Everybody Loves Saturday Night

what a difference a week makes

Last week: busted computer, busted back, job instability

This week: new computer, improved back, new job (!)

I am typing this on my brand new and breathtakingly beautiful MacBook. Because I purchased it from Tekserve, I got 50% off the data transfer price, and another discount off the AppleCare protection plan. Plus I got to flirt with the cute but too young for me geeky computer boys (priceless).

So I have a brand new laptop, but all my old files and info -- all my pictures, all my iTunes, even my desktop wallpaper. Old computer in a new body. Yes. And that would be why I have dubbed the MacBook Orlando.

(Thank you. Thank you very much, the two of you out there who get that.)

Remember how I was a little concerned about not being able to afford this? I can now, thanks to the fantastic job offer I got yesterday. I'll fill you in on what it is I'll actually be working on when I start in a couple weeks, but it's something that I'm very excited about, a really good fit for me. I gave notice to my current employers this morning.

I am attributing all of this positive change to that attitude Carolyn commented on in my post from last week. I didn't think at the time that my 'tude was anything special, though I did feel rather Zen about everything that was happening, and I do remember telling myself repeatedly over the last few weeks that everything was going to work out one way or another. I think I'd also have to say that being in therapy has helped my perspective on things, or at least it's helped me stay more level, open, and focused on forward momentum. I guess that is an attitude adjustment, certainly from how I was feeling at the beginning of the year.

And now, Babette. I was playing around with Orlando yesterday so I didn't get around to seaming all of Section 5, but here it is partially put together:

This is my favorite section so far, my favorite color combos.

Today's Dr. Horrible quote: Look, I'm just trying to change the world, OK? I don't have time for a grudge match with every poser in a parka. Besides, there's kids in that park.

P.S. If you haven't read it yet, please scroll down to yesterday's post about how you can help Crochetme.com land an interview with Joss Whedon.

all is right with the world

1. My iMac is back. I didn't have to do anything except leave it alone for four months, apparently (it wouldn't have taken so long had I not had a work laptop). I was getting ready to pack it up and haul it to Tekserve, but since it had been so long since I'd first tried to troubleshoot that black multi-language screen that I figured I'd boot up one more time and take notes on what exactly was happening so I could tell the Tekserve person. The first install disc was still in the CD drive, though, and before I knew it I was being asked to insert Disc 2. "Why not," thought I. Minutes later, I saw my long-lost desktop wallpaper. I did some preliminary clicks on icons; things opened. iTunes: all there. Then I ran the software update to get things back up to speed and the computer restarted without incident, and I've been working on it ever since. I am relieved that I don't have to lug it to Manhattan today of all days (100% humidity and yet it's not raining? No thank you) and I am so, so, so happy to have my Mac back.

2. Beck's new album, Modern Guilt, the one he worked on with Danger Mouse? Is SO GOOD. Every time Beck comes out with a new album I think back to my first reaction to "Loser," which was, I have to say, "blech." Everyone seemed so into this guy and I thought he was a lame-o slacker who reminded me of annoying guys from high school. But then he came out with Odelay and damn if I didn't fall for "Devil's Haircut," and fall hard. I still don't own his early early stuff and don't care to. But I think Beck is a genius. I may have this album on perpetual repeat all day. (Well, I would if I didn't have eleventy billion other things to listen to that I've been waiting to download since March.)

3. I finished the first Sodera sock. Imagine a picture here, but I can't manage to take a decent one right now. I really think my camera is giving up the ghost. This would be the only thing that's not going well right now. It's a small thing, really, and easily fixed.

4. But that said, who wants to give me digital camera advice? I've never had a camera that did much more than point-and-shoot, so I'm looking at the PowerShot A590, but I'm also considering the Rebel XT. It's more than I ideally would want to spend, but then again, I don't want to pay less now if I'm going to be disappointed in lack of options and functionality down the road. I'm not looking for a pro-level camera, but I like taking pictures, I like playing with tech stuff, I feel ready for something new and improved. I should probably just go down to a camera place and play around, but it would be nice to have ideas first.

nice. and maybe a little nuts.

