This has been providing me with amusement for a few days. Not the whole site, just this one entry.

serious angry-cry over job situation. Want to punch something. Can't afford boxing, though.

Ugh. Can bring myself to do exactly nothing right now. Somehow I managed to drag my lazy-ass cursor over to the Blogger Dashboard link, but...it feels so proactive even just to blog! However, alternative is to just sit and ignore my Blackberry blinking at me several items on my to-do list. And god forbid I do them!

So...it's been a while. A lot has happened, while not much has changed. Except, I'm going out with my best friend now. And I'm very happy about it. My job is ending in a couple of weeks, and I'm not happy about that. I'm going to L.A. to see my lilbro graduate at the end of the month. I'll stay for a week, which means I'll get to see a bunch of folks.

I have begun organizing weekly movie viewings and karaoke happy hours. I'm all about the free things lately, what with the partial unemployment. It feels very extravagant to do these things, but really, it's not much at all when I consider I get to see a rotating cast of about 8 friends per outing. It makes me feel popular. Hear that, 5th grade me? POPULAR!

Oh, good news is that I must have met my insurance deductible, a month before the policy expires. Hurray! Things are finally being covered. The bad news is that I already exceeded my prescription coverage, so I had to switch to a cheaper medication. One (very unlikely) side effect of which is...lactation! Oh God!

At work, I'm trying to tie up a million loose ends, and driving myself crazy with perfectionism. But I do so love the Excel and the complex array formulas! And I love finding minor errors in public agency FOIA datasets. Even when it means I have to re-do all the work I did with the faulty data.

Xander-the-cat is asleep on my bed right now, very pleased with me because we went on a walk tonight, and my BFF/boyfriend played a very enticing game of hide and seek with him.

At the grocery store today, I got fresh tortillas, and ate half of them on the ride home, with my germy grocery-store hands. Delicious!

I have been making my mom's Mother's Day gift diligently whenever I get any down-time. She already knows this, so it's OK to put this on what is her Internet Explorer home page, but they are hand-made paper gift tags with wee envelopes! I would say "I'll upload pictures of them later," but we both know that's not true. So here is an example of the shape they will be.

That gave me the idea to decorate them after I finish making them...but probably that won't happen, so don't get your hopes up, Mom!

What else?

Besides making paper, I've been doing a lot of other crafting. It started when I made a friend a sleep mask. Let me go back one step. This friend's boyfriend gave me a list of gift idea for this friend. It was a really long, extensive list, but my two favorite entries were:

• Sleep Mask
• Anything about Elizabeth Montgomery

I ended up fashioning a Holly Golightly sleep mask, with the sleepy eyes and everything, like here.
I don't feel like dredging up the picture I took of my final creation. It didn't look perfect by any means, but they're the kind of friends who would put a crappy ashtray out that I made out of clay.

From that description, you'd think this couple of friends likes kids. Not so. At all. I watched Zombieland with them a few weeks ago (as part of my weekly movie viewing), and there's a part where one of the characters reveals the only loss he is sad about is of his puppy. Later, while one of my friends was in the bathroom, it was revealed that the character had ACTUALLY lost his son. When my friend got back from the bathroom, her boyfriend said "Honey! Good news! It wasn't a puppy!"

Well, considering I have ceased to read most blogs because I don't have the attention span even for bite-size daily chunks, I am impressed to you who are reading this far down. Unless you're like me and you just read the beginning and the end, and skim the middle. If you are like that, you probably have been in academia too long.

everything is going according to plan.

To a wonderful honeymoon and marriage

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AUS-DFW-RIC

I'm at the airport; almost through a 3 hour layover. My phone is almost dead. I'm using my laptop as an enormous ipod. Listening to Paddling Ghost (Dan Deacon) right now after a 2hour stint of Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Owen Pallett). I'm on my way to see K-- though that visit will probably be about 5minutes at this point because of delays. Then I'm seeing Jamie get married. Hurray!

