perseverate

yesterday i wore flip flops in chicago.

today we have a winter storm warning for up to 13 inches of snow.

i know i've been reflecting on it quite a bit recently, but, the weather here is ridiculous.

better call AARP

i no longer qualify as a "young alum" for alumni dues.

boo.

plane etiquette

i know the middle seat is hard. you do a dance for the armrests, your head lolls about when you try to sleep, you have to both climb over and be climbed over. i sympathize. i also sympathize with anxious flyers as i am rarely not thinking about crashing or who's pressure-breathing-mask-thing i'd have to help them put on or who left their cell phones on and will therefore force our plane to land on water.

i reserve my seats months in advance because i like the window as it provides something to lean against. i like to nap on my left side so i was distressed that i wound up napping on my right, but hey, i can be flexible.

BUT.

i sat next to an anxious-middle-seat flyer on sunday. she decided that the best way to deal with her anxiety was to compulsively stare out the window, which i would totally get except that it was pitch black outside. so unless she found comfort in staring to the dark abyss, i can't see the point of it. since i was in the window seat, it basically felt like she was staring at my left side the whole 4 hours. while the left side IS my good side, it was disconcerting. so i'd sneak angry glances at her and she'd go back to read two sentences of the same page of her magazine she was looking at when we took off. then, two seconds later she'd be leaning into me to stare again.

i needed to sleep so i leaned against the window. she leaned forward, craning her neck to continue staring. i'd shift and she'd get panicky and jerk about trying to see out the window (through my head and pillow), occasionally peeking to the other side of the plane before swinging back around to bore holes into my head.

i'll admit, i started to fuck with her. i squirmed and shifted and leaned to look out myself. I fluffed my pillow, stretched my arms, shifted some more. if she had just asked to switch seats or made an effort to not be such a freak i would've stayed cool.

sorry. i know you hate flying but damn woman, stop fucking staring at me.

frah-gee-lay

a neighbor has the christmas story leg lamp. i can't wait to walk by when it's turned on!

phoenix

it's going to be 79 tomorrow and 76 on saturday.

yea baby! time to look under the ugly boots and find those flip flops.

this week was 2 1/2 days

and it kicked my ass.

i know we all talk about middle school and say "oh god, it was so horrible!" but i saw things this week that actually made me fear for the future of mankind.

sunday in chicago

i got up early and took the el downtown.

it was brisk and sunny.

i walked around listening to wilco.

i'm in love.

the week in review

1--use of the word "faggot" by a 7th grade boy
2--uses of the word "gay" by 7th grade boys
1--use of the word "bitchass" by a 7th grade boy
1--use of the word "midget" by a 7th grade boy
1--use of a judo-throw to toss a kid to the grass on the football field
1--use of a claim of self-defense in said judo-throw
1--number of 7th grade girls who have completely stopped eating
1--number of 7th grade girls seen running out of science film in tears
1--number of dance parties during advisory had by 7th graders in which the main dance was some variation of humping
1--mice seen constricted then eaten by large snake in 3rd grade since classroom

my camera is finally repaired!

it's been five weeks.

i feel like i am getting a cast off, like i can finally use a part of me that's been unusable for weeks.

yay.

property porn

god, HGTV. why must you tempt me so?

i can't keep watching shows about houses and decorating. it's rotting my brain.

a month and two days

that's the age difference. in terms of friends, you've stayed my friend longer than anyone else. this makes, what, 16 years?

i know you don't even know about this little exercise in narcissism. but, happy birthday just the same.

the trouble with me

is that i am smart enough to know who is smarter than i. and that is troublesome.

two undecided. one of them is not me.

montana? if montana elects a democrat for senate i may just lose it.

and a female speaker of the house! for the first time ever!

and no more santorum. he was just creepy.

in talking to coworkers, most of whom are in their 50s, i realized that republicans have been in control of congress my entire adult life...really since i got my driver's license.

hot damn!

register early, vote often

because of my own stupidity, i missed the final day to register to vote right after i moved here. so, now i don't get to vote. none of the illinois elections that i would be voting in are any of the hotly contested ones making the news. still, i really like to vote.

so, if you can, do it.

ps: i am totally convinced the computer machine things are rigged. the news this AM talked about the near impossibility of figuring out if a machine was recording votes properly. perhaps that's why monsieur rove is so freaking confident? i'd be confident too if i was a big stinky cheater.

donnie osmond was

a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll.

sometimes i'd like neat little classifications for myself. but i think they'd be "she's a little bit lazy, a little bit ocd." just doesn't have the same ring.