Homespun

An Open Notice to My Friends

2006-02-05T18:33:09Z

If you see me around sometime this month and I seem kind of fucked up (particularly if I look like I've been crying), please don't worry too hard.

I'm changing antidepressants, which will take around 20 days total, and until all my little neurotransmitters settle back down, I may be a little off sometimes.

hominidgrrl @ 2005-07-07T17:55:00

2005-07-07T23:22:06Z

Hey all you kids who work in downtown! I'm backing to work in Mpls now, so we should have lunch sometime.

Started a new temp job today, administrative assistant in advertising at Campbell Mithun.

1. Even if they're your super comfy work shoes, if you haven't worn them in 4 months I don't advise walking roughly 1.5 miles in them on the first day.

2. But it was okay, because they had bandaids! Which is worth mentioning since my last two regular places of employment didn't originally have first aid kits.

3. I love when I'm a bit early for the first day (as suggested by my agency) and the person I'm supposed to meet either a) forgets or b) is late. And yes, if I'm there, I bill them from the time they told me to be there.

4. Being an admin assistant is kind of fun. I never know quite what I'll be doing. And for some reason they seem to think I know what I'm doing... I don't know what I did to give them that impression. But as I can usually figure it out (like how to get PDFs into a PowerPoint presentation) it seems to work out in the end. And sometimes they remembered that it was my first day. After asking me to take care of something. It was just kind of funny.

5. See, I'm not great with names. And sometimes I forget to really pay attention to people's faces. (It's like when you look at a clock to find out what time it is, and somehow forget to actually pay attention and then realize that although you just looked, you still don't know what time it is.) This leads to fun when someone gives you something to work on and you have a question... and realize you're not positive who gave it to you. Luckily I also had an email, so I could figure it out from that.

Also, as some of you know, I'm a bit of a compulsive organizer. Which leads to interesting results when I've finished everything they've given me and are too busy to get me started on something new. And the cube (actually it's more of a suite as cubes go) I'm in houses all the office supplies for the group. So let's just say that all the post-its are sorted by size and the pens are organized now.

The worst part is that my boss told me I could goof-off on the internet if I wanted. Which I did a bit of, but I feel kind of weird slacking off on my first day. But who knows, there may be other days.

Tell your friends!

2005-05-19T16:33:04Z

vaxjo is throwing a birthday party for me and rock_moniker on Friday, which is super cool of him. You can get the details here.

Cooking day

2005-04-10T03:55:49Z

dangerdhotrod started it. I was just sending him my recipe for Cheezy-No-Cheese biscuits, but this incited the need to make some of my own. And then I figured that while I was at it, I might as well cook myself some new pants.

Yup. Pants. And a shirt. I had a huge (but super cheap) stockpot I had been saving for just this occasion. So I added some salt and a couple bottles of RIT dye and a couple hours later... viola! New pants. I took the jeans that had started out dark blue (but faded weird) and cooked 'til done. And a shirt that I had spilled bleach on years ago.

I also at pants_of_doom's suggestion started reading the Discworld books. Super cool. I wish I had Luggage.

All in all, a fairly lazy day around the house. Now I'm trying to decide if the night is still young or not...

p.s. It seems like my phone just ate a phone call/ message. So if someone called me a bit ago, please call back!

I love WOW

2005-04-07T03:17:35Z

And I haven't even been playing it! However, it caused my little brother to get cable internet installed at my parents' house. We just plugged in my router (which has apparently decided to cooperate with my wireless card, at least for the moment) and I took my laptop for the road trip. Not so great in the den (which is also where I get a crappy cell signal, related?), but functioning in my room and very good in the office. Now I just have to look into getting my parents' computer hooked up. Anybody got a spare wireless ethernet card laying around?

Things are also bright on the job front. I just keep going to Springboard and they just keep paying me. Caly & I made an OfficeMax run this afternoon, where we were not asked if we were sisters.

And in other news, I'm moved back into my parents' house for the time being. It's got its pluses and its minuses. But without a doubt, free laundry is a plus. I get to have clean clothes whenever I want!

Plea for Help

2005-03-28T03:29:44Z

As many of you probably don't know (since I haven't said much about it), I'm moving.

