Awkwardly Social

I’ve been reading Undead and Unwed which is delightful and a little porny and you know me, I’m not one to complain about dirty books.

It’s making room for Mouse Guard Volume One: Fall 1152 which is the first graphic novel I’ve ever requested. It’s apparently very popular so it took forever to get here.

Louie got it from Secret Headquarters. I met the owner of the shop at Louie’s show, delightful and totally able to carry on a conversation with a woman, shattering every stereotype I held dear about comic book people. Of course, we were talking about Science Fiction… so there’s that.

I’ve been gardening on my balcony.

Trying to figure out if composting is something I really can undertake. It seems hard. And I am all about easy. (Also the URL “journeytoforever” kind of creeps me out. Like if I compost I’m going to die. See you in heaven, worms!)

I continue to try and capture the beauty that is Lula, but am getting a little annoyed that black dogs are so difficult to photograph.

I continue to be frustrated with and addicted to Desktop Tower Defense. Do not click the link if you value quality time with your family.

And right this second I have Kyle XY paused on the Tivo. A friend used to work on the show, but she is on to bigger things now. Fingers crossed for her continued success. She deserves excellent things.

Have a good hump day!

1. Play 7 hours straight of Desktop Tower Defense. (I thought Civilization was addictive? This is like mainlining heroin directly into your brain.)

2. Sit on the porch and look suspiciously at the kids who some how managed to afford a house in Los Feliz and are making it look like a damned ticky-tacky paradise of Mustangs and screeching tires. (SLOW DOWN!)

3. Shake your broom at the screeching Mustangs.

4. Repot a flower while muttering about kids and their fast cars.

5. Comfort Lula as she freaks out about crazy kids and their fire works.

6. File.

7. Wonder again how those kids could afford a house in the neighborhood. Hope they don’t rob you.

8. Check the locks.

9. Sew some curtains! (Straight hems are for douchebags!)

10. Examine every spot in the living room up close to determine whether or not it is pee. (Tally - 10 spots, 0 pee)

11. Get another Mike’s Hard Lime ready because you’re almost finished with this one!

Happy first day of summer, people! Get out your sidewalk chalk and bathing suits, there’s slip and sliding to be done!

I don’t know if it’s because of the solstice or because I’m ovulating, but I have been so damned productive in the past few days I’m starting to realize the life of a person without depression is a very busy one. I sewed curtains last night. Our neighbors can no longer watch us pee. They are very sad I’m sure. I also repotted a ficus and my new daisy plant. I am one pane away from having the living room completely heat shielded. (I swear those French windows are lovely and all but a pain in the ass to put heat shield on.) Also I worked on my script and my civilization built Copernicus’ Observatory. It was quite an evening.

Tonight we have a date with Roscoe’s. I cannot wait.

I think Lula is sick. She’s had a few ‘accidents’ in the last couple of days and I think her thirst is elevated. I’m cruising Pet WebMD (not a real site) and now Lula is not only suffering from kidney failure but she might also have a UTI. Poor dog. She’s going to the vet tomorrow.

In other news I’m pretty sure I got more shit done last weekend than I did in the whole month of May. I returned stuff to four different stores. I got my car fixed (again). I had coffee with a friend who is now rocking a staff writer position on an actual network show. I put heat shield on 1/5th of the windows in the apartment. I bought material for curtains for the bathroom windows (I know our neighbors are going to be sad they can’t watch me weigh myself obsessively every time I go in there). I worked on my script. I did laundry. AND I conquered the Iroquois. It was a very sucessful weekend. It really helps if you go to bed at 7:30PM on Friday night. Or, you know, take an 8 hour ‘nap’ that starts at 7:30pm.

Father’s Day was this weekend. I’m embarassed to say it’s been maybe since my birthday (which is in January) since I’ve talked to my dad. To clarify, it’s not like he’s been leaving me messages and I’m ignoring them, we’re just not great communicators. I know he reads the blog at least sporadically so he has a general idea of what’s going on in my life, and his life of a retiree is much unchanged since last I talked to him. I do get the distinct impression that if I had kids we would both make more of an effort to be in touch. For some reason, that side of the family is all about the kids calling the elders. The elders no longer have control of their fingertips or they just don’t understand how these crazy phones work today. So if communication goes missing, it’s the kids’ fault. Since my relationship with telephones is also shaky, it means we go months without speaking a word. To some it might seem sad, to us, it’s just a points system. I got more points for remembering Father’s Day than my sister did by calling once a month all year. (My sister is so mad right now!) It’s a difficult system to navigate, but it works for us. Anyway, for all of our differences, I am equal parts my father’s and my mother’s daughter. My dad really shines through me when I make bad puns and chat up waitresses and sales staff and think spending an afternoon entering numbers into Quicken is a good time.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

My car was in the shop today and the shop is close to the dog park so Lula got a chance to get raped again.

