Leap Day

Happy Leap Day, everyone!

As usual, I took today off. I only get one leap day every four years and I'm not giving it to corporate America or anyone else.

I spent most of the day in the company of the lovely and talented Girlzoot. We did some art store shopping, bought elephant journals (happy coincidence, not a planned occurrence), got some jewelry (earrings for GZ, ring for me), and had some tasty nachos at Good Friends down on Colfax.

After a brief stop at home to unload the car and paint my nails, I headed out to Wits End Comedy Club with Glenda. We ran into a group of other folks from the office and friends. The comedians, Scott Derenger and Ron Feingold were quite funny. Ron did a combination of standup and A Capella, which was originally a bit odd, but turned out to be hilarious. I bought his cd, and can't wait to listen to it.

All in all, a good Leap Day.

Bowling, Brendon, Byways, and Books

Exciting news: Bowling league starts next Tuesday! I’m bowling with three ladies from work Tuesdays between next week and the end of April. Sweet deal, too, at the end of the series, we get a custom drilled bowling ball. I just recently bought myself shoes and a ball which I can’t wait to bowl with. Here is a bit of my dorkiness coming out, and I don't care. My shoes have stars on them, and they glow under the black light. Cosmic Bowling, here I come!

Hollywood excitement: Nicholas Brendon is going to be on Criminal Minds on the first new episode in April. He’s also signed on to be a recurring character, Kevin Lynch. I’m wondering how it will work out with Garcia; he left her workplace in a total mess and she wasn’t terribly happy. “Kevin Lynch, you may be cute, but if you ever mess with my stuff again…” I’ve heard from a very reliable source that there is some sort of unclothed action involved in Nick’s return. Probably works out. For everyone. *ahem*

Today, I took the kitty cab out with Alec. I found a long trail that goes behind the railroad tracks by my house and over several blocks between open space and some single family homes. I was out for an hour, listening to my new tunes. There’s an irrigation ditch along the way that reminds me of the ditch by the apartments I grew up in. Two boys were playing next to some trees by the water, and it made me think of times I spent in Lakewood by the water, watching waterbugs skimming the tops of the brown wavelets and playing out the latest episode of our favorite action show.

I’ve started a class online called “Listen to your heart and success will follow”. I’m starting to do the lessons and it’s been very interesting so far. The second lesson is about accepting the past and moving on, and it was quite emotional. It didn’t help that I was reading it at the mechanic waiting for my brakes to get done. Next week, I should be back at the Library and I’ll work on my homework there. I’ve got to write my life story, which should be interesting.

Last bit of news: I finished two of my books for the BSF Goals (see the side bar for the link) this week. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (the Golden Compass / Subtle Knife / Amber Spyglass trilogy). Very interesting. Many Christian groups have had a lot to say about the story and I heard that the movie The Golden Compass was boycotted by some groups. The first book, and indeed the movie, do not get deeply into the crux of the religious issue. While I don’t subscribe to the view of religion and metaphysical reality in the book, I believe he portrayed his vision well and with a subtle beauty that is still with me. It is a children’s / young adult book, but as many books and movies these days aimed to the younger crowd, it has something profound to say to adults as well. I really loved the portrayal of the ‘soul’ as a creature, part of you yet separate, that you could talk to and gain comfort from, and love.

I also finished the Best American Short Stories 2003. These stories, published in US and Canadian magazines, individually were very good, and as a whole left me with something rattling around inside. I will probably come back to these stories. I love short stories, and I will definitely look up this series to get some of the other years’ anthologies.

I started Brave New World and the Science Fiction Treasury. I generally read books in tandem; it just works out for me that way.

Ok, my kitten is sleeping with his head up, all bunched up on the couch under the open flap of the box my bowling ball came in. His ears are twitching every time I stop typing and his front paw is tucked up over his chest as if he were holding something close. It’s very cute, but my camera is far enough away that he would wake up if I moved. Early for bed, but then again, cats sleep what 14 hours a day? Maybe he’s just catching up.

Random Thoughts

Lately I've been watching a lot of tv shows on DVD. I just finished Bones season 2, which I enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed the story arc between Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro, culminating in a trip to the altar. I also got Kitchen Confidential with Bradley Cooper and Nicholas Brendon. Hilarious. Another mid season cancellation on Fox back in 2005. Currently watching Shark with James Wood. Premise: an excellent defense attorney switches teams and begins working for the LA DA. So far, interesting, good. Next week, I'm starting a deep foray into the Buffyverse, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins coming from Netflix. I think I have a little Hollywood crush on Nicholas Brendon, who plays Xander. Fun, fun.

