remember our life?

ahh i've had an uneventful couple of days ! but i'm still gonna write a thing !

i'm pretty swamped at work- i was out for several weeks, and on vacation right before that, and i am taking on a bunch of new projects and responsibilities now (which include a surprise event tomorrow and an event next week)- but if i don't take a minute to like, think my thoughts, i will probably go insane.

last night mouse came over and we went to get coffee at the green line. i have to interrupt myself and say that i'm giving up caffeine for lent. it isn't ACTUALLY for lent, because i am not a practicing catholic and the tyranny and evil of the catholic church makes me sick to my fucking stomach, but i'm still "a catholic" in the way that people who grew up in the catholic church are- real superstitious and preoccupied with the saints and junk. but, anyway, i'm switching to decaf for now in hopes of switching to no caffeine, because i've gone from barely sleeping to not sleeping.



anyway, i met up with mouse and we went to the green line and had a good talk about ancient history. he's been listening to the hardcore history podcasts about ancient rome (which probably explains why he changed his facebook picture to a bust of caligula, but that could also be the fact that he is like a vegan caligula. minus wine. minus incest. minus vomiting. plus 8 hours of sleep a night.). it was pretty interesting, and boy, he sure taught me a lot about claudius.



facts about claudius
- super dumb
- ....or was he?!?!?!

in other news, or non-news, my cats still fucking hate each other. well, maybe not HATE. roxy jr. seems to really want to be friends with pizza- he follows her around and tries to sniff her and stuff, and she freaks out and hisses and runs away (or attacks him). here's a picture of him coming to say hi and her trying to run away:



i am slowly coming to terms with being a single person with two cats, and it isn't bad so far. i'm conscious of seeming like a "cat person", but in reality i'm an equal opportunity "animal person" who just happens to have cats. if i had a turtle i'd talk about it and anthropomorphize it and dress it in clothing just as much !

i cannot write another interesting thing right now because i'm so swamped with work. i might do some hanging out/movie watching tonight (unfortunately i have to miss ryann's show at the bean, but you should go !), but i'm mostly going to be working from home and possibly eating cream of wheat.

p.s. maybe i should get a turtle

sooooo on friday they announced a major restructuring of my department (basically half of the department- not my half- is being moved to another group, and my half is changing names and taking on some events from a different area) in a meeting that i missed. i didn't have the energy to be anxious about it all weekend but now i'm back at work and everyone is whispering about it and that is making me anxious. we're having a meeting at 11 to "discuss our questions and concerns." my concern is not so much what is happening but like, if i will still have a job at the end of the fiscal year. it's like... 99% likely that i will, but my worry is that my job will change so much that i will hate it. oh well, can't do anything about it now.

i had a very full weekend ! friday was the opening of mike and jeanne's art show at part time studios in fishtown, so mouse and i went down there. their show was sea-junk themed and everything both of them made was absolutely stunning.



i'm really proud of both of them. fishtown is... weird, i basically never go there and didn't even realize this block was there, but there was a little block of galleries and junk (including the fabled coffee shop that biz lives over ! where i... saw two of my coworkers? it was like seeing bugs bunny in real life or something). fishtown is full of weird people who look like aliens who heard tell of earth hipsters and tried to emulate their look without the use of the earth internet, so there was lots of weird flapper clothes, giant feathers in peoples' hair, and slouchy socks. i also saw at least two bolo ties. the gallery was pretty crowded because it was first friday, so i got to very briefly see and barely talk to a lot of people i like. here are my two favorite things from the show:


unfortunately i don't have a full picture of this, but it is a beautiful melusine by jeanne


a leviathan by mike !!!! my actualllll favorite of his was this tiny fiji mermaid but this is my other favorite

afterward, mouse and i went to whole foods and i came home, where i went to bed surprisingly early to avoid cleaning my apartment for company this weekend.

on saturday, i procrastinated so hard i actually played windows solitaire (i use cumulative scoring so i end up in the hole, and always think one more game will get me back in the black), but ended up doing an okay job cleaning my room and getting my laundry together and getting some of my junk off of the couch. my friend brian from connecticut was in town, and luckily was up for a bunch of stationary back pain fun. we got indian buffet and gelato and then watched the naked gun, which i just realized is available on netflix instant !



