1. What was the last song you heard?
Parallel or Together - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman (at home) and in the theaters - Chicago and The Hours

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
a tray for my watercolors, graphite tracing paper, and illustration board

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
go to gaymart, go to spin, see three musketeers with my sister, and take her back to the airport

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
my sister, my mom, jessie, dan, and bob.

i had figured i would leave these last posts as the most recent for a few days, to see who had what to say. i find that i just can't not blog anymore though, since i'm so excited at the impending arrival of my sister, who flies into o'hare tomorrow. my sister rocks, for those of you who don't know. she has twin baby girls, and publishes a zine about being a riot mama. it's the esperanza link in the sidebar here, that goes to her blog about different zine related stuff. if you want to read a copy, let me know.. jessie's got a copy of the first edition down in normal, and i have the second here, and would be glad to share. while my sister is in town we hope to go to a bookstore in chicago called quimby's as they carry her zine for sale and we think it'd be cool to see her stuff in a town far away from where she lives (which is baltimore).

in other news, there is none.

let me clarify something here:

the issue of whether or not we, as a country, should go to war with iraq is not really what i wanted to discuss. i really have no interest in debating that particular topic - only to say that i wondered about the morale of our miltary troops because i think that sometimes people have a tendency to think of the military as a single war machine, not as moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and lovers who don't want to die just as much as you or i. my lukewarm interest in these war goings-on is really on a human interest level, not a political one. i haven't paid enough attention to consider myself "well informed" about the facts and circumstances to really debate the ethics of this war.

what i really was asking is this: how do you feel about the inalienable right to free speech - is there a line where we cross into the land of "too far"? you should know that i do support this kid's right to protest in any way she wants, short of causing harm to others, which she clearly is not doing. i raised this question on my blog today because the morning radio show i listen to had people call in to opine about this girl's silent protest. one guy said she should do 20-30 yrs. jail time for disrespecting our national symbol. another caller determined that she must not actually be an american citizen. everyone that i heard on this show essentially said that the right to free speech is secondary to patriotism and good citizenship. nobody called in to say that they unequivocally supported this girl's right to protest in her individual, non-disruptive way. so i wondered, just out of curiosity, if there is some invisible line, that nobody talks about, we're not supposed to cross if we choose to disagree with the mainstream social conscience. to me, that idea seems at odds with the fundamental principles our nation was founded upon, and so i thought i would see what other people thought about that. thank you to all y'all that have already commented on my last post, i just felt like maybe i didn't make my question or my position clear.

here's a condensed version of the first blog (it's in it's entirety below this one); with some of the pieces that contain the question that i'm actually asking:
"in other news, i'm curious - what do you think about the college basketball player who turns her back on the american flag during the national anthem before her game?" it seems to have caused quite a hot debate on the issue of patriotism and citizenship vs. free speech. "isn't freedom of speech one of the principles we hold most dear as americans? isn't that one of the primary tenents on which our society/country was founded?"

so, now i feel like i've cleared up some murky waters, and am curious as to what you all think. so shout out!

you know how sometimes people say just random things that happen to piss you off, even though it's not really a bad thing they said, it just rubs you the wrong way for no real reason that you can identify? and then you get all defensive over nothing and want to scream fuckfuckfuckfucketyfuck really loud, but you don't because you know it's secretly stupid???

my daddy gives me shit for not updating my yahoo page enough, so i started the family safe blog, and he leaves this shout out: Well, this is different - but I would just as soon get an email - whihc has to be as easy or more so. DAD there is no fucking pleasing this man!! and why am i over-reacting like this? i feel like i tried to do something fun, and he crapped all over it.
fuck!

in other news, i'm curious - what do you think about the college basketball player who turns her back on the american flag during the national anthem before her game? she's protesting the war i think. on the one hand, i think we should be united as a country if we do go to war, for the sake of our overseas troops' morale, if nothing else. on the other hand, isn't freedom of speech one of the principles we hold most dear as americans? isn't that one of the primary tenents on which our society/country was founded?
i don't know, what do you think?

the weekend is over, and i haven't done nearly as much work as i had hoped. when did i become such a lazy fuck?


