the distance

The distance in question is 13.1. Heck yes, half marathoning it. May 2011.

I'm also thinking this would be awesome, ala Duncan. Lady, come do the one in Minnesota. Or Wisconsin. I hope they take slow people, because I'm slow but I can jump over a fire.

My mail carrier has not been delivering some of my mail, specifically, important letters from my undergrad regarding my loans. So if that's not getting through, what else have I been missing? Way to go, postal service.

I had an epic Cookie Fail last Sunday. They went in like this:



And came out like this:



Don't know what happened... We ate them anyway.

she is handsome she is pretty

My favorite song from last weekend at Irish Fest in Milwaukee. Not my video.

this too shall pass

I've mentioned before, but I love LOVE Ok Go. I love this video. I love pretty much any song that incorporates a marching band. Reading The AV Club's article on love-at-first-sight art made me think of Ok Go. One of Erich's friends bought their first album because he thought the cover art was cool (I'm not sure if he had heard of them or not... the cover art was the explanation I heard). Loved the it. Bought the second album for Kari for Christmas, but then realized I probably liked them more than she did. Not that she didn't like them, just that I anticipated she was a bigger fan than she actually was. Oops. I won't lie; that's what happened.

Also - The Jerk. I remember watching it when I was a kid and thinking it was so funny. I didn't see it again for years, partially out of the idea that it might not be as good as I remembered, that my memory built it up to epic proportions. When I finally did see it again a few years back, it lived up to my memory, which is saying something.

Hmmm, what else. Today is the reception for family and friends after our wedding earlier this summer. Everyone coming to one place just for Andrew and I. I have a love/hate relationship with being the center of attention. I really don't like blowing out candles while people watch me and sing Happy Birthday (or an equally appropriate song in the public domain). Opening presents at a wedding shower a few weeks ago was equally unnerving. But at the same time, I like parties, especially parties in my honor.

I should go wash dishes before my mom gets here. I don't want her to think that I actually use my kitchen. Use it a lot, by the pile of dishes in the sink.

days like this

dance magic dance

I've not been in a writing mood lately. More to come at some point. Until then...

round and around and up and down

Today I cleaned the apartment and had to take the trash out. I don't know if you remember my back steps, but this is what they look like.


Imagine that covered in 6 inches of snow, all of which needed to be brushed off in order to even attempt going down the ice-covered steps. When I say ice covered, I mean an inch of rounded ice on every step, bubbling up to fit into the arches of my feet. At the bottom is a van parked a foot away from the last step, meaning that when one walks down the steps with a trash bag, one has to either fall off the steps to the right in the direction of the snow pile or one has to use the van to steady themselves to avoid falling into the snow pile. It is not the easiest thing in the world, taking out the trash in the winter. I suppose I could do what my neighbors do - pile it up outside on the porch next to the back door.

Today I am making broccoli cheese soup from this recipe. I'll let you know how it goes. I've been briefly thinking about seeing if we want to do a MRC cookbook for a social events project.

I wish I knew grammar better.

Sometimes we forget about the painful things in our lives until they ambush us suddenly, unexpectedly. It's like they sense we're doing ok and come back to haunt us.

The most played song on my iTunes is Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" from the Mad Men soundtrack.

Andrew made fun of me because I finally put a picture of us in a frame on my desk. Whatever, he's got a beard.

I had two dreams last night, one that this guy was chasing me and someone else around my dad's house, first just scarily and then with a giant butcher knife. I was hiding in my dad's closet behind all the clothes and shoes (where my mom used to hide christmas presents when we were growing up) and then I decided it'd be better to get into the bathroom and lock the door, but just as I went there he ran around the corner with the butcher knife and stabbed me. I woke up before he stabbed me, though. Then I dreamed that the Catholic House was a cabin in the woods and we all lived in one big room with cots lined up next to one another. It was morning and a bunch of us were just sitting in our beds under the covers talking. My cot was next to Josh's. On the opposite wall was big windows looking out into the woods and it was probably November since there weren't any leaves on the trees but no snow. There was also a big screen tv on the wall that we could watch. For some reason, we also were rounding up Santa Clauses and keeping them in a waist high pen out in the yard, which is illogical since they could easily get out. It was like a deer pen, really. We also went to a museum with Bill Murray.

