our ducks

I'm pretty good at a lot of things. Marketing, baking, making mix CDs, what have you. Doing my taxes? Not so much.

I mean, I save all my receipts. I know how to go through my write-off worksheet, and I am very accurate when it comes to what expenses were business-related, and what were not. I'm even good at math, and consider myself to be reasonably well-organized.

But for some reason, every year I get completely overwhelmed by my taxes. I'm sitting in my CPAs office right now while she goes through all the crap we brought, and just feeling like an idiot.

Granted, going from easy-peasy corporate W2 paycheck to running a business with little to no prior accounting experience makes this whole endeavor a lot more brutal. Even our CPA was nervous before we showed up.

So, all we good do is organize and bring all the information we can. I feel confident that we have all our ducks. They're just not in a row yet. They're in more of a cluster. A complete and total cluster-duck.

from Point A to Point B

WHO I AM RIGHT NOW:
Someone who stays up too late at night, wakes up too late in the morning, and drags ass on work until around 11 or 12. Someone who procrastinates work she dreads doing until it piles up into an unmanageable mess. Someone who exercises sporadically, even though she should be training.

WHO I WANT TO BE:
Someone who wakes up early in the morning and gets out of bed, ready for her day, right when the alarm goes off. Someone who straps on her sneakers and takes the dogs on a quick, early morning walk before feeding them & heading to the gym. Someone who, upon returning from the gym, showers, gets dressed in non-pajamas/sweats, and sits at her desk ready to tackle her day. Someone who does the work on her plate, even if it's gross accounting crap that she hates, and checks it off with minimum anxiety.

I have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B, but I'd like to start with getting up in the morning, so I'm asking you:

1. How do you get up in the morning? Alarm? Pets? Partner? Music? By all means, be specific.
2. What is the rest of your morning routine?
3. If you are NOT a morning person by choice, but have a productive morning routine anyway, how the heck did you make that happen? I want to be you!!

perfume

Today, instead of cleaning my house in preparation for weekend guests from Seattle and the Best Oscar Party not hosted by Vanity Fair or the Kodak Theatre, I am scanning in pictures from college. After handling these old photos for about an hour, I realized that my hands smell kind of sweet, and floral. And then it hit me: Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers perfume.

Photos can remind you of your past; smells can really take you there.

I wonder if my diary from jr. high still smells like Love's Baby Soft?

time-suckage

This weekend has been Project Weekend in the McLean House. I'm thrilled to be getting so much done and I hope to have all kinds of completed projects to report on once Monday arrives.

One of the things I'm doing today is going through all these boxes of crap I've saved for years and years, including notebooks from college. Mostly, they're just class notes and can all be recycled and (finally) sent to notebook heaven. But sometimes I'll find notes to myself. Little scraps of journal entries I'd jot down in the middle of calculus or Russian history. Gems like this, for example:

"The RA Who Went Apeshit,"
By Dinah Larson
She's pissed, and she has the master keys.

As it turns out, "The RA Who Went Apeshit" is a touching tale about a young woman pushed too far by residents hell-bent on waking her up with loud, drunken parties at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, or making her miss important collegiate opportunities because of, and I think I'm reading my notes correctly, "time-suckage." The plot goes on from there--there's a break-in at the dining hall that results in our heroine and a local rabble-rouser sharing a bowl of cereal, evidently? Clearly, the project lost steam early on.

As much as I'm throwing away and recycling this fine day, I am really glad I saved some of this stuff. Is all I'm saying.

soup, clogs, kittens or politics

I have an RSS Feed!

I've been asked about this by a couple different readers, and I finally figured it out. I've only had this blog for, what, 3 years? Yeah, hi. GENIUS.

Anyhoo, if you check back here from time to time, and find the feast/famine style of posting is bumming you out, and you just wish you could be notified when I finally get off my lazy butt to post my brilliant musings on soup, clogs, kittens or politics (ha!), then this RSS feed is for you! Just click the orange button in the upper right corner, above my picture, then you'll get all kinds of feed options. It gets a little complicated from there, but I'm hoping that those of you who WANTED the RSS option can sort it out.