Plainsong on Tuesday was excellent. The staging was amazing, with all the hydrolics and a huge cast. Stephanie Cozart, who I've loved in everything I've seen her in at the DPCA, portrayed a depressed mother trying to make her way out of the darkness and John Hutton was her estranged husband teaching history at the local high school. A student even gave a 'speech' on the Burr/Hamilton duel. Family and community come together in unique ways in the end. If you get a chance, I'd recommend seeing it.

Friday night I played some pool with TJ at Woody's and at Zoosters. I'm getting much better, hitting the ball I'm aiming at and actually getting some pretty sweet shots. Called the 8 ball wrong and lost, but it was still a gorgeous shot. Had some very tasty ribs at Brothers BBQ after pool and was home by 10pm. Sweet.

I got a chance to catch up with Shaych at the DPL for writing Saturday morning(ish). Got some written on By the Light of the Faerie Moon and got to fall in love with his iPhone. Seriously, shiny.

Taxes are done, sending them in Monday.

Have a great week!

Grown-up stories

Today I went to The Thrill of the Game at the DPCA. I took the light rail downtown from Aurora and met my mom and my aunt and uncle. It was general seating, and we got our 'regular' seats, which we'll be sitting in on Tuesday for Plainsong.

The performance consisted five different stories with a sports theme. First was Casey at the Bat, read after a rousing group sing along of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Next was Needle Match about tennis, which was very good and a little creepy. After intermission, we had Lightweight Champion, translated from Spanish, which I think was my favorite, gritty and sad. Raymond's Run, about a girl and her brother; I could just see them running. A rousing rendition of Who's On First by Randy Moore and Kathleen Brady rounded out the afternoon, just before milk and cookies.

I love being read to, and after listening to several books on cd, I've come to appreciate the skill involved in reading a story. Today, I really enjoyed being read to live by some very talented people.

Catching Up

Ok, I missed a Sunday. Here's the scoop.

Friday night Glender, TJ, AmyDee and I all went to Wits End Comedy Club. We saw Scotty Goff and the man was hilarious. We were all laughing so hard we cried. And he sang to me. I couldn't stop laughing.

Afterwards, TJ and I went to Red's Pub and played some pool with Jimmy, who turned out to be the GM of one of the downtown Denver bars. He was good; he won all games until close when he scratched on the eight ball, effectively beating himself.

I stayed out way too late (got home and in bed at 3am) especially since I had surgery last week. It was fun tho, by the end of the night I knew everyone's name (and I even got hit on sort of).

Hear Hear

This weekend I spent at my mom's house recuperating from my otoplasty correcting my conductive hearing loss on Thursday morning. Everyone at the surgical center was really nice to me and as a special little surprise, the gown plugged into a heating unit, because it's always a little cold in the OR.

Right now, I can hear things I've never been able to hear before, and my ear is still packed with the antibiotic stuff holding everything in place so it can heal. And I have a tiny bone made of titanium in my head (bionic ear!).

I'm going back to work tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on how I feel. Should be interesting, I'm talking much softer than ever because everything is echoing in my ears and I'll be able to hear when people talk to me. Hopefully my brain will get used to it sooner rather than later.

Hanging with TJ

Friday night, I went to happy hour with Glender and TJ. Last week we all went to the comedy club, Witz End, for some live comedy. After drinks and some bar food, TJ and I went down to the little bar he frequents, Red's Pub. We spent the rest of the evening and some of the early morning there, shooting pool with a really cute machinist who taught me quite a bit about pool and even let me win while he was teaching me. TJ played some too (he didn't let me win, but I didn't expect it either). All in all, a good night. And TJ had some advice for me about my machinist which I will refrain from posting here, suffice it to say it was graphic and lewd (and just a bit funny).

Tonight TJ and I went to E-Town with the North Mississippi Allstars. We had fun at the taping; TJ hadn't been to an E-Town show before (not that Glender and I hadn't been trying to ask him for the last two years) and he enjoyed himself. The music rocked the house, and the cute young audio guy, Steve, had a good night as well (he's got nice hands).

