Asking: Why oh why am I going to New Orleans on THE WEEKEND THAT RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE AND JUST ABOUT EVERYONE I'VE EVER WANTED TO SEE IS PLAYING???? Can't they play another weekend?
Additional Information:
Talent lineup includes (subject to change): Rage Against The Machine, The Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, The Roots, Mos Def, EPMD, Pharoahe Monch, FELT *, Sage Francis, Immortal Technique, Living Legends*, Murs*, Jedi Mind Tricks, Brother Ali*, Cage*, Mr. Lif*, Grouch & Eligh*, Hangar 18*, Blueprint* and Lucky I AM*, + guests Public Enemy. DJs incl Mike Realm, C-Minus, Icy Ice and Rocky Rock. The festival will be hosted by Supernatural, Rahzel and Hi-Tek.
Do you think they will add shows? I doubt it. I'm almost in tears.
Planning: The trip to Tennessee. I booked a lovely little Inn on the border of Virginia for the way down, and I'm trying to find something in Gettysburg for the way back. The way back up is a little bit difficult because, hey, it's July 4 weekend. When I'm in TN, I will go to Dollywood.
Blooming: A rose! I'm so excited. I brought these little babies back from the dead (they were less expensive that way) and they are doing well. If it weren't for the Japanese Beetles, they would be doing a lot better. Also, there is one tiger lily blooming. And the peonies are still blooming.
Eating: Tonight I will partake in pizza from my favorite pizza place -- Three Brothers. It's on par with New Haven pizza, which is a difficult thing to accomplish.

Guess what I'm eating?

STEPHEN COLBERT'S AMERICONE DREAM.

I finally found it last night at the Shoprite by the gym. I had been trying the Shoprite by the video store (whenever I went to rent or return LOST -- which as you may have guessed was a lot) but found only the label with Vermonty Python in its place.

Anyway, last night I finally had a bowl. It was everything I could have hoped for.

Watching: OK, so we are still on a LOST kick. That will end soon though...as we are ready for the 6th disc in the second season.
Reading: Yesterday I was rereading the dis Chapter 1. Today I will be rereading Chapter 2. If I have time I'll reread Chapter 1.
Writing: Revising Chapters 1 & 2.
Blooming: Peonies! As you may have guessed... I have obviously included pictures of some of them. I feel like I need to plant more and more of them. I didn't even plant these actually. Perhaps instead I should expand into different territory so that I can enhance my flower collection. Some of the irises are still blooming as well. Same deal with some of the bleeding heart. Otherwise nothing else is blooming.
In other news: I got my own domain. There's nothing up right now...though I've tried to upload a temporary webpage. As soon as I have a school affiliation (other than the one that is 4 hours away), I will create a professional webpage for myself using Dreamweaver (which I hope the school will have).

Watching: CHILDREN OF MEN and the entire first season of LOST. Well, actually I had already seen the first pilot episodes. But Mike hadn't. We managed to make it through the entire season over the Holiday weekend. I'm not necessarily proud of that. But it was good to relax. CHILDREN OF MEN was O.K. Alfonso's direction was superb. The movie had a look different from what one normally sees. The story held a lot of potential, but the script just didn't work. It seemed like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be cheesy or totally and completely serious. What a shame.
Reading: Most recently? Herodotus.
Writing: Yesterday I wrote an abstract. I also revised half of dissertation Chapter One. On the docket for today: Dissertation - Chapter Two. Maybe a cover letter as well.
Blooming: Irises! In purple, yellow and lavender. Japanese lavender bush. Hydrangea. And I purchased my favorite kind of annual: Double Impatients.
Aside from watching tv serial drama this weekend, I worked on preparing the carport for a layer of paint. I have to say, of all the things to paint, the carport ceiling is simply the most disgusting. It has to be cleaned off (an impossibility, really) and some parts of it have to be scraped. Plus, I'm not overly convinced that I'm going to get that feeling of satisfaction when I stand back and it's done. I mean, it's a carport for god's sake. I also worked on the yard a bit and found out an interesting fact. Did you know that bumblebees nest in the dirt? Yes, indeed they do. Lys and I were digging a place to put in some edging, and surprise, surprise, we dug up a bees' nest. Now you may think that a bees' nest has an obvious look to it. Well, you would be wrong. These bees don't make a nest. They just burrow into the dirt. Unfortunately, this resulted in Lys getting stung. So take heed! If your digging, and you suddenly see bees, run away. Stop digging! They'll come after you.

I forgot to mention that I discovered yet ANOTHER reason why Ben & Jerry's is a fabulous company. You can go on their website, put in a flavor, put in your zip code, and it will tell you which stores around you have recently sold your flavor. Apparently, Americone Dream is waiting for me at the Shoprite by my gym. Of course, I had already looked there once. But now that I know that they sometimes get it in and probably run out of it immediately, I will look with more fervor.

Watching: LOST. And the answer is...I couldn't wait. I have to say there were parts when I was on the exercise bike (I did one hour orbiter and one hour exercise bike) when I drew my hands up to my chest in horror. Thankfully, there were only a couple people at the gym and none of them were near me.
Listening: Right now I'm listening to the soundtrack that plays on the Lost, Season One DVD menu (I'm renting the seasons I haven't seen). Unlike most repeating DVD menus, this one is quite calming as it is simply the ocean.
Reading: Deleuze and Guattari. Anti-Oedipus. Again. Because I'm writing about it. But I've moved onto a new section. Yay!
Writing: My dissertation - Chapter Two.
Blooming: Still the Lavender, Bleeding Heart, that one Hydrangea, and the Azaleas (sort of). I read about where Azaleas should be planted and I don't really have a space like that, unless I place them in the middle of the yard -- which would just be weird. They grow and bloom ideally under a tree that covers them just enough so that when the wind blows, they get full sun.

Where oh where can I get a carton of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream?

So, as you may know, I have returned from Greece. What you probably do not know is that I returned in the midst of a storm with tornado like winds. While Mike and I were riding the train back to Croton-Harmon station, we looked outside the window to find a strangely colored sky and a dark gray -- almost black -- Hudson River. When we got off the train, it was raining terribly hard and we quickly entered a cab. The cabbie then told us that the winds were so high that his car was rocking back and forth. As we headed down the road, we found ourselves trapped. There were trees down everywhere. After 50 minutes, we finally got home -- but only because the cabbie was extremely resourceful in terms of finding roads that I had no idea existed. Keep in mind that I travel to Croton everyday to go to the gym. The train station is 15 minutes away usually. I was really thankful that the winds didn't hit our street. Hunterbrook is a forest filled street, and there are many tall and beautiful trees surrounding the house. Thankfully, none of them were down. When I returned, I was glad to see my gladiolus shooting up from the ground with determination. And one of my Stella d'Oro day lilies, planted in a container, is starting to peek out and say hello. Inside, I found my little greenhouse of impatients happily waiting for me. The will need about two more weeks of inside growth before they can go outside. In addition to these delights, my lilac and one of my hydrangeas are blooming. I need to go out on a sunny day and document this delight. Perhaps I will continue to blog in the Lisa Renzi format: Reading, watching, listening, and I'll add: blooming.
Reading: While I was in Greece, I read Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" and "Breakfast of Champions." I enjoyed "Cat's Cradle" more because it mentions Cornell and Ithaca (called Ilium in the book). Actually, I enjoyed it more for other reasons as well, but I'm not really sure what they are.
Watching: I too am watching Lost. Actually, I'm not just watching it. I'm obsessed. I started getting into it this year when I was directing at Cornell and my friend Anne pointed out that ABC puts their shows online. Back then, I was watching Lost, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy. But that was back when I needed some things to calm me down. Now I find Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty trite. Grey's Anatomy is still good -- though I know I'm somewhat taken by "bad TV" when watching that. Lost, on the other had, is fabulous. I was going to say "spectacular," but as fabulous as it is, it is nowhere near The Sopranos, which must be the TV show of the decade. Admittedly, I haven't seen all episodes of Lost. So you could argue that I shouldn's judge early. But really -- no one can match the acting performances in the Sopranos. Period. So the real question is, will I be able to wait until ABC puts the season finale of Lost online? Or will I have to go to the gym and work out for two hours in order to watch it? Only time will tell...
Listening: Mostly, I listen to hip hop stations and NPR. Unfortunately, I only heard part of "This American Life" this week and part of the news. I have to make more of an effort to listen to NPR. It's an assignment I'm giving myself in preparation for applying for jobs. Small talk during interviews is important, and I plan to use NPR stories as my way in.
Writing (just added this spontaneously): An abstract for ASTR, cover letters for adjunct jobs, and tomorrow: Dissertation Chapter 2.
Blooming: As I've already mentioned, lilac and one hydrangea. The bleeding heart plants are still blooming as well. I have many azaleas all blooming slightly, but none to the point that they should be. I guess I will have to try some acid fertilizer, and remember to put that in next year.

Finally, you may wonder why this entry is not about Greece. Well, I poured my heart out on Greece in my descriptions for the photos I've sent to people through Kodak Gallery. If I haven't sent you an invitation to view my photos, e-mail me, or comment on this entry, and I will be sure to send you one.

So a week from today we fly to Greece. I am so excited, but I can't believe that it is already here! On Wednesday (tomorrow), I will head up to Ithaca (NY) for my last gig as dramaturg. I'm really hoping that June will be the first month all year I won't have to head up there. But there is always something...