If you're still confused, and honestly, I am a little, then just sit tight until someone more blog-smart than I explains to me how to simplify this whole RSS thing, at which time I'll be more than happy to pass it along.

all kinds of thoughtful

Tomorrow morning we're flying to Seattle for 7 days, the longest trip we've taken there since we moved away in 2003. I find this trip has me all kinds of thoughtful--about the people we've kept in touch with, about the people we haven't kept in touch with but are hoping to see anyway, about all the changes our lives have gone through in 4 years (marriages, divorces, kids, houses, dogs, new businesses, etc etc etc) and all the changes Seattle's gone through during the same time. I don't know how it's going to be, but these two things I know for sure:

1. We're going to eat at some of the best damn restaurants in the country.

2.


I am NOT packing my new suede shoes.

my train of thought

If you climb aboard my train of thought, it would take you through a Twilight Zone of easy distractions and OCD, arriving at the Bermuda Triangle of my mind also known as, "What the hell did I come in here for? Wait, what am I doing?"

It started with a staffing memo for this Talk Like a Pirate Day event at the El Cap tonight, on which the attire was described as "Pirate Chic." I realized that I had the velvet blazer and boots for just such an occasion, and all I needed was to find one of my pairs of hoop earrings. (Obviously, "pirate chic" = hoop earrings.)

So I went into the bathroom to find them. I started pawing through all my cupboards and drawers, only to get frustrated at the overwhelming clutter and piles of products promising to make me prettier, smoother, more relaxed, and, ultimately, happier. I started pulling everything out, throwing things away, and putting items back in a more orderly fashion. "There," I thought, "That's much better."

I was about halfway through this non-hoop-earring-related project when I started coming across bags and piles of travel-sized beauty products--shampoos, lotions, mouthwash, you name it. Many of them from hotels, many from those cute bags you get people as gifts that are filled with liquid delights scented in lavender, ginger or vanilla. (I also found about 10 of those cute little travel bags stashed in various places.) I'm an easy mark when it comes to gifts. Do I like beauty products and things that smell nice and come in miniature, darling packages? Oh, yes, I certainly do.

Do I need any more of these thoughtful gifts?


No, indeed. I do not.

Naturally, after pulling out all these travel products to see what can be emptied & recycled, and seeing the overwhelming mass of tiny promises on my sink, I immediately stopped what I was doing, got my camera, took a picture, transferred it to my computer, cropped my reflection out of the mirror, uploaded it, and started writing this blog. Leaving the mess on the bathroom sink.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have now reached your destination of, "What the hell did I come in here for? Wait, what am I doing?" Please detrain as quickly as possible, before we depart on another sidetrack and go completely off the rails.

delighted and amazed

My friend Claudia just sent me this. It's just an old dance video set to new music, but I remain delighted and amazed by the result.

I will know for sure

Sometimes I'm awesome. Why? Because my iTunes is set up so that when I'm done listening to some chill Rufus Wainwright while working working working, I will know for sure that I am done when Run D.M.C. show up and announce,

IT'S TRICKY!

It's also almost 8pm. That's right, boys. It IS tricky to rock a rhyme that's right on time. It's also time to stop working, get out of my chair, and shake my ass a little.

Monday's cold, black heart

My friend Sam sent me this over the weekend. Just a little something to melt Monday's cold, black heart.

the cutest thing I've heard all day

Mac, sitting at his computer working with his headphones on, singing along quietly to Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body." It's the cutest thing I've heard all day.

Interesting

I take a lot of these online quizzes, I rarely post the results. But I've been thinking lately, would I ever go back to school? If I did, what would I study? What if I could have done it over? As it is, I completed my undergrad in 4 years and got a degree in Journalism, from a school that didn't have the best journalism department. By the time I was a junior, I'd figured out that I should have switched to Communications because their classes/profs were better, but that would have extended my overall stay at university and well. No, thank you. I was done after almost 3 years, 4 was pushing my patience. So I stuck with Journalism.

