June 2005 Archives

Looks like the way the Wimbledon semifinals are playing out mirrors how I was rooting for those playing.

Venus Williams beat Maria Sharapova pretty handily. I have no love for Maria Sharapova, and I wanted Venus to have some success of her own since Serena's been the top dog over the last couple of years and was already out of the tournament.

Lindsay Davenport's match against Amelie Mauresmo is postponed due to rain with Lindsay up 5-3 in the third set. I'd prefer Lindsay Davenport to win, her being American and all, but I'm an Amelie fan because she's family and all.

In any case, I want an American to win, but I wouldn't mind if Amelie Mauresmo did. Good show.

UPDATE: Play resumes and Lindsay wins! All-American ladies' final.

I marinated a couple steaks in balsamic vinegar (and some random herbs). Dude. Delicious. Three minutes on the Foreman Grill, and let it rest while the baked potato cooks in the microwave.

Yay, balsamic vinegar. :9

The last few weeks it's been in the 80s or 90s and pretty humid here in the TC. Last night we had a big storm front pass through, and today it's breezy and low 70s.

Fantastic.

I was disappointed I only needed to run two miles today. It was so nice out, I could have been out all morning.

• What songs are the epitome of a genre?
• small apartment ideas
• Attraction across races
• how to put together a kick-ass tool set
• I hate cooking--the entire experience. How do I overcome this?
• Keeping your apartment cool in the summer
• Do you think you are a smarter person than the average upper-middle class person of 300 years ago?
• Salary Negotiations: A How-To Guide for Beginners?
• I wish to have an Adventure. I'd like suggestions.
• gravel-sucking goldfish (urgent!)
• How do I handle a co-worker's body odor if I'm not her supervisor?
• Please help soothe my aching face (I don't know why discussions of shaving for guys fascinate me.)

So sayeth Sherri.

1. What is the best thing about being your age? I've lived enough to have really learned some of things that you can only learn by being slapped around by life. I finally feel like I've matured. (Of course, there's always more to learn and more maturing to be done.) (And I'm 27, for the record.)
2. What is the worst? I know enough to know that I don't know what I want to do with life, but I don't know what to do to fix that nor the confidence to say, "Fuck it all."
3. What do you think is the most undeserved stereotype about your gender? That we're weak, in a variety of ways.
4. Would you rather go a month without the internet or a year without your favorite food? Take the food. Internet? That is food.
5. What is the most embarrassing CD you own? Maybe some of the later Color Me Badd works (works; plural).
6. Do you sing in the shower while making shampoo mohawks? Sing, yes. Mohawks, no. I don't think my hair will mohawk in the shower. Maybe when it's dry, though....
7. What did you have for lunch today? Ham, egg, and cheese on a sesame seed bun with mustard.
8. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil? Pen.
9. Would you rather solve a crossword puzzle or a difficult riddle? Crossword. I loves the crossword.
10. Ask me a question (no, I'm not cheating, I just like to answer questions that I don't have to come up with). What's bothering you today?

For the last couple of weeks, WeatherPop, made by Glucose Software, has displayed N/A in my menubar. Today I tried to hit the developer's site, www.glu.com, and I find it's now "Glu Mobile (formerly Sorrent, Inc. and Macrospace Ltd.)."

So what the hell happened to Glucose? And why would WeatherPop just stop functioning? The last software update was at the end of April.

VersionTracker actually lists the company as "Glucose Development Corporation" and so far googling only turns up a bunch of sites referring to them, but not actually the company itself.

Guess now I'll have to find another weather doodad for my menubar.

Ilene Chaiken, The L Word producer, says no more Jenny flashbacks in Season 3.

Thank you, sweet Jesus.

(via AfterEllen)

Spurs over Pistons in 7. Dammit.

Ezra Klein did a series on the healthcare systems of various countries around the world and how they compare to ours. For folks like myself who prefer the Reader's Digest/Cliff's Notes versions of these sorts of things, this is a great read.

... somewhere he opens a window.

I was just looking to re-download Y!Status, which takes what I'm currently listening to in iTunes and puts it in my status message on Yahoo! Instant Messenger. Much like iChatStatus does for iChat. But the MacUpdate link was broken and all my googling led me to believe it was no longer supported or even available anywhere for download.

Then today, YahooTunes pops up on VersionTracker.

How 'bout that?

I consider it a success if I get to it within a week. From Sherri.

For the married folks:

1. How did you meet your spouse?
2. How long was it before you met each other's parents?
3. How did you get engaged?

For the folks in relationships:

1. How did you meet?
2. How long have you been together?
3. Do you still get butterflies?

For the single folks:

1. How long has it been since your last relationship? Four months. Four long months.
2. Are you actively dating/trying to date? No. And I never have. Which is probably why I don't date much. Or at all.
3. Do you have any friendships which are sometimes romantically confusing? Nope. Fortunately. I have enough problems as it is.

