Home Again Home Again Jiggedy Jig	May 30, 2006

Oh so many wonderful and happy things happened this weekend. I had a fabulous time, and it was positively awful to return to DC. I had kind of planned us something of a grueling return itinerary – we were in the car all day Sunday, driving back from northern Minnesota to Cedar Rapids, then all day Monday was spent flying. Plus, a lengthy layover and weather trouble left us on the ground in Chicago for five hours. Ugh. I should’ve planned for a day of recovery before going back to work!

So… we arrived quite late on Tuesday night, and my kind friend Sara and her boyfriend Dave were kind enough to come pick us up at the airport. They took us downtown and kindly handed me the keys to Sara’s apartment, which is *right* downtown and seldom used.

Then we wandered less than a block to the Deadwood, which is where my beloved Darcy works. Karen was also there, waiting for us, and within a few minutes, my oldest and dearest friends had finally met my boyfriend. Some drinking, some smoking, the bar closed down, and we wandered less than a block back to Sara’s apartment.

Wednesday we woke up and went to the Co-op to buy Karen a cake (I owed her a cake). I then introduced Steve to the wonders of the Record Collector, where he promptly blew his record allowance for the trip. After lunch with Karen and Darcy, Steve and I met up with another buddy of mine, Robin, and spent the afternoon wandering around downtown. I was sad to see that Lorenz Boot Shop is closing, but also kinda not sad because they had shoes on clearance, and I got a lovely yet cheap pair of Dansko sandals.

Wednesday night was dinner with my dad, brother, stepmom, and nephew. It was a great evening of legos and BBQ, and we even paused for a moment to watch the very end of American Idol (I CANNOT BELIEVE that Taylor won! I mean, I think it’s cool and all, but I just never thought it would happen!). We stayed in CR on Wednesday night with the intention of getting up early and heading to Dyersville so Steve could visit the Field of Dreams. On Thursday morning, however, it was raining something fierce, so we had to cancel that plan. We instead spent the day driving around CR and seeing the sights (the house I grew up in, my high school, and we even stopped in to visit Karen’s mom at her restaurant). Then we drove around Iowa City to see those sights - the Gaslight Village (where I used to live), some tornado-damaged streets and the new art building (which I love, by the way. I had heard people complain that it was ugly, and those people are just plain wrong).

Thursday night was our big going-out-in-Iowa-City night. We started with dinner with Sara and Dave at Vito’s, followed by pool and touchscreen games at College Street Billiards. Then it was on to the Deadwood to meet up with a big ‘ole group (Karen, Scott, Susan, Ryan, Mark, Jenny, and Darcy). We drank, we played darts, we went up to Karen’s to eat her cake, then hung out on the roof for a while. It was a very cool night – hanging out with my favorite people in old nostalgic places was just excellent.

Friday had us getting up early to start the drive up north to Cloquet, MN, where my aunt and uncle were throwing a graduation party for my cousin Dave. Some highlights from my trip to Minnesota included staring at my crazy-cute cousins, eating meat, driving up to Lake Superior, and sitting around a fire drinking beer and shooting the shit.

A source of much discussion and entertainment was a clever phenomenon that we learned of that you too can take advantage of the next time you’re at a campfire. My uncle’s neighbors brought over a length of copper pipe, about 1.5” in diameter and 10” long, that had holes drilled throughout. They took a length of vinyl garden hose and slid it inside the pipe and threw the whole thing in the fire. It turned the flames crazy-cool colors! I tried to take a picture of it, but it really doesn’t do it justice. We tried doing it with just copper and just the hose, and independently, they did nothing. Put them together, and it was a sight to behold. None of us know, however, how many brain cells we killed inhaling that smoke.

OK, so that was the blow-by-blow. It was a great time, and I think Steve had a good time, and it was great to get to introduce him to the people who have known me the longest, and see what he thought of them, and vice versa. In the end, everyone’s happy! Everyone liked everyone! Whee!

Home! Home! Home!	May 22, 2006

Tomorrow after work, Steve and I are hopping on a plane and heading to Cedar Rapids. We’ll be there for three days, and then we’re heading north for my Minnesotan cousins’ graduation party, then back to Iowa, then back here. I am so freaking excited! I love going home so much, and I can’t wait to see the family, and my friends, and my hometown. AND this time I’ll get the added fun of playing tour guide for someone who’s never been to Iowa. Yay!

