A great big cheer for 8 big years!

This week, my dog Nanna celebrated her 8th birthday!



OK, she didn't do all that much celebrating. I suppose we spearheaded most of the celebratory activities. But she did turn 8, and she received a new shiny red Kong! Yay, Nanna! Here's to 8 more years!

Shake, Rattle & Roll

So about 25 minutes ago, we had an earthquake. I don't usually feel earthquakes, but I sure felt this one: 5.9! I was sitting at my desk, and I started feeling nauseous, and then Arthur and Brian both pointed out that one of the potted plants by the door was shaking. Having attended K-12 in Bay Area public schools, I immediately dove under my desk and clasped my hands behind my head: duck and cover! (Note to self: train the dogs to dive under a table or desk and stay there when the command "Duck and cover" is given...) The fact that my body responded with a queasy sensation before I had any clue that anything was going on caused me to contemplate the whole thing about our bodies being 98% water, and how that relates to tide tables, gravity, motion sickness, all that stuff.

And I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper.

First of all, Ozzy's doing fine. He seems to be back to his normal self: naughty, but endearing.

I spent some time on the internet over the weekend trying to track down a snowglobe that I wish I'd purchased when I saw it 6 years ago at a Tower Records but didn't. A limited edition special release of Fargo on VHS was being sold with an equally as limited special edition Fargo snowglobe. Apparently there were 2, but I only saw (and uncontrollably covet) the one with the over-turned car and Marge leaning over a dead body in the snow. The other has the wood chipper scene, which would be super fantastic to own as well, but for now I'm keeping my eyes on the prize. I did find 2 for sale on eBay: one with the current bid at $35.00 (totally reasonable), but the water in the globe "is a pale shade of yellow," and one for $9.95, but with no water at all (these aren't the refillable kind either.). But I'll keep looking...

However, I did find this handy guide to one of my all-time favorite roadside attractions.

Show us those pearly whites

The root canal was a success! Ozzy went from this:



to this:



Thanks, Dr. Holmstrom! Thanks, Stacey! The therapeutic cuddling will now commence.

Ozzy's trip to the doggie dentist

Today my precious baby Ozzy dog is getting a root canal. Poor guy broke one of his teeth (one of the pointy front top ones) and now he has to get it repaired. So he's spending the day at the friendly neighborhood animal dentist.



Here's the Oz in the exam room, looking fearfully up at the stainless steel table top. Actually, he's probably wondering why he hasn't been fed any breakfast yet, and when exactly breakfast will be served. I'll pick him up this afternoon, and I'll most likely spend the evening cuddling him while the anesthesia wears off.

C'mon a my house

I'd like to officially invite everyone to take a gander at my Lomohome. This is where I upload, organize, and in some cases animate my lomographs for all to enjoy! Enjoy!

Creative genius, and Swedish to boot!

"I love her and she loves me, and we hate each other with a wild hatred born of love." -August Strindberg



Ever since I studied existentialism in high school, I have loved August Strindberg. He possessed that same intense Nordic perspective--combined with just the right amount of absinthe and alchemy--that drew me to Edvard Munch and Karin Boye. His outlook on life and the world was, in my eyes, equally as bitter and contemptuous as it was exhilarated and reverent. Besides, we share the same birthday.

My minor field of study in college was Swedish Language & Literature, and I read many of Strindberg's plays, short stories and essays. Though I really found myself drawn to his paintings and photographs. He painted a number of dark, brooding landscapes; canvasses thick with densely layered oils. His photographs were mostly self portraits and role exploration, and always make me think of Cindy Sherman and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. There's a real voyeuristic tone there,but it's more comfortable because the artist is inviting--if not demanding--you to take a look. Maybe it's my delightfully eccentric sense of humor. Maybe it's my notoriously short attention span. Personally, I like to think that it's my deep sense of respect for Strindberg's written and visual arts that make it so very easy for me to enjoy this link that was randomly stuck at the very bottom of a They Might Be Giants newsletter... After all, what good is anything in life if you can't poke a little fun at it every now and then? This is just one more way to enjoy the melancholy prose of a Scandinavian Superstar--with Flash animation!

Reunited (and it feels so good!)

Huzzah! My lovely Lomo is back where it belongs!



BBQ at Crissy Field last Saturday with Max's workmates.



Fall into the Gap: shopping for slacks. The Gap's current ad campaign with Sarah Jessica Parker makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I told this to the sales girl, and she agreed.



The awkward and uncomfortable ad campaign didn't stop me from buying this smart new jacket.

Guilty pleasures. So very guilty.

First of all, I hope everyone had a pleasant and productive Talk Like A Pirate Day yesterday. I know I did. I must have said "aaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" like 57 times.

Actually, I spent a good chunk of Sunday afternoon on the couch. I like to devote a bit of time each weekend to catching up on the week's animated series that I have Tivo'd. These consist mostly of half-hour gems from the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" block of cartoons. Goodies like The Family Guy (once cancelled by Fox, it has enjoyed such success on Adult Swim that it has now been uncancelled), Futurama (score another one for Fox), and my absolute all time favoritist show ever, Home Movies (also recently cancelled, and I say it's a CRIME against humanity). Of course, once the new season of The Simpsons starts, we'll add that sucker to the list as well. Oh, and the one weekly show with actual actors as opposed to cartoons in it that makes the cut: Arrested Development (you go, Fox!). Hey, congrats on that Emmy, guys!

