(title shamelessly ripped off from a mediocre country song)
the story so far, in declarative sentences:
I have the barrio cuteness house starting january first -- hooray for me!!!
The current landlord is crazy -- I'm talking to a lawyer this afternoon about the 5-day pay-or-vacate I received yesterday attached to all of the bills she hasn't sent me. I really don't want to move twice in 3 weeks.
"Team America World Police" is a deeply disturbing film.
Beyond Bread had yummy soup yesterday.
One job wasn't enough so i interviewed today for a gig teaching philosophy to brain damaged college students. literally --- they're called "special learners." I'll know if I get it by the 17th.
Tonight is the Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament @ plush.
Tomorrow is folksinger's show @ the wench
Friday we're supposed to go line dancing
Saturday is the street fair and michelle's birthday and I've agreed to sing a neil diamond duet at carry-okey.
something's going on on sunday, but I don't remember what.
mom's on her way to FL on friday -- yaaaaaaaay!
the audit starts on monday.
I talked to boy #1 for almost an hour last night. I'll be visiting him in January. hmmmm.
I've had a headache and absurdly tense muscles for 3 days now.
I need smooches and backrubs and snuggling and compliments.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
weekend update
45,000 year old bat poop
brown furry 80,000 year old ground sloths
cave bacon
wine tasting in the rain (!) in Arizona (!)
thai food
relatively witty gender performance
surreptitious hand-holding
intelligent conversation
making new friends
not getting a speeding ticket
rescuing an unpotted cyclamen from the top of the ATM
delivering said cyclamen to a good home
fair trade coffee
attempting to find a sweater
being offended by the racist t-shirt store
being incensed by the cat woman
hot apple cider and quiche
kindness
the doberman at the candle store
a non-crackling fire
artichokes
an absurdly large pot of chili
grilled cheese sandwiches
silly romantic comedies
red stripe beer
the jukebox at the surly wench
launching the cue ball all the way over the table and halfway across the bar
good advice
the bbc world service on dark rainy nights
snuggly down comforters
it was a good weekend.
brown furry 80,000 year old ground sloths
cave bacon
wine tasting in the rain (!) in Arizona (!)
thai food
relatively witty gender performance
surreptitious hand-holding
intelligent conversation
making new friends
not getting a speeding ticket
rescuing an unpotted cyclamen from the top of the ATM
delivering said cyclamen to a good home
fair trade coffee
attempting to find a sweater
being offended by the racist t-shirt store
being incensed by the cat woman
hot apple cider and quiche
kindness
the doberman at the candle store
a non-crackling fire
artichokes
an absurdly large pot of chili
grilled cheese sandwiches
silly romantic comedies
red stripe beer
the jukebox at the surly wench
launching the cue ball all the way over the table and halfway across the bar
good advice
the bbc world service on dark rainy nights
snuggly down comforters
it was a good weekend.
eudaemonia?
From yesterday's seattle times...
I'm fascinated.
Kay McFadden / Times staff columnist
New Science study reveals television makes us happy
Happiness has many definitions. But I'm able to clutch at only one that encompasses both television ratings and personal pleasure.
"Grief can take care of itself," said Mark Twain. "But to get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with."
Twain never got to address the electronic hearth. Yet his aphorism perfectly suits watching TV. It is an activity shared by millions, perpetuated by popularity and endorsed by Science.
I mean, really endorsed by Science. Friday, the journal of that name published a study confirming what Nielsen already knows: Time in front of the telly is tops for gratification.
In a survey of 909 working women asked to reconstruct their feelings in daily diary form, watching television came out ahead of shopping, talking on the phone, cooking, taking care of children, housework (duh) and dealing with the boss (double-duh).
The study didn't include men. However, I'll risk it and suggest they, too, extract more bliss from "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan shedding her towel on "Monday Night Football" than from the boss shredding a report Monday morning.
Science didn't say exactly what on TV provided the most fun.
For that, we turn to Nielsen Media Research and its season-to-date tally of winners and losers: a statistical compendium of grief and joy that ropes in every great definer of happiness from Bette Davis to the Talmud.
Ratings: The winners
The procedurals. "Happiness is not a destination. It is a manner of traveling."
Popular "CSI: New York," starring Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes, examines both the human body and human experience.
No, Gil Grissom didn't say that; it was Haim Ginott. But from "CSI" (No. 1) to "CSI: Miami" (No. 3) to "CSI: New York" (No. 12), viewers couldn't get enough of gritty trips down artery avenue, laboratory lane and bullet-path boulevard.
Besides forensics, the best of this breed offers excursions through the human experience, adeptly mixing harsh reality and compassion. I'm thinking of the plushy lifestyle episode in "CSI," and of "Without A Trace" (No. 4), which had a shattering story about an adolescent boy driven to despair by vicious peers.
