuff, so it was cool to get that vibe again. The show is different every year (although the majority of the characters/players are the same), which is part of its charm.
Anyway, some of my favorite bits... let's see.
--Lois sings lead in a chair-dance number every year (I think--last 3 years anyway)--this year's song was "Don't You Make Me High," which was kind of low-down and sultry.
--For another skit, Lois and two of the other girls sang "This House is Haunted" in harmony, and started out in a corner of the balcony right next to where we were sitting, which was a cool effect. I'm not even really sure what was going on onstage, because I was paying more attention to the singers. The boyish "Billie" character sang lead in that; she's got a real pretty voice. Billie is my favorite character in the play--it cracks me up when she is all blatantly hitting on the other Cabaret girls, hahaha. I think I may have gotten a minor girl-crush on that character. But don't tell anyone I said that. ...well whatever, I'm not embarrassed or anything. Part of what is cool about the show is that it's very progressive about social/gender issues... which I can see being a bit "much" for more conservative types, but I am one of those "hey as long as there is love and art goin' around, it's cool" type people, so that kind of attitude is right up my alley.
--One of the big dances was a port scene of sorts, featuring an English ballad, Irish Jig, and then ...Afro-Caribbean maybe? Something like that. The dancing in that last part of it reminded me of the mesmerizing dance a couple years back (which MAY have been something Middle Eastern ish, though not straight-up bellydance). Of course any time they have these big choreographed dances I am all oooooo that's so cool! I wish I could do that!
--One of the more artsy pieces was a dance with 3 of the girls (including Billie! haha) who were connected by a rope (in a line, not a circle)... it was called "Union" and there was a whole lot of push-and-pull. At some point towards the end of the dance, two of the three seemed to suddenly realize they were connected to another PERSON, whereas before that they were kind of each struggling against the ropes themselves... at least that was my take on it. It was the sort of skit that seemed really deep and emotional but the exact "point" of it might not be obvious upon first viewing. It reminded me of those art exhibits that look kind of interesting and touching, but you don't really "get it" until you read the little white exhibit card to see what the deal is... except there was no little white card. I love that "what is going on here?" feeling in art/theatre though. :)
--Another big dance was called "Sakura Garden," which started out with a solemn sort of tea ceremony thing, then turned into a dance with colorful little umbrellas... when that part was over I was thinking the skit was done, and "hey that was pretty," but THEN the other half of the dancers came out with equally colorful fans, and all those fans and umbrellas together were really incredibly cool looking, especially from the balcony. The way everything flowed around the stage and over and under each other, reminded me of something you'd see in Cirque.
--And finally, there was some nautical themed stuff... the "Land Ho!" big dance which was a combination of sirens and sailors (sweet!)... and the token Opera girl sang "The Birth of Venus," which was really very pretty. It was kind of understated, and not the type of opera that is overwhelming and grating to non-Opera-lovers. While she was singing, a few of the other girls danced around the stage... maybe even the same "sirens" from before, but I don't remember.
There was a lot of other random stuff, social commentary, dancing, singing... but those were the highlights for me. :)
Here is a video with lots of clips and interview bits, from last year's show: click! ...there are other random clips from '06 and '07 on youtube and the web if you search for "Spielpalast Cabaret," but this is the best, most informative one. I'll be keeping my eye out for any '08 media. :) Looking forward to next year's show!

So that's what I've been up to lately... the count is down to 7 days of work, and 17 days until moving day. I am probably less stressed than I should be about these facts, haha. But I do have a full free week before I move, during which I can handle most of what needs to be done--just a few things I need to do before that...

wow this was long! writewritewrite.
oh, and here's a random survey I stole from Jenny last week, but never posted. I feel like there were a couple things in it I wanted to remember (otherwise I wouldn't have bothered saving it), so I'm just gonna slap it on here. I'm not sure I realized, when taking it, that the questions are all asked with double question-marks, and there are random ?'s in the middle of sentences, making the whole thing look kind of anxious. Hahahah.
( cut 'cause no one cares )

Elephants can paint?!?!?! like... really paint PICTURES of stuff, not just splash paint around all abstract like. It took me a while to believe this was real, holy crap! Elephants kick ass!


Walruses are pretty great too.

