TITTWIS 43 - Sandbox Edition

Drop J. off at preschool, take nap, study some, pick J. up, lunch, study more. Tonight a college friend is coming to stay over night; I haven't seen her in 8 years! She will be giving a reading from her new book at St. Olaf and then tomorrow night another one at the U of M.

(ex-smokers often become fervently anti; maybe it's the same with internet hardmen)

Bullying is a pain. do you mean enough of ILE? I just ignore the bullying (or try) I've enjoyed ILx as a time-wasting tool for far too long to abandon it.

grout, this is just idle, topicless talk. great for time-wasting!

what dvd?

I ignore any silliness on ILX; I just enjoy the parts that I enjoy and leave the rest. Perhaps it won't last, though.

I think I will take my nap now. And dream of cupcakes!

shame we lost our steam.

I'm still f*cking around with MS Sharepoint. hating it! (Also my therapist has instructed me to curse less. this is hard. I listen to too much rap music.)

Why ever the fuck would you want to fuckin' do that?

Michael, it kind of encourages negativity in me I think. I easily prone to anger and a good fit of cursing serves to make me more surly and just, grrr. Also she has asked that I try to live my life now in the manner of the type of mother I hope to be. (e.g. not sailor-mouthed and beer swilling) Which is an interesting and worthy challenge.

I fully support encouraging you to be CREATIVELY foul mouthed, however. Most people are too lazy and too predictable when they swear.

check out my brother's new custom shoe biz:

http://myspace.com/soleglowcustoms

He's really gotten rolling with this lately and has asked for my help. (Going to start by building a decent web site.) He's displaying them at a fashion/craft fair in Houston in a few weeks. Mostly the hip-hop/extreme crowd are into them. I'm excited for him, love the DIY, garage biz stuff.

That sounds like some weird 'ish' to me.

I intend to only teach my kids how to swear in French but I'm going to teach them the WORST curses. I think my favorite swearing language is Spanish, though. It just sounds right to me.

i always liked "scheisse" too.

A few French terms of abuse
'Le' is pronounced like if you started to say "look" but were quickly cut off.
I've marked the 'u's as being like 'oo' in 'toot' but to be exact, it's prononced by pursing the lips and saying 'ee'. Try it.

Le salaud (le sah-low)- Bastard, asshole, fucker. It's derived from the word 'sale' which means dirty.

La salope (la sah-lope)- Bitch, slut. The female version also has the connotation of easy sexual mores. Literally, 'bitch' is 'la chienne' (la she-en) but it's less prevalent than in English.

Le con (le con, the 'o' as in mow but the 'n' is that weird nasally 'n' of French) - Literally 'cunt', it means both stupid and malicious. It's used like dick/prick in English.

La conne (la cunn) - Female version of 'con'. 'Cunt' but not nearly as offensive as that word is in American English.

Le connard (le co-nar) - With suffixes to exagerate them, 'connard' and 'connasse' are essentially like 'con'. English has borrowed diminutive suffixes ('ette', for example) but no suffixes to denote that something is larger so we use auxilliaries; something like 'big fat prick' or 'fucking cunt'.

La connasse (la co-nass)- see previous

La pouffiasse (la poof-yass) Cunt, slag. If you call a girl this to her face, you'll likely get slapped.

La putain (la poot-a-as-in-'mad' and the French nasal thing)- Whore. It is also, with 'merde' (mared), the most common vulgar exclamation in French so, when said without the article ("Putain!"), it's equivalent to 'fuck!' 'Fils de pute' (feess de poot)is 'sonofabitch'.

L'enculé (lon-queue-lay)- Literally 'buggered' or 'sodomised', it's something like 'fucking asshole' in English.

Le trou du cul (le true doo queue) - Literally 'asshole'.

"Putain de merde! T'es un vrai enculé, tu sais?" could be translated as "Motherfucking shit! You're a real fucking asshole, you know?"

"C'est une poufiasse, celle-là." - "That one's a bitch."

"Ça t'amuse d'être si con tout le temps" - "Do you have fun being such a dick all the time?"

