Friday Random Ten—The Foolish Edition

Take your iPod, set it to shuffle, and write down the first ten songs it plays for you. No cheating. No skipping. No wishing. No fooling.

1. Till the Heart Caves In—kd lang—Drag
2. Strawberry Wine—Pat Benatar—Synchronistic Wanderings
3. Headshots—Suzanne Vega—Nine Objects of Desire
4. Just a Little Bit of Love—Céline Dion—Let's Talk About Love
5. Back to My Roots—RuPaul—Supermodel of the World
6. Mon bel amour d'été—Mireille Mathieu—Les plus grands succès
7. It's Only Love—Tina Turner—All the Best
8. Je suis mon cœur—Lara Fabian—Nue
9. It Only Hurts When I Breathe—Shania Twain—Up!(The Green Album)
10. Le mur—Barbra Streisand—Je m'appelle Barbra

I have a problem. There's a guy in blogland who I've been reading for a couple of years now. He's very intelligent and compassionate, yet he's got a rough side, I can tell. He's adorably cute. He grew up in the same part of the country that I did; we're the same age; our lives are remarkably different. We shared a zip code for years after that, and I didn't know it. And then he moved (for all intents and purposes) to the other side of the world. But thanks to the Internet, I can still peek into his life, and I can see how easy it would be to totally fall in love with him if I ever had a chance to spend more than fifteen minutes talking to him.

I don't "fall" easily anymore. My life has shown me enough to make me know better than to let that happen. I have become hardened to all of that funky emotion stuff, unless I'm watching a cheesy movie that makes me cry. But when I read the prose that this guy creates, I can't help but know that I've found someone so compatible with me and my own idea of the perfect man that I know it will never happen. Of course there's the whole mutuality thing:

Will he like me when we meet?
Will the shy and quiet boy he's going to see
Be the boy that he's imagined me to be?
Will he like me?
Will he like the boy he sees?
If he doesn't will he know enough to know
That there's more to me than I may always show?
Will he like me?
Will he know that there's a world of love
Waiting to warm him?
How I'm hoping that his eyes and ears
Won't misinform him.
Will he like me?
Who can say?
This evening seems a million years away.
It's insanity to worry so all day.
I'll try not to.
Will he like me?
He's just got to...

Do you see the problem?

Civic Duty

So I'm in the City this afternoon, sitting at the intersection of Front and Broadway waiting for the light to change. Two cars ahead of me, the driver decided to make the two-way Front Street a one-way in our direction by pulling out from behind the first car and pulling up to the intersection. The light turned green, and the idiot turned left onto Broadway. Then the car directly ahead of me tried to do the same thing but failed to see that there was a car on the other side of Broadway who wanted to cross into the two-way Front Street. I started honking at the lady in the red Honda, but she kept going, and I kept honking. She and her passenger looked out the back window to see me waving them back into the proper lane and yelling out the window that "it's a two-way street," and when they saw the old man crossing Broadway, trying to get into Front Street, they waved either a "thank you," or a "yeah right, we're idiots, too." I yelled back at them to stop following the leader, think for themselves, and read the street signs. As I step off my teeny tiny soapbox, I feel good that I was able to help someone on the streets of San Francisco in ways other than donating spare change.

I ♥ Madonna

1. Renewal :: Both my driver's license and my car tags are up for renewal in the same month this year. How much more money can California take from me at one time? I shouldn't ask that question.
2. Someone to talk to :: My best friend
3. Count :: Sesame Street: ten unconscious mutterings! A ha ha ha ha! I love that he is purple and has little fangs.
4. Expiration :: Don't drink the milk.
5. Upload :: Peer-to-peer, man.
6. Publish :: It's my job.
7. Holy :: Resquiat in pace.
8. Change in the air :: It smells good.
9. Titillating :: Bette Midler
10. Glorious :: Sunshine and rainbows