So I didn't get my laundry done this weekend like I meant to, but I DID finally write up my journal from that trip to Boston back in March! I slapped on my favorite photos, so it might be worth a look even if you are not inclined to read my lengthy babblings. ;)
I miss you gals--you know who you are! *hugs*
March '08 Boston Fanmeet and Girls' Night Out

The other productive thing I did this weekend (besides keep up with my dishes/clutter, no huge victory there) is restring my guitar! That only took me like, two years, to get around to, haha. I got "silk and steel" strings for it, which seem to be a little gentler on the fingers, and I THINK a bit mellower/softer sounding than the other strings (when they were new), though it's hard to tell. I like them so far, except they are all silver-colored (instead of the bottom few being copper-colored), and that is messing with my brain a little. What, no color-coded strings? ;) I'll get used to it.

I guess all I have written since getting back from NH were those silly surveys I posted, huh? Well, I guess I don't want to go into too much detail about last weekend. It was pretty rough, seeing as I have little experience with 6-year-olds OR dogs, and each of those had their challenges (Alex is a tough cookie--even my parenting-vetted Mom and Dad have trouble with him... and Maverick is still a puppy-brain at 6 months). There were some fun things, like taking Alex to the Children's Museum and the park, and hanging out with the dog and cats, but overall it just wore me out so much. I got paid for it, so it was kind of like trading regular work (I took Fri+Mon off) for a different job for a weekend. When I look at it that way, it's juuuust fine. I liked the driving both ways--great, open-windows weather on the way over... rainy on the way back but I made a cozy stop at Borders and listened to my new Once soundtrack the rest of the way home. :)

Then I came home, went to work on Tuesday, came down with an icky cold, and stayed home the rest of the week. I feel better now, just endlessly sniffly and have the occasional coughing fit. The worst part was the sore throat, which is (thankfully) gone by now. Colds suck. I can't say I was tooo bummed about missing work though--I should still be okay financially, since I got my $600 stimulus payment in my bank account last week. After paying for moving those pianos home (assuming Kevin is still willing to give those up--he did sound like "oh good!" about it when we talked), I might end up a couple hundred in the red, but that's not too horrible and shouldn't take too long to fix, so I'm not worried.
In the meantime... just 3 weeks of work left, and then one free week before the move. Got a bunch of loose ends to tie up, open mics to go to, and friends to connect with/say goodbye to before then.

But step #1 should probably have something to do with like, getting my laundry done. Hmmm.

It's bedtime, but I got hooked on this one last survey that Jenny posted.
( 20 'deep' questions )

I just got back from a weekend in NH looking after my bro's and his gf's house (and her son, and their dog and two cats), and I am BEAT.
So, I'm gonna go catch up on some things and unpack; maybe I'll write something later tonight.
Hope everyone had a good weekend!

edit: ( surveys yoinked from Jenny )

marriedtothesea.com

Well, we're getting down to the wire here. I have 5 weeks of work left, then a week off, and my parents are coming to help me move on May 30th/31st. At the shop, we have just two pianos left, both Mason & Hamlin models. We're well into work on the last piano, which means I'm doing a bunch of things I won't be doing again any time soon, if ever (depending on what kind of piano work I do in the future)... which is a little sad in some cases, and a relief in others. I like the "rebuilding" aspect of piano work, but I like things like action work and stringing better than working with the big structural stuff. It looks like I may be getting a couple pianos (one upright, one grand) from Kevin... They both need some work (especially the upright), but it's all stuff I know how to do, so I should be able to fix them up just fine. It'll be fun to work on pianos that are mine, with which I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. It will be handy to have older/"project" pianos to work with while I'm doing my piano course, too. My mom sounded a little exasperated when I asked her about bringing those home... "I thought you were coming home to help me get rid of stuff!" Nope. heh heh. Hopefully I will be done with both of them before I move away, and I'll sell them, unless it turns out I particularly like one of them enough to keep.

