It's no secret that Minneapolis is cold. Really cold. Someone insisted to me that it would be about -60 for a few hours there this winter, and not just in windchill, but real temperature. Then they said it would warm up to negative 10. I laughed a little bit. Negative 10, I've seen that plenty of times. Negative 60. Never. I don't believe we'll see that temperature in Minneapolis, but perhaps in Northern Minnesota.
Needless to say, we decided to buy some long underwear and sweaters for the winter, plus I'll need to dress up every day for work and try to be warm. Brr. So today, I bought 3 sweaters and a warm pair of gloves at Eddie Bauer. I have a few warm winter coats from Iowa, but I've found that most of my stuff is for the grungy winter, not for the classy, corporate winter. Will have to dress appropriately up there, complete with puffy, furry hats and skimasks. Hope to send you photos.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
So lucky
Ever feel so lucky that you don't deserve it?
I feel like that now, all because a computer program was smarter than me. Way smarter. It solved all of my problems.
I feel like I'm really stupid most of the time, that I'm inefficient, ineffective and a waste of space, that my promotion was just a good dream and my boss will come back from Czech next week and say, "sorry, you suck." My coworker is so much smarter than me, it seems so unfair that she knows things that I don't, that she remembers things that I can't. I just have to try harder, yet I can't imagine trying harder than I do now. It's all in the small stuff, I guess. Here's hoping....
I feel like that now, all because a computer program was smarter than me. Way smarter. It solved all of my problems.
I feel like I'm really stupid most of the time, that I'm inefficient, ineffective and a waste of space, that my promotion was just a good dream and my boss will come back from Czech next week and say, "sorry, you suck." My coworker is so much smarter than me, it seems so unfair that she knows things that I don't, that she remembers things that I can't. I just have to try harder, yet I can't imagine trying harder than I do now. It's all in the small stuff, I guess. Here's hoping....
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
I haven't watched this film since 2007, where Dan and I saw it in the theatre. I bought it to replace some of our stolen DVDs. It is the same beautiful film that I remember.
You should see it. At first it sounds depressing, a man who cannot communicate with the world, a soul who can only blink one eye, but listens to people spell the alphabet, then blinks as they say the letter he's thinking of, and slowly, slowly, he speaks sentences.
Yet it has really beautiful themes and frightening, real world themes as well.
-An aging parent, stuck in an apartment at age 92, trying to remember what he wanted to say to his dying son
-A mistress, the lover, who is unable to get over her fear of seeing Jean in his paralyzed state, talking on speaker phone to Jean as the doteful mother of his children listens on and translates what Jean wants to say
-A friend exchanging a plane seat with another friend, only to have the plane be hijacked, resulting in his friend spending 4 years in a captive in Beirut
Yes, it's not the happiest movie, but it is so real. It's reassuring to know that not everyone has the perfect cookie-cutter life. People have real and unexpressed regrets and real accomplishments that the rest of the world may ignore.
You should see it. At first it sounds depressing, a man who cannot communicate with the world, a soul who can only blink one eye, but listens to people spell the alphabet, then blinks as they say the letter he's thinking of, and slowly, slowly, he speaks sentences.
Yet it has really beautiful themes and frightening, real world themes as well.
-An aging parent, stuck in an apartment at age 92, trying to remember what he wanted to say to his dying son
-A mistress, the lover, who is unable to get over her fear of seeing Jean in his paralyzed state, talking on speaker phone to Jean as the doteful mother of his children listens on and translates what Jean wants to say
-A friend exchanging a plane seat with another friend, only to have the plane be hijacked, resulting in his friend spending 4 years in a captive in Beirut
Yes, it's not the happiest movie, but it is so real. It's reassuring to know that not everyone has the perfect cookie-cutter life. People have real and unexpressed regrets and real accomplishments that the rest of the world may ignore.
The D, the S, the H.
Today I came home from the overtime work and found 5 delightful things waiting for me.
1) Full cup of chai
2) philly roll sushi on our sushi plate
3) Saturday's Star
4) Apple donuts from Lamar's
5) Dan, who had prepared all of these things based on my longings for the last week.
We canceled the paper to prepare for the move and to more easily separate ourselves from the city and it's political battles that we won't be watching up north. Someone mentioned apple donuts and we lamented the sadness that I'd be working instead of snuggling in the morning and grabbing them. And I love chai and sushi.
Now he is sleeping in the other room. Every night, he is sleeping and invariably he awakens and says something silly and funny, forgets it, and goes back to sleep.
1) Full cup of chai
2) philly roll sushi on our sushi plate
3) Saturday's Star
4) Apple donuts from Lamar's
5) Dan, who had prepared all of these things based on my longings for the last week.
We canceled the paper to prepare for the move and to more easily separate ourselves from the city and it's political battles that we won't be watching up north. Someone mentioned apple donuts and we lamented the sadness that I'd be working instead of snuggling in the morning and grabbing them. And I love chai and sushi.
Now he is sleeping in the other room. Every night, he is sleeping and invariably he awakens and says something silly and funny, forgets it, and goes back to sleep.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Goodbye, Rodna
Rodna was the one that knew I'd love the plaza. (Of course, everyone in this city loves it) She was the one that knew I'd love Westport and the one that gave us some excellent Kansas City advice when we moved to town, even if we didn't listen to all of it and still lived in the city instead of Shawnee. Rodna was the one who took us out to dinner when we didn't know where to go, who bought us the Pryde's giftcard before we knew even what Pryde's was. She and Earl listened so very closely to our woes, told us the history of the city, found our first TV and bought some tools. We stayed with Rodna when we were house hunting, fell in love with the kitties, Razzle and Dazzle, and stayed with her again during our 2 weeks without air conditioning. She and Earl lent us their sledge hammer to destroy our old bathtub and then we were there at the end, when Earl died. We visited Earl in the hospital, she visited us when Don was dying. She called me the second she heard about our break-in July 09 and offered to come over and stay in the house with me, since Dan was back in Iowa. Before Don died, she took Tammy out for a little bit of shopping and her sister babysat the house during the actual burial. And after everything was over and the dying was done and the healing was taking place, she was one of the few people who understood the intricacies of our familial relationships and our intense need to do something fun after a year from hell.
So, in the end, you could say that she was there for us, through all of it. Today we said our temporary goodbyes, for, of course, we will see each other again, just in another city, at a different time, and much less frequently. So, today, you could say that I cried a bit, a little sadder than I was expecting.
Before we left our nice dinner in Brookside, all 3 of us raised our glasses of red wine and said, fondly, "To Kansas City."
So, in the end, you could say that she was there for us, through all of it. Today we said our temporary goodbyes, for, of course, we will see each other again, just in another city, at a different time, and much less frequently. So, today, you could say that I cried a bit, a little sadder than I was expecting.
Before we left our nice dinner in Brookside, all 3 of us raised our glasses of red wine and said, fondly, "To Kansas City."
Monday, September 13, 2010
That age-old debate....
I guess the city vs. suburbs debate is only about 50 years old. It's coming here, to our lives soon. We could live in the heart of the city, near UM, with free parking and all utilities covered, save for electricity.
Or we could live in the suburbs, but near Dan's office, with free parking and all utilities covered, minus electricity. The cost of each place is the same. Suburban place has 2 pools, 2 saunas and a work-out room.
I feel like I owe it to my husband to give him the shorter commute after 3 years of his terrible and long commute. But at the same time, I commuted for him for about 2 years from DSM to Ames. I think mine was easier though, since the DSM traffic is so light. Hence, I feel a suburbian move is most likely going to happen for us, but the city has been such an integral part of my life that it will be hard to say goodbye to being within blocks of good food. Plus MN has such a great bike path system that we'll be missing in the 'burbs. And I'm afraid of turning into an isolated suburbanite who knows nothing of urban politics or urban planning & development, who is out of touch with reality and culture in a city. These are harsh stereotypes for me to make of suburbanites, I realize, so I should stuff it. :)
Hey, we were going on vacation to San Antonio in October, but I think right now we have to reschedule because it's pretty hard to start a new job then ask for 3 days off--and then drive 7 hours to the airport.
At any rate, we think that I can go, but Dan can't.
Our choices are:
Cancel the whole trip and try to get a refund (not likely)
Sell the tickets to a friend (is it hard to change the names on the tickets?)
Send me to TX and I'll try to find someone else to go in Dan's place? (hard to find a friend with that availability)
I shall call the airline to figure the rest out.
Or we could live in the suburbs, but near Dan's office, with free parking and all utilities covered, minus electricity. The cost of each place is the same. Suburban place has 2 pools, 2 saunas and a work-out room.
I feel like I owe it to my husband to give him the shorter commute after 3 years of his terrible and long commute. But at the same time, I commuted for him for about 2 years from DSM to Ames. I think mine was easier though, since the DSM traffic is so light. Hence, I feel a suburbian move is most likely going to happen for us, but the city has been such an integral part of my life that it will be hard to say goodbye to being within blocks of good food. Plus MN has such a great bike path system that we'll be missing in the 'burbs. And I'm afraid of turning into an isolated suburbanite who knows nothing of urban politics or urban planning & development, who is out of touch with reality and culture in a city. These are harsh stereotypes for me to make of suburbanites, I realize, so I should stuff it. :)
Hey, we were going on vacation to San Antonio in October, but I think right now we have to reschedule because it's pretty hard to start a new job then ask for 3 days off--and then drive 7 hours to the airport.
At any rate, we think that I can go, but Dan can't.
Our choices are:
Cancel the whole trip and try to get a refund (not likely)
Sell the tickets to a friend (is it hard to change the names on the tickets?)
Send me to TX and I'll try to find someone else to go in Dan's place? (hard to find a friend with that availability)
I shall call the airline to figure the rest out.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Working like a.....
Chinese hooker!
That's a stupid Celebrity Jeopardy joke, gotta love Burt Reynolds impersonators, right?
It's true, though, I've been working tons of OT. And they just asked if we'd be interested in more OT for next week, including Saturday. I said no to most of it, except for the Saturday part. I'm looking forward to the extra paycheck.
We're thinking about keeping the house and letting some of our friends rent it, which would solve every single possible problem in the entire globe. The only downside is that they might not like the house much since we only have one shower and not so many people like to take a bath in the clawfoot tub daily. Trust me, Dan and I did it for about 6 months. While the bath part is nice, something about sitting in hot water doesn't make you want to rush out the door, invigorated and excited about your day at work! Man, being in Japan was awesome. You could take a hot bath every night, provided you didn't mind reusing the same person's bathwater. It sounds gross, but it really wasn't. THey always let me go first.
And once in Japan, they opened an entire bathhouse to me and let me bathe in it myself, privately. It was salt water and with marble tile everywhere. Sometimes I can't really believe that I did that, so long ago. Wishing I was a bit more mature at 15 to have understood the culture shock phenomenon and not to have been sick with asthma.
Anyway, speaking of mature, I'm not so very excited about certain things taking place back in DSM right now. I guess it's relieving to know that there are more psychotic people in the world than myself? I cannot change them, but I also can't be nice and supportive, either. Some people clearly haven't read the book "How to win friends and influence people." Alas, life goes on and I'm sure that by this time next year, I won't remember what veiled references I was making here, but rest assured it's my family, and none of you, dear friends.
Soon I will make a boring to-do list and everyone can read it.
That's a stupid Celebrity Jeopardy joke, gotta love Burt Reynolds impersonators, right?
It's true, though, I've been working tons of OT. And they just asked if we'd be interested in more OT for next week, including Saturday. I said no to most of it, except for the Saturday part. I'm looking forward to the extra paycheck.
We're thinking about keeping the house and letting some of our friends rent it, which would solve every single possible problem in the entire globe. The only downside is that they might not like the house much since we only have one shower and not so many people like to take a bath in the clawfoot tub daily. Trust me, Dan and I did it for about 6 months. While the bath part is nice, something about sitting in hot water doesn't make you want to rush out the door, invigorated and excited about your day at work! Man, being in Japan was awesome. You could take a hot bath every night, provided you didn't mind reusing the same person's bathwater. It sounds gross, but it really wasn't. THey always let me go first.
And once in Japan, they opened an entire bathhouse to me and let me bathe in it myself, privately. It was salt water and with marble tile everywhere. Sometimes I can't really believe that I did that, so long ago. Wishing I was a bit more mature at 15 to have understood the culture shock phenomenon and not to have been sick with asthma.
Anyway, speaking of mature, I'm not so very excited about certain things taking place back in DSM right now. I guess it's relieving to know that there are more psychotic people in the world than myself? I cannot change them, but I also can't be nice and supportive, either. Some people clearly haven't read the book "How to win friends and influence people." Alas, life goes on and I'm sure that by this time next year, I won't remember what veiled references I was making here, but rest assured it's my family, and none of you, dear friends.
Soon I will make a boring to-do list and everyone can read it.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Teaching?
I was about to blog about how tired I feel, but I am guessing that's just lame and no one wants to read it. But I do feel terribly tired. Normally I can suck it up and do more, but I feel like there is no "more" inside of me right now.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/09/back-to-school-dc
I just read this story about the DC children in school and laughed about the teacher's "reeducation." Trying to understand what the kids are saying is a chore in itself. I felt that way when I moved to KC and started riding the bus. I had no possible CLUE what people were iterating near me, and now, after 3 years, I hope I can decipher most of it. I hope this somehow makes me a better person or somehow gives me an edge in the future, but that might just be wishful thinking.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/09/back-to-school-dc
I just read this story about the DC children in school and laughed about the teacher's "reeducation." Trying to understand what the kids are saying is a chore in itself. I felt that way when I moved to KC and started riding the bus. I had no possible CLUE what people were iterating near me, and now, after 3 years, I hope I can decipher most of it. I hope this somehow makes me a better person or somehow gives me an edge in the future, but that might just be wishful thinking.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Romantics
Dan via Bridey told me what Mumblecore means.
I sorta think this movie might exemplify this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pdC74CtaE
In some ways, this movie trailer freaks me out because I feel like we just got a good group of friends together here and now we're leaving it, before we really get to feel like this all the time. But I think, perhaps, that you can start to feel really close to everyone you meet really fast, if you're the right type of person.
I sorta think this movie might exemplify this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pdC74CtaE
In some ways, this movie trailer freaks me out because I feel like we just got a good group of friends together here and now we're leaving it, before we really get to feel like this all the time. But I think, perhaps, that you can start to feel really close to everyone you meet really fast, if you're the right type of person.
we
We are moving and selling our house. I'm terrified and excited. Mostly I'm excited. Sometimes I'm terrified, but only of myself. Sometimes it's what we're doing if we could do anything in the world, look at us go! And sometimes it's the 1000 acres line about how we could see the beginning of our tragedy now, we just didn't know it at the time.
God, I really love the book "A Thousand Acres." Of course, I'll have to read King Lear soon.
I love seeing people make changes in their life. I love that I can make changes to my life, that I have control over things that happen after all. Really, it took a long time to get there, most major life changes for me happened because of other people. (My dad's job change, Dan's job change, an evil boss at my office.) Holy wow, I'm moving to a place where I can ski and ice skate! I can make myself be whatever I want.
God, I really love the book "A Thousand Acres." Of course, I'll have to read King Lear soon.
I love seeing people make changes in their life. I love that I can make changes to my life, that I have control over things that happen after all. Really, it took a long time to get there, most major life changes for me happened because of other people. (My dad's job change, Dan's job change, an evil boss at my office.) Holy wow, I'm moving to a place where I can ski and ice skate! I can make myself be whatever I want.
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