going commando

i spent wednesday night at my mom's house. we had fun all day, playing with my nieces. i washed my car; we went to the mall. i broke into my mom's house.

it was her garage, to be more specific. we were getting ready to watch sleeping beauty with my nieces and i wanted some popcorn. when i started the microwave, i blew a circuit - my mom says this has happened before. the fuse box is in the garage but, since she's had a new garage door opener installed on the same circuit that i just blew, we can't get into the garage to flip the breaker. i suggest we get the ladder and i crawl through the attic vent on the side of the house and jump down through the attic access trap in the garage ceiling. the vent is all one molded piece that goes under the siding. i had to break most of the slats away with a hammer while my sister shone a flashlight on them since it was about 7 pm and dark. after much prying and some laughter, i shimmied through the vent and promptly put my foot through the garage drywall ceiling. i crawled over to the trap and lowered myself through ( i have the sore shoulders and bruises to prove it), dropped a couple of feet to the floor, and made my way over to the fuse box where i flipped the breaker to turn the lights (and my popcorn) back on.

it was very exciting.

post xmas

my holidays have been good so far. xmas yesterday was great - i got good stuff, and i watched videos with my nieces all day. we watched rudolf, grinch, and pooh xmas. after dinner, we watched aladdin, with one niece giving a dramatic interpretation for some of the more climactic scenes - there was singing along and some definite character choices were happening. it topped the cuteness scale.

tonight is the party with my college friends and i'm really looking forward to it. i have to go wrap a present for the white elephant exchange...

cleaning

is what i'm doing.
i did manage to get a haircut today, now my ponytail is cute and bouncy.
i'm cleaning my room in anticipation of the imminent arrival of a new piece of furniture. now my scarves, blankets, sheets, etc, will have a place to live. it goes with a piece i already had, and i'm now on the hunt for a dresser to finish out my bedroom furniture setup.

tomorrow i'm going to my mom's house and my dad's. my sister is bringing the girls and we plan to decorate my mom's xmas tree and go bowling with my dad in the afternoon.

such is the stuff of vacations.

xmas

that's right, xmas. took the christ right out of that one, didn't i? i went to catholic school from K-8, replete in plaid skirts and knee socks. we had contests in art class at this time of year to make collages or pictures demonstrating how to "put the christ back in christmas" and now i can't get though the holidays without thinking of it.

i'm on vacation now, for two weeks. on the last day of school i racked up $30 in gift cards from students. today i got all my shopping done and the gifts wrapped. now i am resting on my laurels because, dammit, i'm on vacation.

not sure what tomorrow holds in store - hopefully a haircut and also a load or two of stuff over to goodwill to finally clean my place out. i have a friend coming to stay on monday, don't want my place to look all college student. i finally have the $$ to decorate, and have made an effort to acutally choose stuff to put here!

i like having $. i can decorate, and i bought stuff for xmas and didn't worry about grocery money or rent!!

long time, no blog

i feel i should update.

i haven't for so long for a few reasons. first and foremost, i've been really busy. it's almost been like i've wanted to post, but so much has happened that seemed not postworthy but postworthy.

we mounted the upper school musical, to rousing success. i've gotten through two of three holiday programs, and am fast approaching my first incoming gig, an outside dance company coming to use my space for a one-off show.

i had my first snow day and my first faculty christmas party. there are more of those to come. at this first one, the caterer was the guy who held my job last year. he's a nice guy, and some of the faculty are still good friends with him. it was wierd having him serve me drinks. i've got one more work-related holiday party next week, at the head of school's house. i hear it's the party of the year, and everybody goes. these people party a lot, eat a lot, and have a lot of meetings.

the final holiday party is a group of friends from college who, through various means and for various reasons, have ended up in baltimore over the past few years. i'm very excited about it since it's been 10 years since i've seen some of these people and we had some good times when we were together last.

i'll be spending christmas at home with my family, which isn't any different than years past. friday i went shopping for snow boots for my nieces. saturday they had swimming lessons at the Y down the street, so my mom came up and watched. they are learning to swim like doggies and blow bubbles while they kick and paddle.

while i am having a great time and am looking forward to settling out the last details of my new spot, i miss my old life and my friends who are now far away. some days i still feel i'm on temporary assignment and already am making a must-do list for when i hope to visit, probably this summer.

google meme

i jacked this from my sister, it's the funniest thing going...

at google.com, type "__your name__ wants" and then " __your name__ needs".....