As such, I'm now soliciting help with schlepping my stuff to Bloomington. So if anyone is available and can help out, you will have my eternal gratitude (and help hauling your own stuff around should the need arise at some point in the future).

The plan:

Tuesday, March 29th. 6:00 or 6:30 pm.
330 5th Ave SE (the corner of 4th Street & 5th Avenue)
Minneapolis

My plan is to leave my place at 7:00, which should be well after rush hour. It'll only be one trip, so baring unforeseen catastrophe, it shouldn't take all night. Like I mentioned, it going to Bloomington. My big furniture is already moved, so I've got boxes and a few smaller pieces. And I've already moved the majority of my books.

Again, I would be most grateful for any assistance. Thanks!

Some things were not meant to be shared...

2005-03-22T18:35:14Z

I had a very sleepy weekend. What started out as the sniffles last Friday, turned into full-fledged sick over the weekend. Thanks vaxjo. You didn't have to share with me. No, really.

Stayed in with Vaxjo and had a fire on Friday night, which was a lovely way to spend a freakishly snowy evening. We even had 17 out for a while, which was fun. Also, it apparently bugs 17 when I get excited and start talking with my hands a lot. Particularly when he's around my neck.

And then I was sick. And for the life of me, I can't construct most of what I did for three days. I can only assume I slept through most of it. I can't really remember Saturday, have a couple blips from Sunday and can actually figure out what I did after about 3pm on Monday. It was a lot of sleeping.

So while it wasn't the most exciting weekend, I had a nice, warm, dark place to sleep and someone to make me food and that my friends, is worth a lot.

Buyer Beware

2005-03-15T20:09:03Z

Hey kids, I was shopping at Cub Foods last night (yeah, yeah I know). In any case, I was examining the ingredients in Brownberry Natural Breads and they may not be vegan anymore. I didn't look at all the different kinds, but the couple I did check had milk and/or whey in them, so I thought I'd give y'all a heads up.

Hey All You Climbers

2005-03-14T20:08:23Z

You free April 15th through 17th? You know you'd be climbing anyways, so wanna climb for a good cause? Black Diamond and REI have teamed up with the HERA Foundation to raise money to fight ovarian cancer.

Climb for Life

I climbed last year and thought that it was a really well organized event. Yes, they are charging a $20 entry fee but the money goes directly to HERA to offset the costs of putting it on. (P.S., Black Diamond and a couple other companies donated some really awesome prizes last year.)

I know I'm going to be climbing. And in turn I'll be looking for sponsors. I need to get all the paperwork and figure out how much I'll try to climb, but I figured I'd mention it now.

I'm also looking for a belayer for at least part of the weekend so I can get some good climbing in at VE.

So that's that. If you want to know more, check out REI or HERA's website or let me know.

hominidgrrl @ 2005-03-08T09:33:00

2005-03-08T15:44:56Z

So far I'm having an excellent Tuesday. I had dinner last night with parageek. We actually go way back, to the good old days in Glock's chemistry class. God, that would have been sophmore year in high school. So we talked and had super yummy pizza at Luce. (Hey parageek, I just discovered your leftovers in my car this morning. I didn't see them last night. They're umm, kind of frozen. But I'm sure they're still good! I could maybe get those to you later tonight.)

I also lowered my anti-depressant levels a little bit, and now I'm more awake! I had upped the dose when things got really crazy and forgot to lower them. So that's pretty exciting too. For the record, I take trazodone, the main side effect being sedation.

So although it's a bit too cold for my taste, today just feels like an exciting day. Who knows what'll happen?! And someone very cool is bringing me an excellent lunch. What could be better! And I have coffee. Now I just have to see if the website is working properly today...

A New Game

2005-03-07T21:41:07Z

So currently I'm going through Springboard's old grant files, putting related pieces of paper together, stapling them (since someone in the past had an aversion to staples), and entering them into their database.

The Game:
Some of the funders have been giving money to Springboard or its precursors for quite a while. The goal of the game is to find a piece of paper older than I am (before May 22nd, 1981). Although if I do find such a paper, I'm not sure who wins.