"Ve te faire enculer, connasse!" - Would be literally, "Go get yourself fucked in the ass, bitch."

It sounds too much like sneezing, which seems too twee to be effectively sweary.

Kids do learn the swear words that you spout out. When 4l3x was about 3 he started saying, "Shit! I mean 'shoot,'" because I kept trying to modify my swearing in front of him. I've given up and gone back to just plain swearing.

Maybe I should consider some of these other languages, though. Hmmmm.

I was taught salaud, saloppe, con (though interestingly not conne), putain and enculé at a young age by a frenchman who thought it was hilarious to hear little English girls being pottymouthed in furren. He also taught me bordelle*, in the bedroom = pigsty sense. I uttered a few of these mots during a French lesson once and got into all kinds of trouble with Mrs Willis. I just had no idea of their strength. I think it's funny now, but teenage Madchen was mortified.

*we should translate this expression into English. The Italians have che casino, after all.

What I should do is record me reading those so you have an idea of how to say them, Sam.

Quel bordel! Che casino! What a brothel! I just don't think it would work, Madchen. Maybe 'what a cathouse!'

this is the classic czech insult (jdi do prdel). the polish version is very similar.

Haha, there is a popular Glasgow nightclub called "the cathouse". Madchen has been known to frequent it.

And in Italian.

The English accent is kind of funny in French, though.

I remember my parents swearing at each other for nearly as long as I can remember, and they used to say words such as "damn" to me (i.e. mild expletives) starting from when I hit adolescence. But I was not allowed to swear, not even "damn", not even when I was 18 and accidentally said the word "damn" to my parents, which caused my mom to slap me hard. I didn't start getting away with swearing in front of my parents until I was 21, and even then it took a few years for me to stop flinching and apologizing after saying it. So French swear words could've been useful. And children who hear their parents swearing aren't necessarily likely to repeat it, at least not in front of their parents. (Especially if it'd been insinuated that that thing was not acceptable were the child to value his/her life.)

I'm starting to use moisturizers on a regular basis now, finally getting on board with that whole thing, and it's remarkable how I can actually FEEL the difference radiating from the inside of me. I had no idea my skin was that much in discomfort. I suppose that before my skin felt uneasy, uncomfortable, overly sensitive to things touching it. But now it feels like it's finally at rest. And it looks better too, less ashen and more like I suppose the way it's supposed to look after all my efforts to avoid the sun as much as I reasonably can.

Am kinda wary of hitting that Submit button, but oh well.

I kind of felt like all this effort paid off a bit at my last high school reunion when a friend's husband met both me and my sister (who is younger than me but married a classmate). He told me that I looked younger than her. So I say moisturize away!

But I don't want to give a negative response since you've told me not to.

I don't moisturise because I can't be arsed. I'm sure it'd probably help somehow if I did, but I'm managing just fine without.

Last night we finally removed our wall cabinets in prepreation for the new ones arriving on Friday. Oh my god the evidence of past termite damage was terrifying. . . Also having your food and dishes spread around the house is not fun. It's likely to be that way for weeks. :(

I need to upload some of the pics. I think I have about a month's worth of photos languishing on my camera!

Sam the termite thing sounds awful. The whole idea of termites freaks me out!

G. banished me and my asthmatic ways to the bedroom as he cleaned it all up but we will probably end up having to re-sheetrock that whole wall.

Our house is old by the way. This is what you get with old houses.

Also, I love the idea of a "termite dude."

Sara, I will post a link to the pics when I upload. It is fascinating yet horrifying at the same time (mostly b/c it's my kitchen.)

Tonight we are having our valentine's dinner since only fools go out to eat on actual valentine's.

Smart move going out tonight; actual Valentine's Day goings-out are overcrowded. We have no plans to go out at all; we haven't even been able to find a sitter so that we can go out for my birthday (which is rapidly fading into the past).

Are you going someplace special, Sam? Or trying something new?

I REALLY want a margarita now, too.

Ahem, not to worry, though; A. had a vasectomy after J. was born. (TMI alert!)

Which is nice.. Not packed restaurant and can pick the one we like / to try/ best!

xpost ditto. TMI also.

