Moms are TOTALLY embarrassing!

Look. All of the bitching about Moms on Facebook has got to stop. I just watched a video of a dude who outlined an entire PowerPoint presentation for dealing with Moms on Facebook that ended with this nugget:

According to him (and you can watch the video here), more people are searching for ways to deal with their Moms on Facebook than are searching for ways to Find God.

So here's my solution for how to deal with Moms on Facebook:
GET OVER IT.

But! What about my PRIVACY?!?!?
In case you weren't aware, Facebook is on the Internet, dummy. It's public. You HAVE NO PRIVACY on the Internet.

Once you start putting your life online, your mom is not the only one who can see what you're up to and judge you for it. There are, in fact, entire sites dedicated to calling out dumb-ass behavior on Facebook. Just one example of someone looking you up online: future employers. It is a FACT that companies can and will choose whether or not to hire you based on what they find about you online.

Also, here's a revelation--you don't actually WANT privacy. If you wanted privacy, you would un-tag or delete those embarrassing pictures, you wouldn't air out your relationship problems in your damn status update, and you wouldn't tell the world about every minute detail of your life.

What you want is ATTENTION. It's not entirely your fault--our society rewards the famous more than anyone else, even those who gain notoriety for being complete and utter dumb shits. You want that too, and that's okay. But all those famous people also have parents, and have had no choice but to accept a more open relationship with them. Loss of privacy is a trade off and consequence of increased fame and attention. You want one, you get the other, period.

But! I can't be MYSELF!
Sure you can. This is only really a problem if
A) Being yourself involves being a complete and total douche bag
B) You lie to your parents on a regular basis and have a crappy relationship
or C) Your parents have had every other thought and experience in their lives surgically removed from their brains except for all of their lovely memories of YOU.

Let's start with C)
When I learned that my mom had discovered my blog, I had a small moment of panic and gasped, "But I swear on my blog!" And then I rolled my eyes at myself and GOT OVER IT because guess what? Mom has read, heard, and even uttered curse words before. I know, SHOCKING, right?

One of my favorite examples of living life publicly for all to see, including Mom, is Dooce. Here is a woman who talks about everything from hemorrhoids to duck farts in her blog and in person, and if you read her awesome and highly detailed story of the birth of her second daughter, you will note that she was in so much pain she was screaming profanities right in front of her very own darling mother. And her mom remained unphased.

You know why? Our parents have heard it all before. They had whole entire LIVES before we even showed up. Your parents did all kinds of stuff before you were born, and here's a real shocker: some of them still do! The idea that your mom has nothing better to do than wash your clothes and stalk you on the Internet is stupid.

As for B) Quit lying to your parents. If you are making adult decisions and enjoying the fun and freedom of adult behavior, then it is time to have an adult relationship with your parents. With or without Facebook, they probably know or at least assume you're making some dumb choices anyway, and they probably still like you just fine.

One of my favorite stories of a mother-son relationship is this one: A guy I know went to college and fully rebelled against many of the rules of his loving, yet conservative, upbringing. When his mom came to visit him at school, he took her to lunch, sat her down and said, "Mom. I have to tell you something. I drink. I smoke. I have tattoos. And I'm no longer going to church."

First of all, she was relieved because she thought he was going to tell her he'd gotten someone pregnant, which I just think is funny. Then she responded, "I do wish you'd go to church. But you REALLY shouldn't smoke." Which, hi, she's totally right--smoking is really bad for you.

The point is, she didn't lose her mind over what turned out to be a fairly small revelation about her son. In fact, there is a lot of value to being honest with your parents, especially as an adult. I recognize and respect that not everyone has loving parents who want the best for them, and those situations should be handled differently. But if your parents DO love you and want the best for you, and you're lying to them anyway? Knock it off.

Finally, A) Easy solution: Quit acting like a total douche bag.

If you're all weirded out or even ashamed by the idea of your mom finding out about your behavior, then I'd like to take a moment to congratulate your mom for raising you right. That means that that nagging voice in the back of your head telling you not to do that stupid thing? That's your MOM. That voice is trying to save you from yourself. Maybe instead of worrying about what she'll think of you when she finds out, you should LISTEN TO HER.

But! My mom is EMBARRASSING ME!

First of all, if you're a teenager: I know right?? Moms are TOTALLY embarrassing! It's like it's their JOB or something. GOD.

Now, if you are NOT a teenager: Oh, honey. You have a mom who wants to be involved in your life, who cares about how you're doing, and has fond memories of your childhood with pictures to back it up? That's... awesome. No, really. Have you seen Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire? Or met anyone outside of your own little world who didn't grow up exactly like you did? Because not all moms and dads care that much, dude. Some of them suck, mightily. Some people don't even HAVE moms, how sad is that? If you have a mom, and she's still around, and she doesn't suck, maybe you should take a minute to be grateful. (Yes, I realize I just sounded JUST LIKE HER just then. No, I am not your mom writing this in disguise. Or a mom at all, in fact. I'm just someone who is lucky and knows it.)