I’ll be back next Tuesday. Have a great long weekend, ya’ll!

My brain has been taken hostage	May 19, 2006

So… remember when I said that playing hookie was irresponsible because I had a lot of work to do? Well, I stayed a few hours late at work yesterday, powered my way through, and pretty much completed said work. Which feels great. Turns out playing hookie wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

I couldn’t sleep last night, though. My mind had been taken over by thoughts of work. Ghostly InDesign screenshots flew through my head all night. When you do the same thing for ten hours straight, it kind of weasels its way in there, and you’re stuck thinking about it.

I found myself wishing that I had had a few drinks after work, to let loose a little bit and create some distance between my work and my real life. Of course, at the time I left the office, all I wanted to do was go straight home. But today I still carry with myself a strong desire to get outta here and get to drinkin’. I guess we’ll see what the night brings.

DC area folks who wanna drink? Call me! Also… tomorrow (Saturday) is a big raccous housewarming party at Steve’s new place in McLean. If you wanna drink there, call me as well!

Borrowed Time	May 15, 2006

An update: I have found that when I play hookie, I work my ass off around the house to soothe the guilt of shirking work. Today was no exception. So far today I have done four loads of laundry; swept, swiffered and mopped all my floors; scrubbed my sink, toiley, and tub; cleaned out under the sink (that was fun - I realized it was time to throw out the lipstick from 1996); and washed and/or vacuumed all my rugs. It’s about 4:00 now, and I can finally settle in to watch my Netflix (first up: Breakfast on Pluto).

I hope no one from work is reading this	May 15, 2006

I am playing hookie today. This was a really unprofessional decision to make, as I have a huge project on which I really need to make immense progress this week, but I recently took a look at my sick leave, and I have only used up 8 hours in 15 months of employment. Plus it is Monday, and it was raining when I woke up (though the sun is now peeking through). And I’ve been neglecting my apartment something fierce lately. So today I shall spend time on my couch, catch up on my Netflix, and get some mopping and dusting done. And then the rest of the week, I’m going to have to stay late every day, but I’m not thinking about that right now.

I began my Netflix catch-up last night, when I watched the Squid and the Whale (which was shipped to my house in March). I didn’t like it at all. It didn’t hold my interest, I didn’t care about the characters, and spent that 80 minutes concentrating on clipping and painting my nails, groaning, “OK, I get it – Mom’s the asshole, no, Dad’s the asshole, no, they’re all assholes. Big frickin’ whoop.” I am surprised that this movie was so well-loved by critics. It did nothing for me that wasn’t done better by movies such as Ice Storm, or even the Royal Tennenbaums.

Saturday night, Steve and I went to see Art School Confidential. I nearly exploded when I saw the preview for it last week… “Ohmigod! The Ghost World people have made a movie about art school! And I’m applying to art school! It’s my dream movie!” So, my expectations were a little high. And I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of the film. I was really into the story of an enthusiastic but mediocre artist, trying to find a way to make it big without compromising his vision or commodifying his work. I was proud of him, and rooting for him, and I was proud of the writers and directors for creating a story that was true to the struggles of a young artist. But in the end, the movie gets kind of silly. I don’t want to give anything away, but it kind of took the low road, and turned more into a John-Waters-ey interpretation of how the story should end. It’s still a good flick – I recommend it.

Danger in the Basement	May 9, 2006

I left my sunglasses at the Sackler Gallery this weekend. I do not do well without sunglasses, so I went to Filene’s Basement after work today to see what I could find. I found a $10 pair of Steve Madden glasses that seemed fair enough. I was close to just buying them and ducking out, but I thought, well, why not check out the clothes while I’m here…

I stumbled upon a gold mine. From a distance, I spotted this rack of separates that featured brown, tan, and the aqua/turquoise that has become my “signature” color (the very same that is featured so prominently on this blog). As I drew closer, I realized that they were even cute. And as I flipped through, I found a surprising number of items in my size. I snatched away, made several trips to the dressing rooms, and was blown away to find that they all fit me like a dream (even the pants were long enough!)