On the bus ride up, TJ told me his current gal, who had declined to join him at E-Town, had called this afternoon. She got upset when she heard that 'a friend from work' was going with him and proceeded to grill him about me, was I a woman, did I have a boyfriend, did I think it was a date. He answered noncommittally on all but the first and it just upset her. Now, TJ and I have been co-workers for nearly 3 years, and friends for the last 2. He's cute and fun but we're co-workers. Not going there.

But I still told him, "Of course it's a date."

Big Fun Scary Goals for 2008

In general, I think that New Year's Resolutions rarely work for me, even though I've posted something nearly every year.

The NaNoWriMo folks have been doing Big Scary Fun Goals the last couple of years and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Part of what makes this different (at least for me) is that the goals are quantified and measurable (with the exception of #8). Perhaps this will make a difference.

Here's my list, published on the NaNoWriMo BFS forums as well.

My BFS goals for 2008:

1. Get surgery to correct hearing loss (scheduled in January!)
2. Lose 60 pounds (lost 44 pounds in 2007)
3. Read at least one book a month by the end of the year starting with (in no particular order):
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
• Mockingbird by Charles J Shields
• A Grand Improvisation by Stacy Shiff
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems ed. Roger Housden
• A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry ed. Czeslaw Milosz
• Best American Short Stories 2003 ed. Walter Mosley and Katrina Kenison
• Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Treasury ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
• Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers ed. Joyce Carol Oates

4. Write every day using Writer’s Book of Days prompts
5. Blog at least weekly
6. Finish & Print By the Light of the Faerie Moon (NaNo 2007)
7. Win NaNoWriMo 2008
8. Figure out what career path I want to take

I think those are big and scary enough, and the reading will certainly be fun. Actually putting together this list was fun all by itself.

Happy New Year to all!

Holiday Party

Last night was our annual company holiday party at the Westin Hotel. We had a great time; the food tasted and looked wonderful, everyone dressed up, and the liquor flowed freely. Lots more people danced this year, and I danced with Brandon, the very cute, very young sous chef in our Cafe as well as TJ, the reluctant but sweet.

Here's to a fun holiday season!

Rally Day

Today I spent most of the day at The Tea Spot in Boulder writing. I wrote 5,568 words, earning my Rally badge and catching entirely up!

On a side note, The Tea Spot is a lovely shop, and I am throughly enjoying my new tea pot and tea leaves. The folks there are very helpful and kind, and will even rebrew green leaves. I'm just about to make myself another pot of tea. Join me?

Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! And to GirlZoot!

Long long long day, but happy!

We got up early to catch the balloon festival first day lift off. Mom and I are traveling with her church group, SOAR - Seniors on a Rampage. We have some very lively seniors (Mom being one of course). I got to come along because Mom's such a good convincer.

Anyway, we got up early and drove around the balloon festival three times. None of the guards or traffic directors got us through to where we needed to be. We ended up seeing most of the lift off from the bus windows. When we finally got onto Festival Grounds, Mom and I made a beeline for the field, trying to find the registration for our balloon ride (tomorrow morning).

We found a big red truck with a white trailer and a sign I recognized, Rainbow Ryders - the folks we bought our tickets from. We talked to a nice woman with a deep southern twang and she directed us to Bill. Bill, it turned out, was the pilot of the balloon still in the white trailer. He had not taken off today.

Bill was kind enough to direct us to the registration tent. Mom talked to Bill about getting into the festival grounds earlier so we wouldn't miss our flight tomorrow. He said we could ride with him, they left at 4:45 am from the Rio Rancho Best Western, which happened to be where we were staying, too. We got his room number and went back to the registration tent to get more info.

We spent probably three hours at the festival, bought some pins, and generally had a great time. The bus (the trip was a bus tour) took us back to the hotel, where we changed our clothes to go to Santa Fe.

We only had about 2 hours in Santa Fe, because we wanted to get back to Albuquerque for the Balloon Glow and fireworks (on my birthday!). Mom and I spent some time in the little rock shop I loved last year. Nothing really called to me so we left empty handed. Well, not entirely empty handed, we got three tiny vial necklaces designed to put small minerals in. We bought three, because we were going to make Bunny, our fearless leader, a bottle of the Chimayo sacred earth to hang around her neck as a thank you for taking care of us on the trip. The other two were for us. Mom also got two tiny glass bottles with cork stoppers to hold the remaining earth.

