FLP and disorganization

Preface: I've been trying to write this entry for a good 3 days but can't seem to find either the time or the energy finish it.  I'm just going to submit it like it is and move on:

Our new lease has officially been signed.  Can I get a "yipyaw!?"  I guess we'll start moving sometime during mid- to late-April and we're both beyond excited!

I'm addicted to the Free Library of Philadelphia.

I haven't even had that much time to read lately, but it's still impossible for me not to have at least 3 books checked out at once.  I just have this borderline insatiable craving for new information; stories, really.  And something to jump-start my imagination.  Someone asked me why I've been hung up on fantasy/paranormal/fiction lately and why I haven't in the past year or so really read any of the genres I've previously been inclined to read, such as memoirs, classics, ethnographies, etc.  My life is great, but lately I've just been looking for escape, and fantastic (literally) fiction just does it for me.  It's like a vacation 

that doesn't cost anything!

I've been following this tumblr blog called "1001 rules for my unborn son."  I love it.  Some of the items on the list are things that I would certainly like to impart upon future kids, and some are ones I would apply to myself.

This one was posted today:
354. Experience the serenity of traveling alone. (via rulesformyunbornson)

It hits home for me, because I love road trips, and taking my couple of cross-country drives gave me a unique sense of independence - and as corny as it sounds - I feel like it was a way in which I could be alone and get to know myself that nothing other than a solo road trip could afford.

Anyway.  I just need to get this out of the "Drafts" category.  I'm so disorganized and need to get back on track.

On that note, I'll close with a super LOLgwin kurtisee of teh Joh:

When in Wales...

...do as the Welsh do and make fantastic art out of sheep, light-emitting diodes, shepherd dogs, and an intricate system of whistling.

Lots of videos for you today!  

on disgraced coffee

Non-dairy powdered creamer grosses me out.  I turn my nose up at it in disdain, yet I'm still drinking it because someone in the office seems to drink the real half-and-half by the glass so we always run out.  F'er.

I'm totally in awe of my dad because he rocks in general; a perfect blend of intellectual and badass. Do you know any other fighter pilots (call sign: "Saker," no less) who can recite epic poetry and hold a MS in Chemical Engineering from Berkley? I don't think so; I don't know any others either. Anyway, one of the more minuscule targets of my admiration is the fact that he can drink coffee akin to battery acid and genuinely enjoy it in such a way that only my dad can.  He can take pause and sit down amidst total chaos, lean back with the most contented air about him, and sip his cuppa joe as if he were on the deck of a lakefront cabin in autumn without a care in the world, then get up, energized, and fight whatever dragons may be lurking about.

Ok, cue reality.  The point is that he told me that he never liked coffee until he was a plebe at Westpoint, and the shitty black sludgy coffee available to them at 4am on bitter mornings became the highlight, nay - singular pleasant part, of each day.  Just because the ink was hot and he could appreciate the small amount of comfort it afforded him in the darkness.  Sigh. When I bitch about non-dairy creamer, I think of my dad and get put in my place because I'm simply just not hard-core when it comes to caffeinated beverages. 

Ada probably understands better than anyone else "how important the music is."  I've floundered recently, and Sufjan Stevens has really helped me through everything over the past week or so (thanks so much, teh Joh).  I haven't even really had specific problems other than feeling (mildly, thank goodness) like lupus, and generally unmotivated and distracted.  Unbalanced.  Anyway, heeeeeere's Sufjan:

Chicago:

Casimir Pulaski Day (really sad but really beautiful):

The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts is lovely and makes me want to waltz myself across the room, but I couldn't find a good embeddable thingie for it.

Decatur, or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother! is fun...at first I thought it was silly, but it latched itself onto me and is really catchy:

Dare u goez.  Muzak fur ur enjoimintz.  

Tonight is dinner at Emily's house with Ulana and Luke (first time I've seen them since they got hitched!).  Em and I discussed that we'd probably get arrested by the friend police if they found out how negligent we've been of each other...luckily it's about to get resolved in T-7.5 hours.

finally spring

Dante: I love finding good stuff in pockets of clothes I haven't worn in awhile.

Me: Ooh me too. Did you find money in your vest or something?

Dante: Nope...Big League Chew!

:)

So Dante and I are moving in a couple weeks to this amazing place...around the corner!  We really enjoyed our current apartment until a couple months ago, when we found out our landlord lied about how much it cost to heat the place...what a disaster.  Anyway, there won't be any more nasty surprises like that anymore because utilities are included in the rent of our new place!

