Quodlibets

I could've called this post

I could've called this post "A Long December" because in a very cliched way, the song feels like my life right now. And as for a sweeping reflection on the year that was, I feel like just saying 'good riddance'.
I'm one of those people who never really GOT New Year's Eve. Maybe it's because in my childhood, we never did anything, and I don't remember my parents ever doing anything. I also don't see the point in going out and getting drunk just so at midnight you can scream "Happy New Year" and try to scam a kiss out of someone. Unless you're attached, of course, which means you have kiss security. Which I am, but when I was single, it all seemed kind of desperate. I have gone to my share of parties, and even once a house party in PA. Which oddly enough ended up being my worst New Year's ever. S and I have made it a habit to have quiet little nights, just spending time together, and treating it rather normally. I think that last year we may have even fallen asleep before midnight. Tonight, we're going to a movie, and then we'll come home and probably do nothing. We might grab a quick dinner before the movie, but that is really the extent of our plan.
I used to feel guilty about this lack of desire to go out and get crazy, but now it just feels good. I rather dislike the pressure of getting all dolled up to do nothing but drink copious amounts of alcohol. I feel lucky that S feels the same way. (We also both feel very ambivalent about the Fourth of July. Neither of us like fireworks. Neither of us love barbecues, or drinking. And neither of us like roller coasters, though that has nothing to do with the Fourth of July. It just strikes me as lucky, is all.)

Anyway, it's been a long year, and a really awful one at times. I've gotten some things I really wanted, and I didn't get some things I really wanted. I got rejected by the University of Illinois. I moved in with my boyfriend. And now, I'm trying really hard to make a path for myself, into some strange future. The turning of another day won't make it harder, or easier, but will just mean that I'm one day closer to going back to school--a school that I hate, but need. A new year isn't going to change where I wish I was, or what I thought I wanted. The thing is, my new year didn't start in January, last year. It started in July. So I can't turn over a new leaf, or start again. I have to wait for August for that. So tonight? It feels no different from any other night.

***Though if you know the situation, and some of you do, I will be getting a long awaited answer to a question tonight. That's one thing I've been waiting for two years for, so YAY!

Well, I'm truly baffled. Some

Well, I'm truly baffled. Some weirdo has gotten the idea that if we count up all the posts on liberal blogs about the tsunami, and all the posts on conservative blogs about the tsunami, and compare the numbers, we'll finally have the answer to the question of who is the most compassionate political group in the country.

Is your response: what the fuck? Because mine sure is. Apparently, posting ten times about the tragedy means you care more about it, and are more likely to donate to an organization. And apparently, and heaven help us, the Red bloggers are winning.

Again, what the fuck? Who gives a shit who posts the most about it? Isn't it more important to care how the people dealing with the tsunami are faring? Isn't it more important to worry about the rising death toll? Isn't it way more important to secure the future of these people by providing medical care and food and shelter and for Christ's sake some of them lost their WHOLE ISLAND.

I don't care if you love Pres. Bush or hate him. I don't care if you think I'm a liberal whore living a degenerate life in sin with my boyfriend. I don't care what makes you tick right now; I just want to make sure that we all do what we can to make sure the right things are done, and the things that need to be done get done. It's not a goddamn partisan issue. It doesn't matter how many damn posts are written on blogs. You're kind of missing the point by turning it into a pissing contest, okay?

So let's stop arguing about it. Let's just hope that what we've done is enough, and if it isn't, let's hope that we all can donate another 2o, or 30, or 100--or whatever you can--to relief efforts.

I've resisted posting about the

I've resisted posting about the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts, because I was hoping that I could somehow process the information before talking about it. But I'm unable to continue day to day blogging without saying something. First of all, if you haven't donated even a dollar, somewhere, please consider doing so. I, before I began this post, donated a small amount to the American Red Cross, through Amazon. If you don't know where else to donate, go to Amazon.com and they have a very easy process of donation right on their main page. And please consider the depth of this--Amazon is a for-profit company that is diverting their customers, and possibly losing money, to relief efforts. Google also has a link provided for tsunami relief, if you choose not to patronize Amazon.

My friend C told me today that she had donated to the Red Cross; I hadn't yet, and was hoping to hold out. Not because I don't want to donate, but in six months, when the immediate task of cleaning up is over, and people have been fed with relief effort food, and there are basic shelters for people up, there will be nothing. There will be no seeds, or animals for farms. No machinery for small business owners. There will be nothing but what can be scrounged up. I had hoped that some agency would set up a program (like the ones I know exist for Third World countries) where instead of just sending money, you could send a goat. Or a year's worth of medicine. I feel strongly that giving the means to keep nourishing can be just as important as just giving nourishment. However, right now, it's more important to help, and to help in any way you can. Even giving a dollar will probably feed someone, at least for a day.