I spent Sunday in the City again. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to on Saturday, spending most of the afternoon cruising in Golden Gate Park (another story for another day...or another website), so I went back to finish it up. It was just as crowded with "out-of-towners" as Saturday was. All the behemoth, diesel-spewing Ford F-350s and their passengers from Modesto, Manteca, Stockton, and other points east who decided that Sunday was a good day to visit "San Fran" or "Frisco" crowded up the Bay Bridge toll plaza thinking that the Fastrak-only lanes were regular toll booths, like the signs and big flashing yellow lights weren't enough of to show that these lanes were different. And then when they got off the bridge and drove down Bay Street or Folsom or Howard, the four tires on one axle were so wide that they couldn't stay in their lane, causing even more commotion to which they responded with hoots and hollers. Yeah. Wave that cowboy hat in the air, you sweet thing, and show us your Wrangler butt while you're at it. Oh right and don't forget the loud mouths down at Moscone out there protesting Comcast because they don't care or some shit, tying up traffic and basically being a nuisance, but long live the First Amendment, you know. Look, I totally respect those who want to go out there on their (larger) soapboxes and preach the injustices of the world, but the Comcasts of the world, the multi-million- or multi-billion-dollar companies just don't give a rat's ass how many people protest or for what reason. There are that many and more who will still subscribe to their services because there's nothing else out there for them to choose. So, while your efforts are all valiant and such like that, it's all just wasted air, doncha know? Gawd, am I really that jaded? I guess not jaded enough to still love and admire Madonna, in any of her various incarnations, well maybe not the whole True Blue thing, but I really really do. I still think she's great, critics be damned!

I ♥ My iPod, too

But I hate that I can't belt out the tunes I'm listening to at work! I mean, come on, when "Beauty School Drop-out" from the Grease OST comes along, who doesn't want to shout it out? "They couldn't teach you anything, you think you're such a looker. But no customer would go to you unless she was a hooker!"

On an unrelated note, I left my little flash drive thingy at home today. It's plugged into my Mac where I left it last night. And all of my pet projects that keep me busy during the day while I'm waiting for stuff to publish are on the flash drive, so now I'm looking for stuff to do that won't get me in trouble.

Even more unrelated: A couple of nights ago, we made penne alla vodka, à la Lidia and her Italian-American kitchen, and I brought some of the left-overs for lunch today. Lidia is the best, I swear. This stuff was so good, I can't stand it!! And of course, we were very liberal with our vodka. It's a tomato-cream sauce with vodka added to it, and sitting here, I'm wondering if there was too much vodka in the sauce, or if we didn't let the alcohol cook off entirely because, gee I feel great! A little buzz in the afternoon, watching all the busy little bees be never hurt anyone, right?

OK, now for something a bit more serious: I have another problem. I am addicted to Milk Duds. I go to Walgreens/Long's/Rite Aid/Safeway/whatever and buy the big, 10-ounce box of Milk Duds for like $1.79 and indulge when necessary. I mean, it's so bad that whenever I drive past one of these stores, I might stop just to buy another box of the stuff, even if I already have a box. I'm creating a stash of Milk Duds so I'll never run out of them. They're so cheap! And they're so good! Just like me, tee hee! No really, with what can I replace these lovely chocolate caramel drops that will be just as satisfying (and less fattening, praps, although the box says they have "35% less fat than the average of the leading chocolate candy brands" which means what exactly)? Oh my sweet tooth. The trouble you cause me.

Gotta Do Something

Wednesday Whatevers

1. Why are curse words used?
   I use them because they're fun. Nothing better than a good ol' fuckity fuck fuck fuck. Shit piss fuck. Holy God dammit. Jesus H. Christ on a raft. But I think most people use them to express emotions they don't readily have words for.
2. Do you prefer coins or bills?
   Coins, all the way.
3. How do you cross off dates on your calendar?
   I usually don't. I rarely use a calendar to keep track of time. I use calendars as wall art. It's sad, I know. They're OK at work in my cube. I have a dry-erase calendar that I use to mark projects and such, and I don't erase the projects after they're done, only when they've changed places. Too much detail. I'm a geek.