Anyway, I could go on about old pianos for quite a while, boring the heck out of you, but I won't.
My friend Fames Jederick tells me he knows I'm alive despite my ridiculously long absence from Lena's, partly because he reads this ol' lj every once in a while. I was pretty amazed he didn't find it completely dull, but then I remembered about the kitty photos. That must be it. ;)
Anyway speaking of James (hi James!), I saw him when I FINALLY got back to Lena's last Thursday. I didn't play... I don't think I have played out since my last gig, which was last... July?! Anyway, most of the "regulars" were there, including Maurizio and Dave who apparently have also been pretty MIA. It was, of course, good to see (most) everyone, and just nice to be back and hear the music. A bunch of us ended up at a nearby bar that has an open mic, afterward... decent music, but LOUD. I'm going to try to make it to Lena's every Thursday until I leave--there are only 6 of them! I don't know that I'll have it together to play this week, but I have been playing my instruments a bit more lately... we'll see.

A big reason I am writing at all is that I just finished up a project I've been working on practically nonstop for the past month+... I'd say what it is, but it's a gift and I'm not sure whether the recipient ever reads this, so I'll keep hush about it for now. I also had some random thoughts, like:
-according to Netflix, I have had A Clockwork Orange here for about 3 months (!). I used to have 3, then 2, at a time, so I just kept passing over it, but now I have just 1 at a time so it's sitting there by itself, waiting to be watched. I'm not gonna lie; I'm a little scared of it. It seems like a movie I will really like, but it also is described as brutal and shocking etc. etc... I haven't had both the time and the mood for it, I guess. *eyes it*
-I got the cats a small litter mat for the second box so maybe they won't track the stuff around so much... Emma thinks is it her new bed. She's over there napping by the litterboxes. Nice.
-Spring is finally here, and it's been in the 70's for the past few days. I am psyched that I can drive with my windows open again. It makes my commute 20 times more tolerable. :)

That's all, really, just thought I'd check in. One of these days I'll finish up that Boston journal I was talking about a month ago, haha.
Until next time... which will likely just be me posting kitty photos. I have some cute ones sitting around...

Hmmm, haven't written in here for a while, eh? I am pretty sure the only thing that's "happened" since I last wrote was my weekend in Boston last weekend. Which was SO great, and I will get around to a journal about that soon--and I'm not just sayin' that, only to forget later, 'cause I already have notes typed up for it. I just need to be in the right mood to actually make coherent sentences out of those. I posted some photos on flickr, but they are just the meet and greet ones I got on my camera... the other gals have other fun photos I will be yoinking when I get around to the journal... anyway. The bottom line is that it was a great time!--I miss Lal, Shayna, and Denee already... not to mention Boston itself. Man, I love Boston. I will probably end up living there someday, though I am hoping to go somewhere farther away and more drastically different for my next big move (after NH). :) Sounds like the other girls want to come back sometime this summer/fall, so I won't have to be TOO patient for next time. ;)

Meanwhile, I am getting restless, knowing I have so little time left before I move back to NH. It looks like I'll be moving out Memorial Day weekend (with the help of my parents and a U-Haul), which is roughly 8 weeks. 8 Thursdays to get my ass back to Lena's--I know I have been saying for months that I need to get back there regularly before I go, but now I REALLY need to. I will definitely regret it if I lose my chance to spend time there (and maybe at some other local places, see my friends' shows) before I move.
But even though it'll be sad to not have the music scene and my friends here around (even though I haven't been seeing much of them lately), at the same time I am really pretty ready to move. I think I have NY-itis, which is like another form of senioritis. I need a change--which will in turn be a transition for a bigger, cooler change.

[lists, in no particular order! And then I have to do the dishes I have been avoiding all day, hehe.]

I'll miss:
-having my own place, set up and organized exactly how I like it
-my job and boss--I'll still do piano work after this, but I lucked out with a laid-back atmosphere and easygoing boss here
-the music scene and my musician friends
-being able to shower whenever I want, even if it's 2am
-being 15 minutes from anything I could ever need as far as shopping goes
-the lake (and geese!) behind my apartment
-Jimmy's pizza, and the local wine/liquor shop
-WAMC (local public radio)

I will NOT miss:
-washing every single dish/glass/fork by hand
-my neighbors upstairs that have scary fights
-my commute to/from work
-going to the laundromat (although I WILL miss being able to do 7 loads of laundry at once)
-being alone all the time, including much of the time at work, and for meals

