October 2004 Archives

My mom is desperate to help me with this move. I kept telling her I had it under control, which was a total lie, of course. But if it was out of control, it was my fault, and I guess I felt that I should not be helped out of it because I suck and procrastinate and am lazy. You know? I should pay the price for my sins. But I’ve decided, just now, that if she is free tomorrow, she can help me pack the kitchen. Aren’t I sweet? Part of the reason that I didn’t want her to help is she gets sad when she sees my place a mess. And the apartment is currently unclean. But on the phone this morning she told me she decided that that was her own issue that she was projecting onto me. And I told her that I could have told her that, I knew it all along. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that it makes her sad. Who wants to make their mommy sad? The other reason is based on a story she tells about me as a kid. Apparently, I would somehow talk my friends into doing my chores. I would be cleaning my room and someone would come by to see if I could play, and my mom would tell them that I couldn’t play until my room was clean. Naturally, I was not exactly rushing around cleaning. I was probably lying on the floor, looking for pictures in the patterns on the ceiling. Like I do now. Or playing with my toys. Like I do now. So my little friend would ask if they could help, my mom would peek in later to find me lollygagging about, while they cleaned. Now, I don't remember doing this. But, it doesn't surprise me. It's not an aspect of my personality I should be proud of, and I'm not. Exactly. But... I admit... Look, I can't help it if I was in high demand as a playmate. And that I had better things to do than clean my room. My head was, and still is, full of many things that take precedent over the more mundane aspects of life.

So part of me feels that this apartment is not completely empty and clean because I am waiting for that little friend to come over and do my chores. Shame on me. :P

It turns out you do tip movers. And, in fact, when going over the terms of the move with me, the mover guy even said "gratuities are appreciated" albeit quickly. It was a point on the form. Luckily, I had already gone out to get cash. But then I found that they even included a tip section on the credit card slip. sheesh.

I had no idea you tipped housekeeping in a hotel. That's absolute crap. Someone needs to compile a list. I understand it's part of the wages of a waitress, you know, unless you suck, you need to tip them. But, I mean, I tip my waxing girl, Shanti, and she owns her own business! Should I be doing that? I started seeing her when she worked at a salon, and I've just never stopped tipping her. But I like her. So it's not that bad.

I miss homegrocer.com. Not only did they rock, and have excellent produce, but they had a policy that stated, clearly, that you do not need to tip the delivery guy, they would not accept tips.

I'm at the apartment, finishing up stuff and cleaning.

How come it took me hours to pack all that stuff, to get as far as I did, and it takes them minutes to move it down to the truck. Unfair.

I'm going to have a lot left over to do myself. Never did unhook this computer. :)

And so ends our moving updates.

I just got back from the house... i wanted to take some stuff over that i didn't want to bother packing. And some more fragile stuff, like my antique cameras. I'm going to take Pru over now, and then I am going to haul ass the clean up and make way for them to move whatever they can.

And I still have to disable that "home entertainment" mess.

My god... I'm talking to myself.

Hey... what happened to 3 o'clock?

She's A Girl And I'm A Man from the album Don't Get Weird On Me, Babe by LLoyd Cole

5 Years from the album Homogenic by Björk

Does one tip movers? Where are you people when I need you?

I've never used movers before. After trying to find answers online, I'm a little frightened. Sounds like they like to scam you.

Anyways, welcome to the 3 o'clock hour. Fun!

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy from the album Mirrorball by Sarah McLachlan

I have to untangle and pack all the "home entertainment" systems. I don't want to. It looks messy. Lots of cables.

blarg.

I am a little disappointed that I will not be walking out of this place tomorrow, never to return. The way I planned to. Ha! Should have known better. I'm just trying to get the majority of stuff packed up now. All the books, CD's and DVD's. Because they are heavy. And the furniture will go. But I am going to have a lot of hauling and dumping to do tomorrow. Or saturday. Whenever. I think I shall plan an exciting trip to the King County Solid Waste Transfer Station on Monday. Oooooo.

I wonder, if I had a pet monkey instead of a cat, would it be more of a help at this time? Pru just insists on getting in the middle of whatever I am doing. If I am packing the contents of the video drawer, she crawls up in the drawer. She's lucky she's not taped up in a box.