I have to finish stitching G.'s tonights. I hope he doesn't go overboard for me b/c in the end mine are nothing special.

I will also be watching Lost on vday!

It will be our 4th or 5th anti-Valentine's day dinner. We gather up our friends, especially the single ones and go out to dinner. The hardest res on 2/14 is a deuce but for a table for 12, it's a cinch.

My son is at this age right now where he REALLY gets a kick out of saying things that are ALMOST swears, ie "son of a biscuit!", "holy grits!" etc. Sometimes when I and other adults accidentally cuss or say things akin to cussing, he will ask "is that okay for kids to say?". I think he's hoping I slip up one day and goes running to his mom school "FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK...dad said it was okay!".

(stupid distance.)

Amber (nine nearly): "oh, Shall I turn it over?"

Blummin sensible kids.

I swear way more than I should and usually Al3x doesn't repeat it. (J. does sometimes, though). The funny thing is that Al3x will call me out on really mild words like, "crap," which are apparently not allowed in school. He just ignores it if I use serious swear words.

I should totally tell people I will babysit on Valentine's Day - I never thought of it. I mean, we have movies and a ton of video games and popcorn and ... yeah.

Eve de Harben?

Sam, it would be fun to watch LOST with people other than my husband, but most people are not fans of watching with closed captioning. I love it, though, because then I don't miss anything. (Kate chooses Sawyer, therefore proving that good taste occasionally prevails, even on network tv. I gotta say, though, that Jack's heroics made me almost like him.)

I want more Hurley, too. He's funny and sweet and therefore attractive.

Am I wrong for being shocked that a v-day card and a pack of hairbands just cost me $7.50. what the hell? shit be expensive. . .

Cards in general are insanely expensive. My mother has taken to not buying them and spending the money on a small thing of chocolates instead. I guess that wouldn't make much sense if you were sending chocolates already, though.

Cans of coke costing .75 sucks b/c you could used to be able to get a coke and a snack for one buck. :(

it got totally freaking frigid here this morning. boo. :(

Sorry to hear about the cold weather Sam. My car said it was 5 degrees out when I dropped J. off at preschool; it would be okay if there wasn't some wind. Brrrr.

I thought I would be virtuous and exercise this morning, but I'm just going to take a nap instead.

my allergies are acting up today to. as are my clients. bah. where is something good to entertain me?

Target actually has lots of cool, not so high cards. (well that's true for everything at target.)

do not want to be at work today.

I just bought poptarts downstairs in our vending machine, 2 for $1. they were apple strueduel. not even strawberry. :(

$4, ftr.

chris, the card accompanying my roses this morning said 'yeah I know it's valentine's day, but I would've been thinking about you anyway.' Which I guess sums up G.'s attitude. :)

see thats how i feel sam.

and also the sexing. (and molly's steaks, pls)

I am not expecting diamonds, though; maybe a book or something. I think last year A. got me a bunch of See's Candy, which I love.

(Oh yes, and happy Valentine's Day to all of you!)

flowers are nice but yes transitory. I really just want steaks. and sex.

Happy vday luna!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/390279080_6815dfc176_m.jpg

And yes, happy VDay everyone!

my coworker brought girl scout cookies. i'm about to snag one.

god, am i going to work today? all the work i've done so far is massively annoying which makes me not want to carry on. i have to find something more interesting.

(xpost to Sam) Well, diamonds could be considered a waste of money, I suppose, but so could almost any other gift. (books - you can get them from the library; flowers - gorgeous, but they die; chocolates - gone too fast and also lots of calories...). Actually, I'd be happy with any of the things you mention, though!

Also, I'm happy that I can stay home tonight and not have to spend the night in class. Oh, and I'm excited to hear about the kids' V-Day parties at school. They were both really excited about it when they left this morning.

the girl scout cookies are thin mints, bleh. I got the peanut butter patties the other day. num num.

I'm surprised to hear that kids have parties in school anymore! I thought most of them had been banished.