Also, check this out--all your friends? That you're worried about impressing with your cool, unsupervised life? They also have moms (again, if they're lucky). They know what it is to be embarrassed. What a fun thing to share, have in common, and laugh about. I mean, you do have a sense of humor, right?

But! But!
You have officially run out of buts. (Heh. "Butts.") Your mom being on Facebook does not actually mean that your life is over. There is officially nothing left to do, but get over it. Either live your life publicly on the Internet exactly the way you want, with no limits, and accept that your parents can see it and might not approve. Or accept that what you put online is entirely public and maybe should have some limits.

Live your life on the Internet as though your mom can see it, and make choices about what you share with the whole damn world accordingly. Isn't that what we should all be doing anyway?

It's a weird world

Last update April 3. My goodness.

I've started to wonder if my life is really happening if I'm not posting about it on Twitter/Facebook. I just spent 45 minutes reading all my people's updates on Facebook from the weekend (300+ people, 3 days worth of updates) and actually felt bad that I didn't post something for Mother's Day. I called my mom, and sent her a present and a card that showed up ON TIME for once. Is it enough if I didn't post it on Facebook too? It's a weird world we live in these days.

I haven't been blogging in months mostly because I've been very short on time. Also because as I've been sitting here trying to compose my thoughts, I forget what I was going to write just as soon as it pops into my head. Let's assume it was brilliant, shall we?

This past weekend we celebrated the 2-year anniversary of our company, Click Communications. When Mac and I started this gig, it was just the two of us and our one client. Today we still have that client, as well as two others, as well as 6 full-time employees, 3 part-time contractors, and 2 advisory board members. Our press list, and the strength of the relationships that go with it, has more than doubled. I feel anxious sharing our success because I constantly feel, every second, that there's still SO MUCH MORE TO DO. Do more! Be better! But we'll get there, and in the meantime, I feel very lucky and grateful to see our hard work pay off this way. There are many hard-working people in our country right now who are not enjoying as much success, and we will not take this for granted.

We celebrated with a party here at the house on Saturday, a day that started with coffee and watching Friday's Dollhouse finale. [Sidebar: Friday we were discussing Dollhouse with our friends, and I said to Mac, "Remember that episode that got all surreal and rapey?" His response: "You mean all of them?" I'm intrigued by this show, but he's not wrong, and it bums me out. I love a Joss Project, but I'd prefer to see his next one with a little less rape. Is that too much to ask from the guy who's all, "I'll quit writing strong female characters when everyone keeps asking me WHY I write strong female characters"? I think not.] The party was a fabulous success, which I say myself because I know we could not have pulled it off without Mac's sister, our dear friends visiting from Seattle, and our rock star staff helping set it up and make everything go smoothly. The night ended with me getting a face full of veggie burger juice, which made me very cranky, and also made me realize A) throwing a party for 10+ hours after two weeks of Work Insanity is Exhausting, and B) sobering up and cleaning while your friends are still drunk & partying is no fun. I think the solution is maybe to stay drunk? A theory to test at the next party, perhaps.

In other news, Captain Awesome has a gimpy leg from jumping on the fence trying to catch squirrels/our neighbors and has been limping around for a week. I thought it would heal on its own but it hasn't, and it just breaks my heart and I'm taking him to the vet today. Both of our dogs have been extra cuddly and clingy lately, I think because of our recent Hawaii trip. I would take them with us if I could. Penny would love chasing geckos.

Now that I'm thinking of taking Captain to the vet, I'm reminded of preparations I need to make for a meeting tomorrow morning, and all this other work I have to do. I think I'm a little rusty at the blogging, but I think I could fit it back into my life. This took 15 minutes to write, as opposed to the 45 I spent on Facebook, which is supposed to take less time. It's a weird world we live in these days.

finding poetry

Hey, check it out, y'all: my mom is a published poet!

Time in its Flight, featured on FoundPoetry.org.

My friend Susan introduced me to this site, and I just love this project. I love the idea of finding poetry in surprising places, and collecting them like this. They're looking for more submissions to get the site off the ground, so be sure and send them your submissions as well!

And, yes, I do know how lucky I am to have a mom who is an artist and poet and also has great taste in music. And who shares all three of those gifts with her kids on a regular basis. Thanks, Mom!

I actually accomplished a lot

I'm currently enjoying our New Year's Day tradition of Egg Dish and horror movies with good friends. Since I don't love horror movies, I thought I'd get caught up on the past year at the same time. To say 2008 was busy would be a ridiculous understatement. I actually accomplished a lot of the stuff I wanted to do, including:

• Run a mile.
  