What, it's only 11:38? I feel like it's at least 2 am. I think I need a dr pepper. I'll go return some library books, get them out of the way, and pick up a dr pepper.

you need to know these things.

I've pretty much accepted the fact that not everything will be packed. I'm guessing the kitchen will probably not make the cut. Which means I will have to come back, pack it, and move it myself. Which is not that bad, because I have a hand truck and I can borrow Ron's truck. I also don't think I will have time to remove everything from the walls before they get here. Again... another thing that can wait. What can't wait is all the heavy stuff. The furniture and boxes of books, cd's, dvd's, etc. Oh well, I've have to come back to clean a little anyway. and I do mean A LITTLE. Let them use my deposit to hire cleaners. I'm totally cool with that.

Currently featured on iTunes:
Kermit the Frog - It's Not Easy Being Green

Pru is still here. I'm going to take her over to the house early in the morning. I don't want her spending her first night there without me. My baby kitty. Besides, if I am going to stay up all night, I'm going to need her to keep me company.

Currently featured on iTunes:
She's No Lady from the album Pontiac by Lyle Lovett

Oh man... my stepdad is great. I told him I was moving in on the 29th, and he thought I meant Saturday. Nope. Tomorrow. He's totally not ready for me to move in, and I am totally not ready to move out, but the movers are showing up any way. The good news is he found a place to live. A little cottage on the water and the rent is less than my rent here! Hooray!! So this weekend is going to consist of a whole bunch of stuff shuffling. But there are two rooms that are completely empty, and ready for me: my bedroom and the bathroom. What more do you need, huh?

You would not believe how much stuff you really have, until you try to put it into boxes. I was packing my bathroom, thinking - small room, not much stuff. Oh how wrong I was.

I have not had time to do any research for my NaNoWriMo project. I am glad that I have next week off as well, and more time to write, as I am going to take a little time to plan out some essential elements. Since it is a murder mystery. Other than that, I'm winging it, again. I figure one of three things will happen. One - it sucks ass. Two - it turns out ok, despite the seat of my pants writing technique. Three - it turns out to be more of an exercise in preparing for a mystery, than a mystery itself. That is to say, i will be working out a lot of details as I go along. At the end of the 50k, I might have prepared myself to THEN write a mystery. Who knows.

An important announcement about commenting. Kids, I am sick of spam. It makes me so angry. I don't like to be angry. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to turn on registration needed. It works like this, if you have a type key ID, your comment will show up immediately. If you do not, you will have to wait for my approval. The benefit of a type key ID is that it is a single sign on for any MovableType blog that requires it. One user name, one password, all access. It's private, and none of your information is sold to anyone. Go check it out, I encourage you to get one. I've already encountered a couple of blogs that require it. I will, however, hold off on this change until I have internet access at Casa Nueva de los Hodi. And I am pretty Jodi-on-the-spot about checking comments, so approval shouldn't take too long. I wish there was a way to require approval only once, but I can't find a way. Life is not perfect.

I've been trying to think up tag lines for Satan's bookclub. That one above is my favorite so far, but I'm not satisfied with it. We'll see if something better comes to mind. It should be easier for me to work on it once I move. However, it's also the beginning of NaNoWriMo. And I am not sure when i will have internet access at the house. I haven't arranged for it yet. Did mention that in a previous post? It feels familiar.... oh well. The point is, I may not have that much time, in November, to work on it. Louise and I still have a photo shoot we need to do, and then some photoshopping. That's the most time consuming part. I think I will make Louise do the photoshopping.

I'll be up all night finishing the packing. That is just how I am. I don't move fast until there is danger. Movers showing up at 8 am, who are paid by the hour, is danger. The danger has to be imminent. Really really imminent. It's ok, I'm a night person. And once everything is moved, which shouldn't take that long, I can take a nap. I looooove napping. So don't think of this as waiting to the last minute LIKE AN IDIOT. Think of this as a way to set up a required napping situation. God, I am brilliant!