As for the Girl Scout Cookies, we have several Girl Scouts come to our door every year and we buy a box or two from each. Even in last weeks' insanely cold Minnesota weather! (Ahem, then we buy a case of Samoas from A's boss's daughter and stick them in the freezer so we can eat them all year).

Oh and Sara, my friend got the peanut butter for me but it hasn't arrived yet. He said it's amazing, though. I'm picking up bread and celery and Fluff today just to have, like, a day of peanut butter.

I will always call the Samoas "Samoas." I will have to check what the box says this year, though.

http://www.girlscoutsnegeorgia.org/Pictures/Cookie%20Images/samoa.jpg

Samosas are Indian pastries with spicy meat or vegetables inside, right?

Peanut butter: cinnamon-raisin, and sun-dried tomato! I'm opening one and saving one and haven't decided which.

Also, they do samples of everything at PB Loco, so if you go and the kids haven't exhausted you, pop in. Apparently it's a very friendly place.

I will eat peanut butter on a spoon, plain. Oooh, maybe I should make peanut butter cookies. Or chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips. Hmmmm. I'm STARVING now.

Weird admission of eating habits: I like to scrape the PB and chocolate off the Tagalogs with my teeth first. It's a once a year event.

For the record, I'll be spending my Valentine's evening making (and eating) Asparagus Jack Quesadillas and cupcakes and watching Lost (with Nick - 108 days to go!).

Old Termites, Let me show you them

Robot flipping bird means I love you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misery/391057591/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misery/391055281/

I love vans and want a whole wardrobe in different colors. The other day I was lamenting not having any in solid, neutral colors for "business" wear. (since I'm crazy web developer I'm given lots of leeway in attire but feel funny going to meetings full of directors in my hot pink skull head vans.)

im really missing spring and summer now that i have a yard to enjoy. i can't wait to sit on the screen porch or in the hammock with a cooler full of icey suds.

I miss sweating. Weird, huh? I mean, I sweat at the gym sometimes, but I need to get my tank top and flimsy skirt sweat going (accompanied by an Icee of course).

Those sound like awesome presents. Nick and I decided not to do presents for V day this year since we're shelling out the big bucks for our wedding rings this weekend, but damn were those german chocolate cupcakes ever delicious.

ah the wedding rings. its nice that mine cost $400 and hers cost $2800.

other weather has been bizarre. bitterly freezing in the morning, 60s and springlike in the afternoon. bah.

Unfortunately, it seems he fucked off to the Bahamas.

Sam, your robot guy turned out really cute! The termite damage... scary.

A. gave me some books and some chocolates (no vans) for Valentine's Day. Very good stuff!

Ned, I'm thinking seriously of going to the store to buy more chocolate. We wouldn't want our supply to flag before Easter...

I didn't mean to imply mine was bad at all, I just had a little too much to drink myself and got a little 'gosh I wish my Valentine wasn't so far away...'

Three bridesmaid's dresses people. Three.

Long distance relationships are difficult, I think; good for you for keeping one up, luna.

There's a woman at my son's school who is pregnant with her fourth baby; she's excited because this one *wasn't* conceived on Valentine's Day. (Mommies tell each other weird stuff, don't they. I don't even know this woman's name!)

Can you talk them into black bridesmaids dresses? (My bridesmaids wore black!) My sister made me wear a sage green dress with spaghetti straps and an empire waist. I looked like the Statue of Liberty.

One already decided she wants black (she's had her entire wedding planned for the last 5 years), and the other two I'm not sure of yet, but Jill's favorite color is hot pink, so I'm not holding my breath.

Also having a wedding planned for 5 years?! That is some obsessive organization. Maybe I just think that because I hated wedding planning and mostly let my mother take over (which was annoying in a lot of ways, but it kept her happy).

Black for a wedding is great! Very elegant. The bridesmaids at my wedding had black velvet dresses and carried red roses.

I've never been a bridesmaid. :(

my friend got married during a set break during her band's show, on stage. Me and the other two bridesmaids wore vintage black dresses of our choosing and carried a single lily. Mine was silk and from the 40s.

so let me correct myself, never been a bridesmaid in a church wedding.

I would like to be a bridesmaid again, I think - but not in a hot pink dress.