Do you know how tedious it is to update via BlackBerry? I've been writing in my journal. It's so much faster.

I was writing about the hilarious camping trip I went on last weekend. I drank one (1) full bottle of wine Friday night. Was predictably sick later in the night, at one point of which S (who had also had 1 bottle of wine) insisted there were two moons that night. That was incorrect. But she was right about the Babysitters Club adventures. We were all on the same page about that one.

Thumbs are cramping. Will try to remember to write later.
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on the air

Here are some things that have happened in interviews.

1) I was talking to JM before the interview and mentioned I was narcoleptic (somehow I thought this would make him feel better about being drunk). Later on the air, he said:
JM: "Oh, right...cause you're a necro....necro....what is it?"
Me: "Narcoleptic."

2) I was talking to DG and CR, high school friends, about their band. I was trying to sound all knowledgeable even though I wasn't very well prepared for the interview.
Me: "So, C, you did some kind of internship with a film. Is that why you like to make your own videos?"
CR: "And I majored in film at NYU."
Me: "Haha...oops...well, D, you majored in music, isn't that right?"
DG: [pause] "Philosophy."

Protect the gray whales

I could have sworn this BioGems spam email asked me to "protect the gay whales." Done, and done.
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Airport

At home. In New Orleans. Chilly. And perfect.
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Hair it turns gray
and skin it turns to leather
but the best thing about growing old:
We all do it together

I know, I haven't updated in a long time. I probably lost all my readers. Except Mom (hi, Mom!). But I wanted to write to someone, and I don't know why. At first I was going to rant about people who are pissy about health reform. But then I realized what I really wanted to do was rave about where my life is.

I feel like things are going pretty well, despite sad days yesterday and today. SXSW was a good balance of fun and relaxation. And now I'm about to go to New Orleans, which is always stressful getting ready because I have to leave my Austin life in perfect condition for me to return. But then it's so pleasant to be there. I'm so lucky to have such a great relationship with my family.

Even though I don't have a job. Even though I'm living outside of my means. Even though my place never stays clean for more than 2 hours. Even though my Very Exciting Interview that was scheduled for Saturday morning got canceled. Even though my last foster dog tore up the couch cover my mom made me from the Indian fabric I brought back. Even though I violated FCC regulations on my radio show yesterday. Even though I dreamed I was fostering 3 white tigers and an regular orange tiger, and one of them mauled a neighbor. Even though a nice relationship with a Boy had to end yesterday. Even though I had to miss boxing last week and this. Even though I met with my high school frienemy. Even though Saturday was freezing:

Saturday also featured free carnival rides. I got to hang out with the dearest friends in the world for days while we all took off work for the festival. Meeting with my frienemy broke a spell that had lingered like a cobweb for 10 years. I found out I'm the favorite DJ (to the staff anyway) at my radio station. The Boy and I will remain friends. I learned how to make paper. I might get to reschedule the interview, but even if not, that's OK; her live show was enough to make me happy. At this point, I can fantasize about any perfect job I want. My boxing teacher promises he will remember me when I return next week, and I got to talk a long time with a lady there about New Orleans, AND I casually ignored my Boxer Crush. My cats are particularly devoted to me. Mom might be able to fix the couch cover, and the puppy was sweet and didn't mean anything by it.

Everything is amazing, and no one is happy?

No, sir, I disagree. I am satisfied.

IMG00064.jpg

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Music Monday: dublab listing

Here are the notes Andy and I took. Links where available.

*"Final Breaths of a Main Character" The Woods [
"The Magic" Hecuba
Between 2 Ferns: John Hamm (here are all of the BETWEEN TWO FERNS, including some others)
"Busdriver" Me Time
"Die Slow" Health
"You Saved My Life" Cass McCombs
Food: Episode 1 [PF Chang's and MSG]
*"Suite for Ma Duke" Hoc n Pucky
***"Hatari" tUnE-yArDs WOW!!!!
Between 2 Ferns: Natalie Portman
"Witch Cult" Broadcast/The Focus Group
*"Fables" Dodos [unexpectedly hot xylophonist]
*"This Must Be It"? Royksopp
"Hole to Feed" Depeche Mode [ugggggh]
*"Pon de Flor" Major Lazer [ahahahahaa!]