• Visit the San Diego Zoo
  
• Take the dogs for walks in Runyon Canyon and Fryman Canyon
  
• Plant a tree in our front yard
• Present a full-on summer season of Tiki Theater
• Grow my hair past my shoulders

Not too many bullets off my ambitious list, but let's see what else I did, and what else happened, shall we?


Threw our most kick-ass Oscar party yet in February.


Saw the dogs get cuter, and eat the eyes out of a bee.


Rocked St. Pat's with my favorite Scorpios.


Hiked up Runyon Canyon with Amy & Chip on Easter Morning.


Went to Medieval Times for the first time.


Bought my first bike in many, many years.


Went on a fabulous Hawaiian vacation; swam laps in this body of water.


Watched the dogs get even cuter.


Celebrated the one-year anniversary of Click.


Became a triathlete.


Enjoyed Minnesota in summertime, visiting Amy & Chip over 4th of July weekend.


Celebrated nephew Rusty's 1st birthday in Santa Barbara with the entire McLean clan.


Watched my little family get even cuter.


Met Mia Michaels.


Went to San Diego Comic Con for the first time, followed by a trip to the San Diego Zoo. (Got Nerd Flu.)


Celebrated Kristin & Mark's marriage with good friends outside of Boston.


Reunited with my UNC Crew in Greeley Colorado; danced and danced.


Ate a delicious peach from Mom's tree in her backyard. (Also went to my first water aerobics class.)


Threw a Valley Girl Slumber Party Bridal Shower for Amanda, and had attendees do 80's makeovers for fabulous prizes.


Bridesmaided for my dear friends, once in September, once in October. Thanked God my friends have lovely taste in bridesmaid dresses.


Worked my ass off, rubbed shoulders with celebs, and pissed off Victor Garber at the Runway for Life event.


Threw the Halloween Cocktail Party I've wanted to throw, oh, forever; discovered black vodka.


Met one of the funniest women alive, Amy Sedaris.


Voted in one of the most important elections of our lifetime; wept with joy on Election Night.


Gardened! I finally populated the little garden in front of our house with herbs and flowers, I planted three rose bushes, and we had a tree planted in the front yard.


Learned how to weave a lattice pie crust and baked the world's most beautiful (and delicious) apple pie for Thanksgiving.


Bought the prettiest white winter coat just before our trip to Seattle, where we got to see some fabulous friends, and got a truckload of great business accomplished. (Also, note how long hair has gotten!)


Took formal family portraits with the McLeans at Sears.


Sent out beautiful Click holiday cards to our clients and press.


Enjoyed a lovely, low-key Christmas in Santa Barbara.


And, finally, watched the dogs get even cuter.

I'm a mess. Ho ho ho.

It's been almost a month since my last entry, so first I'll do a quick list of bullets of what we've been up to, for those of you keeping track of my life (ahem, Mom). Then we can talk holidays.

Thanksgiving 08: What a fantastic holiday. We hosted members of our "chosen family" at the house this year, and it was just wonderful. My friend Tony the Chef did the most amazing things to our turkey--brining in brandy, shoving garlic & rosemary under the skin next to the meat, stuffing with apples and oranges. It was one of the most moist and delicious turkeys I've ever tasted. All of our friends brought delicious sides and snacks, actually, because they are classy like that. For my part, I baked 2 loaves of dill bread and 3 pies: pumpkin, pecan, and apple with a lattice-top crust. I hope to get caught up on photos over the next week or so, but suffice to say they all came out gorgeous! Good food, good wine, great friends--GREAT holiday.

Seattle Trip: The first week in December Mac and I went to Seattle to visit friends, do some business, and enjoy some proper chilly weather. Not that I'm complaining about our fabulous SoCal weather, but it's hard to get into the holiday spirit when it won't stop being 80 degrees outside (the weather has since changed, thankfully). This trip was PACKED, and as usual we ran out of time before we got to do everything or see everyone. We got a lot of great business done, striking up some fun partnerships and strengthening our Seattle press relationships. We got to see some of our favorite people on the planet. And we ATE. Oh, my God, we ate our way through that city. Someday I'm going to write the Mac & Dinah Guide to Seattle, with a list of must-sees, must-dos and must-eats. The newest revelation was The Black Bottle in Belltown. YUM.

Family Portrait Time: Yet another separate blog post in the making, we took family portraits with Mac's family at Sears the second weekend in December. We wore coordinated outfits and posed uncomfortably (at one point I was laying on my stomach). Mac's family all look happy and natural in all of these photos. I look like a robot.