Janine needs yoga and she needs you too!
Janine needs our support.
Janine needs a room she can go wild in.
Janine needs to find a way to distract the gardener and knows just how to do it.
Janine needs to review her lives before she can choose to be reborn or not.
Janine needs to give that man something new to study
Janine needs the competition.
Janine needs to use your shower because she smells!
Janine needs some time to herself.
Janine needs to get what's coming to her…
Janine needs the spotlight, really.

Janine wants to buy three doughnuts, and there are five varieties to choose from.
Janine Wants a Standing Ovation.
Janine wants to know what's in it for her to keep standing up to Sonny.
Janine wants to scare me.
Janine wants to see what she has been missing as a normal teen-ager since she has been modeling all the time.
Janine wants to show you how she has a good time
Janine wants to be best friends right away.
Janine wants to participate in an international exchange program with a French university for one year.
"What Janine wants, Janine gets"
Janine wants you to take a closer look, much closer
Janine wants to die in peace, but Derek has her preserved just moments before it's too late.
Janine wants to continue to help break down the mystique of what it means to become a member.


Have a go and find the cheapest, discount Janine imaginable! Socome buy with Bid On Auctions for all your Janine needs.


need i say more?

extra crispy

fall is in the air, here in b'more.

i love the fall... it is, by far, my favorite season.
i love the cool, crisp air, the foliage, the turtlenecks. i have more fall/winter clothes than any other season.
i love being under blankets.
i love that i can keep my windows open now so it will be chilly without a fan.
i love football on tv.
fall has a smell, that dried leaves smell, that makes me so happy.
i love hot toddys with spiced cider and rum, and chili.
i love my footy pajamas.

Queen Fatspam

i saw this site, it's a random generator site.

they have a site for randomly generating cat's names.

when i clicked on it, it gave me Queen Fatspam.

i laughed, out loud, in my apartment, late at night.

guess my age, win nothing

i just got my picture taken for the yearbook.

how old am i?

what year is this?

will i be 'most popular'? 'most likely to succeed'? 'best parties'?

oh, the anxiety! the waiting!

stasis

i went shopping yesterday. it's a beautiful thing. now i can control volume and switch between components without leaving my chair!

tomorrow is another week... busy, but rewarding. my sister and i have tix to see coldplay on friday night, and we are so excited we might burst before then.

i get a cell phone on tuesday, hopefully, after much train wreck behavior from verizon.

today i got clean laundry and i washed my car. banner day.

CMT

I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

Yeah, I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

oh, I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

Yeah, I been thinkin' about my doorbell

"My Doorbell"

-the White Stripes

pissiness

my cell phone was stolen off my desk, this makes me slightly pissy.

blogger refuses to publish my last post for some reason, which also makes me slightly pissy.

i guess that's really it.

so maybe not so pissy.

my new career

i taught my first class today. my mentor said i did great, and nobody fell asleep so i guess i prolly did okay. i started with their reading assignment for the day but got bored just talking about it so i switched to visual aids instead. i had brought a model (the guys) that really demonstrated the principles the reading talked about , so i just winged it - i described the design process, and the choices we made and all that. i had them hooked, it was pretty cool.

i have no idea what to do on friday, scott won't be there to take over if i get stuck.

as a side note, i discovered tonight that their textbook, the al goldfarb one, has a whole chapter about a show i worked on at ISF - i had even referenced that show in class today! so i'll prolly point that out on friday.

i've ended up designing the fall musical - they pulled our rights to 'chicago' so now we're doing 'can can', a cole porter musical. design wasn't on my plate originally, but isn't an unwelcome addition, espcially since i can use it in class now, to demonstrate the design process.... that's what i hope to spend some time doin on friday.

no progress today on the CMT, you know who you are..

soccer and greta garbo

today i watched my nieces play soccer for the first time, on a team at the local y for 3 and 4 year olds. it was, by far, the cutest thing i've seen. we had varying degrees of team spirit, and sometimes maybe the girls just didn't feel like kickin the ball, but they were even cute when they were being stubborn.