In other news, I've been working on my garden. If it weren't for the damn weeds I'd have a lot of fun things planted by now. Well, I still have some fun things planted. For instance, I planted Gladiolus, a Hydrangea, Asiatic Lilies, Stella D'Oro day lilies, Bleeding Heart, and Astilbe. I want to move the tiger lilies from the area in front of the house (I'm going for a blue/pink/white/yellow thing in that area -- not an orange thing), but I don't know that I'll be able to determine which one's they are. I'm dying to put some phlox in, but that will have to wait until I get back. Any other blue/white/yellow suggestions?

Back to the dis.

This weekend Mike and I celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday. We took him to the Red Sox v. Yankees game at Fenway on Friday. I've never been to see a Red Sox/Yankees matchup in Fenway before. If you know anything about the game, you must know that it was to say the least ... unbelievably awesome. I was jumping up and down. Everyone in the park was really. It's great when everyone stands for two innings because they're so excited, they just can't sit down. So, the game was a good birthday present for my Dad. Then on Saturday, we surprised him with a surprise party at my Aunt's. He really didn't know it was coming because his birthday is actually next weekend. So a good time was had by all.

When we came back, I took advantage of a beautiful day and worked on my garden. Ay dios, there's a lot of work to do there, but I'm determined to make it gorgeous. Otherwise everything has been the usual...a lot of reading. And now I need to start writing Chapter 2.

Greetings.

I'm out of Cadbury Cream Eggs. And I think that's a good thing. I decided that the thing I gave up for Lent was my healthy diet. Now it's back to limiting the sweets. Don't you think it's better to give things up for an entire year and then splurge on yourself during Lent? I mean, I think Jesus would feel honored. Anyway, I'm headed up to Ithaca today. As usual, I'm going to make a dangerous stop at the outlet stores. But honestly, how can I resist? They are on the way. And when I say on the way, I mean they are really on the way.

In other news, I started a Second Life identity. Her name is Eloise Carter, and I imagine her to be a presidential candidate. Of course, I like my second identities old after my experience with the Sims. And Eloise is the only "older" person I've met thus far in Second Life. She is also the most rotund person I've seen so far, and believe me, Eloise is not overweight. She looks like your average female body. Anyway, I look forward to the time when I see someone older or
fatter than Eloise.

Here's me at a Carolyn's wedding in September. Mike thinks I look like a deer caught in the headlights in this picture. Personally, I like it.

The big news is that I'm going to Athens in May. That's next month! Am I so excited? YES. Will I cry when I see the ruins? Most likely.

It's raining here. And my daffodils (planted in the fall) haven't peeked through yet. I like to pretend that this isn't a problem. Since they're white daffodils, they must bloom later, right? In the meantime, I will have a lot of planting to do this spring. I'm not so big on the tiger lilies planted in front of my house. Don't get me wrong. I like tiger lilies. It's just that the don't work in the area in front of my house -- it's mostly a blue/pink flower area. So I'll move the tiger lilies to a red/orange/pink flower area.

Enough about flowers. Not much else is going on. I've been eating a lot of Cadbury cream eggs. I'm so happy that these things only come out once a year. I've given up on Peeps now that there are versions of Peeps for every holiday. It just doesn't make them as special as they once were.

Here are some pictures of the room we are in the midst of resheetrocking. The first is from the initial home inspection and the second is from when Mike started to tear down a section of the wall. I spent 7 hours yesterday putting a skim coat on this little room. 7 hours is an awfully long time to be skim coating. My body hurt afterward. The funny thing is that the room is quite small. Rumor has it that if you can afford to hire a taper/skimmer, s/he blows through something like this in a couple hours. Perhaps in the future that would be the best thing to do... I'll send an after picture when the room is all done.

Mike and I went into the city this weekend to eat out for his birthday. We ended up eating at Zen Palate in Union Square. When we were waiting for the check, bits of the ceiling (brick) fell onto Mike's head. Thankfully, they were bits and not huge pieces (the ceiling is 30 ft. up). Zen Palate gave us 20% off the meal; personally, I think we should have received a free meal. We moved and waited for our check at the bar. Afterward, we walked to the village and ate dessert. It was a lovely evening, and it was good to eat somewhere other than N. Westchester, where 98% of restaurants are Italian. On Sunday, I watched the film "Oldboy" -- a film by Korean director Chan-wook Park. The images in this film will stay with me forever. I recommend it if you are in the mood for "extremely disturbing." We saw Zodiac the weekend before. I'm really glad we saw that in the theatre because I think it made it more frightening. Thankfully, we are watching the Sopranos in between these disturbing films, so it's not like our "serial killer film" kick of a few years ago, where we both suffered nightmares after renting 3+ movies on serial killers accidentally. More soon...

Where the hell have I been?

The answer is. Nowhere too exciting. Actually I have been in the City quite a bit. I went in on Wednesday to get my haircut, I arrived exactly at the appointment time and they couldn't accomodate me. Now, the best part about that was that they gave me a free $20 product. And you know, I get my haircut for free as a hair model, so that worked out pretty well. Then they also guaranteed Jola and I for the styling class later that afternoon. So we spent a few hours getting our hair FABULOUSLY styled. We got $10 of more free products and then we went out to eat at a delicious and cheap Vietnamese restaurant. We talked insurance and taxes. I could go on and on here about how the tax system totally screws the middle class, but well, you already know how I feel.

Before that Mike and I went to the City to see Matt Glassman's performance at LaMama last weekend. Afterwards, we went to a hip IBM/Google party at an apt on W. 57th street. I drank a good deal of red wine. Then we stayed at the Sheraton Times Square. I was fairly happy with the hotel, even though the temp was set at 80 when we got into the room.

Last Friday I drove up and back to Ithaca to see my friend Anne's performance. And Wednesday I was in the city to see my friend Theresa's version of Antigone. Needless to say, I feel like a socialite. I also feel like I really need to buckle down and get some of the work I'm supposed to be doing DONE.

But to procrastinate just a little longer:
Here is a survey about highschool.
1. Who was your best friend? Are you still friends? Andrew. We are, but he's always travelling all over the U.S. filming stuff for A&E.
2. What sports did you play? I played soccer my freshman year. And if it weren't for the terrible pain I went through with my tight heel cords, I probably would have kept playing. I did ski though, and I miss that. Perhaps I should find a place to teach skiing next winter so I can make no money and ski all the time for free. Yeah, right.
3. What kind of car did you drive? The M.F. A 1986 Lincoln Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon. Parts would fall off and I would put them in the back. I loved it. I still miss it.
4. It's Friday night, where were you? Friday night was NQHS football. I was there, and I was not popular.
5. Were you a party animal? See #4.
6. Were you considered a flirt? Boys? I just couldn't get up the courage to talk to them and tell them I liked them.
7. Ever skip school? Well, my parents used to let me take "mental health days" where I would call in sick and actually just destress at home. My senior year I was involved in so many activities, I think I could have managed to avoid class pretty much all of the time to work on such activities. It's probably a good thing I chose to go. I'm no Max Fischer.
8. Were you a nerd? Uh, yah. See #4.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No, but once I got chewed out over stealing a pizza from the other advanced science class. The teacher for that class brought me to the dean and he yelled at us a little. And then, the next day I was in the Vice Principal's office and the dean started joking about having to "discipline" me over a pizza.
10. Can you sing the fight song? I must have blocked that out.
11. Who was your Favorite teacher? Ms. Palmer.
12. Favorite class? Bio II. I dissected a lot of things and I was part of a strict society known only as "The Table."
13. What was your school's full name? North Quincy High School.
14. School mascot? The Yakoo. It was, is, a native american figure drawn in the likeness of a local (caucasian) dentist.
15. Did you go to Prom? Yes, I did. But proms in Quincy weren't nearly as fancy as they seem to be everywhere else. I did not wear a ball gown.
16. If you could go back and do it over, would you do anything differently? So much it's hard to say where to start. Perhaps it would be better not to do it over at all.
17. What do you remember most about graduation? Feeling relieved and free.
18. Who was your high school sweetheart? I like to think that Justin Timberlake and I have something in common here. And no, my high school sweetheart wasn't Britney...
19. Where were you on senior skip day? WTF?
20. Did you have a job your Senior year? I always had summer jobs. The summer before my senior year I worked at Norwood Marine, where my boss, Mr. Roach referred to me only as "the girl" and threw away his dirty Depends in my wastebasket. My colleague, Jackie, chainsmoked, and I mean she really chainsmoked, across my desk. The summer after my senior year I worked at NYNEX (soon to be Bell Atlantic, soon to be Verizon) as a telemarketer. I have to say, I made a decent amount of money, but gave $2000 of it to my parents to pay for my college. My college was totally worth every second of people saying hateful things to me and hanging up on me.
21. Where did you go most often for lunch? I learned in college that at other schools, students could leave the "campus" during free periods and lunchtime. Not so at NQHS. You were tied so tight to the school that you couldn't even go to McDonald's across the street. And I played by the rules.
22. Have you gained weight since then? Oh my, yes. Those were the good old days when I could eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's every day and still be tiny. Now, I hardly ever by any because it's just too tempting. I am considering picking up a pint of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream. C'mon, it's Stephen Colbert and he's worth it!
23. What did you do after graduation? I don't remember, but the day after the senior prom I went to an amusement park.
24. When did you graduate high school? 1995.
25. Who was your Junior prom date? Andrew Myers. I wore an ugly blue dress. And my braces gleamed like diamonds.
26. Who was your Senior prom date? That would be Andrew Myers again.
27. Are you going to your 10 yr. class reunion? I went! And it was much more enjoyable than I would have thought. Of course, I drank a good deal of wine and told everyone how beautiful they looked as a result. Though, in truth, I think everyone did look more beautiful than they did in high school.
28. Who was your home room teacher? Originally, Mr. Gostanian, the photography teacher. Photography was probably the best thing about NQHS. No, we didn't have lacrosse teams, but we had photography damnit! Then once I was on student council and the principal's advisory committee, I had Mr. Gizzarelli for homeroom.
29. What one word would you use to describe your experience? Blech.
30. Who will repost this after you? No one I know. The only person I know who still regularly blogs posted this first.