We stopped at the French bakery connected to La Fonda and bought a piece of Quiche Lorraine for me and two small desserts for later. I got a strawberry shortcake cake with heavy whipped cream. Mom was better and got a little fruit tart with kiwi, raspberry, and blueberry on top of a light custard. She also got a steak salad at the cafe on the far side of the plaza, the one that's been in business for over 100 years.

I bought, after much delight in shopping all the various stands, a silver feather from a Navajo artist selling at the Palace of the Governors. It is almost two inches long with deep grooves and feels both heavy and light when I wear it. I bought it in part because we are going to fly tomorrow. The wind had picked up quite a bit and many of the artists were packing up to leave. The leaves skittered across the paving stones and crunched underfoot. I always love the crunching of leaves.

After sitting for several minutes and taking pictures and watching the people go by in the plaza, we headed back to where the bus would pick us up. We stopped in the rock shop and mom bought me a pendant I had been looking at earlier. It is a goddess figure with her arms up holding a round cabochon of amethyst.

Cyclone Power

This is going to be a quick post. We're getting ready to leave for New Mexico for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival tomorrow morning.

Mom is an avid Kohl's shopper. I get a lot of my clothes there, and there's always the umpteen times a year they give special discounts, including the coveted 30% off everything in the store. It's a lottery system, most people get the standard 15%, some get an exciting 20%, but only a few get that height of discount, the 30% off.

Well, of course, just before we were due to leave for vacation, Mom got the 30% off sticker on her Kohl's ad in the mail. And we'd been waiting for it. I've been wanting a Dyson Animal vacuum, and Mom's been cautioning me to wait for the 30% off. Twice I've wanted to buy one, but she keeps telling me to wait. When I got in the car and the ad was on the seat, I picked it up and peeled back the sticker. It was Dyson time! And of course, the sale would be over by the time we got back.

When we got down to the store, I was calculating how I would pay on Mom's Kohl's card and chatting amiably away about how nice it would be to have a Dyson, etc. When we finally got the top of the line Dyson 17 in the cart, Mom pulled out her trusty calculator. She came up with a figure, which was pretty good, considering how much they are in the first place and she smiled. "That's only $5 more than I paid for the one in the basement."

What? Which one in the basement? She had her own Dyson, which was how I knew I wanted one of my own. I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Which one in the basement?"

"Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!" she replied, grinning. "I got the lower model on 15% off when it was on sale back in April.

April! She's definitely a mom; she can keep a secret for six months or more. I can't hardly keep a secret for more than a couple of weeks (which is why I do my shopping after NaNoWriMo so I don't have to worry about blurting it out by mistake).

Well, I have to wait till we're back from vacation to use it, but yay! It'll be great! Clean carpets. Won't the kitties be surprised!

Ok, so it wasn't as quick as I thought. Oh well!

Grand Slam!

Mom and I went to the Rockies game against the Diamondbacks. The Rockies need to win all the rest of the regular season games to make it to the playoffs as the wild card. And we beat the Diamondbacks soundly today.

I haven't been to many games this year, but more than usual, which is generally one game. My aunt owns season tickets and she loves baseball. She recently had a surgical procedure that the doctor wouldn't release her to attend the game, so she gave the tickets to us. She was sorely disappointed to miss the game.

I had my little camera and I took some pictures, which I posted on Picassa as kind of an experiment. The picture above is of Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies Shortstop rookie, just before he takes a swing. At the time, I was taking a picture of his wide stance in the batting box. Just after I got the shot, he ripped one up the middle and made his first career grand slam. And the crowd went wild.

Heck of a game, and a beautiful night on top of it all.

Learning to Listen

GirlZoot turned me on to books on cd a couple of weeks ago. She told me it was like crack, very addictive. When I told her my commute was only around 20 minutes to the office, she waved her hand in dismissal. "Perfect," she exclaimed.

As recommended, I started with a book I knew: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood. I was actually re-reading the book in the flesh so to speak. I filled up my cd player in my trunk with the disks and started to listen.

GirlZoot was right. Audio books act like crack on a bibliophile like me. I'm starting on my fourth book tomorrow. I've listened to two of my all time favorite classic books: The Great Gatsby and All Quiet on the Western Front. Since I've been doing historical novels (or period novels, whichever you prefer) I decided to choose another favorite, Catch-22. Plus, it's a great way to get in some reading during otherwise non-reading moments. Very cool.

I'm almost looking forward to my commute tomorrow.

