Better than fruit salad

LINKS TO BEGIN

Here is a very nice treatment of models in fashion spreads.

I shriek in horror at this lady’s house, because of the ADS and POSTERS decorating it. My God. It’s like she’s living in a trust fund shielded, intern’s loft and decorated it with that weird retro 70’s vogue modern thing that college furniture always seems to be modeled after, right down to the VERY THINGS ALL OVER THE WALLS.

Futurama timeline

The planets are aligning!

Juicer juicer juicer. A single-task device that I want badly, because contrary to popular groupthink there are many things a hand held butter churn juicer cannot juice, such as carrots and ginger and so forth. Vegetable juice that isn’t tomato based! Just think of it!

GOODNIGHT SWEET COMPANION

The FedEx man came while I was home yesterday, so I am now in the process of navigating through NewComputer. I am a little sad — the other computer has been with me since Freshman year — but it really was time. It was becoming sensitive to all forms of touch, (famously locking up and losing track of the hard drive when Anthony bumped the table,) it took up to half an hour to start, and there were the sounds. And no matter how attached you are to a computer, there is something unnerving about hearing pops and clicks while you type up your research paper.

New computer is a Mac, not a PC, which was a discision made mostly for the graphic capability of Macs although there’s an interesting who am I!? kind of debate going on in the back of my mind. There are many things that this computer does better than the old computer, but that mostly has to do with the age and quality of the machines. This will not become a Mac vs. PC venue. I have worked with both all my life, and as Anthony’s laptop is scarcely a year old, we will continue to use both. Both have good things and bad things.

That said, here is one very enlightening aspect: the speakers.

Old speakers:

New speakers:

Note the missing “e” key. I was feverishly typing up the last paper before spring break on Wednesday and the “e” key popped off in my hand. On desktop computers when this happens you can usually finagle the thing back on, but laptop keys are flat, and hit the microchip meaning “e” with a little rubber nubbin that is attached to the key and the
keyboard with a tiny plastic sliver. This was no doubt the same important-looking piece of plastic that came off and slipped underneath the other keys. I had to upend the thing and shake the little piece out, in favor of saving my other keys.

This was a nice spiteful thing to do. The paper was promtply saved in three different spots, because we all know that is not the worst computer devices can come up with. I mostly hijacked Anthony’s for my hardcore typing needs for the rest of the week. The “e” is still technically usable, and if I were in the for the long haul I’m sure I could fasten the rubber nubbin back onto the little metal piece and have a makeshift key. But it is not particularly
comfortable to use, and really difficult to make sure you really get it. “E” has a scrabble point of one. If you want to know how often the letter is used in, say, an eight page paper about the use of set design in a silent movie, the answer is, “a lot”.

THINGS I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT

1. My wireless router only talks to PCs. I can plug in but I cannot, at the moment, go wireless, which is kind of the whole point of having a router. I can’t buy a whole new one (because there are two other devices that still rely on the router that are PCs, and you know, I just spent money on a new laptop) and so hopefully the linksys guys will email me back with something helpful. That would be good.

2. My external hard drive also doesn’t have talk to my Mac. That’s not a huge loss I guess — really I wanted to weed all the files anyway — but that does mean I have to manually move everything over into the drive instead of push the “backup” button. More than a little annoying. It took 15 minutes for me ‘goodies’ folder and 35 minutes for all the documents. But that’s fine really, since I’d rather things go slow and precise rather than fast and haphazard.

3. Anthony did not spend a year and a half working with Mac OS X at work, so by extension there are a few things that he isn’t sure how to do right away like I am. I find myself gently giving guidelines. “See, you’re in the Firefox menu now. Click the desktop and you’ll get into the Finder menu” or, “to maximize do that button”.

More later. Now I need to play the file shuffle.