Well, I thought since I don't have all that much to blog about, that I would include a picture to take up some space. This picture is of the cast for Uncommon Women (minus one person), the stage manager, and the assistant stage manager (the only man involved).

As for me, I have been reading this week -- about The Oresteia nonetheless. I'm trying to revise an old paper...which is not that easy. I say interesting things in the paper (well, at least they are interesting to me), but I need to find more tangible ways of saying them. I suppose when I get into actual revising (and lengthening -- the thing needs to be about 12 pages longer) I'll be having more fun. The anticipation stage is never that great.

In other news, Mike and I are planning to take the first week-long vacation we've taken since our honeymoon. Well, that's only sort of true. We did take one or two "vacations" previously, but the involved visiting people at Christmas or something. That's not the same as a vacation where two people go away to Europe together. I'm looking forward to it!

I know I haven't been blogging regularly for awhile, but now that I've officially returned to dissertation wonderland, I imagine that will change. Yes, I'm now back in Westchester. And as I predicted, I am sick. I got sick right after our "second opening night" or "opening night redo" a week ago. Opening night redo went well. Then sickness. I now have all that dead skin on my nose and upper lip. What is one supposed to do with all that dead skin? And why does it seem like no one else gets the amount of dead skin that I do? Mike thought that I was blowing my nose with sandpaper. Thankfully, I can be a shut in for a little while to clear that up. I am also thankful for the fact that I no longer feel like shit. Yes, I may be coughing and blowing my nose a ton, but the worst feeling is that "ill" I might throw up at any minute but probably won't feeling that accompanies a major cold. That stage is officially over.

I also had a mole removed this week. I've never had a below the surface mole removed before and I found the process quite interesting. It was kind of like going to the dentist. You get numbed up, then the surgeon takes a number of tools to the numb area that you can't feel. The difference was the stitches. There aren't any stitches involved in a cavity.

Zip ee dee do dah.

Happy Valentine's Day (belated) all. Unfortunately, Cornell closed on Valentine's Day because of the 2 feet of snow Ithaca received, and as a result, opening night for Uncommon Women was delayed a day. But the good thing is that last night the show opened! It's good to feel that the show has opened. Mike was supposed to come to opening, but the storm came. Then, he was supposed to come tonight, but had car trouble (with the new car). My parents should be arriving tomorrow, and if Mike figures out a way to get here, so will he. Also, there is a vague possibility that Andrew might show up tomorrow. Plus, I may or may not be giving a talk before a film tomorrow. So it's like everything is up in the air. Whatever happens, tomorrow will prove to be a day of expectation and surprises. Let's hope they are all pleasant one's.

Lisa was right about the whole uploading pictures to blogger thing. They really have made it too easy to resist. This is a picture of Chris and I at Christmas a couple years ago. I bought him some fake mustaches and he was generous enough to share them. Although this wasn't my best fit as far as mustaches go, I do enjoy how the mustaches give us different personalities. Chris looks like about 50% of the men in Tennessee. The only things missing are a UT hat and slackjaw.

I'm procrastinating. I should be working on an article or something, and, in fact, I will later tonight. But for now, I will blog and post. And think about massages. Ohhh...massages. As you may have guessed, I've managed to catch up on Ugly Betty (except for tonight's episode which I will watch as soon as it is available). I did get kind of sick of it, but at the same time I crave it. And this craving will have to stop soon, or I will never get anything done. When I go back to Westchester, I'll have to plan a major gym trip for Thursday night so I can experience both UB and Grey's Anatomy as I change my fat into muscle. Speaking of that, I'm trying to attend more fitness classes while I'm here at Cornell. And the difficult thing is that the one's I want to go to are all during my rehearsal. That's not entirely true, but it does make for a good excuse. Tomorrow I have no excuse, and therefore I'm considering attending two.

Why does ABC put all its shows online? I've become addicted to them. Originally, I was using the excuse that I could watch them to figure out things with Uncommon Women. But now, there is no excuse. The whole season of Ugly Betty is online. To be honest, I don't think the shows are all THAT good. They're not as good as Arrested Development or The Sopranos for instance. And yet, I watch them when I should be busy doing other things. Oh the shame.

Other than watching tv, I've been in rehearsal/meetings, etc. Mike visited this past weekend and we tried to figure out what to do in Ithaca in January when there is no house to work on. Really...it's movies or nothing. So we saw Volver. An excellent Almodovar film - though I liked Habla con Ella and Mala Educacion better. Volver was more on a realistic track -- not as wild as Almodovar can be. Still it was excellent and surprising. I recommend it.

I still really want to see Inland Empire. But it's not playing here and it wasn't playing anywhere near us in the WC. Perhaps it will come to Ithaca soon?

Here I am in Ithaca.


In case you were wondering, yes, it is snowing. But I have to say that it its a lovely snow. There are some good things about being back in Ithaca. First of all, there is Wegman's -- the supermarket. In case you didn't know, Wegman's got 3rd best company to work for this year. And why did it get it? Because Wegman's is a supermarket experience beyond all other supermarket experiences. You don't believe it until you live in Ithaca (or near another Wegman's) and you actually want to go food shopping. It's simply a beautiful supermarket. Plus, at the moment, I don't really feel "cut off." Or at least since I'm not staying here for a super long period of time, I don't feel the dearth of shopping opportunity.

At Cornell, this week is the first week of the Spring term. I arrived last week to begin directing Uncommon Women and Others. So far the experience has been wonderful. I'm really enjoying directing a play with all women. Yes, of course, I enjoy directing men too, but there is something special about directing a Wendy Wasserstein play with this cast and at this time in my life.

Until later...

Hello folks,

I've been busy traveling around. We went to Massachusetts for Christmas, which was nice. And Mike took the rest of the week off, so we actually got to spend some time together, which was even nicer. We spent some of that time drywalling the small bedroom upstairs. I think drywalling is one of those things where you doing know how it has turned out until it's completely done. So I really can't say yet how it's going. What I will say is that we found some newspaper dated 1993 underneath the old drywall -- meaning that they last drywalled in 93. Now for those of you who know anything about drywall, and those of you who don't, you probably have figured out that a good drywalling job lasts A LOT longer than that. Sigh. We actually discovered that the top half of the wall was plaster and the bottom half was drywall. Go figure.

Here's a little meme, if you will, that my friend Anne sent me. I sent it back to her with my answers and later thought, "hey, I'm supposed to be working on my dissertation, but I think I'll post that e-mail on my blog." So here goes.

Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends
1) Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate baby!
2) Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa enjoys wrapping presents. Santa even used to wrap presents for herself from Santa at a young age (though post-believing in Santa age).
3) Colored or white lights on tree/house? White lights only. After all, I'm from New England.
4) Do you hang mistletoe? Some day I will, when I have $40 to spend on a kissing ball.
5) When do you put your decorations up? We bought our first ever Shea-Guillorn Christmas tree Sunday!
6) What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I eat only dessert at the holidays, so I really don't know how to answer...
7) Favorite holiday memory as a child: We were decorating our tree for the year, and the tree-topping angel my parents had since they were married was getting really delapidated. I think her head fell off. But we couldn't find a new angel anywhere that was nice, and we are pro-angel, anti-star. My Mom worked as a service rep for Verizon (then New England Telephone). She was the person you would call if you had problems with your home phone. So a lot of people called her really when they were furious. This one guy called her, and was angry at her for his phone being out of service. Then she fixed everything for him. He came into the office the following day to bring something to her because she was so nice to him,and to apologize for being mean at first. The people at work joked that he brought her a bomb -- he was that bad. When she opened the gift it was a Christmas angel -- a very beautiful Christmas angel. And the angel has been at the top of their tree ever since.
8) When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents told me in a mall (the South Shore Plaza) because when I was eight, I asked. They thought I already knew. But I didn't. And I cried.
9) Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes! One gift! When I was younger, I would look across the street and smile pleasantly at my friend Siggy's house, knowing that she was opening her presents on Christmas Eve (a German tradition). I never wanted to open mine on Christmas Eve, but it was a nice thought before going to bed.
10) How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With all kinds of Christmas ornaments. I especially like one's that were gifts from people because they have more meaning.
11) Snow! Love it or dread it? On Christmas I love it!
12) Can you ice skate? I used to be pretty good. Now I'm sure I would be a disaster.
13) Do you remember your favorite gift? My bunny, Black Beauty.
14) What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with family.
15) What is your favorite holiday dessert? Assortments of cookies.
16) What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas Eve dinner.
17) What tops your tree? We don't have a treetopper...yet...
18) Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Oh come on. Everyone likes both.
19) What is your favorite Christmas song? Either"God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" by anyone or "BlueChristmas" by Elvis.
20) Candy canes! Yuck or yum? Yum!