Which, okay, I'm actually checking my calendar to remember what all we've done this month. We took the LA division of our awesome staff out to a holiday dinner, after video chatting with Scott and his lovely wife. The whole team chipped in and got us a Wii Fit. I'm choosing not to take this as a personal commentary on my need to lose weight, but as an amazingly intuitive and thoughtful present that we actually had every intention of buying for ourselves. They also got us a game that you play with your butt. Awesome. Seriously, we employ the best people on the planet.

We also hosted a holiday party for one of our clients, which went off perfectly and inspired a separate blog I need to write about throwing parties. Because, for real, I pulled that thing together in about a day, had tasks for everyone to help me with, and did the whole thing BEAUTIFULLY and under budget. I'm not bragging; I'm just good.

Everything else has just been a mad scramble to get prepared for the holidays. I always stress out about Christmas, every year. What do I get? Is it too much, not enough? Why do I put it off every year? Christmas cards still haven't gone out--it might be a New Year's/Wrap Up card this year. Plus I'd love to do a "Best of 2008" mix... but I never even finished or mailed out my Summer 08 mix. Oh, I'm a mess. Ho ho ho.

So that brings me up to date. The checklist of future blogs I just mentioned includes: photos, Seattle guide, family portraits, how to throw a fabulous party, and Best of 2008 mix. Yeah, we'll see.

Thanks for checking back on me, even though I haven't been updating. I appreciate everyone who reads Puffpiece, and hope you're all enjoying a fabulous holiday season!!

23 mosquito bites

What I did on my Summer Vacation in Minnesota:

Saw the biggest dragonfly ever.


Watched & blogged SYTYCD with my sister which was SO FUN. I wish I could have transcribed us watching it a little more accurately.

Enjoyed two shows at First Avenue and the Triple Rock Social Club, thanks to the connections and generosity of my brother-in-law Chip and his rock star friends.

Went for a jog down Summit Avenue. (No, seriously.)

Read Posh Spice's "That Extra Half an Inch" and learned that Brits refer to tank tops as vests, and Posh not only wears acrylic nails on her toes, but she has most likely gotten poo under her fingernails at least once from changing her sons' nappies. All of this, unsurprisingly, just makes me like her that much more.

Discovered Room and Board, and picked out this bedroom set to replace the crappy furniture currently living in our bedroom (eventually).

Sang the Star Spangled Banner with my sister while watching fireworks explode over Gold Medal Park. It was really pretty. Both the fireworks and the singing.



Bought Mac his first Nut Goodie, purchased at Fleet Farms.

Went to the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden where we finally saw the (in)famous "Spoonbridge and Cherry," the bizarre-yet-striking Oldenburg sculpture that was installed in 1988, and has come to dominate pictures of the Twin Cities.


Ate the most delicious ribs I've ever tasted, oh my god. Thanks Chip!

Met up with an old friend from high school, and the guy who was kind enough to go with me to my senior prom (he'd already graduated, bless him).


Got about 23 mosquito bites.

Checked out the St. Croix River in Wisconsin.


Cuddled a blue tick hound puppy with a taste for flip flops.

Met a hospitable and generous business man with a passion for art and architecture.


And so much more. We had such a wonderful time with my sister and her husband. Not to get all mushy and cheesy, but it's a real blessing in my life to have a sister who is also a best friend. I know that it doesn't always happen that way with families, and once again, I find that I feel very lucky and very grateful.

no time for a thousand words

Getting back to the gym and staying focused post-triathlon has been super hard. I need another goal. The margarita I had with lunch today probably isn't helping either. *Ahem.*

When we got back from Austin I was hoping for at least a week to just work slowly and bask in my accomplishment. As it turned out, work had other plans. We've been really, really busy, but in the best possible way. Most of the time, at least. Some days are harder than others. Lots of days end with client/press functions, which is super-fun, of course, but not good for the diet, or for after-work gym time.

In other news, I have a lot of Gemini friends, evidently. I celebrated happy birthdays with Roger, Chris and Amanda this past week. I also baked my first cherry pie. And you know what? I'm tired and have no time for a thousand words, so let's do this instead:

We went to the zoo with Mac's sister and her family.


Roger's birthday was 50's-themed. I had all the clothes for an accurate ensemble just hanging in my closet.


I went dancing for the first time in ages on Saturday night. I did NOT have an outfit for this, so I bought this dress. And then tested it out. (It worked beautifully.)


I made this from scratch.

you hadda be there

Trying to choose just one phrase from this fantastic R.E.M. concert review was so difficult. My mom should go to more shows and write more reviews, I think. Don't you?