In procedurals — including "ER" (No. 6) — the journey subsumes the outcome, and the outcome isn't triumphal. The old problem-solving swagger has been replaced by a subdued, reflective demeanor, one epitomized by the heroine of "Cold Case" (No. 11).
The suburban situation. "You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation."
"Desperate Housewives," with Teri Hatcher, left, and Nicollette Sheridan, has shot to No. 2 in the ratings.
Thoreau, T.S. Eliot, Tolstoy — everyone has opinions about the futility of domestic contentment and white picket fences. But for "Desperate Housewives" (No. 2) and similar hits of the fall season, I think Bette Davis got it right.
From the chicanery and sexual shenanigans of Wisteria Lane to the suppressed rage and thwarted longings of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (No. 7) and "Two and a Half Men" (No. 9), the method of coping is plain.
Trapped animals change expectations by chewing off their legs. Humans? We watch comedy — the darker, the better.
Shows that test us. The Tao Te Ching says: "He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."
"Survivor: Vanuatu" is one of the few reality shows still working.
Cutting across the usual categories, several hits this season have the common denominators of emphasizing savvy while supplying challenges.
The action-fantasy "Lost" (No. 9, a tie with "Two and a Half Men") tantalizingly blends the potential for self-reinvention with the surprises of a strange world. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (No. 16) inverts the formula, creating a safe cocoon that the occupants must emotionally furnish.
Despite the waning appeal of reality shows (see Losers), "Survivor: Vanuatu" (No. 5) and "The Apprentice 2" (No. 14) still stimulate. Predicated as they are on strategy, knowledge of oneself and others remains key to success.
Bob Dylan was to appear on last night's episode of the venerable news magazine "60 Minutes."
Finally, "60 Minutes" (No. 13) represents the ultimate assertion of knowledge in the face of chaos. The Sunday show's long record of integrity and audacity remains unaffected by the Wednesday night edition's "Memogate" stumble.
Ratings: The losers
Biology implies that diversity is a good thing. Television teaches us just the opposite.
While it's easy to spot shared traits among hits — e.g., cop shows — failures come from every genre of entertainment. They sink on their own, highly individualized lack of merit.
Consequently, Darwinian trend-spotting doesn't apply here. The best we can do is note the season's highest-profile flops and proffer a little advice from the sages of happiness.
NBC. "Money can't buy happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery" — Spike Milligan.
NBC could use someone like Milligan, co-founder of the marvelously quirky and seminal BBC Radio program "The Goon Show." But that would require an adventurous mindset that is very different from the current thinking.
"Father of the Pride" had its tail between its legs after the show was canceled in its first season.
Despite the departure of "Friends," the loss of Thursday nights to CBS and the awful (canceled) freshman shows "Father of the Pride," "LAX" and "Hawaii," the Peacock remains quite profitable. "Friends" was an expensive show compared with "Joey"; low-brow reality like "The Biggest Loser" and "Fear Factor" are cheaper than scripted series.
But making money and making good TV need not be mutually exclusive, as our Winners list demonstrates. Further down the road, the lack of decent NBC shows for syndication also is going to hurt the bottom line.
The WB. "To be truly happy and content, you must let go of what it means to be happy and content."
Confucius adds: Enough with the one-hour teenage turmoil, already. The formula that worked for so well and so long needs to be expanded, altered, replaced — and not by suddenly pursuing an entirely different demographic via "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show."
It's hard to believe that women between ages 18 and 34 don't like comedy. We suggest The WB find one, just to test it out.
Fox. "Happiness is something you get as a by-product in the process of making something else" — Aldous Huxley.
Obnoxious doesn't begin to describe the Fox reality series "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss."
For several years, Fox has suffered from a split personality: On the one hand, inventive new series like "Arrested Development" and "24." On the other, terrible reality shows like "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" and rote, sub-par sitcoms such as "Method & Red."
Recently, we fear a turn to the dark side. Expensive, clever series like "Wonderfalls" are put in bad scheduling slots or just not given enough time to thrive. More is being done on the cheap.
Please, Fox, return to valuing the creative process that gave us your once-great, now-aging Sunday night lineup. The advertising corollary to Huxley's quote is you have to spend money to make it.
I'm fascinated.
Kay McFadden / Times staff columnist
New Science study reveals television makes us happy
Happiness has many definitions. But I'm able to clutch at only one that encompasses both television ratings and personal pleasure.
"Grief can take care of itself," said Mark Twain. "But to get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with."
Twain never got to address the electronic hearth. Yet his aphorism perfectly suits watching TV. It is an activity shared by millions, perpetuated by popularity and endorsed by Science.
I mean, really endorsed by Science. Friday, the journal of that name published a study confirming what Nielsen already knows: Time in front of the telly is tops for gratification.