The Results:
So far I'm close, but not there. I have a memo from one of the funders dated June 29th, 1981. I haven't finished the game so far, but I've still got a fair amount of drawer left to go through, so we'll see.

Also in today's news...
I apparently forgot to lock my car after I got something out of it last night. When I left for work thing morning I discovered someone had been in it. I'm not amused. They had rifled through the glove box and my climbing bag and it would appear tried to get the stereo out of the dash. It looks like the only thing actually taken was my gloves (and they had holes in them, so I'm not too heartbroken). On a weird note, they took the chalk ball (for climbing) out of it's little bag but then just left it there. I'm glad they didn't take it, but it's a little odd.

I'm working on the assumption that they were messing around in the car and got scared off when someone came through the parking lot. On the upside, I've been irritated by my clutch because the plastic grippy pad for it has always been missing, which that my foot slips when my shoes are wet. Well, it must have been somewhere in the car, because it was on my passenger's seat this morning! Now I can glue the sucker back on.

So, it wasn't too big a deal in the end, but I'm certainly irritated. Spacebug pointed out that it might have been a good thing that the door was unlocked, at least I don't have any broken windows. She might be right, but my stereo's not that great. So I'm hoping this was a "look, this car's unlocked" situation.

Addendum:
And the website's broken. Again. It was fixed earlier. And now it's broken.

Broken

2005-03-07T17:20:45Z

So, admittedly I was slacking this morning. For a while. I had to advise people after all. But when I finally went to load the web page that I'm using at Springboard... it was broken! (It wasn't me, I swear.)

It would appear that the designer was trying to update it sometime this weekend and well, now it won't load. Caly just got a hold of the guy, so maybe it'll be working soon. Until, such a time as it does decide to work, I don't feel too bad about goofing off.

They love me...

2005-03-03T22:59:40Z

I would just like to note that I had a great February and I anticipate having an excellent March as well. Because even though February sucked ass on a lot of fronts, I didn't have to close year-end financials. I also will not have to spend March answering questions from freaking out executives. And that my friends, is worth an awful lot.

Instead, I've spent the last couple of weeks with spacebug at Springboard for the Arts. I was going to have to wrap up here tomorrow or maybe Monday, because of funding. But I was just told today that they're going to keep me for a while longer! It'll be a week-to-week sort of thing, but they like me, they like me!

And as an added bonus, I can already feel the reduction in my "corporate whore karma" level. I get to use all those lovely skills I aquired towards something I actually believe in.

So in summary, spacebug rocks my world.

Call for pictures

2005-02-25T19:45:59Z

All right y'all. I'm finally remembering to ask.

A bunch of people received Solstice gifts from me. The knitted things. You know who you are. Can you please have someone take a picture of you modeling your gift and send it to me? I'm trying to start a portfolio of sorts and would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

(And yes, s4, I'm still working on yours. It's been misbehaving.)

Storming the Capital

2005-02-22T18:50:19Z

spacebug and I just got back from storming the Capital. It's Arts Advocacy day, so we went and saw some people and asked them to please put up the cash.

And get ready for a shock... Pawlenty is actually doing something right for a change. In his budget he is asking that arts funding remain at it current levels. Mind you, they got cut by 32% two years ago... but at least it's something. Actually, I think it's a pretty big thing coming from Pawlenty.

So the rest of y'all, if you feel so inclined, should right your legislators and ask them to support the arts. For more info check out the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts website (www.mtn.org/mca) or by clicking below.

Notes to self...

2005-02-21T16:22:50Z

- The third drink at the bar is never a good idea. Even when someone is supplying me with drink tickets (thanks parageek). I'm kind of little after all! Fortunately, I have to drink much more than three drinks to get a hangover.

- No matter how tasty it is, two orders of tofu scrambler and one order of vegan pecan pigs in a blanket is too much food for three people. Even when one of them is vaxjo. And especially when two of them are pants_of_doom and myself.

- Return to the Triple Rock some evening, as pants_of_doom must sample the vegan po' boys. And two orders will be more than enough food for vaxjo, p_o_d, and myself. Others would be welcome to join, but they have to get their own food.