This time she wisely went directly to the bench and hid.

I got to watch an amazing Borzoi at play. That beast was so ridiculously goofy and graceful all at the same time. As Shane from So You Think You Can Dance? would say, “MURRDDDERRR!”

Lula also did some running. Her ears are ridiculous.

Have a good Sunday.

I went to a panel last night called “International Co-Financing for the Independent Film,” and if that title doesn’t put you to sleep try listening to seven lawyers talking about the ins and outs of tax benefits and soft money in countries like Australia, Canada and Ireland. The Irish guy at least had the decency to be young, cute and speak with an Irish accent. Fuck me, being an independent producer can really be dull. When do I get the cute shoes and first class flights?

I guess I should back up a little. Did you know that I’m a producer? I am. People who knew me in film school are laughing right now. I would cry when people asked me to produce their films and have a pre-emptive mental break down. Now though? Now, I’m a producer. It’s funny how a couple of years of perspective and a solid diet of working for other people can really make one want to strike out on their own.

Last night while Tara and I were rolling our eyes and karate chopping lawyers in our heads to keep ourselves awake, we were twice accosted by 2012 references. I loved the moment when we both turned and looked at each other wide eyed and freaked out and then couldn’t stop giggling. That is what this is all about for me, I love her work, she enjoys mine, and we both have an honest fear of ancient Mayan predictions.

Tara said, “Well, the earth will still be here, but you probably won’t.”

I said, “And you will?”

Tara responded, “Oh yeah, I fully intend to survive the apocalypse.”

I said, “Um, I’m the leader of the resistance against the machines, so you better hope I survive.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess so.”

So you can see how Tara and I are going to take this town by storm. Her - armed with personal style, writing talent and good hair. Me - with geek references and the free calculator they handed out as SWAG.

1. Be allowed to watch the History channel - Irrational fear of the world ending on December 21, 2012, because the Mayans predicted it. They also predicted human sacrifice would be all the rage…

2. Read food blogs in the morning - my stomach now believes 10:30AM is lunch time. My stomach is stupid.

3. Eat a 1/4 lb. of Muenster cheese in 3 days - mmmm…. dairy, what? Oh, yeah, the scale is unforgiving.

4. Switch my blog all around without doing the proper research - HOW THE FRACK DO I GET MY STUPID BANNER OVER HERE?

5. Let Lula sleep on the bed - Louie kicks her at night, causing her to yelp and me to worry that the black clumps of hair she is leaving everywhere are spots of blood.

6. Do posts like this - I can never think of a clever wrap-up.

I went to Target to pick up one very specific thing. One purchase that I had researched extensively and had discussed with Louie.

I’m convinced Target pumps some kind of drug into their air supply. That drug affects the reason center in your brain. That drug tells you it’s ok.

“Buy that frame,” the drug says.

“You need that,” it whispers softly into your ear.

“You’ll never forgive yourself if you pass up that deal,” it growls seductively.

“We don’t have the one thing you have on your list. This beautiful bowl will make you feel better,” it apologizes.

“Now you should go to the garden center. Just look at the sun shining on the lavender.”

“Smell this rosemary plant.”

I have a large pile of stuff to return. Yes, I’m that girl. The impulsive buyer and returner girl. Target should be illegal.

So, here I am. Awkwardly Social. I kind of can’t believe I figured out how to get this far all by myself. I’m all grown up.

Now if I could just figure out how to design my theme so that it looks close to the old typepad site, I’d be happy. I might have to hit up my brother-in-law for a little tutorial.

Here’s a screen shot for posterity of the old typepad site that will soon be going the way of the dodo.

It’ll be up for a little while as I get situated over here.For the record, I hate the wordpress interface, almost as much as I hated the typepad interface when I first started with it, so at least there’s continuity there.

P.S. If you look hard enough you might find half finished, poorly thought out posts that I never published over at the old site and have now showed up here like a tramp at a party with a bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill and a 10 year old condom just waiting to be asked to leave.

The old dudes who do news ‘headlines’ for Yahoo discover krumping. Call it a dance ‘craze.’ And long for the days of lindy hop.

The funniest part to me is all the extra links. “What is it?” “See it” “What’s the appeal?”This is ground breaking journalism people. Believe it.