The Editors

The Editors


Last night friends and I went to The Fine Line and saw a few bands. The first was Louis XIV which I did really like. They were pretty theatrical, but I think it worked for them, and the vocals were really good as well. After them were Hot Hot Heat which I did not really like too well. The lead singer was very interesting and energetic, but the music left me cold and a bit bored. The headliners were The Editors from the UK. They were great. The lead singer is like a skinny cute Robert DeNiro/Edward Norton. Awesome voice. The other dudes are cute too, even if they are-oh-15 years too young. Fun to watch and had that Interpol-esque 80's dark bass thing going on. If you click on the link you can watch a video and hear one of their songs. A fun time was had by all, in spite of the fact it was an all ages show so there were swoony-dancy-not-aware-of-anyone-around-them teenage girls that were annoying. I am such an amazon I can sort of rise above it all, but for cuties like muchachachita, it's not so easy to disregard the rudeness and cluelessness. Oh well, all in the name of rock.

The Peacemaker

So, I have this ongoing conflict with a co-worker. We have resolved our differences and restored peace a few times in the past year. Now, she is preggo and things got Bad-to-the Ultimate-Nth-Degree yesterday. I let it ruin my day yesterday and I vented about it to my boyfriend last night.
This morning she was crying about me (apparently I am not respecting her and some other stuff about me being unorganized...) She basically lost it today and just like usual, I try to explain why she is now stormed off crying and redfaced--after she treated me like garbage and flew off the handle. (Imagine crazy arm/hand motions, arched back, high pitched squealing, and defensiveness abound as she is lashing out on me...then she usually says "her back hurts" or something a few minutes later or some lame excuse when she is more calm.)

Well, I felt bad. Felt bad this pregnant woman is crying because of me. Felt bad I'm difficult to get along with. Felt bad I'm part of this drama stirrup at work. I rationalize that everyone dislikes her and it's not just me, but I wonder how much easier both of our jobs would be if I was a Mother Theresa, easy going , hippie, laid back, peacemaking, smily, passive, quiter gal.

So, I leave work to get a latte and stew a bit about how its seems most logical and easiest to just quit my job. Half of my brain knows this is nonsense. The other half wants to quit quit quit and join a travelling Cat Show with Patsy. Or Pickles.

I calmed down about 15% after chatting with aforementioned boyfriend. Then I decided to make amends by buying a lot of chocolate. Mini cheesecakes, an oreo cake, and some pints of assorted delicious ice creams. It is the evil crying preggo's birthday tomorrow and I thought I would bring these desserts to our staff meeting today to cut any tension & basically buy my way out of an uncomfortable situation. I came in with bags of treats, apologized for being difficult to get along with, told her I want her to have a nice birthday and to accept my chocolates as a truce. She quietly thanked me without eye contact and ate some turtle cheesecake. She also said she isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with either. (Which surprised me and was good enough to make my blood stop boiling.) Dare I admit that I am just as dominant and strong personalitied as thios woman? Ug! Makes me want to cut off my tongue.

Maybe my New Year's Resolution should NOT be giving up pizza, but rather, giving up gnarliness and being such a perpetrator of conflict.
---Nan Halen

Patsy's Fabulous Cat Show..extended until Monday night!

Boy am I depressed I missed the St. Paul cat show. Where was my head when I instead went to IKEA with Rana to shop for a rug for her house? My priorities were all amuck.
Luckily, every morning at 6 a.m. I have my own personal cat show. Loud, fuzzy, up-close, and personal. Very loud.

I actually thought a CAT SHOW t-shirt (if they sold them) would have been such an excellent Valentine's gift for my love. He would laugh, never wear it, and then I'd end up wearing it to the gym or while cleaning out the catboxes.

Speaking of the GYM: had to cancel with my personal trainer on saturday morning after our little impromptu get together friday nite. SUPER duper hungover and miserable. The hot sweats big time. Felt foolish and embarrassed to tell my P.T. that i couldn't make it through an hour of lunges and weightlifting.

