Megan
Dec. 22nd, 2008
05:06 pm - Snowy Seattle: A love/hate relationship
Around noon today, I trekked out of my house to begin the bus journey to Capitol Hill for a haircut. There was a guy shoveling his driveway down the block, and when he spotted me he stuck his shovel in the snow. He said, "Halt! None shall pass!" I think that's from Monty Python, but I couldn't remember the appropriate response. So I smiled and said, "These aren't the droids you're looking for." We had a good laugh.
On Market street, I saw 5 buses stopped right behind one another. I boarded the one that was trying to make a break for it, and we miraculously made it up the hill. That's where my luck ended, though, because the next bus never came at all. I ended up calling the hair salon and switching my appointment until Friday.
I walked from Fremont to Wallingford to deposit my paycheck, then called my friend Dave who lives in the same neighborhood. We ate lunch at the Fremont Via Tribunali and had a good conversation. I made my way back home on foot because waiting for a bus just seemed a waste of time for such a short trip.
At least I didn't have to worry about going to work today!
Dec. 19th, 2008
09:03 am
I just waited 45 minutes for 2 buses that never came. I could walk to work, but that would take another 30 minutes and my toes are frozen! Now I remember what winters in Pittsburgh were like. It would probably be easier to drive there, because they actually use things like salt trucks and snowplows. Seattle just has to hope and wait for the temperature to go up and melt it away. Urrgh.
I called one of the other coordinators and we're just going to close for the second day straight. This worries me, because with on top of the crappy financial situation the school is in, they won't have any money coming in for these 2 days. Also it's bad for my financial situation, because next week we are closed for the winter break with no holiday pay.
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/cold.gif){kind=small}
coldDec. 9th, 2008
11:22 pm - Christmas karaoke
The Scarecrow holiday party was last night! I am lucky to have such fun co-workers and friends. I even got a personalized interactive video from the makers of Steel of Fire Warriors. And a copy of the DVD!
More photos at Alex's flickr site.
Nov. 17th, 2008
10:13 am - weekend stuff
My weekend started off with Let the Right One In, an excellent movie about adolescent love and vampires. It's as subtle and moody as its misfit main character, Oskar. But its violence--necessary to any good vampire flick--is visceral and realistic.
The story left me pondering the universality of bully behavior. Even in Sweden, bullies cop to the same tricks as they did when I was growing up here. (Spoiler?)--Ok, so I don't know anybody who got whipped with a riding crop, but the trick of the bully's friend calling up and pretending to sympathize while the bully listens in to your response? I suffered through a couple of those myself.
After the movie, I managed to stay awake long enough to head down to the Sunset Tavern for the Young Sportsmen's final show. Awesome, and as full of smart lyrics and energetic melodies as I remembered. I think their fan base must have been waning recently, though, because at 1:00 am Wesley looked around and said, "Wow, people are still here! You know what, we're not going to break up. Now you guys can go home and it'll be just like a regular show." :-(
Last night J & I went to see Quantum of Solace with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
bunpoh and her husband & sister. I enjoyed Daniel Craig's performance, but I was really annoyed with the action sequences (which made up about 90% of the movie). The editing was way too fast--seemed like they purposely jumped from shot to shot just a moment before you could recognize what was happening or who you were looking at. I thought it cut down the tension the makes an action movie fun--since I couldn't tell what was happening, it just left me cold. Olga Kurylenko's backstory and character development were the only things I found truly engaging about it.
Now I am sick! I couldn't talk when I woke up this morning so I'm taking the day to recover from my sore throat, etc. J has been sick too, so I knew it was coming. My version seems to have morphed into a cold with stomach issues, but I guess that's how viruses survive. Bleh!
Nov. 4th, 2008
11:44 pm
Wow.
I can't remember the last time I heard a concession speech at 8:15 p.m. (PST).
Thank you, America.
Oct. 12th, 2008
09:56 am - Back from 'murrica
I realize now that spending this entire past week with my parents in their small western PA town was a bit ambitious on my part. They are the cliché old married couple (76 and 84), and their conversations have two settings: banal and bickering! The town is pretty, but offers zippo in the way of mental stimulation. I did get out to Pittsburgh to spend some time around my old neighborhood, though. It's strange to think that I only lived in Pgh for a quarter of the time I've lived in Seattle.
Being that PA is such an important state in the election, I did some canvassing in New Kensington, which was the nearest Obama campaign field office to where I was staying. I got mixed responses while phoning and talking with people, but I ended up feeling cautiously optimistic. I did talk to a few people who were bitter that Hillary Clinton got neither the nomination nor the VP spot. One guy said he was so angry about it, he wasn't going to vote at all! I talked to him about party unity, etc, but I did feel a flash of regret--maybe it could have been her time, after all. I was especially thinking about one of the few questions from the "town hall" debate, when a woman asked McCain and Obama how they felt about health care being a commodity. I think the answer she was looking for was that it is unfortunate that we have to put a price on healing our children, and that the industry often gains from refusing people care. Clinton was really good at acknowledging those kinds of points, but the senators in the debate just ended up talking about premiums and taxes.