it kind of fell apart from there because, as you know, there is basically nothing good on netflix instant, but it was fun. i ended up actually going to sleep early, which is sort of a bummer because i go to sleep at 4am on work nights, but i slept for like ten hours, which is unheard of. i think it might be due to the fact that roxy jr. didn't sleep in my room and it was raining so it was like super dark in my bedroom.

oh yeah ! i introduced pizza to roxy jr. on saturday too !



they are not really getting along yet- lots of hissing and growling, though surprisingly pizza seems to be the alpha (do cats have alphas?) and roxy jr. immediately backs down. no real fighting or confrontations, but no grooming and cuddling yet. oh wellllllllll.

on sunday, i met up with brian, christina, nick, and sandi at local 44 for brunch. christina had gone up to nyc to see wild flag with nick and sandi, and then brought them back to see wild flag here. local 44 was kind of disappointing (righttttt after i updated my yelp reviewwwwwwww)- bland bloody marys and the removal of vegetarian disco fries from the menu was pretty heartbreaking. nothing really looked too appealing on the menu, so i chose the new menu item replacing the disco fries with eggs on top that i had last time- weird spicy french fries with eggs on top. i'm not sure why i got this because i'm not really wild about french fries, but it was pretty gross- the fries were super super super super salty, they didn't taste hot at all, and they were pretty dessicated. also the eggs were the size of peanuts.

i tricked everyone into going to cvs with me afterward to get cat supplies, and i also treated myself to some nail polish-


rimmel hot cocoa, purple rain, and steel gray

and then came back home and hung out with nick and sandi while christina napped, and then *i* napped, and then they all went to see wild flag again (i'm bummed that i didn't try to go to this- my back was so messed up when christina strongly urged me to go see them that i thought i'd never be able to go, but it looked fucking amazing and i love mary timony and ahhhhhhhhh). after they got home i had some wonderful drunk bonding with them all, and then watched futurama in bed until it was time to go to sleep- 2am, still pretty early !

so, overall, good weekend. not much on the horizon this week except lots of work, hanging out with mouse, maybe going to ryann's show at the bean if i can make it (the walking junk is still pretty tedious), introducing jeanne to roxy jr, blah blah.

p.s. i love nick and sandi
p.p.s. work is stressful right now

nothing's ever gonna make me plan tomorrow

first off, let me say that jonthan richman did a cartwheel on tuesday night.



the show was great, as usual (though jonathan seemed a litttttle off, maybe melancholy or something? i know that sounds hilarious because i'm talking about jonathan richman, but... not his usual melancholy), and he really warmed up toward the end of the night. he did two encores and played a good mix of new songs and old songs (assuming that the songs i didn't recognize are all new, which is a pretty fair assumption). the highlight for me was definitely the very extended version of "when we refuse to suffer". his sincerity and weirdness are like.. the best thing in the universe.

incidentally, the show was the longest i've stood up in about a month. it was really rough at first and my leg actually went numb- i thought i was going to have to sit down or go home or something, but after about an hour, the pain passed... and my back feels better now than it has in weeks. i still can't really bend over and certain movements will catch me off guard, but i feel like... 75% better.

oh. i forgot to upload that jonathan richman solo mix. i'll do that when i get home.

i had a doctor's appointment yesterday and took the afternoon off after that, and ended up going to the green line for a few hours to read and work on some work stuff. i ended up running into my old buddy eric, who talked to me about:

- his cat
- making animated gifs
- skateboarding
- stephen belafonte (a guy he grew up with who dated someone in the belafonte family, changed HIS last name to belafonte, and married scary spice?)



i'm sort of frustrated at work right now. i was out for like nine million days because of my back (and a week's vacation before that), and i'm super behind on everything, and i keep getting new projects dumped on me. someone is quitting (more power to her, i would not blame anyone who isn't on my team for quitting) and i have to take something of hers over that is going to be confusing and annoying for me. and will also require me to wear nice clothing occasionally and rub elbows and crap. ugh.