tonight, i watched a tcm documentary on greta garbo. i realize she is, by far, one of the most beautiful women ever to hit the silver screen. her story was sadder than i knew and i was surprised to learn she retired in her early thirties - seems like a terrible waste of talent.

my first big gig is on thursday so say a little prayer to the sound mixing gods...

week one, down

i have finally completed my first official week as 'faculty'. i have never been to so many meetings in my entire life. meetings, assemblies, bowling.. you name it.

i'm getting used to my laptop; my desktop is still my favorite, but i like the portability of the laptop. the campus is wireless networked out the wahzoo, and there is a hotspot somewhere near my apt, which means i can type in bed! the keyboard is funky to type on but i'm sure i'll get used to that too.

i am slightly overwhelmed, but am not alone in that - several new teachers i've chatted with feel the same way. some of it is just getting used to the wierd 10 day schedule, some is the fact that we've been completely deluged with information this past week with little individual time to ready our respective areas/classrooms.

i've had two assemblies already and they both went fine. everyone seems to be pleased with me, which is a relief. i have a lot of goals i would like to accomplish this year, beginning at the most basic levels like shop maintenance and organization of the shop and booth. it appears that organization and saftey have not been at the top of the td list for some time now.

this past weekend we moved my brother into his dorm at umbc, which was exciting on many levels - it was neat to be back at a college, neat to remember my college days (which were a blast). we went to visit him last night and he seems to be doing all the things a college freshman should/will do (draw your own picture).

i've babysat for my neices a few times now and it's always a blast to see them. they, and my sister, came to the 'new faculty dinner' at the headmistress' house on monday and people are still telling me they've never seen such cute kids. i've gone to my mom's, just because i can, a couple of times now. i get to see my sister everyday if i like.

this weekend i plan to play catch up with the unbelievable amount of paperwork i've gotten this week, and i will prolly head over to school for a bit on sat/sunday to try and clean up the shop a little, while i have the opportunity to wear dirtyable clothes (i have dress like a grownup during the week!). aside from those things, i plan to sleep and finish unpacking my apartment.

decor and occasion

tonight my sister helped me purchase some fine, fine decor for my new, adult, apartment. the theory behind the big $$ action is that new, grownup job should = new, grownup atmosphere.

i got dark purple sheers for my bedroom that match my comforter and some of the artwork in there. i had no living room furniture so we set a standard with a walnut finish bentwood chair w/ black cushion, a burgundy shag rug and matching burgundy chenille pillows and throw. i also picked up the coolest little occasional lamp that has japanese rice paper action.. very cool. i'm going for a coordinated look in the place, to go with my actual sense of style, not what goodwill had to choose from. this is the first time i've ever been able to choose furniture and accoutrements and, at 30, i feel i've earned it!

my goal is to have my place done before school starts - the logic is that i will be so crazy in a new building with a bunch of people i don't know, i want my home to be my sanctuary and place of calm and order.

i went to work (!?) on monday to scope things out for myself.. without any keys i was unable to get into all the places i'd hoped to explore, but i did hang out in the scene shop for a little bit and boy was i dismayed at the state of affairs. it's a mess. it's dirty, the tools are kind of haphazard, and there's crap everywhere. i've got my work cut out for me, and i suspect the kid who had the job before me washed his hands of the place as soon as the school year ended. i expect the booth is in the same shape but that was locked up tight and i was unable to see for myself. i hope to go back later this week and try to get keys and id so i can get an early start on cleaning/organizing.

i love target.

biding my time

i'm posting this while vectorworks takes it's sweet time unfreezing. i'm trying to finish drawings for my show at nat, and my computer is not cooperating. it's been funky i think since i installed a personal firewall... i think the next move is to uninstall and see if that's the problem. everything has been running slower/funkier since i did that.

things here in the big city are great. yesterday i got plates for my car (finally, after much aggravation and swearing on my part) and an official neighborhood parking sticker. my computer table was sposed to come yesterday but is still mia... tracking site says "in transit" so wait i must.