It always seems that whenever I have a scary dream, no one is there to comfort me. Stupid boyfriend visiting his parents. I suppose that's why I conjured up my Catholic House to make me feel better. And it did.

Last week sometime I also had a dream I lost my running shoes after a race. I looked all around, outside where I took them off where the race ended and inside of the restaurant serving post-race food. Eventually I found them with a bunch of other shoes and race stuff outside the bathrooms.

Honestly, I swear my subconscious just does what it wants.

feeling good

They played this last night at the one year anniversary of Dance Party.

Weekends are now when I get to wear clothes with holes in them. I also wear sweaters to work. I also have my first loan payment due in a few days. My, aren't we growing up fast.

dirt everywhere

Rachel says I write too infrequently. Here's another post to appease her.

I went to a MRC training in St. Paul today, not too far from Andrew's place. It was easier to stay overnight there and bike the two miles from his place as opposed to get up early and bus for an hour. I didn't think to check the weather forecast, but when I left the training at 3:45, everything was wet and still a little misty. I thought about taking the bus home, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I hadn't biked to work the two days before and missed Dance Party yesterday, so I felt kinda shitty and lethargic since I hadn't gotten physical activity.

I got so wet and so dirty on the 9 mile bike ride home, but it was really really really really fun. I sped past blocks and blocks of cars on Snelling waiting to get on 94, flew down the giant hill on Marshall and sped over the Mississippi into Minneapolis, and stopped on the Greenway bridge to snap this picture:




And these of my dirty legs:



It was a good rainy Friday afternoon.

Also, I love American Routes. It makes working at 8 am Sundays totally worth it. That is all.

help me find a way

a night in the box - the way you make me feel

Saw them again last night at Acadia. As usual, a fantastic show. Probably one of my favorite things about being back in MPLS.

Also, I love the skyline. I've mentioned it before, but I can't help but look at the skyline whenever I go past a particularly great view. I'm like Mom, but with skylines instead of sunsets.



I haven't taken any pictures since I've been back, but hopefully this weekend with Jake and Will being in town, plus the 4th. I should bring my camera with me when I bike. Also, I love the Greenway.

I made banana bread a few days ago. It is delicious and if I don't share quickly, I will eat the whole loaf. Not that I'm against that necessarily, but I am for sharing.

crazy on you

music and work and hopeful work

Big decisions today, people. I've got an important date with Jake and I want to look as much like a pretty, pretty princess as possible.

But seriously, we're going to Rock the Garden today and I'm trying to figure out what to wear that will be 1: cool looking, 2: cool feeling, 3: let me get tan without a sunburn, 4: has the ability to cover myself if I do get sunburn without being stifling. I kind of want to wear a dress, but that'd eventually get sweaty and sticky. Maybe a skirt with leggings, but that might be hot too. My life is soooo hard.

Good progress on the job front. I am a badass canvasser, apparently. I've done two days of collecting signatures asking one of the local US Reps to vote for the American Clean Energy and Security Act and have passed my quota every day. At first I thought it was a fluke because I found a famer's market and cleaned up there, but then I did really well again yesterday in front of a library. I finished early yesterday and went to where a fellow canvasser was, and realized why he hadn't made his quota and I had. I'd ask pretty much everyone that came across the library threshold, made clear up front what I was asking for, the level of time/commitment of signing the petition, and was generally friendly. The other canvasser, on the other hand, sat in front of the building and didn't approach everyone, opened with asking about the representative we're petitioning as opposed to the issue, and often had snide comments for people who gave weak excuses for not signing. It was the difference between approaching people and walking with them or sitting there as they walked by. I joined the campaign after it had began so I don't know how much training people had, but even just a bit would have made a big impact for this guy. And I'm not saying I've had tons of experience (because I haven't), but I know the difference between active work and passive work. Plus he thought that a good place to ask would be in front of a golf course. Yeah, right.

Besides that, I have two job interviews in the near future. One with a church looking for part time program coordinating, and another for an Americorps position with a school looking for someone to coordinate volunteers and programs/events for students (mostly immigrants or children of immigrants) 15-20 who are behind at least a year in school. I'm really excited about this last one because it touches on a lot of major interests of mine - education advancement, volunteer coordination, event planning - and because it seems like the program has had a lot of success and does good work for that community.