in other news, that cat still hates me. he spends a lot of time hanging out on my bed with me, and occasionally approaches me to be petted (or pets himself on me), and after 30 seconds he's still like I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE WE HAVE TO GO OVER THIS AGAIN. he does have a cool snaggle tooth though:



i worked out cat food costs (based on 3/4 a cup of dry food and 2 pouches a day for pizza, and 2 cans a day for roxy jr.) and ended up with $150/month. that seems kind of insane? my grocery bill/food bill for myself for a month is like $120-$140 and that includes eating out and stuff. i guess there's two of them and one of me, but between them they weigh like under 30 lbs. and that's not even factoring in stuff like flea medicine and litter !!!!

jeez.

i have a meeting right now, but i'll write you guys something good tomorrow.

the arrow goes straight through my heart

i just microwaved an EVOL bean and rice burrito for lunch (i've had zerooooo appetite since hurting my back and i'm forcing myself to eat at least breakfast and lunch at work) and tossed the wrapper in the (pretty full) trash can, and a coworker came up behind me and picked the wrapper out of the trash and started reading the ingredients.



i asked her what she was doing and she was like, "i just wanted to see what you were eating." 1) why? 2) why not ask me like a normal fucking personnnnn? (so i can tell you to mind your own business).

anyyyyway. i had a crappy day yesterday, so i came home from work and put in some requisite time with pizza- we watched the simpsons on the couch and stared at each other and then she walked on my collarbone and put her butt in my face. i'm pretty psyched that she seems to absolutely love the wellness pouches (the cans are all pate, but the pouches are chunks), butttt sort of disheartened that she seems to have stopped eating her dry food in favor of the pouch. wahhh. my plan to supplement the pouches with dry food might not work ! anyway, after that was taken care of, i retired to my room to read john bellairs books and pet roxy jr..


that pillow looks gross, but it's a cream colored pillow ! it isn't a yellowed white one

1) he is obsessed with this scar on my leg and licked it obsessively a few times.
2) when i was taking some aleve, he obviously remembered what treats sounded like and got all excited to get a treat, and i felt so bad- all the treats i have are crunchy and he has one tooth. i wet one down for him and he didn't seem interested, so i gave him a spoonful of food.
3) he slept behind me on the bed, by my butt, and i farted and he tried to bury the fart :(

things are still a little icy- for most of the night, he slept curled up under my bed, peeking out a little. i kept my hand over the edge and scratched his face while i was reading, and he occasionally growled and gummed my fingers in rage. i think i'm going to keep him in my room til the weekend, and then introduce the cats- i'd like to be at home all day for their first couple of days together.

as i mentioned, i'm on a john bellairs kick. after reading a bunch of depressing stuff about world war II and genocide, i need a break, so i got a collection of the best lewis barnavelt stories (not my selections for 'best', i just got some 'best of' books). i have always loved lewis the most because he is a little fat wimp who cries a lot, and rose rita pottinger is one of my favorite characters ever.


VENIO

i might pick up a few others for super cheap from the last word, if they have them. ideally i'd like to read them alllll again.

i need to sit down serrrriously and make myself a to-do list. i have a few tasks that i need to get done, and i feel so overwhelmed that i can't get everything in order ! i'm going to make a quick work to-do list (which i won't share with you because none of you care about what i do and it would require boring backstory) and a home to-do list. which i will bore you with.

not fun
- clean room
- clean up livingroom
- order catfood on amazon
- get stuff ready for integrating cats this weekend (which requires moving a bunch of my shoes to make room for a new litterbox)
- pick up laundry
- drop off rent
- get new pillows
- try to cook/eat dinner

kind of fun
- possibly start an ugly zooborns blog, suggested by christine
- possibly start a photos of people heismanning their pets blog
- update history blog
- take more pictures of pets
- buy myself some nail polish :( specifically interested in zoya shawn



and sephora by OPI leotard optional



- get some other john bellairs books
- go to the library
- hype jeanne and mike's art show here tomorrow !