INTERMISSION

"In the End" Mia Doi Todd [woman in back of truck at night; not sure we got the name/title right, can't find]
"King Rat" Modest Mouse
Between 2 Ferns: Bradley Cooper
*"Two Weeks" Grizzly Bear (alternate video here?)
"The Mirror" Alexandra Hope
"Not Camping with Tom Cruise" The Odd Days
**"Walking in LA" Kate Miccuci
"Una Carta a Mi" Tierra Quinta [River in Colombia] [can't find]
***Between 2 Ferns: Charlize Theron
"We're all in the Power" Exile
*"I Held My Arm in the Air All Night Just to be Safe" My Odd Days
"Hold On" AsDsska
***"Paddling Ghost" Dan Deacon [Natalie van den Dungen!]
"Open Your Heart" Mia doi Todd

We know what it is.
WE MAKE IT!

Making a press kit up for a certain Australian artist that I adore. I'm taking it to KUT-FM before I go to work. I feel very important. I'm actually looking forward to SXSW this year.

Sooo much has happened since K's departure, which I felt was impossible--I needed some serious downtime after all those activities.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention we saw Trouble the Water as soon as she landed, and I spent the whole movie sobbing after some point. It was really good.

Anyway...one exciting thing that came up is trying to find "cool parties" for SXSW for this artist to go to. I'm calling in all my contacts, and hoping against hope that it works out, because then I would feel so pleased with myself. I also have two frienemies from high school coming into town. Well, it's more like I and one of them are frienemies with the third one. So I don't now how that'll go.

My internship turned contract work, thanks to my awesome boss. I even got a raise! Miraculous.

• Carl (and sons)

I've done a ton of radio shows this week, along with forced a houseguest to undergo social activities every night for a few days. Hence, am tired.

I thought of actual interesting things to update, but now I can't think of them. But I thought I should update anyway because I haven't in a while.

I have a new foster dog, Tanner:
So cute!! And the cats ALMOST like him. They still swipe at him a little, but he's a very gentle dog, so I think it's going pretty well altogether.

Some of the activities undertaken since my return to Austin:

• Karaoke at the Highball
  Decorating for the Matrix
  (see streamers behind? K-- and I re-created the Matrix, in streamer form!
  
• Marathon of all the Matrix movies
• Played with dog
  Masquerade party
  Who are those masked women?
  
• Breakfast at Kerbey Lane after an all-night radio session
  

favorite tracks for 2009?

I thought I should make one of those there lists, you know. But I know I'm going to leave out major ones, and I know it's not going to be the coolest list on the block. It's based on the tracks in my iTunes that are marked 2009, because I can't rely on my memory. And it's based on how much I listened to them, not how good I thought they were. And it's alphabetical. If anyone would like me to upload these to my website, let me know.

"Working Man's Blues" Aceyelone Ft. Bionik
"Boom" Anjulie
"Elegy" Balmorhea
"Blood Bank" Bon Iver
"Needles" Grand Salvo
"Notes on Leaving" Darren Hanlon
"Oh Paris!" Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele
"Dog Days are Over" Florence + the Machine
"Nobody Could Change Your Mind" The Generationals
"Love Like a Sunset pt. 1" Phoenix
"Cracks in the Canvas" PJ Harvey
"Human of the Year" Regina Spektor
"Flirted With You All My Life" Vic Chesnutt
"You and I" Wilco and Feist

Well. I've left out some great stuff, that is critically acclaimed, and that I did enjoy, but which I wasn't compelled to listen to on repeat in order to enjoy life to the fullest. I'm the worst college radio DJ ever. But at least I am honest. And at least some of these are cool and obscure.