WE PAUSE TO RECALL KITTEN CRUSH 07

Of course, he’s no longer a kitten ball of fluff but rather a lean, mean, mousing machine out on Nicole’s parent’s farm. But he may be replaced by some incoming kittens, and so he may soon be free to pursue other interests. Stay tuned…

I CAN’T SEEM TO KEEP UP WITH THIS THING, SO HERE’S A GRAB BAG FROM THE NOTEPAD FILE, SORTED SOMEWHAT

I don’t know if it’s Monday specifically that makes me shriek in horror at the impossible list of things to do, the great shock it is after the Do Whatever I Want For Once! flavor of the weekend, or if it’s just that my brain has reformed in the shape of a pendulum or a dipping bird, methodically and mercilessly feeding me more and less serotonin depending on how I’m tilted. I need to figure out how to regulate, or I just need to envision the dipping bird itself, because that’s a nice image. The other problem with the work/school week beginning is that Sundays are strict do nothing days. Anthony and I make a point to try not to leave the house and never change out of pajamas. We can be working on real stuff, but we cannot betray the mandate of COMFORT ONLY! We tend to order in (because I never have any food in the house by Sunday) have one meal with lots of snacking, and end it all with a movie. It’s a grand old time, and I hate it when it’s over.

But I’ve survived this Monday with relative ease, so that’s good. Part of it might be that there has been so much stress and pain building up that it just doesn’t hurt any more. There is also Spring Break next week, which won’t be all R&R (lots of big work projects due then and after,) but it will be nice to only need to go to one place every day. I will also cash in some vacation time towards the end of the week and maybe play the Sunday In Day on a Thursday.

GOOD THINGS FROM TUESDAY

1. Jackie brought fruit to work. Some pre-made platters from Safeway, but some good stuff: pineapple, mango, blueberries, grapes and such. It was for no reason at all, which is of course the best reason.

2. Sat outside some on my lawn chair, to change the pace with The Homework. It was nice.

3. Woke up next to Anthony, which was a bit disconcerting because I didn’t fall asleep with him there. I haven’t had a chance to have a real conversation with him, but I think what happened is he got bored at Friend Josh’s and left.

4. Gave an answer that solicited an exasperated “thank you!” I love to be that right.

LADY DISTAIN! ARE YOU YET LIVING?

Monday night I went to the student symphony orchestra. They were performing selections from Tan Dam, including with dialog with Paul Klee which almost set me on fire. I’d link it but it’s fiendishly had to find in a buyable format, so scan the libraries instead. I hear it doesn’t translate well to recording and I can understand that — there really is something about watching the percussionist pick up rocks and bang them together. But still. Good to listen to. Pull up a Google image search of the paintings in question and exercise your synesthesia bone.

I of course had far more to say about it than anyone in my class, and I continue to wonder why the hell we allow such complacency from art and music majors. Is the reason I care so passionately about it because I was kicked out? I doubt it, but then again sometimes wonder when I sit amongst these silent unoriginal drones. Sometimes I feel like coming to class in a bear suit, pushing everyone out of their chairs, responding to questions via drawings on a chalk board. Something. Something else. I also continue to wonder why exactly I am taking the class, aside from the wonderful chance-to-talk-art, which is I guess the reason right there. I certainly don’t “need” the class like the others do.

GOOGLE DOCS

It is everything I wanted Gmail to do about three months ago. I am rather slow I suppose, although I need to look into this because I don’t think it has been around all that long. Remember the wonderful auto-saving function in gmail? Remember how you, during the bleak time before final papers were due, typed your papers in a gmail draft so that no hubris could doom you to failure?

Google Docs has the spell check, but it does not allow Firefox’s auto-correction option in a drop-down menu. This is probably a feature you can turn on and there is a spell check button at the top, but I like that it makes you think a little first. I am always worried that slowly but surely my lexical integrity will lapse because of this Firefox feature, and while it is also optional I am sure there is something nice about having correct options right THERE.

LEFTOVERS FROM THE DELETED RETALIATION TO THE AFOREMENTIONED BITCHY COMMENT

So apparently there are two kinds of Portland-dwellers.

