i mean i've done some things this satisfying...

...but they have all required the involvement of at least one other person.

the dingo is hands-down the funnest thing you can do by yourself. and i've also done a LOT of things by myself.

this thing is amazing. i'm actually basking in the afterglow.

in other news, i showed the apartment for the first time this cycle, and it was 3 cute girls who came to see it, and one of them absolutely loved stella, so i said, "well, she comes with the place because she lives here". Now, i had told the ARMY boyz i was bringing the new people at 6:45, and sure enough, at 6:50, Matt is in the shower so i take the girls upstairs cos i can't show them the bathroom. And at 6:51, while I'm standing in his room with these 3 cute girls, here comes Matt in nothing but his skivvies. The only thing I could think to say was "and Matt here does /not/ come with the place."

Deer Head not Included

Heidi came over a week or so ago and helped me take pictures of the apartment for the upcoming rental frenzy.

The fact that they have this:

is one of my favorite things about the ARMY boyz.

And this turned out to be the best pic of the dining room:

So now I’m thinking I’m going to have to put a disclaimer on the posting: “Deer Head not included”.

I'm getting a Dingo!

Not “a domesticated wild dog from Australia” as Heidi put it, but this kind: http://www.toro.com/professional/sws/loader/track/index.html - to move these giant piles of dirt (aka, “my mounds”)

…out of my driveway and into the yard. All in preparation for the sod, which is scheduled for delivery on 4/5.

The dingo comes on Friday afternoon, so if you want to come around and play, please feel free. But keep in mind, it’s BYOB.

prolly best to stay away

i think they call this explosive rage disorder. or temper tantrums. whatever. i have been having a grumpy day and this remote was pretty much the crappiest one ive ever used, as in, the last thing i owned that was this bad was that nextel phone back in 2000. and if you don't know how that ended, well, it was pretty ugly. so when i picked this up this afternoon and it didn't work, AGAIN, I chucked it in a fit of total rage.

im havin a hard time keepin my emotions in check lately and im not sure why. i'm talking about stuff like weeping at the pedigree adoption commercial or the one where the hospital people say they'll be thinking about us. and just being really irritable in general. i don't know exactly why except work is stressful and i have this nagging shoulder injury that's probably just tendonitis but it is incredibly annoying. and all my projects are in various stages of unravel, so that just adds to the effect. to quote eddie murphy, i am having a very bad day.

Holy Hyperlinks, Batman

Heidi tipped me to this blog a week or so ago and I immediately set about to read the entire thing and some small percentage of the comments. I also peeped the flickr stream "Jess's Photos" on the right because once I get interested in something, it's very intense. For a day or two, anyway.

I think my favorite thing about this blog is that it is written as a guide on “how to converse and become friends with white people” as if it is a rarity to encounter them in everyday America. For example, “If you plan to engage in lengthy conversations or get high with white people it is recommended that you read No Logo or one issue of AdBusters” and “The most time and cost efficient way of gaining a white person’s trust and friendship is to talk to them about their time in high school.” My second-favorite thing is how the authors break down a lot of the SWPL into hierarchies within a category. See T-Shirts or Multi-Lingual Children for examples of the same.

 

I promised Brian and Rob I was going to post here on my blog a list of which item on the list were most applicable to each of my friends, but since I made that promise to them, the SWPL blog has added new entries that are equally, if not more, applicable to them, so I included the new posts, too. And B&R have been trying to guess what I will post so each of them should comment as to whether we were in agreement.

  

Brian and Rob: Renovations and Tea and Microbreweries. Brian, before Saturday: Architecture but Brian, after Saturday: Shorts (!) Rob, before Saturday: Marathons but Rob, after Saturday: Outdoor Performance Clothes.

Also, these reminded me of Brian and me when we went to Europe. Study Abroad in Germany/Austria and our time in Amsterdam  (only because of this: "Every white person has had their most profound...experience in Amsterdam, so it’s a good idea to fabricate a story about your own experience there so you can quickly forge a bond. Traditional tales uses the following words: hostel, brownie, girl/guy from Hungary, crazy, locked out, chill dudes from Ireland." and not because of anything we actually smoked and/or ate.) 

I also talked with Kelly about this blog and I picked these for her: The SIGG  and also: Modern Furniture (Eames!) and (but also me, circa 1998): Japan and again, Netflix (which again, I was also into before  Renovations started sucking up all my free time). 

My Aunt Mary Anne was the first (but certainly not the last!) person I ever knew to have Multilingual Children, when she had my cousin Michelle taking 2 languages in Kindergarten.

Also, T-shirts reminded me of Justin W (and before you scoff, Justin, check this out and then tell me you don't want one) Sidebar: Jenn. I saw your note on Heidi's blog about her SWPL and I think that the author is really just poking fun at stuff white people do across the board. From what I can gather, he is a white guy with a white wife and this is their place: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pancakejess/sets/72157603704200734/ - and their flickr photostream is full of pictures of them doing and having the same kind of stuff he's poking fun at. Heidi's post referenced the SWPL to buy but that prolly says more about her consumerism than anything. Heh.

And really, everyone I know has Bad Memories of High School (even when it’s obvious that they had to have been in the Popular Kids) and I don’t think I know anyone who isn’t into Awareness of some cause.

And because I can poke fun at myself:  Musical Comedy (esp. FoTC!), T-Shirts and definitely Vintage are all Stuff I Like. Also, Difficult breakups, of course; Recycling, which Darrell pointed out about me one time when I was trying to make a list of “Stuff I’m Good At”; and lastly, Brian and Rob will remember me, circa 2000 (pre-downtown riots and ensuing curfew) Not Having a TV and wow, was I self-righteous about it. I’ve also been making up for lost time ever since then.