On another note, I will try to pick a day soon to commence our supper club of the month deal.
Tenatively, hows about February 9th, Saturday? Cuisine to be announced. Possibly Middle Eastern.
And by the way, I guess after quizzing myself, I'd vote for John Edwards. Most likely never going to have that chance though, I presume. There's still lots of time to form my ultimate decision, although I'm pretty sure I know who I'd pick.
My next blog whoudl have a 'theme'. Oh well, it's my first time and I'll be amazed if I even did it correctly. Love, Nan Halen

The Best Cats in the World (or at least in Minnesota)

Imagine walking into a large "ballroom" in a downtown St. Paul venue to see a sea of cat kennels. Over 25 breeds of cats, including kittens with huge black, red and white ribbons pinned to the cages. Hey, I can't call these cages! These kitties are in luxurious suites with heart shaped beds and loving owners right outside their doors lovingly taking them out to groom them once again. What do you think the sound would be? A meow here or there? A hiss? A scratch on a cage? I mean this is 300 cats in one room for heaven's sake! Well, you would be wrong. These cats never make a peep. Why? Because they are so F***ing good. They are the best cats in the world. Any cat owner who is a novice to the world of show cats would be as flabbergasted as I was. I was able to catch a few cats being judged, but I didn't really know what they were doing. I'm going to do a bit more research for next year so I can figure how the judging works. What makes a cat best in show? What are they looking for when they look at the cat butt? Cleanliness I assume. I really didn't know the etiquette as a spectator either. I was scolded for looking at a Main Coon in his cage before he was judged. I don't know if it was because I was distracting the judge and the audience because of the cute baby in my arms, or if I was disturbing the cat before his big show. We didn't stay for the end, but apparently they crowned cats King and Queen of the show. I saw the cloaks and the tiaras though. What a photo opportunity that would be.

Money Money Money Money MONEY!

I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, it is excellent. I think the movie completely did it justice and reading it really made me appreciate Javier Bardem's performance even more because he makes a succinctly written character completely come to life. Tommy Lee Jones' character, Sheriff Bell, is really the driving force in the book and there is a lot more reflection from him, which is what I think gives the book a bit more heart than the movie. Also, there is an awesome scene with Llewellyn (Josh Brolin) and a hitchhiker he picks up that is not in the movie and is some of the best dialogue and sweet/sad scenes I have ever read.

So that said, I've been thinking more about the central reason for the conflict in this book - money. I think it really says something about greed (perhaps only my greed), that when I saw the movie I didn't really find it that odd that Llewellyn took the money. I guess I could picture myself trying to get away with taking it all as well - but reading the book, I wondered if it wouldn't just have made sense to take $100,000 or so. Would you be able to walk away from 2.4 million and just take a few packs of $10,000 bills? I mean, how many times have I daydreamed about finding a bag full of money and all of the amazing things I would buy if I found it, how many of my "problems" would it solve? But realistically, it is just so crazy that Llewellyn takes that money and decides to fight for it - throws away his whole life and his wife's life and many others, for MONEY.

I'm having all of these anxieties and stresses and disappointments about money lately and really, even if I had no bills and no debt, I wouldn't live my life any differently. I don't even think I would quit my job if I won the lottery - as all-consuming as it can be, it still gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction. And I sure as hell would not give up my way of life for a bag of 2.4 million dollars.

So, oddly, reading this tragic, dark, tense book has given me comfort and made me freak out a bit less about money. I don't think that was quite McCarthy's intention, but there you go.

And We Danced

Dancing is good for body and soul. Last night muchachachita, another friend, and I on the spur of the moment had a dance party in their living room. An hour+ of bliss, fun, and feeling alive. Why don't we dance more often? I love it and think it should become a weekly activity for all.