One of the two Obama signs I saw in my parents' town was at the house of a childhood friend. I was always impressed when ingtime at her family's house as a kid, because they seemed so worldly! Her father was a French professor at a nearby college, so they spoke a lot of French at home. They drank wine around the dinner table and were a diligently green family before the town had even heard of recycling. When I saw their poster this week, I thought to myself--well, if the family that taught me what a compost heap was wouldn't vote for Obama, who would? Ha ha.
Some other things that I enjoyed on my week away from the great Northwest:
* Walking through my old Pittsburgh neighborhood on Yom Kippur and seeing all of the Hasidim coming home from temple.
*The Detroit airport, which was a total surprise. I landed there at 3:00 a.m. on my way to Pgh, and found that every sign and every announcement is made in Mandarin and Japanese as well as English. It must be a hub for Asian airlines, or else just an innovative airport plopped down in the Midwest. They put Seattle's airport to shame. There was an elevated tram that ran the length of the A terminal, and trees and fountains with live birds at the stop for B & C terminals. To get between terminals, one walks through a long tunnel that plays random musical notes and displays colored lights in time to the melodies. A very strange experience at 3 a.m., for sure.
* My mom loves Stephen Colbert! I got to watch the Report on tv instead or the internet for a few days. I think I will get her his book for christmas.
Sep. 25th, 2008
Sep. 4th, 2008
04:02 pm - The most aggravating line in Palin's speech
"Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?"
She is enjoying a bias that makes her unlikely of being racially profiled, unfairly questioned or detained by airport security, or separated from her family in a raid. It's rich how she goes on about the bias of the Washington elite.
And what was up with all of the cheers for her husband as a "proud member of the United Steel Workers Union"? Didn't Mitt Romney demonize Unions earlier in his speech?
Aug. 29th, 2008
03:49 pm - OMG I can just see it now!!
Biden: Governor, I've served with Hillary Clinton. I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine. Governor, you're no Hillary Clinton."
Jul. 28th, 2008
09:18 pm
Just got back from the UW bookstore, where I heard naominovik read and sign Victory of Eagles. She didn't actually read from the text--I'm glad because I just started the book that precedes it in the series. (Hurray--no spoilers!) Instead, she read an unpublished short story about the first dragon combat in Roman times.
I haven't had a book personally signed in a long time! I think the last was James Ellroy. That was about 10 years ago--and he signed his book for my dog (totally a compliment if James Ellroy respects your dog enough to sign a book for him)!
Tonight I left feeling that I would have liked to talk a lot more with naominovik. As it was, I just asked her if she had gotten to see anything in Seattle, told her she should go to Scarecrow.
I need to research whether she has actually been to China. Because of my trip in 2006, I could totally envision Laurence & co. in the Summer Palace while waiting to meet the emperor in Throne of Jade.
She was so cute, too! I got her to sign my book with my sparkly pen.
Jul. 11th, 2008
09:59 pm - Ouch!
Last week, Justin was laid up with back pain all weekend. This weekend, I am! It started yesterday with just a small ache in the middle of my lower back. Now I get awful twinges of pain if I twist or move at any rate above a shuffle. And forget about bending or stretching. Or sitting up.
I'm going to call Scarecrow pretty soon and tell a manager to note that I can't come in tomorrow. I didn't go to work today, either, but it just happened to be my chiro and massage appointment day. Both of them were quite concerned. I have no idea what I did to bring on such a state.
Maybe it's the new-ish bed. J and I were futon-sleepers for years, so maybe our bodies are not adjusting well. Who knows, but it's weird that we are both afflicted at the same time.
Jul. 4th, 2008
07:01 pm
There is a big pine tree at the end of our street, and every couple of months it hosts a giant impromptu gathering of crows. They all sit in the tree, or take turns flying around it. Then one will start awk awk awking and all of the rest will follow. I always wonder if it is some kind of portent.
I've been reading Naomi Novik's Temeraire series. I needed a break after diligently finishing The Exorcist in Spanish. I never read fantasy,so I was dubious at first. As I've commented before, I was worried it would be some kind of trumped-up Misty of Chincoteague. But, Novik is an engaging storyteller whose characters make one rethink the nature of "intelligence". Consider this quote from Throne of Jade: "You may as well say that if a creature will not serve people, and learn their habits, it is not intelligent, and had just as well be killed." She seems a true animal lover.
Oh yeah, and she'll be reading at the UW bookstore on July 28. I'm there!
May. 7th, 2008
10:32 pm
I found a new internet obsession today: the personal stories on mindfreedom.org. There's a lot of really great information on the mental health treatment and progress, as well as the horrors that people can be put through by a Big Pharma-loving system.
Last night I watched Her Name is Sabine, a documentary about French actress Sandrine Bonnaire's autistic sister. Sabine was eccentric but functional until she had a mental decline in her late 20s and went into a psychiatric hospital. When they mentioned that she had spent a lot of time on neuroleptics in the hospital, I knew I had heard about that class of drugs somewhere before. I'm thinking it may have been John's Not Mad, because I know neuroleptics have been used to treat Tourette's and ADHD in kids. Anyway, there is a pretty fascinating debate going on as to why those drugs are used at all, and whether they do more damage than good to the patient's brain.