Looking forward to:
-hanging out with my parents (yes, really)
-not paying rent/bills for a while
-hanging out with Michelle (friend from high school), maybe others? Not sure who still lives there
-having a pool and a cool cellar over the summer
-being directly in the mountains again... hiking?!
-seeing how our 4 cats get along, heh heh
-tagging along when my parents visit family, maybe for a vacation or two
-possibly piano/harp lessons with my old teachers?
-being around to see concerts/plays at my old high school (and visiting my HS music teacher)
-having an acoustic piano in the house
-having free time to work on projects and my piano tech course
-Bill and Bob's roast beef! mmmmm

It's 8:35pm and I have realized that my evening is more "free" than it has been... there are dishes to be done, and of course there are always a few things in the background to get to "eventually," but I mean that I have an open space here instead of the usual default lately of popping in a random movie, and cross-stitching. I finished my first complete design yesterday, of a geisha (which I started in Dec.)... here's a photo of it (unframed). The color isn't quite true-to-life, and the gold thread in her headdress and obi doesn't show in the photo, but you get the idea.


Last night I was feeling pretty bummed, but I feel mostly better today. It was just a bunch of little things adding up, like:
-the nasty weather, which has left a giant puddle I have to walk through to get to my apartment door
-Hillary winning primaries, even though in reality her net gain of delegates for the day was teeny. A few months ago I liked her well enough to consider voting for her, but the more of I see/read of her, the more I want her (and Bill) to just go away. Her campaign, along with the media, is really getting on my nerves with all the "spin" and hype. I mean, the only way she can win is a) she wins by staggering margins in the remaining states (doubtful), or b) she somehow gets Michigan and Florida counted and/or wrassles a buttload of superdelegates to her side despite Obama winning the public's vote--and if either of those things happen, the Democratic party will go crazy, which doesn't bide well for the general election. I'm not anti-Republican, necessarily, but McCain seems far, far too much like Bush for my liking. Heck, NPR reported on George's W's endorsement of him about twenty times today, haha. I guess if the Democratic race goes haywire, there is always Ralph Nader (ha!). But I would just like Obama to get the nomination already so that I can vote FOR someone instead of picking the lesser of evils. I realize he's not perfect, there may still be some "skeletons" of his that haven't turned up yet, and he most likely won't accomplish everything he proposes once in office (what candidate ever does?), but I'm convinced he would easily make the best President of those still in the race. It looks like he's in a very good position to get there, too... so here's hoping. OK, I have said my little political piece and I am probably done mentioning this at least until the Democratic primaries are over. I actually just meant to say "ugh, Hillary is annoying me," and not ramble but hey. I haven't written in almost a month, so I'm bound to ramble.
-Where was I? Oh yeah, listing the little things getting me down yesterday. I probably don't need to rehash the rest, except a quick mention that I didn't get that new free camera after all. I did get my old camera back, which Canon repaired free of cost (including shipping), and they also put a new cover on it so it looks like a new camera. I was hoping for a better/current replacement, since many people with the same issue did get back new models due to lack of parts for the old... there is a little element of "that's not fair!" to it, but at the same time it's perfectly fair to get back the camera I paid for, and more than fair that it was completely serviced for free, even though its warranty is long gone. I still want an updated camera, but now that the old one is working fine and lookin' good, that can wait.

Anyway, not too much has been going on... I have been a real homebody, consistently not making it to the barn or Lena's--this is a combination of lack of motivation, and the weather being crappy every other day (usually on the days/evenings it would otherwise work out for me to go). It is also just habit, I suppose. It's easy for me to be perfectly content just relaxing at home, especially if it was a tiring day at work and/or a long evening commute. Excuses, I know, but the combination of not sleeping well and not having anyone around to help me be productive/get out more, well, is a bad mix. I think moving (first NH, then hopefully Vegas) will be good for me.

I did visit with family in VT a couple weekends ago. My brother and his family have a new apartment, which is in an artists' co-op building and thus very cheap compared to their old one. The main room has really tall ceilings and lemon-yellow walls all the way up to that ceiling, with a dark orange shag rug on the floor. It's so like them, heheh. The place is nice though, lots of room for Zora to run around. While entertaining her we put on The Sound of Music and we got her to run and twirl with her arms spread like Maria in the beginning. Cute. I am looking forward to when Zora starts like, making sentences and stuff. She is really good with animals noises, though. Her tiger/lion/wildcat "rarrrrr!" is awesome.