A Friday Five for Friday!

Too much of the bickering
1. Last person you told to shut up:
OK, I'm pretty sure that would be Mike, probably when he was teasing me last night.

2. Do you drink wine?
If I could, I would drink wine all the time. I simply find it delectable. Especially in red. But most of the time, I drink water, cranberry juice, orange juice, and tea, because it is so much more affordable.

3. Ever fly on a plane?
Yes. Indeed. Very much so. I flew on one last month -- going to Chicago, city of a bad transit system.

4. Do you yell at your friends?
No.

5. What have you quit?
I've quit eating dessert everyday. I've quit caffeine -- that was probably the biggest challenge, and I quit it cold, because I had to.

6. What things does bicker rhyme with?
Wicker
Sticker
Flicker
Nose-Picker
Ticker
Kicker
Licker
Knicker
Quicker
Snicker
Tricker

There is nothing like a week without travel. And damnit, that will be next week. I'm looking forward to remaining at home, actually working on my dissertation, finishing painting the living room, and maybe actually getting back to walking dogs at the dog shelter. I didn't mention the gym and my attachment to Law & Order SVU while on an orbiter, but that's definitely in the mix too.

This weekend Mike and I began to paint the trim in the living room. Last weekend we painted the walls. I can't tell you how relieved I feel now that the living room is painted. It was absolutely disgusting before -- marks on the walls, gum! on the walls -- just gross. And now, despite the fact that we hate the walls, it's shaping up to actually be something not ugly. With a few tasteful Christmas decorations, it might even have rustic farmhouse charm. We'll see.

I also believe that a trip to Danbury to go to Trader Joe's is in my future. There is just nothing like food shopping at Trader Joe's in Connecticut. The price is unbeatable, and yes, I definitely think it's worth it to travel all that way even though gas prices are expensive. Incidentally, that is one thing I'm definitely enjoying about the Civic. It costs me $25 to fill up the tank, and that's NY prices!!! I feel like I save money every time I travel because the Camry cost between $40 and $50 and had to be filled up more often. Ahhh...the joy of little cars.

Wait while I twist your fate
1. What is your nearest lake or river?
The Croton reservoir -- I'm assuming that counts; it's off the Hudson, and it provides water for New York City.
2. Do you believe in heaven?
Yes. But I don't believe that one conception of heaven is true above all others.
3. What's your lucky number?
nueve
4. Ever know anyone who appeared on a game show?
I feel like I did. But I think I'm making that up. I always wanted to be on Family Feud with my grandma.
5. Charades: good times or lame?
Depends on who you are playing with, and whether or not you are successful at getting people to guess "Karl Rove."

Chicago again??

That is where I'm headed tomorrow. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, both the conferences I attend are in Chicago this year. Why? Probably because it's a good central place for people to get to in the U.S. I certainly don't mind going...it's a lot better than other conference places, but I'd like to separate the going by a year or so at least. Oh well. The next one is in New Orleans. Yippeee! In August! Boooooo!

I'll return this Sunday to NYC, and I'm going to try to stay in the city until Mike's gig at 9p.m. What I will do wandering around the city on a Sunday with my suitcase in tow is beyond me. But I'm sure I'll find something fun. Perhaps I will begin the Christmas shopping. It's got to start sometime...right?

This past weekend I went up to Western MA to Double Edge Theatre to see their new production. I'm really excited about it because a lot of the imagery fits in so nicely with my dissertation topic. Speaking of dissertation topic -- I wrote my first two pages of my dissertation today. You may not realize this, but it is a very big step to go from reading to writing. I didn't realize it until I got into that in between reading and writing period. It's awfully strange. Perhaps the many writings on liminality have actually stemmed from the author's own feeling of in-betweenness when writing.

Finally, I should mention that, as many of you have guessed, I am simply ecstatic about the elections! I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted...so great a weight that I am willing to change the name of this blog. But I have yet to figure out what to change it to. If anybody is actually reading out there, I will take your suggestions now...

I voted!

Guess who is the owner of a brand new Honda Civic LX? That's right. Mike and I purchased the car last weekend, and I've already taken it on its first trip to Ithaca. One would think I would be really excited about this, but I'm only sort of excited. I was a little disappointed that the Camry didn't last 200,000 miles (it was becoming far more expensive to repair it as opposed to buying a new car). So anyway, I'm getting over that disappointment and moving onto new car excitement. It's really fun to drive a car that has a digital speedometer, a radio that works well, and cupholders that hold cups bigger than soda cans. I will also be fun *knock on wood* not to have to pay for repairs for awhile!!!!!!!

In the spirit of owning a new car, I will do a Friday Five about Halloween.

Scary Spice

1. What's your favorite candy:
I'm going to assume that they mean cheap candy here, and not Godiva Chocolate. In that case, I think I would have to go for Kit Kats. There is something just so delectable about eating the chocolate off the sides and then eating them. I also enjoy Milky Ways, 100 Grand, Peppermint Patties and of course, the classic M&M's. Just the other day I was craving my favorite of all -- the Cadbury Cream Egg. But that's not so much a Halloween candy, unfortunately.

2. What's the best scary movie?
The scariest movie is The Ring. Oh, I get chills just thinking about it.

3. Do you like to be alone at home?
Sure. I prefer to be with people most of the time though.

4. Pumpkin pie: eat it or throw it?
EAT.

5. The most distasteful Halloween costume you can think of:
Sorority girls often dress up as things just to look slutty. Some guys in the theater department at Cornell decided to make fun of them by dressing up like a sorority girl dressing up as something slutty. That was pretty funny.

I notice now that the Friday Fiver made an error in its title, as I doubt "its" is meant to be possessive in this case. So I looked on livejournal to see if anyone commented on this in their response. No one did. But what's really sad is that most people listed their favorite hangout as home. And it made me think. We all need to get off our asses and socialize more.

Its all local

1. The time:
10:19 P.M. E.S.T. It is also the time I finished a first draft of program notes for the Little Women production at Cornell. Now I must attempt to cut them down. But I'm giving myself a few moments to blog first.

2. The weather:
Cold. It is supposed to get down to 42 tonight. We turned on the heat in the house for the first time this weekend, and so far we have been pleased. I'm sure we will be less pleased when we have to call the oil company again.

3. The big news story:
There are so many. Foley. Gas prices are rising. There was an earthquake in Hawaii. Oh, and locally, which I guess is what this Friday five is supposed to be about, John Hall, democratic candidate for congress in my district, and also reknowned singer/songwriter (remember "Detachable Penis?" - that was him), is closing in against Republican Sue Kelly. I was going to write "Evil Republican" Sue Kelly, but I figured that would be redundant. Oddly enough, the only Republicans I find myself slightly respecting nowadays are Arlen Specter and Colin Powell. If you think about it, it's easy for the dems to criticize the current administration, but not as easy for the GOP (why, I don't know). At least those two are doing it.

4. Your favorite hangout:
Sadly, my only hangout right now is in front of this computer. Maybe I need to start going to bars or something. Maybe then I'll write my dissertation...somehow. Actually, if one's favorite hangout could be a town, mine would be Cold Spring. Mike and I made our second visit there this past weekend and we took my parents out to breakfast at the delicious Foundry. mmmmm. mmmmm. good.

5. The must-have accessory:
Currently, it's a tissue, because unfortunately I have a cold. The good thing is that the cold is at its end, not at its beginning. This is also good because I can finally return to the gym so that I can turn that fat that used to be muscle two weeks ago back into muscle. I always wonder how it changes to fat so easily, but it takes so much time to get it back to being muscle. Unless, of course, you take steroids, which I'm just not up for.

But I suppose, since I'm in Westchester, the must-have accessory is a Mercedes, a BMW, or a Lexus, all three of which I'm also just not up for.

And the inventive number 6:
6. The current project:
Other than program notes and disseration chapter one, there is the never ending project of the house. We finished painting the paneling in the dining room last week, which took a Herculean effort considerin that we were sick. Next stop, I think, is to paint the disgusting walls in the living room in the hopes that they look somewhat better when they are done.

Sometimes blogger doesn't like to publish my posts. Let's try again on the one from Friday...

Mush

1) Name one of your bad habits:
I pick my nails. The only time I don't pick my nails is when I'm not working on my research. I work on my research often.

2) What do you expect from friends?
Trust.

3) What is the last thing you wrote down?
I assume this means on paper. This morning I looked up appliances in Consumer Reports and wrote down the top one's. I especially took care to write down fridges. I never knew this before, but there are many choices for refrigerators out there and it's tough to pick. Of course, I'm hoping that we don't have to buy a fridge any time soon...but with the fridge we currently have, you just never know.

4) What is the last favor you did for someone else?
I don't think favors for Mike count, and I can only remember the favors I've asked other people to do. Does that mean I'm a selfish bitch?

5) What is your favorite TV show?
I don't have TV. But when I go to the gym, I always go immediately to Law & Order...preferably Law & Order SVU. I need to start arriving at the gym exactly at 8...

