Sunday, January 27, 2008

Ani

Last night Wayne and I used our Tomtom (GPS navigation thingy, for you people living in caves) on a maiden voyage to see Ani Difranco at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. While this isn't supposed to be a review for Tomtoms, I have to say it was so extremely useful. We had the wrong address originally, but we got directly to that wrong address with no problems whatsoever. A kindly Philadelphia police officer gave us directions to the actual venue which was luckily nearby. We found parking easily and afterward... I've never had an easier time getting out of a concert and back onto the highway than I did last night. It was so cool. Especially when you compare that experience to a couple of months ago when we went to Baltimore to see Ani. Nothing but headaches and road construction and confusion. Bleh.

Anyway, the concert...

We'd never been to the Electric Factory, but it was a pretty cool little venue. And I do mean little. We weren't standing right at the stage, but very close to it. Anaïs Mitchell was the opening act. Never heard of her, but she was good. I think I'll have to invest in a cd. Gotta support RBR!

Ani finally came out and just the volume of cheering and screaming went up by about a billion decibels. (I was hoarse afterwards.) She did about four new - happy - songs and a lot of older ones. I was left with the feeling, like I usually am, that I can't wait to see her in concert again. I've seen her in Oklahoma, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I tried to talk Wayne into going to see her again today in Norfolk, VA, but that didn't quite work out. That's okay, I guess. I gotta clean my house anyway.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Freecycle

Pretty much since we've lived in our apartment the oven has been broken. I tried to get the landlord to get us a new one, but apparently I'd signed an agreement saying the appliances were not included in the rental. They weren't covered. Basically, tough shit. So we've been making due with two, sometimes three, burners and no oven. His mom kindly got us a toaster oven, but we've yet to use it.

Anyway, after posting a few times in the past to my local Freecycle group, I finally found someone with an oven who was willing to give it to me. FINALLY! YAY! So Wayne and I rented a U-Haul (and somehow a $19 one-hour, in-town rental turned into $52, but I digress) and found the house where the oven was. It was actually in a trailer that the owner was also giving away. And the trailer was propped precariously up on wheels, leaning to one side. We had to use a green plastic lawn chair to get up into the door. I say "we", but it was actually Wayne who made the journey into the trailor.

Long story short, we got the stove home and of course it didn't work properly. The oven didn't work at all and only one burner worked. So we went from three burners down to one. Fuck that! Wayne just unhooked the whole thing and so now we are stoveless.

(Update: We have a BRAND NEW range now. I LOVE IT. I've been cooking my little heart out since we got it. I still think Freecycle is an awesome deal, even though we got screwed on that stove thing. We did get a most fantastic chair out of it when we first moved into the apartment. I'll definitely Freecycle again in the future, but I doubt I'll take anything really freakin' heavy that has potentially broken parts on it. If I can't look at it and see it works, I ain't taking it. Oh and also we've been using the toaster oven to toast this really awesome jalapeño and cheddar foccacia bread from Safeway. MMMmm...)

People Are Funny (But Also Sometimes Assholes)

Last night I was at Weight Watchers and the Leader (The Leader is good, The Leader is great, we submit our will as of this date!) was telling some hypothetical story designed to motivate us. She was talking about a fictional woman who stopped tracking her food and therefore decided to stop going to meetings. Then The Leader says, "Now, is she a cannibal?"

In my head I'm all... Huh? A cannibal? Did I miss some key part of the story where that even possibly makes sense? Mentally rewinding... Nope, doesn't make sense. I give up - IS she a cannibal?

So The Leader continues her story, "No, of course she's not accountable." And it clicks. A cannibal = accountable. It all makes sense now. Gotta love that Eastern Shore accent.