Hm. I think I'm done for now.
May I just say that I'm so glad it's March... I SO need this trip to Boston, and I am psyched to see Denee and Shayna again, and my ol' buddy LAL! :)!

My brain feels all chaotic. I feel like I have been dealing with a lot of numbers and organization lately, and I think it's catching up with me. Taxes, finances, making appointments, canceling subscriptions, following the Democratic primaries (go Obama!)... And today at work I started a project that's more challenging logic/math-wise than most--replacing the system that makes the dampers (string mufflers) work. That means lots of measuring and calculating and such to make sure the new one is an accurate reconstruction of the old one... even though the parts and dimensions don't match. That's where all the "figuring" comes in. I think we got all of the numbers under control though, so tomorrow I will be getting into the actual work (marking, drilling, assembling, etc.), which is kinda fun.

Tonight I got a new battery for my old camera, and the issues I thought must be due to having a 5 year old battery that held a charge for no more than 15 minutes at a time, were still there. After some googling, I found out it's most likely an issue that Canon has acknowledged--some defective part (the "CCD Image Display)--and they are offering free repairs/replacements. One guy who had my exact camera, with the same problems (though his was "further gone"), ended up with a free SD1000, because they don't have the parts to repair the old one! So I could conceivably get a SD1000--the new camera I just barely bought, though it's unopened and still returnable--for $0. That would be sweet. So we'll see. I have my fingers crossed.
Come onnnnn, free camera! Heheheh.

In other news, I had Bellydance Class 2 of 2 on Monday. It was more challenging/tiring than the first one, which was nice. The teacher told us any of us could jump into her beginner class on Tuesdays, and I'm debating. This following Tuesday may be a school vacation week with no class, but even so, I should call her up before then if I want to join in. Another option I have is to do a 6-week course in Troy, with a different teacher... both classes are on Tuesday evenings and cost about the same (either $12 or $15 a class). Taking classes with the teacher I already know might be the safer bet, and the location is probably better--up at the Dance Museum in Saratoga, which means A) I could come home in between work and class, and B) I know she has a nice studio with a big mirror and such there. So I'm leaning towards that one... There is a part of me that wants to slack and "figure it out later," but I am really interested in bellydance, and it seems like something I could be pretty good at, and even if I am totally amateur at it forever, it's a lot of fun and a good workout. So I should just like... go for it. Right? yeah.

Oh also, I got my Piano Tech home study course the other day... holy moley, all the literature!!! There is one gigantic course text (which comes in the form of a full 4"(?) binder), plus a whole stack of other texts, plus manufacturer's technical guides, brochures, catalogs for supply companies... just a mountain of piano-geeky stuff. There is a whole book on "hammer techniques" for tuning, which has this funny little diagram of the tuning pin drawn as a little man. The coil of wire around him is his beard, haha. Anyway, when you think of a tuning pin you just think of a little stick of steel, right? Wrong. Well, as far as how complicated it actually is... It's under such tension in the piano that turning it is actually this complex process where different parts of the pin twist/turn/bend in different ways (from "head" to "foot"). And this is just ONE TUNING PIN. Holy crap. I have to say, out of any course I've ever taken, this is by far the most daunting I've seen. I mean sometimes in college you would get a syllabus and be like "ohhhhh crap, this is gonna suck," but this is more like "is there gonna be room in my brain for this?" Hehe, I'm sure I'll do fine with it. There's already a lot I know, or at least am familiar with--that should help a lot. I won't really be spending a lot of time on it until I move back to NH, though.

I guess that is all for now. When I have a new camera whose video doesn't get covered in purple light and lines, I will have to show you guys how weird Willow is about bananas. Crazy cat.

Oh, and uh, Happy Valentine's Day, I guess. I'm currently pretty indifferent about Valentine's Day--no reason to get excited, but I don't resent it, either. I mean, I resent materialization of relationships, but I have lots more issues with jewelry commercials than having one day a year you KNOW you'll go out to dinner, or get flowers/chocolate, or whatever it is you like to do as a couple (not that Valentine's Day has to be all about couples). People always make the "but people should do that stuff the rest of the year, too!" argument, but I dunno, I think there's something to be said for having a holiday to celebrate LOVE, of all kinds. Why shouldn't Love have its own holiday? Earth has one. The Groundhog has one. And Jesus has like 8. Love gotta represent, yo!