I have re-enrolled myself in Netflix. I totally forgot how much fun that thing is! I had a membership once upon a time, and then I went through an annus horribilis of my own and had to forget it. Then I stopped going to the theatre altogether and missed out on a lot of good movies. I was talking about movies to a couple of people at work the other day, and I was inspired to restart the service. I hate TV (except for Veronica Mars and CSI and I still love Charmed even though it's starting to suck a little), and I don't have cable, so let's watch movies instead. As of tonight, 24 hours later, I have 63 movies in the queue, going three at a time. I'm very excited now. Then I found this totally great little app for the Mac called Netflix Freak. It's software that connects to Netflix and lets you manage the queue without the web browser. But it does more than that. And I love it. One of the greatest features of this software is the ability to shuffle your queue randomly. "Why?" you ask. Well, in my case, I went through and added a bunch of Alfred Hitchcock movies all at once. Rather than watching them one after the other, I shuffled the queue to prevent it from happening, thereby giving the illusion of variety. It's the little things, you know. The app shows a picture of the movie cover, a synopsis, details about the film and its actors, very much like the website does, but in one neat little package without the web browser. It makes a difference, it really does. Anyway, I'm super glad I did it, and I can't wait for them to start rolling in.

Whatcha Got Inside?

I bought an enclosure to turn an old internal hard drive (not currently internal to anything) into an external hard drive, and I found this slip inside the box. Fortunately, it wasn't the only set of instructions, as there was a more coherent guide provided. I thought this was very funny and obviously not written by a native speaker of English. I wouldn't dare make fun of people learning English, because it's totally obnoxious to learn and master considering all the ridiculous exceptions to the rules that we must learn and remember. But sometimes language gaffes are humorous, and I'm all about a good laugh nowadays. I know several people for whom English is not their native language, and their misuse of prepositions here and they always crack me up (internally; it's bad form to laugh at someone unless it's intentional, doncha know).

Friday Random Ten: The Cold, Rainy, and Wet Edition

Fire up the iPod, set it to shuffle, and write down the first ten songs that play. No cheating. No skipping forward.

1. Outrageous—Britney—My Prerogative
2. Under the Sky—Heart—Brigade
3. I Love You—Sarah McLachlan—Surfacing
4. Stranger's Touch—Olivia Newton-John—Physical
5. Zora Sourit—Céline Dion—S'il suffisait d'aimer
6. Au nom d'une femme—Hélène Ségara—Au nom d'une femme
7. No Matter What Happens—Barbra Streisand—Yentl OST
8. Stay—Cyndi Lauper—At Last
9. That I Would Be Good—Alanis Morissette—Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
10. Wait—Sarah again—Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

So, I'm watching Closer last night, one of the shows I missed in the cinema. It started out funny and a little romantic. I was bothered by the IM scene between the two boys, the hot kind of bothered, and laughing my ass off because how many of us have done the very same thing? Clive Owen is such a gorgeous man, and I'm really starting to like Jude Law. I first saw him in Gattaca, and he was this obnoxious sick character that I never liked, and that tainted my opinion of him. I guess watching him in Sky Captain (which I totally loved, I mean, Angelina, babe, was that the best role of your career?) softened me up a little bit. Clive, on the other hand, I loved at first sight from the BMW driver series, and then Gosford Park and anything else he's been in. I can't wait to see Sin City, although he lost his accent for that flick. That's one of the best parts of him! That and being tall, dark, rugged, and oh, so dreamy. But the movie ended meanly and bitterly. It was a sadder movie than I expected (too realistic, perhaps?), and it makes me hope that I don't ever fall in love again. It's not that I wouldn't be faithful, I just couldn't take being hurt like that by someone else. But the thought of being alone for the rest of my life makes me sad just as much.