Here's the dance party songs from last night:

1. And We Danced Hooters Definitive Collection
2. Get Up Off Your Knees The Housemartins London 0 Hull 4
3. Take On Me a-ha Hunting High and Low
4. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5. Banquet Bloc Party Silent Alarm
6. Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen Born In The U.S.A.
7. Extinguish Me Coachwhips Bangers Vs. Fuckers
8. Friday I'm In Love The Cure Wish
9. Jailhouse Rock Elvis Presley Elvis 30 #1 Hits
10. Oh l'Amour Erasure Erasure: Pop! 20 Hits
11. Take a Chance on Me Erasure Erasure: Pop! 20 Hits
12. Jacqueline Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
13. Fire With Fire The Gossip Standing In The Way Of Control
14. If I Should Fall From Grace With God The Pogues Essential Pogues
15. Video Killed The Radio Star The Presidents Of The United States Of America The Wedding Singer
16. Broken Boy Soldier The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers
17. Good Lovin' The Rascals The Big Chill
18. DRANGONSTEA DIN TEI(HAIDUCII) Recopilatorio BLANCO Y NEGRO HITS
19. Debaser Pixies Doolittle
20. Cherry Bomb Runaways Dazed And Confused
21. Stadiums and Shrines II Sunset Rubdown Shut Up I Am Dreaming
22. Sad Sad City Ghostland Observatory Live at Austin City Limits: Music Festival 2006

January Reading Reflections

One of the main things I want to keep track of on this blog is the books that I've read. I can't wait to look back in 6 months or 6 years and reflect on them.

So, starting in 2008 - so far I have read:
Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg
(Grade: C) It was alright, the beginning was sort of interesting describing World War I-era South Boston and a girl trying to make her way out of her poor neighborhood. But the second half just got so boring - the book is billed as exploring the influenza epidemic in the US during WWI, but it ends up being completely inconclusive and gets sidetracked with a tepid love story that I just didn't care about. Kind of disappointing considering she also wrote Bee Season, which was really interesting (although also had a weak ending).

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
(Grade: B+) I loved the scenes from the Gold Rush in 1849 and there were definitely some historical facts thrown in, but I think I wanted a bit more understanding of how the phenomenon fit into global events - probably a bit too ambitious for a book about a girl running away from her home in Chile. Actually one of the coolest parts was the side story about her friend Ta'Chin while he was living in China in the mid-1800s. I think I need to find more books about that era.

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
(Grade: B) I still love these books - I read all of her Tudor series now and they totally entertain me and I can barely put them down, but realistically they are not super well-written. There is a ton of repetition and pseudo-Harlequin novel prose. But I love the court scenes and the political discussions - it's kind of fascinating to see European history played out in the inner workings of the palace. I think I'm going to try her Wideacre series which takes place in Edwardian England - could be good!

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
(Grade: B-) Lots of action, lots of repetition - this is the third in a series of books about an actual wizard living in Chicago in the present time. It is kind of interesting because it explores the supernatural as if it were fact - so there is a lot of history and background about, in the case of this book, ghosts and vampires. (Book One was wizards, natch, and Book Two was werewolves). This book just went on a little long - I mean every chapter had about three cliffhangers. I do like it because everything doesn't work out perfectly in the end and the main character is definitely flawed.

Maybe as I post more while I'm reading I'll have more interesting things to say, but I just wanted to catch up to where I'm at.

Water

(So I guess it has to start somewhere...who'd of thought it would be me.)

How much water do you all have stored in case of emergency. I think I have 3 gallons. I've heard that this is not nearly enough...especially when you include enough for all my animals, etc. I've also heard that water goes "bad" after six months-it is hard to keep replenishing my supply. Does anyone else have water reserves? Food? Does planning for a "what if" scenario define me as a "worrier"? I don't think it is good to be a worrier.

Tokyo Rose

Our Collective Blog

My friends and I are starting a new blog of which, so far, there are 8 female members. We will all post to this blog our ideas, experiences, quotations, things we hear and are affected by, recipes, paintings, photos; you get the idea, basically anything we want to express. We each will have a "handle" so you can over time start to know who's who. I hope it will be fun and interesting for others as well as for ourselves.

-bananafish