Also for Jenn and Heidi, someone commented suggesting a post about "knitting" and I immediately thought of you both.

: )

Oh, and I'm sure he doesn't read this blog, but I used to work with a guy who was always doing this: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/75-threatening-to-move-to-canada/ which really cracks me up now to know that’s a “thing” and wasn’t just him being a weird-o.

Points for discussion

Today’s quotes from our quote guy at work (yeah, they are usually on Mondays but he posted them today with a “half-price” label – hee!) were centered around dealing with wickedness and sin (happy, I know!).

To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness.--Confucius

Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.--William Shakespeare

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.--Hebrews 1:9

Keep five yards from a carriage, ten yards from a horse, and a hundred yards from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a
wicked man cannot be measured.--Indian Proverb

Reading these thoughts about wickedness gets me thinking about my own way of doing things. I try to keep my distance from the shady characters I encounter in life, and I try to surround myself with people who I think really have it together. The underlying reason for this is that I am a real sucker for peer pressure. If you are thinking “oh, that’s not true, Erin does what she wants,” well, that may be true, but if you think about the major aspects of my life, I actually do things that my friends are doing. Brian was going to Grad School so I went, too. When people were buying houses, I bought one, too. People were running marathons so I decided to do that. And so on. Knowing my own tendency to cave under pressure, it’s just better for me to pick people who live their lives the way I think is best, and to surround myself with them, because if I were hanging out with a bunch of snowboarding hippies, well, I’d be doing that instead. And I was, when those were the friends I had.

But I am torn when I think of the notion that listening to the wicked is the beginning of wickedness, or that mercy emboldens sin. If we all turn away from the wicked, then who can bring the light to them? And certainly, Jesus hung out with the sinners, and he must have listened to them at times, and he certainly showed mercy to them. So, where does one draw the line?

**The hyperlinks are links to Stuff White People Like. Featured post coming up tomorrow regarding this blog, even though Heidi stole my idea for this and beat me to posting it while I was busy actually doing the SWPL.

shit i had a great title and forgot it

you'll have to settle for the great pic with a shitty title. i had a fanTAStic day today. i returned the chainsaw i'd rented (bye bye blue spruce), had donuts from busken, went to lowes, talked to Cathy, picked up justin (vacuum) from hospital, got more bamboo for my zen garden, had lunch with CNKelly, stopped at the thrift store and snapped this weird-ass pic. browsed the nice fabric store, shopped at pier1, planted my peas, laid some bricks in the patio, had beers n burgers with bri and rob, and putzed around with some little things after they left. i also decided today that i will rent a bobcat to move the giant mounds in my driveway. that decision brought so much joy to my life it will be well worth the cost. and after the dirt is down, the sod will be next. man, i really do keep myself busy. i'm getting tired just thinking about it all.

lunch and dinner with friends were definitely the highlights of the day, though. :)

the drapes of wrath

admittedly, i have what might most kindly be described as a haphazard approach to completing projects around my house. part of this is from a short attention span, part of it is that i sometimes have things planned in my head but don't have my resources, and another part is caused by getting stuck on setbacks that require resources beyond the scope of the original project. now, in the ideal world, when starting a project, i'd plan a project, set a budget, pad the budget, and get the resources before starting. but experience in the work world has reinforced my poor planning habits by proving time and again that these aspects arent truly controllable so I just have to go with what I've got.
thus i end up jumping from one project to the next as i wait for resources to become available on a stalled project. and that's how i came to tear apart my bedroom last week, paint it, hang these drapes, and sketch out a plan for an organizer to maximize closet space. im happy with results so far.

somewhere...

you prolly cant tell but this is the widest most beautiful rainbow, ever, in the history of mankind. i actually called back to the office to make them go out and look at it.

Been a long time since I rock n rolled

…or posted anything to the bloggy. Sorry about that. There is so much going on I don’t even know where to start so I’m going to ease into the week by posting a collection of quotes. I just love my new job and another thing I love about it is this kind of thing. One of our editors posts a short collection of quotes in our public Outlook folder every Monday, usually centered around some theme, so I’ve edited the list (to fit in the time allowed) and pasted them here.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.--Kahlil Gibran

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.--Jack London

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.' --The Talmud

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.--Howard Thurman

 At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in. Hungry not only for bread -- but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing -- but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks -- but homeless because of rejection.--Mother Teresa

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.--Mary Jean Iron

All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.--Joseph Epstein

Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world. --Thomas Carlyle

And this week’s collection really struck me, either because I’ve been worrying about wasting my life and the gifts I’ve been given, or because I’m just hormonal and emotional in general. Either way, I felt reassured when reading these that maybe it’s OK that my dreams are small and that I don’t have any grandiose plans to bring about world peace or save a bunch of souls or cure a deadly disease. I just want to treat people well, and to be honest and trustworthy, and hospitable. And when I talk of my dreams for my mini-farm, a big part of the dream involves creating a sanctuary – not just for myself, but for others where they can come to rest, and restore, and enjoy the simple aspects of life like the wind in their hair and their bare feet on the earth. And that dream makes me come alive, and maybe that itself is good enough and perhaps these little things I do in my corner of the world will help other people do their things, which may be bringing about world peace, or a cure, or salvation, or just making their corner of the world a little bit better.