I was listening to Dracula, while packing my desk... Bram Stoker sure did like to use his words, didn't he. The story does drag a bit, in places. By far, my favorite narrating character is Dr. Seward. I feel very sorry for him, for having his proposal turned down. But, in the end, I guess it didn't matter... Lucy's fate was a short one. I am sort of anxious to finish it up, as I have received a notice from the library telling me that "Wizard and Glass" [audio book version] is ready for me to pick up. It's the 4th book in the Gunslinger series. I think.. yeah, the 4th. Anyway, both the 4th and the 5th books are ready for me to pick up. And I've been waiting a long time for them. I can't believe I didn't just go out and buy the books and read 'em.

Okay, that is enough procrastinating, I am going to go pack up the bathroom.

right now i've entered panic mode. no way everything will be packed up by friday at 8 am. must not lose focus. must stay up all night. wait, this is wednesday. ok, i can sleep tonight, but not thursday night.

out of trash bags. must go get more. at this point, i am throwing away more stuff than i am packing, it seems.

This time I mean. It really is the 500th post. Yay!

Ok, now that that is over with...

Washington State School District Says Halloween Disrespectful of Witches. Of course it's Puyallup.. OF COURSE!! That's just brilliant. You know what I say? Fuck the witches if they can't take a joke. Even the parents are sad. The little kids don't get to dress up or have a party. Not even one of those lame PC Harvest Parties. God that school district sucks. What is this world coming to?

Oh, and you know what else? Christmas is disrespectful to jolly fat men and Little People. What do you say to that, Puyallup?

Right now, I am listening to Bram Stoker's Dracula, in the car. I think that is why I keep finding errands to run. Since I am not working, I am not commuting.. not as much story time. The male narrator sounds just like Wesley from Buffy/Angel, and I like him very much. In my mind it's Wesley telling me the story of Dracula. Scruffy tough Wesley with the shivs hidden up his sleeves, not awkward, geeky Wesley. Oh either one, it doesn't matter. The female narrator is ok, when she's reading women, but when she had to do the voice of the old man, sitting with Lucy and Mina in the graveyard, over looking the harbor and complaining about the lies people put on gravestones... it was PAINFUL. Reminiscent of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. It doesn't help that this is a particularly slow part of the book, in my opinion. I was thrilled when we moved back to the Doctor and Renfileld. When I last left them in the car, Renfield had just eaten up all of his pet swallows and was barfing up feathers. Now that's a story!!

As of this moment, I have nine boxes of books. And I am not done yet. I wasn't far off in my original estimate of ten boxes, I think. But I am having a very hard time waking up this morning. Very sleepy. I didn't do much of it last night. Sleeping. So I have decided to go to linens n' things and buy a new shower curtain for the newly redone bathroom at the house. The plastic one that is up there now is not suitable. It's what we, in the family, call a baby-shit brown. Probably wasn't as bad when the cabinets and counters were still that school bus yellow. But know that everything is a nice clean white... blech.

Don't be. Louise and I are working on it. We have a rough idea of a design. It's just that I will not be able to work on that until after the move, and I'll probably be off-line for more than a few days. It's going to be great, you'll see. I'm sure designing the site will be a great way to procrastinate on my nanowrimo novel... the plot of which I have not even discovered yet.

oy.

So... packing going slowly. And I broke one of my fabulous nails. The whole thing is very discouraging. I'd rather read. And so I did! :)

Did I tell you about Anglicon? I don't think I did. A couple of months ago, Louise came across this con. She thought she was particularly qualified to go, despite the fact it's not called Scotticon. There was a steam punk panel she wanted to attend. And there were actually a couple other panels that looked amusing. Something about bodice rippers I felt needed my attention. But that panel was cancelled. When it came time for the actual con, the only thing I wanted to see or do, was the panel from Studio Foglio, about their comic Girl Genius. And I wanted to get issue two. That panel was at 5pm on Saturday. But my uncle's memorial was Saturday at 2, down in Olympia. About 35 minutes away from the con. So I took Louise to her first trip to Denny's, can you believe it, and dropped her off on my way to the memorial. I was hoping to be back by about 5:30, but in reality it was 6:30 and I missed the only thing I really wanted to attend. And I had no new comic, to boot.