hmm what else? mouse and i are going to see jonathan richman tonight. last year he played at johnny brendas, which is okay but annoying to get to, and tonight he's playing at the church. i'm pretty excited- his last show was one of the best nights in recent memory.



i've been listening to the jonathan richman solo mix i made for a friend to psych myself up- i can upload it for you guys tomorrow if you want/care.

okay, gotta go !

back on the chain gang

man. i really want to go get a latte but i keep forgetting and putting on this disgusting minted rose lip balm. i accidentally bought it instead of regular smith's rosebud salve :(



what a weekend ! on friday, christina and i went to south philly to go to target and the pet store to get ready for the new cat. my back was bothering me and we were both exhausted, so it wasn't thatttttt exciting of a trip. i got TP for our bungholes, and dish soap, and a pet hair roller, and some cat food. i'm trying very hard to switch pizza to wet food, specifically wellness brand (when she and weirdo ate this together, her dander and shedding reduced by like 100%), but she hates pate style cat food. i got a few of the wellness pouches to see if she liked them, and she does, buttttttt feeding instructions indicate that she would need five pouches a fucking day !



i think i'm going to try giving her a mix of the wellness wet food and wellness dry food and see if that helps. it will certainly be cheaper than like, $6/day which is more than i spend to feed myself (not counting coffee) per day. i alsoooooooo met up with jeanne's friend jim (MY friend jim now !) who lives on my block and was kind enough to lend me his cat carrier for my trip the next day.

on saturday, christina and i woke up at 6:30am (after both falling asleep at 4:30am) and drove to brooklyn to get my new cat ! we met up with nick and sandi and their friend hanna first at hope and anchor in red hook for brunch. i got a bloody mary (bloody roxy/roxy mary), which was pretty intense (very horseradishy, very strong, pickled asparagus spear, olives, etc !!!!)



but i was pretty disappointed about the other food i ordered. i had a breakfast burrito, which was actually like... 8lbs of breakfast food rolled in a tortilla, which two open ends. it was so gigantic and wasn't meant to be picked up, and it was a big disappointment because i had to basically dissect it to eat it. i also got a root vegetable hash which should have been good, but it was unevenly cooked and underseasoned. i also tried some of their french toast, and it was mediocre. buttttttttttttt i got to see nick and sandi, who are my favorites, and i got to see my old buddy milo, who is just eyes:



after thattttt we went to go pick up my new cat. his previous owners were very nice and gracious and friendly, and seemed sad to see him go (they have toddlers who are just learning to walk, and his personality does not go with that- more on that later). his name was mr. puffins, which... i changed immediately, though his previous owner calling him "puffy" seems to have stuck as a nickname because i keep calling him that ! anyway, meet roxy jr.:



i haven't had a chance to take any good pictures yet, but he's like... the most beautiful animal i've ever seen in person. he has blue eyes (no, he isn't deaf) and the pinkest nose and the longest, silkiest coat. that's the good news. the bad news is that he quite possibly has the world's worst personality? he isn't just getting adjusted or anything, he seems generally pretty comfortable, so i think this is him ! he likes to curl up right next to you and be petted ON HIS HEAD ONLY for less than 10 seconds, and if you touch his body or pet his head for 11 seconds, he starts hissing and growling and swats at you and bites you. this is pretty hilarious because he's wearing soft paws and he only has one tooth. he kind of sadly gums your hand and then gives up.

so far i think it's pretty funny, but i wonder if it will bum me out that i'm now saddled with my dream cat and he fucking hates me. at least he wants to sit next to me all the time? but is that any consolation? because of the forbidden fruit aspect.



i was super exhausted when we got home, so i took a short nap, and then mouse, meesh, and brendan came over to take a look at the cat. he didn't disappoint- he walked around rubbing against everyone's legs and growling like a crazy person !

on sundayyyy, mouse and i went to adobe in manayunk, where i, for some reason ordered a taco pizza? it was pretty rough, i was only able to eat about two of the triangles. i never actually think about what i'm ordering at restaurants and usually end up hating what i get- in this instance, i was like "well i like tacos, and i like pizza"



we had fun, though- he also helped me run some errands (because of my back)- i dropped my laundry off, bought more aleve, and went grocery shopping (this week's breakfast/lunch menu: cherry greek yogurt and granola, string cheese, cinnamon applesauce, carrots, oranges, and bean burritos. baby food !). it was also nice to hang out with him, because i hadn't in a million years.