Hi--

Last night we attended the REM concert at Red Rocks, and it was quite a memorable experience on many levels. First of all, I insisted that with GA tickets we needed to get there fairly early to get good seats, because it's first come, first pick of seats. So with the gates opening at 5:00 for a 6:30 concert I didn't feel it was unreasonable to get there around 4:00. Arriving at 4:15 at the parking lot at the "top," we only had a 45 minute wait in beautiful sunny weather till we could enter the gate from somewhere near the middle of a long line. But before we could enter, all our drinks had to be de-capped....yes, apparently they're afraid we'll toss our bottles of water and pop at the performers if they have caps on them. Fortunately, I had put the drinks into a plastic lunch bag so they didn't get all over the place as we carefully avoided getting knocked over as people tore past us to get the best seats! I made no mention of the two frozen bottles of water that were keeping our sandwiches cold, but Bud probably would have had he known. Think what good missiles they would make!!

Even though we parked at the top lot, we decided to go on down to the front section and were able to get seats in row 20. We proceeded to enjoy our ham and cheese on rye sandwiches and a couple of $7.00 beers (while our opened drinks went flat). The first two bands were not our favorites, but they did have their following of adoring kids. "The National" was tolerable, but in retrospect, not loved too much because people actually sat in their seats for most of the performance. A group of old hippies/bikers? in front of us started passing joints early in the show. So I didn`t feel too bad about my hidden frozen capped waters. I guess the no smoking rule doesn't apply to anything but tobacco! Ha, ha! Anyway, no one seemed to mind about the smoke. I think they were all jealous that they didn't have any.

After enduring the loud grueling throb of "Modest Mouse" or, as one of our fellow folks in line called them, "shy rodents" we were starting to wonder if we'd made a mistake in spending $150 for this lovely evening. Bud kept trying to determine if he was the oldest person there when a REALLY old hippie with a long white beard and wild white hair with little braids here and there came around selling hemp ice cream. Tourists were getting their pictures taken with the hemp ice cream sellers. Anyway, we decided that Bud was indeed older. After all, we are older than the hippie generation. We passed on the ice cream.

After an intermission, during which time they set up for the Main Event, we were all poised for a fabulous show. Needless to say, it was beyond any expectations I had. By then it was dark, the rocks around us were lit so they jumped out like a surreal Parrish print. When the music and the accompanying light show commenced, we were bowled over! When they played the second song, "What's the Frequency, Kenneth? " from my favorite Monster album, I was totally hooked. It was incredible. The light show, which included a grid of moving faces of the band members and colors and shapes and words to appropriately accompany each song,
only enhanced our nearly overloaded senses. I thought it was amusing when they played "Losing My Religion" that they focused the lights and cameras on the audience as they sang, "that's me in the spotlight losing my religion." And then the audience was on the screen. Well, you can read the reviews, but you hadda be there.

Well, a good time was had by all. And those great seats? No one sits during these concerts--the whole time!! But I didn't mind standing during the REM segment as we'd been sitting for 3 hours before that! I was able to navigate the stairs with frequent "rests," but I noticed a lot of young people resting too! I am experiencing considerable soreness in my calf muscles, but that's fine. I don't want to wait too long before we go again.

I hope you've enjoyed my "review."
Love you,
Mom

my beaten, yet victorious, ass

I was going to go with "Shark Fight."

The story went like this: I was in Hawaii, enjoying my Big Island vacation and frolicking in the surf, when suddenly a shark swam up to me all, "I'm gonna EAT YOU!!" and he bit my ankle. So I punch him in the face and knocked his teeth out! But then he smacked me in the face with his tail and head-butted me in the shoulder, and then bit the back of my legs! Thank god he didn't have any teeth anymore, so he just gummed my legs and left big bruises. But it hurt!! So I kicked him in the nuts. And he was like, "Ow! Sonofa!" and he finally swam away. And I dragged my beaten, yet victorious, ass out of the water and collapsed face first on the sand. And when I awoke, my back, shoulders, & arms were all sun-burnt.

And then I got home from Hawaii, and read about this.

So I've decided to go with the other story, which is less fun and goes like this: First, I flayed over an inch of skin from my ankle in the shower with my cheap-as-shit Bic Soleil razor and bled all over the hotel bathroom, and worried about convincing the hotel staff that someone had been horribly murdered. Then I jumped off the high dive of a boat, and landed in the water in a seated position, and gave myself multiple contusions (that's when a bruise is also a bumpy welt) on the backs of my legs, one of them bigger then both of my hands end to end. Then, after applying and re-applying water and sweat-proof sunscreen religiously all week, I forgot to re-apply it after the boat trip, and sunburned the hell out of my back and shoulders in the convertible on the drive back to where we were staying. But none of these injuries would stop me from going back into the ocean on my last day of my trip, and when I saw the big wave coming I thought, "Um, that looks like it's going to kill me. What am I supposed to do?" The ocean, merciless bastard it is, gave me no time to figure out the right answer, and flipped me over until I pounded its sandy bottom with my shoulder and face.