Lazy Day

Saturday I got quite a bit done. I went to the bank for an errand, went into work for a few hours and got a lot done, picked up my new inversion table from the management office, and set it up. Mom came up for the setting up and dinner (and she brought her wonderful, amazing, coveted Dyson Animal vacuum for a quick sweep). As soon as the new Dyson goes on a good enough sale at Kohl's, Mom won't have to bring hers up anymore.

Both of us got a chance to try the new inversion table. Back in high school, Kerri's stepdad had an inversion table (we called it the hang-upside-down machine). We both took turns hanging upside-down and I really loved it. The feeling of relaxation, quiet, and calm has stayed with me all these years. When my company formed a partnership with Gaiam, we received a nice discount on their website. When I saw they had the hang-upside-down machine, I had to have one.

Today has been very quiet. I've inverted a little, getting used to the machine. Most of the day has been spent spiffing up the blog after upgrading to a new template, and messing around online. I have a few errands to run, then I'm coming home and consuming vast quantities of Heroes. Mom just finished the series so she lent it to me now.

Then back to work tomorrow. Vacation is coming soon. I really can't wait.

Checking out a piece of history

P9050438
Originally uploaded by Arcadiajoy

Today at lunch, a couple of coworkers and I went out on the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (formerly Jeffco Airport) and took a tour of the Sentimental Journey, a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress.

Wiz has a vast store of knowledge on airplanes and WWII history, which made for a wonderful and educational half hour. I even walked across the catwalk in the bomb bay which was a bit nerve-wracking as the bomb bay doors were open. I could imagine the wind rushing in when the plane was airborne and got a chill.

Labor Day Weekend

I love a three day weekend!

I'm in the midst of setting up my 2007 NaNoWriMo blog. Title and plot indeterminate at this time, but I've got some characters burbling in my head. hehe...

Have a great weekend!

Post Secret mini movie

Weekend Stuff

Friday was Kerri's birthday. I took the day off and spent the evening with GirlZoot and Mitch at the Gothic Theatre down on Broadway. We went to the Bowling for Soup concert, and they played all sorts of great stuff. The Gothic has got a great upstairs, with different levels all looking out over the stage. The room has an intimate feel, and I didn't feel crowed, which is a nice change for a rock concert.

Saturday, I went to the library for a bitsy, with all the best intentions to do some writing. I actually spent most of the time chatting with Shaych and GZ, catching up on current events and politics. Valium joined us at the library and we all went by the Apple store at Cherry Creek (shiny new computers and iPods and accessories... oh my). After declining to eat at the food court for quite unreasonable prices, we retired to Hops where we were joined by Shadowowl. Hops changed their glasses - I guess it had been a while since I had been there. Lunch was quite tasty. I decided that after lunch I'd go home. Honestly, I hadn't been feeling well most of the day and I didn't want to drag the rest of the group down. I napped quietly in my green chair with the fan on.

Sunday was quiet. I went out and bought some new nail polish and painted my nails Russian Navy. I love OPI color names. The other two are Vodka & Caviar and An Affair in Red Square. I'm thinking about getting Boris & Natasha. Russian theme...

Good weekend, much needed rest and relaxation. Still, I'm not quite ready for this week at work. I suppose that will get better tomorrow.

End of a Decade

~ No spoilers here ~

I finally got my hands on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after I went out to grab a bite to eat and checked my mail. Instead of UPS as I expected, the USPS delivered my book in the lovely package box at my mail station. Luckily not everyone in the area was waiting for Harry, as we only have four boxes for about 200 homes.

I read it straight through, well, mostly. Around 1 am, I read the same paragraph about six times in a row and decided to go to bed for a little while. Seven hours later I got up, fed myself some Jell-O and a granola bar to keep up my strength, and finished the book by noon.

People who have heard me talking about Harry Potter and how things are going to turn out know I only had two real predictions salient to the outcome of the series. As promised, there are no spoilers here. I will only say, I was 50% right, and one of the outcomes in relation to my predictions made me unbelievably happy and one of them was heart wrenching.

As I expected, I cried a lot throughout the book. I had to replenish my stock of tissues near my big green chair. I'm a softie, so I cried at the happy things and the sad things, lest you think it is just a terribly sad book. It's not. It's dark, but not exclusively.

I've decided to re-read the book at a more leisurely pace, to absorb some of the details I may have missed on the first pass. I've already had a discussion with GZ about some of the themes which I want to revisit. Overall, I'm pleased with the book, my questions are answered and Harry's world is at rest in my heart.