Things seem to be coming together nicely.  Our new apartment is the top right quadrant of this house:

From Carriage House on Walnut Lane

In recent news, I woke up Friday morning and felt like lupus.  That's it.  Just lupus.  It took me a good hour to move from my bed.  I was awake and everything...I just physically couldn't get up, and when I did, I was walking around as if my skin had been filled with extremely heavy, pointy rocks.  A very strange feeling...I don't remember the last time I felt so generally bad.  I went to work on Friday, did the few things that absolutely had to get done, then went home and crawled into bed.  Spent most of Saturday in bed too, but got up to go to hockey, which was amazing.  Naturally, I would have gone even if I had to drag myself there because it was our last game of the season, and we won 4-0, which I'm convinced had a healing effect!  The skills they learned were executed perfectly, everyone had fun and played smart, heads-up hockey, and honestly, I couldn't be any prouder.  I was positively bursting with pride and joy and felt like I was glowing.

Not only was that the perfect ending to a great season full of growth (not only as a team..but also for me personally), but it's also a very exciting way to begin next season!  Not to talk myself up or anything, but I felt really good when several of the women approached me to tell me that they had originally been planning to play elsewhere because their past experiences with the Flames hadn't been so good, but they are going to stay with the organization because of me!  That was one of the highest, most humbling forms of praise I've ever had bestowed upon me...I feel so honored.

Yesterday I hung out with my brother Eric, and it was really nice...we went to brunch at Honey's then hung out in Rittenhouse Square for awhile.  We're hanging out next Sunday too which will be awesome.  Then, Dante and I went out to dinner, came home, and went to bed around, read, and fell asleep.  Because we're nerdy dinosaurs.  Yeah.

Mandy sent me some of the professional photos from her wedding in September.  This is my favorite one of Dante and me coming out of the church:

From Mawwiage!

This was really fun too, despite the fact that our shoes were ridiculously painful:

From Mawwiage!

It's quittin' time, boss.  Now that I'm feeling better, I plan on getting back into a routine.  There's more I want to write about, but I'll get to it eventually.  I've been bursting from lack of blogging lately so I need to catch up!

Grammar Nazis Beware...? Whaa?

I am a proud, lifetime member of the Grammar Police (not Nazis)...as well as a LOLspeaker. First of all, there are a lot of people who attempt LOLspeak and are of the belief that it is comprised of little more than arbitrarily misspelled words and butchered sentence structure. News flash: that's not real LOLspeak. I would just like to point out, in defense of fluent LOLspeakers, that proper execution requires true mastery of the English language. One must possess not only an impressive vocabulary, but also have intact conventional skills, in order to successfully mold something written in English to something written in LOLspeak.

That being said, I could probably think of some things to say about a person who scours the vastness of the intarwebz for crappy cakes (of all things) all day whilst bashing LOLz...but I won't because I'm not a mean person.

Ugh. I can't stand haters.

Weer rollen. Dey haytin.

 

 

Sent to you by Sherri via Google Reader:

 

 

Grammar Nazis Beware

via Cake Wrecks by Jen on 3/10/09

Before I get inundated with e-mails of this, I figured I'd better go ahead and post it. So here's one for you, Lolspeakers:

Don't take my posting this as approval, however. While I appreciate the well-timed usage of the word "bebeh", reading entire sentences of this "language" gives me an almighty headache. So, if any of you DARE post some Lolspeak nonsense in MY comment section, there will be heck to pay! (Mostly in the form of me mocking you.) I mean, it now - don't say I didn't warn you!

For those of you who think spelling friends "fwends" is cute, though, go here. Get it all out of your system, and then you can come back.


Hey Tanya, there's a gerbil on that cake!! Huh. I just noticed.

 

 

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On hidden treasures

I recently engaged in a debate regarding the difference between naivete and possessing a sense of wonder.  I firmly maintained that finding beauty and amazement around us, even in everyday occurrences, and realizing that miracles do happen (though sometimes you have to look for them) are good for the soul and make life not only more enjoyable but more balanced as well.  My opponent interjected that "that's childish and simplistic" and I conceded that it could be, if the person in question is not a realist.  I also agreed with him that sadly, most people outgrow the stark appreciation or take for granted the beauty in the common (and uncommon) things.  It's key to protect this appreciation rather than discard it as we mature, as it is helpful in dealing with the shittiness to which we are increasingly exposed as we grow.  At my unwavering belief that there are still wonderful mysteries left in the world, some will be unearthed over time, and some will (and should) remain hidden, my opponent chuckled gently, which was maddening.  I'd rather get a stiff middle finger any day than a patronizing dismissal.  This individual even had the balls to suggest that technology will eventually be so advanced that nothing could possibly stay hidden or continue to baffle experts.  Don't even get me started on that piece.

The way I see it, if one were to strip away the details of our debate, what it came down to was my arguing in favor of duality, and his arguing against it.  I won't expand on that as my last paragraph is pretty self explanatory, in a rambling, feathers-ruffled sort of way. 

Checking out the news this morning and coming upon the article below made me simultaneously recall the debate, do a triumphant mental fist pump, and marvel.  For all you skeptics: I bring you news of something beautiful and rare found in a very common place - proof, if you will.

:)

So there.

With that, I hope you have a splendid day and see (and acknowledge)  something spectacular.  Here's to pink dolphins, angel hair, and Atlantis.