We'll see how it goes. First, what to wear.

my new running song

runaway train

The dismantling has begun. I've got six boxes of books and an empty, dusty bookshelf. My room is being taken apart, slowly at first and then it will turn hectic as family arrives and the deadline arrives.

As much as I'm excited to be living a block from the Bryant Lake Bowl, must it be at the expense of not living next to Josh? As much as I'm looking forward to seeing my family, their presence carries an unspoken ultimatum.

I've mentioned it before, but I'm cursed by finding good people everywhere I've lived. I find myself missing the place where I'm not, regardless of place or people. Right now I'm itching to get back to Minneapolis, but I know it means I'm leaving New Haven indefinitely. And I know once I go, things won't stay the same here. Jake's leaving, people are moving, the inherent impermanence of the school kicks in and they start all over again in the fall. And after next year, I'll barely know anyone here. The buildings will be the same, but the city will not.

Maybe I just need to stop listening to Ben Folds when I'm doing sad things like packing. It'd help if I didn't hear "And life barrels on like a runaway train/Where the passengers change/They don't change anything/You get off; someone else can get on."

I just gotta keep reminding myself that the train ends in Minneapolis.

End of Semester Numbers Game

Life's busy.

12 days, 8 hours, 40 minutes until I'm done with work for YDS.

4 papers to write, 3 events to plan, 2 books to read, 1 degree to complete.

1353 miles to drive at the end of May to get back to MPLS.

Many jobs to apply for.

I had a great weekend enjoying the nice weather and good company. It's about time to crack down and get my numbers list down to zero.

ben folds - not the same

So since that last post was a little stressful and depressing, at least in my opinion... Here's a something cheerier and bit of what Tim and I did last Saturday night.



Ben Folds is phenomenal. I love this song, and even the way he stands up to play. In the album version, he does some really great stuff with alternating vocals that I love love love. It was a great show and I think Ben Folds is one of those people that everyone should see live at least once.

This was also another great concert experience a few years back with Amy, Nat, and Drew:



Guster - Jesus on the Radio (acoustic)

They released the info for The Current's Rock the Garden, and I think Jake and I are going to go. If Kari and I end up living by Loring like planned, we can walk over! I hope Nat comes up to visit then, too. The Decemberists are playing and she loves them.

what i did tonight

This is the reason I booked my ticket back to MPLS for tomorrow:



Ok Go performing What To Do on handbells. Good show.

Watson Twins - Just Like Heaven

Beautiful.

Psapp - The Monster Song

iTunes and Me

What does your music library say about you?

1. Put Your iTunes on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.


What do your friends think of you?
"Wanting Memories," Sweet Honey in the Rock

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
"Silencer," Me Without You
[pretty appropriate, I think]

How would you describe yourself?
"Anyway," O.A.R.

What do you like in a guy?
"Swimmin' in the Sea," Gaelic Storm
[Too bad it's not "What's the Rumpus"]

How do you feel today?
"Banana Pancakes," Jack Johnson

What is your life’s purpose?
"Meant to Live," Switchfoot
[boo Switchfoot, yay song meaning]

What is your motto?
"Something," Beatles

What do you think about very often?
"Are You Experienced?" Jimi Hendrix
[Considering I'm applying for jobs I'm not completely experienced for, it's accurate]

What do you think of your best friend?
"Chili Dog," James Taylor

What do you think of the person you like?
"Winter Wonderland," Kate Havnevik

What is your life story?
"Car," Brand New covering Built to Spill

What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Helter Skelter," Beatles

What do you think of when you see the person you like/love?
"I am the Walrus," Beatles
[koo koo kazoo]

What will you dance to at your wedding?
"Fuck You, I'm Drunk," Dropkick Murphys
[amazingly appropriate]

What will they play at your funeral?
"Accidentally in Love," Counting Crows
[also amazingly appropriate]

What is your hobby/interest?
"In the Mood," Glen Miller Orchestra
[iTunes, you are right on tonight]

What is your biggest fear?
"Undone (Sweater Song)," Weezer

What is your biggest secret?
"Cigarette," Berken

What do you think of your friends?
"Hush," Deep Purple

What will you post this as?
"Gimme Shelter," The Rolling Stones
[ignore]

Love, me.