So lately everyone has been changing their Myspace/facebook/etc. statuses to something like "Raoul is sick of winter!" At the moment I am pretty cold--haven't thawed out from the day yet (it's freezing at work!)... but even so I had to appreciate winter today. After last night's storm, everything is coated in a thin, glistening layer of ice. Smaller trees lean over from the weight until their tops are almost touching the ground, looking like arches of icicles. It was especially pretty on the drive home, in the sunset--one of those pale purple sunsets, and the silver of all the ice muted it further... A group of fluffy clouds sat just above the horizon and looked like fantastical mountains. The whole scene looked like some other (frozen) planet. I can be okay with winter lasting a bit longer if it looks like that! Admittedly, the half-inch coating of ice was not so pretty on my CAR this morning, hehe. It took forever to get the windows/wipers clear, and then driving to work I felt like I was in the bottom of a ship, 'cause I could hear some water sloshing between the car and the layer of ice, and the ice itself was creaking.

I think the whole "not sleeping" thing has caught up with me today, and that tonight is going to be a "stay home and stay warm" sort of night. Tonight is Lena's, and I was planning on going, but I don't think it's gonna happen. Hopefully I will get better sleep next week and be up for it next Thursday. It'll be Valentine's Day, so everyone is gonna be like "this is a song about love." haha. ;)

I did get out earlier this week, to the first of two bellydance classes I was mentioning before. It was fun, and everyone in the group (20ish women, all ages) seemed down-to-earth and easy-to-please. I was actually expecting to be exhausted, but it turns out it was far, far less strenuous than the bellydance/workout DVD's I've used. There was only one time I noticed getting at all tired, and it was just a muscle cramp from doing the same hip twist thing over and over, nothing that even lasted once we moved on to something else. Overall, I didn't learn a whole lot I didn't already know, but there were a couple handy tips about the underlying basics... like when the instructor (Elaina) talked about posture, the first thing she said was to lift your ribcage (or, muscle-wise, I think it's the solar plexus--that is my favorite muscle name! haha), and I'd never really thought about it that way. I've always thought "shoulders back," which actually just pushes out your chest/stomach if you don't ALSO lift your ribcage. Elaina was saying how that, plus keeping knees bent and your limbs in close, gives your abs/hips freedom to move... It was just interesting to think of posture as this real natural, even "sultry," thing--The word posture just makes me think of rail-straight women in corsets, or rigid soldiers in lines. Another neat thing was thinking of a lot of the movement coming from weight shifts and/or power in your thighs. Anyway, I'm not sure that I like this teacher quite enough to go sign up for her regular classes, but we'll see how next Monday goes. I AM pretty interested in bellydance (and other dance too, but mostly/especially bellydance) as a new hobby, not just a one-time thing.

Tuesday, I did my civic duty and voted. I've never actually voted in person before--I voted in the last Presidential primaries/election, but in NH via absentee ballot. So to avoid the "crowds" I waited a bit after work and went at 7pm. There were like, 2 people there, hahaha. I was expecting either paper-punching ballots, or computer screens, so I was surprised when instead there was this gigantic metal machine. you go up to it and pull a big red lever to close the curtains behind you... it took me a minute to find the metal tab for Obama, and another minute to figure out how to register it (pull the lever again). OK, not actual MINUTES. But long enough for me to feel a little ridiculous. Hehe.
I really, really hope that either Obama or Hillary (whoever gets it) can win in November... John McCain scares me. I hope he continues to scare conservatives, too, heheh. But thank god Romney is out, he is such a tool. He was starting to remind me a lot of Bush, with the idiot things he'd say... like "who let the dogs out? who? ..who?" when posing for a photo with a bunch of Cuban American youth, and basically saying that the country is doomed if the Democrats win the white house (exactly the unyielding, extremely polarizing crap this country does NOT need). Ugh, good riddance.
Goooo Obama! Haha. Just saw/heard this today... "Yes We Can" music video [the words/lyrics are listed here, too]