The other reason I wanted to blog was because of a comment my friend T has on his away message. I hope you don't mind, T, but I'm going to talk about it, because in fact, C and I had a conversation about this today. T said, "80,000 dead is more than 25 times the devastation of 9/11. I wish someone would say that." I can't imagine why people aren't making the connection. 80,000 people. Maybe more. And we don't care. Oh, wait, we do care about the interior designer and the supermodel. But everyone else can go hang. And President Bush's response is embarrassing. If people had acted with that much indifference to 9/11, we'd be trashing them as much we've trashed the French. But apparently, since this is an "act of God", we're not as outraged. C said today that it might be because so many Americans have failed to become global citizens. Sadly, she's right. If the suffering isn't here, it's just a minor tragedy. Page 23 or something like that in the newspaper. Witness our reaction to the devastation in Rwanda. Or Sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS is ravaging the population.

But this isn't a minor tragedy; we shouldn't treat it as such. Please give what you can. And if you already have, I'm glad. The world is glad.

**It's possible that there will

**It's possible that there will be spoilers in this pseudo-review, so Dad and Michelle, you might not want to read this. The beginning will likely be very basic, but I honestly don't know how in depth I'll get. Just a warning.

SPAMALOT!!! Now the song from Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, is playing in my head. That silly song they sing while carousing is dancing through my head. That said, the musical was very good. There is nothing in the world like seeing David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria and Tim Curry make utter fools of themselves acting like Monty Python characters. It's one thing when it's John Cleese (and you know that he approves of this production by the cameo of his voice in the show) acts like an utter idiot (silly walks, for instance) but quite another when it's not him. Even so, I have to admit that it looked like the whole cast was having too much fun. David Hyde Pierce said that he'd been off the book on this one since, oh, he was 14. (If you're not sure, it meant that he had a really easy time memorizing since the lines were etched in his head from his religious watching of the movie.) Both Pierce and Azaria were very good. Azaria, with his really incredible talent for voices, had the lion's share of parts. He was, for example, the French taunter. (S said he wasn't particularly impressed with that part of his performance, but if you're looking for reliability, it was spot on.)

I have to say that I was particularly impressed with the quality of the songs. I was a little worried about how good they would be, but they were amazing. Eric Idle and John DuPrez did a fantastic job. And the token woman in the cast, Sara Ramirez, was unbelievable. She could really sing, and she could also make fun of herself. I cannot say enough for how good this actually was. Though, I have to admit, it's probably funnier if you are familiar with the movie, and even some of the Monty Python sketches, because there were plenty of "in" jokes. I can only imagine how much better it's going to get on Broadway. Also, I can't imagine how much worse it would be without the three stars. I don't know; it just doesn't seem like it would be as good without them. But what do I know?

The only other thing that I want to mention is the number of Monty Python nerds in the audience. I bet most of those people aren't regular theater-goers. In fact, we were talking about it in the hall before the show, and some random guy (with long hair, dressed like S) said that he didn't like musicals, but well, wasn't this different? And it is. It's for the Monty Python nerds of the world, the ones who might never go to another musical. Pretty neat.

Yesterday, at dinner, S and

Yesterday, at dinner, S and I were talking about our upcoming SpamAlot experience, and of course, you can't talk about SpamAlot without talking about Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. We both really enjoy the movie, which is perhaps why we're going to see the musical, and as we are nerds, we know a TON of the movie. I mean, we basically talked about the whole movie in snippets of quotes and scenes.

"Remember that one part where he's fighting the knight and he ends up with no limbs?"
"Yeah, the black knight! 'Look you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left.'"

Anyway, this lasted for most of dinner. But the most damaging thing we did was sing a part of the Brave Sir Robin song. We were talking about how David Hyde Pierce plays Sir Robin in the musical (and how much do I love him? Too much for my own good.) and I started singing the song. You know? "Brave Sir Robin ran away, he bravely ran away." Well, from that point on, at various points in the meal, S would break out into "he bravely ran away!" The consequence of this little habit of S's is that now I keep hearing it, over and over again in my head. "HE BRAVELY RAN AWAY." "BRAVE SIR ROBIN RAN AWAY."

I could sing it for days. It's quite a catchy ditty. I hope they sing it tonight.

I know that somewhere in

I know that somewhere in this blog, I asked the question: Does absence make the heart grow fonder or go yonder? I'm here to tell you, I know the answer.

