Deconstructing rock’n'roll love June 28, 2007 ~ 9:32 am
Posted by Julie in : Random Insanity, Shorty , comments closedWhen I was in college, I thought “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton was the most romantic song ever. It’s on the radio right now, and what I apparently didn’t take into account? Is that the romantic effusion of the song comes from Eric being drunk. At the end of the song he’s got a hangover and his woman puts him to bed and he tells her how wonderful she was.
So basically the song is the three phases of male drunkenness: buzzed (”Yeah, honey, you look wonderful! Let’s have sex!”), drunk (”Baby, everyone looks wonderful through my beer goggles! But you’d get pissed if I hit on them, so let’s have sex!”), and “I’m gonna puke, can I puke in your purse?” (”You are the best girlfriend in the world. I luuuuuuuurve you. Yerrrr wonderfulllll. Let’s have sex!” *passes out*)
Not so romantic when you look at it that way, huh?
WWF Smackdown June 26, 2007 ~ 9:34 pm
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closedI vacuumed my apartment tonight for…well, for the first time in way too long. There were crunchy things on the carpet and I’m still not sure if they were (a) kitty litter tracked in from the bathroom, (b) cat kibble crumbs, or (c) none of the above. I’m hoping it wasn’t c, because I walk around here barefoot. Ew.
And less than fifteen minutes after I had finished vacuuming and even sweeping and mopping (kitchen and bathroom don’t have carpet but were just as filthy), the sounds of Kitty Armageddon float over to me from the living room. There are fur tumbleweeds on my freshly vacuumed rug, floating in the breeze from the a/c. Fucking cats. Why do I even try? Oh yeah, because I couldn’t deal with UCC - Unidentified Carpet Crunchies.
Gettysburg June 26, 2007 ~ 11:53 am
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz, Fambly, photo safari , comments closedIt’s been a good long time since we had a picture post, so what the hell, right? My uncle Norm has been shooting pictures for as long as I can remember, so it was very cool to be able to discuss shots with him this weekend. (more…)
Birthday June 25, 2007 ~ 1:08 pm
Posted by Julie in : Fambly , comments closedMom’s birthday weekend is over, and I think it was a pretty good one, if I do say so myself. I gave her presents, I took her out to dinner, I fixed her TiVo, and I set up her new cell phone. In return, she flew me home and back, took me to see a show at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, took me to Gettysburg to see my uncle Norm, and took me to Red Lobster. A good weekend all around, especially the part where we got to see Norm - I haven’t seen him in at least 6 years, possibly as many as 8. We had a great time reconnecting over our mutual love of history, photography, and beer. I blame him for my interest in the first two of those three, the third is Rick’s fault and just turned out to be a bonus.
Pictures were taken, but since I am definitely my uncle’s niece, I completely forgot to get a picture of the three of us (he is legendary for not taking pictures of people - he took about 15 rolls of film during our trip to London in 1989, and exactly one picture out of those 15 was a picture of me because my mother insisted on it). Pictures should be up on Flickr tonight if I can get my shit together.
Now to get back into the work groove. For the next three hours.
Ahead of the game June 21, 2007 ~ 11:14 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Random Insanity , comments closedIt’s five past midnight, and I am packed for the weekend except for my backpack, which should be known as “The Bag of Stuff to Keep Julie Busy.”
Once upon a time, I used to take cross stitch with me to the airport because it was guaranteed to keep me occupied. Making stitches, marking off the completed rows, that was time consuming and good. Then 9/11 happened and I really don’t think they want people with needles coming on board. Although maybe they don’t care, since I take my darning needles with me all the time for knitting. Hmmm. But, since I don’t know the regulations on embroidery and I do on knitting, knitting will go with me. But which knitting? There’s Samang’s sweater. Or the pair of socks I’m making for Lori’s *ahem* birthday. Which is Sunday. Which I haven’t started. Which she specifically requested, but which call for size 2 needles which are currently occupied. Or there is something else, something which will be made of Sea Silk if only I could decide which pattern to use. That’s what’s calling me the most strongly, but that would involve making the Sea Silk into a ball and actually deciding which pattern to use. There’s a pattern written specifically for Sea Silk in the Summer Interweave Knits, but I don’t know how I feel about it. Or there are the Elizabeth I scarves from Knitpicks. Or a swallowtail shawl, but that will probably involve more fiddling than I want to put into it. Hey, I guess I’m doing one of those Elizabeth I scarves when I look at it that way!
Also going into the backpack: the camera, so I can document the fact that I am seeing my uncle for the first time in oh, years. A book to read. Don’t know which one yet. The iPod, and the iPod car adapter for the long trip we’re taking on Saturday.
Can that be all? I mean, I am only going for two and a half days, but we all know how much time I will end up spending in JFK tomorrow because of my abnormal fixation with getting there long before departure time. I will probably play with everything in the backpack at least three times before my flight boards, especially if we take subway travel time to JFK into account.
Makes me miss the days when I could take cross stitch with me.
It’s a miracle! June 20, 2007 ~ 12:19 pm
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz , comments closedI am flying to Pittsburgh on Friday for my mom’s birthday. I will not say which birthday it is for fear of being beaten when I get off the plane, but suffice it to say that it is one of those birthdays that Hallmark has designated a “milestone.” Since I will be 30 in September, you all can do some math and decide which milestone year it is.