- Reese's Magic Shell doesn't like winter. However, it doesn't mind hanging out on the radiator to warm up and re-liquify. Ensure that it is placed on the (vegan) ice cream and not mice cream. Besides, I bet #17 doesn't like Magic Shell anyways.

- Poltergeist is scary! But in a good way. I like "monsters under the bed" kind of scary. But to anyone who doesn't already know, I am not allowed to hold anything spill-able (i.e. popcorn, water glasses, etc.) while watching scary movies. Even if I've already seen the movie and know what's going to happen.

- Government holidays mean that the freeways aren't nearly as crowded. Yay for not getting stuck in rush hour traffic.

ADD and car keys do NOT get along

2005-02-17T23:14:27Z

I was attempting to get into my car last night with spacebug and wasn't really paying attention when I put the car key into the door and turned. Unfortunately, I only had the key half-way in and thus gave it a nice one-quarter twist! I un-twisted the key and proceeded to spacebug's on foot.

Now, I know I know, I should have a spare key. But I don't. Last time I tried to have one made it didn't work. But after several trips to Kat Keys (in St. Paul, where my car was) I got new keys.

See, first they tried to copy my key. Then they tried to grind down the copy a bit. Then they had to make a new one from code. I was just thrilled that I wasn't out of options! And then I had to go pick it up. Walking back and forth between there and Springboard each time. (I guess I got my exercise today.) But finally they presented me with three keys; the old cracked one, and two new ones. However, only one of them appears to work? It's weird. I think it might just need to be ground down a little bit, since the working one didn't want to turn at first either.

But all in all, they were very nice to me and although they were a bit more expensive than some places (just under $5), they were able to un-mangle my key without further breaking it and they didn't charge me any more to cut the key from code.

So the moral of this story is, make sure you have a copy of your car key. If your local hardware store can't make a working copy, go to the locksmith's and have them try. Because if they can't make a copy, they can cut you a brand spanking new one. And if you do it before you break your key, you won't have to trudge back and forth in the wind to try out your new keys.

The End

Regarding Toast

2005-02-12T16:19:12Z

It's moderately early on a Saturday morning, and I'm awake. "Why?" you ask? Because of toast.

Actually, I'm a bit hypoglycemic. And even when I have a snack before bed, I usually get woken up earlier than I would like because I'm hungry. Not only am I hungry, but my blood sugar has gotten low, so there is no prayer of me going back to sleep until I eat something.

So I eat toast. But lately I've been wondering if it has taken on greater significance. Sort of like warm milk. Although the sleep inducing qualities of warm milk can be attributed to its chemical properties, this still cannot fully explain its comfort factor. At least for some people. I personally am not a fan of warm milk (soy or otherwise).

So when I have designs on sleeping later than 9:30 on a Saturday, I eat toast. Although upon further reflection my scheme might work better if I didn't also eat toast at a time when I am trying to wake up during the week. I may have to cut it out in an experiment to see if I can deepen the sleep association.

But now I've eaten. So I'm going to go crawl back into bed with a very kind boy who doesn't mind that fact that get up early on the weekends to eat toast.

A $47.99 Mistake

2005-02-09T02:00:42Z

So, I took my tongue ring out of my mouth before I went to NYC. I know, not the best idea. But I've do this sometimes, whenever my mouth starts to hurt. I never replaced the original barbell, which was extra long to allowing for swelling of a new piercing. Well, it appears that I lost it somewhere between MN and NYC and back.

Luckily I've had my tongue pierced for over 4 years now, and luckily my mouth decided to heal slowly. Because a week and a half after removing the barbell from my tongue, I could still get the new one in without any problems. So now I have the jewelry I should have replaced my barbell with four years ago; a 1/2 inch bar with one metal ball and one clear acrylic half-ball. The half-ball is so it doesn't bother my mouth as much. And so I can turn it upside down and disguise my piercing if necessary. (Maybe this will stop my "agent" at Randstad from freaking out so much.)

And I have work through next week! The company I'm working for is putting together promotional packages. I'm taping up boxes, putting stuff in them and then taping them closed. I know, super exciting. But there are dogs there, which I like. Nice dogs. And I get to wear jeans the whole time. And the people there are pretty nice, so I'm sure it's be fine.

hominidgrrl @ 2005-01-26T08:52:00

2005-01-26T14:53:47Z

Ashes. It's all ashes.