Remember those days when I made up questions. Well guess what, they're back.

6) What does the title of this Fridav Five make you think of?
An old lady whispering "hush"...

I have a paper to write, and you know how I like to procrastinate. So how about a Friday Five?

Just the facts ma'am

1. Where were you last night?
I was at Cafe Nine in New Have at a Lys Guillorn gig. New Haven, incidentally, is about two hours away from our house.

2. Did you speak with anyone?
Other than Lys, Ryan, Matt, and Mike, I spoke to a guy from Italy named Antonio. It is really difficult to carry on a conversation with someone who has to work to say things in English during a gig. And as for my Italian, it's nonexistent. But I did find out that Italians not only despise Americans because of Bush, but also because they eat at McDonald's when they go to Italy. Honestly. McDonald's. When you're in Italy? England I could see, but Italy??? I don't even go to McDonald's here. I ate enough of those fries in my life to fear for the effects trans fatty acids have on my body. BTW, did you hear that NY is going to ban trans fats? Bring it on!

3. What were you wearing?
I was wearing some jeans, and a white tank top under green sweater that has a rip in the sleeve -- but the rip is easily hidden. I was cold.

4. What did you eat or drink?
MODERN APIZZA! I can't get enough of that stuff. I just had water to drink.

5. Can anyone verify your whereabouts from midnight to 5am?
Well, Mike was asleep in the car driving back. He actually went to work for an hour when we returned, so I guess no one can verify that I was in bed from 1-2:30 a.m. But Mike came home at 2:30, so from 2:30 to 5:00, it can be assumed that we were in bed together. Of course, we were both asleep aside from the normal tossing and turning, so I guess no one can verify that I was there.

I've been doing too much driving/traveling in the past few weeks. First I took a trip to Ithaca and back. Then I went to Ashfield, MA and back. Before that, as you know, Mike and I went to Boston and back. I've got to stay home for awhile now (1) because I have a paper to finish by October 1st (a date that seems to be looming ever closer, and (2) my hip/back can't seem to take all this time in a car (luckily, I'm going to the chiropractor today). While in Ashfield, I stayed at Double Edge Theatre -- on a farm and got to spend some time with Matt. Unfortunately, the theatre's septic system can't handle the current number of people on the farm, so the toilets are off-limits. Porta-potties are the way to go. And of course, I had to pee at 3 in the morning on the coldest night this year so far. But really, I thought about the fact that people used to have to go outside for this type of thing all the time. And I doubt out-houses were nearly as nice or clean as porta-potties. So I managed.
I also visited Mount Holyoke to do research for the play I'm directing in January/February. I have to say that the campus of Mount Holyoke is just beautiful. And it was really interesting to talk to students at an all women's school about their experience. Of course, with the 5 college exchange, men can take classes at the school, but it seems that at most a woman would have 1 class with men in it per semester. There definitely seems to be a different dynamic to an all women's school. I'm not sure I could have gone for it, personally, but I wouldn't mind teaching at one. In fact, as I was exploring the better part of Western MA during my drive, I thought to myself...this wouldn't be a bad place to live. The colonial houses look so lovely against the tree colors. Perhaps I was overwhelmed by the autumness of it all. When I returned to NY, I started craving apple pie. And it doesn't help that there is a farm in back of my house with a shop that makes fresh apple pie. But somehow I resisted...

Aye. Well, I haven't blogged in awhile. But it's the day before my birthday and I'm waiting for the fire department to arrive, so I figure now is a good time. Why is the fire dept coming, you may ask? Because my car is leaking gas...again. It leaked gas on Wednesday and the fire department came to verify that it was OK to tow. It was towed to an auto center and they looked at it, said it wasn't leaking gas, and then sent it back home with me. Now, it is leaking gas again. And AAA requires that the fire dept. check out the car to make sure that it can be towed. So now the fire dept. knows me.

In other news, I've been volunteering at the animal shelter...meeting lots of other people who care about animals and dogs. It's a nice thing to do while dissertating, because it gets me outside, walking dogs, hanging out with people, etc. Dissertating kind of lacks human contact. And I have been dissertating lately, so that's good too.

Other than that, there isn't much going on. My roommate from college, Carolyn, got married in Boston this past weekend, so we took a trip up. We had dinner at Tapeo on Newbury Street with the Myers' parents (Chris was helping his girlfriend move and Andrew is in Atlanta doing something for A&E). We also had dinner at an Afghani place in Cambridge named Helmand. I highly recommend that if you haven't gone. Barbara Shea claimed it was some of the best lamb she's ever tasted.

More later...

Kick off your Sunday Shoes

1. Do you work hard or do you take the easy way out?
I work hard...perhaps too hard...when I work. Then I go through periods of not working at all. Right now I'm about to enter a period of super-work, where I need to get a lot done. So why am I blogging? Procrastination.

2. How's your day going?
So far it's going fine. Thanks.

3. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
It's more than 15 but less than 20. But you have to keep in mind that some people throw shoes out. I think I still have all my shoes from college.

4. Do you consider yourself cool?
Fuck yeah.

5. What's the last song you listened to?
Something on Hot 97 I think. I love Hot 97 because it has so many fantastic female dj's. I've never heard so many female voices on commercial radio before! Why don't those other stations take note?

Last in Line
1. What is the last thing you ate without regret?
This is a weird question. I just had some yogurt, and I certainly don't regret eating it. Shouldn't the question be "what is the last thing you ate that you regret?" Surely, I hope, most people eat things that they do not regret most of the time. So I'll say the last thing I ate that I regret was a small bag of potato chips. I have to admit though, that the chips were after fasting for six hours to give some vials of blood for cholesterol tests and what not. After a luna bar, and an Odwalla, I decided I needed something more...substantive.

2. Who was the last person you talked to?
Mike...on the phone.

3. When was your last vacation?
Well, our last vacation was a trip to Massachusetts to stay at my parents house for a week. I think that was three years ago. We so badly need to get away...

4. When was your last hug and who did you receive it from?
That would be Mike as well...probably last night...as this morning he got up early and I didn't.

5. What is the last thing most people learn about you?
Well, I'm sure that different people in different situations learn different things last. I will say that in a situation with new "regular" people -- as opposed to people who might affect my carreer, I'm kinda shy and not so wild. I actually find that I stutter a little. But I don't actually stutter in real life...well, no more than normal. So I probably seem weird to people who just meet me...and my thinking this perpetuates my shyness, etc.

Shop-a-holic
1. What are your five favorite stores?
I'm going to go with favorite, and not necessarily shopped most (or at all).
1. Filene's Basement in Boston
2. J.Crew
3. Anthropologie
4. Banana Republic
5. Gap

2. Is there any store you absolutely hate going to?
The fucking Home Depot near us. Every time we look for something, they're out of it. It's a terrible Home Depot.

3. Do you pay with cash, credit, debit, or something else?
I pay with goats. Some live...some deceased.

4. Do you prefer to shop in person or online?
In person...and I can finally do it again now that I've moved to a place with stores.

5. In the last six months, what single purchase has been the most important to you?
OK, well clearly that would be the house. But if we're going with smaller purchases, I'd have to go with my white double impatients. Because of the rain, they're growing like crrrazy, and they are just my favorite annual, period.

I either smell like dog, dirt, or cat...or a combination of all three. This is what volunteering at the SPCA will get me. Right now I'm just weeding mostly, and doing a little cat socialization. I could be doing more cat socialization, but that's something that kids can do, and it seems to me that they need someone to weed even more. Thursday and Friday I will be taking classes in dog walking, which means things should pick up a little more. Of course, all this only makes me want to take home dogs more. I'm glad I have so much self control.

Last week I was in Chicago during the heat wave. I thought, hey, maybe I'll avoid the heat wave by going to Chicago....no such luck. First of all, I left on Tuesday, and so I dragged my suitcase around in NYC in 100 degree weather. Then, when I arrived in Chicago it was 98. I will say, though, that I enjoyed every breeze the windy city gave me, as NY gave me nada. My conference went fairly well...the most important part of it being my introduction to The Dog Whisperer, on tv of course. I guess the advantage to not having TV at home is that I can really look forward to the hour of it I get to watch at night when going to conferences. Mostly, I watch Law and Order...my conference roommate Meghan and I are particularly fond of SVU. But when L&O isn't on, we delight in doggy training. Most of the show I yell at the people on TV, while Meghan sits silently, thinking that I must be insane. Thankfully, the doggies are cute.

All major moves require new templates. But it wasn't until today that I found the template that works for my current state of mind. Enjoy.

I feel like I wrote a post and blogger lost it. I feel like I'm always starting out my posts this way. Maybe it's all in my head...

Since last I posted, Mike and I went to my cousin Julie's wedding in Ledyard, CT. We had a lovely time at the inn, and went to Mohegan Sun afterward. I gambled 25 cents and won 2 dollars, so that worked out well for me.

The next weekend was our anniversary. Mike and I separately hung out with friends in the city. I got to see Andrew, who flew in the weekend from San Antonio, and I have to say, he is jacked! When I explained this to Mike's sister, Lys, she dubbed him "Extreme Andrew." Extreme Andrew has inspired me to invest in a gym membership...especially since my running outside has slowed because of the heat. Oh the heat! Well, not now, now it's quite nice actually. Anyway, I feel I should also be doing some muscle build up, so that's the plan. After seeing friends, we retired at the Grand Hyatt, woke up, and got 1.5 hour couples' massages. After coming home from the city and taking another luxurious nap, we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a really nice way to spend the anniversary. :^)

This weekend we went into the city with Lys and her chico to see a Jens Leckman concert. Jens, in case you didn't know, is a Swedish pop star. His band consisted of 6 or 7 chics playing different instruments (except the bass player) and/or singing at various times. It was a great show...and well worth the traffic from the mudslide (ugh).