soooo. yup. my back is still pretty hopelessly fucked- i can get around and stuff, but every morning the pain resets and it takes a lot to get going. i made an appointment last month with an orthopedic guy, but the earliest available appointment was march 24, so i have another month of miseryyyy. it gets worse on the weekends because i sleep more and sit at a desk less (oddly, sitting at a desk really helps), so i'm already feeling a lot better today.

okay, i have to go do some work !!!

p.s. i'm seeing jonathan richman tomorrow, and i totally forgot ! pleasant surprise.

oh god, i'm the worst

i already forgot i was doing this again !!!!

i'm updating my blog from home, which i basically never do because i'm a total baby about typing long blocks of text on my laptop at home? i only really enjoy typing sitting up at a desk, and i uh, don't want to clear my desk off enough to put my computer on it.

speaking of that, i'm going to do some cleaning tonight to get ready for my new cat. i haven't been able to move in quite awhile because of this back thing, and my bedroom is a disaster- my clothes are wherever they landed when i struggled out of them and everything i've dropped in the past 2-3 weeks has stayed where it landed. plus i went on vacation in january and haven't unpacked my suitcase.

i started by taking down our christmas tree when i got home. well, sort of- i can't physically move the tree, but i took down the ornaments and lights and packed them up. i loved having it up, but immediately after bringing it indoors in december i discovered that i am horribly allergic to christmas trees. i was miserable for a few weeks and then it leveled off, but tonight (when the branches were breaking off and the needles were falling everywhere) it came back full force. lord. i feel like my head is stuffed with cotton. mouse came over to keep me company and entertain me and he got stuck taking the lights off of the tree. i did let him watch my expensive cable though (we saw an episode of 'good times' that confused both of us a lot).



this is my first week back at work after being out forever and ever, and it was pretty rough. i did non-standard hours most days so i could catch up without having everyone in my face, and that worked out okay. my sleep schedule is so screwed up from back pain/back pain medicine/no morning obligations so i've felt like a zombie all day. also i think i'm going blind from pain or medication, based on the fact that my vision was blurry today. i mean, other than that, i'm doing okay, but i'm definitely a cranky zombie who is going to blind and is going to die of blindness and pain.



maybe i'm being melodramatic. i have to keep in mind that being in pain and being stuck laying on my side on my couch with my cat walking on my face, watching the food network, was actually worse than going to work (i love my job and my team but i hate like, putting real clothes on and sitting in an office all day).


hey, it turns out that i spent like two hours procrastinating about writing this and now it's like 10:30 and i don't want to clean. bummer. i'm not even going to advertise this on facebook because it's so boring.

heroinnnnnnn, be the death of me !

okay, i'm going to give this a whirl again. i'm NOT going to catch you guys up on the months i haven't been updating, because that would be annoying and i don't want to, but i'll fill you in on SOME stuff.

i was out of work for like one billion weeks recently because i gravely injured my back. i have an old injury, and i mysteriously reinjured it a few weeks ago. it was rough- i couldn't get out of bed, i couldn't stand up, and laying in bed was making it way worse. i ended up getting a prescription for vicodin, which i was reluctant to take, but a regimen of vicodin and aleve (and sleeping on my side on the couch) got me to a point where i can like... mostly walk around. it really hurts if i stand still for a long time, but walking isn't too bad and sitting up isn't too bad and sleeping isn't too bad.



i'm back at work now, but as a result of laying around for like 2 weeks in my livingroom, basically unable to do anything, a few things happened:

1) i finally learned how to use the appletv and started... watching television. i have a tough time paying attention to television or really WATCHING any show because i just tune it out, but there were entire days where i could literally do nothing but lay on my side facing the telvision. i watched all of parks and recreation, which i loved- actual feminist main character who identifies as feminist, and only ONE JOKE in all 3 seasons that has disappointed me ("on a scale of one to chris brown, how mad is he?"). i was cautious watching the first three seasons because i figured it would turn into a moronic rape joke bonanza like 30 rock, but so far it's smart and funny without selling out women. oh and uh, i also watched top chef.