And no hope of a phoenix.

(Disclaimer: This is not* about depression. I don't want anybody freaking out.)

Hey all you SF kids...

2005-01-21T04:28:39Z

I'm sending treats for y'all with vaxjo. So don't let him "forget" to share! (And why is it that no matter how much cheezy-no-cheese biscuit dough I mix up, it's never enough?)

Got more work...

2005-01-18T23:17:30Z

... today was "supposed" to be my last day on this assignment. (Well, so was last Friday, not like I care, it's work.) Stopped by Randstad at lunch, they tried to offer me temp-to-hire (uh, I thought I was pretty clear on that "I only want temp work thing").

Then PJC was looking at getting me and my partner in crime back for one more day. Then they decided to bump us down a floor. Same project, but doing Excel work instead of copying (yay!). Went and talked to Randstad again. Pay goes increases $4 an hour and I'm scheduled through the 28th of the month. Oh and I don't have to work this weekend!

And it's amazing how many people are incapable of filing correctly! I mean, I know I'm "gifted" and all, but is it really that hard?

It's amazing...

2005-01-18T03:24:00Z

...how having a full tank of gas can make one feel so much better about life. And I also found my journal. And my favorite pen. They had gotten left at my mom's house, it must have been around Christmas.

Had a good weekend I guess. My head's been kinda wonky lately, so it's hard for me to say for sure. Got to hang out with some people, which was nice. Also spent some time with vaxjo which I very much enjoyed. Saw the last episode (sob!) of Firefly. Talked, slept in, and didn't look at a copier for two whole days!

The lovely rockc4ndy and spacebug got me out of the house today for some knitting time, which was excellent. I've been a bit down lately, and too much self-reflection is not good for the mind.

Then I arrived at my mom's house just as my little brother was making mac 'n' cheese, so I made him share (he was happy to). I continue to be amazed by my little brother. He went through kind of a rough patch in high school (but hey, who didn't), but he's really turned into this mature, responsible, totally cool person. He was telling me that he tracked down our dad's best friend. See the thing is that our dad died almost 20 years ago, when I was about 4 and my brother was 1. I didn't think to ask how (I've been kind of extra slow lately), but he found the guy and talked to him on the phone for a while a couple nights ago. My brother also made plans to meet up with him when he goes to the east coast on vacation this summer. Wow.

I guess I'm going to go think about sleeping now. Gotta get up in the morning and all.

hominidgrrl @ 2005-01-14T07:11:00

2005-01-14T13:11:43Z

Made some more photocopies yesterday. Expect to do the same today. Biggest work crisis yesterday (or all week for that matter)... my copier ran out of toner! Oh no! I had to take the elevator up three floors to tell the guy in charge. So he could get more toner and put it in my machine. Yup, I had to sit there and just wait for my toner. A whole couple of minutes! I couldn't believe it.

Okay. I'm done being sarcastic (for the moment at least). The job is fine. Great in fact. At least compared to my old one.

Hung out with pants_of_doom's brother last night. He's in town right now, so I made him take me to Psycho Suzis so I could see rockc4ndy. I had forgotten that they probably knew each other in high school (I just wanted to see rockc4ndy), so we all talked a bit and I had very yummy pizza. And beer. Delicious beer.

And then I went home and worked on weaving in the ends on a knitting project. And this particular one has lots of ends! But it's owner (vaxjo) likes it, so that's all that matters. And now it's morning, and I just finished my left over pizza (still very yummy) for breakfast. And now it's off to work (or at least getting ready) I go.

hominidgrrl @ 2005-01-08T17:01:00

2005-01-08T23:01:45Z

"It's a strange thing, how you can love somebody, how you can be all eaten up inside with needing them -- and they simply don't need you. That's all there is to it, and neither of you can do anything about it. And they'll be the same way with someone else, and someone else will be the same way about you and it goes on and on -- this desperate need -- and only once in a rare million do the same two people need each other."

The Small Rain
Madeleine L'Engle