In case you didn't know, the weather in and around NYC has been rather rough lately. There was a tornado in Elmsford, NY, and part of the WC and part of the city have been without power for some time. Power may be restored now, I'm not certain...but I feel lucky that we were (a) not in the path of that tornado (b) not in the path of that mudslide (c) have power. The abundance of rain, however, has inspired me to purchase a new dehumidifier for the basement. I haven't purchased said humidifier yet...but it will happen soon..

The road less traveled

1. What don't you understand?
War...what the Republican party is doing right now...etc...people who vote for them...etc.

2. Name someone in your life with blue eyes:
Barbara Shea

3. When is a lie not really a lie?
When it's a white lie...concealing a surprise party, or something

4. When is the last time you got really dirty?
I actually was just working in the garden. I got pretty dirty. There's still dirt underneath my finger nails.

5. Are you a lefty or a righty?
I've always wanted to be ambidextrous. But I'm just a righty trying to use my left hand more.

1. Have you ever had an addiction?
I'm addicted to Pellegrino Limonata right now biaytch. Oh Limonata, I wish I could quit you!

2. Are you afraid of the dark?
I would say no. When I was in Poland, we rode our bicycles home in pitch dark. You couldn't even see what was in front of you...well, you could see your handlebars and that was it.

3. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Coffee!

4. Have you ever been to the circus?
Yes, I remember going when I was little. Most recently I went to Cirque du Soleil, first in Boston, and then in Las Vegas.

5. What do you think of North Korea testing nuclear weapons?
Did W put them up to this?

So it was a lovely 4th. We had guests...Jeff and Kate from Tennessee came to visit with their dog Pico. We went into NYC and walked from Grand Central to Ground Zero, taking out some time to visit Chinatown. We had dinner and dessert in the village, and then returned home. According to Jeff's pedometer, we walked ten miles...good exercise on a day that was a little bit hotter than desired. On the actual 4th, Mike worked more on putting up paneling in the dining room, and I took care of the massive amount of paperwork that had been stacking up since our move.
This weekend we're going to my cousin Julie's wedding. It should be nice because we're staying at an old inn near Mystic CT. And after the wedding, a bunch of people are going to Mohegan Sun. Now, when Mike and I were in Vegas, we gambled a total of $10 together. So I don't expect much of that...but perhaps we will live vicariously through the other gamblers in the crowd.

Dude [16 Jun 2006|08:50am]

Name your favorite...

1. Candy: Godiva Chocolate -- milk chocolate, or strawberries dipped in milk chocolate. For cheap candy, I like M&M's, 100 Grand, Milky Way, Skittles and Starburst.

2. Cookie: Ginger!

3. Donut: Either a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles or a chocolate glazed donut.

4. Cold drink: Limeade.

5. Hot beverage: Oh, there's so many. I enjoy a delicious cup of mint cocoa, as well as a warming white hot mocha. For standards, I like Cafe au lait.

Here I am. I have not blogged for awhile, though I did try to. Blogger was down when I tried.

I've moved. I've cleaned. I've painted. I still have painting to do. The house is nice. It's high up because it's built on a hill, and I somewhat feel like I'm sleeping among the tops of trees. Of course, living in a wooded area comes with its downsides. Raccoons. It seems they attack our trashcans, and our trashcans only...throwing them into the middle of the road until they open and spew trash throughout the street. Raccoons. No me gusta.

We've also discovered that our oven doesn't really work, so we're on the quest for a new one. If you have any questions about electric ranges, I can probably answer them. Sorry folks, I know nothing about the gas ones as I live on a road without gas lines and have no desire to get a propane tank.

#1 house sold. #2 house ready to buy.

#1 car out of shop. #2 car in shop. Spending WAY too much money on fixing cars this month. Would have made a nice downpayment on a new Toyota/Subaru, but the problem was that the work was spread out on BOTH cars. And oh yeah...we're making a slightly large other purchase this month.

¡Viva Mexico!
1. Have you ever been to Mexico?
No. I almost went when I visited San Diego. Almost.

2. Do you know anyone who is currently in the military?
Not personally.

3. What is the last party you attended?
Does the end-of-the year grad dinner count? I feel it does. We also had a party in film class. The last drunken college party I attended was at Halloween.

4. What do you think about President Bush saying that the United States' National Anthem should only be sung in English?
Ay dios mio. Que idiota.

5. French fries or freedom fries?
French fries. Clearly.

The time to get a dog is nigh. I feel.

1. When is the last time you were broke?
That would be when I was at Kansas. I was not making much money at all. No. People making less than $10,000 a year should get some serious tax breaks man...even if they are single with no kids. I mean, come on!

2. What makes you lose focus?
When I have something with a deadline, and I'm worried about it not happening. That's basically all I can think about.

3. How tall are you?
Not tall enough to fit into pants apparently. 5'3"

4. Are you brave or cowardly?
Brave, bitch. But at the dentist I'm cowardly. Two shots of novacaine for me, uh huh.

5. What's in your pocket?
Tissues. Always tissues. And often gum wrappers.

Feel Good

1. Have you ever ridden a camel?
Not to my knowledge.

2. When you are outside, what does the horizon look like?
Trees, hills...If I look out my back yard, all I can see is a large hill with trees. If I look out the front, I have a view of several houses and hills in the distance.

3. Who is the last person to leave you a message?
My Dad left one on my cell phone, and my Mom left one at home.

4. How many hours did you sleep last night?
6.5 I was woken up this morning by someone wanting to log my land. I explained that I was moving.

5. Chocolate: take it or leave it?
Take it! I drove all over time the other night looking for a Cadbury Cream Egg. But it seems that everywhere is out. I might try again today. I just want one last egg before the Easter season goes away!!!

News: Mike and I found a house in Yorktown Heights NY! We're really excited about it. It's an old farmhouse with 3 acres. It's in the middle of this lovely country road. But it's only 8 miles from a train station into New York. It's definitely "us." We should be moving into it in May or June.

1. What's the weather like?
It's trying so hard to be Spring!

2. When is the last time you felt appreciated?
I guess I felt appreciated during rehearsal yesterday, and I tried to make my actors feel appreciated as well.

3. What is the last bad news you heard?
I forgot to go to a meeting tonight. That's not really hearing bad news. It's realizing you're stupid.

4. What is your favorite sad song?
"The Night" by Morphine

5. Tell us about something you're obsessed with:
Finding a pair of pants that actually fit correctly. It's too damn hard.

More news later...

Perfect

1. Name one of your flaws:
One! But I have so many!!! O.K., so I'm often too set in my own ways -- in routines that I learned at a younger age.

2. Have you ever won first place?
I remember winning first place at the car contest in middle school. Siggy and I spent a lot of time on that car. It wasw fun.

3. Who is the last person to make you smile?
Michael just did in the car.

4. Describe a time when you should have tried harder:
High school. Man, I just did not try at all for such a long time... I suppose I should have read some of the history books they assigned. Then again, who wants to read a history textbook???

5. What are you good at?
Sleeping. Theater stuff. Teaching. Writing. Drinking orange juice with calcium. Painting walls. Returning things I've purchased.

I found this Friday five difficult to answer, so I waited awhile to do it.

1. Which movie character is most like you?
Fabienne in PULP FICTION, except per my recent visit to the dentist, I need to brush my teeth more. Well, to be honest, my teeth are fine. It's my gums that are the issue.

2. Which TV character is most like you?
I don't watch all that much TV. I don't have cable, nor do I have a signal so this is a tough question to answer. What I do have is the entire season of Twin Peaks on videotape. So I'll say Donna from TWIN PEAKS, before she starts smoking.

3. Which literary character is most like you?
I just finished reading ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, but I don't think I'm like any of David Sedaris's siblings or friends. I also just finished reading a bunch of plays for my exams. I'll say Lysistrata.

4. Which song describes you?
"Over" by Portishead

5. Which animal is most like you?
Are there instinctively passive agressive animals? A rabbit?

A.B.D. biaytch!

1. Who was your favorite all time teacher(s)?
Wow. This is not an easy question to answer. I liked Mrs. Bopp in kindergarten, Mr. Svenson in middle school, Mr. Bergman and Ms. Palmer in high school, Feinsod and Karter in college, and I think I'll stop there for now, because the list for grad school gets too long.

2. What did they teach?
Kindergarten, Geography, English, Biology, Theater & Theater

3. What is your best memory from that class?
Wearing a crown to school, turning in a 56 page paper (in middle school!), the million grammar assignments on different colored paper, "the table," and lots of things.

4. Did you ever have a crush on a teacher and if so who?
Not that I can remember. Maybe I had an elementary school crush on Mr. Finch who taught art.

5. What is the craziest/wildest/weirdest thing you (or someone you know) ever did at school?
There is way too much to talk about here. I'll just say: getting hit in the head with a ten foot dildo.