Anyway, I took this quiz. I find the results interesting.

You scored as Dance. You should be a Dance major! Like a lithe ballerina, you dance because you believe there is beauty in expressing the physical form. Dance 100% Journalism 83% Sociology 75% Linguistics 75% Theater 67% Anthropology 58% English 58% Mathematics 58% Biology 58% Philosophy 50% Psychology 50% Art 42% Chemistry 42% Engineering 42% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

The top pick? Is because, of everything they asked me about, Dancing was the one I was like, YES! I love dancing! Which, it's kind of funny. I pretty much took all the dance classes I could in college without becoming an proper athletic dancer/dance major. I'd say it's time to take more dance classes, wouldn't you?

Downward facing dog

Every morning I get up, and the dogs run to greet me and get their morning pets. Captain then does my favorite thing:

Downward facing dog.

Sometimes, if mAc or I bend over to stretch, or do pushups, or even yoga, he'll join in with this move. Because he's pretty much the cutest dog ever.

Nice!

Hee!

Tonight mAc & I went to see Dreamgirls which was totally fantastic and everything I hoped it would be. Yeah, uneven & all the other things critics have said but whatever. The songs were great, the cast was great, the costumes were sensational, the choreography was outstanding and that Jennifer Hudson totally blew me away. Good on ya, girl!

What made me giggle, however, was when they panned past a building as though it was the outside of a recording studio, and I realized--hey! That's my office building! Look, there's my office! Eddie Murphy's singing like Marvin Gaye in it! Nice!

Sidenote: every time we go to the Arclight to watch movies (the only good place to watch movies in LA, with nary a screaming kid or ringing cell phone to be heard, and a pretty good restaurant & bar to boot) we see a celebrity. Usually a "Hey, it's that guy" type person, although once it was Tom Hanks. Tonight? Dita von Teese, looking fabulous in those ubiquitous, red-soled Louboutin pumps.

all carried away

Golden Globe nominations are out! And while I certainly fall into that group of entertainment consumers who think a Golden Globe isn't as good a TV award as an Emmy, or nearly as good a movie award as an Oscar, it's still exciting. It's nice to see what new TV shows are getting recognition in their first season (Heroes!). Plus the movie nominations often provide clues for what we might see come Oscar time, and I put money on those nominations.

The one I'm most excited about, however, is Ben Affleck's nomination for Best Supporting Actor. SO WELL DESERVED. I'm so freaking happy for him. Like, an unreasonable amount, considering it's not like I know him personally or anything.

It's just, look. I like Ben Affleck. I would consider myself a Ben Affleck Fan. I think he's dreamy, for starters, all tall & swaggering and cute smile, plus the sharp sense of humor and rich vocabulary (yes, a good vocab is a turn on. The rest of you young lads need to read more books). I've seen him do a couple special feature things with Kevin Smith as well as a couple interviews, and he's always intelligent and self-deprecating and funny and charming. And that's just why I like him as a person.

As an actor, I find him wholly engaging. I'm not even going to point to Chasing Amy, though I could, because it's not even my favorite. I really loved his supporting role in Good Will Hunting, actually--mostly understated, but the bit about the sandwich on layaway kills me every time (and I watch that movie a lot). I thought he was the perfect hero in Armageddon, which I've also watched a lot. What? It's entertaining, and that's what movies are FOR. I thought he was viscous and funny in Dogma, I thought he was sympathetic and sweet in Jersey Girl, and I thought he was a perfect Matt Murdock in a somewhat imperfect Daredevil. His entrance in Shakespeare in Love is one of the best, ever.

But y'all, he was AWESOME in Hollywoodland. Really, really good. He delivered a multi-layered performance that was fascinating and heartbreaking. Of course it was absolutely perfect casting, but he really owned that role. I was so impressed, and have been rooting for him to get awards ever since I saw the movie.