My mom's 2d marriage: a floor length revolting blue dress with sheer flowered sleeves and crystal buttons, very 70s. And hideous.

Jill & Bill: Startlingly electric blue strapless, with lace overlay and HUGE BOW at the hip. Ugh.

Dee & Jeff: Forest green puffy thing, plus white elbow length gloves. Yuck.

Savannah & Robert: A fucking orange dress with white lace, hoop skirt + parasol. Dear lord, we looked like Gone With the Wind barfed on us.

Susannah & Greg: Hot pink satin with tons of underskirt, another big fat bow, this time across the ass, plus a hat. I do not wear hats because they make me look somewhat like Debbie Gibson. Dreadful.

Sarah & Joe: Baby pink strapless tea length satin thing with black polka dots - actually not too bad.

Sharon & Al: pumpkin orange horror. Puffed sleeves, huge skirt, lots of lace and bows. I felt like the Bride of the Great Pumpkin, and not in a good way.

Victoria & Steve: Beige satin and lace sheath THING, with elbow length gloves and gold old lady shoes. Gross.

Cyndi & Tony: Black floor length with huge weird rhinestone 'design', skirt big enough to smuggle an entire refugee village across the mountains, and we all had to have the same hair, makeup and jewelry. I had to burn the pictures, we all look insane.

Candy & James: We were all in pastel nightmares - mine was baby blue - lots of lace, too many bows, also with a parasol.

Sherri & Toma: Vile green tulle netting. I can't talk about it.

Jenn & Travis: Strapless red floor length, probably my favorite among them.

Laurie & Carol: We got to pick whatever we wanted - probably my favorite wedding.

Do you see?

Wise.

I have never worn a dress to a wedding. :-/

I AWAIT THE DAY.

Hmmm. It should be the weekend, frankly. I am tired.

wtf is up with big bows, parasols and elbow-gloves? Do weddings just bring out the 8 yr old in women?

My wedding dress came with a butt bow; I had them cut it off. I don't understand the propensity of dress designers to ruin a perfectly good dress with huge bows.

Also, I want to come to your party, luna!

But I certainly can't imagine doing something like passing it on to a daughter; "Here's a dress I wore when I married someone who wasn't your father."

Of course you can come, Sara. I can't decide if it should be a weekend of events so there could be costume changes, or just the one night.

My wedding dress is hanging in the closet in its bag. I'd like it if J. were to wear it someday, but I think it's unlikely because she has Coolidge genes and is apt to be a lot taller than me - and have a long waist instead of a short one.

I keep wanting to start a "what do you look like in your wedding photos" thread on ILX, but I think I'll wait until we get back to the other place. Mostly because if I'm going to post more photos of me, I'd like them to be on the day I had my hair and make-up done by a professional.

Thread'll just get hijacked by people wanting to go on about how marriage is the worst thing ever, won't it?

Oh, I was wondering where the words from my mouth went.

!!

I'm only working until 11 today. How much work will I actually get done? place bets now please.

I also brought in a king cake. sugar and coffee and coffee and sugar. .

Yeah, Sam, and afterwards I had to go deal with my rather prudish in-laws. I can still speak French when stoned but I had the worst cottonmouth. Since my wife's sister and brother spoke a smattering of English they mingled with my friends and family well enough but their parents needed someone besides their kids to make them part of the festivities and translate for them. It was kind of hilarious, actually, but smacked of work a bit.

time not spent looking at Ilx?

You're reception actually sounds like it was kind of fun.

my eyes and nose are itchy, damn allergies.

Michael, your reception sounds like it could be a movie!

Isn't it early for allergies, Sam?

I get no long weekend. :(

xpost - mold and cedar are high in TX right now.

Oh hell yes.

Ned, I don't think I've EVER started an ILM thread!

And I want some King Cake! Yum. (Did you make it yourself Sam? Also - is it already that close to Lent? Whoa.)

I have a take home test to do over the weekend. BLAH.

HA!

In fact I shouldn't even call it a king cake as I bought it at the grocery store. oh the shame. I just wanted to bring something in this morning since my boss is letting me leave early. I've had three slices already and still no baby!