The frenzied dialogue that began in my head was oh-so-familiar. They fit! You like them! They’re cheap! You’ll never come across such an opportunity again in your life! Buy them all and pay off that credit card next month! Standing there with two suits, a crocheted twinset, a pair of crop pants and two button-down shirts in my arms, I was inches away from throwing down quite a hunk of change.

The Ellen of years past would’ve done it without blinking an eye, but I am proud to report that I overcame the temptation. I picked out the two pieces that seemed the most versatile, put the rest back, and made it out of there with my dignity intact.

Surly and exhausted	May 8, 2006

I am in a pissity-ass mood today. As are most of my coworkers, it seems. For me, it’s a combination of the weather, the fact that it’s Monday, this morning’s delayed commute (thanks to a sick passenger on another train – come on, people, get sick on your own time!), and the fact that I had one of the most jam-packed weekends I’ve had in a long time. I am exhausted.

Here is a quick-and-dirty list of things I did:

• Ate at not one but two Buffalo Wing places
• Rescued Steve’s cat from jumping to its death
• Finally saw both the Hokusai and Dada exhibitions at the Sackler and the National Gallery, respectively (just in time – they both close on the 14th)
• Went to a block party boozefest (until the cops showed up to shut it down – see below)
• Helped a friend do some bridal shoe-shopping (no luck yet)
• Clothes shopping and swapping with the same friend
• More kite-flying
• Went into work for a few hours
• Ate at Aladdin’s in Shirlington (which I never realized was the same as Aladdin’s in Pittsburgh!)
• Watched the Sopranos (yay! quality couch time!)

I want to pause for a moment to describe Friday night’s party spectacular. It goes like this: my boyfriend’s bother’s roommate is on a kickball team with a dude who lives in a house somewhere in Northern Virginia (seriously – I had no idea where I was. Fairfax? Arlington? I totally dunno). This house is on a block that was having a Cinco de Mayo block party. They closed down the street, issued wristbands to those of age, and provided alcohol-fueled adult entertainment such as a Slip-n-Slide and an ice luge. Now I had never seen an ice luge before – basically, a block of ice is carved with a few channels that liquor can slide down, so you do shots, but they come at you fast and freezing (see Andy illustrating its use). I think that fast and freezing sounds like the best way to receive hard alcohol, but I do not desire to apply my mouth to the same surface from which many other drunken partygoers are drinking. So I did not partake.

The craziest thing about this party is that it got shut down by the cops. For what, I cannot say (noise? open container? blocking traffic?), but man oh man did it bring back memories. When we were leaving, everyone else who was walking away was heard to remark the very same thing, “This takes me back.” How nice to throw back to the days of underage drinking and drunken debauchery.

Where I been?	May 4, 2006

I didn’t go anywhere, actually, but I’ve been away from work for the past two days, taking some training, and it’s caused me to feel like I was on vacation. Oh it was so fun – I took a class on Adobe InDesign, which has been tormenting me for years, now. I taught myself how to use Illustrator, and it took a while, but I feel I’ve got it down. I also used PageMaker for two years before I went to grad school. So I thought I’d be able to pop open InDesign and go at it with no trouble, and that was, uh, wrong.

Text flowing, image framing, master pages – none of these things functioned the way I expected them to. I now know that this is because the creators of InDesign appropriated the good parts of Quark (which I have never used) when they were creating the program, so InDesign’s quirky bits were largely Quarky bits (I know, that was a bit punnier than I usually like to go, but come on… Quarky is a funny word).

So, after two years of basically ignoring the program – designing multi-page documents as a series of Illustrator files – I now know what’s up. And it feels so good. I shall spend the remainder of my days InDesignin’ it up.

The class I took was at the Canal Center in Alexandria. Now that is a beautiful facility. It’s right on the water, next to the “business stretch” of the Mount Vernon Trail. So I was able to take my lunch down to the benches by the water and soak in the sun and the river view. Gorgeous.

On Tuesday, I tried to befriend this duck. I had bread-like food in my lunch, and we all know how much ducks like bread-like food, so I tossed some bits of it to him while he was down in the water. And he nibbled and seemed happy. Once I was out of food, however, he came up out of the water and started quacking at me – like, directly at me. Never have I met a duck with such a sense of entitlement (the joke I made to Steve is that he must have grown up in McLean). Anyway, he didn’t return on Wednesday. He must’ve moved on to greener pastures.