In a survey of 909 working women asked to reconstruct their feelings in daily diary form, watching television came out ahead of shopping, talking on the phone, cooking, taking care of children, housework (duh) and dealing with the boss (double-duh).
The study didn't include men. However, I'll risk it and suggest they, too, extract more bliss from "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan shedding her towel on "Monday Night Football" than from the boss shredding a report Monday morning.
Science didn't say exactly what on TV provided the most fun.
For that, we turn to Nielsen Media Research and its season-to-date tally of winners and losers: a statistical compendium of grief and joy that ropes in every great definer of happiness from Bette Davis to the Talmud.
Ratings: The winners
The procedurals. "Happiness is not a destination. It is a manner of traveling."
Popular "CSI: New York," starring Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes, examines both the human body and human experience.
No, Gil Grissom didn't say that; it was Haim Ginott. But from "CSI" (No. 1) to "CSI: Miami" (No. 3) to "CSI: New York" (No. 12), viewers couldn't get enough of gritty trips down artery avenue, laboratory lane and bullet-path boulevard.
Besides forensics, the best of this breed offers excursions through the human experience, adeptly mixing harsh reality and compassion. I'm thinking of the plushy lifestyle episode in "CSI," and of "Without A Trace" (No. 4), which had a shattering story about an adolescent boy driven to despair by vicious peers.
In procedurals — including "ER" (No. 6) — the journey subsumes the outcome, and the outcome isn't triumphal. The old problem-solving swagger has been replaced by a subdued, reflective demeanor, one epitomized by the heroine of "Cold Case" (No. 11).
The suburban situation. "You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation."
"Desperate Housewives," with Teri Hatcher, left, and Nicollette Sheridan, has shot to No. 2 in the ratings.
Thoreau, T.S. Eliot, Tolstoy — everyone has opinions about the futility of domestic contentment and white picket fences. But for "Desperate Housewives" (No. 2) and similar hits of the fall season, I think Bette Davis got it right.
From the chicanery and sexual shenanigans of Wisteria Lane to the suppressed rage and thwarted longings of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (No. 7) and "Two and a Half Men" (No. 9), the method of coping is plain.
Trapped animals change expectations by chewing off their legs. Humans? We watch comedy — the darker, the better.
Shows that test us. The Tao Te Ching says: "He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."
"Survivor: Vanuatu" is one of the few reality shows still working.
Cutting across the usual categories, several hits this season have the common denominators of emphasizing savvy while supplying challenges.
The action-fantasy "Lost" (No. 9, a tie with "Two and a Half Men") tantalizingly blends the potential for self-reinvention with the surprises of a strange world. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (No. 16) inverts the formula, creating a safe cocoon that the occupants must emotionally furnish.
Despite the waning appeal of reality shows (see Losers), "Survivor: Vanuatu" (No. 5) and "The Apprentice 2" (No. 14) still stimulate. Predicated as they are on strategy, knowledge of oneself and others remains key to success.
Bob Dylan was to appear on last night's episode of the venerable news magazine "60 Minutes."
Finally, "60 Minutes" (No. 13) represents the ultimate assertion of knowledge in the face of chaos. The Sunday show's long record of integrity and audacity remains unaffected by the Wednesday night edition's "Memogate" stumble.
Ratings: The losers
Biology implies that diversity is a good thing. Television teaches us just the opposite.
While it's easy to spot shared traits among hits — e.g., cop shows — failures come from every genre of entertainment. They sink on their own, highly individualized lack of merit.
Consequently, Darwinian trend-spotting doesn't apply here. The best we can do is note the season's highest-profile flops and proffer a little advice from the sages of happiness.
NBC. "Money can't buy happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery" — Spike Milligan.
NBC could use someone like Milligan, co-founder of the marvelously quirky and seminal BBC Radio program "The Goon Show." But that would require an adventurous mindset that is very different from the current thinking.
"Father of the Pride" had its tail between its legs after the show was canceled in its first season.
Despite the departure of "Friends," the loss of Thursday nights to CBS and the awful (canceled) freshman shows "Father of the Pride," "LAX" and "Hawaii," the Peacock remains quite profitable. "Friends" was an expensive show compared with "Joey"; low-brow reality like "The Biggest Loser" and "Fear Factor" are cheaper than scripted series.
But making money and making good TV need not be mutually exclusive, as our Winners list demonstrates. Further down the road, the lack of decent NBC shows for syndication also is going to hurt the bottom line.
The WB. "To be truly happy and content, you must let go of what it means to be happy and content."
Confucius adds: Enough with the one-hour teenage turmoil, already. The formula that worked for so well and so long needs to be expanded, altered, replaced — and not by suddenly pursuing an entirely different demographic via "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show."
It's hard to believe that women between ages 18 and 34 don't like comedy. We suggest The WB find one, just to test it out.
Fox. "Happiness is something you get as a by-product in the process of making something else" — Aldous Huxley.