Game 7

Honestly, I was thinking Spurs in 6, but I'll take it.

The French Open bored me this year. I hope Wimbledon is better. This is my favorite of the four Grand Slams.

Given that this is a prim and proper tennis outing, could the ladies keep it down, please?

"Wimbledon" is one of those words that sounds sillier and sillier the more you say it. Wimbledon. Wimbledon. Sounds like a Harry Potter character.

I'm not much of a chocolate fan. And I like peanut butter even less.

But I loves the Reese's. LOVES THEM. Lurves them.

I rarely by myself candy. It's purely indulgence food. It doesn't last long. It's not filling. It doesn't give me a buzz. I'm too poor to be throwing away money on candy. That's my rationalization, anyway. I throw away money on plenty of things.

Point being, a guy I work with shared a little Reese's cup with me last week and I've been dying for some ever since. My first attempt at a purchase was thwarted by an obscene price tag and an unhelpful grocery store checker.

But yesterday... Success!

And now that the bag is open... Danger!

Mmm... Reese's.... :9

Tagged by Meredith.

Three Screen Names You Have Had

1. swirlspice
2. el[lastname]
3. some 7-digit string on compuserve

1. my highly tannable medium skin tone
2. the new muscles in my legs (not that you can see them, but I can feel them)
3. I can run five consecutive miles

1. my cheek mole
2. my monthly face breakout
3. the spot on my front tooth

1. black
2. german
3. a teeny drop of native american

1. confrontation
2. uncertainty
3. being vulnerable

1. internet access
2. chapstick
3. coffee

1. red t-shirt
2. khaki shorts
3. Supergirl undies (the blue ones, as opposed to the red ones)

1. Guster
2. Dave Matthews Band
3. Cher and Whitney dance remixes

1. That Was a Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R.
2. No Creo (the original) by Shakira
3. Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root

1. respect
2. comfort
3. hot sex

1. I purposely keep shoes on in the sun so as to gage the extent of my tan by the stripes on my feet.
2. I haven't shaven anything in a week.
3. I'm in the process of switching to decaf.

1. smile
2. boobs
3. legs (I've been on a kick lately, with the running)

1. blogging
2. homebrewing
3. running

1. skip out on work
2. I won't confess but it involves Fly Girl
3. have some more cheese

1. Seattle
2. some place in Central America (Belize? Guatemala? Costa Rica?)
3. some place in Eastern Europe (Turkey? Croatia?)

1. Jackson (for a boy)
2. Ryan (for a girl or a boy)
3. Leigh (for a girl)

1. visit each of the 6 non-Antartic continents
2. run my bed and breakfast
3. be in love

1. I shave regularly
2. I try to smell nice
3. I have long hair

1. Jennifer Beals (hoo, mama!)
2. Gillian Anderson (still loves the Scully)
3. Angelina Jolie (as long as she doesn't say weird shit)

1. Dawn
2. Malia
3. Anybody. Or nobody. Whichever.

How do you circumsize a whale?

Being told "you should be a blogger" is this decade's version of "you should be on the Real World" -- and for some mysterious reason, people think both are compliments.

Rex (of Fimoculous and MNSpeak) speaks with Slanderous Minneapolis.

Via Sherri. As usual. Since I'm working nights this week, and I went into work on Monday night, then technically it's still Monday for me. Although I started my work week on Sunday, so this is indeed Tuesday.... Anyway....

1. How often do you get your hair cut? About every two months.
2. How often do you purge your space (get rid of old clothing, throw away old papers, etc.)? Wishful thinking says about once a month.
3. At the beach, do you coat yourself with sunblock every 20 minutes, or do you soak up the sun? Soak it up, baby. Probably not the healthiest, but I don't sunburn very easily, so the lack of immediate discomfort does not deter me.
4. What's your favorite sexual position? *blush* I'm not answering that.
5. When is the last time you had ice cream? What flavor was it? About a month ago. Cookies 'n cream.
6. What is your dream job? Bed and Breakfast proprietress.
7. If forced to choose, would you rather give up sugar or salt for one year? Salt.
8. Do you filter your tap water before drinking it? Yeah, but only because there was already a Brita present when I moved in.
9. How old were you when you went on your first date? Twelve, I think.
10. Ask me a question. :-) Repeating questions from previous weeks is cheating, but I'll be nice and ask anyway. :P Since you're ready to leave New York City, where do you want to move to next?

I went to the St. Paul Saints game tonight, since it was Baseblog Night. Except that it was called on account of weather. Hail and tornado sirens and whatnot.