I didn't expect to get all carried away with the Affleck love here, but whatever. I'm happy for him. He's got really tough competition in his category ( Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls, Brad Pitt for Babel, and Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg for The Departed) so I guess we'll just see how the Hollywood Foreign Press votes. (If I had to pick someone else in this category, I'm going with Wahlberg for what was, in my opinion, his Best Role Ever.)

In conclusion: Yay!

hooey

THIS is my horoscope for today. There's not even any advice in here, it just says, "You feel like crap, and your day will likely suck." I'm probably making it too personal with some stuff that's been on my mind a lot lately, and of course I must add the disclaimer that astrology is, of course, all a bunch of hooey (that just happens to resonate like hell sometimes), but DAMN.

From tarot.com: Unsettled feelings may add to your general uneasiness, for it's difficult to get clarity about your current circumstances. Your frustration may tempt you to seek an escape route as you consider closing up shop and cashing it all in. On the other hand, you may feel ready to make a great personal sacrifice, but playing the role of martyr doesn't suit your style. And although you cannot single-handedly save everyone, it's still probably worth a try.

happy

In no particular order, these are things that are currently making me happy:

So You Think You Can Dance

It's over, which is sad, but I still have Wade Robson's zombie dance to Roisin Murphy's Ramalama Bang Bang saved in my TiVO. And that makes me very, very happy.

The cast of the new Hairspray movie.

Depp and Burton, together again.

Tim Gunn.

Even if you don't watch Project Runway, you should read his blog every week. You should especially read this past week's because he disagrees with the judges, and makes them sound like idiots, except only because he's so suave and articulate. Beautiful. I love him because he's intelligent, incisive, critical-but-kind, and so thoughtful. He really cares about the designers, their efforts, and wants to see them succeed. Just like a really good teacher should.

The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection.
It's infinitely sing-a-long-able.

My horoscope.
Lately it's been totally spot on. Trippy.

Psyche.

So, so funny. Check out the "Psyche outs" on the site, if you don't believe me. Start with "Electric Avenue." I love these guys.

My dreams. Last night, I got to eat Twinkies and hang out with John Krasinski. Actually, we were in a play together ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), but I woke up before the curtain went up.

This cat.

Gofugyourself.com. Every day.

And, last but not least, my sister's new research site. Go here before you Google!

No freaking way

There are some days when I think I'm way too easy to find online and should work harder to protect my anonymity.

Then there are days when one of my oldest friends from childhood in Evansville finds my blog and leaves me a comment. Even though I totally insulted his mom's driving and spelled his name wrong.

For the record, it's spelled Jayson. Consider this a retraction and also a Yay!

In other news, y'all seriously. For real. No joke. Like totally. I have been working so freaking hard the last few weeks. It's ridonkulous. I mean when am I supposed to take care of the important things, like my blog?

Haiku: 01.18.06

Hey, zits on my neck--
Why are you there, wee beasties?
God bless turtlenecks.

Confession:

Sometimes when I order delivery and I feel like I'm pigging out, I'll pretend I'm ordering for two or more people so that the person taking my order and/or delivering my food won't think I'm a pig. I'll cover up the phone and pretend to ask someone else what they want. I'll ask for bread or rice for two. I'll request multiple sets of utensils.

I'll do it in the drive-thru, too. Usually ordering two Diet Cokes instead of one will send the "I'm bringing food back for someone" message just fine. Once I went so far as to pretend to be on my cell phone, telling my imaginary dining partner that I'm picking up the burgers right now, and I'll be there in 10 minutes. Because god forbid the 19-year-old pizza-faced Mensa candidate behind the window know that I'm just PMSing and in desperate need of all the grease and salt they can throw at me.

I know I'm not alone in this. I've actually talked to at least one other good friend of mine who has done this, even taken the weird fantasy to the cell-phone-in-the-drive-thru-routine stage. So in case you've ever attempted to save face with the disembodied voice at Great Bowl of China, or the delivery guy from Slice-a Heaven, I just want you to know: you're not alone either.