Obnoxious doesn't begin to describe the Fox reality series "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss."
For several years, Fox has suffered from a split personality: On the one hand, inventive new series like "Arrested Development" and "24." On the other, terrible reality shows like "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" and rote, sub-par sitcoms such as "Method & Red."
Recently, we fear a turn to the dark side. Expensive, clever series like "Wonderfalls" are put in bad scheduling slots or just not given enough time to thrive. More is being done on the cheap.
Please, Fox, return to valuing the creative process that gave us your once-great, now-aging Sunday night lineup. The advertising corollary to Huxley's quote is you have to spend money to make it.
Friday, December 03, 2004
brown paper packages tied up with string...
these are a few of my favorite things...
www.bethscafe.com www.kxci.com www.lunarama.net www.despair.com www.thinkgeek.com www.safehouse.com www.saturncafe.com www.fda.gov/medwatch www.speakeasy.net http://bertc.com/jeanpaul.htm http://tdotmaps.transview.org/MGReports/dnr/mapguide_mwf_neighborhoods.cfm?Selobjs=Neighborhoods,0&Lat=32.151849&Lon=-110.880478&Scale=350000&ext=.mwf
more to follow
www.bethscafe.com www.kxci.com www.lunarama.net www.despair.com www.thinkgeek.com www.safehouse.com www.saturncafe.com www.fda.gov/medwatch www.speakeasy.net http://bertc.com/jeanpaul.htm http://tdotmaps.transview.org/MGReports/dnr/mapguide_mwf_neighborhoods.cfm?Selobjs=Neighborhoods,0&Lat=32.151849&Lon=-110.880478&Scale=350000&ext=.mwf
more to follow
Barrio Cuteness
The low-down from the potential landlord:
It's at XXXX S. Rubio ave which is a residential alleyway between Xth and Xth ave's just south of XXth street. The space is quaint - well kept, has a lot of charm and character and some funk. It's about 1000 square feet. The master bedroom is about 12 feet wide and 20 or 22 feet long with great beams and two closets with 2 windows. The living/kitchen is on the smaller side but it's very comfortable and really open for entertaining it has western exposure and it's very bright. Ceilings are slightly vaulted, there are nice and simple white fans in each room. The patios are great too. I lived in this house for five years and remodelled it myself over time.
I think it's perfect.
When I got to work this morning, there was a packet of allergy drugs and the letter "E" on my desk. It's almost like I'm living in Sesame Street.
It's at XXXX S. Rubio ave which is a residential alleyway between Xth and Xth ave's just south of XXth street. The space is quaint - well kept, has a lot of charm and character and some funk. It's about 1000 square feet. The master bedroom is about 12 feet wide and 20 or 22 feet long with great beams and two closets with 2 windows. The living/kitchen is on the smaller side but it's very comfortable and really open for entertaining it has western exposure and it's very bright. Ceilings are slightly vaulted, there are nice and simple white fans in each room. The patios are great too. I lived in this house for five years and remodelled it myself over time.
I think it's perfect.
When I got to work this morning, there was a packet of allergy drugs and the letter "E" on my desk. It's almost like I'm living in Sesame Street.
trevor-sized house
yay for a potential trevor-sized house with an electric blue door and a crazy bluegrass-playing man who lives in a trailer in the alley and next-door beagles and a tortilla factory right down the street and tile floors and high-high ceilings and a fence that goes all the way around... I sure do like it. It's even better that I found it on craigslist...
Genevieve's gonna be in the "rock is dead -- long live paper and scissors" tournament on wednesday. I think that's neat.
Genevieve's gonna be in the "rock is dead -- long live paper and scissors" tournament on wednesday. I think that's neat.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
QA
my co-workers are going to the dollar store on the clock to get a "cute candy dish" for christmas decorating... after they've spent an hour stringing lights and hanging fake garland.
I'm sitting in my cube wrapped in a blanket surreptitiously blogging and reviewing study protocols.
what's wrong with this picture?
I'm sitting in my cube wrapped in a blanket surreptitiously blogging and reviewing study protocols.
what's wrong with this picture?
decisions
I've decided to date my dog. it's a non-monogamous relationship, so we're both free to see other people (a good thing, seeing as I'm not so in to the bestiality) and we've agreed to open communication about what we're looking for. Girls (and boys and bois and boyz and gurls and grrrls) are dumb.
I'm the only one in the back half of my office who has done anything this morning. everyone else is talking about christmas vacation and hanging decorations on their cubes with paperclips. ::sigh::
I'm the only one in the back half of my office who has done anything this morning. everyone else is talking about christmas vacation and hanging decorations on their cubes with paperclips. ::sigh::
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
power suits and hot tea
I can't decide if I have a crunchy outer shell today or if I'm nougat.
do you ever have days like that?
do you ever have days like that?
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