tonight i'm going to an orioles game with my sister, with free tickets courtesy of my brother in law's sweet work connections. tomorrow i drive to ellicot city to see my brother bowl in a tournament. these are the reasons i moved home, in addition to my cutest ever neices. they do an awesome 'hollaback girl' with lyrics and booty shakin. they are three.

monday i am going in to my new job, two weeks early, to scope things out and get the lay of the land so i don't get lost on my first day in front of the students. i'm scared shitless for a variety of reasons but i know this was the right decision. it took some balls to even start looking for another job, and i still miss my old job and my far away friends, but i feel like the whole world is opening up again and it's all just for me! it's a great feeling. i highly recommend it.

relocation

i'm blogging to you from the east coast now... does the type look smaller?

i've got an apartment, i've got all my stuff in it, and thursday i get electric so i can get me in it! it's 3 blocks from my sister and around the corner from shoppin, videos, and laundry. i have a bay window, hardwood floors and ceiling fans. it's a 'charming one bedroom in the heart of charles village' and i think i'll really like it.

today my dad got me a bowling ball, measured and drilled just for me, so we can bowl together when i come home on the weekends.

my family is excited, i'm excited, and my cat is wigged out by all the change, but i think she'll like it too since it's bigger than my last place and hopefully she won't have to do this moving crap anymore.

relocation is the bomb!

get your religion!

new link in the link section - the pope

your inside track to God's right hand man.

a state of flux

I gave notice at work on Monday.

I've been threatening to do that for years. I've really been happy at my job, but over the course of this last year or so I actually wondered "Is this it? Is this all of my life?". I thought that only happened in the movies. I've been unhappy with my life lately, and finally grew a pair and sought out change.

The people I work with are fantastic. I will miss them all. I consider them great friends. We have been through a lot together, and are nothing short of a family. I've had a great support system since I've worked there, and am sadder to leave it than they will know. I'm leaving though, to move back to my real family, and there is no substitute for that. I've lived 800 miles away from them for 8 years now and when a family is as tightly knit as we are, it takes a toll.

I've got a new job that I think will open doors for me, artistically, personally, and financially, and am more excited about it every day. It's an opportunity to polish up rusty skill sets and get back to being more of a multi-function theater artist, which I've missed since I left school. I've really enjoyed having a specific discipline and appreciated the chance to concentrate solely on those skills, which have grown since my arrival. I miss the level of competency I used to enjoy in lighting, sound, and carpentry and am ready to wake up those sleepy skills again. I've always assumed I would eventually turn to academia as a career path and this new job will give me a chance to discover whether that is the appropriate choice for me. In addition, speaking strictly in the most business-like sense, it's also twice the $$ and a host of excellent benefits, including health, dental, and retirement - all things i have to start being responsible about.

Since moving to Illinois in general I have made great friends, some of whom know me better than I know myself sometimes. I will, of course, count them as among my closest for many years to come. Of course, I also plan to visit, so don't think you've gotten off scot-free (and you know who you are). Old friends have recently moved closer and I am sad to leave so soon after finally being close enough to visit.

This opportunity could not have come at a better time though, and is so bizarrely perfect in so many ways I could not dream of passing it up. As I look back I am sad to go, but as I look forward I can't help but be excited beyond description.

So, as my mom says, I'm in a state of flux. I hate flux, as many of you know, but this flux is both necessary and welcome. Flux away, I say!

Overheard in New York

Overheard in New York

Woman on cell: It's really gay outside right now.

--Bowery & 4th

the thing

see, here it is:

i have too much shit.
i try to get rid of it, herd it, contain it.... it's an uphill battle that i have clearly lost.
a lot of it is worthless, sentimental, broken, too-small shit. and yet, it remains...

i won't lose that 15 lbs that would make it fit again
i don't forsee any event/occasion in the next year for which i might need that sort of shoe/dress/handbag
i haven't read it since i bought it a year ago
i haven't unpacked it since i moved here
i haven't eaten it since i bought on a whim during an ill-advised trip to the grocery store while hungry

why do i hang on to this shit? what gene am i missing that controls the throwaway impluse?

the thing is: i have too much shit. that's the thing.