(yes it's almost lent. My aunt and uncle are leaving for NOLA in the morning. so jealous.)

I hope I'm remembering that all right.

Usually served near Mardi Gras, I think.

Found poetry!

Haha - no, if that was true Sara, I'd be disowned. It's bad enough that I don't like lobster.

I was referring to my bosses being helpless bitches with my hate post, though.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/lasttycoon/killfile2.jpg
and I hate people less as a result.

Real life killfile takes 30 days to finish loading, though.

(My husband doesn't like it either, though.)

it's neat to live in a city that gets into mardi gras.

She's in tight with an exquisite (one michelin star) sushi restaurant in Sausalito down the street from her business called Sushi Ran.

Mmmmm sushi. And in the Bay Area, too. I'm so envious I could cry! (But I won't because it would just be embarrassing.)

I've never had lobster mostly b/c the way they are cooked horrifys me. I have had crab though and I suppose they are cooked the same way? Didn't really like it anyway.

we tore up our kitchen all weekend. New cabinets came in Friday and one wall's worth was installed along with the new dishwasher! Haven't had a dishwasher in two years so this is exciting. After this week though I will be without a kitchen sink for about a month, not good.

Other than painting I mostly supplied support and good ideas (re: how to actually install the cabinets.) G. tore shit up and discovered he had to not only reroute more pipes but install NEW 2X4s in the walls. Replacing main pieces of the basic house structure really defines this renov. as top to bottom. more pics later.

http://static.flickr.com/76/204323335_bd236e62a4.jpg

In the west of France they serve weird stuff like bulots (whelks) and bigorneaux (periwinkles). Mmmmmmm.

We could go to Swan's Oyster Depot.

Molly, I'm so happy to hear that someone else on earth does not love scallops. I find them to be rubbery and tasteless, too, and just don't see what everyone else loves about them.

Sam - it sounds like you had a crazy busy weekend.

Um - good morning to all!

Gm, Sara.

Ben cooked some gigantic fresh ones up and wrapped them in BACON for New Year's Eve. We ended up getting sick.

They tasted much better, but I took that as a sign: No scallops for Molly.

Oh, and while I love smoked salmon, I must admit: salmon steaks do nothing for me either.

And this has been today's episode of "Molly's Seafood Dislikes."

This is exactly the terrible device that caused me to suffer from horrible food poisoning during my one and only business trip to Cannes - and since I had 38 meetings booked and no-one to take my place I had to soldier on.

I still love seafood though. Maybe not ice-cold any more.

Raw clams are great too.

OTM

I love ume onigiri. Oh man. The sushi joint in Bloomington that I liked so much had them on the back page, and they were one of my backups if I couldn't decide what else I wanted along with scallop and sweet shrimp sashimi.

an ethiopian rest. is opening up here, so excited.

I don't think I've had onigiri! But it looks delicious! I'll tell you one thing, I don't love Uni. I do, however love the flying fish eggs and salmon roe.

When I visited Japan in 1996, you could get onigiri from vending machines. They were surprisingly good. I have a friend who makes them as well, but since she moved to Iowa, I haven't had them for a while.

I haven't had eth. in many years but am looking forward to it again. actually I look forward to eating all foods. who am I kidding?

Ava REQUIRES petting. Now!

Pushy little broad is more like it.

Biff is a total loud mouth too. He's such a punk, but then he does adorable things like curling up next to you and resting his head against your cheek.

Neither she nor our other shelter pet, Missy, are grateful. I constantly threaten to return them to their concrete kennels if they don't show us some respect. Only Bandit, gotten off of craigslist, is loving and thankful.

Also it was Roma III, pedantic I know...

just returned from a pysch visit, 3 hours late to work, $200 and two vials of blood lighter. ugh. also a new script. for buspar. supposed to reign in my anxiety and "chatter". we'll see.

i'm pretty happy med-wise right now and don't really want to f with things but apparently buspar is pretty mild. maybe it will work. who knows.

still dragging from fasting for blood draw all morning. waiting to meet with boss. boo.