I know the answer because without the comforting presence of cans of Diet Coke in my fridge, I discovered how much I truly love the bubbly goodness of said drink. I did make two fast food restaurant runs today, but to my chagrin, both only sell Pepsi products. Now, diet Pepsi will do in a pinch, and I've drunk a lot of it today, but diet Coke is the only way to go. And I miss diet Coke. S wants to go out to dinner tonight, and I'm going to make him take me someplace that I can get a normal, lovely diet Coke. If the restaurant serves Pepsi, we're out.

I feel like writing an ode to diet Coke; I've been thinking about it all day. And the funny thing is, I really only drink two a day. One with lunch, and one other one wherever I need it most. It's not like I'm going through a case a week. We actually only ran out because my mom decided she might need more at our Christmas celebration, so I brought my spare 12 over. And left without them. And then, due to the extra-large task of cleaning our apartment, S and I postponed our grocery shopping until tonight, which left me alone in the apartment today, without diet Coke. Alas, not a good situation. At least I had other things to do today, so I could justify going through the drive-thru twice. I timed my errands right when I thought I might need an infusion.

Well, at least I've had some diet soda today. If not, S might be bald right now. And if not S, me. I'd be ripping my hair out from the crankiness (ask my sister about the weekend in Champaign without the diet Coke. She'll know exactly what you're speaking of) or S would be ripping his out from the crankiness. It's ugly. But fortunately not happening. (Oh, never fear, there is still the normal food-need crankiness, but that's nothing we haven't dealt with before.)

S and I have been

S and I have been intermittantly trying to intermingle our new presents with all of our old stuff. I really felt like this apartment was bursting at the seams before Christmas, but now I know it is. Now, we've realized our most pressing need for this apartment is a entertainment unit. Just some sort of stackable shelf unit that can sit on the floor next to our TV and not look dumb. We haven't found one yet, but we will. We'd happily live without one if we could set things on the TV, but since the little plugs don't reach the holes in the back of the TV when we do that, we can't. Otherwise, most things are incorporated, with a few minor exceptions. I am completely out of space for ornament storage. I can fit the ornaments on my tree, but I have nowhere to put all the boxes the ornaments came in. I'm trying to find a solution to the problem that doesn't involved chucking all the ornament boxes.
I think my most favorite present right now is this, that my mom got us. I know that it's a very simple item, but I didn't realize how cool it was until I actually held it. I love the fact that it's a salt grinder and a pepper mill. And contained in one very lovely cannister. My mom does have one that does both, but the salt just comes out the top, and you turn the bottom for pepper. This one is kick-ass because you turn one way for salt, and one way for pepper. Neat-o. My most used present, as of right now, is Railroad Tycoon 3 for Mac. I didn't think I would play it very much, but I've put that fear to rest this afternoon. I'm hoping that soon, my most used present becomes the Tivo my dad got us. Let me tell you, I'm so excited to start recording things. I'm just worried that I'll become a recluse from all the "catching up" on my favorite shows. With Netflix and Tivo, S and I never need to leave the house.

All in all, it was a lovely Christmas, and I'm sure all the presents will turn out to be wonderful when they finally get used. (For instance, pedicure and facial, here I come!) Now, if my apartment was clean.....

Well, two people combined sort

Well, two people combined sort of were on the right track, but the biggest present under S and my tree was for my dad's dog, Ani. So when he guessed himself, he was sort of right; and when anonymous guessed Maggie or Allie, she was on the right track with the animals. Good thinking--right about the unconventionality of it.

So anyway, no prize. But isn't Christmas a present enough? (Imagine barf noises here.)

Happy Christmas everyone, and if you're in the midwest like me, watch your toes when you step outside. Frostbite is a bitch.

If you can guess who

If you can guess who the biggest present under our tree is for, I'll send you a small after-Christmas present. And it's not S or me.

The answer will be posted on Christmas Day; I'll send out the present as soon as the *winner* emails me an address.

Per Rox..... If you have

Per Rox.....

If you have an Mp3 player of some sort, fire it up, press play, and see what happens.

1. Good Enough--Sarah McLachlan
2. Loving Arms--Dixie Chicks
3. Come Away From It--Ani DiFranco
4. Oh Marie--Sheryl Crow
5. You've Got a Friend--Carol King
6. Evaporated--Ben Folds Five
7. Free Man in Paris--Joni Mitchell
8. Lizzy--Ben Kweller
9. Inside--Moby
10. Gravedigger (Acoustic)--Dave Matthews

It looked like it could be the all chick singer edition, but no, we pulled in some boys at the end there.