So then I watch Mona Lisa Smile, an evening of Julia who I also adore to no end. I didn't see this one in the theater either. Who knew that Tori Amos was in that movie? That was a pretty good movie, but I'm a sap, you know. I thought Julia Stiles was perfect in her role: her diction, her pearls, her too perfect hair and porcelain skin. And no, I didn't cry at this one. I really really like Julia Roberts. Have I ever mentioned how much I loved The Mexican? I saw it three times on my trek during the events of September 11th, and I really got to like it. No accounting for taste, I know.

Friday Random Ten: the Pay-Day, Tax-Day, TG It's Fri-Day Edition

Fire up the iPod, set it to shuffle, and write down the first ten songs that play. No cheating. No skipping forward.

1. Loneliness Game, Belinda Carlisle, Live Your Life Be Free
2. Aie a Mwana, Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving
3. St. Elmo's Fire, John Parr, Like, Omigod, It's the 80s!
4. Song for a Future Generation, The B-52s, Whammy!
5. The Big Parade, 10,000 Maniacs, Blind Man's Zoo
6. If God Will Send Us His Angels, U2, Pop
7. The Man That Got Away, Judy Garland, Leading Ladies
8. Silly Thing, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Superstition
9. 53 Miles West of Venus, The B-52s, Wild Planet
10. Androgyny, Garbage, Beautifulgarbage

So this commute-sharing is totally saving my life. I used to be so stressed out and angry when I got home, and now that I have someone to talk to and keep me company during a ridiculously long ride home, I'm so relaxed and actually laughing in the car. I highly recommend it, I know I've said that before. It's saving mucho dinero especially with gas prices as obnoxious as they are. It was $3 a gallon in San Francisco last weekend. WTF, you morons? The bad part is that when I'm not driving, I love to stare at all the cars around us and their inhabitants and when there's a particularly attractive man next to us, I can't really ask the driver to speed up so I can get a better look, you know? Oh well.

So glad it's Friday. So glad that it's Tax Day. So glad it's Pay Day.

I love Netflix. I have 185 movies in the queue. Wow. That's like enough to keep me busy for a year at least!

It seems that I had so much to say, but it has left me. Oh right, there's someone from my past in Monterey, a female person, who called my grandmother in Cedar Rapids to find out where I was. I have to ask: who are you? How curious I am now! No one comes looking for me! I think I'd be excited if I suddenly popped up on a wanted poster. Finally! Some recognition!

Put a little love in your heart, k?

Friday Random Ten: The Tony the Tiger Edition

Fire up the iPod, set it to shuffle, and write down the first ten songs that play. No cheating. No skipping forward.

1. I Can't Help It, Bananarama, Wow!
2. No Scrubs, TLC, Fanmail
3. Hold On, Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
4. Black Water, The Doobie Brothers, Greatest Hits
5. Swanee, Judy Garland, Judy at Carnegie Hall
6. Dim All the Lights, Donna Summer, Endless Summer
7. Do It the Hard Way, Jazz Renegades, Sounds from the Verve Cafe
8. Je sais ton nom, Isabelle Boulay, Tout un jour
9. Big Shot, Billy Joel, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
10. Jive Talkin', Bee Gees

I have been waiting for this day for a long time now. Every time they announce a new version of their operating system, I always get excited. It's not that 10.3.9 is flawed, because it works so wonderfully on even my aging iMac. It's the whole "new" factor that sparks my interest. Plus, they have incorporated smart folders into the OS, which function much like smart playlists do in iTunes. That is such a revolutionary idea for file management, I'm almost wet. I can't even tell you how that will change my own way of working! I'm totally thrilled. Really. The Dashboard looks really cool, and while I use Konfabulator and have for a long time now, I think Dashboard will ultimately replace Konfabulator on my computer. We'll see on that one. Now I have to save up my pennies for the dual-2.7 GHz processor G5. Yay.

I've got lots of movies to take care of me this weekend, plus a droolingly scrumptious recipe for brownies that I simply have to make time for.

And just for fun, considering that I really should have been a linguist: