Kelly and the Cone of Death

0 comments Posted by Jennifer at 2:00 PM

Kelly's been chewing on his tail recently, so we've had to resort to desperate measures. Desperate times call for desperate measures:



 

Whatever your politics, you've gotta admit Al Franken rocks.

0 comments Posted by Jennifer at 12:56 PM

Here's why Al Franken rocks like Freddie Mercury:



(Courtesy of pajiba.com.)

He's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people (like me) like him!

 

Some easy listening for your enjoyment and some updates.

1 comments Posted by Jennifer at 11:30 PM

It's been nearly four months since my last post, and that one was about dying. Whatta downer. Somewhat pathetically, I'm breaking my blogging abstinence with a little easy listening for your (read: Blair's) enjoyment:



Who knew Bruce Willis would have such a soft, pleasant-sounding voice? I've had a crush on the Bald One for as long as I can remember. I'm probably one of ten people alive who loved loved LOVED The Fifth Element and will watch it whenever it's on TV. Now that I've heard him sing, I find him that much more attractive. The stretch from the time he starts singing around 43 seconds to 75 seconds is my favorite part. All that said, I don't think the Temptations should ever have to play second fiddle to anyone.


Somewhat brief updates:

• We're finishing up the finalizing process on our mortgage. We just got our home owner's insurance and locked in our rate (5.25!), and now all that's left to do is everything else. (i.e., buy the flooring, buy the washer and dryer, buy a TV stand, buy our fake grass because real grass will die, buy our wood with which to build our pergola, etc. That's a whole lotta buyin' with very little moneh.)

• I had catalogued my entire book collection using software I purchased online, but lost the library's contents when Pete cleaned off my computer in an attempt to make it faster. I'm very sad at the thought of having to do all that work again. (Note: It was my fault my library was lost, not Pete's. Makes it all the worse because I only have myself to blame. Dammit.)

• These are some the books I'm reading for my classes this fall:
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris - Very excited about this one, particularly if the vampire sex is as hot in the book as it is on HBO.
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons- Just finished reading it. It was my first time reading a graphic novel, and I didn't really like experience. The story was okay, but nothing to write home to mom about. Sorry to all the fanboys and girls out there.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons - Don't know much about this one, but Simmons' The Terror was freaking fantastic, so my hopes are high.
Timescape by Gregory Benford- Don't know much about this one, either. I do like science fiction, though, to a degree. (This book, Hyperion, and Watchmen are all for a sci-fi lit course I'm taking.)
Thelma and Louise by Marita Sturken- Was not aware this was a book first. I imagine we'll probably be watching the movie as well. Anytime I get to see Brad Pitt shirtless is a good time in my book.
Also reading Emma and Sense and Sensibility (among others) for a Jane Austen course. Austen has gotten short shrift from me, unintentionally, so this class will be good for catching up on required classic literature that I've yet to read.

That's pretty much it. The dogs are still inexplicably shedding (at what point do they just run out of fur?), Pete's business is doing well, and we're refinishing two antique Ethan Allen night stands we got a few weeks ago from a thrift store in Santee for $15 a piece. Will post before and after pics soon. (Soon meaning less than four months from now, surely. Don't count on it, though.)


 

Roger Ebert on Death

1 comments Posted by Jennifer at 9:29 PM

Lately, in the past year or so with the passing of my father-in-law Daniel, I've been struck with very still moments of clarity/confusion.  I'll be reading something for a class under the stairs in the library or lying in bed with Pete's arm wrapped around my body or running on a long dirt trail somewhere, and I'll have an overwhelming sense that nothing around me feels real.  The library is warm, Pete's arm is heavy, the dirt is soft, but I don't know what any of that means.


I think about my dad and what it would be like to never see him rolling his eyes at one of Sherrill's stories again.  

I think about my mom and what it would be like to never watch her brush the cat again.  She's very diligent, you know.

They're small things that almost feel realest, but intangible, unimaginable.  I can see and hear my parents so clearly in my mind, and now I can't.

I think about Syd--and he's such a great little dude, really--and feel SO SAD that he's so old.  I'm glad that Pete and I could make his life so much better with the short time that we've had with him.  He yawns at me and squeaks and it 's nice.  It feels real for right now.

I rub my thumb and my forefinger together in small, careful circles, and wonder about that.  

I have tiny stops in time where I'm overcome with the idea that one day, I'll exist as much as I did before I was born, and what does that mean, and how should I feel, what should I think?  I cry because I don't want to stop being me.  And I cry because I don't want Pete to stop being Pete.   

Check out Roger Ebert's blog, particularly his posts on evolution, his childhood dog (I know, I know), and God.  That's some good shit there.  He doesn't believe in God, and neither do I, but he has some incredibly insightful things to say, and it helps just a little bit, for a little while.

 

Happy Birthday, Gloria

0 comments Posted by Jennifer at 10:49 AM

Gloria Steinem turned 75 today.  A few great quotes:


"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."
"America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people."
"A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after."
"It is more rewarding to watch money change the world than watch it accumulate."
"Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry."
"The authority of any governing institution must stop at its citizen's skin."
"The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn."


 

Happy belated birthday, Darwin!

1 comments Posted by Jennifer at 6:44 PM

Oh, my brother, you know I'm a fan.  Unfortunately, I can't say the same for very many of my fellow citizens:

 

The handy man can

3 comments Posted by Jennifer at 11:00 AM

More than likely, I will not get three responses to this, but I say, why not?  I have nothing better to do with my time than to hand make some bracelets, or somethin'.  :)

Pay it Forward
The Rules:
1. Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first 3 bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your three friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts.
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate link love!

Thanks, Ashley.  :)

 

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