What's up with ethan this morning starting 10 million jean teasdale-esqe threads?

And we're back to why I started this thread in the first place! Finally, someone gets it.

Anyway, happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

happy mardi gras to you too!

Happy Mardi Gras, TITTWISers!

And yes - happy Mardi Gras!

"I don't feel well enough to work. Do you mind if I go drink, instead?"

Happy Cherry Pie Day, too.

oh man. . .now I really want cherry pie. (and beer.)

I feel like I want something else to eat besdies my lean cuisne but can't think of anything I want. (probably a good sign I don't need anything.)

I need to shut up and get back to php'ing and documentation-writin' and other lovely things.

Le sigh. I miss my mornings in Besancon.

(i wish)

In slang, at least.

Literally, it means: that makes me shit. But it's great for saying that something sucks. "Mon boulot? Ça me fait chier." (My job? It sucks)

/end rant.

(Second-worst or worst: because I live on the town line, hardly anyone delivers.)

Paying to join a public library Tep? Sacre bleu! (But I'm spoiled with a good public library system, plus the two college libraries right in town.)

xp; yeah, you only have to pay if you aren't a resident. When I was a kid, we joined the Nashua Library (the town I live in now, but not then) because it was so much bigger that it was worthwhile. But that was $60 or so in 1980s dollars, so I guess the $100 for the smaller library now is cheaper, in constant $.

The show is Hipbilly Jamboree. You can stream it from there if you like. The sound is a bit whack, but I hope you can hear the joke where he claims to be Anna Nicole's baby daddy. I think it starts around 8:34 in.

I have an 8:30 mtg, at my place. that's far, far too early.

So you're a writer? How cool and interesting! I have a couple of published writer friends (Maryjanice Davidson and Emily Rapp), and I am so amazed by their careers. Actually, I'm even just amazed at the idea that - at least in MJ's case - she has to motivate herself to get her job done.

Motivation can be tricky. I'm currently working on an "easy 100,000 word novel" (that's standard length) as a break from my giant 250K-300K novel that I spent all last year working on, because spending that long on something without finishing was giving me a weird remix of cabin fever. It's exactly the kind of thing that would normally be a terrible idea -- usually that's how people wind up with eleven first chapters and no final chapters -- but I think in this case it's the way to go.

Tep - wow, a 250K novel?! I can barely motivate myself to read 10 pages to study for a quiz lately. Your motivation is impressive and terrifying!

i've had some articles and stuff published before but I'm aiming for a book, preferably fiction. Not an easy or short term task but I think it's doable before I die. Not like wanting to be a rock star or model or something.

Yeah, it's big. Starts in the 50s when the protagonist is 13, goes up to the 2010s or so when he has grandkids. I'm 80K or so in right now, in the mid-1960s. Multiple viewpoints, the works. This is my big one.

I've just been doing this so long now, though, and made it such a focus, that I don't really know how to not write. Anything's easy/easier if you do it all the time.

81?! It is in the high 30s and low 40s in Minnesota and honestly, after that last couple of weeks, it feels tropical. I'd take 81 for a day, though.

Poems are hard to me! Fewer words are harder to write since you have to be so much more careful with them.

The only thing I wrote yesterday was answers to a physiology quiz. Answers I did not know, btw. (Thankfully, the prof drops our two lowest quiz scores. But I'd better improve by next week.)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002U45.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And then he told me blonde jokes. Charlie Louvin is a CARD!

I'm clueless about Charlie Louvin (and country music in general), but he sounds pretty fun!

I just got my hair cut and spent way too much money on product. Having curly hair is a bitch.

Vienna

Prague

My upcoming trip is looking kinda rough.

ahh, duh. I knew the name was familiar. I actually used to date a guy whose brother duo patterened themselves largely on the louvin bros. eons ago.

I once created a file for one of the biggest Bollywood film stars. He had great press shots of himself. I wanted to keep them and hang them all over my cube.

(Kids are a huge, relentless job and don't let anyone tell you any different!)

Sam, we should trade for a day! (Today would be good; it's even 45 degrees out here, so the weather wouldn't scare you off in 5 minutes.)