In this post, from a little over a year ago, I talked about having gained two dress sizes since 2005 and the steps I was taking to lose weight. Various aspects of my life sort of derailed that whole process -- if I'm being completely honest I think being depressed had a lot to do with it, the idea that I was somehow unworthy of feeling better about myself. Not going to dwell on that, because that's so far away from where I'm at right now. Other side of the world far away.

The point is, this picture was taken today, July 7, 2008. That's me in the photo, wearing a skirt that I haven't worn since 2005, because by the time summer 2006 rolled around it didn't fit any more.

Nice, right? I am pleased. I have a waist again. The hourglass, she is back. This is helped by the amazing new bra I got, which looks lacy and feminine but feels a little like body armor and does some freaking fantastic lift-and-separate action, the likes of which I have never experienced before. (If only it came in black.) I've been enjoying getting reacquainted with this shape, these curves. I'm just sayin'. This is a really good place to be right now.

The part that's a little nuts: I don't even particularly like this skirt (thrifted years ago, before I even came to NY I think). It has a weird hem and it doesn't quite hang right on me, even if it does fit. If I recall correctly, the lining has a tendency to ride up when I walk. So why the hell did I keep this skirt around? Why, during my various purges over the last few years, did I not rip this skirt from its hanger and throw it in the Goodwill pile?

Am I just a sucker for a really cute print?

things to look forward to this month

July 11: Hellboy 2 opens. I just got the first one via Netflix. I've seen it before, but so long ago that all I remember are basic shapes. So I plan on watching it again soon. It's a little Guillermo del Toro Film Fest around here, because I finally got around to watching Pan's Labyrinth last night. What a perfect film. Really. The story is fantastic and well-crafted, the visuals are gorgeous and magical and strange, and I don't think I was conscious of breathing until the movie ended -- upon which I burst into tears. Just, wow.

July 14: Bastille Day -- one of my two favorite non-American holidays. I'd like to try and find some sort of celebration to attend, so it's not just me in my apartment singing La Marseillaise to the cat.

July 15: Part I of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog streams.

July 17: The Dark Knight opens. FINALLY. Holy shit, I cannot WAIT.

*ahem* Excuse me.

Also on July 17: Part II of Dr. Horrible.

July 19: Part III of Dr. Horrible.

July 21: I'm on VACATION! Plans include a quickie trip down to Philly, to hang with my Philly peeps.

July 25: several movies open. Brideshead Revisited (new adaptation by Andrew Davies, Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain? very exciting), American Teen (documentary about high school seniors in Indiana), and . . . well, X-Files: I Want to Believe. Can't NOT see that one.

July 31: Long Winters playing free show at Castle Clinton. Yes, I will be blowing off work to wait in line for tix.

this can only end badly

So I'm reading through news headlines and find this:

Genetically modified mosquitoes . . . and that's as far as I got.

Not true: the whole headline is "Genetically modified mosquitoes may combat malaria." Still, can you blame me, a Minnesota girl, for stopping after the first three words and involuntarily shuddering?

Genetically modified bugs in general = bad idea. Does no one watch bad B-movies from the 50s anymore?

But genetically modified mosquitoes? Malaria, schmalaria. I mean, I am all for science.  Science rules (it works, bitches--scroll down). But this malaria thing is tricksy and I fear that for all science can do, something is going to go HIDEOUSLY WRONG.

And someone will--unintentionally, let's say--unleash mosquitoes the size of the Hindenburg on an unsuspecting public.

And those fuckers are coming for me. I just know it.

p.s.

Cucumbers: is there anything they can't do?

Not only are they delish, as has been previously discussed, when steeped in a nice martini glass full of Hendrick's gin . . . but they also really do work to eliminate puffy eyes.