2) there was a wasp or hornet in my livingroom and it made me insane. it was a baby, and it landed on me several times without stinging me, so... i decided it thought i was its mother and that it would never sting me. i spent days feebly trying to prevent my cat from attacking him and i named him rodney, and then i leaned on him by accident and he stung my elbow. after four hours of deliberation, i flushed him down the toilet, and i've never felt so guilty. the sting didn't leave a mark for the first two days, but then became so itchy and inflamed that i thought it was infected. it seems to be clearing up now though. alas poor rodney.



3) i spent a lot of time with biz, my middle school best friend who coincidentally also lives here. she kept me company while i was immobile and dirty and complaining constantly.

toward the end of the week, i was actually able to move a little bit, so i made myself a pair of those stupid twilight mittens :( i'll be done with them tonight, probably. i bought a red/blue/white plaid jacket that only has half sleeves, so i decided to make a pair of red mittens to keep my arms warm.




in berocco vintage in sour cherry

i also made myself another star-crossed slouchy beret (also berocco vintage, in 'tidepool') but i'm never going to wear it because i hate how i look in hats !



hmm. what else? i dropped all of my classes for this semester (i am just too anxious lately and i need some time off to take a breather and reorient) and i really, really need to finish my genocide paper. i just completely choked like i never have in my entire life, ever. i've been doing lots of reading and have my research organized, but the longer i put this paper off, the less i want to do it. i recently got to hang out with my friend natalie (another friend from middle school, who is also great) and she very very sternly chided me about how i need to get this done and not let it hang over my head for the rest of my life (or at least the rest of my school career), and she's totally right. so, maybe soon i'll take a weekend to work on the paper.

not this weekend, though- this weekend, i'm going to brooklyn to adopt a beautiful white fluffy dreamboat cat. i'm sufficiently healed, i think, after weirdo's death from kidney failure, and i'm ready for the cat of my dreams. there's a few things i have to do this week which may be difficult (lots of cleaning and rearranging, which is going to hurt my back) to get ready for the cat, but i think it's worth it.



his current name is mr. puffins buttttt i'm going to change it. he's 10 years old and only has one tooth and is a big fluffy dreamboat and he's beautiful and i already love him. he's basically my dream cat- his m.o. is to curl up next to you and sleep and is into a LITTLE petting but isn't a petting maniac like my current cat. i'm excited and can't wait to get him and can't wait for him to be best buds with pizza and to put on a fancy dress and pet him all the time and eat out of a goblet with him.

this is a little harried because i have to get back to work, but i swear i'll write much more thorough and better entries in the future. if i keep this up, which i may not.

where have i been?

i've lost some of my ZEST for blogging, but i'm going on vacation this week, and my resolution when i return is to do more blogging. this means that i'll be posting updates both on this blog and on cool thoughts.

some highlights you've missed since thanksgiving
- i started using coconut oil as moisturizer and it has cured me of ingrown hairs
- i got some swamp things to supplement all my genocide/world war II reading
- i did not finish my genocide paper and have an incomplete in the class until i do. i really, really need to do that.
- i am taking one class this semester- creative non-fiction: perspectives on race, class, and gender. i was taking elementary german II, but i dropped it, because it was wayyyy too advanced for me. i think i'm going to take it over the summer.
- i laid in bed a lot and watched simpsons dvds.
- i have been watching every season of the x-files in order. in around 2 weeks, i got to season 5. i'm a little burnt out now, and since i know the story arc, i'm greatly enjoying the monster of the week episodes.
- i've been a hermit this winter
- i've been looking at fluffy white dreamboat cats on petfinder
- i'm in love with my life and my friends and i need to start acting like it. actually this is probably how i'd act if i was in love (moody and jerky and weird), but you know what i mean.

sit tight, dogs. i will try to be back next week. get off my sack a little.