24 hours on Cr@igslist

When I got home yesterday, I decided to import the "Electronica" section of my music collection. More on that later, but for now you can know that after the first 10 minutes of listening to the pulsating beat, I decided a beer would taste mighty fine. And with all the dancing I was doing, I downed that beer pretty fast and popped another one. A few beers later, and running on an empty stomach because I'd only had some carrots and an apple all day, it occurred to me that putting a personal ad on Cr@igslist would be a fantastic idea. Based on that logic, I think we can pretty safely say that I was drunk. Fired up with Liquid Courage, I posted a little ad that I thought was honest and funny, and sat back to see what would happen.

As it turns out, that ad got flagged this morning and was removed. I'm not entirely sure why, but after doing some investigation, I believe it is because someone thought that I might not be real. Annoying, but what-the-eff-ever. In the meantime, I'd bagged about 6 responses. 2 of those were obviously just cut-and-paste messages and I doubt either of those guys even read the posts they respond to before sending their little form letters. 1 was a married guy (ew). 1 was a guy who politely asked if I would be interested in dating someone who's fifty-four. And one was this guy:

and his response to my ad was as follows:

"Hi. You caught my interest. I am curious about what you look like. I want to see what you consider a 4 or a 5 on your scale. Some people look down on themselves more than what other do. Let me be the judge of that. I hope you don't think this sounds to wierd to you. To me, a little extra weight is not that bad. I prefer a little extra than real skinny. Hope to hear back from you."

Now, I opted to go ahead and reply (despite some reservations) with a couple of pictures of me, and then here is his response to that:

"Thanks for the pics. You are not quite what I was looking for. Sorry about that. I hate saying these things but I feel its better than to just not answer at all. Good luck with your search. "

So for the record, I am not what this guy is looking for. Fine by me, but dag. I especially like the irony that he pointed out "a little extra weight is not that bad". Heh.

The Brick Testament

This might actually be the BEST way I’ve ever seen to “illustrate” Bible stories. I’m sure there’s something “controversial” about this (because there always is), but I love it.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/index.html

mix tapes

we gots 'em. i started on my music library project again. i started this before with itunes then win media player but always ran into problems. i decided that as soon as i buy a laptop i am going to turn the pc into a music server so the dark days of winter seem like a good time to do this. plus, it's fun going thru all my old cds, especially the cds people have made for me (miriam, jenn, heidi, and kelly especially). but the real treasure is this milk crate full of cassette tapes. admittedly, many of these are just tapes from the 80s like the Miami Vice soundtrack and Kool Moe Dee. but there are many, many tapes in here that people either copied because they were musicians, or made for me. A guy I used to work with took one of those tapes and burned it to a disc for me. but i didn't want to ask him to make 20 more. so if anyone knows how to do this, please let me know. oh, and bonus
pts if you comment correctly on what the funniest part of this picture is.

Fall #73 in an ongoing series

Some of you may recall that about the second or third week that I was at Thomson, I had this ridiculous and humiliating slo-mo flailing fall while leaving my friend Rojo Nixon’s cube. It happened that the 3 “Prada Girls” were all huddled in the cube directly across from mine discussing the latest Vera Bradley collection when this all happened, so of course I just wanted to curl up and die.

I had the sequel to that here at the new gig, on Tuesday. This time, I was walking with a cup of coffee in my hand (of course) up the carpeted stairs of the big open stairwell in our main lobby and not holding the handrail, which was my downfall. Or upfall, as it turned out, because my foot caught on the carpet, dragged too much, caused me to lurch side to side while my arm was flailing and my other arm was trying to not spill the coffee. Eventually, gravity took over and I tumbled until I collapsed upward in a little heap across several stairs. I immediately tried to spring up and pretend like nothing had happened, but I’m not as agile as in my younger days and I managed to just look like a wounded seal, and spill half of the cup of coffee (why, God, why???) in the process. Of course, there were several witnesses, all of whom were genuinely concerned and asking if I was all right, when all I wanted to do was become invisible. So I made a little joke of it, you know “everything’s under control – no one saw anything – nothing happened” – but I still felt like a total jackhole. Score one for e-Doe. At least I provided some entertainment to Michelle, the receptionist. I know she gets bored up there all day.