jessie came up on thursday, which is always good. friday night we both went to the cobb's party, and she got all kinds of tips for the ny trip (of which i am insanely jealous). saturday i sat around on my increasingly fatter ass, instead of drafting like i was supposed to. today, i sat around some more, but eventually did get to the drafting.... i still have one more plate i should do, and kinda feel like i might start on, even though it's 12:20, which is way past my bed time. damn responsibility!!!!

my sister comes into o'hare on thursday night, and i cannot wait to pick her up! we will rock out all weekend, especially since she told me that our mom is not only sending new baby pics, but also $100 spending money... yay mom!!!!!!!!!!!
jackie, my sister, wants to see all the gay parts of chicago... i told her that wouldn't be a problem.

i'm listening to massive attack right now... so smooth...

i've started a family - safe weblog, it's not exciting, but i felt obligated to say something about it.... there's no cussing, or silly quizzes, or talking about hottie starlets, so go if you want, but don't expect to be as dazzeled as you are by this page......

who wants to buy me a digital camera?

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?
i suppose it's really a toss up between novels and non-fiction... i love a good autobiography, but i'm also a fan of a good story.

2. What is your favorite novel?
i don't know. i think wuthering heights, fried green tomatoes, beloved, anything by margaret atwood.

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)
i like most of shakespeare's sonnets, but also adore dorothy parker....

If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;

Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love.

But I have no lethal weapon ----
Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights, in hell.

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?
I'd like to read the Harry Potters, Lord of the Rings, and Catcher in the Rye.

5. What are you currently reading?
Currently I'm trying to read A Beautiful Mind

i always knew i was smart and hot....you know you want some of this.


You are Dana Scully. You're a doctor who believes
firmly in scientific explanations for
everything, yet you're also a fairly religious
Catholic. You support Mulder and his ideas,
and accept that you have seen things you can't
explain. Yet, you remain his foil and
"keep him honest", forcing him to not
get too delusional. You never get your own
desk for some reason.


Which X-Files character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

tonight i watched two really good movies: the royal tenenbaums, and scotland, pa. you should watch these movies. they are wonderful. and maura tierney is so fucking hot i can't even think of words to describe how hot she is. i am speechless....except for dirty thoughts.. and they don't count as speech, right?

it occurs to me that i missed the friday five, and i know you hate it when i do that......

1. What is your most prized material possession?
i have my parent's wedding pictures, they were divorced when i was 6. they are irreplaceable. i also have a collection of playbills that my grandparents collected during their theatre-going days, including some pages from playbills that my grandmother's mother collected and framed. some of them date to the 1890's.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?
i wasn't really sure at first, but i looked around and saw that i have a stuffed koala that's covered in koala fur, that i've had literally as long as i can remember, meaning i can remember having it when my parents were still together.

3. Are you a packrat?
incurably so.

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?
i would like to keep my house cleaner than i do, i'd like to have a place for everything and everything in it's place, but that never seems to work out for me... i suppose i would probably get nervous if my house was spic and span....

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?
i have an expertly arranged, aesthetically impeccable, visually inspiring and exasperatingly enviable collection of random knick-knacks that are all special for some reason or another.

well now, i know you've been waiting for an update... don't lie, you know it's true.

the truth is that i've been sick for a while now, and not really interested in life outside my apt., though others in my life (read: work) forced me to acknowledge it's presence and even participate in it against my will. i had a fever, i've had a persistent cough, and even some dry heaves! it seems to be over now, for the most part, and so i return (albeit reluctantly) to the more conventional routine.

friday night i went down to school to see pentecost, although i was too sick to do it (i didn't discover this really until i got there... not so good). it really was a great show. the cast did a nice job with an intense script and some powerful issues, and the design team really came together in some nice ways. i got back yesterday around 6, went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 11:30 this morning...

tonight i am watching the grammy awards, and i have to say that coldplay's performance of politik, backed by the new york philharmonic was in-fucking-credible. three musketeers opened officially on friday night, and at some point i'll try and find a review to link to. i assume it went well.

that's the nutshell... i had it, and you knew you wanted it.

i just got back from grocery shopping at walmart. i saw a couple, like mid 60's, with 10 heads of lettuce in their shopping cart. i couldn't see any other salad related items - dressing, croutons, bacon bits, other vegetables, etc....... just the 10 heads of lettuce.

what does one do with 10 heads of lettuce?

and here's my friday five, finally; a day late, but i got your dollar right here beeyotch:

1. Explain why you started to journal/blog.
yeah, becky, jess told me to, too. quite the little tyrant, that one.

2. Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not?
actually, no. well, my sister knows. and she reads it every day. hi jackie! nobody i see every day (read: at work) knows about it, and i hope to keep it that way forever and ever 'cause somtimes i bitch about work and it just wouldn't do for them to read it. it's not necessarily because i care what they would think about what i write, but since my livelihood (sp?) depends on maintaing a good working relationship with these people, it would be bad news for me to write something really offensive and then be confronted about it at work.