Overheard in New York

Overheard in New York: "Guy: I think this museum was designed by Frank Lloyd Webber.
Woman: The playwright?
Guy: This is not art. I'm asking for my money back.
--Guggenheim Museum"


i love frank lloyd webber... his little house on the prairie is my favorite!!

it's small, but it's not that small...

It's in the Alternate Universe Confederacy
Midwood girl #1: Hey, where is Maryland anyway?
Midwood girl #2: It's in D.C. somewhere.
Midwood girl #1: Oh, right.

--Flatbush bagel shop


Overheard in New York

PostSecret

my brother-in-law had this link in a post on his blog - it's wild

PostSecret

newness

take a gander over at the linktitude and blog-o-rama sections... there's tempting new treats just for you.

this guy is pretty funny, these three so far anyhow...

song on the radio right now: "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me"

you know it's true, don't deny it.

stars in my eyes

what a cool site! you can download hubble images for free to blow up as prints for your home!

HubbleSite

y'all wanna coke?

take this quiz.

i scored: "61% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score!"

that amuses me.

somehow.

on the move

this weekend i'm hitching a ride, with my friend betsy, home for the weekend! i was home last at christmas and that seems so long long ago, in a galaxy far far away. also, it's been some time since i've been on a bona-fide road trip so i'm excited on several levels.

currently, i'm reading a biography of howard hughes and listening, most recently, to folk implosion and whfs online.

work is the same.

spring is coming.

the end.

'Tis Herself!

in honor of st. patrick's day, i've posted a few photos i snapped in the auld country during my semester abroad in '96. enjoy!

irish coastline

quaint cottage by the seaside

on the left is the house i lived in for four months

doolin in the springtime

nonchalance

i came out to my dad. he says to each his own, fine with him, just wants to see me happy and with someone. then we had a laugh about it.

sometimes the non-drama is freakier than the drama.

bullet dodging

is a skill that i wish i had. sometimes, it would be nice to be able to instantly maneuver out of a sticky situation without fumbling words or awkward silences.
motherfucker.

more to follow, i promise.

updatum minimus

show opened, is going well. everyone is happy with the end result despite the 27 layers of hell we went through to get the stupid thing up.

mardi gras was a smash hit, almost the whole front page of the weekend section of the paper was a spread on it, replete with photographic evidence.

currently cleaning my apt. in anticipation of a visit from my daddy, who's not been out here since i moved in, almost four years ago.

must go now - microwave pizza awaits, followed by drinks at the gaybar.

money well spent

this weekend i spent the best $50 ever.

i bought:
1. fleece lined carpenter jeans
2. the first season of buffy on dvd
3. a moist/dry heating pad after throwing my back out

indeed, money well spent.

Jesus and Your TV

yesterday, i saw a bumpersticker that read 'if jesus came to your house, would you still watch the same tv shows?'. oh, the willies it gave me.

i haven't set anything on fire since my last ham and swiss, but i did manage to drop my keys down the elevator shaft in my apt. building. luckily it only took about 45 minutes to retrieve them, from the time i called my super 'til the time my landlord came to the rescue. this marks the second time i've dropped something down the elevator shaft - last year i dropped my glasses down the frieght elevator at work. they were saved by the case, which now has a gnarly tweak to it and won't shut all the way.

on sunday, for chores, it's sposed to be 6 degrees.
god bless long underwear.

ham and swiss flambe

today i set my lunch on fire.

i was toasting a ham and swiss and a little droplet of cheese fell from the sandwich onto the cover for the heating element in my toaster oven. when i went into the kitchen to check on my sandwich (i wanted it a little toasted, not too much) there were little flames shooting up from the element and from the corner of my sandwich. how often do you have to blow out your food before you can eat it? i lost the corner of the sandwich but the rest tasted just fine.

tonight i went to a hockey game, the icehogs, and had a great time, as always. some registers of my voice are totally shot but that is nothing new for post-game.

tomorrow i go to alan's to paint more on the mural, and then to see the aviator with friends.

right now i will go sleep off the remainder of the jack and cokes i just had at a bar up the road- new bar, went with friends, good times.

Preshrunk

i love a good t-shirt. this site makes me happy.

Preshrunk