For real. I had no idea. I thought it would just be soothing. That it would feel nice and refreshing.

But it really does work. I cut a thick cucumber slice, put it atop my left eye, and 10 minutes later the puffiness had all but disappeared. That was over two hours ago and I'm extremely pleased to say that both my eyes are back to normal.

Whew.

it's cocktail hour somewhere

I'm glad you're all with me on the gin-soaked cucumbers thing. Just to make this clear: I think any gin would work, but the best gin to use in this situation is Hendrick's (as I type this, I wonder whether 3:00 PM is too early for cocktails). You can do a gin & tonic w/cucumber garnish, sure, and that would be totally refreshing, particularly if you're in the section of the East Coast currently on broil. (It is, according to weather.com, currently 98F degrees in Brooklyn. Holy. Shit.) But here's my standard recipe:

Materials:

Hendrick's gin
Cucumber, sliced or speared
Martini glass

Step 1: Pour Hendrick's into martini glass until full
Step 2: Plunk however many cucumber slices or spears you can fit into full glass
Step 3: Enjoy
Step 4 (optional): Repeat from Step 1

(OK, but the really funny part? Over the weekend someone complimented me on my drink mixing skills. I was all, "Yeah...I just poured gin into a glass.")

(We will be serving this drink at the piano bar, by the way.)

(No, I don't believe in vermouth.)

Speaking of the broiling heat . . . I walked into my apartment last night and instantly wanted to become intimate with my air conditioner, I felt so much love towards it. Seriously.

I finished the Marigold socks but I think in deference to the weather I won't post a picture of them here until it cools down a bit. At least, I've been looking at pictures of wool socks on various blogs and even with the AC it makes me a little itchy.

Didn't stop me from starting a new sock, though. I got the knee-high jones and I'm about halfway through the first foot of Södera (Ravel it!), using Regia silk 4-ply something. I will finish these just in time for fall . . . which seems ever so far away right now.

friday round up

It's been a long, busy week, with little time to spare for blogging (obvs), but before we enter the weekend here's a little sumpin sumpin:

10 Things I Have Learned, May 30-June 6, 2008:

1. Tom's of Maine orange-mango toothpaste is crazy delicious.

2. Monistat is no longer making the anti-chafing gel powder (according to my pharmacy dude). This is a travesty. It was the best product EVER and I'm going to need to stock up.

3. Prince is going to be 50 on Saturday. Uh huh, you heard me. 50. I am not saying that 50 is old--hell, no. I am saying that it is very strange to me to consider a personage such as Prince, who always seemed rather timeless and pixie-like, actually aging. It just seems against the natural order of things. He should really kinda always look like this:

Am I right?

4. The Neph now says "I love you."

5. Facebook is the coolest thing ever. I just got back in touch with a bunch of old friends from grad school and from MN and it's been great fun catching up.

6. Outside my circle of friends, I encounter an inordinate number of incredibly vague people.

7. Oh, right--I learned how to sew!

8. Gin-soaked cucumbers are seriously good.

9. I am, as I have ever been, as I shall with grace and luck continue to be, awesome.

10. Except I may not be as good with deadlines as I once was, or thought I was.

tired

Last night I went to a movie and fell asleep in the middle of it. Colleen tells me that I didn't miss much; it was more of a "mood piece." 

This morning I have a meeting which I am dreading. I'm feeling all out of sorts, like I haven't slept (aside from the catnap in the movie theater), like I need a week or a month to get things in order. This is silly, because things are (mostly) in order, and it's only that I've had a long and eventful week and usually Fridays are more low-key and this one won't be.

At the end of the day I'm catching up with an old friend/former colleague in town for a conference. That should be fun and a good way to finish the week. And the weekend has filled up with fun plans with other friends. I'm feeling more like a social butterfly than I have in . . . years. It feels good, but I must remember to schedule time to sleep.

fort greene dance party

Seems to be happening right outside my apartment.

Awesome.