The Friday Five that I usually answer is all about the Oscar's this week. And guess what...I haven't seen any of the movies nominated. So there's no point in answering it. The other Friday Five that I usually find stupid, is stupid. So that solves that problem. I'm on the verge of starting my third exam question, which deals with gender and post-human subjectivity. I'm really looking forward to writing it. Though I am still procrastinating, as you can see from this post. Perhaps the fact that there is no Friday Five was a warning sign to get my keister in action. I think I'll do that. Ciao.

Cheney's Got a Gun

(First, I have to remark -- I love the title. I just heard that song on the radio a week and a half ago. How foretelling.)

1. Do you have good hand-eye coordination?
In some things, yes. In others, no. I was pretty good at video games "for a girl." And yes, I was told that once when I was playing some game at a BJ's with Andrew and Chris. As I was kicking some ass, some kid walked up and told me that. fool.

2. Have you ever held a gun?
I've held and shot a bb gun. I've also shot a stage gun. And I've done some skeet shooting too.

3. What do you think of toy guns?
I used to play with toy guns all the time when I was little. I'm not that screwed up from it. At least, I don't think I am. I still have an affinity for cap guns.

4. When is the last time you asked for forgiveness?
It's Cheney's last I.O.U.

Oh, I totally fucked up the lights one night when I was board op'ing the show. It was terrible. Luckily it was at the very end, and well, I screwed up the final black out. And you may think that's really bad, but it's really not as bad as screwing up the lights during a scene, which I've seen done and that's not a pretty sight. Coincidentally, it was after that show that I heard "Janie's got a gun" on the radio, and I have to say, it cheered me up quite a bit.

5. Your favorite Aerosmith song:
Oh, I'm a sucker for "Sweet Emotion." Don't make fun of me!

So, if you're wondering, I am in the middle of my A exams right now. I'm trying to decide whether to start Question #2 now and trust the hypnogogic state to get me through the worst part of the paper (the beginning is always the most difficult for me). Or do I start question #2 tomorrow morning, and give myself a few hours off (and a few hours sleep).

Weekend Update

1. Any plans to watch the Super Bowl?
Unfortunately, no. I had to light board operate during the Superbowl. Surprisingly, we had 64 people in the audience -- which isn't bad for a little black box show. I got scores over headset and during intermission. It sounded like a good game, and I'm sorry I missed the revelry. Though admittedly, I probably wouldn't have watched it anyway, with the ever A exams getting ever so closer.

2. Friday or Saturday: Which is a better date night?
They're both good. Because Friday you want to celebrate starting off the weekend, and then Saturday, you want to relax in the middle of it.

3. Do you do anything special on the weekends that you don't do during the week?
I get to see Mike! We work on the house.

4. Where do you get your news from?
NPR, BBC World News, Boston.com, and CNN.com I really should start reading the New York Times, since I'm a New Yorker.

5. Kevin, Norm, Colin, Jimmy, Tina or Amy?
Amy. I have no idea what this is referring to, and therefore I must be completely out of the loop.

School started this week. I'm TA'ing for International Film of the 1970's this time, so if you need a resource for 70's film after the semester is over, that resource is me. So far we've watched "Medium Cool" and "Easy Rider." I'm a little sad we won't be watching "The Godfather," but I guess I shouldn't be all that disappointed given I watched it twice over the break.

I've mostly been having meetings and not getting enough reading done. Today I begin fulfilling my crew requirement as part of the directing minor.

What I am to you is not real

1. Age?
28. Getting ever closer to the big 30.

2. Sex?
I'll avoid making the expected joke here, and just say "female."

3. Location?
Ithaca, NY. In awhile it will be a lot closer to NYC, which I'm happy about.

4. Single?
Nope. Though I have to say, when Mike's away, I'm a slob.

5. How long have you been doing the fridayfiver?
I've been doing the Friday Fiver ever since thefridayfive.org closed down. I have to admit: I enjoyed the Friday Five a lot more than the Friday Fiver. But I guess sometimes you just have to let things go.

Today I bowled at the department bowling/lunch/party. It was a lot of fun. At first, I didn't even know how to throw the ball. I kept telling people that I had only done candlepin bowling before. Most people looked at me like I was crazy. Candlepin bowling? What? Yes, they really didn't know what it was. So I played three games and first got a 42, then an 83, then a 94. I almost broke 100 on that last one!!! The good thing is (I guess) is that I won the department prize for lowest score. O.K., so perhaps it is a little embarrassing.

Next week school starts again, and my first two weeks are crazy hectic because we have search candidates coming, and I'm a light board operator for a show. And, of course, I still have to read!!! But I'm getting down to the books I'm much more familiar with now, so I don't feel as worried as I once was.

Here's a little Friday Five:
Tardy

1. Are you timely or always late?
A little of both. Sometimes I'm late to things. Like I'm always a little late leaving Ithaca for a family destination. But that's because I have so much to do before I leave! I just can't help it. But I'm ontime for things like class and meetings (*knock on wood*).

2. Do you wear a watch?
I did. I want to still, but I replaced the battery in September and the battery stopped working after two days. I don't know whether to go back to the same place -- if their batteries are bad, or what.

3. What is the most important event you have been late for?
My bridal shower. I wanted to do my nails before going to Sirro's for lunch (the alibi). I'm not really sure how late I was, but I was late.

4. What kind of system you have for keeping track of your bills?
Oh, a mad system involving different colors of highlighter for different months on the bank statement, and organized bill files. I love it.

5. What is your favorite time of day?
Most often it's night, but I could really go for a day on the beach in the Carribbean right now.

my life is fairly uneventful right now. Basically, I get up, I get dressed (or I just stay in my bathrobe and pajamas), and I read. I occasionally watch The Simpsons. I eat sometimes. But that's about it. Today, however, I'm going to the DMV to register (I hope) my 13 year old Toyota Camry with New York plates. Meanwhile, Mike is at his first day at IBM..

So here's a Friday Five for a little excitement.

Geico

1. Have you broken any New Year's resolutions yet?
No. Because I didn't make any. Ha!

2. Broken any bones?
Sometimes I have a suspicion that I broke my rib skiing last year. But other than that, I'm good.

3. When is the last time someone else broke your heart?
December 21.

Johnny Damon -- how could you? You could have gone to any other team. Sigh.

4. What is the most expensive item you've ever broken?
My previous computer broke because of an ice storm in Kansas -- but I guess I in particular didn't break that. Otherwise I'm not sure.

5. What phrase are your tired of hearing over and over again?
I've actually been watching so much Simpsons, I have to admit that I'm a little sick of hearing "The Simpsons" sung at the beginning of each episode. I think that part of the problem is that this little ditty is also at the beginning of each disc. And because my DVD player goes crazy if it doesn't get shut off. So every time I watch an episode, I hear it at least twice.


Bonus: Why is this Friday Five called Geico? Is it some add I missed? It's a strange coincidence since I've been on the phone with Geico three times in the past week. Though I have to say that thus far, Geico is all good. They have excellent customer service.

Christmas and New Year's were good. We travelled from Connecticut to Massachusetts to Connecticut to New York. I'm hoping that next year we can have holiday dinners and then just go home, since we'll be so much closer. I received many lovely gifts including The Simpsons seasons 6 & 7. It's great to have two Simpsons seasons to watch after Christmas as opposed to just one. Today is supposed to be the day I "return to work," but I'm apparently taking it leisurely. And just to demonstrate how much I'm procrastinating, here's a little survey.

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
I bought a house, put down two different kinds of wood floor, tiled, and renovated a kitchen.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions. I know that's not very spirited, but when I've made them in the past, they haven't worked out. Goals that have nothing to do with New Year's seem to work better.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousins Scott and Dena gave birth to twin girls! We saw them on Friday, and they are the cutest little girls ever!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. I believe that at least three people who work with Mike also gave birth this year...I think these babies were all boys. But the best thing is we get pictures. Incidentally, Mike and I are the only couple without children at the CNF. That won't be the same deal at IBM. So no pressure.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Canada! For a conference! It's so damn expensive!!! Don't go to Canada. The exchange rate sucks.
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
A vacation with my husband somewhere out of the country.
7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 17, 2005 because that's when we purchased our house.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
O.K., I think I've already mentioned that one, and you're probably all sick of it by now.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't really know. I didn't get some stuff I applied for -- an award, a paper presentation, and a directing spot. I suppose those were rejections -- but I don't like to think of them as failures, because that's defeatist.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
My f-ing hip problem came back. And I was sick during the summer with the flu. Ugh! Having a temperature during a heat wave is a pain in the bum!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Guess.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mike, who works hard at home and at the lab.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Numerous politicians. Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Libby, and Bush mostly.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Guess again!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Other than saying "guess," I will say that I'm really excited about Dena and Scott's babies.
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
L'Via L'Viaquez by The Mars Volta
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:i. happier or sadder? ii. thinner or fatter? iii. richer or poorer?
The same. Thinner. Are they talking about $$$ or quality of life? The same on both counts.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Vacationing! Traveling while on vacation to a lovely faraway place!
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Painting.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? Mike and I were at his grandmother's house for Christmas Eve, where she makes many kinds of fish (with help from Uncle Ed). We slept at Mike's mother's house and had Christmas dinner there.
22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Every year moreso.
26. What was the best book you read?
Oh jeez! Maybe "Perform or Else" by Jon McKenzie? I'm not counting the one's I reread for exams.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Daddy Yankee?
28. What did you want and get?
Guess.
29. What did you want and not get?
I think this was answered under "failures."
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Hmmm...new film? I really didn't find to many I enjoyed this year. Mike and I haven't seen a film that we REALLY liked in a long time. So I'll go with older films that I saw for the first time this year. "Flat is Beautiful" "Un Chien Andalou" and "Rejected"
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
28!!! That's late 20's. No longer mid 20's. Mike and I went to a restaurant in Ithaca called Olivia's, which thankfully we haven't been to since. And we went to Batman Begins -- a great disappointment. (Especially since they put the last reel of the movie on before the second to last one and didn't realize it for several minutes).
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I think I've already mentioned that whole vacation idea.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
I think I'll wear this again because I don't have to iron it.
34. What kept you sane?
Mike.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I give John McCain a lot of credit for pushing that "no-torture" clause.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm pretty upset at Target still for allowing their pharmacists to deny prescriptions for women's birth control and emergency contraception based on the pharmacist's religious beliefs. Note that this does not apply to a cashier selling condoms!
37. Who did you miss?
I miss not being close to family -- which should change soon.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
It's hard to narrow this down. I met a lot of great people.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
Taking down a garage is a lot easier than redoing a kitchen.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Jokes and jokes and jokes and jokes.
spaghetti spaghetti spaghetti

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Johnny Damon.