Which leaves me only Friday night and the Steam Punk panel to tell you about. The panel was interesting, there are all kinds of "punk." Cyber punk, splatter punk, steam punk... I think I am going to start jodipunk. It probably would have been even more interesting, had it not been for the older gentleman in the front row, left hand side. I'd say he was in his mid to late 50's, in a t-shirt that was too small - stretched tight over his gut, sweat pants that were too small and too short... and a fox tail, ears and nose. Oh, and some kind of flashing red collar. He had a bit of an under-bite, and it took me a while to realize that he sounded vaguely like Bill Murray in Caddyshack when he talked. Which he did. Frequently. If you asked a question, he would interrupt to answer, and his answers usually took about five minutes. Every new book, comic, game etc the panelist brought up, the wee little furry had an opinion on. He did that thing... you know... that thing where the answer or fact the panelist gave was never good enough. He was pedantic with his use of RPG, computer games, and all sorts of arcane info. The panelist, was far far far more patient than I would have been. Louise had her Perfectly Pleasant face on. She wanted to go up and talk to the panelist after, but she refused to do it while foxy was still around. And that, right there, a man in clothes too small for him, and a sad bit of furry costume, is pretty much my soul experience with anglicon. Which, now that I think about it, was pretty much enough for me. It wasn't even worth writing about right away. Although the panelist did let us look through his books and comics.... and there was a pretty cool Steam Punk Wonder Woman comic.

Hi!

Where have I been, anyway? I guess I needed a bit of a break from the computer, during the first week of my sabbatical. I did a lot of reading, as well. But now I am doing some serious packing. Which probably means I'll be around a bit more... as blogs are an excellent source of procrastination. Like.. right now for instance.

So far, sabbatical has been good. I had to work last sunday for about 7 hours, to finish some stuff up, but other than that, I've totally forgotten where I work. Tuesday was my birthday, and EvilDeb took half the day off and we went to the spa. The whole thing was a surprise, other than the fact I knew we were going to do something. We had facials and lunch and massages and manicures and pedicures. And she paid for the whole thing. I don't even want to know how much that cost. I think I have an idea, but I am trying to bury that knowledge way down, so I am not overcome with guilt. Instead, let us focus on how fabulous my nails look. They were all about one length and pretty long to begin with, so it was a good time for a manicure. I picked a bright, in your face, fuck off red... this is a vamp red... a vegas weekend red. With just a hint of blue, so as not to be too orange. The color is O.P.I The Thrill of Brazil and it's a cream polish, with a high shine top coat. I cannot tell you how bitchin' my nails look. I keep pointing things out to strangers, and tapping my chin in thought. I bought the nail polish so I could do touch ups. Anyway, my birthday rocked because I spent it being pampered and I really really enjoy being pampered.

Ok, I need to go get some more boxes. In intrigued to find out how many boxes it takes to pack up all my books. I'm guessing 10. That's my estimate. We'll see.

*since the title today comes from an indie film, I thought I'd show support by posting the link to the official site. Burning Annie. Whoo-hooo! Support indie films!!

it was the kindergarten guinea pig, and we each got a turn in taking it home for the weekend. And making it our baby doll.

More later.

not about the guinea pig... but other stuff.

PS: Romy, let's you and me travel the country in our hello kitty trailer! we are going to need a big old fuck off pick truck to haul it with.

Hello Kitty Airstream Trailer.

I want to make it my home!!!

PS. this is post 493, so we are getting dangerously close to the fabulous 500th Blog Post. Whoooo.

I don't trust suave people. The slick and smarmy put me on guard instantly. I doubt I will ever go into sales. It's so not me. Yesterday, I was coming up from the parking garage, and the elevator stopped on the first floor. A gaggle of sales type people I did not recognize got on. On edge, and claustrophobic, I squished myself into the corner of the car. The Alpha Sales guy was telling a story about a recent customer visit, about how fabulously he was treated. Or something like that, I'm not sure exactly. Suddenly, the sales guy that wants to be the Alpha Sales guy, the one who both worship and despises the alpha, piped up and used a term I did not think real people used. He called him Big Guy.

Little Sales Guy: Hey, Big Guy, did you forget your award?
Alpha Sales Guy: No, it's in my pocket.
Little Sales Guy: Whoa... and I thought you were just glad to see me!!