But the real story here is what came about as I was preparing to watch the aforementioned parade of quirky and intelligent animation. When I turn the TV on, there's this guide screen with which I'm sure you're all familiar (it accompanies any sort or digital cable or satellite service subscription in order to make your viewing time more enjoyable and productive.). So the guide is tuned to somewhere near the lower 200's, where the only things worth watching are Court TV and Fox Sports Net (when it's hockey season...don't even get me started on that right now.). But apparently there's also a channel dedicated to soap operas, and apparently, for certain shows, they run all 5 of the previous week's episodes on Sunday afternoon. Back to back.



Not many people know that I used to watch Days of Our Lives. It was a long time ago, back in the glory days of the late nineties. I was a senior in college, and the stress of school just pushed me over the edge! I found solace in the 3 pm time slot on NBC, and soon became hooked. I had to keep watching, had to find out if Sammy would be found innocent--she had been jailed for the murder of Franco, for which she had been framed by her ex-mother-in-law, of course. Of course. I simply had to know if things would ever be OK between Bo and Hope, despite that dang Billie Reed and her delusional love for Bo. I HAD TO KNOW what Stefano had been using John Black and Hope for when he had them brainwashed for all those years in Europe! Of course, after college ended, and the real world began, I ended my 6 month love affair with Days (it doesn't take long to get super addicted, believe you me.), and soon forgot all about Victor's coma and Nicole's fake marriage to Lucas. I forgot all about Roman's undying love for Marlena, and Marlena's undying love for John Black, and John Black's undying love for his eyebrows.

Until yesterday.

One week's worth of episodes may not seem like much, but it was enough to keep me on the couch--well, at least in vicinity of the TV in the living room--for five hours yesterday. Of course, my boyfriend is out of town. He would never stand for the monopolization of the only TV in our apartment by these particular fictional characters in this particular fictional town (now video games, that's another story...). And I wouldn't do that to him, not unless he really deserved it. I haven't set my Tivo to record Days of Our Lives. Yet. I still relish my freedom from daytime drama. But I have a feeling that this guilty pleasure may be back every now and again. Just to say hi.

New Tech Toys

Hooray for me! This week, I got a new computer. I've begun to travel more for work, so when the time came for me to get a new computer, we opted for a laptop. And not just any laptop, but a super fantastic Sony Vaio! I swear, this thing weighs less than a bagel (the toasted kind, with cream cheese, tomatoes and capers.). And it's got this new monitor technology called XBrite, and I'm pretty sure that this is how they do it: the people at Sony have hired hundreds of thousands of tiny little creatures, and they each have one of those purple-ish blue-ish lights that you sometimes find on after-market, souped up Honda Civics. Behind my laptop's screen, there are a couple hundred of the little guys, shining their crazy reflective super bright lights through the screen, so it's, like, 100 times brighter than any other computer screen you've ever seen before.

Or maybe they've developed some sort of reflective synthetic material, who knows.

But it's an awesome computer and I'm just thrilled to pieces about it. Not that my old computer wasn't great, but it was needed elsewhere. Poor Brian's been using the world's slowest computer forever, and he was about ready to kill someone...and I sit nearest to him. So he has taken possession of the Dell desktop, and I don't think I've ever seen his smile so big! And then Arthur's got a new iPod, so he's on cloud 9. And Rhonda's test driving the NEW new Sony Vaio laptop--the one that's so light it actually floats--so we're a technologically happy company this week. *sigh*

Oh, yes: my replacement LC-A should be here today...

Blog Neglect

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted to my blog. I suppose that it's a good thing, as it means I've been too busy working and talking to actual people.

Actually, my camera broke a few weeks ago, and I'm waiting for it to be fixed. Yes, the shutter button on my precious, precious LC-A just popped clean off, and I had to send the whole thing to Brooklyn for repairs. As it turns out, I'm much more of a visual blogger than I am a verbal blogger. After all, you know what they say about a picture being worth something or other.

Getting in touch with my feline side

Did I mention that I have cats? Poor things, they're so often overlooked. But full of love and fur--and more than a little spite--just the same.



Up top is Milhouse, a feisty little devil also know as "Pure Evil." He came from the back of a pick-up truck in the parking lot of a mall in Eugene, Oregon one hot summer day in 1998. The orange guy below him is Cassidy, who sadly passed away in January of 2002. He was adopted from the San Francisco SPCA in 1991. He was chosen because the pound had dubbed him "Pizza Man" and had thusly placed a small name tag bearing said monicker on his cage. Being the 15 year old girl that I was at the time, I had a tremendous crush on a boy who delivered pizza: obviously, a match made in heaven.



Miru is the oldest of the pack, dogs included. He's a 9 year old fluff ball who likes to eat house plants and flowers. He also likes to hunt rubber bands, clothing tags, coasters and other household items all night long--oh yes, and he finds it absolutely necessary to shout about it when he's caught the dreaded twist-tie. He is, as I said, fluffy, and a bit on the pudgy side, hence his nickname: "Fatty fatty fat fat."