I've always been fascinated with mental disorders and treatments since I was young, reading books like The Bell Jar, I Never Promised you a Rose Garden, and Lisa Bright and Dark. Now I can see that it tied into my love of certain sci-fi films where characters seemed to be in danger of losing their humanity: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Isalnd of Dr. Moreau and Stepford Wives. I definitely associated these with the effects of mental illness of forced medication.
May. 2nd, 2008
10:20 am
My delegate page is up! Take a look:
Strength Through Service
Apr. 30th, 2008
08:27 pm - The fam
My parents were in town for the past week. A number of family events went on during the weekend, starting with my niece's birthday on Friday. This is the same niece that I played Tooth Fairy for recently, and I found out just before her party that my sister had just done what I feared I would. When my niece lost another tooth last week, my sister woke her up in the process of reaching under her pillow! Apparently my niece was really upset about it, for days afterward! My sister told her that "everybody had been the tooth fairy" for her, but the only thing that cheered her up was that I got so stressed out about it. Ah, comic relief again.
Saturday, I set foot in a catholic mass for the first time in about 15 years for my nephew's first holy communion service. The thought of going to a mass had always felt like defeat to me, since my mom doesn't really acknowledge that I don't believe in Catholicism. I was baptised Catholic and I'll always be one, in her eyes. Anyway, I'd be more than willing to go to a buddhist or jewish or whatever ceremony if one of my friends were having one, so why not go a catholic one for my nephew? It's just an event. Plus, it was cute to see all of the kids in their suits and dresses. Everybody was very surprised to see me there!
Sunday we went to the Tulip festival. The way everyone has raved about it these past few years, I thought it would be magical. Maybe it would have been different if the sun were shining, and there was more than one farm showcasing its tulips. All in all, I am not a gardener and I was really bored!
Monday, I took my mom and sister to Tuning the Air, a local acoustic guitar group. It's a pretty cool experience--the audience sits in the middle of the circle. Some of the songs are original, but the do a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" that is quite unique. My mom always like those new-agey Windham Hill guitar collections, so I knew shew would enjoy it.
Mar. 5th, 2008
10:21 pm - New bed!
I bought a new mattress last night and they are delivering it tomorrow! I'm excited!
The futon that I bought almost 10 years ago has been sagging for a while. I'm pretty sure that sleeping on an incline is the cause of muscle tension problems I've been having all along my right side. The idea of buying a new mattress has been kind of daunting, so every time I had another restless night it just made me more fatalistic. Then I got online and saw that Sleep Country was having a sale, so I went for it!
I think I picked the best time to go to the showroom--8 p.m. The sales guy was obviously hoping for a quiet night, so he didn't try to upsell me. It probably helped that I had done my research beforehand, too. I was out of there in less than 20 minutes!
Simmons Deep Sleep Eurotop
Feb. 9th, 2008
03:19 pm
I'm a delegate!
I liked the caucus process--messy, hands-on, interactive. After we signed in and heard the initial remarks, our precincts split off and tallied the number of supporters for each candidate. People were invited to spontaneously plug their candidates in order to change opposers' minds. In our precinct it was more like a group discussion.
After that, we split into our candidate sides and chose delegates. I was in the small group (if you watch the results, you will soon know which candidate that was), so voting went pretty smoothly. Our group only got one delegate, somebody asked who wanted to do it, and I raised my hand. Everybody was happy to vote for me.:-)
10:12 am - Goin' to the caucus and I'm...hmm
Still on the fence.
I like Hillary's focus on health care. Yes, Obama also has a plan, but she is the one with experience investigating health insurance reform and constructing a plan to present to Congress.
Obama has been wooing me with his ideas about public service; he wants to expand Americorps and the Peace Corps, and create new organizations to improve our image overseas.
I wish I could have gone to the Clinton's and Obama's rallies here. The gigantic numbers for Obama seem inspiring, but they also mirror the way that hype and charm have been his main draws. He doesn't even come up with his own slogans--"Yes we can" is just a translation of Si se puede, and I suspect the "audacity" in his bio title was appropriated from the keyword of Segolene Royal's presidential campaign in France.
At any rate, it will be interesting to see how the caucus process works!
Dec. 25th, 2007
Dec. 21st, 2007
10:45 pm
Well, I too went to see Sweeney Todd. I liked Helena Bonham Carter, even though she didn't have as much gusto as past performers in her role. She seemed even more lovelorn and desperate--I really believed that she was doing it all for him. She wanted to eke out whatever perverted manifestation of happiness she could.
I liked her line about how she wouldn't get her dreams, and it wouldn't be as good as he remembered, but somehow they'd get on.
As a bonus, Justin & I went to Pies & Pints afterward!
I'm so glad Johnny Depp is still making movies. I feel lucky to see his movies in the theater, when they come out. It seems to me that years from now, people will be watching old Johnny Depp movies and wishing they could have been around. I probably just feel like that because he's an actor of my generation--it makes me think of prolific actors from other generations. Seeing him onscreen reminds me of where I am in my life, because he's been such a constant. I remember watching him when I was 15!
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