So, yeah. Hawaii was awesome and we had an amazing vacation. We got to see whales, dolphins, sea turtles, a mongoose, brown geckos, green geckos, and countless birds, bugs and fish. We drank all the refreshing island cocktails ever invented and watched the sun set over the ocean. We got lomi lomi massages by the water. We bonded even more with my sister Amy and her husband Chip. We ate some of the most delicious fish you can imagine. I'm not complaining, it was a dreamy, relaxing vacation.



I'm just saying: I got beat to shit, dude. It's probably for the best that we're back.

a little extra artistic greatness

My sister, the super-rad Dr. M, has finally started a blog. Sadly for us, it is not the creative outlet for her wealth of funny, touching and otherwise amazing stories about life as a mom, sister, friend, Buffy fan & philosophy professor in Toledo, OH that I've been hoping for for so long (Get on it, sister!). What it IS, however, is a journal for this really, really cool art show called "Intimate ARTifacts."

Click here & participate, won't you?

I know some of y'all have some poems or collages or knitting projects that would be great to contribute to a event like this. Plus, not to be a snob, but Toledo could really use a little extra artistic greatness.

random musings

Just a couple tiny little bits before I get back to focusing on my work:
- My Google news feed today is 60% Britney's latest meltdown (Standoff at the "I'm so NOT okay, y'all" Corrall), 30% Obama's upset in Iowa (and, I guess, Huckabee's as well), 10% writer's strike and, well. Nothing else. Mind you, a fair chunk of my feeds are entertainment-related, but that still seems a little out of whack to me.

- I have these "mood playlists" in my iTunes--Feeling Strummy, Feeling Positive, Feeling Chill, etc. I just created one called "Feeling Country" to hold the likes of Dolly, Patsy, Johnny & the Chicks, and it turns out? There's 10 hours of music on that list. Who knew?

- It's raining, I'm wearing a warm turtleneck sweater, comfy pants, bunny slippers, and drinking hot tea. Today's a good day to work from home in LA, and I am grateful for it.

- I'm also grateful to my mom, my sister Amy, JL, Megan, Jeff, Brett, the lovelies over at Looking Good, and everyone else who reads my blog regularly and comments. It's nice to know my random musings aren't just going out into a void, and I just want you to know I appreciate you.

- Everyone's doing their 2007 movie & music wrap-ups. I burned a lot of CDs for people throughout 2007, so I don't know if I could deliver one CD-length Best Of this year, but I suppose I could give it a shot. Even if 2007 was the year I discovered stuff I'd missed the first time around. Like, the Dixie Chicks "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"--how pretty is this song??

- In conclusion: SIGH. And, back to work.

It was cold, but it was awesome

I love Christmas in LA & all, but you know what else is fun? A real, honest-to-goodness white Christmas with the fam in Colorado.



It was cold, but it was awesome. Plus, a great excuse to wear my cute blue & orange toque.

six babies

I've decided that 2007 is officially The Year All My Friends Spawned. It's not entirely accurate--I have a handful of early bloomin' friends that created some amazing, gorgeous kids before this year. I'm sure more of them will have babies after this year. But seriously? Check it out:

1. Feb - Gretchen & Anton welcome Ria
2. May - Bridget & Jeff welcome Aiden
3. Also May - Wendy & Jer welcome Mason
4. July - Sarah & Jeff welcome Russell (they're family, but still)
5. August, I think - Sherri & Dom welcome...??? I don't know, I just today got an email with a baby photo attached and a note that said, "Sorry I've been out of touch, we've been busy."
6. And in November, Brandy & Ryan are due to welcome a girl.

That's six babies, y'all. SIX. And these parents, these friends of mine? Are all, like, really awesome, smart, good-looking people which in my completely biased and superficial opinion is also good news for the whole planet. I'm serious. I love seeing such amazing people repopulate the earth in a world where choosing to have children is more controversial and challenging and unfair than ever. I mean, you have potentially awesome parents thwarted from their hearts desire by their own biology. You have all these unwanted kids put up for adoption, but the cost of the process is extremely prohibitive, and that's AFTER you've invested in a house, a car, & whatever else is needed to create an agency-dictated, kid-friendly environment. And, at the same time, people struggling to parent have to read about idiots like Britney, or teenagers getting knocked up because they don't know no better (sex ed is bad, mmkay?).

And at the SAME TIME, our government wants to take away the whole choice element of this equation all together. Unplanned pregnancy? Too bad, you're having a baby, no choice for you! And not to be all "un-eloquant understatement" about it, but that choice is so freaking important, for so many reasons, the least of which is simply that we women live in a world where every goddamn person has an opinion about our bodies and what we should do with them. We need to lose weight, we need to be sexy (but not TOO sexy, what are you ASKING FOR IT?), we need to be fit, we need to have babies. Furthermore, if you're in your 20's or 30's and in a relationship or married, you REALLY need to have babies, like, NOW. GET ON IT, IT'S WHAT YOU'RE FOR.