I didn't plan on it ahead of time, so I didn't get the free hat or meet up with any other bloggers. Since that's the whole point of going, I probably won't attend to the makeup game tomorrow. Guess I'll hang on to my $4 ticket for another day.

Via Tepper.

1. What is the nastiest thing you’ve ever eaten? Probably accidental consumption of some kind of bug.
2. What is one food that you ate when a kid that you absolutely refuse to now, since you’re on your own and don’t have to? Meatloaf.
3. Have you ever eaten an endangered critter? If not, what was the best thing you’ve ever eaten? No, I have not. My most memorably delicious meals seem to all involve prime rib.
4. What food can you never get enough of? I can actually get sick of McDonald's fries, though it takes a lot of fries to put me off them. So I'll say cheddar cheese.
5. Have you ever eaten any critter’s testicles? Uh, no.
6. Who is the better cook, your significant other or your mom? Since I don't have a significant other, my mom wins by default.

So, the race went really well.

I have no idea how these things are organized or how busy it was gonna be, so I went pretty early. I got to the Midway Pavilion at Como Park at about 8:30. The 5K didn't start until 10:00. I peed a few times. I normally have a cup of coffee, a Slim-Fast, and sometimes a banana before I run. I had all those plus a whole lotta water. I didn't want to eat too much, but I didn't want to get hungry, either.

The race route went (in no particular order, I don't know the park that well) around Como Lake, past the Pavilion, past the falls, and hopped back and forth between the bike and foot path. There were volunteers along the route pointing the way and cheering us on. It was entertaining and very sweet, as the volunteers are all the people with disabilities that we are racing to support. One guy very loudly and repeatedly instructed us to veer to the right, as we followed the path to our left.

This wasn't that big of a race, so we didn't have the shoe chips or anything. And we didn't start from the start/finish line, so I couldn't see the clock at the beginning. But there weren't that many people running, maybe about 50. So I was right near the front when the horn went off.

My goal was 30 minutes. As I neared the finish line, I could have sworn I was reading "35" but as I got closer, I saw that the 3 was actually a 2. My official time: 27:18.

I'm so fucking proud of myself, you don't even know. I have been grinning all morning.

I didn't wear my watch, which I think was smart. I couldn't fixate on how long it had been or how long I had to go. I spent a lot of time telling myself, "Quit doggin' it!" and "Trust in your training." The presence of other people and the adrenaline of the event definitely pushed me to go a little faster than usual. I didn't think I went that much faster, though. I was certainly more tired than I've been at the end of most of my runs thus far. But I'm fine now. Just a little salty. I should probably shower.

There are photos, if you're interested.

Part of the reason I'm stressed about not sleeping is that I'm running my first race tomorrow morning. So in between all this extra working, I get to get up early and go run. Ordinarily, I'd just get up late and go run.

I'm participating in A Walk on the Wild Side. It's sponsored by Dakota Communities, which serves people with disabilities in Dakota County. I'm not attached to this charity for any reason. I don't even live near Dakota County. They just happened to have the first race that I felt ready for. Won't kill me to hand them my $20 donation.

It's at Como Park in St. Paul. The 5K starts at 10:00 from the Midway Pavilion. I'm stressed about being tired, but aside from that I'm really excited for it. Even if it doesn't look like it right now. *yawn*

I don't know if I'm more irritated by the people that have irritated me, or by the fact that my irritation is keeping me awake. It's the ungodly hour of almost-5-a.m. and I am lying in bed thinking about my got-damn co-workers.

To spare you all the bitching and moaning, I'll just say that yesterday was one of those days where it's like I'm the only person on the planet that is paying any fucking attention to what is going on. I always follow these bouts by asking myself why I even care. Why am I letting this stress me out? I get paid the same either way. There's no incentive for me, (personally, or for us, as a team) to do better, other than personal motivation to be good at what I do. So it'd probably be better on my blood pressure for me to not give a shit, but I can't help it. I do. Other people's fuck-ups do not necessarily have to create more work for me, but if I let things slide that creates more work for others, and that makes me feel bad.

Add to that, African Lover Man, whom I have officially filed a complaint against due to the sexual nature of his comments and behavior, made another thinking-with-the-other-head remark which may have been skeevy but innocuous coming from someone I didn't have a history of problems with. He's crossed the threshold into Can Do No Right territory, so that got my dander up and I was also mad at myself for being caught so off guard that I didn't say anything to him at the time.

On top of all that, I volunteered to work nights for the next week (I currently work afternoons, if you'll recall), and it's my turn to put in overtime this weekend, and that's not too big a deal except that it amounts to working 12 straight days and I'm tired just thinking about it.