Now, as it happens, I had written that earlier part in an email to people, but there is an epilogue. I had a meeting on Tuesday afternoon and when I walked into the room, a very animated gentleman stood up and said “you must be Erin,” and shook my hand. He knew I was me because he knew he’d be meeting me at this meeting (redundant much?) and I was the only person in the room he didn’t recognize. The kicker is that he followed that up with, “you’re the young lady who fell on the stairs”. Awesome. If my outsides were a reflection of my insides, everyone in the room would have seen me actually shrivel into a raisin and fall under the table. But that isn’t physically possible, so instead I said “yep, I really like to make an impression!” and then he “graciously” pointed out that I did make a nice recovery. And then, and this is the worst/best part, he went on to say “you know, when I saw you fall, I thought to myself, ‘oh, I hope that’s not Erin…’”. Ahhhh, you do have a way with the words, sir. Yes, you do.

sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

when i climbed in bed tonight, stella hopped down (from the closet) like she does, scaring the crap out of me so she can snuggle. and while she was rubbing her head all over my face, i kept thinking how her head really stunk like burnt hair. and after pondering for a while what she could have gotten into that would reek of burnt hair, i noticed the silhouette of one of her whiskers just didn't look right. so i turned on the light and sure enough, stella has somehow singed the fur and whiskers on the right side (her right side) of her face. and i have no idea how, but my head is filled with images of her flaming her face while trying to hold a tiny crack pipe and the lighter at the same time. damn the lack of opposable thumbs!

Today's Podcast Recommendation

American Public Media: Speaking of Faith

Muslim Women and Other Misunderstandings (December 7, 2006)

Regardless of what your thoughts and perceptions of Islam, Islam and women, or just women in general, I think this is a great discussion. Krista Tippett interviews Leila Ahmed about her experiences and thoughts about women and Islam. I enjoyed the entire podcast, but there was one part that really caught my ear because I’ve spent time in the past several years considering this aspect of women’s issues.

If you want to cut right to the most germane part of the discussion, it’s here:

(31:06) Definition of "Harem"

Meaning "women's quarters" in Arabic, a harem is the section of the house where women are only allowed to enter and men are not allowed  to enter.

Ahmed explains that the Western notion of “harem” has been eroticized by men who learned of the harem but were not allowed to enter. Not knowing what takes place inside the harem, they left it to their imaginations to fill in the gaps and thus we have a completely sexualized construct of what is fundamentally, the pre-nuclear structure of the family: groups of women living together and supporting one another in housekeeping and child-rearing. The reason I think of this as a women’s issue is that the creation of the modern nuclear family, each living in our own separate dwelling, has essentially served only to make life much more stressful for women as they are left to handle the duties of the household and children essentially on their own. Further, in addition to the shift toward homekeeping and child-rearing in a much more insular fashion, today’s women are often expected, and in many cases, required to have a career outside the home in order to keep up with financial and social pressures. When I think about the weight of all of that on today’s American woman, I wonder if we’ve really taken our nation’s culture of independence a step too far. And while I believe that this is one aspect of suburban life that offers a benefit that city living often does not, I still think that we’ve weakened and even broken some of the strongest bonds among women. Even living in a neighborhood where other women are nearby, there’s something divisive about the walls we erect that makes it much more difficult to reach out and ask for help when we need it. And I think this, in turn, continues to put pressure on women who are already struggling to do it all and do it well. I’m not a mother, and I may never become one. But I feel that we as a society, have removed some of the best support systems our mothers have and we’ve left them with a hollow shell of the kind of nurturing assistance the earlier societies held for women.

Voting Question

I got a letter for the March 4 Ohio primary and I don’t have any idea if I should vote in the primary or not. I’ve never voted in a primary before because I thought I was registered as an Independent voter and I’ve never received a mailing like this.  Now, I went to the Hamilton County BoE website and looked at the FAQs and this is what I found:

Must I declare a political party affiliation when I register?

No. However, when you vote in a primary election, your vote will determine your party affiliation.

Soooo, now I have to consider this carefully, I think. I think this means I am not currently affiliated with any party. Though I am really tempted to vote in the upcoming primary, I don’t want to go affiliating myself for life with either major political party. Any advice on what I should do here? If I vote in this primary, can I unhitch myself later? I’m hoping Darrell is reading this because he is a Voting Expert, but if anyone else knows anything about this, please chime in. Thanks!!

The Democratic Process?

Highly recommended: Speaking of Faith podcast - The Religious Roots of American Democracy (October 26, 2006) – I don’t know how to hyperlink to a podcast so you’ll just have to go to iTunes and pull it down – sorry.