GOD. I didn't mean to get into a rant. What was my point? Oh, yes.

This is the world, this is the climate we live in. So choosing to have children and become parents, and everything that goes along with that, is a hugely big deal. To see so many beautiful, awesome, intelligent, talented people making that choice just makes me happy and gives me hope. In conclusion: YAY.

cute little bugger

I have a new nephew! Mac's sister gave birth to Russell Dean on Friday, July 13th. He's a cute little bugger, don't you think?

where I'm living

I was looking up something in my blog for someone and got sidetracked by some of my older entries. Remember when I didn't just post videos and recaps of silly dance competition shows? Good times.

This is where I'm living these days:
- Work is going pretty well, but just when I think I've figured out how to run things and my To Do list is fairly under control, all this other stuff crops up. Like, hey genius, you need to write copy for your website and finish your budget, and what about those reports, and those case studies, and and and.... I finally bought a new chair yesterday so I'm not working all day hunched over in my cute-but-uncomfortable Ikea chair, but I also need a new desk with some proper leg room. And a new keyboard. Basically, I'd like to finish out a work day in my new home office without the pain I've started to learn to live with. I'd also like to finish a work day and feel like at least a few things are finished. Maybe I should stop blogging. Just a few more quick updates while I eat, and it's back to it.

- Some of my friends are falling in love and getting engaged and getting married and buying houses these days. It's fun to be the one they can turn to for a change, instead of the freaked out one that was all, "If these are good things why am I so STRESSED OUT!?!?" A nice change indeed.

- I'm still embroidering and really need to upload photos. My friends have also been repopulating the earth a lot lately, so there's a lot of baby stuff in the mix. Wait 'til you see baby Aiden in his cute embroidered "Rock Star" cap, though.

- I'm considering bringing the Mix of the Month back to life. I'm working on one for July that's a lot of fun for summer. We'll see. It's nice to be fired up about music again, I'd gotten a little burned out lately.

- I watch a lot of Food Network and read a lot of cookbooks, but still don't cook as much as I should. I've been studying Alton Brown's textbook-like "I'm Just Here for the Food" like I'm going to be quizzed on it. I want to try out some more of the recipes my brother in law gave me for Christmas, and I'd like to learn to make more pies. I mean, who doesn't love pie? Specifically, I want to learn some savory pies, or quiches, if you will. And I will, because, hi: YUM.

- When my parents visited in May they brought several boxes of stuff I've been saving since childhood. There's at least one whole blog entry waiting to happen, from my old journals alone.

- Summer movies have been a mixed bag so far. I enjoyed Transformers, Ratatouille, Waitress, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Live Free or Die Hard, Ocean's 13, and the surprising Mr. Brooks. I did NOT enjoy Spiderman 3 or the Fantastic Four. If I haven't mentioned it, I haven't seen it. I'm still ridiculously excited for Harry Potter, the Bourne Supremacy, Talk to Me, and Hairspray even though John Travolta as Edna is already making my skin crawl because his voice is terrible and his makeup makes him look like Miss Piggy. I will see it anyway though, because I love that Amanda Bynes, I'm curious about Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken is always entertaining, and I think Michelle Pfeiffer is going to OWN this movie at the end of the day. Plus the music is truly fabulous, as anyone who's seen the stage musical will tell you. Finally: Becoming Jane, please don't disappoint me. I really want to love you, I have very high hopes. Be my new comfort movie, won't you please?

I must have done something right

Since my last entry? Oh, my. Lots has happened though, and I'm going try to move through it all very quickly.

We celebrated a lovely early Valentine's Day on Feb 12 at Crustacean, and stole forks. Well, Mac stole them. I am a horrible thief.

I went to San Francisco for the day on Valentine's Day--in in the morning, out at night--for work.

My brother came to visit President's Day weekend, and we enjoyed a fabulous lazy bbq with some friends complete with full-contact speed croquet and Karaoke Revolution, as well as a trip to the comic shop and a whole day of pretty much nothin'. A relaxing and fun weekend!

We threw another fabulous Oscar Party on 2/25, and I got 9 out of 24 categories correct. My butterscotch chip cookies were far more successful. Check out the whole menu, with pun-tastic names and Mac's mad photoshop skillz HERE.

I discovered my new favorite website/online community: iLike.com. Love music? Listening to music right now, in fact? Come play on iLike with me!

We went to London! It was my first time in London, and it was all I could do to restrain myself from going all, "Pip pip! Allo guvna! Wot wot! Oy!" And so on. (Why must I be so ridiculous?) Had a marvelous time, drank tea, saw many, many friends (more on this below), and got to hang out with my brother in law who was in town at the same time, because the world is just that small. Pictures are still in the camera, but I got some beauties.