So, since dawn is here, that means the lakes are open, and it's my day to cross-train. I'm gonna go do a couple laps on rollerblades around Lake Calhoun. Hopefully tiring out my body will override my mind and I'll be able to get a good nap in before I go back to work this afternoon.

I know it's ultimately my own damn fault, but you could have prevented it and I really think you ought to apologize and express at least a modicum of remorse instead of chuckling and saying, "That sucks."

I'm still angry, but I'm also too lazy/procrastinatory to deal with you right now.

I wish I wasn't so damn poor. I feel like I owe you things that I'd love to share/provide, but I just can't, and most of the time I end up taking from you and can't even provide for myself. I tell myself it's because the experience of spending time with you is worth it, and it is for me. But I worry that it's not for you and a lot of the time I just feel really guilty about it.

You're the coolest. I wish we could hang out more, but I feel like I'm never available and you always have things going on already.

You are the kind of person that makes me feel better about myself.

You disgust me.

I wish you weren't so damn sloppy. Really, clean it up a little.

I think about you all the time.

Don't mind me. I seem to be awfully emotional today.

Rent comes to theaters on November 11. The official site now has the trailer available for viewing. Also, (surprise) there's a blog.

Is it too early to bust out the soundtrack? Probably.

(via AfterEllen)

Michigan softball wins the Women's College World Series.

The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan softball team defeated two-time defending champion No. 7 seed UCLA 4-1 in 10 innings to claim the teams' first-ever national championship tonight (Wednesday, June 8) in front of a national television audience on ESPN. The Wolverines (65-7) claimed the 52nd national championship in school history and the second for a women's program when WCWS MVP Samantha Findlay connected for a dramatic three-run home run in the top of the 10th to break a 1-1 tie.

I wish I had known it was on (and had cable, and hadn't been working). I'm also trying to figure out what was the other women's national championship. (Field hockey in 2001.)

Go Blue!

I was just gonna toss this one in the linklog, but I may need to solicit assistance. And now, let's plaaaay The Feud the Retail Alphabet Game!

[Y]ou will be presented with 26 alphabet letterforms, extracted from product and corporate logos within the United States. Your job is to figure out the source of each.

This is the 4th edition. You can check your guesses at the website and try your hand at previous editions as well. So far I have D, H, J, N, Q, R, T, U, V, X, Y, and Z. I think. S and M (heh) are pissing me off. I can see it, but... ARGH!

(via kelley, via Michael)

I have confidence in the Pistons. They perform best under pressure and desperation. Most of the experts seem to agree.

Game starts in an hour....

UPDATE: YES!!! I was right! I was ri-ight!

Via Sherri.

1. What is your favorite street/fair/festival food? Elephant ears.
2. Have you ever gone to a single-food-specific event (such as a tomato festival or a pumpkin festival)? Not that I recall.
3. What was the highlight of your weekend? Went to a wedding and there were more college friends than was I expecting. There were a lot of us there, which was cool.
4. What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you recently? When I locked myself out of the house and slept in the car.
5. You have 3 weeks to travel cross-country. Where do you go and how do you get there? I'd probably take I-35 south to I-80 and go west to San Francisco, roughly. That way I can say I've been to Iowa and Nebraska (not that I particularly want to, but I might as well cross them off the list). And then I can also see Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, which I have not seen.
6. Which PEANUTS character are you most like? Peppermint Patty.
7. Would you rather have poison ivy or a blistery sunburn? Oh my. Poison ivy, I guess.
8. When you travel, are you a light packer or do you take everything but the kitchen sink? I'm a light-ish packer.
9. Are you planning to attend any concerts this summer? Which ones? Not planning on any.
10. Ask me a question. :-) How's that running coming?

If you can name just one. Or even just a few. I'm out of town for the weekend. You've got a couple days to think on it.

UPDATE: It's only fair I should list my own. But that's really hard to do. I'll say "Send Me on My Way" by Rusted Root, "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band, and "Demons" by Guster.

Today was a trying day at work. Even more so because last week was a trying week, and today was supposed to bring some relief.

At the end of the day, The Professor came up to me and remarked that he was impressed that I kept my cool all night. I replied with something about how things were so ridiculous, I had low expectations so I didn't feel too badly that we didn't get much done.

But then I thought about it some more. I had to go back and ask him. Does the fact that I kept my cool imply that I usually don't? He said that that was not the case, but I think he was just being nice.

The storminess between my ears doesn't always come spewing out, but I do get crabby. Today I was making up fights in my head with people before I even saw them, much less had a reason to argue with them. I have been known to throw something. When I'm the most irritated, I mumble to myself. LIke, with lips moving, so people wonder who I'm talking to. Usually when that happens, I'm mentally telling someone off.

Tomorrow has got to be better.