Why Johnny Damon?

Thus far, the mouse has evaded two of the traditional mousetraps, baited several times, one have a heart trap purchased at Agway, and one have a heart trap constructed by none other than Mr. Michael Guillorn. I hate to say it, but it looks like sticky traps might be in this mouse's future.

For today's Friday five, it might help to know that i'm in the grad office.

1. What is the oldest object in the room with you?
I'm guessing it's one of the books on these shelves.

2. What is the newest?
The blueberry muffin I'm eating? I hope...

3. What is your favorite object in the room with you?
For the moment, it's this delicious and warm cup of coffee, which actually, now that I think about it, is probably the newest item also.

4. What is the most valuable object?
My palmpilot. Yes, I know what you're thinking...isn't she typing on a computer? But girl, you haven't seen the computers in the grad office -- it's a regular old museum in here.

5. What is the ugliest object?
Boy, that's tough...there's so many!! I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the ugliest object is no longer here, but was here for a long time. That would be the old couch and chair. God, those were just terrible!

Kudos to those of you who know the reference in my last post.

Here's The Friday Five

Head to Toes

1. What's on your feet?
Green slippers. They each have a snowflake on them.

2. Turn to your right -- what do you see?
A bookshelf filled with books I have to read before March.

3. What is the last thing you ate?
Pretzel Goldfish.

4. What can you smell right now?
Pretzel Goldfish.

5. Do you wear hats?
Fuck yeah. It's cold out!

I am

a

baNANa!

It's only Wednesday and I'm itching for another Friday five. Actually I'm just itching to avoid reading...which I really can't do for much longer today. I'm also itching to avoid going outside. It's extremely cold out. With the windchill, it's 5 degrees, and my car is parked way, way, way out in A Lot. Yes, I'll be taking the bus out there.

Mike and I have a mouse...or mice. We're not sure which. But I bought those traditional mousetraps -- the kind that snap the mouse's neck. Yes, the kind you see in cartoons. And I put some peanut butter on them for bait. So I pick Mike up from work yesterday, and he asks some sort of question about the traps while looking at them. And I reply, "There's lots of peanut butter on them." And he says, "What peanut butter?" And he's right. There's no peanut butter on the damn traps. Moreover, the mouse (mice)managed to get it four times. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I'm silly to even try to use these traps. But I used them in Kansas and caught many a mouse. Same trap. Same peanut butter. Unfortunately, this mouse (these mice) is going to make me break down and buy a "Have a Heart Trap." Maybe it's a Secret of Nimh mouse, like Jonathan(s). Or I could be really vicious and buy that sticky stuff. But to tell you the truth, I'm just not that cruel. At least the current kind of traps kill the mouse immediately. The sticky one's torture them...horrible.

1. When is the last time you rode the bus?
Hmmm...I rode the bus this past Wednesday from the parking lot where my car is to central campus.

2. Describe the last time you stood up for a cause:
I'm alway standing up for caused over e-mail. I think my most recent e-mail was to Senator Clinton with regard to Scalito. Right now, I'm most mad at Target, because they're allowing their pharmacists to tell customers that they won't fill their Plan B prescriptions if it is against the pharmacists' religion to do so. Obviously, this is EXTREMELY PROBLEMATIC!!!! Boo Target.

3. Have you visited Alabama?
No!

4. Have you ever attended a rally?
Uh, like a pep rally? Hell, I was chair of the Pride Committee in high school!

5. Have you ever been arrested?
No...knock on wood.

This is the last week of classes. And for the first time, I don't have any papers due or finals to study for. Just some major exams in March to work on. But what's nice is that I can stay at home and read every day starting on Monday. Of course, I might go to school so that I don't drive up my heating costs. But the nice thing is that I can spend time reading.

Thanksgiving went well...despite the fact that I drove all over CT and over some of MA. At least I didn't run into any major traffic. We did, of course, run into a terrible snowstorm leaving Ithaca to go to CT. All the roads were closed and we encountered many new places in central NY while trying to find a major highway. But at least we didn't have to go through Lisle -- the sketchiest place on earth. When we returned to Ithaca on Saturday, we ate at Aiello's -- which was a long awaited date. It was really quite disappointing. Ah well, to each her own. After that, we drove to Ithaca, unpacked the car and went immediately to Harry Potter. I think the adaptation of this one was excellent. Even if some of the acting was not as good. At least the movie overall was better than Prisoner of Azkaban (I mean come on, they didn't even attribute the Marauder's map to Lupin, Potter, Black, & Wormtail in that one!!!).

This week we also saw Sex & Lucia, which is a Spanish film. It's really good, and it's all about sex. Since then we've watched a couple episodes of Mr. Show, Season III. This is far better than Season I.

1. On what day do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
Thursday! A week ago.
2. How do you traditionally celebrate this food filled holiday?
I have dinner with either my family or Mike's. I eat Turkey. I enjoy pumpkin bread. I take a nap.
3. How do you like your stuffing cooked (in the bird, separately in a dish, store bought, etc.)?
I actually don't like stuffing...so there.
4. What is your favorite dessert to eat on Thanksgiving and who makes it?
Well, it depends where I am. And it seems that we have different desserts all the time. This time I had apple pie that my Aunt Mary made -- with ice cream of course. It was delicious!
5. Can you name five things you are thankful for?
I can name a million things I'm thankful for.
1. love, 2. food, 3. family, 4. friends, 5. work

1) What is your favorite noise to hear?
The ocean.

2) If you could live in any era of time, what would you choose and why?
Hmmm...I'd like to live in 5th c. B.C. Ancient Greece to observe, but I definitely think if I did that, I'd much prefer to be a man. Women had it pretty damn rough in Greece at that time.

3) You just found $50 while cleaning your house. Where do you decide to spend it?
Gee, this really isn't a lot of money. I'd probably put it in my wallet and use it for bus money, coffee money, muffin money, lunch money, etc. I know that's boring, but come on!

4) What magazines to you subscribe to/read on a normal basis?
"Newsweek" and "This Old House" I told Mike that if we live in the WC, we'll have to subscribe to "The New Yorker." His reply was "We are NOT getting a subscription to 'The New Yorker.'"

5) If you could witness any event in history, but not change anything about it, what would you choose and why?
Humanity's first written symbol/word/picture. I just want to know how it happened.


Was it the result of some monolith?

I don't think that they'll be a Friday Five...not at least until Sunday, because on Sunday I'll be back from my conference -- ASTR.

So instead, I'll give you the big news. Mike and I will be moving to somewhere just outside NYC. Mike got a job at IBM. He'll start in January, and then I'll move out there when the house sells (which hopefully will be June or thereabouts (crossing my fingers). I'll have finished my 3 year residency at Cornell at that point, and can move anywhere while I finish my dissertation. So that's the plan. I'd like to live right in the city, but I don't think I'd ever actually get my dissertation done if I did that. So it will be good to be able to go in there to do research and then go somewhere "home" to write.

Of course, this means that we'll be selling the house a year after we purchased it and, may I add, renovated it. So that's not good.

Blogger, or the computer I was working on, erased two of my blogs today. The first one was actually about things happening in my life -- like an upcoming trip to Toronto, a demolished garage, and a skirt that just didn't work out. The second was a quote from Overheard in New York.

I'll leave the two empty posts there in memorium of words lost to the internet.

1. What is your shoe size?
7.5
2. How many hours did you sleep last night?
Wow. I slept a lot. I wouldn't even say "last night" because some of last night carried into today. However much it was, it was needed. Now I feel rested and ready to read my Deleuze.

3. Area code of your phone number:
607 for my home phone. 617 for my cell phone. This confuses MANY people.

4. Last grade of school completed:
Boy. Do I say Master's or do I say 2nd year of Ph.D.? Or do I say 12th? After all, that's the last grade.

5. Time it takes you to get ready in the morning:
My husband says it always takes me at least 40 minutes. If I shower, it takes longer. But whether I eat breakfast or no, it seems to take 40 minutes.