Finally, last night Mac & I had dinner with my friend Stephanie and her boyfriend Matt. Unremarkable, you might think, but I've known Stephanie since we were 4 or 5, she just happened to be in town from Chicago and, oh yeah--we hadn't seen each other for 17 years.

I don't think that has enough emphasis on it.

SEVENTEEEEEEEEEEEEN YEEEEEEEEEEARS DUUUUUDE!

Which you'd think is nerve-wracking and weird-feeling and all, and it kind of was as we were approaching the restaurant? But then it was totally fine, and then it was just awesome and I was just so happy to see her again, and chat about Evansville and what funny, creative, happy weirdos we were as kids.

It's made me think a lot about the connections I've made in my life, these recent experiences. In London, I visited my London office (NERD! I know) and saw some work friends. I took the tube to Chiswick (pronouced Chissick, by the way, in case you ever go) to visit a couple of my dearest college friends who'd just had a baby on Feb 16. I went to lunch twice with a woman I met online, actually, and it was not only NOT creepy and NOT weird, it was rad and just like meeting an old friend for the first time. And I had drinks with a guy who used to be one of my best friends ever. When we weren't trying to date, or recovering from the whole "trying to date" thing, or fighting, or trying not to fight even though he and my other best friend were dating, and really? It's convoluted, and we have a lot of history, and we've been through a lot, and there was a time when I wasn't sure if we'd ever be friends again. But then I pinged him before we went to London, all "Hey, um, are you going to be around?" And he said YES! And made a trip to London from his small England town, and we went to a pub for pints and he showed me pictures of his beautiful wife and little girl, and we caught each other up on everything, and it was just so lovely.

Before we left for London, Stephanie had emailed me to see if I'd be around when she was in town, even though it had been 17 years since we saw each other last. I also got an email from my brother in law's sister that she & her partner are going to be in town and want to see us. AND a potential new friend from New Zealand, a friend of one of our Australian friends, arrived yesterday. We've promised to hook up with her while she's living here and take her around the city.

It's just really cool to me that in the time I've been on the earth, I've connected to people in such a way that I can let them know I'll be in town, or they can let me know when they (or their Kiwi friends) are in town, and we can get together for a meal and some conversation like it's the easiest thing in the world. For the millionth time, I feel lucky and grateful for these connections and friendships. And I can't help but think, for all the things I've done wrong in my life, if I've got people reaching out to me over miles and time, and responding to me when I do the same, then at some point, I must have also done something right. Right?

These are the things I've been doing and these are the things that have been on my mind.

holiday summary

Sweet fancy Suri Cruise I haven't blogged in AGES. At first, it was because I was enjoying The Lull, which is a lazy time when work demands ease up a bit and I, well, slack off a little. Which means reading everyone else's blogs. If you were doing the same, and wishing I'd had a little more reading material here for you, I apologize.

And then, of course, I didn't blog because life quickly reverted away from The Lull and back to The Crazy, and then I just didn't have time. Hence me updating my stuff late at night when I should be sitting comfortably on the couch enjoying the return of my regular TV programming.

So, quickly: holiday summary, and then I'll put the rest in separate posts.

Xmas: AWESOME. We threw the tiniest party ever, which I suppose means it was more a "gathering" than a "party." Whatever, we had a kickass cheese platter and pomegranate cosmos and espresso martinis and then Kim brought those chocolate-covered peanut butter cracker things? And it was rad.

We got stuff shipped out on time, but due to the super extreme Colorado weather, they didn't all show up on time. We got a real tree, and decorated the crap out of our house. For the holiday itself, we went to Santa Barbara where we spent almost an entire day opening copious amounts of gifts, and the rest of the day on a scenic walk with the dogs.


Overall, it was a glorious holiday, and I was reminded again how lucky I am to have all My People in my life, and what a beautiful thing it is to be loved.


New Year's Eve: Due to the inherent suckitude of this crappy holiday, we decided to discard our LA party plans and take off for beautiful Seattle.


We cooked dinner, we played Karaoke Revolution, I kicked ass.


And we rang in the new year like the hard-core party animals we are.


Since then, it's been, well. The Lull, followed by The Crazy. Mostly Crazy. I didn't make resolutions this year, per se, but I did make a mental list of Stuff I Want To Do, which I think is different. I've started some things on my list already, crossed off others, not started most of them, and instead started things that weren't on the list, because I am nothing if not a Master of Procrastination. Overall, not a bad start to the year. If I find a little more balance in my life in 2007, I'll put the whole darn thing in the Win column.

Next up: New hobby! The Best Songs of 2006!