3. Do you have a theme for your journal/blog?
i don't think so. unless you count the reference to the fact that i'm hearing impaired in both the title of the blog and in the url itself.

4. What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year?
omni

5. Pimp five of your favorite journals/blogs.
links to all my favorite blogs can be found in my links section. that's the extent of my pimpin.

went to an icehogs game tonight, and had a great time. they won 5 to 1, vs. the kalamazoo somethingorothers. i finally got an icehogs hat, and am hoarse from all the screaming bob and i did. friday night i went to see three musketeers, to see how all the painting i did this week looked under lights. it looks more done that i thought, and that's a load off my mind.

i feel generally better as a person today, i've had a day off, and most of the day on friday i painted by myself. i stayed home all day today, and only went out for the hockey game, which was a lot of fun. tomorrow i plan to go grocery shopping in the morning(ish) and then rent spinal tap and stay in all day, with my cat and my box of water. i don't remember the last day i had off, meaning a day that i haven't gone in to work, and two days in a row is such a treat.

later in the week i plan to head down to school, prolly on friday, so i can see pentecost, which i feel like i've been working on after hearing so much about it. dan conley will be down on thursday, for work, and is also staying for the show.... so all y'all down there... buckle up, it could get exciting :).....

also, i got a valentine today from my nieces... it's cute.. it's a happy valentine's to an aunt card, and now i feel all warm and fuzzy :). i'm diggin this niece thing. my sister comes to visit the first weekend in march, and chicago had better watch out, 'cause we got an agenda.

yup, that's all.

"love is for tiny people with tiny lives."

- parker posey as 'jackie o' in the house of yes

well, i got nuthin.

i spent the weekend in tech, and am still painting major set pieces even though we're in student matinees. we haven't officially opened though, so really it's not a huge, gigantic deal (even though i feel like it is).

for the past few days i have been in an extraordinarily foul mood... just evil and petty for several days on end now. i think it's because i haven't really had a for real break since like new year's. more recently, i haven't had a day off since i don't remember when, and i'm extremely tired of people in general. i'm in serious danger of actually telling some people just what i think, which wouldn't be wise, for so many different reasons. hopefully, i will be finished painting by friday so i can have the weekend to myself. this would be good for anybody that has to come into contact with me, at all.

on the whole, things are okay, i'm just tired i think. i got offered a job at apt for the summer, but only as a props intern. ha.
it sounds like a sweet job, and i would definitely take it if they weren't only offering $260/wk.. i can't afford to make that little = looks like retail for me this summer. maybe that wouldn't be so bad..... i dunno.

i should go to bed now, as lack of sleep isn't generally proven to help shittymooditis, as i'm sure many clinical studies have shown.

updated my webpage again, this time adding a page of musketeers process shots... the most common comment seems to be "it's big".....

some say it's not the size of your set that matters ;)

again, courtesy of the random slogan generator,

i wish i were a musketeer wiener.

1. What did you have for breakfast this morning? If you didn't have breakfast, why not?
i am having brunch today, and it's mac and cheese.. with an extra slice of american cheese just like jessie taught me.

2. What's your favorite cereal?
that's a tough call... sometimes it's lucky charms, sometimes it's cap'n crunch w/ crunch berries and sometimes it's cracklin' oat bran....

3. How often do you eat out? Do you want that to change?
it depends on the calendar. if it's tech, like right now, i eat out almost all the time. when i'm not in tech, i'm pretty good about eating at home... i would like to eat at home more during tech, but i never remember to stock up on crock pot stuff before hand.

4. What do you plan on having for dinner tonight? Got a recipe for that?
my dinner will prolly come with a medium fry and a coke. i got nuthin'.

5. What's your favorite restaurant? Why?
famous dave's at the moment........... buffalo wings... hoo daddy!!!!!!!!!!!