Unctuous Sales Laughter enjoyed by all.

And then I vomited on their Dockers.

Hey potirons d'Internet, do you remember that one time, I told you about my rad wonder woman wrist bands? Well, finally I have a picture to show you.

So go ahead and admire their awesomeness and wish that you worked at the same place I do. So people would suddenly knit presents for you. I'll take a picture of me wearing them soon.

Moons That Orbit Distant Planets or Female Birth Control Brand Names?

My cousin Brian, and his wife Melissa, just had their second baby boy two days ago. I was searching some of the scans I've made, for fun pictures to send in my congratulations email, and of course had more fun with pictures of ME than anyone else in the family.

Exhibit A of the Cuteness I Used to Posess:

Check out those flowered pants. Even pouting I was cute. My brother had to wear a shirt with his name printed in on it, in case he forgot it. True story.

Ok, I'm lying about Brad forgetting his own name. I actually think my mom was the one who had trouble with our names.

One final picture, my first, and only, ballet recital. I was enrolled in ballet at the suggestion of our family doctor. Who thought that maybe, with some work, I might be able to learn to walk through a doorway without smacking into the frame. Sadly, no amount of ballet, or tumbling, helped.

Above title is one of your better search strings that lead someone to my blog. Who doesn't need a prehensile tail?

In the "when it rains it pours" category, my uncle passed away this morning. This is my stepdad's brother. He was diagnosed with skin cancer a couple of months ago. And it had spread to his lymph nodes. He was put on interferon a few weeks ago, but it was killing him, and they took him off. About two weeks ago. The chances of it prolonging his life span were slim. They thought it would be better for him to have the next couple of years feeling somewhat healthy. Rather than going through that hell. But he never recovered. So I am going into work tomorrow morning for a 9 am meeting and then leaving from there to be with my family, down Shelton. Which is south Washington.

The movers have been postponed until Oct. 29th.

Next week, October 10-13, EvilDeb will be at the Graph Expo and Converting Expo, in Chicago. What has to be the most poorly named expo ever. Some people I work with get to go to the IfraExpo in Amsterdam. Doesn't that sound cool? "I'm going to Ifra." But not EvilDeb. Oh well, it is in Chicago. That's pretty cool.

My point is, if you are in Chicago, at the same time, and want to go to an expo about converting things, see if you can spot EvilDeb!! Of course, I am not going to tell you what booth she will be at, I want you to find her based on her evil aura. It shouldn't be hard.

You know, this is EvilD's first trade show. I think I should encourage her to attend more, so that I can have a list of "EvilDeb Live Appearances" up here.

Hi. Time for some blog catch up. Some things I've been meaning to post.

First, it's important to mention that there are only ten more days until my sabbatical. Already, I have more planned for the three weeks off than I could ever accomplish. Which means I will probably accomplish nothing. That's usually how I work when things become overwhelming. I'll have some moving to finish, unpacking, organizing and storing to do. I want to redo the design on my blog page, and work on Satan's Bookclub. I have many books I want to read before NaNoWriMo begins. Since I am planning on writing a mystery, I wanted to do a bit of planning ahead of time. Structure, researching crime, stuff like that. Then, of course, there is the first week of NaNo itself. Plus, I have got a laundry list of things to do... things that fall under the category of "oooo... I'll get that done while I'm on sabbatical." I'm already preparing myself at work. I have to do my two Big Reports again. Early. Arrange the people who are going to back me up in certain meetings. Make sure everyone knows what needs covered and who to contact. So, to make sure that happens, someone has scheduled me to for two full days of training this week, and is sending EvilDeb off to Chicago next week. She's going to some dumb trade show. S'ok... everything will get done.

As I just mentioned, I am going to write a mystery this year, for NaNoWriMo. The working title is "Comfortably Dead." I got that from a laundry list of titles in the forums, a thread started by someone who made a random title generator. He posts a list every day. Of course, this is the second working title I've had, every day there is something better. Or funnier. One of my favorites from today was "The Gods In the Moon of Gay Women." But that doesn't really work for me. Anyway, it's just something to call the story for now. Last year I called it "Entropy." Like last year, I spend most of my time in the How to Procrastinate Effectively forum. It was mentioned yesterday, in some thread, that what we are currently doing is really Precrastination. Since the contest has not yet begun. I like that word.