Related to the flying part of that paragraph, but not necessarily the birthday part, my right ear has been clogged with wax. Again. And I didn’t really want to go to the doctor’s to get said wax removed.  Again. But I have a history of my ears not popping on ascent and descent like they are supposed to, which is roughly akin to being stabbed in the ear with an icepick. Repeatedly. So something had to be done.
Peeps, last night I used Debrox drops in the manner in which they are supposed to be used. Not the hopeful “put some drops in the ear, lay down, and hope the wax miraculously dissolves” way that I have used in the past, but the “put the drops in the ear, lay down, and then go flush the hell out of that waxy ear with the ear syringe” method that was recommended to me by our own ESC. I told her that I hadn’t had luck with this method in the past, but she was convinced that if I really squirted the water into my ear “hard,” it would work. Don’t argue with a scientist, folks, she was right.
After two cycles of Debrox drops, so much ear flushing I was beginning to feel attached to the bathroom sink, and about a half hour, I could hear again. And now for the gross detail: there was enough wax floating around in the sink to start a candle. Seriously, it was the size of a kidney bean, maybe two kidney beans. No fucking wonder I couldn’t hear out of that ear! Since then, it has been like a little tiny eargasm. I can hear! I can answer the phone with my right ear! If I sleep on my left side, I can still hear the alarm clock go off! It’s a miracle!
Now let’s see if the ear flush and the meds for the sinus infection make the plane trip bearable. I’m going to go stock up on some gum and Earplanes just in case.
Quickie June 20, 2007 ~ 10:53 am
Posted by Julie in : Shorty , comments closed“Bohemian Rhapsody” was just on the radio. That song still makes me very happy every time I hear it.
Pleh. June 19, 2007 ~ 12:05 pm
Posted by Julie in : Random Insanity , comments closedI am back to work. I am not happy about it. Why can’t we all just have everything we need without having to work? I guess what I’m saying is “Why can’t we all just be independently wealthy and have everything in the world run by magical gnomes who like to work?”
Things that I would rather be doing besides working, in no particular order: beading, spinning, knitting, holding Samang, hanging out in the park with J and Thabs, sleeping late with Rick, playing fetch with Freddie, watching TiVo, reading a good book, cuddling with Joe…the list just goes on and on. And I managed to do all of it on my four day weekend. Now I just need to figure out how to have a never-ending weekend, I guess.
Four day weekends rock June 15, 2007 ~ 11:38 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedIt’s the start of my four day weekend, and boy do I have plans. Which means that at least half of them will fall through. But until they do, here’s what I’ve got going on.
Today: Massage at 2:30. I’ve been looking at massages too long as a “pampering” thing, when I really need to start seeing them as a medical thing. My neck and shoulders are bothering me, the TMJ is acting up again, and I think a massage can help with this. After the massage, I’ll be going to the local bead store and knitting store, both of which are within a mile of the massage place. I think that was good planning on their parts. This evening, I’ll take a 13 mile bike ride through the park.
Tomorrow: Ushering for an off-Broadway show with Eugene. He is cooking me lunch since the theater is near his house. I think that’s nice of him. Then after the theater, off to meet Jordana and Thabiso and Samang in the park for a late afternoon picnic. And to play with the remote controlled plane Thabs bought “for the baby.”
Sunday: Father’s Day. I had meant to go to the Youngest’s soccer game, but the sinus infection is coming back and I need to get it taken care of since I’m flying next Friday. So, 10:30 doctor’s appointment with Dr. Jed, then meeting up with Rick and the Youngest (the Oldest left for Spain with her high school glee club last night) to do whatever Rick wants for the rest of the day.
Monday: There is talk of a beach day. If not, it will be a “ride around the park, then come home and clean day.” Beach day is preferable, obviously, but the other one isn’t that bad, either.
For now, I have to find some food and get dressed so I can head out. I am *so* looking forward to this massage.
Bull’s-eye June 14, 2007 ~ 11:16 am
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closedLast night Freddie took cat ownership to all new highs. Or lows, whichever.
I had just made dinner and was dividing it between a plate to eat then and a Gladware container so I could have the rest later in the week for lunch or dinner. As I was scooping the potatoes O’Brien into the Gladware, Freddie started to hork. He was on the kitchen table as he does this. I have crap on the kitchen table which does not need to be horked on. I quickly put the pan of potatoes down and picked Freddie up to deposit him on the floor. He horked on the go, essentially projectile vomiting.
I dropped him on the floor and grabbed paper towels to clean up the mess that was left by raw food nuggets in reverse, but I was puzzled. There should have been more hork. More hork definitely left his mouth than what I was finding. Maybe I was wrong. I shrugged and tossed the paper towels in the trash, and went to finish scooping potatoes O’Brien out of the pan into the Gladware. And that’s when I realized that Freddie? Freddie’s got good aim. Because the missing hork had landed right in the pan. Good thing I had already gotten 90% of the potatoes out of the pan already.
If there’s one thing that could have improved the joy that is cat vomit, it was cat vomit target practice.