Last Saturday I was at a different WW meeting. I was supposed to meet a friend there who'd only been one time before. She got there before me, so I was scanning the seats and the length of the line looking for her. Finally I saw her maybe three people in front of me, so I went up to say hi and show her where to find her little folder to give to the receptionist when she checks in. When I moved up to stand next to her the lady behind her got all indignant and snarled, "EXCUSE ME!" Oh, dear! How dare I cut in line. This is, after all, the third grade and things like that matter.

I said, "Don't worry, I'm going back to the end of the line after I show her where to find her stuff." That still wasn't good enough. I was taking too long. She proceded to tell me where to find said stuff, even though she had no idea what she was talking about. She was still huffing and puffing after my friend and I found her folder. So I told her, "I'm going to move to the back of the line now so I don't upset the delicate balance of the universe." Bitch.

I told Wayne about this little encounter and he said (ala Family Guy), "You should have said I thought you people were supposed to be jolly." Dammit, why can't I think of these things?

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Monthly Booklist

In which I list and possibly recommend the books I've read this month... for no particular reason. You'd think I'd start doing this in a month where I read a few more books. Maybe some impressively thick ones on astrophysics or parliamentary procedure (whatever that is), but alas. If it doesn't have a vampire or people who've met and/or been bitten/threatened/seduced by vampires, you can just shove it. No, not really, but with this list you just might think that:

  1. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs - Excellent as usual. I cried at the end and you will too, unless you're a heartless bastard. Enjoy!

  2. Evermore by Lynn Veihl - My favorite Darkyn book to date. Much more memorable than the last one. Two thumbs up.

  3. The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton - Suck. Do not buy this book. See previous post.

To buy any of the books I've recommended (and more!), check out my Amazon.com shop: Doomsday Girl Can Read!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sucker

I did it again. I bought yet another Anita Blake novel by Laurell K. Hamilton. This time, though, I was smart(ish) and got The Harlequin for a quarter at a library book sale. (The back of the book had "DISCARD" written across it in black sharpie - boy is there some good advice.)

I will never, ever buy another Anita Blake book from a retail outlet, lest that encourage L.K.H. to continue regurgitating past plots under the guise of fresh content. I will not be an enabler.

It's so sad to see how far downhill these books have gone. They were the books that turned me on to the vampire/dark fantasy genre in the first place. Sad.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Meh

I am frustrated. Annoyed. Stifled. Frustrated. With myself. Anyone know how to get your shit together and stop procrastinating about everything? I need to figure out how to enjoy the processes of things instead of just wanting to jump to the superfun, juicy bits. I start something then if I'm not an immediate superstar at it (which hardly ever happens) I give up - only to begin yet another project and fall into the same trap. It's an endless cycle. Or at least it seems endless. Dammit. I'm so good at planning, but not the part where you actually do what you plan. How do I fix that?

Anyway. I'm going to lunch.

Monday, January 07, 2008

No rhyme or reason

The car window is all fixed and we're back from Oklahoma already. It was good to be back home, but I missed my bed. And my computer. Now I'm back to missing Oklahoma again. We had extreme delays coming back to Delaware and I ended up going about 36 hours with only an hour or two of sleep spread across two different plane rides. Argh! Now I'm waiting on my mom to send me a package filled with goodies I either forgot or didn't have room to bring on the plane.

There's this one particular radio commercial (I don't even know what it's about. Maybe car insurance?) and hearing it sends me into a silent rage where all I can do is grit my teeth and stifle the urge to vomit. I don't know what it is about that commercial, but it rubs me the wrong way. Maybe because it's supposed to sound political, but the announcer sounds like Mayor Quimby. Nothing against Quimby, mind you. It's just... I don't know. It makes my ears bleed.

School starts January 29! I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully I can get myself on some kind of schedule and not wait til the very last possible second to get my work done this semester. I hate when I do that. I have lots of things I want to do in addition to school and I know the only way to do it is to be on a schedule. So I gotta get that done, then force myself to stick to it.

Wish I had something funnier or more interesting to report, but no one reads this so it doesn't matter either way.