Krista Tippett interviews philosopher and author Jacob Needleman about his book The American Soul, which examines the “spiritual and moral ideals of the American founders — and how these ideals resonate in our culture today.” According to Tippett, Needleman describes democracy “as much an inward discipline as a form of governance.” He says that we have obligations that come along with our rights, and one of his statements about that resonated with me enough to make me this post: “the right of free speech implies the duty of allowing others to speak…I have an obligation inwardly…to work at listening to you. I don’t have to agree with you, but I have to let your thought into my mind in order to have a real democratic exchange between us.”

Sublime.

[emphases mine]

thank you craigslist

the old microwave finally gave up the goose. i suppose it was about time. i got it in 99 from bri and rob and before that, rob had it for a couple of years. now, i know being 10 years old doesn't automatically kill a microwave, but i am really rough on things, so it was probably more like 20 years to it. because im in the middle of the big kitchen overhaul, i didn't want to go buy a new microwave because i plan to et one of those fancy over-the-range models when i get to the appliance phase. plus, i am cheap, and i have a $25 price point for a microwave i will only be using for a short time. so i hopped on craigslist, found this little number, and made arrangements to pick it up in mariemont, which is 2.5 minutes from my office. (i still love my new job!). basically, this was something close to the most perfect transaction, ever. i cannot recall how i got along before craigslist. or
the Internets. :)

Food Thoughts

My new work (which I still love, by the way, Darrell) is having a Biggest Loser Challenge. I guess they do this each spring and the company kicks in a match for all the money collected. So this year, there are 12 teams of 2 at $50 each, and the company kicks in the match, so the winning team splits the $1200 pot. That was enough to motivate me to get in the game. Plus, it’s fun and funny and there is a free lunch at the end.

Being “on a diet” (I’m actually just doing Weight Watchers again) makes me cranky. Apparently, I am not alone in this, because at least 2 other people have made a point to mention that they are in the challenge so they are also cranky.

I think the funniest thing about this whole contest is that every day since we started, someone has put some kind of irresistible treat in the break room. Chocolate cake with super-fudgy icing. A pile of bagels with a plethora of cream cheese options. And today, there’s a tempting box of chocolatey giant muffins. I have to give them props - it really is just like TBL on TV!

On another slightly related note, I have been eating the Fiber One cereal with my yogurt and it struck me today that, because I eat a slightly-odd cereal and because I use a slightly-odd type of cat litter (Feline Pine), my cereal looks strikingly similar to my cat litter. And I’m just not quite sure how I feel about that.

Reminiscence

CNKelly (even though we don’t even work for the same company anymore, she will always be my CN in my heart) mentioned that her kid got into a little trouble at school and was really worked up about it, and I sent her this story to make her feel better about how upset Izzo was (way more upset than Kelly, that is):

 

I remember how bad I felt whenever I got in trouble, like the time I got threatened with the paddle for leaving the 2^nd-grade classroom without telling anyone. It was all Mrs. Harner’s fault. There had been several kids who went up to her and interrupted her reading circle to ask permission to go to the bathroom (uh, maybe stop what you’re doing and give the whole class a trip if that many kids are asking, lady) and while I was patiently waiting my turn, she actually said to the entire class, “If one more person comes up here and asks to go to the bathroom, I’m gonna scream.” And because I really hate it when people yell, I decided to save all of us the trouble and just left without saying anything. And when I came back upstairs, she and Mrs. Ware (the principal) were waiting at the top of the stairs with the paddle. And I explained the entire situation, and I can so imagine that inside Mrs. H was DYING when I explained my very literal logic, and Mrs. Ware was probably like, what the H is this lady saying in her classroom all the time? But they let her keep teaching even though she pointed her bony fingers with their wicked-long nails at us and yelled at us like that all the time. I saw her a couple of years ago and I was amazed at how tiny she was – this woman who had struck fear in my heart from the very first day in her class was all of about 4’11” and probably not a buck-o-five soaking wet. Ah, childhood.

 

And because I am totally qualified to give out parenting advice (based on my total lack of children) the thing I always say to my nephew Tommy is, “it’s hard to be good all the time, isn’t it?” and he says  “Yeah,” and I say, “but we still have to try.”

 

parting gift

friday was my i-don't-work-there anymore party with my textbook peeps. i had a great time at toot's, the home of everything fried. and the swell guy who arranged the whole shindig also brought me this swell prize - it's a t shirt in case the pic doesn't show that very well. :D is right!