1. There are the insanely cheerful stars-in-my-eyes(-ouch-so-hot-and-pointy) people who drop every known Portland fact in every moment of conversation, who have a secret agenda to shift all peoples to the Northwest.

2. And there are the self-absorbed cool-is-not-cool-is-cool hipster-old people hybrids, equivalents to those people you find in every township on earth irritated to all hell that this country is filled with PEOPLE who have the NERVE to MOVE AROUND and who are royally vexed that you would consider dragging your sorry ass HERE of all places, there goes the Goddamn neighborhood and all that. To which I can only say: get over it. Prices go up, kids play with ipods, Maggies move across country. Next?

THE VARIOUS

1. It’s been another one of those days. Didn’t do so well on a midterm that I really needed to do well on, left my lunch at home, had nothing useful to say in class, had to fix big problems at work, have to do more homework than I have brain capacity for which means no unwinding and chilling-out section of the night, which could mean no sleep and the continuation of this run-on, ongoing, relentless Little Miss Anxiety I’ve had going on for the past few months.

There was a report on the police radio at work today of an older man who was “agitated” and “anxious” but was complying to the officer’s questions, which actually made me tear up a little at my desk and I had to go stand in the breakroom for a second and look at the plants. We need a special name tag for those of us who are feeling agitated and anxious and give them Specialness Perks for the day: cuts in the espresso line, hugs, daisies, a magical fairy who will return all of their overdue library books.

Alas, no perks for me. I did treat myself to Noodles for dinner, since that was the only place that met my needs:

a. Vaugely cheesy and warm
b. Absolutely no prep, cook, or cleanup
c. Sit-down time, allowing for homework in tandem with eating.
d. Almost cheap

I even got a snide anonymous comment on a website thing. It is no kind of big deal yet on days like today it becomes a very big deal. What gives, humans?

1a. In the library a few hours ago I passed the big lecture hall where the weekly independent movie has its screening. There were two people in there, with laptops, watching a nature documentary. African water hole, wildebeests, crocodiles. The narrator was saying things like, “once the jaws take hold, they never let go,” in tandem with the slow-motion capture of a wildebeest howling in pain and being slowly, slowly tugged under. And I thought, yeah that sounds about right.

BUT BETTER THINGS!

2. The impressionists were at the Denver Art Museum, which was great because I missed them last time. I was a bit offended when they handed us a wand with an ear piece designed to explain the paintings, but was delighted to read the little sign in the corner that said channels 300-305 played Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Great music + great art = happiness.

After the impressionists we had ample time to wander through and visit some of our favorites. Anthony always has to go and stand in front of a Gene Davis number that literally gives me a headache (the colors are loud so when he does that I go and sit in front of the foggy Alex Katz and hum softly. There was an exquisite new thing by David Schnell called View that was incredible — that little jpg does not do it justice. I was absolutely unable to look away. The Mennonite quilts were out and they aren’t always, so that neat to look at and wonder about needlework. Anthony was really into the quilts which baffled me a little because I quilt and he’s never made a big fuss about those. But then, mine aren’t fashioned by hand by Mennonites, nor do they hang in museums. (Rather they are made with old shirts my Mom had and various other neat fabrics I’ve picked up here and there, and are breathlessly sewn together so I can USE them.)

There was even time to sit in the bridge and drink espresso while cars whizzed underneath on 13th Street. Wee!

3. I continue to struggle with the Grad School thing. We ate dinner at the Cherry Tomato and I insisted that it is not in fact that he is off on the Next Adventure, rather it is my uncertainty that I am all upset about. Do I go with, do I start my own adventure (but what if it never overlaps again), do I stop worrying and keep shoving forward. (I think we all know the answer to that one.)

4. Much of this will in fact depend on where I get employed. So it’s the good old leave-it-up-to-fate thing. I’m not as good at this as I used to be, so we’ll see how that goes.