Last week, Louise and I went to the "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" reading/signing. It was delightful. Susanna Clarke talked a lot about her research. How political history ends up being very boring, because it lacks all the things that a novelist would want for a story. The juicy and weird bits. You find out what Lord So and So thought about potato crops in Ireland ... or something dry like that. But you don't know if he was afraid of the color purple, or was allergic to carrots, or talked in his sleep, or hand six toes on his left foot. However, military history turned out to be very interesting. Because so much of it was written by the individuals involved in the battles. Who came home and wrote their memoirs. She explained why Northern England is probably more magical than Southern England; and why she didn't bother researching any known magicians before the medieval ages. And how she tried to use write in the same type of language and voice that Jane Austen, and authors of her time period, used. [which really is one of the most appealing parts of the book, in my opinion] I meant to ask her about the Note on Type, at the end of the book. It's one of those books that notes, at the end, what font was used in typesetting, even includes a bit of font history. But I chickened out. The question period was pretty short. So I meant to ask her when I got up to the table to have my book signed. But then I didn't want to hold up the line. In the end, I asked a woman who was responsible for event. She is an independent bookseller and book even planner. How fun is that? She said that the author was very particular about the font used for the book, because she wanted it to match the voice of the book. So we, Louise and I, told the bookseller where we worked, that fonts were our life... we lived for typography, and to please pass on to the author how much we liked books that had a Note on the Type. I guess most authors do not get much say in the font used. I imagine most authors shouldn't get much say, as they might not know beans about typography. However, Louise and I have decided that we do know beans, and when we write our books, we should get to a say in the font used**. Based on our Professional Experiences in the matter.

Speaking of books, I've been working on cleaning up my Things I've Read page. I've finished Spring and Summer of 2004. I still need to repost "Nov 03 - April 04" and "The Literary Commute" and Autumn 2004 is, of course, currently a work in progress. I've not posted any of the books I've been reading to this page. Bad Jodi. Louise would tell you that's because I've been reading Cat Mysteries and am ashamed. But Louise would be a rotten liar. Not about reading the Cat Mysteries. That's true. About being ashamed. At sometime in her past, Louise has read a Cat Mystery and did not like it. At some time in my past, I have read a Cat Mystery and thought it was awful. It had the substance, and sticky sweetness, of cotton candy. To be honest, I don't even know what "line" of Cat Mystery I read, at the time. What I have been reading lately, is different. I've enjoyed them very much. But Louise is making fun of me. That's because she sucks. I would never make fun of anything she read. I make fun of her accent, but that's different.

Additionally, I wanted to mention this web comic I've begun reading, Something Positive. It's all Ann Rice's fault. She decided to respond to the poor reviews her latest book is receiving at amazon.com. The author of Something Positive did a strip about it, or her. And this was mentioned on bookslut, which I read. So I read the comic, and I enjoyed it very much. Which meant I had to go back to the very beginning of the strip, read them in order. I think the strip started in, what... like 2001 or 2002? It took many hours. But I enjoyed them all, because if not for SP, I would have been packing. And that would have been boring and productive. I will probably add the link to the comic off in that side menu somewhere, off to your right. Eventually. It does have an XML feed, which is quite handy. I'm a big fan of those XML/RSS feed thingies.

Ummm... so I think that's enough for today. I would like to mention that Baby Moon celebrated her first birthday on Sunday. Happy Birthday Baby Moon!! [I was going to post a link to her photo gallery, but it seems to be down.]]

*one of my favorite randomly generated titles.
** don't ask me what font I would use, because I can't tell you... yet.

A spamologue by ze frank.

I got that from Dr. Frank's site. You should go watch it, it's brilliant. And then watch the rest of the stuff on the site. As EvilDeb says "... each and every one is a gem of untold value."

It's time to gear up for NaNoWriMo again!

I picked the participant icon I did because I want to hear Louise say, "So, you chose the icon with the blue squiddle."